After coming home from the hospital we decided to have Miller stay with Nana for a couple of nights while we got Jacob settled at home. While the house was quiet, we enjoyed as much snuggle time and as many naps as we could.
Kate and Malley were also at Nana's so they helped provide some entertainment for Miller Man. Kate sent us this picture of Miller skinny dipping in a relative's pool. Sorry about that Harolyn! It looks like he had fun though :)
Miller came back to the "yellow house" as he calls our rental house on Friday afternoon and couldn't wait to see Jacob.
Betty Jo also stopped by to meet her newest great-grandson.
Love that sweet face. Miller has been so sweet with Jacob. He loves to hold him and touch his feet. We're still working on not touching his eyes since he likes to poke them out :) We are also working on getting him to understand that he can't climb on top of me when I'm holding or nursing Jacob. I'm pretty sure Jacob's first injury from his big brother will probably be from a rough snuggle as opposed to Miller being mean, but we'll see.
On Sunday we realized that Miller, our child who is hardly ever sick, had Roseola. Good timing. After looking online and talking with the pediatrician, we discovered that by the time we knew he had it he had already been contagious. So we tried, in vain, for a day or two to keep Miller away from Jacob, but finally gave up. Jacob may get it and it will be fine if he does, but I'm just hoping he doesn't have it when we have his newborn pictures taken on Friday. Somewhere I think a rash covering his entire body might be a little difficult to photoshop.
Even though Miller is really interested in Jacob and is sweet to him, he
is still having a hard time getting adjusted to our new family of
four. He has kicked his mommy obsession into full gear and doesn't want
anyone else to do anything for him. Obviously this is a challenge when
I have to devote about eight hours a day to nursing Jacob; a job no one
else can help with. I'm trying my best to be patient and understanding
of how much his little world has changed, but I must admit it is very
hard. I think the "understanding" tactic will only be allowed a few
more days and then he'll just have to deal with Daddy and grandparents
occasionally. We're also working on getting Jacob into a good schedule that allows me time to read to Miller before naps and bed some nights. On Monday night, I was about to lose my mind after Miller had not napped and was therefore extra cranky, clingy, and just plain unreasonable. He was going crazy from lack of sleep. After feeding Jacob, passing him off while he was screaming to Gran, and trying to get Miller settled in bed I yelled down to Bryant that he was on duty. I just really couldn't take anymore crying for the day. After the crying had finally subsided I looked on Miller's monitor to see this...
Just another reason I love that man like crazy.
Monday we gave Jacob his first sponge bath at home. I kind of feel bad we waited that long and I'm having a lot of "second child" guilt as I see how different things are when you have another child to take care of.
Gran has been sweet to help with Miller in the mornings so I can go back to sleep for an hour or two. They have found lots of fun, quiet activities to do while Jacob and I sleep.
This picture is blurry, but I had to include it. Miller has tested out every baby apparatus we have.
Jacob is such a sweet, sweet baby {as if any newborn isn't}. He is so cuddly and I can't help but wish he'd stay this little forever {maybe minus the nighttime feedings}. He does seem to have a much more sensitive tummy than Miller did as a baby. We have gone through lots of clothes, blankets, burp cloths, and Mylicon. We've elevated the head of his bed and have learned that he has to stay upright for a while after he eats. He also is really hard to burp and usually has to be burped like this:
All of these little "tricks" have made it easier for him to sleep in his bed, but right now he is usually pretty much asleep when we lay him down since we have to keep him upright for so long. I have a feeling "crying it out" will be harder with Jacob because I think he really is hurting sometimes. With Miller I knew without a doubt that he just wanted to be held so while it was hard and frustrating, I knew crying it out was exactly what he needed in order to learn to sleep on his own. Hopefully his stomach will settle down as he gets older and we can tackle putting himself to sleep in the next few weeks. I hate to jinx us, but he is already sleeping in his bed more than Miller was at this point so that's good at least.
We have had so much help and felt so loved as we've welcomed Jacob home. A few shout-outs. Thank you to Brad, Lauren, Gran & Pop for the beautiful flowers. {Sorry I failed to get a picture while they were in their prim. The irises were pretty much dead by the time I took one.}
Thanks to Poppy, Cissy, Nana, and Kate for all pitching in to keep Miller while we were in the hospital and for the first few days home. Thank you Pop for FILLING our freezer with homemade meals that only need to be heated. This will be a huge help in the months to come! Thanks to everyone who has brought us a meal! You will never know how much this really helps {well, I guess you might if you've ever had a newborn and can barely find the time to eat much less cook}. And finally, thank you Gran for staying with us and helping in so many ways. Gran has been so sweet to sleep on an air mattress in Jacob's nursery since we don't have a guest room in our rental house. I'm not sure how she's functioning on such little sleep since she often takes Jacob from me and tells me to go back to bed. She's changed diapers, washed dozens of loads of laundry, been to Walmart at least eight times I swear, played with Miller, rocked Jacob, and kept us all fed. I'm really, really not sure how I will manage when she goes home. Which we hope is not anytime soon :)
Alright, Miller is up from his "power nap" so I must run. I do feel like I've won a Nobel Peace price since they both napped in their beds at the same time today. It's the little things. Just to leave you with some sweetness though...
