Jack's birthday!

We celebrated Jack's second birthday on June 13th.  I can't believe he's already two!  We had a tractor party at our house with our family plus a fun day playing on tractors and going to lunch with Mimi, Papa and Grammy.  I think Jack really enjoyed himself!  In true Jack fashion, he ended up with a cold once all the excitement was over.  He coughed so hard last night that he threw up in the middle of the night.  I was feeding Claire, so Daddy took the brunt of the initial onslaught.  Nights like that make me grateful that my husband isn't afraid of bodily fluids!  He's much better today, thank goodness.  Meredith slept through a screaming baby, a crying Jack and all of the commotion that goes with the middle of the night drama.  Wish I could sleep like that!

Speaking of Mere, I found yet another reason to be thankful that I had a C-section with Claire the other day.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, I just don't get it.  How could Claire be in your belly and then be here?  How did she get out of there?"  I'm totally not ready to have that conversation with my three-year-old!  I showed her the scar from my C-section (which she sees daily, considering I don't think I've showered without at least one kid in the bathroom since 2008) and she was fine with that being the answer.  Whew!

A few pictures from the past few weeks:

Claire in her sun hat sitting on the deck while Meredith and Jack play outside

On the day of Jack's birthday, we went to Hartville to play at the John Deere dealership.  Jack is a man of limited interests--tractors, firetrucks and construction equipment.  He must've crawled on these tractors for over an hour

Big sister had as much fun as the birthday boy did

Playing in the Gators at Hartville Hardware



One month picture

Jack's birthday cake



For Jack's birthday party, all he wanted was to ride on my dad's tractor.  Papa was wonderful enough to bring his tractor over so he and Jack could ride it at our house during the party.

The day after the party.  We were on a party hangover and just had a relaxing morning watching movies in the playroom.  I love seeing all three of my babies together!

This week brings Jack's checkup with the ENT to make sure his tubes are still working and also his two-year checkup with the pediatrician.  I'm anxious to see how both go!  Scheduling doctors appointments around the schedules of three kids has definitely gotten interesting.

One month

Today was a milestone--the first time I got all three kids up and out of the house by myself!  I'm happy to report that we all survived.  Meredith and Jack headed to school for a few hours this morning while Claire and I went to the pediatrician for her one month checkup.  The stats: she weighed in at 8 lbs, 15.5 oz (49th percentile) and was 21.75 inches long (75th percentile).  Her head circumference was 46th percentile.  The doctor was thrilled with her progress.  She seemed a little tan still, so we did another bilirubin level just to make sure she's within normal limits.  Miss Claire also got her first shot and was a real trooper.  Now, we're just hanging out for the afternoon.  She has been eating like a champ and rarely goes longer than three hours between feedings.  This translates to 8-9 feedings a day.  I think Jack must've broken me in as far as sleep deprivation, because I'm definitely not as tired as I thought I'd be with two toddlers and a newborn.  So far, so good!

Hard to believe, but my baby Jack turns two next week.  We're planning a John Deere-themed birthday party.  I can't wait to see his face!  He transitioned great to his new place in the car.  He's sitting in the back seat and seems thrilled to have his own bin to hide toys in and a special cup holder (yep, he's my easy kid!).  He also thinks it's hilarious to crawl in the back of the car and slide all the way over on the back seat.  Ever try to haul 32 lbs of wiggly toddler out of the back of a car and into a car seat?  Meredith has been as funny as ever.  She scolded Papa the other day because he moved her picnic table and messed up her toys.  She did this complete with crossing her arms, stomping her foot and wagging her finger at him.  I forget she's not even four yet with some of the things that she tells us!  Daddy put her in timeout a few days ago for teasing Jack.  When I asked why she was in timeout, she said, "Mommy, I have no idea.  Daddy put me in timeout for teasing Jack, but Daddy teases me all the time and no one ever puts him in timeout."  We are definitely in trouble with this one!