Success!! (?)

I'm a little afraid to say this. Like if I write it on here our luck will end. But I'm going to write it anyway. I think Tyler is officially potty trained! And the reason I'm afraid to say it is because I think it's a little too good to be true. Because it was really pretty easy. I am sure that there will still be occasional accidents, but I am holding my breath, hoping that he really is trained! He has been going strong for two weeks, including naps and overnight.

I think it went so easily for two reasons. One, is that he just absolutely wants to do everything himself and be completely independent. He fully dresses and undresses himself, he loves to do things for us and for Carsten and if you accidentally help him with something it's like committing a major crime in Tyler World. So the independence of using the toilet is just one more things he was ready to do all by himself. The only problems we've had at all have been if we tried to help him with any part of the process. He absolutely must do everything himself.

The second reason I think it went well is actually Carsten. I think it was a great distraction for Tyler. He's been getting lots of attention for it, a lot of one-on-one time and a pretty sweet reward at a time where he's also getting used to sharing us with a new baby.

 

He was so ready for it, even before Carsten was born, but we didn't want to be dealing with that right before the baby came. So we waited. But he has now been completely out of diapers for two weeks and doing fantastically! He picked out Cars underwear (even though he'd never seen the movie), so we decided to watch it with him to get him excited about wearing them. Conveniently, he loved the movie and it's almost all he talks about. So we got a car transporter truck from Cars to put up in the living room where he could see it. Then everyday he stayed dry all day he earned a car to put in the truck. When he got all seven cars, he got to keep the truck. It took him nine days to earn all seven and two nights ago he got to keep his truck and cars. It was very exciting.

Carsten has had to spend a little extra time in the hallway outside the bathroom door when we had to quick race to the bathroom. 

 But he didn't seem to mind. What a good little sport.

 

Now here's hoping that Tyler keeps going strong without cars to work towards! So far, so good.  :-)

Happy One Month, Carsten!

I know I keep saying this, but this last month has flown by! Carsten was one month old yesterday. Crazy! Here are a few of his one month photos.

I couldn't keep him both awake and happy for these pictures. I choose sleeping verses crying.

 

I forgot to take the sign away after I put his onesie on. I guess I really wanted to remember he was one month old!

 

Tyler wanted in on the pictures too. 26 months!

 

People are always saying that Carsten looks just like Tyler. And to be honest, Carl and I don't usually think so. I guess we just see their unique differences instead of the similarities. :-) There are times when Carsten is wearing something Tyler wore and he reminds me of him. But most of the time I don't think they look that much alike.

 

But just for fun, I tried to recreate Tyler's one month picture with Carsten.

 







Tyler

 

Carsten

 I guess they look a little alike. :-) 

The other day I was looking back at my blog of Tyler's baby pictures and I looked down at Carsten who had the exact same expression on his face and I told Carl I think we had the same baby twice. I don't think it often, but once in awhile it is hard to deny. They are definitely brothers. I've always wanted twins. And once in a great while I think I just might have gotten them. Two years apart.



Our Staycation

I cannot believe how fast this last month has gone. Carsten is one month old today! The time my parents were here went by in a blink, but the last two weeks that Carl had off for paternity leave went in an even faster blink. He went back to work today. But we lived up every moment of his time off. I really thought we would be hanging out at home more. You know, relaxing, sleeping... And we did a little bit. But we also took advantage of the time we had together as a family and did a lot of fun things. It was kind of like we were on vacation at home. And it was awesome. I got to sleep in until 8 or 8:30 everyday while Carl got up with Tyler. And from there it just got better. We went to parks had a picnic at a beach, walked to Dairy Queen for ice cream, went to the Mall of America twice, the zoo and the Children's Museum.

We've also had some fun visitors! Aunt Emma came last week for one night. We enjoyed a lunch at Five Guys and a trip to Cupcake for dessert. Delicious!

