Ethan - One Month

Ethan –

I can’t believe it’s already been an entire month since you entered the world and our hearts. Some say the second child is easier because you know what to expect and you don’t worry as much. Well, I don’t agree entirely. Sure we were aware there would be a lack of sleep on our part (my part) and a never ending cycle of you eating, sleeping, and pooping, but that’s really about it. For the most part I feel I worry just as much as I did with your older brother. I just worry about a larger variety of things. Before you were born I worried about you being healthy, about breastfeeding, about how I would feel about you when you were born, and about how Camden would adjust to having a little brother. Now I worry about you being healthy, about breastfeeding and about how to make sure I am giving you and your brother the individual love and attention that you both need.

You were born on a Wednesday and we left the hospital with two days later on a rainy Friday afternoon. My plan was to ride in the backseat with you like I did when we left the hospital with your brother, but I quickly realized that wasn’t possible. Welcome to life with two kids! There’s no room in the backseat with two carseats. I think we might need that minivan I’ve been wanting! Anyway, your daddy took a picture of the two of us and then I jumped in the front seat.

Our first night home went well…sort of. We quickly realized you hate laying flat. Around 3am, I had your Daddy get the car seat and you’ve been sleeping in it ever since. Whatever works right? Saturday your Grandma Ziegman arrived in Columbus. She stayed with us for a week and got a chance to get to know you and hang out with Camden.

As I mentioned, one of the main things I stressed about before you were born was breastfeeding. Well, at your two week checkup you only weighed 9 pounds 1 ounce which upset me because you weren’t back up to your birth weight. This had me stressing over breastfeeding even more, but after speaking to your pediatrician we came up with a plan. Needless to say you and I have worked through our difficulties and a week later you weighed 10 pounds!

Now there’s a new issue…You cry all the time. Don’t laugh, I’m serious. The first two weeks I kept telling everyone how good you were and how you only cry when you are wet, tired or hungry. Well, that somehow changed over the past couple of weeks. Now, the only time you are not crying is when you’re sleeping or eating. On the bright side, you do sleep well at night. You wake up every 2.5 – 3 hrs to eat and are pretty good about going back to sleep for the most part, but during the day if you’re not sleeping or eating, you’re crying. You seem to calm down if I hold you, but I can’t hold you all the time. Hopefully this crying phase will pass soon!

Our first month together has been stressful, but wonderful. I've enjoyed getting to know you and you me. Please be patient with me as I learn how to and adjust to being a mother of two. I can’t wait to see how you grow and change this coming month!

Love,

Mommy

Other fun things that happened this month –

1. Umbilical cord fell off on March 17th.

2. You had your first "real" bath.

3. 1st road trip – We went drove to Ikea and daddy’s new office.

4. Your Uncle Pat, Aunt Maya, Zane and Jude came to meet you and you had your first photo session with Aunt Maya.

Ethan - The Story of Your Birth

Ethan -

I made the decision to be induced with you and picked an induction date of Wednesday, March 2. My last day at work was Monday, February 28th and I took the day before you were born off to relax and hang out with your Daddy and brother. So the day before you were born your Daddy and I went out for breakfast and spent the rest of the morning shopping for an OSU hat for you. It was the only thing I didn’t have packed and was on a mission to find one. It took four stores, but we finally found it and when we did, I started crying. Your Daddy just stared at me and started laughing. I would have probably laughed at me too. Hormones! After finding the hat, we picked your brother up and headed to the zoo. It was our last outing, just the three of us.

