Weekend Happenings

This past weekend Jesse got to do a trial run in his fireman costume at the annual Tot Lot Halloween Party. I had to go downstairs early to help set up, but James told me that Jesse was so excited to dress up as a firefighter and that when they headed downstairs for the party, Jesse was yelling down the hallway "Everybody get out of the building. There's a fire!".

At the party Jesse had fun decorating (but most importantly eating) a pumpkin cookie, decorating a trick-or-treat bag and eating lots of other yummy goodies.

Max slept through most of the party, but he was a pretty cute little pumpkin.

Saturday afternoon we enjoyed a little bit of time at the park. It's already getting too cold to do much outside some days, so we try to take our chances when they come.

Saturday night we carved a big pumpkin. I thought Jesse might like playing with the seeds/pulp, but he thought it was yucky and didn't like getting his hands dirty.

When we asked Jesse what kind of face he wanted on his pumpkin, he said he wanted it to be sad.

Brothers

Here are a few pictures of Jesse and Max together.  I feel like the transition has gone mostly smoothly for Jesse, much smoother than I had imagined.  I kind of had the worst case scenario in mind...things like Jesse destroying everything in our apartment when I needed to nurse Max and couldn't give him my undivided attention.  This has not really been the case at all with Jesse.  He has definitely acted out more since Max's arrival, but once our life got back to "normal" (or as close to normal as it's going to get for a while...the new normal I guess you could say) Jesse really began acting much better.  That's not to say that it hasn't been a difficult transition, because it is certainly a daily challenge to keep up with two little ones, but Jesse seems to be taking it well and we are thankful for that.  He loves Max and is always wanting to know where he is/what he is doing.  Multiple times a day he comes up to him and says things like "I love you so much Max" and "Max like me?".

Here is Jesse's first time to see Max.  We had just come home from the hospital and he and my Mom were waiting on us.  When he heard us opening the door, he came running to us to see Max.  He was so excited.  I might add that Jesse looked HUGE to me as soon as Max was born.  It's like he gained 10 pounds while we were at the hospital.

Later that evening Jesse "read" some books to Max and they exchanged gifts. Jesse picked out a baby rattle for Max (he used his piggy bank money to buy it at the store...I think he felt pretty proud of himself for buying it with his own money) and Max "gave" Jesse a recycling truck.

He had to point out Max's eyes, nose, ears, etc.

These pictures were taken on Max's two-week birthday.

Last Monday (the first day for me to be alone all day with both boys), we treated Jesse to ice cream at McDonald's for being so good and such a big help that day.  Jesse was really excited to ride with Max in the double stroller for the first time, although he doesn't appear to be in this picture.

These are from today.  Jesse wanted to do tummy time with Max.

And these were some sweet ones we got when James got home this evening.  Jesse was asking to hold Max, and you can see that Max had some mixed emotions about being held by his big brother.

Max's First Bath

We gave Max his first bath right at 2 weeks old (poor baby didn't even get a sponge bath before that).  Jesse loves to help with diaper changes and bath time and he is a great helper (even if his "helping" is really just a way to keep him occupied and out of trouble).  He hands us diapers and wipes for diaper changes and helps pour water on Max during his bath as well as helps put lotion on him afterwards.

One funny thing that I want to remember is how terrified Jesse was to help with diaper changes the first two weeks.  Until Max's umbilical stump fell off, Jesse didn't want to have anything to do with it.  The first time he saw that stump, he literally shuddered and ran away and said it smelled (it didn't really smell).  We had told Jesse all about the stump before Max was born (and he had seen pictures of it in a book we read about babies), but I guess he wasn't truly prepared.  Every time we would ask him if he wanted to help change a diaper, he would say something like "No.  I not want to see this thing on Max's tummy." Now that it has fallen off, though, Jesse never wants to miss out on diaper changes.

Anyway, back to the first bath.  Here are a few pictures.  Max actually really seems to like bath time so far (he's only gotten two baths, so we'll see if that continues), unlike Jesse when he was a newborn.  Also, unlike Jesse, he hasn't pooped in the bathtub (Jesse would go multiple times whenever he got a bath, both in the tub and in his towel, which would make bath time quite a big ordeal).

First Trip to the Library

While my Mom was here, we got out one morning and took a short trip to the library.  Jesse needed some new books, and it was a nice fall day for a walk.  Max slept the entire time while I found some new books to check out, and while Jesse and Nana built towers with the blocks.  Our local library leaves a lot to be desired, but they scored a lot of points in my book by putting out some fun toys.

Jesse likes to help push Max in the stroller:

In the elevator on our way out:

Max was fast asleep as soon as we got going.

We took a nice, leisurely stroll there.  Jesse enjoyed collecting leaves along the way.

This was Jesse's Willis (used to be Sears) Tower.  He is really into building these days, and the Willis Tower is one of his favorite things to build.