And this weekend Uncle Matt and Aunt Janelle came. They were excited to meet Baby Carsten and to spoil Tyler a little bit. They wanted to take him somewhere fun and decided to go to Sea Life at the Mall of America. Carl and I thought that would be a great chance for us to do a little shopping without him around. So we went with but we split up for a really fun little mini date (with Carsten) when we got there. We didn't really get to the shopping part, because we saw mini golf first and got distracted. We both got Hole in Ones and Carl won a free game! We pretty much rocked it. Oh yeah, and I won. :-)

Our Dairy Queen Trip and a cool rock along the way :-)

 

At the zoo! This goose walked us from our car almost all the way to the entrance. Tyler thought it was awesome. I was afraid he was going to get bit. He kept walking right up to us and basically walked about two feet away from the stroller the whole time.

 

Cupcakes!

 

The best parts of the Children's Museum: The rock climbing wall...

 

the ant hill...

the Grocery Store...

 

 and this dog house. Of course.  :-)

 

Reading with Matt and Janelle

Surprise golf date!

And this guy. Love him!

Such a fun two weeks. Tyler is going to be so bored after four weeks full of visitors, two weeks full of time with Daddy and lots of fun adventures! I just hope I can keep up with him.  :-)

The Two's

Two Weeks:

Carsten is actually three weeks old today (wow!), but I'm writing about back in the day when he was still just two weeks. :-)  He had his two week check-up on Tuesday, which was actually his third doctor's appointment since coming home from the hospital. The first was a weight/jaundice/eye check up. He had lost enough weight in the hospital that they wanted to make sure he was gaining it back. He didn't really have jaundice, but he was a little on the edge and since Tyler had it pretty badly, they wanted to make sure it didn't get worse. And they prescribed an ointment for his eyes the day we left the hospital because they were basically swollen shut. The ointment worked like magic and they were better within just a couple of days. His second appointment was because we thought he had scratched his eye. He pokes himself in the eye when he sucks on his thumb and shortly after pulling his little fingers (and fingernails) out of his eyes one day I noticed there was a red line down the white part of his eye that looked like a nasty scratch. I called and they said we should bring him in right away. So they put some dye in his eye and held a light up to it and thankfully, it was not a scratch. They said it was a trauma from birth and that it would probably go away in about a month. Anyway, by the time we went in for his two week appointment he was already a pro at doctor's visits. We are thankful for a very healthy little boy, who is apparently an eating machine. He was 7 lb, 12 oz. when he was born and 7 lb. 2 oz when we left the hospital. But by his two week check up (when they want them to be back to birth weight) he was already 8 lb, 7 oz (50th percentile)! Grow, baby, grow! He was 21 3/4 inches (90th percentile) and his head is the 75th percentile.

Carsten is still a very sweet and happy baby. He usually only ever cries if he is cold or hungry. He is very patient with his big brother and puts up with all of his attempts to play with him very nicely. We love this boy. :-)

These are his sad little eyes in the hospital. They were actually even worse the next morning. :-)

 

 

 

 

Two Years:

 

And then there is my awesome, one in a million little two year old. Tyler always keeps us laughing. And while this past week he's also kept us exhausted, he is so much fun. He really is coming around. In fact today, he hasn't had a single meltdown or rule-testing moment. He's been amazing. But we have gone through lots of melt downs and rule testing to get to this point in the past couple of weeks!

 

Tyler's big news this week is that he started wearing underwear! We will see how long it takes and how well it goes, but he's doing pretty well so far! There have been a couple accidents. But he even went with Carl to pick up our new dishwasher this morning and we went to a park for lunch without any. Way to go Tyler!

 

These are some of my latest favorite Tyler moments:

 

Carl: Where did you get those big muscles?

Tyler: The grocery store. Opening doors.

 

Carl (to me): We should remember that when we get our kids their first cars.

Tyler (from the back seat): I buy car when I have enough money. (Really? You're already saving for that? How old do you think you are?!)

