Jake and Will - The Adventure Begins...

 William Colin Bandi entered this world at 38 weeks and 3 days - exactly like big brother Jake.  And just like Jake, Will entered the world in dramatic fashion by complete surprise.  After having some complications, I called Labor and Delivery around 3am on November 18th and they told me to come on in to be checked.  I asked Matt to stay with Jake until we knew what was going on, hoping not to rock his routine until we had to.  I drove myself to the hospital and after several hours of observation, the doctor on call came in to tell me that he thought everything was "normal" and that I could go home.  The nurse behind him must have seen the fear in my eyes as she gently shook her head no.  After the doctor left, the nurse came back to tell me that my doctor was on call next and she had already called him, told him what was going on, and he said to stay put.  So she "fumbled around" with my paperwork so as not to release me until Dr. Heirigs came on duty.  When he arrived, he agreed that it was in Will's best interest to go ahead and do the C Section that day instead of wait until I was scheduled to deliver on November 22.  I was in active labor and having contractions (although I barely felt them unlike the experience of begging for an epidural with Jake).  With the all of the complications and unknowns, he wanted to deliver immediately and bring Will safely into the world.  Matt dropped Jake off with our dear friend, Sarah, called my parents to head to Lawton to get Jake from Sarah, and headed to the hospital.  Things moved pretty fast once Daddy got there.  The nursing staff and doctors were wonderful - calm, supportive, and helpful.  We were all well taken care of! With Jake's birth, I had been in labor for so long and had so much medicine before the C Section, that I barely remember the details.  This time, I remember everything all too well and I'll spare you the play by play.  After several attempts to get my spinal to work (that made me a bit nervous), we were ready to greet our second son.

Will arrived a healthy 6lbs 14oz, 20 1/4 inches long at 11:10am on November 18, 2013.  Oma, Opa, GM, GP, and Jake arrived at the hospital in the afternoon to welcome him into the family!  Jake was so sweet and gentle (for a two year old) from the get go and continues to shower his "baby" with love and attention.  He has had no jealously issues (yet at least) and is very interested in taking care of "Baby Will."  Of course, watching a baby through the eyes of Jake is pretty funny.  Each time he cries, Jake says, "Baby Will is so crying.  I get him a tissue." Jake then proceeds to wipe his entire face with a tissue and then promptly returns it to the box.  Jake also announces what he thinks is wrong each time Will cries - he's so hungry, he's so pooping, Baby Will is so sad.  Jake the baby whisperer, at your service.

Will is a pretty laid back baby and has to be with strong willed, high spirited Jake around.  He weighs in at 10 pounds 3 ounces at 1 month old.  He is becoming more alert each day, but easily goes with the flow of our schedule.  Little brother is very interested in Jake and Jake loves to sing to him and kiss him ("On the top of the head, Jake, not the mouth.  It's cold and flu season!") Will sleeps 3-4 hours at a time at night and wakes 1-2 times to eat.  He may be laid back, but he doesn't like to be left out.  If he's in his swing while the family eats dinner, he'll let out a cry to remind you of his presence.  I'll change him, feed him, and he'll still be sad.  Once he's brought to the dinner table with the family, the crocodile tears quickly turn to a sweet smile.  His favorite pastime is to be held while sleeping!

Jake continues to amaze us with his skills, stamina when having a tantrum, and the funny things he says.  His latest phrase is, "How did I get into this mess?" as well as quoting the Geico commercials.  He also says, "I hurt my (insert any part of the body here)" and then demands a kiss on said part of the body and announces, "I ok." He even asked his gymnastics teacher to kiss his head when he hit it on the uneven bars.  After a fairly easy adjustment to little brother, life is starting to get back to normal - just in time for the craziness of the holidays!  Jake still attends school, playgroup, and gymnastics and is becoming more independent as he shares attention with Will.  "Jake do it! Jake do it!" is a commonly heard phrase at our house.  He loves to go on walks with his grandparents as well as with Mommy and Will in the stroller.  He holds onto the stroller with one hand, his sucker (my favorite bribery tool) in the other and comments on the American flags, address numbers, and lawn decorations he sees.  "It's so beautiful today!  So sunny! I love walks." "Mommy look, it's the jungle.  You know how lives there?  Zebras and giraffes." Every once in awhile he announces it's time to run and off he sprints for a short distance down the sidewalk.  I am looking forward to being able to sprint with him soon!

