Little Miss Independent

With barely a hug and a glance backward, Anna was off on her first trip without mom.  Jason, Grammy and Anna made the trek to Burke, Vermont, for the annual Pond Skimming weekend.  She was so excited for the trip because she had her own suitcase (featuring Buzz Lightyear, of course).  On the way to the airport she proclaimed, "This is going to be the best trip, ever!!!"  Jason sent the above picture from Boston...my little determined, independent gal.

Tummy Time

James has begun his daily workouts to beef up his back and neck muscles.  He logs a little more "tummy time" each day on his aquatic-themed "gym".  Since having James I realize how much I forgot about the newborn stage and "activities" they need to participate in.  Like tummy time.  The name cracks me up and I find it somewhat silly...but, from the moment your child is born, every nurse, doctor, book, web site, etc., pounds into your head that your baby needs to sleep on his/her back.  So, in order to avoid a flat head, James heads to the "gym".  Mom needs to follow suit...although I'll be focusing on getting ready for pool season...

Anna & James

Wanted to share this sweet picture of Anna and James.  They are still figuring out what this whole "sibling" thing means, and it's fun to watch their interactions.  Well, really Anna's interactions with James - he still doesn't do a whole lot :)...

Hide-N-Seek

While enjoying a nice afternoon outside, Anna wanted to play hide and seek. She thought her hiding spot was genius and really thought Gramma and I couldn't see her. Can you find her? :)

Big Sister Anna

It's no surprise that Anna's life has probably been the one most turned upside down by James' arrival.  From my perspective she has handled the transition from only child to "big sister" quite well.  Of course, she has had her moments and exhibited some frustrating attention seeking behavior, but we knew that was and will continue to be expected. Deep breaths and counting to 10 has helped in most cases...

What has shocked me is how BIG Anna seems to me now.  Everything about her seemed to still say baby before we had James, but now, she just looks GIANT.  She fell asleep on my lap a few days ago while watching a movie and I just marveled at how HUGE her head was in the crook of my arm.  She's definitely not a baby anymore, as the picture below shows.  (Outfit choice was one of Anna's finer combinations, I think.  :)

She is genuinely interested in the baby and wants to help by holding him, picking out diapers and clothes, giving him his paci or feeding him.  Unfortunately her attention span doesn't always last the duration of the task at hand.  Particularly feeding him, which she thinks should take approximately 4.2 seconds.  And, she always remarks on "how cute our baby is!".

So far she hasn't said anything disparaging about James to me or Jason...but apparently she told Gramma and Papa Odie that she was going to, "spit in his bed."  So, we'll just have to keep an eye on that.

On the second day James was home she said to me, "Mama, I'm so proud to have our new baby home."  I'll have to remember that if we do end up finding any spit in his bed...

Nostalgia

Baby James makes me very nostalgic for when I had Baby Anna and I've been looking through pictures from her first weeks at home.  It's funny how similar the pictures and poses are - I guess that's because babies all do the same things!  Here are my two sleeping and bathing beauties at about one week old. (Anna is in the pink :))...

One Week Old

James is one week old today – ok, time for the cliche – time flies...

Someone asked me if I felt different the second time around and the resounding answer is yes!  Everything seems more relaxed with James, I guess because we knew what to expect.  Even the sleepless nights seem less intense (not that I like them!).  But, check back in a few weeks and I could be telling a different story when the support I've had/will have flies back to Florida or New England...

Having, "been there, done that," really helps.  I laugh to think of how frazzled I remember feeling with Anna.  Now I know James will be ok if he cries a little or if I don't hold him every second of the day.  It took me six weeks to realize that with Anna.  I remember literally having an epiphany one day while trying to figure out how I was going to take a shower without passing Anna off to Jason or my mom or mom-in-law.  Then I realized, oh wait, she can just sit in her bouncy seat.  That seemingly obvious fact changed my day-to-day activities with her and I think we were both happier in the long run!

But, back to James, on his one week birthday.  I know seven days is too short a time to try and derive any true personality traits from his behavior to date, but so far he has been a mellow baby (hopefully I'm not jinxing myself here).  He likes to eat and sleep (a lot...but not in long stretches, sadly), and so far he only cries when he is naked, so diaper changes are not up on his list of fun stuff to do.  Speaking of differences...the most shocking change has been in the diaper department...wow is the plumbing different this time!  Diaper changes require serious advance prep with gauze and vaseline and a check to make sure everything is pointed in the right direction.  We've had to do lots more laundry with James than I recall with Anna...

Here are some shots at one week - needless to say we are enamored! 

Meet the Family

It's hard to believe we're a family of four (+ Tope!), but, here we are!

Anna's expression is so cute to me - to me it looks like she's thinking hard about how to feel about the little guy in her arms.  More to come on that...

For most of the first hospital visit (dressed in her ballet shoes, tights and leotard, of course!), she was more interested in the medical apparatuses around the room.  And, the Buzz Lightyear action figure her brother so thoughtfully gave her.  I dare say her Toy Story collection is complete.  Anna also brought James a set of baby toys she had lovingly (and painstakingly) picked out a few weeks earlier.  She did not understand why he would not play with them in the hospital, but she loaded up his bassinette anyways, much to the nurses' amusement.

Here are some more shots from the time in the hospital.

And James Makes Four

We are very happy to announce the birth of our son
James Owen Bergstrom.

James made his debut a week earlier than his due date, and we are very happy he decided to do so.  Not only because that means we get to meet him a whole seven days sooner than expected, but also because this boy tipped the scales at 9 lbs 5 oz!!

It still boggles my mind that he is such a big baby, considering Anna was 7 lbs 7 oz. Because of his size his birth was not uneventful, but we won't dwell on that because everyone is happy, healthy, and doing well.

As one nurse said - and I'm clinging to this with hope - big babies eat well and are great sleepers...fingers crossed.

His name has special meaning on both sides of the family - my paternal grandfather was James, my maternal great grandfather was James, and several family members on the Bergstrom side also are named James. And Owen, well, we just like that name :).

Welcome to the world, James. We love you so much already.

James Owen Bergstrom

March 7, 2011

2:32 p.m.

9 lbs 5 oz, 20.25 inches

Waiting for Change

The final countdown has commenced for the arrival of the as-of-yet-unamed baby boy.  I am very excited for us to transition to a party of 4, but I also want to embrace these last few days as a party of 3.

On a recent beautiful weekend morning we headed to breakfast and then to the park.  A park outing for us is usually about 45 minutes long but on this day we ended up staying for 2+ hours because the weather was so nice, Anna was having a blast, and we had hot coffee to keep us going.

After swinging, sliding, running and scootering to her heart's content, Anna took a little rest on "the belly". 

She then asked if we could bring her baby brother to the park one day.  So, I'm not the only one with the upcoming expansion on my mind - and I'm glad she thought this outing would be worthy of sharing in the future.