Crazy Mom

For some reason I was thinking about this last night before I fell asleep.  It's back on my mind again this morning, so I thought I'd say my piece here, as opposed to facebook, where I'm less likely to offend people.  ;)

I have Avery in a rear-facing car seat still.  She'll be two years old in less than two weeks, and after her birthday, she will remain rear rear-facing.  I do this because rear-facing is SAFER!!  It doesn't matter how old she is, rear-facing will ALWAYS be safer.  So, yes, I am the crazy mom who has her two-year old rear-facing.  And if she hasn't hit the weight limit by then, will have her three-year old rear-facing as well.  Only when a child reaches the rear-facing weight limit does it become safer to turn them around.  Honestly, why wouldn't you keep your kid in the safest position for as long as possible?!  It baffles me when I see kids turned around when they are so little.  Just because your child is a year old (or heaven forbid, even younger, because I've seen that too) does not mean that they are ready to be turned around.  I know no one wants to think they're going to be in an accident, but why not protect your children the best you can, just in case.  I don't think my house is going to burn down, but I have insurance.  I care A LOT more about my children than I do about my house.  Our convertible car seats have a rear-facing weight limit of 40 and 45 lbs.  Rest assured, when Avery hits 41 lbs, I'm trading out her carseat and leaving her rear-facing a little bit longer.  Because that's how important this is to me.  I get on a few different soap boxes, things I'm unappologetically passionate about, and carseat safety is one of them.  No, if I get in an accident, my kids won't break their legs.  Look it up, it doesn't happen like that.  No, my kids aren't uncomfortable.  They bend their legs and make themselves plenty comfortable, they don't know any different.  Sure, we've had some problems with the kids getting fussy on long car trips, this isn't going to change if the position of their carseat changes.  Yes, if I take your kid in my car and they are under the weight limit, I WILL install their carseat rear-facing.  No, I don't care if they don't like it or fuss because they've been forward-facing for a year or more in your car.  Because your kids' safety is just as important to me as my kids' safety.  And I don't want anything happening to your kids under my watch, so I will do EVERYTHING I can to keep them safe.  I would hope you would do the same for my child.  Still not convinced that this crazy mom has any clue what she's talking about?  Check out what these people, organizations, and government agencies have to say:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was established in 1970 by the Highway Safety Act.  Their purpose is to achieve the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety.  They are also responsible for reducing the number of death, injuries, and economic losses due to motor vehicle crashes.  They are run through the federal government.

They say the following regarding carseat safety, "Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible. It’s the best way to keep him or her safe. Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat’s manufacturer."  This is in the 1-3 years section regarding rear-facing seats.

http://www.safercar.gov/parents/Right-Car-Seat-Age-Size.htm

Our local government echos the call of the federal government.  While rear-facing is not a LAW passed one year of age, they strongly recommend leaving your child rear facing as long as you can.  The Kansas Department of Health, Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Traffic Safety Resource Office, and Safe Kids Kansas say exactly the same thing regarding 1-3 year old children's car seats.

"Keep your child rear facing as long as possible.  It's the best way to keep him or her safe.  Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by the car seat’s manufacturer."

http://www.kansasboosterseat.org/

The Riley County Police Department further explain Kansas car seat laws.  This was posted on their website 3 short months ago, so all information is current and up to date with National and Kansas standards.

"To maximize safety, keep your child in the car seat for as long as possible, as long as the child fits within the manufacturer's height and weight requirements."

"Convertible and 3-in-1 car seats typically have higher height and weight limits for the rear-facing position, allowing you to keep your child rear-facing for a longer period of time."

"Children ages 1 to 3 years of age. Keep your child rear-facing as long as possible.  It's the best way to keep them safe. Your child should remain in a rear-facing car seat until he or she reaches the top height or weight limit allowed by your car seat's manufacturer. One your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, your child is ready to travel in a forward-facing car seat with a harness."

http://www.rileycountypolice.org/news/2014/06/16/child-seat-laws-explained

Getting tired of hearing this same thing yet?  You'd think with all of this information out there, that more parents would keep their kids rear-facing and not be so eager to turn them around.  Yet, I cannot count the number of parents I know who wait until that first birthday (or worse, don't wait, yes, I've seen someone do it) and immediately turn the seat around.  Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.  A few more sources and their opinions on car seat safety...

SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. is the national, non-profit organization dedicated to child passenger safety.  Their mission is to help reduce the number of serious and fatal traffic injuries suffered by children by promoting the correct, consistent use of safety seats and safety belts.  Their FAQ section answered several questions and further reiterated the importance of keeping children rear-facing as long as possible.  They explain the physical risks of turning a seat front-facing too early.

"When can I turn my baby around to face forward in
the car?
When he is at least 2 years old, and preferably longer.  (Swedish children ride rear-facing until at least three years old in safety seats made to fit
larger children.) In a crash, an infant's spinal cord may stretch if she is riding facing forward, and the baby could die or be paralyzed for life. This is true even for babies who have strong neck muscles and good head control. For children between age 1 and 2, it is 5 times safer to ride facing the back of the car.
Most convertible safety seats can be used facing the rear up to 35-45 pounds. So there is no reason to turn your baby forward before age one and risk spinal injury. Do not use a rear-facing-only seat if
your baby weighs more than the maximum shown in the instructions (22-35 lbs.) or if her head is within an inch of the top edge of the seat. When
using a convertible seat rear-facing, make sure the child's head is below the top of the safety seat, so that the head is not exposed to contact with the vehicle interior."

They go on to say, " Why is facing rearward so important?
Babies have heavy heads and fragile necks. The neck bones are soft, and the ligaments are stretchy. 
If the baby is facing forward in a frontal crash (the most common and most severe type of crash), the body is held back by the straps, but the head is not.
The head is thrust forward, stretching the neck.  Older children and adults wearing safety belts may end up with temporary neck injuries. But a baby's neck bones are soft and actually separate during a
crash, and the spinal cord can tear. It's like yanking an electrical plug out of a socket by the cord and breaking the wires.
In contrast, when a baby rides facing rearward, the whole body--head, neck, and torso--is cradled by the back of the safety seat in a frontal crash. Facing rearward also protects the baby better in other
types of crashes, particularly side impacts."

Finally, they go on to debunk the rear-facing leg injury concern.  They say, "Is it safe for my rear-facing baby’s feet to touch the vehicle seatback?
There is no evidence that longer legs are at risk of injury in a crash; in fact, leg and foot injuries are more common in children facing the front of the
car. Most children learn to fold up their legs for comfort when their feet touch the back of the
vehicle seat. The only physical limit on rear-facing use is when the child's head comes near the top of the safety seat. At this point, the child should be moved to a rear-facing convertible restraint. For
taller rear-facing children, the concern is not potential leg injuries but possible head contact with the vehicle interior in a severe rear impact or during rebound from a severe frontal collision. This can be
controlled by using a rear-facing seat equipped with a rear-facing tether (Swedish style)."

http://www.carseat.org/Resources/FAQs.htm

The American Academy of Pediatrics actually recommends you leave your child rear-facing for AT LEAST 2 years, then go on to recommend children stay rear-facing as long as their seats allow.

"All infants and toddlers should ride in a Rear-Facing Car Seat until they are at least 2 years of age or until they reach the highest weight or height allowed by their car seat's manufacturer."

http://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/on-the-go/pages/Car-Safety-Seats-Information-for-Families.aspx

Finally, the New York Times published and article BACK IN 2011(!!!) Talking about the American Academy of Pediatric's recommendation to keep children rear-facing until at least 2 years of age.  The safety benefits cannot be overstated.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/health/policy/22carseat.html?_r=0

So yes, I'm the crazy mom with her two-year old still rear-facing.  I also vaccinate.  ;)

4 month pictures

16 lbs 10 oz (76th %ile)
26 in (86th %ile)
Head circumference 91st %ile

Growing up quick!