Later that evening your Grandma and Grandpa Laurent came to town so that they could stay with your big brother the next morning and take him to daycare before coming up to the hospital. Your Daddy and I arrived at the hospital around 6am on the 2nd. After completing the necessary paperwork we headed to our room where the nurses hooked me up to the necessary monitors. You were not responding the way they would have liked so they monitored you for about an hour. Around 7am my doctor came in, broke my water and then started the petocin. Contractions pretty much started right away. I was told I could have an epidural whenever I wanted, but waited for some reason…a little too long and the contractions came on really strong. Your Grandma and Grandpa Laurent arrived at the hospital just as I was getting the epidural. I think this was around 10:00am or so. After I got the epidural I was able to relax, but after a while the pain started coming back. It was so bad I started crying and your Grandpa Adams got so emotional he had to leave the room. When the nurse came in I told her I thought there was something wrong with my catheter and she informed me that it was just your head coming down and that I was dilated to 9 ½! I couldn’t believe it. I always thought being induced meant a long hard labor. I was obviously wrong because it was only about 12:30pm and I was almost ready to push! The nurse raised my bed so that I was pretty much in a sitting position. This eased the pain tremendously and allowed gravity to do the work instead of me. I started pushing at approximately 1:29pm and you arrived at 2:01pm. I couldn’t believe it. My doctor said one more push and I thought she was lying. I had to push for over an hour with your brother so I wasn’t expecting you to come out so quickly, but you did. And your cry…oh it was just so adorable. As soon as you came out they put you on my chest, you stopped crying and just looked at me. It was at that moment that I fell in love with you. All through my pregnancy I was worried about how I would feel about you. How could I possibly love another child as much as I love your brother? But at that moment all of those fears went away. God has blessed me with two wonderful boys. I don’t know what I did to deserve the two of you. I thank him for you two every day.

Because I gained about 20 pounds less with you than I did with your brother, your Daddy and I thought you would weigh much less than your big brother…we were wrong. You weighed in at 9lbs 5.7oz and 21.5in long. Your brother was 9lbs 6oz and 21in long. What can I say, I have big boys! Later that day, your Grandma and Grandpa Laurent brought your big brother to the hospital to meet you. When Camden walked in, he was a little scared seeing me in the hospital bed. He said, “What happened”? I looked at him and pointed to you. I explained that you came out of my belly and he said, “That’s my brother”. As for me, I just started crying. Seeing the two of you together made the day just that much more special. Your daddy stayed at the hospital with me Wednesday night while your Grandpa Adams stayed at the house with your brother. The next morning your daddy went home, picked up Camden and came back up the hospital. We had breakfast together as a family for the first time and Camden held you for the first time that morning which just melted my heart.

Ethan – we love you so much and we’re so happy you’re finally here with us!

Love,

Mommy

Camden - 2.5 yrs

Camden J –

Oh where to begin - You have grown up so much over the past few months. The biggest news – you’ve outgrown your allergies! This has opened up a whole new world of food for you and has made cooking and eating out a lot easier for us. However, it’s still an adjustment… Things I thought you would love, you don’t. For instance, corndogs…you refuse to eat the breading. Pudding, you still prefer soy pudding. And milk…you’ll drink it but only if we bribe you. You still prefer to drink almond or soy milk.

You’ve become so independent over the past couple of months and seem to be enjoying your new room and the new found freedom that comes with it. We moved your trains and some toys in there and now you love to hang out and play in YOUR room. You especially like to do this during naptime. Yep – weekend naps are a struggle now. It appears you have no trouble taking a nap at daycare, but on the weekends you get up and start playing as soon as we close your door. When we open the door to check on you, you drop whatever toy/book is in your hand and run to your bed. One time, we found you “painting” the walls with diaper cream! Most recently, you’ve started emptying your dresser drawers. Every weekend, I have to refold and put your clothes away. I’m going to be getting locks for your drawers soon if you don’t stop.

This past Monday, your Daddy put you down for a nap, heard a noise and found that you managed to open your bedroom door (also new) and you where spraying our room, your room, Ethan’s nursery and the hallway with Downey Spray. You were so proud of yourself too. When I got home, you went around and pointed to everything you sprayed! Cute, but now there is a safety knob on your door so you can’t get out when you’re supposed to be napping!

You’ve also learned how to open the refrigerator door recently. At first, I was very excited about this. You would ask for something to drink and we would tell you to go get your sippy out of the fridge. Now, you’ve realize you can get other things out...not so good. Just please don’t mess with the eggs! I've heard stories about your daddy doing this when he was little!

