Max is 4 months... mom and dad need sleep

Our littlest Law is 4 months and a lot has changed.   First of all he is a BIG BOY.   We had his 4 month check up and he was 17.1 lbs and 26.5 inches.   The same height as Kam was but almost 2 pounds heavier.   He is the cutest chubby cheeked baby around!

Mom returned to work - I went back to work on Dec 15th - 14 weeks with my sweet boy went by way too fast.  Luckily I was able to return back 4 days a week, having Fridays off.  Also with the Holidays coming so quickly I basically went back for 7 days and then had two weeks off to go back to IL for the holidays.   Ken's parents where out visiting from the 18-27th so it was nice to have extra hands on deck to help with the transition back to work.  Going back with 2 kids has been much harder that going back with one but I'm thankful for a great nanny (Al) and a super supportive husband who has given up his morning workout routine to help me get out of the house in the morning.  It's also super helpful that Ken now works from home so he can relieve Al by 5 or 5:30 almost every night.

Max's first Christmas

We celebrated Max's first christmas and the first christmas we were able to celebrate in our own home as a family.  We had a beautiful, warm sunny Christmas day.    Ken's parents were able to join us.  Kam was thrilled to get up Christmas morning and tear open all of his presents.  Ken and Kevin fried a turkey and we all pitched in to prepare a delicious meal.  Max got a doorway jumper, a toy mirror and lots of new clothes.  He's too big to fit in a lot of kam's winter hand me downs!

Max's first flight!

flight to Illinois

flight back to california

We flew home with both boys on December 27th.  This was Max's first flight, and the first time flying as a family of four.  Luckily Ken's parents returned to IL on the same flight we were on so they were able to help us get to the airport, bags checked and get through security.   PHEW.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.   Max was a champ on the flight.   He was very laid back and well behaved.      Kam on the other hand was completely wired.  This was the first time we had to buy him a ticket so he had his own seat.  I'm not sure if he was overwhelmed, over tired (it was a 6 am flight) or over stimulated b/c Kevin and Sue were across the aisle from us, but he would NOT sit still.   He did not want to be buckled in and he wanted to run up and down the aisle.    Even worse, every time Max would start to fall asleep Kam would lean over and yell "cock a doodle doo" as loud as he could in Max's ear.  I don't even know where he learned that from b/c he had never done anything like that before.   Ken and I can laugh about it now, but that was definitely the longest 4 hour flight we'd been on.  The good news is that the flight back to  California went much smoother

this is what max thinks of winter weather in Illinois

The one back thing about our trip home is that Max got a cold on the trip.   Then he gave it to me, and eventually to  Kam.   Our whole house was sick for about a week and a half.    The cold didn't help Max's already poor sleep patterns, although you couldn't tell by this picture below!

Our good sleeper left the house.  Since about mid December (right when I went back to work). Max started waking up multiple times a night.     He had been down to one wake up, then it was two, and now it's as many as three time or as often as every 2 1/2 hours.    It got pretty bad when we were home for the holidays and has continued to be bad since we returned.

Below are some fun pictures with all of the cousins while we were home.

He got 2 teeth.   Max is on the same teething schedule as Kam was.   We've noticed he's been extra slobber and his gums have been swollen for a few weeks now.   This week we finally can see two teeth cutting.  We are praying this is part of his sleeping problem and that once they finish cutting completely we will have a better sleeper return.  You can see his cute little teeth in this great video of him giggling

While we were back in Paxton, we were able to get Max baptized.   I was thrilled to have him baptized at the same church I was baptized and confirmed in and the same church we had Kam baptized in.   My best friend from childhood, Kaci Rust was Max's Godmother and Ken's brother Justin was his Godfather.   Max was a perfect angel during the service and smiled the whole time.   Kam was great too and he wanted to go up with us and give Max a big kiss right before he got the water on his head.   Kam was quite the ham during the service, even letting the pastor hold him during the sermon.   Unfortunately the weather was not very good and Ken's parents, Laura, Hailey and Natalie were all unable to make it as the roads were icey.    We are so thankful Justin was able to carefully make the drive down and be part of Max's day.   Also on the same day Max was baptized, we said good bye to my Grandpa Rodeen.    He was 92 years old and just a few days shy of his 69th wedding anniversary with my Grandma.  He lived a great life and we will miss him but I'm so gratefully I was home and was able to say goodbye.