Connor now:
-Rolls front to back and back to front
-Swats and bats at toys
-Brings toys and his hands to his mouth
-Sits with assistance
-Stands with assistance
-Kicks and bounces
-Giggles when his ribs and thighs are tickled
-Coos and squeals
-Scoots and slides (very slowly)

He is amazing!  :D

Connor (almost) 4 Months

My sweet baby boy has blessed my life so much in his 4 short months of life!  His sister is talking and getting well into her own personality, so we often talk of her instead.  But this post is all about Connor and the light he brings to my life.  :)

Connor turns 4 months old on Sunday.  I can't believe time has gone by so fast!  In 2 more months he'll be starting solid foods!  He's very close to rolling over both directions.  He loves to be held so he can stand.  The last several nights he's gone to bed at 8pm and slept until 5-6am (9-10 hrs).  I suppose I can't complain too much because he's sleeping really well!  And I get to go back to sleep after feeding him, so that's nice too.  :)  In another week I'll have his current height and weight for you.  Connor loves to smile, laugh, and coo.  He makes a happy screechy sound when he gets super excited.  :)  Connor gets distracted sometimes when he's supposed to be eating and just looks up at me and smiles.  Then, as if shy, he'll go back to eating when he catches me smiling back at him.  Avery has been trying my patience lately, and in those moments I'm so grateful for Connor's sweet smile, gentle nature, and unconditional love.  He keeps me level headed (to an extent).  He is truly a blessing to me.  :)  I can't wait to see the man he becomes.  I hope he takes after his Daddy and becomes a wonderful man who makes his mother proud and who some sweet girl will love to dote on for the rest of his life.  :)  I am a very blessed woman with an incredible family.  But for today, I am especially grateful for my son, Connor.

Doors

Avery has learned to open doors. 

I'll say it once again for those of you that aren't as distressed as you should be, Avery has learned to open DOORS! 

Along with the door opening, Avery has been resisting naps lately because she can just walk out of her bedroom. To counter that, we decided that we needed to lock her door so that she can't get out. The door locks on the inside, so Jen and I have to use a screwdriver or a penny to unlock it. No big deal. Oh, except for the fact that she has learned to unlock her door. 

Avery can UNLOCK her DOOR!

Ok, we say. No big deal. We will simply buy some of those door knob cover things that you have to squeeze to open to door. You know, the annoying little plastic things. We know they will annoy us, but hey, at least Avery will stay in her room during naps right? Right!? 

Wrong.

Avery can take apart and remove the child proof door knob covers. 

AVERY CAN TAKE APART... (phew getting to tired to finish that sentence)

We are hoping it was just a fluke and if not, I think I'll try taping or gluing the thing together or something. Avery is too smart for me. I don't know how I will survive her teenage years...

Can I have a glass of water?

One of Avery's favorite movies right now is Horton Hears a Who, which she affectionately calls the "elephant movie". For those of you that haven't seen it, it's a cute movie. One of the main characters is called the Mayor (Steve Carell) and he has 96 daughters and one son named Jo Jo. Avery knows Jo Jo and says his name while watching the movie (along with some others like "mayor", "elephant", "bird", and "monkey"). In one scene, the mayor is putting his daughters to bed, going around and kissing each one. The very last one looks up and says "Daddy, can I have a glass of water?" and then every other daughter asks too. 

Well when I was putting Avery to bed the other night, I had just given her a kiss, and she looks up at me and says "Daddy, water please." I gently reminded her that she had some milk in her hand. She looked down at it and gave a nonchalant shrug, and started drinking it, and went to sleep. 

One last story. Jen drinks coffee most mornings and our daughter knows that enough to be able to say "Coffee". The other day, she climbed up on a stool near the counter where Jen makes her morning coffee and found the stirring spoon and some sugar packets. She grabbed an empty sugar packet and began shaking it, then pretended to pour it on the spoon. She grabbed the spoon, put it to her mouth and pretended to drink while saying "Mmmm, coffee!!" Later that day, she was walking around with a "cup" and a what appeared to her to be a coffee dispenser. She would hold the two of them together and "drink" from the cup and said again "Mmm, coffee!!". 

Sometimes I forget just how much Avery (and Connor for that matter) are learning from us. She is copying just about everything we do, even the small things like shaking the sugar packet so it's easier to pour. It's a good reminder that we need to watch what we do around them and try to behave like the people we want them to become. Even if I am not always teaching, Avery is always learning.

Fall is Coming!!!!!!

