2 Months

This big bruiser is 2 months old today.  What to note about two month old William?  He is my only baby with a dimple in the middle of his forehead. It's only noticeable with certain expressions.  He is my first to have a cowlick on his hairline.  There is a big swirl on the right side and the hair is growing straight backwards.  We'll see what it looks like as his hair gets longer.  And he is my first baby that has developed a hemangioma.  A unique little guy, our sweet Will.  

He still is regurgitating milk all day long which makes him mad or makes his whole body shutter.  I think he is handling it better every day though.  I am working hard on getting him to nap longer than 30 minutes.  I'm not sure what wakes him up but he cannot make that transition to a deeper sleep during the day.  He is doing really well at night.  The past 3 or 4 nights, he has made it clear that he is ready for bed at 8 and is sleeping a good 6-7 hour stretch then.  Waking up once to feed him during the night is a dream compared to sitting up with him all night during that first month.

He is strong.  If he is reclined on my legs, he pulls himself up into a sitting position and holds it for a few seconds.  He repeats these ab crunches over and over.  Isa was close talking to him the other day and he punched her in the eye.  The boys doubled over laughing and keep talking about how he is strong enough to hurt an 8 year old.  

I asked Stella to help me take photos of William.  There were photos with water bottles propped up next to him, a crown on his head, a brush near his hand.  It was quite entertaining.  She's a budding photographer.  These photos below were more what I was shooting for.  Stella was the only one that could squeeze a smile out of him.  He was giving me all the serious looks.

These first three you could title "Attack". 

At his doctor's appointment on February 12, he weighed 15lbs and 14oz (95%) and was 24.5inches long (88%).  His head circumference was 15.5 inches.

Mamas

Eloisa asked me if she could wear William in the Moby Wrap.  It was a lot of fabric to tie on a little girl but we made it work.  He fell asleep almost immediately.  She was sooo happy.

And of course Stella immediately wanted a turn.  It was even harder to wrap that amount of fabric around a 4 year old.  She was so proud of herself carrying around a sleeping baby.

These girls are either hot or cold, screaming at each other or laughing hysterically together, snuggling or slapping.  I prefer these moments...

Brothers

Before William was born, I looked and looked and looked for the little white hat that Benjamin came home from the hospital in.  I knew I would not have intentionally gotten rid of it but I thought it was lost.  I have a photo of Benjamin and Sam in the same sleeper and hat and gave up getting a picture of Will. 

Two days ago I put the sleeper in the attic with the other "baby keepsakes" because it is short on William already.  Yesterday, Stella came down the stairs carrying the little hat.  She said it was in her doll diaper bag and she was using it for her babies.  So, back into the freezing cold attic I went and now I have a picture of these three sweet boys in the same little outfit.  We had to stretch the hat to get it on William's head.  

William had his one month well baby check today.  He is 6 week but we couldn't get him in earlier because of the holidays.  He is now 12lbs 12oz and 22 1/4 inches long.  

Benjamin-day he was born

 Samuel-3 days old

 William-6 weeks old

Rychener Christmas

We spent last weekend in Ohio with my family.  William has been a stinker at night.  I didn't want my other kids waking up at night to his crying so I spent the night at my Grandma's with him.  I think William has some acid reflux that keeps him up.  My grandma sits up at night with acid reflux too so they understand each other.  It was such a gift to spend a little extra time with this dear lady.  Almost 90 and still classy as ever.  

It was so nice to have my hands free to complete a task.  Little Willy Goat wants to be held upright all of the time so it's been hard to have 5 minutes to shower or brush my teeth without a crying baby.  My mom didn't mind snuggling him close.  He is always grunting and making little noises that remind us of a goat.  Hence the nickname, Willy Goat.  

My nephew, Carter, has been really shy with us the past few visits to Ohio.  This trip was different from the moment we arrived.  The kids loved having him pull them around and laugh at them.  He was such a riot and the kids didn't want to leave him.

My mom asked the girls to dry dishes.  They giggled through it and felt very proud of their job.

Grandma Pam found the boys (minus Carter and William) matching Under Armour jackets.  They were thrilled and have worn them for a solid week.  They keep insisting they don't need a coat.  Thankfully it hasn't been too bitter cold so I haven't argued.  This coming week will be a different story.  January in Indiana....my favorite!

The girls received dresses from Grandma Pam.  They told her later that they wished theirs matched.  I have a hunch she will make that happen next year.

Carter was not in the mood to have his picture taken when Matt busted out his nice camera for a grandkids photo.  We tried all sorts of bribes but in the end this is what we got.

While the kids were playing bingo, the adults decided to play a joke on my mom.  Megan's dad breeds Great Danes.  She went and picked up a 3 month old "puppy" (it was huge already) from him.  Megan came in the house with the puppy and told my mom it was a gift from her grandkids.  She looked horrified for a few minutes and was stammering over her words because she didn't want to hurt the kids' feelings if it was true.  She was beyond relieved when we all started laughing.

Bingo was a hit once again.

Raja got this hat from another Christmas and I loved him in it!

William had smiled a little bit before last weekend but we were never quite sure if it was gas or if he was actually smiling at us.  This past weekend he started focusing on people and smiling at them.  All seems right in the world when a baby holds your gaze and loves you with a smile.  

Carter had no problem posing for my camera the day after our Christmas.  I wanted a photo of my kids with my grandma.  I told him when he saw my camera that he didn't need to be in the photo.  He plopped right down on this little stool beside my grandma and put his hands on his knees.  He sat perfectly still and smiled.  It cracked us all up.

We saw a reflexologist in Bluffton on the way home from Ohio.  He adjusted William's spine and gave us some Aloe Vera Gel for acid reflux.  William has been sleeping better and doesn't seem in pain much throughout the day so we are hoping that continues.

It's been a wonderful break.  I will be sad to see the kids go back to school.