This week we started Max on rice cereal.   He seems to like it well enough.  We are hoping that introducing solid foods will help Max sleep longer and drink less breastmilk.  Up until now my supply had been doing really well but with the stress of work and getting sick last week,  it has dropped a bit.  I'm hoping that once things calm down a bit it will recover.  We are also hoping that Max will return to a better sleep pattern.     Last week before we realized he was sick AND teething, we attempted to sleep train him.   The first night he cried off and on for 2.5 hours, the second night he cried for 1 hour and the third night he would go back down after only a few minutes but he would wake himself up about 30 minutes later.    Night 4 is when I realized that he was sick and I was getting sick so we put the sleep training on hold.  I'm hopeful that after we are all better, and his teeth have come through we can get some solid sleep and hopefully train him quickly to sleep through the night.  I can't tell you when the last time I had more than 4 hours of sleep at the same time.  If was definitely before I was pregnant.  

KAM
Kams Christmas:

Kam had a great christmas.  Of course he loved all his presents.   Ken and I even pulled a few presents out from under the tree Christmas morning and hid them for later because he was so overwhelmed with the gifts.  He played with everyone before opening and new one.  I think he was most excited about his train set and a garbage truck that his uncle Paul got him.

Being back home for the holidays was very hectic with two kids but it was so much fun to watch the boys play with all their cousins.  We were able to see a lot of extended cousins from the Law and Ohse sides of Ken's family.     We finally were able to meet sweet Hailey.  She is soo adorable and I don't believe Justin and Laura when they says she cries because she was a sweet happy girl when we were around her. Kam and Max a lot had a lot of fun play time with Johnny and Lucas as well.  Believe it or not, Kam was the ring leader of the boys.  He would round around saying "come on johnny, come on lucas, follow me!"    It was sooo stinking cute.   Johnny was great with the little boys and with baby Max too.  Johnny is just a sweet boy.  But even Lucas liked having a baby around.  All the boys were so gentle with Max and gave him a lot of attention.  I just love seeing them all grow and play together.  There are some very fun memories.  

Favorite movie is currently toy story.  He's obsessed with Woody and Buzz.  While we were back in IL for the holiday, Ken's mom brought out Ken's old Woody and Buzz Lightyear toys.  Kam was in heaven.   He even was able to bring Woody back to California (on the plane) and Grandma is mailing Buzz out too.  Buzz can't get here soon enough as Kam asks about him everyday.   Kam loves to say "to infinity and beyond" although it sounds my like "infinity beyond"     It's so cute.  He pretends to fly around the house like buzz light year and he will ONLY wear his buzz light year pull ups to bed.   He also saids "Howdy cowboy"  or "Hello Cowboy" and then will pat Max on the stomach.   He also says "there's a snake in my boot" just like Woody.   It's pretty adorable.

christmas morning bike ride!

Kam speaks in full sentences and is learning more and more words each day.     Today in the car he turned to Ken and said "Daddy, max is so cute"   :-)   He also sings his ABC's pretty well while he washes his hands.

Kam calls Max, "Maxi-man"  and the other day when I was eating breakfast with Kam he pointed to max and said "Maxi-man" then he pointed to himself and said "Kam Man" haha.   Max also has a red birthmark that is on his back and it's looks like the shape of the rolling stones logo.   Kam always points to it and says "nipple?" haha.

Kam is going through a stage where he isn't eating very well.  Ken and I try to get him to eat everything but we usually have luck with waffles, eggs, and/or a shake at breakfast and the rest of the meals are hit or miss.  Potty training is still going strong though - he even showed his friend Mila how to go and she started potty training the next day!  way to go Kam!

Kam is in a stage where if is over being somewhere he will say "GO HOME"  over and over again until we leave.   He said "no home" about 10 minutes into our flight to Chicago.  Ken and I were dying thinking you're outta luck kid!

Kam got his very first ear infection.    As I mentioned earlier, after we came back from Chicago, we all were sick.   Kam had a low grade fever for several days which I didn't think anything of but it was going on 6 days so I called the Dr and they wanted to see him immediately.    They looked in his ears and sure enough the poor guy had a double ear infection.   I felt awful because I just assumed he had the same thing I had (which lasted over a week).   He never once complained about his ears and was sleeping fine.  In fact, I had taken Max in to have his ears checked because he was fussy.  His ears were clear and I never would have guessed I'd be bringing in Kam 2 days later to have his ears checked.  It sure did make me feel like a bad mommy but I guess it's a good lesson to learn!    By the way when I took Max back to have his ears checked he weighted 17.4 lbs! ha

This is definitely the craziest most hectic time of our lives.   I know we will look back at this time of our live and miss the chaos but somedays  I wonder how we are going to get through the day.   We love our boys to pieces but they definitely keep us on our toes!  We wouldn't have it any other way!