 

My mom taught him to talk in a British accent when she was trying to keep him awake in the car. Now he points out every water tower he sees. With a British accent.

 

He currently thinks he's a super hero and "flies" everywhere. He doesn't actually know who Batman is, but he wears his shirt and cape and calls himself an Incredible Vegetable (from Veggie Tales).

 



Have you ever seen a super hero in a bassinet? It's intimidating.

 

Sleep has taken a back seat to just about everything else for him again. It's been taking him 2 1/2 hours to fall asleep at night lately! This is how we found him a few nights ago.

 

I tried really hard to get a picture when he had the potato head arms tucked under his arms and a hat on his head, but he got away to quickly.

Helping Daddy "snow blow".

My little cool dude.



Brotherly Love

While suddenly having a baby brother around was a little bit of an adjustment at first, Tyler loves his new role of Big Brother. It's a job he takes very seriously. He's always loved to be my helper, so it is no surprise that he loves to help with the baby. I told a few people before Carsten was born that I had no fears about how gentle Tyler would be with the baby or if he would like him, I was more afraid that he might be a little too helpful. I was pretty much right on. He's very careful and loving and gentle with him. But he thinks he can do anything we do with the baby. He has tried a couple of times to pick him up all on his own. Tyler loves to help, but he's also very sensitive about it. It breaks his heart into a million pieces if he thinks he's helping and is told not to. So we're trying really hard to teach him that he always needs to ask to hold him and let us help him. We don't want the poor guy to get into trouble just for loving his brother!

Tyler has come a long way in the 'loving his brother' department since he met him at the hospital. That first day all he really would do is touch Carsten's head. He barely sat still for a picture with him and he would have thrown him right off his lap if Carl wasn't helping him hold him. I asked him once if he loved his brother and he completely ignored me. I asked if he liked him and he said yes right away. A few days later he was ready to admit that he loves him. :-) Those first few days when we came home he really didn't like it when Carsten cried. I don't think he really knew what to do. He would want to give him a toy, but then when Carsten didn't take it and get excited he would feel bad about it. And mostly he just didn't want to talk about the baby at all.

Now that we've been home for two weeks, he is a pro at being a big brother. He asks to hold him often. He constantly brings him toys and stuffed animals to play with. He loves being the one to pick out his clothes, get his diaper, and lay a blanket out on the floor for him. He likes to push his swing and I think his favorite thing might be helping with bath time. If Carsten spits up, he takes off running for a burp cloth. He also is constantly talking about when he himself was born. He says it about almost everything Carsten does or wears. "I do that I born." He's been enjoying hearing stories about the things he used to do when he was born or what he did or didn't like. And he likes to look at baby pictures of himself that look a little like Carsten.

Tyler never calls his brother Carsten. It is always "Baby Carsten". And whenever Carsten is getting into trouble (you know, like when he pees on his own face or projectile poops while being changed), Tyler loves to say, "Carsten Malachi!" He's also been calling himself Tyler Malachi. We've been working on that though, and I think he remembers it's Tyler Daniel now. :-)

 This was right after we got home from the hospital. Tyler was still very unsure.

 

 

Both of them were happier by themselves in these pictures.

 

But we did manage to get this one free of tears from Carsten or random rolling all over the floor by Tyler.

Tyler's coming around - although Carsten still doesn't seem sure.

And it's official. Tyler loves his brother.

 

Tyler was sooo excited to wear matching shirts!

I love watching these two together. At this point obviously Carsten mostly just sits there and looks at him. But it is fun to watch Tyler study him. He really does like him. He went from telling me not to help Carsten if he was crying, to singing songs and trying to help him all on his own. It is very sweet. Both of these boys are so sweet and I am excited to watch them become best little friends.

