A few weeks ago, we took the kids to the Tennessee Central Railway Museum for A Day Out with Thomas. Oliver isn't way into Thomas, since we don't watch the shows or movies and don't have the toys. He mostly knows Thomas from playing with toys at my parents house (and my mom does know all the names) and from a book his other grandmother gave him last Christmas. When we went to Chicago, Oliver thought riding on the El was wonderful, and he thought the announcements at each stop were Thomas talking to him.
I got these tickets a few weeks before the event, and Oliver was very excited about going. We got there just in time to climb aboard the very last car on our train, where we sat for about 20 minutes before leaving on a 20 minute out-and-back train ride. Oliver was disappointed to realize that this train didn't talk to him and that he was going to get off the very same place he got on it. I guess he needs more authenticity in his travel.
After our brief spin, we went up to the front of the train to see Thomas himself. There was a very long line to stand on a platform right in front of him and have the kid's picture taken. Instead, we let Oliver climb on Wes's neck and just look at him while Oliver complained, once again, that Thomas would not talk to him.
We wandered around briefly to the other activities and let Ollie pick out a floor puzzle to take home (which he did, pretty much by himself, very quickly). It was a fun random outing but not something we'd go back for. I have since checked Amtrak's website to see if we could take the train down to my parent's house or out to Savannah at some point, just to add some excitement to the travel, but as it turns out, there's not passenger train station in Nashville!
I was going to do a post about Oliver, how much he's talking and his funny intonations and his likes and dislikes at this age. But then I figured he could speak for himself now, and so he has.
Or most of them anyway. I guess we need to work on "m" and "n" (more pronunciation than anything else), and "f" and "v," but not bad for 2 1/2 I think. He doesn't recognize any numbers, though he can count to twelve, so we're working on that, too. Oh, and he was looking at the letters on the Starfall page when we were videoing this. That's what he's "reading."
What's Emme like? There's only so much one can say about a person who has only been around for about 7 weeks and is changing all the time, but here's my best effort at what she's like of late. Emme loves to be held. She sleeps happily when snuggled against me or on her tummy, but she often fights sleep, even when she's clearly really tired. She likes to look around and move when really awake. She's started to have happy waking periods when she moves her arms and kicks her legs all around. I keep expecting her to roll over. She has great head control and has since birth. She can really get her arms and head up in off the ground when she's on her tummy. She has big blue eyes that get wide open, and sad little pout, and a truly pitiful cry. She likes to move -- whether on her own or in someone's arms. And she's finally started to smile. My mom got a great picture of her today with a big grin on her face.
How is she different than Ollie? To the best of my memory (which may not be great), she's a lot needier and fussier than Ollie was. He was content to lay down on his own, went to sleep nursing and stayed that way when moved in to the crib or co-sleeper, and except for being kind of gassy, wasn't too much trouble. Of course, I may have blocked out the harder stuff -- and I do know that naps were really hard for much of his infancy. As she gets older, she starts to look more like him, though a tone darker.
How's Ollie doing? He is doing great. He hasn't had any regression with potty training, and there haven't been any big temper tantrums. A few things we've noticed -- he's been drinking more milk recently, which I think might have to do with all the milk Emme drinks. He wants to be picked up more often. And he tries to give himself the hiccups because she gets them all the time. Otherwise, his behavior is pretty much normal two-year-old behavior, both good and bad. He likes to go check on Emme, put in her pacifier when she cries, and gets excited to see her when we show up at daycare. He rarely hurts her intentionally -- though sometimes he acts out by pretending to hit her -- but he has on several occasions sent her into hysterics because he bumped her in his enthusiastic play. All in all, I think he's enjoying being a big brother. His life hasn't been too disrupted by her arrival, and all the visitors that have come are just as excited to see him as her, which he likes.
What's it like having two? Hard in the usual ways, but not too bad. It helps that I have an easy toddler who is actually somewhat helpful at times. The challenging moments are when he starts acting out and I need to discipline him, especially when Emme is crying -- all of this usually happening in the evening around bedtime. Wes is sometimes gone -- working, at a dinner, or whatever, so I'm dealing with them both and trying to stay patient. Time outs sometimes work in disrupting the behavior but don't always, and I don't feel like I have much of a next step when that happens. I occasionally get a glimpse of sibling love, which is wonderful, and I'm so glad to have her here.
How are you feeling? Great. Sleepy. My body is completely healed. My milk supply is fantastic. I only have a few pounds and some tummy pooch to lose to be back in all of my pre-pregnancy clothes. My brain doesn't work as well as it might given the sleep deprivation, but aside from needing a nap, I'm doing pretty well.
Do you want more kids? No doubt. I really think Wes and I will have one or two more kids if we're able. We have so much fun with our kids, even when they're a little needy or test our patience, and I think we both envision more. We won't think seriously about it, though, until Emme is a year old, so for now, it's just something for the future.
When Ollie had his second birthday, I made a slideshow to play on the television as people walked through the living room with pictures from in utero to present day. All the pictures are ones most blog readers have seen, but it's kind of fun to see them all together (with appropriately sappy music playing). I've posted it on YouTube for anyone who wants to see all 7:37 of it. I added a few pictures from this fall, so it's now up to date. Kind of a "when there was one" tribute video.
Seeing it again makes me feel so many different things: nostalgia for that time in our lives, though I wouldn't go back to it if even given the choice; joy at seeing how much he's developed and grown; wistfulness at seeing how much he's grown up and changed; delight at the happiness that's evident throughout his short life; excitement at the thought that I get to do this with a new someone in just a short time, and share it all with my little man along with his daddy. Happy viewing.