Max is 3 months

Max:

It's hard to believe Max is 3 months.  He is so big now he hardly feels like a baby anymore.  He's solid with lots of chubby rolls.  3 month clothes are definitely getting tight on him and he mostly wears 3-6 clothing now.  Max is starting to jabber a lot.  He especially loves to talk a lot right after he eats.    He is starting to smile and laugh now too.  He loves to stand on your legs and will babble away while he stands. When he does that with Ken, he will often try to 'eat Ken's nose' as Ken calls it.  He opens his mouth and goes straight for Ken's nose every time!  Although it took him a bit to crack his first smile, he is smiling just as much as his brother Kamden did at this age.   Overall, Max is a very calm, chill baby.  He is very go with the flow and basically cries when he's hungry or tired and sometimes when he has a poopy diaper.  When his is tired and you put him in the mammaroo he falls to sleep pretty easily.  He doesn't always nap very long in there (usually 30-50 minutes) but he's happy when he wakes up.    If I want him to take a longer nap, I'm still having to put him in the car seat/stroller.    But if i'm out and about with him he will sleep forever in the car seat.  I'm able to get a lot of errands done while he snoozes away in the carseat.  At night  I usually give him a bath while Ken is giving Kam a bath around 7pm.  Then I will put him in the Mamaroo an he will take a short nap.  When he wakes up I will feed him one last time change his diaper, swaddle him and put him back in the mamaroo around 8:30pm.  He is basically down for the night then, and then we carry him up to his crib when we go to bed at 9:30 or 10.   Lately he has been waking only once, around 2:30-3:30 and then goes back down until 6:30 or 7.   We have occasionally had him sleep all the way until 5:00am which is awesome.  

Here's a video of Max babbling

Max will reach for his toys that dangle in front of him on his play mat.  He will also grab and squeeze your hand.   He is really slobbering up a storm.  Kam got his first teeth at 3 months so I'm hoping that's not already starting with Max - I feel like we just finished this with Kam!  He also is putting his hands in his mouth, sucking his fun and will hold toys.  He also can sit in the bumbo for long periods of time.   He farts and belches like a grown man - it takes everyone for surprise.   Max also has started spitting up some too.  It's usually about 30 minutes after he eats but he will spit up a fair amount at a time.  Between the spit up and blow outs he keeps us on our toes.  Kam even has started to ask "blow out" or "spit out" (as he calls it) when ever he hears a noise from Max.  haha

Max's first thanksgiving(s)

We had a friends giving at the Burnhams last week with all of our friends.   We had a great time with wonderful food and snapped this super cute picture of all the kiddos from oldest to youngest!

Aunt Nat came out for Thanksgiving and she couldn't believe how much Max had grown and changed.  We ran a 5 k along the coast on thanksgiving morning.  I pushed both boys in the stroller and of course Max snoozed through the whole thing and Kam loved cheering on all the runners as we passed them (or they passed us - haha).  Later that day Ken fried a turkey and Al and her boyfriend, Dave, joined us for a thanksgiving dinner.   We had a beautiful, sunny warm day and enjoyed being outside with everyone.

The day after thanksgiving we started a new tradition.  We went to the tree lighting ceremony at the Forum.  Kam loved dancing to the live music, and was ecstatic when santa arrive.  I got the cutest video of him.   Also there was "snow" there that Kam was in awe of!    That night we put the boys in their new matching christmas pi's and read them elf on a shelf.  Kam named the elf Frankie and so far we are having a lot of fun with him.   This morning Kam found Frankie sitting on the bananas and he said "FRANKIE!  CLIMBING! BANANAS!   FUNNY!"  Haha

Kam saying "santa"

 

Reading Elf on the Shelf for the first time.  Kam named him Frankie.

We also attempted family photos when Natalie was here.  It was comical to say the least here are some of my favorites .

neither boy is happy! haha

More Kam updates: - 27 months - and potty trained.