Swim lessons. You were so excited about swim lessons the first few weeks and really seemed to love the water. Even going under water didn’t seem to bother you too much. However, things changed once your instructor tried to put a noodle around you. You freaked out and tried your hardest to get out of the pool. Daddy tried calming you and you wanted nothing to do with him, the pool or the noodle. After lessons, when I was putting you to bed, I asked you about the noodle and you said, “I scared”. I asked you why and you looked at me like you were trying to figure it out. I then told you Mommy and Daddy would never let anything hurt you. You responded by saying, ”I try again next time”. This was our first really conversation about feelings. I left the room almost in tears. One because I don’t want you to be scared and two because you’re growing up so fast!

It’s big boy potty time! January 17, 2011. That’s the date you first used the “big boy potty”. You sat on your little potty, peed, stood up and said “I did it!”. It was a wonderful moment. Your Daddy and I were jumping up and down and you were so proud. We haven’t really started potty training though. There are days when we ask you if you want to use the potty and you want nothing to do with it. Then there are days when you say okay, sit there, get up without going and say, “I try again later”. We don’t want to pressure you into using the potty just yet. You have so many other changes going on…

Which brings me to this coming week….We’re gearing up for your little brother’s arrival. If he doesn’t come on his own this weekend, I’ve decided to be induced on March 2nd. I’m so excited to see you and your brother together… And I’m anxious to see how your adjust once we bring him home. Tonight before bed, you wanted to read your Big Brother book. Hopefully that’s a good sign.

Daddy and I love you so much, Camden. I hope you never forget or doubt that.

Love,
Mommy

Other things to remember –
1. Your new favorite show is Dinosaur Train.
2. You’ve pretty much given up the need to sleep with Baby Monkey, George and Mickey. Now it’s just Baby Monkey.
3. You’re not too excited about wearing pull-ups. You prefer a diaper.
4. You love using blue markers at daycare. You keep using one that doesn’t come off! I swear it’s not a washable marker even though it says it is!
5. You still love basketball and golf. You love going to the driving range with Daddy.
6. You’re very independent. If we try to help with things you say,” No, I do it”.
7. You still miss your buddy Griswald (we do too). You ask about him every now and then. It breaks my heart when you try to get Winston to play and he doesn’t. Hopefully that will change soon.

Ethan's Nursery...

Ethan -

I hope you and your big brother grow up to be the bestest of friends and as close as two brothers can be, but I also want you to grow up to be your own person. Because of this, it was important to me that your Daddy and I create a space just for you, something completely different from your brother's nursery. We finally finished it today. I hope you like it!

Love,

Mommy

37 Weeks

Ethan -

Your Daddy and I are anxiously awaiting your arrival. Everything is pretty much ready to go – your room is coming along, your clothes are in your closet/dresser, the bottles are in the cabinet, and the pack-n-play is together and next to our bed. Just a few more decorations to add to your room and everything will be in place. I can’t wait to see you lying in your crib. Before bed each night, I check on Camden and then look into the nursery imagining you there.

Your big brother is excited too. He points to your room and says “Ethan’s room”. He even picked out a blue elephant to give to you when you come home. This past weekend he attended a siblings class at the hospital. I was so proud of him. When the nurse asked what your name was going to be he said, “Ethan”…Okay more like “Efan”. It was so cute! He’s so excited to be a big brother. When we ask him what he’s going to teach you he says he’s going to teach you to crash race cars. Oh what fun we’re going to have!

