I know Luke copies a lot of things I do...

But when it comes to pumping...

it's going a bit too far!

His Good Qualities

I feel like the last several posts have been all about how naughty Luke is. And while it's true that he is often naughty (and it has gotten worse since Micah is born) I know that Luke is just testing his boundaries. He really is a good kid. A very CURIOUS good kid. Here are my favorite things about Luke:

1. I love his hugs and kisses.

2. He is very gentle with Micah and gives Micah nice kisses.

3. He will almost always stop doing his naughty thing as soon as I tell him to. He has never gotten to 3 with me.

4. If I tell him to go to time out, he actually goes-- crying, but he goes.

5. He has a great memory, so it's fun to sing and read with him because he can finish the phrases in the books and songs.

6. He has a GREAT imagination.

7. He provides plenty to blog about.

8. He is just TOO DARN CUTE.

9. I absolutely love how friendly Luke is. He accepts people right away. He fell in love with Grandma and Grandpa and Megan and Taylie within 10 minutes of meeting them.

10. I still love his fake evil laugh. He doesn't do it as much as he used to though :(

11. We have fun doing art together and reading together.

12. I love that he loves his Blankie.

13. I am impressed by how observant he is. He copies phrases I say in the exact tone I say them, and he copies what he sees in the kitchen. He can spot an air conditioner ANYWHERE (which is perhaps not one of my favorite things-- but still impressive), and he spots shapes all over the place.

14. He very rarely goes way over the line. He likes to test his boundaries, but I can tell that he also wants to be good.

15. He is mine forever.

So this is how my day started out

Mostly due to Luke. I woke up to the sound of him yelling "It's sleeping!" That would be Luke screaming in Micah's face. Luckily Micah did not wake up, and I moved him to our room before Luke could do any more damage. But here's what happened later.

1) While I was nursing Micah the first time this morning Luke went into my room (oops! forgot to close the door) and got himself wedged (very tightly) between the headboard and the mattress of our bed. So I had to detach Micah and rescue our little climber.

2) While I was nursing Micah the second time, Luke opened the door to the washer/dryer closet, got the dryer door opened, used the dryer as a stool, climbed on top, and then wedged himself in between the dryer and washing machine. Why he was trying to climb down in between them is a mystery to me. Are you sensing a pattern?

3) I put Micah in his bouncer and realized that no matter how many times I readjusted him, he kept tipping to the left. After looking at the bouncer more closely I realized that it was because the bouncer is bent in such a way that the left side is about an inch and a half lower than the right. Apparently Luke sat in it at some time.

4) Fits. All. Morning. Long. (When he wasn't climbing, he was whining.) I'll just leave it at that.

5) Luke can unlock and open the sliding door that opens onto our balcony/ mini deck. And chuck things off of it. He really likes to do that. I really hate it.

And this was after last night when Luke:

1) Pushed a chair over to the counter, climbed up, and pulled out the butcher knife.

2) Decided I was taking too long getting him out of his high chair and so took the tray off and let it fall to the floor. His dinner took a while to clean up.

3) Got into the cookie jar and took one bite out of like 5 cookies.

These stories make it sound like I'm a negligent mother, but I promise that I'm not. Most of the time he does these things when I'm even in the same room and just turn my back for a minute. I'll just say that LUKE IS FAST.

Anyway, this morning's escapades were all before 11 am. Luckily my friend Nancy came over this morning and held the fussy Micah so that I could clean up Luke's messes and regain some sanity. She must have brought a calming spirit with her because Micah fell asleep and slept until 2. Luke went right down for his nap and joy of all joys... I ACTUALLY GOT A NAP TODAY. And from nap time on the day went great. So, thank you Nancy.

Pumpkinville

Last Thursday we went to Pumpkinville with a few friends. I was worried about how I would keep up with Luke, but my friends were a big help in helping me. And just so you know, my hair didn't look that bad when we left. But it was really windy.

I am loving the baby carrier cover. This is what I got with the gift card that James send me. It attaches right onto the Baby Bjorn to keep him warm and to protect him from the wind. It also makes it so you can't see him. Sorry about that.

Again-- the hair!!!

There is a little corn maze at Pumpkinville-- nothing compared to the corn mazes in Utah, but it is still fun. And to tell the truth since Luke runs so fast I'm glad it isn't as intricate as the ones in Utah because I'd probably lose him.

Luke was the leader, of course.

Luke was very happy that his friend Tucker was there. I didn't get any pictures of them together, though. They had a blast chasing each other around the maze.

Proof that Micah was actually there too.

