Brotherly Love

Wyatt has really seemed to take to Sam and all of my fears of Wyatt feeling replaced or jealous seem to be for nothing. Wyatt is very interested in "Baby" or "Nam" as he calls little brother and likes to help feed Sam his bottle, give out kisses (especially when Sam is crying), lay down next to him under the blankets while he sleeps and simply check things out during diaper changes.

I do, however, have to keep an eagle eye on the boys and can NEVER leave them alone even for a second. Wyatt likes to lean on brother to get in close for the kiss and I caught him pushing on brother to the beat of the music the other day, which I'm sure was just his way of dancing with little brother. Luckily I rounded the corner after about 5 seconds to stop Wyatt and Sam appeared to be no worse for the wear as he continued to snooze away.

Ross has been such a help with the boys and gets Wyatt out of the house for some one on one time a lot, which is good not only for the two of them but for me as well as I usually try to sneak in a nap. I have to admit that mothering is so much easier the second time around. I know how to fed, burp, rock, and change him and I don't take the crying personal like I did with Wyatt. As Ross kept reminding me, he's a baby and he's supposed to cry- a concept now that seems so logical but with Wyatt was so hard to accept. Ross and Nancy took Wyatt for a walk to our neighborhood lake to feed the ducks last week. It was Wyatt's first time doing this and from what I hear, he thought it was pretty neat.

Sam is doing well but is still pretty jaundiced. We had him tested on Thursday and luckily his billirubin levels came back within range so no medical intervention was necessary. Because of his premature birth and the jaundice, Sam likes to sleep pretty much all day long. If he was awake for 2 hours yesterday I'd say we were lucky. Hopefully the jaundice clears up soon and we can enjoy an awake baby more often.

Holding Sam

Wyatt asked to hold Sam for the first time this morning so we had him sit in the rocking chair and handed the baby over. Wyatt was very gentle with his little brother and enjoyed pointing out Sam's eyes and then his own. We just need to make sure he isn't actually touching brother's eyes, just pointing at them.

When asked what he thought of Samuel Wyatt responded with a thumbs up.

Here is some video footage we captured of the moment...

Welcome Samuel Thomas

I got a wet surprise on Tuesday morning when our second son put me on notice that he was arriving a month early, ready or not. Ross hustled home from work and drove me to the hospital and seven hours later Samuel Thomas Tucci was born via planned c-section at 12:36 p.m. Sam weighed in at 6 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long, beating out big brother Wyatt, who was full term, by one ounce and a half inch.

Per hospital protocol regarding babies born before 37 weeks, Samuel had to be observed in the NICU for the first 6 hours but Ross was able to spend time with him in there and the nursing staff brought him in to visit with me frequently so I could feed him. By 7 p.m. he was released to our room for good.

Sam looks a lot like his brother, has gun metal grey eyes, brown hair and the beginnings of long eyelashes. He doesn't seem to have the dimple chin that his dad and brother share but he does sneeze like Ross in long repetitive stints as I counted a series of 6 sneezes in a row Tuesday. How adorable!!

We had lots of visitors at the hospital, including Ross' brother Nick who flew in from California that day when he heard about his nephew's impending arrival. Nick and Ross' mom were also kind enough to stay at our house and care for Wyatt while we were away and Nick is still visiting with us now.

One of the best parts of Tuesday, besides meeting our little angel of course, was to see Wyatt meet Sam for the first time. Here is some video of that precious moment.



Samuel and I both had check-ups today. I had my staples removed and he had his first well child check, weighing in at a reduced 5 pounds, 15 ounces. All in all, we are doing great.

Ross has been such a help and had to assist with Sam's feedings those first two days as we supplemented formula through a siringe as my milk came in so the little munchkin wouldn't loose too much weight. If we have gotten 12 hours of sleep total in the last three nights we're lucky but we are riding such a high with our two boys that we haven't hit the wall yet.

Sam is a very noisy sleeper with moans and groans much of the night, a symphony that resulted in 2-3 hours of sleep for me last night. After some reassuring from the Doc that he's just making baby noises and nothing is "wrong" I hope to sleep better tonight.

Samuel is a great eater and loves to cuddle and it's been a lot of fun to hold such a tiny baby again. Truth be told, I never really appreciated Wyatt's smallness when I was a first time mom but now that Wyatt is over 20 pounds, 6 pound Sam is such a drastic change.

How blessed we are...

February Update

Wow! Did I really miss blogging all of January?! I bet you thought I had that baby early or something. Nope, he's still cooking for another 4 weeks (unless he has other plans).

We had a very busy January highlighted with a trip to California to visit not only my parents, sister and her son but my dad's parents who I hadn't spent any real time with in more than five years. It was such a wonderful visit and (Great) Grandma and Grandpa loved meeting their two great grandsons. We will have to do this again when #2 shows up and make the trek out to New Mexico where they live.

Wyatt loved seeing his cousin again for just the second time. Alex is 7 months old and so adorable!! Wyatt and he loved to just stare at each other and touch hands a little bit.

It was fun for Ross and I to see such a young baby again too and even helped introduce Alex to some new foods. Here he is eating pear.

Wyatt is growing like crazy and so am I as Baby #2 gears up for his impending arrival. I was NOT this big with Wyatt and didn't realize a belly could stick so far out in front. Standing for any period of time seems exhausting these days while laying down makes me feel like a turtle stuck on his shell. I have to build up momentum by rocking back and forth at night to get up and use the bathroom. Fun stuff!!

Wyatt is more active by the minute and his vocabulary to really starting to build. New words this week include biscuit, bee and egg (which is now one of his morning favorites). He is also starting to respond to us with more than a nod yes or no and will now say "I do" when we ask him if he wants something. He has also started telling us "I poo-pooed", which is hysterical and functional all at the same time.

Wyatt's has developed a real fascination with President Obama and waves at the TV every time he seems him. He also points at him and shouts something that sounds like grandpa but I think he's trying to say "Obama".

He also has a new fascination with sock fuzz between his toes and will spend 10 minutes or more pulling his sock on and off and carefully searching between each toe for the cotton bounty.

This week he has finally started helping me with the laundry, which means no more (or should I say less) pulling the dirty clothes out of the washer, pulling wet clothes out of the drier and tossing the folded laundry around the bonus room. This week he cleared the lint from the lint catcher and put it onto top of the drier and helped me carry folded clothes to the bedrooms to get put away. What a nice change.

Wyatt is also developing an interest in sports on TV, specifically football and basketball, and yells and points at the TV when they come on. He loves to clap and scream at the TV, which is his (loud) version of cheering. He also loves the high-fives and chest bumps with dad (okay that's a joke).

I have been doing a lot of Baby #2 shopping online and I think we are officially all set for his arrival whenever he decides to make his entrance. We cleaned out the car yesterday and installed Wyatt's big boy car seat, which means he will now be facing forward. I'm trying to get him to have some ownership in the chair before little brother shows up and takes over all of his stuff, including the infant car seat. I'm praying Wyatt will have a relatively smooth adjustment to another baby in the house. He seems to love babies and I'm hoping he will think his brother is the best thing since Elmo. Wish us all luck.