Family of Four

I can't even tell you what a perfect fit Carsten is for our family. When we go out as a family of four, it just feels right. Like there was a little missing piece to our puzzle. Our first week home from the hospital flew by in record speed. When my parents left it really felt like they'd only been here a couple of days, not two weeks! They were amazing. They took such good care of us. They made us meals, cleaned up after us, did our laundry, and helped with our boys. It was so good for Tyler to have them here - they were a great distraction when Carl was at work and I was busy with Carsten. He was very loved by lots of people in those first couple of weeks. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do when they left. I knew that I wanted to be my normal self for Tyler, but I wasn't. I couldn't lift him up. I couldn't play with him the way I normally would - no running around and being crazy. And I had a baby to care for. But I think when they left he realized that I still could snuggle up and read him stories, play games with him and take care of him and he has settled back into normal life pretty well. Thank goodness! Because there were several days of major melt downs and him climbing up or hiding behind things, knowing I couldn't do anything about it! I am very thankful that it was only a few days before he got back to his normal self. The very hardest part of having our second baby was the fact that Tyler took it out on me. He was missing me and wanting to be around me, but when I would try to play with him he would say he wanted some one else. And for at least a week I was about the last person on his list of people to talk to. He didn't want hugs or kisses or really anything from me. It was so sad. I was missing him a lot. And I am so glad to have him back!

When my parents left I had two days on my own while Carl worked. They went really well! We stayed home Thursday, but we went to play group on Friday and it was so great to get out and do something normal! Now Carl is off for two weeks and we are so thankful and excited to have him at home with us.

We take a lot of pictures. I'm going to try my best to choose an appropriate number to post on here. :-)

Mother's Day at the hospital. Maybe not the best place in the world to spend that day, but I spent it with the best people! And I got spoiled. My boys brought me a Hot Apple Blast from Caribou, a beautiful necklace (that Tyler insisted on putting on me himself - it took a long time), flowers and a giant giraffe balloon. Also picked out by Tyler. :-)

 And it was my first Mother's Day with this sweet little man!

 

Getting ready for his first car ride home.

 

 Saying good-bye to Grandma Ronni and Papa Joe.

 

I can't get enough of this little face.

I have lots more to write about, so I will get on here again as soon as I can for more updates on our crazy, beautiful new life. :-)

Carsten Malachi

I can't believe that it has already been two weeks since I met my sweet little Carsten. Two weeks ago we headed to the hospital while I freaked out about being awake for surgery. I couldn't wait to meet him, but I was so nervous about the actual surgery that I actually told Carl that since technically I wasn't in labor, so we could just turn around and go home. I'm so glad we didn't. :-)

Our last two weeks has been a blur - it has flown by so fast it's crazy. My parents were here to help out until yesterday morning and that was an incredible blessing. They were so helpful in every single way. They did laundry, made meals, cleaned and helped with both kids. They were so good to Tyler - he loved having them here and it was so nice to know that he was getting attention even when I couldn't give it. And on their last night here they even watched both boys so that Carl and I could go out for a dessert date at Crave!

It is so fun to see the difference in personalities between Tyler and Carsten, even at such a young age. It's kind of amazing. When I was pregnant with Tyler, he never, ever stopped moving. I called him my little karate kid and he hasn't stopped moving since. Even his delivery was crazy and adventurous like he has been from the minute he was born. Carsten still moved a lot when I was pregnant but it was more like calm, mild, rolling around. And he is proving to be a very calm and chill baby. He is a good eater and a good sleeper and just all around very content.

We are so blessed and excited to be a family of four. Carsten is the perfect addition to our family in every single way.

 Carl got to trim the cord this time. And he didn't even pass out!

 

 I know this isn't the most flattering picture of me, but I will never, ever forget this moment of holding my baby boy for the first time when he was only minutes old. Amazing.

 

Proud Daddy!

Our sweet Carsten.

Tyler meeting his baby brother. Still a little unsure, but he did touch his head. :-)

Enjoying his big brother cake from the hospital. What a fun surprise!

 

I have many more pictures to put on here, but since we have owned five different cameras in the last two weeks (long story), I'm going to have to do some organizing before I can put them up.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have some more recent ones for you!