Is it Spring yet?

Germany

I do enjoy the the walks that I am able to take with the boys. Will will put on his hat, bring me Jack's hat and coat and climb into the pusher when he wants to go for a walk. Now the beauty of this is he is usually tired and once we get down the lift, out the front door, and in front of the gate he's usually sleeping. I enjoy taking afternoon walks with Will sleeping and Jack is happy if he's sleeping or not so it gives me sometime to think.

I have been spending so much time writing about Will and Jack, I almost forget about our experience in Germany as well.  I think this is good because we are settled here and what once seemed foreign is now normal.   As I was on a walk this week with the boys, I spent some time reflecting about things I am going to miss when we return to the US.  For example, I will miss our neighborhood and the large, old trees and the dogs that we see as we enter the grocery store.  I kept thinking that we don't know a life in the US with kids, so that in and of itself will be an adjustment.  What will it be like with big parking lots again and having a large fridge and freezer?  Will I still watch as many news shows?  Will we continue to go for walks in the snow, just because?  What will our Sundays be like?  We will know the answers in  time, but for now I am appreciating the scenery of our neighborhood and the routine we have developed here.  There are parts of our lifestyle that we will keep and I'm sure others that we'll change back, but I kept thinking of what a great opportunity it has been for us to try something different.

Will and his brother

Lots of people asked if Will understood that he was going to be a big brother before Jack was born.  Honestly, he was 19 months old when Jack was born and so I highly doubt it. He lives in the moment and a baby at his house is abstract to him.  He did know that my belly was big and that was about it and thank goodness he also has noticed it is gone.  

Now that Jack has arrived I could not ask for him to be better.  He isn't jealous of Jack (yet) and he is a good independent player when necessary. Sometimes he'll want me to sit by him on the floor when I'm feeding Jack, but he doesn't bother Jack when he's eating.  Will also will run over to Jack's bouncer chair and turn on the vibrator when Jack starts crying.  Yesterday morning he also came into our room in the morning, took Jack's bottles from the night before off the night stand, and put them in the fridge for Jack.  I didn't even have to ask him (or really need him to do it, but hey, he's trying to be helpful). 

Jack is also learning to sleep through Will's songs and "gentle" bounces and hugs.  The best moments are when Jack is done eating and I'm trying to get little burb, Will will come sit by me on the couch and start patting Jack's back, or when I come back into the room and find Jack covered in Matchbox cars because Will is trying to share.

I think Will now understands that Jack is sticking around and he's learning that he's a brother. :)

Jack the easiest baby

I think that we are very lucky to have a good baby boy! Jack is usually happy, unless he's hungry or sometimes tired.  He doesn't need to be held a lot, but does appreciate when someone talks to him or he can at least see you.  Jack is now smiling and cooing a lot and it is fun when he notices you in the corner of his eye. We have developed a routine and he has been sleeping very well at night. He'll eat fast and then go right back to sleep too, so this is also quite nice.  We're pretty luck to have such a good little guy!  He didn't cry when he was born and this seems to be an indication of his temperament so far in life, easy going. We'll keep him.

Pictures from the last week.