Started this a few days ago, but never got around to posting it.  Going to add a few more things and post today.  ;)

For those of you who don't know, Fall is my absolute FAVORITE season!!  It has all the best things.  My favorite time of the year is Oct. 1-Jan. 1.  I know this includes some winter too, but it also incompasses all the great holidays and just enough winter to enjoy, but not so much that I get sick of it, lol.  Fall is the best because it's when football season starts and the majority of it is played, it's when I break out the crock pot a lot and make good hearty meals (and in turn put on some winter weight, lol), it's hoodie weather when the crisp autumn days arrive and the sky turns gloomy, you'll also need your hoodies for those friday night football games (which I'm going to try to attend at least one or two this season, at one high school or another, lol, makes no difference to me), it's leaves turning red, brown, and gold and falling off the trees, it's coffee out on the deck in the morning in your pj's, it's leaving the windows open at night and wanting to stay snuggled warm in bed as opposed to getting up, all the most wonderful things are in the fall.  :)

Michael has totally been kicking my butt in blogging lately.  :P  I'm glad he's putting stories on here again, and when we look back, it won't be just my memories and point of view.

Feeling very happy and thankful this morning as each morning feels distinctly more fall.  :)  I'm so glad we have this big, beautiful home to live in and raise our kids in.  We've been blessed to live here for 2.5 years nows.  I'm thankful for my sweet daughter who wakes up so happy.  And although she's got a little terrible two streak she's going through right now, she still remembers her pleases and thank yous.  I'm thankful for my handsome baby boy.  I didn't know what I was missing until he came into our lives, but I'm so incredibly happy that we chose to have another baby.  He gives me happiness when the rest of world can seem very chaotic.  I'm so blessed by my husband and best friend, Michael.  He goes to work each day and provides for our family so I can stay home with our kiddos.  Then, he comes home and watches Avery so I can have a short break.  He's truly my partner in life.  I love him so dearly.  Finally, I'm thankful, once again, for fall coming.  I love these cool mornings, sitting on my couch drinking coffee.  Looking forward to a wonderful new season of life.  :)  So blessed.

Favorite Words

Avery is very close to full on talking. She expresses complete thoughts, and most of her words are relatively clear. Not that long ago though, she wasn't speaking quite clear and I have two favorite words from her.

I would pick Avery up, and while doing so, I'd say "Scoop!" and she'll repeat "Spoot!" which is just absolutely adorable.

My other favorite is whenever we do her hair, we use the little rubber band things that we call "ponytails or ponies" because it's easier than saying "little rubber band things". Well if she sees those rubber bands lying around, she'll call them by name, but instead of ponies, it's "po-tees". Again, just absolutely adorable.

Brown-Eyed Babies

I decided I post too much on facebook.  So instead of posting a facebook status every ten minutes, when I think of something I want to say, I'm going to try to post on here more frequently.  :)

Both of my babies' eyes are turning brown.  :\  I'm kinda sad about this.  Avery's eyes didn't start turning brown until she was about a year old.  Connor's only 3 months, and his are already turning!  Where did my blue-eyed babies go?!?!

Garage Sale!!

Well, I felt like I needed to blog again, because Michael has been blogging and I've been slacking, lol.  Michael doesn't blog much, and I made a comment about it one day, and since then he's tried harder and has post twice recently.  :)  Maybe he can help me keep up and be more regular on the blog front and the goings-on in the family.  ;)

I'm on here today to talk about the garage sale that Mama, Sis, and I are having this weekend!  We had one last year and it went pretty well (with the exception of it being tremendously hot).  So we decided to purge our homes again and give it another try.  :)  So we're having a garage sale this Thursday-Saturday.  We'll also have another one the weekend of September 11-13th where we'll sell anything we have left and get rid of the rest to the Goodwill.  The weekend in September is the weekend of our community garage sale, so we'll figure we'll have more traffic that weekend.  Sis has been scouring pinterest for ideas on how to have a successful garage sale.  :P  We'll see how it goes!  Wish us luck!  Last year Michael and I took the money we earned with us to Vegas.  This year our money is going towards our 6 year anniversary vacation (that we'll hopefully be able to afford despite plenty of medical bills).  So if you have any tips, feel free to pass them on!  And if you have any stuff you want to get rid of, bring it on over!  :D

Excellent Food makes a Comeback

One of the things that Jen was not excited about while she was pregnant was cooking. She kept up with the house, chased the kids, kept track of the laundry, but by the time dinner rolled around, she was exhausted. That often meant that dinner was up to me, and I am (admittedly) not a great cook. That means that we had pasta, grilled cheese, more pasta, fast food, freezer meals, and hamburgers. 

