On a Holiday

Before the onslaught of Christmas activities, Mom thought she would update the blog with some Lily and Jack details - in fact, Mom is feeling a little guilty as we were posting almost everyday when Lily was Jack's age, but I guess that comes with the territory of being the second kid...;)

Jack is 2 weeks and 2 days old, and has continued to sleep quite a bit during the day and at night! He usually eats every 3-4 hours during the day, and averages about every 4-5 hours at night, although we were spoiled on Friday night when he slept from 11pm to 6am, woke up to eat 6 ounces, and then went back to sleep until 10am! And yes, it was not a typo when we said he ate 6 ounces - Jack has moved very quickly from 4 to 6 ounces so we have retired the smaller 4 ounce bottles, and have been making 6 pretty much every feeding. We looked back to these days with Lily and she was barely chowing down on 4 ounces, so we were a little concerned that he was overeating, but he isn't spitting up so we let him feast until he is full. Post-circumcision everything looks good, and his belly button fell of on Friday so he finally took a bath on Saturday. We seem to be finally getting the hang of the male anatomy, after several incidents of soaking the wall this week - the pee-pee tee-pees are coming in very handy. Although he still sleeps quite a bit, when he is awake he is pretty alert, and has even managed a few smiles, especially for his big sister. The other day, Lily accidentally called Jack a girl instead of a boy, and just at that point Jack smiled, so as she thought he was laughing at her slip up, she proceeded to call him a girl for the next five minutes hoping she could get another smile out of him - not sure if he complied...

Otherwise in Lily land, she had a fun three days at school, and then Mom and Jack took her to gymnastics on Friday. Jack slept through all of it so he missed all of her tricks - Lily has really perfected the somersault and the rope swinging! Lily is very excited about Christmas and keeps talking about Santa coming down the chimney, and loves to look at all of the Christmas lights.

On Friday, the family went to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom's to make Christmas cookies, and to see Aunt Tracy, Uncle Stan, and Aunt Kelly - Lily has gotten pretty good at icing the cookies although she goes a little overboard with the sprinkles! On Sunday, GG, GT, Aunt Kelly, Great Aunt Jeanne, Great Uncle Mike, and cousins Alli and Davis came over to check out the house, and Lily decided that she was bored with Mom, Dad, and Jack, and chose a sleepover at GG & GT's house - the rest of the fam will join her for Christmas eve festivities! Mom, Dad, and Jack headed over for a visit with Grandma Phyllis and Grandpa Maurice for some scrabble competition - apparently the action was not too riveting as Jack slept throughout the entire game.

On to the pictures...we will do a mid-week post to fill you in on all of the Christmas happenings and loot, there seem to be quite a few presents for Lily under the tree - we just hope Santa brings her that playdoh she asked for...

P.S. - For those of you that use an RSS reader, we now have a feed set up. Just click at the top right.


Jack's typical situation.


Making some cookies.


Yummy.


Building towers.


Lily playing with her newest toy :)


Jack with a question ...


Not so happy with the answer ...

Cuts Like A Knife

We are 2 days post-circumcision and Jack does not seem to be having too many flashbacks and Mom has recovered emotionally!

To recap...on Saturday we celebrated Jack's birth with a bris held at Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis' house. We were so happy to be joined by many friends, Grandpa Tom and Grandma Gail, family from Montreal (Bubbie, Great Aunt Donna, Great Uncle Stephen) and Toronto (Great Uncles Jerry and Simon), and cousin Emilie from NYC. Considering the business at hand conducted on Saturday, Jack held up well and is making a quick recovery!

The Montreal clan had planned to head back early Sunday to avoid getting stuck in the predicted Washington sleet/ice/snow, but their flight was canceled (despite the fact that we only got rain, there was a blizzard in Montreal) so they got to spend some bonus time with Lily and Jack. While Jack did a lot of sleeping, Lily jumped from one activity to another and kept very busy until passing out last night.