We started potty training Kam recently.  He's showed interest in the potty several different times but we didn't want to push it before the baby came as there were already so many changes going on.    Recently he started going on the potty again after he saw Ken use the toilet.   Then he woke up a few mornings with a dry diaper so I asked Al if she thought he was ready and she did so we decided to take a serious stab at potty training this weekend.  Al potty trained many kids at her old day care so she has been a great resource for us since this is our first time!  We started on Friday and told him he would be 2 M&M's every time he peed on the potty and 4 M&M's for poop (or a popsicle).   We put him in big boy underwear (minion undies that aunt nat bought) and no pants for most of the day.  He loves his big boy undies.  We asked him every hour if he had to pee and would try and sit him on the potty as often as possible.  He had several accidents, including one at the park, but he also went on the potty several times that day.  No poop on the first day, I think he was holding it.  We put a pull up him at bedtime.   We also learned to put one on him over his undies when we go out and about (thanks to the advice of Al).  That way he can still feel that he is wet but it won't ruin his clothes and it makes it easier to change him in public if needed.    He  was definitely holding his poop (for 2 days) and several times he would tell us he needed to poop but he would sit on the potty for 2 seconds and pop back up and say 'it's not working.'  hahaha.   He finally pooped on day two after Ken pretended to go poop in the bathroom with him and told him to squeeze from his tummy.  Kam was soooo proud of himself and he yelled "it's working it's working!"  That kid really cracks me up.   Monday was his first day over at Kel's with Al and he made it the whole day with no accidents (first time).    It's been 2 weeks now and we are still doing well. I officially canceled my diaper subscription for Kam's diaper and we are thrilled


Kam's favorite foods of the moment - chicken nuggets, grapes, and popcorn.
He wants to do everything him 'self'
Everything is 'mines' and doesn't share very well - we are working on that
He will push the kitchen stool anywhere he wants to climb.
Favorite movie is still Frozen
Loves live music - a few weekends ago we went to Encinitas' Fall Festival and there was plenty of live music Kam even got to play this washboard instrument (not sure what the real name is) with the band.  He got a kick out of it.  Max of course snoozed the whole time even with the loud music :-)

Kam is FINALLY saying "I LOVE YOU"  Stubborn boy would say everything else but that! Ken and I went out on a date night last weekend and Al watched the kids.  She sent us this video of Kam telling us goodnight and I love you.  I think I could watch it a million times everyday.  

Kam is just the sweetest big broth and loves Max to pieces here are a few of my favorite pictures of the boys this month.

Funny Kam Stories from this month:
I found Kam hovering over max with his shirt up and when I asked him what he was doing he told me Max was hungry (he was trying to nurse max)  hehe.  He's also tried to nurse his spiderman toy.

He told me one morning his knee was leaking milk.

He tells me "no pump" when I try and pump around him.

If the baby coughs Kam turns to him and asks "Wrong pipe?"

One morning I brought Max downstairs and he was crying b/c he was hungry and Kam looked up at Max and very matter of factly said "Hi Mad Max"  haha.    Ken and I call max "mad max" when he is fussy but we thought it was hilarious that Kam used it correctly - his comedic timing is spot on.

If you are pestering his to do something he will finally give in and say "okay okay okay" in the same tone Miss Al does it when Kam is nagging her.

If Ken or I yawn around Kam he says "are you tired momma?"

Life is busy with two boys but we are loving every minute.  We're looking forward to introducing him to everyone when we are back in a few weeks.

Max is 2 months

I can't believe Max is already 2 months old!

Time flies with two babies.  Max is doing well.  For the most part he is a very laid back baby.   We've been able to move his bed time up to around 8:30 then usually do a dream feed around 9:30 or 10pm.    He will sleep until about 2:30 or 3am and then he usually goes back down until around 6:30am isn when he eats again and goes back to sleep until 8 am.    Kam wakes up between 6:30 and 7 so Ken will get up with Kam so I can go back down and get a little more sleep with Max.   Ken has sacrificed working out in the mornings to help me get more sleep so I really appreciate that.  We keep reminding ourselves that this is just for a short time and we will hopefully be able to get back to a more 'normal' routine once Max starts sleeping through the night.

Halloween was last weekend and Kam and Max were both Minions.  Kam was the wild purple minion and Max was a yellow minion so fitting for their personalities.    Ken was Gru and I was Lucy.

We had a great get together at our house with the Burnhams, Biancardis, Sheahans, and Carters.  It was so fun to see all the kids dressed up and watch them go trick or treating together for the first time.  It really make my heart happy to see them all play together!