He's kind of bald on top-- his celestial dome. Hee Hee

After the maze Luke and Tucker each grabbed a wagon and went out to the field to find the perfect pumpkin.

I see one!

Luke got so excited that he stopped and did a little dance right in the pumpkin patch.

He LOVED pulling the wagon!

He got a little carried away. When it was time to leave I picked out the 2 best and put the rest back. Luke spent the whole time I was unloading reloading. Luckily my friend Nancy was there to help me convince Luke that we were done.

On Saturday Jared and I took Luke back to Pumpkinville, but that time it was SUPER crowded. Luke doesn't like big crowds, and he started whining and wanted to be picked up. So we ended up leaving right away. There was no point to staying if Luke wasn't going to like it. So I'm very glad that Luke and I made one trip in the morning when it wasn't crowded and he could enjoy himself and enjoy the "bumpkins" with his friends.

Not to Forget the Little Guy

Micah has had a lot of doctor visits and poking in the 3 short weeks since he made his debut. He was on the bili blanket for about 4 days (Friday October 1- Monday 4th) and a nurse came to the house to prick his foot and take a blood sample during that Sat-Tues. Rough! He met with his pediatrician for the first time when he was 10 days old (on Oct. 8) to make sure everything was still okay and that he was gaining weight. At that time, he was 8 lbs even. He was born at 7 lb 9 oz and the goal is to reach birth weight again by 2 weeks, so yep! He was gaining weight just fine.

On Tuesday (19th) we went back to the doctor for the traditional 2 week appointment which we did at 3 weeks since he had seen a doctor so much already before he reached 2 weeks. Here are his stats:

Height: 21 1/2 inches (already grown 2 1/2 inches in 3 weeks!-- 68%)

Weight: 8 lb 14 oz (42%)

Head Circumference: 14 in. (15%)

Streeetttccchhh!

This was the outfit he wore when he came home. It drowned him then, and it's already too small. He was the high water king yesterday.

Micah is a very VERY easy baby. At least I think he is. He's very easy compared to Luke anyway. The one thing he does that sort of drives Jared and I crazy is that he likes to grunt himself to sleep. It was keeping Jared and I awake at night. We tried putting him in Luke's room, but Luke would wake up and cry when Micah fussed to eat. So I sent out an email to the ward relief society to see if anyone had a bassinet we could borrow. Luckily my friend Anna was nice enough to let us use hers, so Micah sleeps in the living room at night (starting last night). It was the best night of sleep that Jared and I have had so far. So glad for the relief society email system! He still naps in the pack n' play in our room, so Micah now has 3 beds in 3 different rooms. (How do I word that so it doesn't sound like he actually has 9 beds?) Spoiled much?

Some things have changed around here

Like having not-so-great breakfasts that we can eat while Micah eats too-- yes, I'm speaking of Nutri-grain bars and Pop Tarts.

If you couldn't tell, Luke loves Pop Tarts!

Luke's Adventures (while Mom nurses)

Luke very quickly figured out that while I'm nursing I am not nearly as vigilant. Here are a few things that Luke has done in the past week while I was nursing:

1. Pushed chairs over to light switches and turned lights on and off to his heart's content.
2. Opened the refrigerator and emptied it of all yogurt-- I have since bought a lock for the refrigerator
3. While (supposedly) eating lunch, he emptied his yogurt (I assume based on the trail) first into a mixing bowl and splashed it all over the table, then dumped said yogurt into his "smoothie", took his smoothie to the carpet, and then mixed the yogurt before dumping it out on the carpet.
4. Threw every soup can in the pantry onto the pantry floor
Oh, and I almost forgot
5. He got into a big box of raisins and ate WAY too many. Don't ask about his diapers the next day. Yuck! and double yuck!

So I (thought I) wised up and started nursing Micah on the couch in the living room instead of in the rocking chair in my room. Here's what's happened since.

5. Luke reached his top toy shelf and got into his paints-- Painting basket is now over the kitchen sink. I found out by this experience that 1) Luke can reach the top shelf and 2) Luke knows how to unscrew lids. Luckily he got out a piece of paper as well and only dumped half a bottle of yellow paint on the paper. Gotta give credit where credit's due. At least it was easy to clean up.
6. When finished one side and realized all was too quiet, I went searching and I found Luke sitting in my bathroom sink rubbing an open deodorant stick all over his face.
7. Luke emptied his shirt drawer and put all of his shirts in Micah's dresser.