Jack woke up at 1am and 4am for feedings, and then decided at 6:30am that he was just ready to wake up and play - we explained to him that we prefer that play time be held sometime in the late morning especially after two night feedings, not sure if we got through to him, we'll see how things go tomorrow morning. In any event, Monday morning brought everyone back to reality, as the Montreal clan got a flight out, Dad returned to work, Lily went to school, and Mom spent her first day at home with Jack alone. It was a pretty relaxing day as Jack is still sleeping quite a bit thus Mom was able to catch up on a little sleep, however, he still managed to go through three outfits in approximately 6 hours. Mom still has not adjusted to the stream that jets from the male anatomy, and even when she tried to deflect it, the pee ended up on Jack's face, which then required a sponge bath - as we still are unable to submerge Jack in bathwater due to the belly button and circumcision. Our goal tomorrow is two outfits!

Enjoy the pics! BTW, Mom updated the blog on Friday, December 14 but unfortunately we didn't get around to posting pics so just feel free to check out the text which details Jack's pediatrician appt and Lily happenings!

P.S. Lily and Jack want to send out hugs and kisses to Grandpa Maurice for a speedy recovery from a stent procedure!


Jack's first bath.


Getting a kiss from big sister.


Watching a little tv.


Snoozing.


Aunt Tracy and Uncle Stan got Jack this cool announcement sign for the yard.


Lily introducing Jack to Diego and Dora.


More reading. Notice the replacement baby in the swing.


Getting covered up.


Getting weighed and measured.


Lily, in pearls, playing with Brendan and Zach.


Jack recovering from the bris.


Looking like a pretzel.


Eating with Great Bubbie Ida.


Relaxing on Mom.

[Untitled Track]

If you look back to September 2004, we were essentially updating the blog every day with the happenings in Lily land - well this time around, we haven't been as quite on the ball but we will try to catch everyone up...

Jack has been at home in his bed four nights and we are happy to report that he is sleeping the nights relatively well. He wakes up anywhere from every 3-5 hours and is all business taking his bottle, and then goes right back to sleep. Don't worry, as this is the second kid, we recognize that we are in the honeymoon stage of infanthood and that things are likely to change in the next few weeks or even tonight! On the eating front, Jack is definitely a little piggy, he ranges from 2 to 4 ounces every 3-4 hours, but usually leans towards the 4 ounces. He is pretty alert when awake, but overall he spends most of the days snoozing - again, we realize that this will likely change very soon. Without going into any great detail, our biggest adjustment is that Jack is going through a lot more onesies and diapers than Lily did!!

We visited the pediatrician today and he got a clean bill of health, and actually weighs in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces - thus 2 ounces more than his birth weight - which is somewhat surprising being that he left the hospital on Monday at 7 pounds, 6 ounces. He has also grown an eighth of an inch. Because he has actually surpassed his birth weight we can hold off on going back to the pediatrician for another four weeks - Jack is very relieved!

In Lily land, she is enjoying her role as big sister, although loses interest pretty quickly as she is always on the go! She returned to school and the highlight of her week was visiting with Santa on Tuesday - she apparently asked Santa for playdoh of all things so we will see if he comes through for her! On that same day, she also celebrated the last day of Hanukkah by opening her last present from Aunt Donna and Uncle Stephen - a Dora memory game! Lily wants to thank Aunt Donna and Uncle Stephen for all of her Hanukkah presents, and also wants to thank Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis for her Hanukkah gifts - she loves playing her new Candyland game! On Thursday, Lily had her Christmas party at school, and then came home and visited with Grandma Gail who brought over dinner - always a nice treat for Mom and Dad. (Grandpa Tom had been over earlier in the day and got to spend some quality time with a sleeping Jack, hopefully he will be more entertaining next time - Jack that is, not Grandpa!)

The weekend is bringing together some family and friends for Jack's bris so we will update again on Monday!! Until then...enjoy the pics! Update: Things got a little too hectic so pics this post...sorry!