Well with Jen's new surge of post-pregnancy energy, great food has come back to the Voss Household! We have enjoyed Ratatouille, Monster Muffins, Filipino Chicken, Homemade popcorn, Pho, 12 layered Jello, and Creme Brulee! And those are just some of the things that I've had in the last few weeks! 

Jen loves to cook, and it is exciting to try her new recipes and to see her enjoying herself. I can't wait to see what tasty food lie in my future!

Harry Potter Marathon

Jen and I have been going though a Harry Potter marathon lately. We have made it through the first 4 movies and are on the Triwizard Tournament (Goblet of Fire for you non book people :P ). I haven't watched the first two movies in quite a while because Jen watched them with her cousins a bunch when she was a kid, so we always skip to the third movie. It was good getting to see those again. At any rate, We were watching part of the Goblet of fire last night after a long car ride from Iowa and Voldemort says "Do you really want to know what happened all of those years ago? Well I will tell you!" And then Jen turns off the movie! I will have to wait to see what actually happened! 

Baby Voss is Almost Here! 2.0

I typed and saved the first half of the story, but my app is glitchy at the moment, so I'm finishing the story here.  ;)

We'd just barely got on the road when we got the text from Nick that Maggie was up to 8cm!  Woohoo!!  Now that's some progress!  It was 5pm when we heard that new/got on the road.  I worried that we wouldn't make it in time and hoped the baby wouldn't arrive while we were on the road.  We still had 2.5 hrs to go.  Our ETA was 7:30.

The drive went by quietly and the kids did great.  At 7:15 I texted Nick to make sure everything was still going ok (and because Maggie had told me she was going to rest, so I wasn't going to disturb her).  He told me she was up to 8-9cm.  We were only 15 minutes away at this point and I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that we'd be there in time.  :)

It's now 7:22 and we're still on the road.  We have one more stop to make.  We're going to get Nick some food, because I'm not sure that he's eaten all day.  I asked him about food and got a text that I read to mean that he would like something to eat.  Poor guy, no one ever thinks about the husband.  :(  So food for Nick, and then to the hospital!  Baby Voss will be making his or her arrival very soon!  I'll keep you informed!  :)

Avery Anecdotes

My daughter is so silly!

*Holds up one finger*
A: Minute!
J: Just a minute!
A: Second!
J: Just a second!

*Climbs up one side of the couch, gets down, runs to the other side*
A: Other side!

*Running back and forth between her room and our room*
A: Running!  Faster, faster, faster!

*Brings me two mismatched socks and a pair of socks*
A: Toes
J: Do you want me to help you with your socks?
A: Socks, help
J: What do you say?
A: Please, Mommy
J: Ok, I'll help you.
*Avery insists the mismatched socks go on her feet and the matching pair goes on her hands.  I assist her in getting them all on*
A: Thank you!
*Runs off.  Comes back with her toy computer in her sock hands.  Takes socks off of her hands and feet.  Puts mismatched socks on her hands, continues to play with her computer*

*Dayton runs back and forth through the house.  Avery stands aside, watching*
A: Yay, Dayton!
*Begins clapping*
(I see a cheerleader in the making)
;)

Just a few of the silly things Avery's done today.  She is so smart!  I just love her!  She learns so much every day!  I am amazed!!  :D

16 Days To Tugfest!!

Hello all!

Here's a quick update on the Voss family:
-Michael is working hard, as always
-The yard looks great!
-We've had lots of tomatoes and a few peppers out of our garden!  Much better than last year!
-I quit my job at the jewelry store and am now a full-time wife and mommy.  Best.  Job.  Ever!!!
-Since I'm no longer pregnant it's been WONDERFUL to get back in the kitchen.  I missed cooking.
-Avery is getting tall, about ready to pass Dayton!
-Avery is learning colors and animal sounds
-She loves playing outdoors and in her pool and water table
-She loves her brother!
-Connor is sleeping through the night (10+ hrs the last 4 nights)
-Connor is smiling and cooing more, way cute!

Ok, now that the update is done, on to excitement about Tugfest!!  It's that time of year again!  Tugfest is a little over 2 weeks away!  I am sooo excited!  I'm going to start packing soon!  I have lots of to-do lists to work through before our trip.  It should be interesting taking 2 babies this year!

