Dear Max,

This month had definitely been life changing since your brother has now entered the world. Right after Jake was born you came to the hospital and you gave him maybe 20 seconds of attention before going off to play with your toys. I figured you would probably ignore the baby and not really care about what he was doing. When we came home from the hospital it was a completely different story. You constantly kiss Jake on the head and you call his pacifier his "papa". Everytime Jake's pacifier comes out of his mouth you want to put it back in and I have to remind you to let me do it. The other day in the car Jake started crying and you got very upset. You don't like when Jake cries and you start saying baby and directing me to get him. Anytime we go anywhere you remind me to take the baby, as if I would leave him at home. It is very funny to watch you with Jake and I'm so thankful that you like him and don't seem jealous at all.

With having another child comes challenges. I cannot give my full attention to either of you and I figured that would be hard for you to understand. So far, you don't get upset when I am tending to the baby and you just occupy yourself with your books or toys. I am also finding it more challenging to go anywhere, especially grocery shopping. The problem is that I don't have enough space to put both you and Jake's seat in the car along with any groceries I want to buy. I have a double stroller and we have used it a lot in going to the park but it doesn't work well with shopping because I can't get much into the little storage bag. Yesterday we went shopping with Nona so that she could have you in a cart and I could have Jake in a cart. I think the only way I am going to be able to go shopping by myself with the two of you is if I put you in the cart and put Jake in the front carrier, we'll have to see what works.

We had a fun outing to the park a few weeks ago and you were being very brave and going down all the big slides by yourself while Jake and I waited for you at the bottom. You went down one slide and put your foot down and made yourself flip forward and bang your head, you had a good little bruise but only for like a day, and thankfully it didn't affect your bravery because you continued to go down all the slides.

You are getting into everything and becoming increasingly more curious. You still obey me when I tell you "no" but sometimes you pitch yourself a little fit when I tell you not to do something, and we are working on correcting that behavior. Sunday afternoon church service is a challenge and I want you to just learn to lie down on the pew and go to sleep. I bought a nap mat to put in the floor at church, but we have to practice getting you to just lay there first and make sure you won't crawl under the pew!

In spite of new challenges of a sibling you are a very good, sweet boy. I am so thankful to have such a good toddler and Jake is such a good baby that it is definitely making the transition from one child to two children much easier on our family. I think going from no children to one child is much much harder than going from one child to two. I'm so glad you show so much affection towards your little brother. We have so much fun spending one on one time together while Jake sleeps and I want to always give you both individual attention. You and your daddy have had so much fun playing in your little tent and being a pairplane (airplane). The other night while daddy was teaching it was on me to put you to bed while dealing with Jake too. I put Jake in his car seat and gave you a bath and then went to your room and read you a story and sang to you. I got very emotional while I was singing to you thinking of how blessed I am. It brings me so much joy to have you two boys in my life. I love you!

Love,

So granted, Cale is still home with us until Monday, but things aren't as hard as I thought they would be...so far! I hope that feeling continues but it just seems so much easier with a baby this time around. I know that I am definitely less stressed and more laid back about everything, plus Jake is a GREAT baby so far. To brag on him, he sleeps from about 10pm to 2:30am or 3am and then wakes again at around 6:30am. It is awesome! I am so shocked to have a newborn sleeping so well at night. He is eating every 3 hours during the day and sometimes we have to wake him to eat.

(I love baby yawns!)

Max is adjusting so well. He is still napping and sleeping great and LOVES the baby. He always wants to kiss Jake and know where he is. We are making sure to give Max plenty of attention and so far he seems very happy to have a little brother. I am so thankful for my two boys and hope they will be buddies.

(Max is such a proud big brother)

(Max wants us to put Jake in the swing all the time...swinging is fun!)

(Max giving a kiss)

The only "bad" thing so far is that I have a small gap in my incision. I went to the doctor today so she could look at it and she just put some kind of tape on it that has to stay there for a week. One good thing came out of my doctor's appointment though...I have lost 21 pounds in a week! I couldn't believe it because I only gained 25 total in my pregnancy, so that made me feel good.

(wondering what his crazy brother is doing)

I am getting around a lot better this time around and I think it is partially because I have to, having a toddler, and because I know more what I can and can't do. I am feeling pretty good and it definitely helps that I am getting a decent amount of rest! Thanks for all the well wishes, have a great weekend!

(Mitten hands!)