Two Against Nature

Two. Hard to believe but there are two little ones snoozing upstairs now. Three if you count Gypsy who is home from a long weekend at Grandma Phyllis and Grandma Maurice's house.

Jack arrived on Friday morning right on time in our little artificial schedule. The c-section went just as planned at 11:40 Jack William came into the world. Full of energy and fluid in his lungs. The pediatrician and nurse worked on him for a few minutes clearing his lungs and he came over to see us in perfect shape. The three of us then spent a couple of hours in the recovery area and were then visited by Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom. They left to pick up Lil who was pretty interested in meeting the new addition - she counted toes and fingers to make sure that the goods were as promised. Grandpa Maurice and Grandma Phyllis came by to welcome Jack into the family.

After everyone left we all crashed pretty early and Jack slept pretty well the first night. Saturday night was a little rougher but not too bad. Sunday was a little better but I think we are all glad to be home sleeping in our own beds. While Gypsy and Lily had a great time at the Grandparents', there is no place like home :).

Many thanks to the Grandparents who visited each day and helped keep us company as the days ran together. Thanks for all the calls and emails - we will be getting back to all of you as things settle down around here ... if that happens. Marcy is on the mend but doing great. She did a great job carrying Jack and is already getting the hang of changing boy diapers with ease - my first forays were far messier.

Ti' next week, enjoy the pics. Think of us as you sleep soundly.


Jack's first weigh in.


After the first bath. He looks a lot like Lily.


Big Sister counting toes.


Snoozing.


Lil checking out the bottle feeding.


A close up. He looks a little perturbed.


Being held by his big sister.


Lily taking Jack for walk around the hospital.


Lounging on Mom. Copying his sister's pose.


Like Mother, like son.


Jack Long Toes.


Getting lost in bed. His first night in his very own crib. Lil at the same time.

Happy Jack

Jack is here and doing great. Marcy is feeling pretty good today and everyone is hanging out at the hospital Hopefully we will all be home Monday for the regular posting.

Until then, here is Lil saying hi to her little brother:

Final Countdown

"Do you think this is really silly?" or a variation "That was really silly, wasn't it?" "This is delicious!." "I made a dreidel today for Haungida!" [translation Hanukah]. "That was a turdler [turtle] Mommy, that was so silly." Just a few of the phrases heard from our character of a kid these days.

Also these days she is slow as molasses when it comes to finishing her dinner so we have been promising her a "special treat" if she finishes her entire dinner - the special treat remains unnamed until the plate is clean. Now some of you may think that making such a promise each night could prove disastorous, especially prior to bedtime, because a child may request ice cream, candy, cookies, etc. but no in our case, when she has many options before her, she chooses a banana. So, thus far, the system seems to be working fine, albeit with a few requests for twizzlers here and there. While Mom and Dad go straight for the bad stuff, Lily prefers fruit - we wonder if we will be so lucky with the next one??

On to the weekly activities...Baby Boy K has not made an appearance, and is still scheduled to arrive in four days! Lily has kept busy at school, working away at Haunakah and Christmas projects. On Friday, she had another fun day at gymnastics, and then Mom and Lily ran some errands and ended the day hanging around the house. On Saturday, Lily braved the chill and had fun helping Dad rake the leaves, playing in her house and on her swingset, and playing with Gypsy. Hayley and Cole came for an evening visit which included some pizza and some play time in the basement. On Sunday, Lily enjoyed some time indoors playing with her toys, but also braved the cold and went out for some romping with Gypsy.

Lily wants to send out Happy Haunakah wishes to everyone and can't wait to light the menorah tomorrow night for the first night of Haunakah!

This is actually our last post prior to the arrival of Baby Boy K, and I think Dad has something up his sleeve as to how he will accomodate BBK on Lily's pad. Make sure to check the blog this weekend for a possible post re BBK deets - Lily can't wait to introduce everyone to her baby brother!!


Collecting stuff in bags in her gymnastics leotard - which she wears all day!

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Getting ready for her baby brother.


Caught in the act.


Some quality time with Mom before she has to share.