Belly aching

I'm not sure how two people who love food and eat and enjoy everything
and anything can produce not one but two kids with digestive issues.
We're on day three of little rest because our mellow little guy has
become gassy, bloated, and constipated. Poor Will.

The original

Here he is... my anti-picture taking son. His brother is taking over
the blog, so I talked him into taking this one photo to show the poor
kid hasn't been forgotten. I even got half a smile!

Will & daffodils

Our daffodils bloomed today.

Day 16

I took Will in for his two-week checkup and the little guy is almost
10 pounds -gaining twice as much in the past two weeks as expected.
He's also grown an inch. I was worried (seen one too many TLC shows
about giant babies) but was assured he's completely healthy and bigger
birthweight babies can just go through early growth spurts. Now
instead of worrying that I'm overfeeding him (he eats every hour) we
have to make sure we're feeding him enough! I should've laid off the
ice cream cakes when I was pregnant - my poor big hungry baby!

Day 16 was when Jake started crying, and never really stopped until he
was 12 weeks old. So far Will is the mellowest little guy... maybe
we're lucky and he won't have colic, or maybe having a bottle in his
mouth 90% of the time just keeps him quiet!

3:30 am

Cheering on his big bro

Will watching Jake play tee ball.

Day 13

A day short of two weeks old! And very, very serious about it.

My boys!

A rare shot of Jake close to Will!

Welcome Will!

I've posted a few quick updates from my phone but haven't formally introduced my beautiful new son, Will. It's the perfect time to do so since I just calmed him down from a feeding and have about an hour until the hungry little guy is ready for more. Thank god for bottles, and a husband willing to split up the night with me.

So the biggest question I've gotten about Will's birth so far is the date and time. He *really* was born on  at 1:11 on 1/11/11. No, I didn't have a c-section (can you really plan c-sections down to the minute anyway?) and no I definitely wasn't shooting for 1:11. I had no idea what time it was. But yes, it was a big deal in the delivery room - lots of cheering when my doctor and nurses determined the time. A few comments about calling the press, which I didn't take seriously but I've heard another set of parents at a nearby hospital had the same birth time and were on the local news.

Maybe I wasn't aware of the time because Will came a lot faster than expected. Besides a bruised tail bone that's a real pain in the ass (ha, literally) now, it was an easy labor and delivery. Will made a very calm appearance, crying only after getting a harsh rub on the head by a mean nurse. He's been a calm, sweet little guy since he showed up. His only issue is feeding - I guess bigger babies immediately go into feeding frenzies, so on top of trying to get used to sleep deprivation we have to feed him just about once an hour. Jake's first two sleepy newborn weeks we got nice 5-hour stretches of sleep. Who knew 7 ounces could make such a difference?

And our new big brother? Well, he's warming up to "baby Wheel" but still mainly ignores him. He refuses to have his picture taken with him (or at all) which is KILLING me. I have to come up with some good bribes so I can get a photo of the two of them.

I think we're all still trying to figure out this new dynamic, and stressed due to lack of sleep, trying to figure out where Will will go (right now he kind of lives in the living room), and worrying about Jake. But in spite of all the worrying, the most overwhelming feeling I have is of relief and appreciation for another perfect little baby.

Thank heaven...

For little boys. And for sisters willing to travel across the country
so I can get enough sleep to enjoy little (late- night) moments like
these... my littlest man and I cuddled up on the couch while everyone
else is asleep.

It's a BOY!

William Quinn Murphy
1/11/2011
1:11 pm
8 lbs 11 oz
19 3/4 in
Head: 37 cm

Pea coat fail

It doesn't really get cold enough to warrant a wool pea coat in San Jose, but I've been eyeing this sucker for months and when it finally went on mega-sale, I bought it for Jake. I had visions of him strolling in the park with this and his matching newsboy cap on, looking all dapper. I have to post this picture, because I don't think I'll ever be able to wrangle him into it again (the hat was a complete fail and immediately got thrown across the bedroom when I tried to put it on). This whole "I don't like" certain clothes is really not working out for me -- isn't that supposed to be one of the advantages of having a boy? You get to dress them how you want until they're like 15 or so?

Murphy #2

I've gotten three requests in the past two days for a picture of me.
Me? Not so good looking right about now, but here's the baby! A teeny,
tiny little peanut, huh? ;)

Christmas break

So much for our "family week" spent doing various day trips (I think I
even threw out the idea of an overnighter to Disney Land at one
point). Between illness and pregnancy, our week together was spent
doing quality activities like hunkering down in bed watching monster
truck videos on YouTube. Poor Jake was thrilled to return to daycare
today!

Happy New Year

Dave and I rang in 2011 in bed reading... Me finishing up "East of
Eden" (for the third or fourth time - is there a better story in the
entire world?) and Dave reading his latest issue of "Popular Science."
Dave's still on the mend from the flu and I was diagnosed yesterday
with a sinus infection and an upper respitory infection and put on
some heavy meds (I was promised they're safe for the baby) to try to
quickly clear everything up before I go into labor. Needless to say,
we both felt like sh*t. But I have to admit, if we'd both been healthy
and I'd not been pregnant, i don't think our night would've been much
different. I guess I'm lame, and old, but I'd call being curled up
next to my best friend reading a perfect new year's eve (just maybe
throw in a glass or two of bubbly).