Wrote this a few days ago, forgot to post...

Two Months

Can't believe it's been so long since I blogged!  Connor is 2 months old now and doing great!  He weighs 13 pounds, 12 ounces.  He's also 24.25 inches long.  This is close to Avery's size at 4-5 months.  He's in the 87th-96th percentiles in his height, weight, and head circumference.  He's definitely growing!!  This doesn't surprise me, because he eats constantly, lol!  Avery loves him!  We're all doing quite well.

I don't think I've mentioned on here that I quit my job at Belden's.  There were a number of reasons for me coming to this decision, but the biggest one was that I wanted to spend more time at home with Michael and the babies.  I know I get plenty of time with the babies as it is, but this way I get time with Michael too.  Nights and weekends are the only time he's home, so by quitting my job, I get to see him a lot more.  The job was also getting a little more stressful than it was enjoyable, so it was the right time for me to go.

In other news, we're going to Tugfest in less than a month!!  Woooohooo!!  One of my favorite times of the year is almost here!  And this year we get to share it with Avery and Connor!  :D  It should be LOTS of fun!!  I can't wait!  I've already begun making lists of things to do around the house, things to pack, and things to buy at the store to prepare for our trip!  I'm pumped!!  :)

Finally, in less than a month, Michael and I will have a new niece or nephew!  Nick and Maggie's baby is due July 27th, but if he or she doesn't arrive on time, Maggie will be induced no later than August 5th.  Can't wait to see the baby and find out if it's a boy or a girl!  I'm far to impatient to not find out.  Maggie and Nick have incredible will power!  Can't wait to meet the newest member of the Voss clan!  :)

Well, I'd write more, but Avery is up from her nap and is probably hungry, so I better go.  Thanks for reading!

Strong Boy!

I know I've blogged before about how strong Connor is, but I need to say it again.  Last night he managed to wiggle himself out of his swaddle, he also wiggled himself down to the other end of the end, having rotated 180 degrees in the process.  Good thing I've already dealt with Avery having moved out of my field of vision on the monitor, no little heart attacks this time around thinking he's missing.  ;)  However, I don't think it was this early that Avery was doing all of this!  Connor is just getting so big and strong so fast!  Can't believe all he's able to do already!  Holding his head up, rolling tummy to back, bearing weight on his legs, exceptionally strong arms and legs, and now moving around his crib!  He is one impressive baby!  :)  Can't wait to see how he continues to grow!!  :D

Nursing

The thing with nursing is that you never really know how much your baby is eating.  I know Connor eats well and often.  I know he's gaining weight and growing, so I'm not worried about him or his health.  But I am curious.  ;)  Well, tonight Connor slept from 9:30pm to 5:30am!  That's right!  My 4 week old baby boy slept 8 hours!!!  :D  This is AWESOME because I got some much needed sleep.  Actually, he may have slept longer, but when Michael asked me if I wanted him to get Connor up, I was really full and uncomfortable, so I said yes.  Since I remember what it was like with Avery to nurse while being this full, I knew that if Connor ate on one side, I'd leak on the other, so I decided to pump on that side.  After it was all said and done I had managed to pump 5 ounces as well as give Connor a very full belly!  :D  I feel very accomplished!  Back to sleep now with the victory of lots of milk, being "deflated" again, and lots of sleep to keep me happy!  :D  Night!

4 Weeks (tomorrow)

Well, tomorrow Connor will be 4 weeks old!!  On Saturday he'll be a month old!  Time has gone by soooo fast!  We are LOVING having Connor in our lives and family!  He's a wonderful baby and an absolute joy!!  Here's how the first month has gone...