At 8 weeks he really started smiling and cooing.   We discovered his feet are ticklish.  He giggles when you touch his toes.   Max loves to lay on the top of our ottoman and look around.   Kam always would look right but Max only looks left.   We've started trying to make him turn and lay his head the other way to prevent a flat spot.  I was obsessed with that with Kam and am trying to be more calm about it with Max.  Max's head is definitely flatter on his left side than his right but I don't think it is as bad as Kam's was!  I bought this hat that makes Max look straight ahead or right instead of left!  hehe

 max on the ottoman

Max loves to nap in his car seat (Kam was the same way)    He sleeps best during the day when we are out an about.  I have been doing a lot of running with him in the stroller and he usually gets a good nap there.    Otherwise he naps in his mamaroo if we are home but usually those naps are not as long as when he is in his carseat.   I always joke that the louder it is, the better Max naps.  :-)


Max is starting to cry real tears -  I remember when Kam started doing that  - it makes the crying feel more real and makes mom sad! haha.   Max is also starting to get those long dark Law eye lashing like Kam has too.  However, Max skin is slightly darker than Kam's was and his hair is darker but his eyes are staying lighter.  I think Max may have light eyes - maybe green like mommy?

  Kam helping feed Max a bottle

Max helping me cook in the kitchen!

Kam is a great big brother.  He loves Max to pieces.   He is often giving him kisses and hugs.   He wants to hold him and says things like "agh cute" and "so soft" when he touches Max's head.  Kam also says  "bless you" when Max sneezes.  It just melts my heart!  He even will give Max his 'bink' (pacifier) from time to time.  Kam is just a sweet boy and an awesome big brother.  I hope he stays like that.  Kam likes to give Max lots of hugs, kisses and even raspberries!

We haven't taken Max for his 2 month check up yet - we go next week - so I don't have any major stats but from what I can tell on our scale Max is already a whopping 14 lbs!   We definitely have a big boy.   I looked up Kam's stats from his two month check up and he was only 12.5 :-)

UPDATE:   At Max's Dr appointment he measured 24.5 inches (93%) and 13.10lbs (69%).  We definitely have a big boy on our hands and the Dr said he will definitely have to play basketball!

Max is in a size two diaper and basically wearing 3 month clothing.   He's started drooling a bit and putting his hands/fists in his mouth.

Kam update:

When Max was only a few weeks old Kam fell and bumped his tooth on the mamaroo swing.    We took him to the Dentist and they said it was bruised but still intact and just to keep an eye on it so it doesn't get infected.  They wanted to see him back in 4 weeks to take another X-ray.  This morning Ken took him back to the dentist and the hole behind the tooth had progressed a bit so they want to see him again in 3 months.   If it keeps getting worse, they will have to pull it :-(   we are praying this isn't the case (b/c they will probably put him under for that) and it would be awful for him not to have a front tooth for several years but there is really nothing we can do besides practice good dental hygiene with him.  I know there are worse things but I'm really praying we can save this tooth - so we will be brushing and flossing twice a day.   In good news Kam was awesome at the dentist.  He's so brave and sat in the seat all by himself.  The dentist said his top 2 year molars are still only half way down (we thought they were in) so that explains why Kam has been chewing on his hands and even biting Will (Poor will).    All this time we were worried Kam was just a bully!  haha.  jk

Kam is becoming very independent wanting to do everything him "self"  including brushing his teeth and hair, attempting to make his breakfast (usually waffles which he helps dad put in the toaster), and getting dressed.  He also will push the kitchen chairs around into the kitchen to climb up and reach anything he 'needs'   He also no longer wants a to sit in his booster chair and would prefer to sit by himself on a chair like a big boy.  tear.     We have also officially reached the stage where everything is "mine"   ugh.

He's really into movies lately,  first it was Despicable Me 1 and 2, and then Monsters and Monsters University,  now it's Frozen all the time.    We had to stop letting him watch Monsters because he was having bad dreams but he still loves Sully and asks for it all the time.  We told him it was 'broken'   now he's obsessed with Olaf.

Kam also is really into music.  His favorite song is Taylor Swifts Shake it off.   He sings shake it off, shake it off  over and over again while he plays one of his 4 guitars.  This kid loves to rock out.  

Kam also has a crazy memory.  He remembers everyone's name - including all our neighbors - Debbie, Megan, and Jay.   Al's boyfriend Dave (which he has only met once) and he even remembers what types of cars people drive  or beer they drink.  For example he saw Dave's car in our driveway one time and now if he sees a they same type of car that is the same color he'll say, "dave's car?"  or Danielle and Cody were over one night and Danielle was drinking a Saparo Beer and now when he sees that type of beer in our fridge he will says "Danielle's Beer?"  haha  We are worried he might have a photographic memory.  hehe.

Other than that we are doing well.  Ken has to travel to Reno overnight for work about every 3 weeks.   The nighttime routine with 2 little ones is a bit hectic on my own but it is getting easier as Max gets older.

We're looking forward to Aunt Natalie coming back out for Thanksgiving later this month!   The kids are just changing so much so fast!