10 things you don't know about Gus...

1. His second toe (is that called an index toe?) is longer than his big toe.  I understand that this is a physical trait shared by some of the world's most famous geniuses.

2. Now that he has his eyes open more often, we see that they are the deepest sapphire blue.

3. From afar he appears to be completely bald, but up close you can see his little head is covered in a fine down of blonde hair.  I'm sure, like his brother, it will be years before his real hair comes in.  Lucky he's a boy.

4. He has just started gracing us with the world's sweetest smiles.

5. Gus is the proud owner of the world's largest collection of boys baby clothing sized 0-6 months.  Between Hank and Hayes' hand-me-downs and the baby gifts we have received, I am convinced that he will never need to wear the same outfit twice.  And why should he, really?!

6. He is Hank's twin, just born 2 years later.  I challenge you to tell me which baby is Hank and which is Gus in the below pictures.  Stay tuned for answers in next week's post!

7. Gus has a birth mark called a "stork bite" on the back of his neck.

8.  He laughs in his sleep sometimes.  I am desperate to catch this on tape so that I may share it with you.

9.   His right ear is smaller than his left.

10.  Hank makes Gus smile the most.  We hope it is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

A frog and a goose

Forgive me for not being more on top of my blogging, but this managing two kids thing is kind of draining.  I feel as though I am running in place, only able to focus on whatever the most urgent issue is at that very moment.  Hank has gotten into a bottle of Tylenol!! Gus has pooh leaking out of his diaper!! It's 8pm and I have not had a shower yet today!! Gus' unrelenting need to eat (who does he think he is?!) combined with Hank's "precociousness" makes it basically impossible to get anything done.

At any rate, I finally found 15 mins to sit down and write, so here I am.

Last week was kind of a big one around here:  Hank started preschool and Gus turned one month old!

After our last summer hurrah at the Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michael's, we spent Tuesday preparing for Hank's big debut at The River School.  He had been getting excited for school, especially once his teachers came to the house to introduce themselves but we were not prepared for his enthusiastic embracing of all things scholastic!  On day one he ran into the classroom and began telling everyone what was what - literally.  "This is blue, this is pink, 1! 2! 3! 4! 5!" etc. The child was bursting at the seams to learn! Or at least to teach others what he already knew.  There were none of the dreaded tears when we left, in fact, we are a bit disturbed by his lack of attachment to us.  Matt has been doing drop off duty and I take care of pick up.  Hank is pretty much worn out by the time I get there and has been sleeping like a champ in the afternoons.  Yay school!

Gus the Goose has survived his first month of life which I consider a major accomplishment given his older brother's smothering affection.  We took him to the doctor today for his one month check up and all looks well, besides a slightly misshapen head which we are going to try and fix by having him sleep on his left side (unlike his parents, Gus tends to lean right - ha ha, DC humor is so not funny).   Hopefully it will correct itself.

Gus now weighs 9 lbs 1 oz (35th percentile) and measures 22 1/4 inches long (70th percentile).  In a departure from his usual routine, Gus slept for 6 hours straight last night, albeit from 7:30pm to 1:30am, but hey, I'll take it.   We have had the help of a great night nurse for the past two weeks who is teasing me with the promise of sleep training him in the near future - I hope she can work her voodoo on the kid because I can't keep this up.  I stumble through nighttime feedings like a zombie, barely conscious.

Check out the photos below from the past 10 days...hope you all have had a smooth transition back into the swing of things post-summer!

Hank swimming with a noodle - Matt has been taking him to lessons and he is doing great! 

The Kelly boys

Hank doesn't seem too happy about his catch!

Naked time at the Perry Cabin!

First day of school!

The Hughes' visited this weekend - Always great to see them! 

Ah, life is tough. 

Hiiiiyahh! 

Endless Summer...

Or not :(

This is, in fact, the last week of summer and life as we know it before we have a school-aged child. How did this happen?!