We look forward to introducing more family to Will as the holidays approach and we look forward to spending some special time with our precious boys in the upcoming weeks.

Shanda

October 2013

Jake has had a great fall so far and it will only get better!

Jake started gymnastics this month with his friend, Violet.  He's not very into following the directions or routine in the class, but he loves bouncing on the tumble track, chasing bubbles, and singing the bye bye song.  Every once in a while, he takes a turn in the circuit learning new skills on the mat, walking the beam, and swinging on the bars.  It's a great way for him to expend some of his bountiful energy.

Oma and Opa took Jake to see Thomas the Tank Engine in October.  He loves the choo choo trains and had a fun day with Oma and Opa including lunch and ice cream.  Now Jake likes to tell us that Oma and Opa love trains.  Wasn't it nice of Jake to take them to see the trains they love so much?

Jake is enjoying his fall days at playgroup, school, and at the park with friends.  His new favorite thing is to eat lunch at school.  He eats things there that he never eats at home and tells his teachers that it's "delicious!"  He has learned so much at school and continues to thrive there!  Today when I picked him up his teacher told me that he said, "Baby brother is coming soon."  When I was sitting with him during lunch, I said, "You are right!  Baby Will will be here soon."  To which he replied, "Why?"  His teachers had to stifle their laughter.  Jake has enjoyed doing art at school and even sits through story time now.  Ms. Maria said she was so proud when he sat through a whole story and activity that she took a picture.  That's definitely Mommy's boy - holding still is hard!  Ms. Maria also told me that he gets super excited when the lunch cart comes to the room - that would be Daddy's boy!

Our little man enjoyed a trip to the pumpkin patch and has been very excited about Halloween!  He wished everyone a "Happy Halloween" and insisted on purchasing a pumpkin each time we visited the commissary (each time it was only 54 cents to buy me a stress free shopping trip.)  He loved picking out pumpkins at the patch and insisted on carrying them out himself.  Jake's original costume was supposed to be a dinosaur, but after several attempts at a dry run in the costume, Jake finally said, "No way, Mommy.  No like dinosaur."  Keep in mind, he's pretty obsessed with dinosaurs, but apparently does not want to be one.  So we settled on Woody jammies and his beloved cowboy hat which proved to be a success.  Our little Woody enjoyed trick or treating saying, "Trick or treat! Thank you very much. See you soon!" at each house.  He was just shy enough to hold my hand and not run away.  That was a nice change of pace for a very pregnant mommy.  Daddy even made it home in time for the second half of our candy seeking journey!

Jake's physical skills are always impressive (he loves to play football, basketball, and soccer) and his verbal skills are continuing to grow.  Here are some favorite quotes and phrases lately:

"Bella, I love you.  Let's play football game.  Ok!  I tackle you."

"Jake, you are all sweaty."
"I know, Mommy, it's called run so fast."

"Hey Mommy, watch this!  54321 PENIS!"

(Jake shoots his basketball and makes a basket) - "L'Chaim!"

"Jake, do you want a pear with breakfast?"
"Ummm, I don't know.  Ask GM."

"Thank you!  My apple juice is tasty!"

"Daddy, you want car insurance?  Uh huh.  Everybody knows that.  Owls are wise." - quoting the Geico commercial

"Come check it out!"

"Tigers eat hot dogs.  Polar bears eat soap...in the bath."

"Jake, are you going to be a good big brother?"
"Ummm, actually, no."

"GP eats oranges and frogs."

"Hey, Mom, guess what?  Jake is a cute boy."

"Jake, what is that noise?"
"It's Jake throwing hanger."

"Mommy, great day at school!  Now, let's get cheeseburger."

"Roger that."

"Are you ready to meet your baby brother soon?"
"Hmmm, ok, how about gymnastics?"

"Finish your breakfast so we can go to playgroup."
"Mommy, be patient."

We can't wait to introduce you to Baby Will in our next post!  Until then, here are some pictures from the last month.

Trying out the bars at gymnastics

Balance Beam

Riding Thomas the Train with Oma and Opa

The many faces of our  Batman

Jake loves trains!

Sliding and holding hands with Violet

Another pumpkin for the collection

After nap hair, before a haircut!

Halloween art

Waiting not so patiently at the pumpkin patch

"This one!"

He loves the tractors at Lowe's

Touchdown!

Pumpkin carving with Daddy

Woody!