As for this pregnancy, you have been breech the entire time. It was a hard decision that I truly struggled with, but in the end I decided to go ahead and let my doctor attempt to turn you instead of scheduling a C-section. The procedure was a little more painful than I expected and I am now sporting a huge bruise on my lower abdomen, but the procedure worth it for a couple of reasons. One, you let the doctor turn you and handled it like a champ! The second reason…While we were waiting for the doctor, the nurse said something that really hit me and practically had me in tears. She said she believes babies are breech for a reason. They can sense their mother needs them, that their mother has something going on and because of that wants to be as close to mom’s heart has possible. I just smiled at her when she said this. This whole time I have been calling your stubborn, but now I have changed my mind and instead want to believe that what she said is true. Maybe you’ve been breech this entire time because you’ve wanted to be closer to my heart. Maybe it has been your way of reminding me of your presence and love while I’ve dealt with the stress and emotions of losing Griswald.

After leaving the hospital yesterday your Daddy and I are even more anxious about your arrival than before. We are so excited for you to join our family, to be at home with us, and to see you and Camden interacting together. This has been a long, emotional, uncomfortable pregnancy, but knowing that you will be coming home with us very soon makes it all worth it!

We can’t wait to meet you sometime in the next few weeks!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy and Camden

Happy Holidays!!!

Happy Holidays! 2010 has been an exciting and crazy year and sending out our yearly holiday card fell through the cracks! Family and friends mean the world to us and we are so very thankful to have all of you in our lives. We wish everybody a safe and very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Laurent Family

Camden - 28 months...

Camden -

You have got to be the most precious little guy ever! You have grown so much over the past few months. Your speech and the words you say just blow your daddy and I away.

Things you love at this point – basketball, golf, Mickey Mouse, trains and race cars! Oh, how you love race cars. When we’re driving down the road you say, “Mommy faster”, or “Mommy go/stop”. It makes your daddy and I laugh. And when you play with your race cars you love to crash them into each other. I keep reminding you that you are not allowed to be a racecar driver – It’s too dangerous.

One of the funniest moments recently occurred at the dinner table. The three of us were sitting there and all of a sudden your daddy and I heard something. We looked at you and you said, “I burped”. It was funny, because you didn’t actually burp, you had gas….loud gas! The three of us sat there laughing for a good five minutes.

We spent Thanksgiving Day at your Great Aunt Charlotte’s house. You had so much fun playing with your cousins. You were the youngest one, but that didn’t stop you from wrestling with them. I should mention that your daddy and I have been very hesitant when it comes to you wrestling, because you’ve been getting into trouble at daycare for tackling and pushing, but since it was a holiday and you were having so much fun we decided it was okay.

Your Aunt Maya, Uncle Pat, Zane and Jude arrived in Decatur Friday afternoon. I was a little nervous as to how you would react to Baby Jude, but was pleasantly surprised when you didn’t mind me holding or feeding him. And was even more surprised when you shared your Monkey and Mickey Mouse with him…

You and Zane had so much fun playing together and running around the “circle” at Grandma and Grandpa L’s house. You guys ran around it for a good half hour while we watched. At one point your Uncle Pat started hiding and scaring you guys. You loved it!

You came away from the weekend looking like you were in a boxing match. First, on Thanksgiving night, you were doing something you weren’t supposed to be doing. When your daddy caught you, you ran away from him laughing and fell into a small TV, bruising and scratching your cheek. Then on Friday, you and Zane were chasing each other and you fell right into the corner of a wall which gave you a horrible black eye. I think I was more upset than you were. When I ran over to you, you cried for about two minutes and then wanted down to play. All I wanted to do is hold you! We do have some memorable pics from the weekend!

Major changes are heading your way after the holidays. First, you’re moving up to a new class at daycare - Hello potty training and hello big boy cups!!! Either before or after that, when you’re your big boy room is done , you’ll be moving in to a new room and into a big boy bed. I’m a little nervous about the big boy bed for two reasons. One you love you your crib and two it’s so easy. We just put you in there and you go to sleep. You’ve never attempted to climb out…yet. When you move over, I have a feeling you’re not going to stay in bed. Instead, you’re going to want to play or something. I guess we’ll see what happens soon enough.

Camden, just know that with all the changes heading you’re way, I love you and we’ll get through them together!

Love,

Mommy