Hank starts preschool next week and we will all need to adjust to our new schedule. Most importantly, he seems very excited to start his academic career, making requests to read his books about preschool on a regular basis. His teachers are coming tomorrow to introduce themselves so we'll see how that goes.

In preparation for the first day of school, Hank had his first hair cut yesterday. Yes, he is 2.5 and has not yet had his hair trimmed. He frankly didn't have much hair until this Spring and we decided to let it grow wild for the summer. The child has the most beautiful strawberry blonde ringlets on the planet. Or at least he did before they were hacked off yesterday. I have them in an envelope for safe keeping and can't wait for them the grow back. It was a necessary evil as his bangs were driving him crazy and he was beginning to look like an orthodox Jew. As you can see, Hank is not a fan of the salon.

The panic sets in...

Mommy and Vasti pretending that this was fun! 

Gust tries on a curl for fun.  

In the meantime, I am torn between wanting to soak up as much Hank as I can before he leaves me for school and being terrified at the prospect of taking care of both kids by myself. Gus is easy as pie at the moment but he still needs to be fed every 2hrs or so and Hank has quickly figured out that when I'm nursing I can't do much to stop his mischief making. We are compromising by having Heidi take Hank to some playdates a few days this week - I'm in the process of trying to figure out a couple of fun but manageable activities to do with the kiddos on my alone days. To all you moms who manage multiple children all by yourselves on a daily basis, I salute you!

We had our second shift of family helpers in town last week in the form of Nana and Papa Mailloux and Auntie Chanel. It was great to see them and we were grateful for their assistance with our little monkeys. Some pics below of some of our adventures with them...

Zoo time! 

Nana and Papa looking like a security detail. 

Not sure why the screaming is happening here,
but there were two cool lions just behind us when this was taken.

Hank enjoying a scalp massage from Auntie Chanel. 

The fountain at the Hirschorn Museum...Hank couldn't take his eyes off it. 

A monumental smooch! 

We have one last summer hurrah planned for Labour Day weekend - we have front row tickets to the Nats/Cardinals game on Friday night so tune-in to see us on the Tee-Vee! And Saturday we head out to St. Michaels, MD for a short family vacation on the Eastern Shore. Pool side lounging, movies, family dinners and trips to the ice cream shoppe are in store. Can't wait!

I leave you with a few cutie shots of the Kelly boys until next time.

Try to look like you like each other! Yeesh. 

An alien-looking Gus. 

Working hard on that pacifier. 

Gus 99% of the time.  Hope it lasts! 

Ten days in...

And we have survived!

It's been 10 days of adjustments, balancing, diaper changes and late night feedings, but I think we've done quite well! I was frankly terrified of what our reality would be once we were dealing with two kids under 3 but I am pleased to report that so far so good.

This is in no small part due to the efforts of our nanny Heidi who came to our house at 1am Monday morning (with her 10 month old son in tow, no less) so that we could go to the hospital knowing that Hank was in good hands. She stayed at our house with Hank until we came home on Wednesday and I think he had a great time while we were gone. We are forever indebted to her for being there for us when we needed her. I've included a photo of Heidi and her new husband, Carlos, below. We attended their wedding the day before Angus sent us to the hospital!

Not to mention Aunt Whitney! She arrived on Friday just in time to help us adjust to being at home with both kids over the weekend. She has been unbelievably helpful when it comes to caring for Hank and giving him lots of one on one attention. And she happily takes Gus when Hank needs some time with his parents. I'm already up to my ears in debt to Whitney for multiple weekends spent babysitting Hank and our cats and now I really owe her. Whitney - name your reward!

Angus is doing great at home, eating very well and sleeping pretty well too! Hank is very interested in his little brother and takes every opportunity to check him out. He likes to rock the baby in his bouncy chair or car seat and only does so in an alarmingly violent way about a third of the time. Overall he's handling the arrival of another kid on the scene like a champ.

Some great shots of this past week...

Gussy Goose

Sister Hank

Wild man Kelly!

Stretching out...