Second Child Syndrome

I never believed the rumors of the neglected second child. How could we not pay as much attention to our sweet little Jake as we did Lukas? Answer-LUKAS. It is so hard to give a second little baby as much attention as you did your first when there is another little person running around the house. It is nearly impossible to give as much time to each little coo and movement. Instead we are managing Lukas' every move. I did not realize this until this weekend when Jakob had us all to himself for the first time since we left the hospital 10 months ago. Poor Jake.

It was wonderful to talk to Jake and sing to Jake. We went out to lunch with just Jake and I have never seen him happier. We went for walks and just played. It was amazing and a piece of cake. I am so glad we had that day together because it reminded us how Jake often takes a backseat to Lukas. We are making more of an effort to constantly talk to Jake and make sure he is part of everything instead of just sitting and watching. Jake is just the sweetest little guy, Lukas is so lucky to have him!

Our little photo shoot of Jakob.

Monster

Our little monster is turning into a little shrimp. The former big guy is only at the 30th percentile for weight and height. Only a little heavier than his brother at this time! Crazy how much they change. I pictured him as this big football player...not so much, baseball it is!

Hours of fun!

Yes, a swing set is supposed to be hours of fun....or HOURS OF INSTALLATION! What an experience this has been! We have put in about 30 hours and STILL have not installed the slide. You would think a slide would be easy, but no this is a huge, yellow tunnel slide. How did we get in to this mess? Let me tell you.

Ever since last year I have been CONVINCED that I want a swing set for the boys this summer. I have this whimsical picture of myself making lunch and cooking dinner (who am I kidding?) while looking out the window at my boys nicely playing on the swing set. Crazy, yes. However, I talked myself into it. After a nice tax return, I decided we would fulfill my dream. And so, the search began. I looked at every website and read every review. While Rainbows are obviously the Corvettes of swing sets, I was not interested. Then the Costco swing set appeared and we had to have it. 3 trips back and forth and 6 GIGANTIC boxes later, the swing set arrived at our home. 

THEN came the fun part. We have spent 2 full and one half day putting this together. Matt and me...a baby and a two year old. NOT EASY. The neighbors all told us we were crazy and laughed as I pushed a crying baby back and forth in a stroller and begged Lukas to stop rolling around in mud, all while trying to read Matt the directions. Sunburned faces, rain soaked hair. Hilarious...to others, yes...to me...NO!

We finally have it all done but the slide (which Lukas reminds us and anyone who asks of the swing set of EVERYDAY)! 

What made this all worth while was when Lukas started swinging and telling us how much fun he had. How he climbs up to his fort and screams, "I king of the world". How he tells his Daddy thank you. How his little gapped tooth smile takes up his whole face when he runs to his new fort. Really could it get any better?

YES, it can. HIRE someone to put up a swing set!...lesson learned!

Day 1, hour 1 

Day 2

End of day 2 

30 hours later...slide still to be complete!