Sleep
While he's not sleeping through the night yet, he is sleeping well, and I think he's on his way.  In the first week he'd sleep for 2-3 hrs at a time (at night) before waking up to feed.  In the second week he was up to 3-4 hrs at a time.  By week 3 he was up to 3-6 hrs during each stretch (mostly sleeping through Michael's 9pm-2am shift).  In week 4 we've regressed a little, maybe he's going through a growth spurt, he's back down to 3-5 hrs, more often 3-4 hrs.  I'm ready for him to be sleeping through the night, but I'd settle fpr only getting up once between 9pm and 7am.  I'm sure we'll be there soon.  ;)

Eating
Connor is a rockstar eater!!  After he was born and did over an hour of skin-to-skin, I nursed him.  He nursed for over an hour, close to an hour and a half, right off the bat!!  He was born weighing 7 pounds, 12 ounces.  Two days after his birth we met with our family physician and he was down to 7 pounds.  She explained that she wanted to see him once a week until he gained back up to his birth weight.  I expected this to take a couple of weeks like it did with Avery.  But no, my constantly eating, growing, baby boy gained 13 ounces that next week.  By the following appointment he was at 7 pounds 13 ounces.  ;)  He still eats almost constantly.  Most of the time if he's awake, he wants to be nursing.  ;)  He's a very hungry little guy!!  Even though he weighed more than Avery at birth, he was MUCH skinnier!  He was all skin, bones, and MUSCLE, no fat on him.  I think that if my platelets hadn't been falling and we hadn't induced labor, that he would have stayed in another week or so, put on some more weight, and fattened himself up some more (remember, I calculated my due date at May 16th, based on my ovulation kit).  He has done well and gained weight since then.  I'll take him to get him weighed on Friday and we'll see him much he's put on in a month.  :)  Connor has only been nursed or had pumped bottles.  He's had no formula yet.  In fact, he's only had 3 pumped bottles so far.  He doesn't like them, but in a pinch he'll take them.  He doesn't like pacifiers either.  :P  Only mom will do.  ;)

Strength
As I said before, Connor was born all skin, bone, and muscle.  With no fat in his arms or legs it was EASY to see all the muscles there.  His head and neck control has been really impressive from the beginning.  Now he holds his head up pretty well, most of the time.  At 2 weeks old he rolled himself over from his tummy to his back.  I thought it was a fluke, Avery did the same thing (only once) when she was really young.  Well, I put him back on his belly, and wouldn't you know it, he did it again!!  :D  Then, this weekend, at 3.5 weeks old, he did it again at Glenn and Linda's once, and twice when we got home!!  After 5 times, it's looking less like a fluke.  Two different days, three different places, and five rolls, it's looking a little more deliberate.  He is an incredibly strong baby!  This skill is usually seen in 3-4 month olds!!  Now you see why I'm so impressed and proud of my little guy for doing this so early!!  :D  I think it's his impecable leg strength that's giving him this great edge on his fellow baby competition.  ;)  He's already bearing his own weight on his legs for a few seconds at a time, sometimes as long as ten seconds!  :D  I expect some decent athletic abilities out of this kiddo!  He will have gotten all of these from his Daddy, as I KNOW he didn't get them from me!!  ;)

Personality
We haven't seen a lot of Connor's personality yet, as he's sleeping more often than not.  What we have seen and noticed has been very special.  :)  Connor will smile in his sleep and has started giving us a few smiles while he's awake too.  :)  We are loving his little grins and hope to see many more.  Connor is a very calm and easy going baby.  He's very accepting and/or forgiving of Avery's (sometimes) rough love.  He loves looking around and really seems to be taking things in when he's awake.  Like many babies, he loves staring at fans and lights.  Like his sister, he doesn't make a lot of eye contact because he tends to be looking everywhere else but at you.  Connor DOES NOT like the carseat!  But after crying for a couple minutes, he falls asleep and rides peacefully for quite a while (2.5 hrs to Topeka).  He's getting used to bath time more and more and no longer cries when he'a put in his seat.  Although he still cries when being washed.

Looks
I'm sure you've all seen pictures of him, but I'll include a couple new ones in this post.  :)  Connor's hair has lightened since he was born.  It's now a light to medium brown.  It curls when it's wet and has some waves when dry.  His eyes are still a dark, cobalt blue.  He's got his Daddy's long eyelashes, but they are light and blonde in color instead of dark like Michael's and Avery's.  Finally, he has exceptionally long fingers!  We've been saying that they're cello fingers, but they'd also be well suited for piano.  Hopefully he's got some musical talents.  ;)

Well, I'd write more, but I think I'm going to call it quits for now.  Connor just spat up the entire content of his stomach on himself and me.  Luckily, the floor and couches seem relatively unaffected.  ;)  The joys of motherhood.  :P  Enjoy the pics, and thanks for reading!  :D