So now I make sure all doors are shut before I nurse Micah on the couch. And to keep Luke entertained and in one spot, I plug in the space heater and even though our house is already 70 degrees and electricity is NOT included in the rent, Luke gets to spend 20 minutes doing this:



I've got to come up with something else.

A New Respect

I have a new respect for mothers in general and those mothers I know personally in particular.

I remember thinking, while I was pregnant with Luke, a mother would really REALLY want another baby to knowingly sign up for that again. I know my mom loved Eric just as I loved Luke, but she (just like I) didn't know what she was facing the first time. So it was easy to think about cuddling a new baby and buying itty bitty cutey clothes and not really think about everything else. But when she got pregnant with Megan she KNEW-- she knew that she'd be sick and tired and emotional. And she chose it anyway. And I chose Micah knowing that I would be experiencing some of the same things.

But I didn't know about others. I didn't think about how difficult it would be to sleep-- because when Micah wakes up at 5:30 to eat and eats until 6, by the time I get his diaper changed and him back in bed, Luke is up and the day has begun. I expected that Luke would have an increase of tantrums, and I even knew that I'd be annoyed. But I didn't quite understand how exhausting that would be. And the thing that TRULY amazes and baffles me about the mothers before me (especially those who are generationally ahead of me) is that they dealt with those things without the convenience of frozen pizza and DVD players. AND their kids were closer together in age. How did they do it? How did they manage 2 kids along with cloth diapers and no dishwasher? I am truly amazed by them and slightly disgusted in myself that I can't figure out how they did it. There have been days that I don't think I'd've survived without Blue's Clues. But I guess we all just do what we have to do. And if we didn't have TV as a crutch we'd come up with something else. Like kicking your kid out in the backyard to play for awhile. (I wish I had a backyard.)

But see, my mom and Jared's mom knew about those things after kid #2 and they didn't have DVD players and such to help them out, and THEY STILL CHOSE TO HAVE MORE! Well I'll tell you what. As kid number 4 with 2 more after me, I feel sure that I wasn't an accident and even more sure that my mom #1. is awe-inspiring and #2: must have really wanted me. That makes me feel loved. So here's to my mom(s)! Thanks for all your sacrifice.

And to those of you reading this thinking that "Oh my! Does Stacy have postpartum?" the answer is no. I know exactly why my moms had more. Because no matter how frustrating some things are, the feelings that well up when you look at your children make it all worth it. And while you may feel like pulling the quilt over your head at 2 am and pretending like you don't hear the crying, as soon as you get up and hold that baby the frustration ebbs and you find yourself just looking at how perfect he is. And while the older one may be throwing tantrum after tantrum, those times in between when he comes up and hugs you or makes a funny face or pats you on the knee or brings you a brand new book (Thanks, Grandma Debbi!), you can feel just how much you love him too.

2 Week Pictures

How Big Brother is Doing

Luke has had a rough week. He loved having Grandma and Grandpa here. I didn't realize how hard of a time he was having because he was so distracted with Grandma and Grandpa, but when they left last Friday it became clear that Luke had felt pretty abandoned. He would yell and throw things when I tried to talk to him. He would run away from me or hit me when I was nursing Micah. That night he wandered out of bed and went to sleep on the hallway floor. He also woke up several times yelling for me, so I spent some of the night sleeping in bed with Luke.

It really made me want Grandma and Grandpa back!

But Megan and Taylie came on Saturday night. So on Sunday it seemed a little bit better. But Luke would still get mad when I was nursing. Luckily while Megan was here Micah was off the biliblanket the whole time, so I wasn't so confined to the room. I let Taylie and Megan take care of Micah as much as possible so that I could play with Luke more.

But on Thursday and Friday it was clear that Luke is still having a hard time adjusting. I think he finds it hard to be at home much more than we normally are. He frequently yells, "Shoes! Shoes!" when I'm nursing which is how Luke asks to go outside. He also asks for his friend Caleb. He still gets mad at me too when I'm nursing (hitting me and throwing fits when I try to talk to him). This is hard because my mom and other people gave me the same advice: to use nursing time to cuddle with the older child. I've tried to read books with Luke or sing songs with him while I nurse, but he usually runs away.

Luckily he loves his little brother. He is very gentle with Micah, and gives him kisses and helps me burp him. He also doesn't seem to harbor any resentment towards Jared. Hopefully he realizes that I still love him and gets used to my nursing soon. Because his whining is driving me crazy! And it also makes me feel sad and bad and lots of other emotions because I understand why he is acting that way.

Playing with Grandma

Luke loves to imitate what he sees-- especially what he sees in the kitchen. I practically never use my blender, but Grandma makes fruit smoothies every morning. Luke loves helping to make smoothies, and yesterday and today he has played with the blender (his "smoothie") ALL DAY LONG. He carries it around the house banging the stirrer (what is the real name?) into the top and "cooking" for us.

Here's Luke filling up the blender-- Luke has a creative mind when it comes to the culinary arts. He made a lemon, Easter egg, spaghetti smoothie. Yum!

After loading up the blender, Luke stirs his smoothie and makes whirring noises. It sounds a lot like his vacuum noises. I think his sound effects are adorable. I will try to catch a video.

Luke and his "smoothie"

Today we ventured out together for the first time. We took Grandma and Grandpa to see the fountain at Yankee Candle. This is Luke's favorite store. Here he is watching the "mouse show" with Grandma.

Luke kept Grandma on her toes running from the fountain to the lights to the snow to the circles. I think he could stay in this store all day.

Throwing pennies in the fountain

Thanks for the Swing

Micah loves it!

(and Mama loves the break)

As for added updates: everything is going so well! I am EXTREMELY grateful that Jared's parents are still here. They have been a great team playing with Luke and making sure everything gets done. Until today I feel like all I've managed to do is feed the baby, feed myself (the food that Jared's mom fixes), and try to sleep. My body had a hard time adjusting to getting up so much in the night. Micah is actually a pretty good sleeper. He wakes up to eat every 3-4 hours at night and goes right back to sleep, but my brain would wake up during the feeding and it would take me 2 hours to fall back asleep. So I got an hour nap before I had to feed the baby again. It was exhausting. I think I may have been having withdrawals from the Unisom sleeping pill that I had to take during the duration of my pregnancy to combat sickness. Whatever the reason, I needed the problem to end. Last night Jared and his dad gave me a blessing that my mind and heart would be at ease and that I would be able to sleep. What relief! I did! Whenever I felt my mind start spinning, I would whisper to myself, "God is with me. God is with me," and I'd drift right off. I feel so amazed and grateful that every prayer and problem has been answered quickly and lovingly for us. Our blessings are overflowing.

Speaking of blessings, one of my greatest concerns was breast feeding. It was a big struggle with Luke, but feeding is going well so far. Micah latches right on, he usually eats for around 30 minutes each feeding, and he is already back to his birthweight. Because of his bilirubin levels, a nurse was coming to the house everyday to do a heel prick (thank goodness that is over!) but he had to be weighed each day as well. He gained about 3 ounces a day. I think I must have pretty good milk. What a relief!

The boys' room is almost done. Jared's mom was so nice and made the bumpers for me while I slept. I can't wait till everything is in place-- there will definitely be a post with pictures because they may end up with the CUTEST ROOM EVER.

And Luke is eating up the attention he is receiving. He still isn't too interested in Micah, but I think it's mostly because Micah is most often tucked away sleeping in my room, so Luke isn't around him as much. Yesterday was the first full day off the biliblanket, so it was also the first day that Micah could really join the family. Luke liked watching him in the swing. He touches Micah's hair and says, "so soft."

Hello World!

Introducing Micah Brent Wilkerson!!!

Micah Brent Wilkerson

Born September 29, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Weighing in at 7 lbs 9 oz

19 inches long

Micah is a natural eater. He latched right on even before he'd even had a bath. He has a strong suck, and I was happily surprised at how "easy" nursing can be. Trying to feed Luke was a totally different experience.

Micah felt a lot better after his bath. He would have felt even better if people had left him alone during the night, but no... we both have to be prodded and poked every few hours. This is Micah the next morning. He is a lot less red and so much cuter. I didn't have to push for very long, so Micah didn't have a cone head like Luke did.

Luke and Grandma and Grandpa came to meet Micah on Thursday morning. Luke wasn't very interested in his baby brother at all. The room had waaaayyyy too many buttons for a baby to hold his attention.

"Phone! Phone! Yep. It has buttons."

We got to leave the hospital on Friday right before noon. I kept asking when we were getting out of there! The hospital was fine: good food, etc. but I was anxious to be left alone and to sleep in my own bed.

This is Micah on his way home from the hospital.

Give me back my binky!

Luke likes his baby brother a lot more than I expected. He hasn't cried once because I was holding the baby.

The only bad news: Micah has high bilirubin (jaundice), so he had to come home with a biliblanket, and he has to get poked and prodded some more.

Here's our little glow worm wrapped up with his biliblanket. Hopefully he'll be off of it soon. He's already had 2 stools today which is supposed to be a good sign, and my milk is coming in, so that should help too.

We love our little Micah!