Constant Motion

Axel, 2014

Our friend Dan took these pictures when we went over to his apartment a few weeks back...I love how they capture the hair-raising (ha!) action movie that is playtime with Axel and his papa.

Book Club Fail

Williamsburg, 2014

Somewhere back in my energetic second trimester, I got ambitious and started a book club. Well...I hosted exactly once, and soon had to relinquish the running of the group (as casual as it was) to more capable hands.

Except that all the other book club members have newish babies too, so we've now had to cancel three scheduled monthly meetups in a row due to sick babies, lack of sleep, and the general disarray in everyone's lives.

I was finally intending to go tonight, and even thinking of faking having read the book! Ha! I mean, what am I, 15?

Until I got an email from the host saying she was in over her head and had to uninvite everyone. And I was so relieved. One fewer obligation. But it was also a relief to hear that I am not the only one who sometimes feels like adding one more thing is just too much.

I post this little anecdote as a clarification...even though I do not post pictures of the piles of laundry or recount every tough moment (like me crying in the Nassau airport when I thought we'd miss our connecting flight), that doesn't mean they are not there.

I've just had a few friends with newborns or young children or those who will soon be parents say that we "make it look easy", and I'd hate for anyone in who is in a similar situation, with two under two, to be under the illusion that we have cracked the code. Or that our days are all filled with magical ribbon streamers and sunny days in the park instead of screen time or crushed goldfish crackers and banana on the floor.

I choose to be positive, and to share the little moments here that make me smile. I find bloggers who moan on about how they never get a chance to shower to be kind of tedious. Why not celebrate the everyday?

But I'd hate to edit out so much that I project an unrealistic view of our daily logistics and dramatics. Life is indeed good. It just requires a lot of caffeine (and deep breaths) to get through the day with that mentality intact.

Axel-isms

Williamsburg, 2014

How cute is this art class? And how soon is bedtime??? (Oscar's been up every 2 hours for the last three nights, and I am feeling a tad ragged.)

But I still can't believe how grown up Axel is getting. Even when he's being a ratty toddler, just watching him on the playground on a spring day feels like a good place to be. Lately, he's saying "What happened?", "Where'd it go?", "It's funny", "helicopter", and, of course, "art!"

Oscar: Eight Weeks Old

Oscar, 2014

Here are some pics of Oscar at eight weeks old, fresh from the bath and a coconut massage, and of his "room", soon to move into our master bathroom...until we are ready for Axel and Osacr to share the nursery, that is. (I guess we're not the only ones.)

For the last few days, Oscar has been sleeping angelically through much of the day and waking up way too frequently at night, but aside from that he is becoming a more charming fellow by the day.

He seems to be outgrowing some of his digestive issues, and is cooing away. He likes being bounced (relentlessly) in his Baby Bjorn chair and sucking on his hands. It's not a bad life.

Here's a look back at Axel at eight weeks old.

Flying Solo

Brooklyn, 2014

Took Axel to swimming this morning as well as to his friend's 2nd birthday party down at Jane's Carousel. There were walks, taxis, and boats involved.

Of course, at this age, Axel has no clue he's at a party. He doesn't seem particularly surprised or impressed to see his friends out of context, it just is what it is. A carousel, balloons, bouncy balls, and snacks galore are just all in a day's work to him.

I spent much of the time wandering around after him, dozens of yards away from the picnic tables crammed with his little buddies, as he tried to befriend this caped superhero. Finally I had to put him in the stroller and walk around because the park was mayhem, and I was no match for his energy.

The moral of the story is that if you would like to interact with other adults at a children's birthday party, instead of spending the whole time trying to make sure your child doesn't eat goldfish crackers off of the ground, you definitely need two adults.

By the end of it, I was exhausted, he was exhausted.

How many hours 'til Will comes home?

Fresh Air

Williamsburg, 2014

It's been a beautiful week in Brooklyn (and I am trying not to think about how broiling hot it will be here in just a month or so.)

Will is away on a quick trip and so I am baby wrangling, with grand plans to try to finish my book club book, Wild, this weekend. I had high hopes of finishing it (or, um, starting it) while on vacation, but soon realized that I wasn't going to have many uninterrupted stretches of time in a sun lounger with a book.

This

Williamsburg, 2014

I have been a little uninspired to post this week as instead of floating about on the beach in a caftan, I have been doing a lot of this. It takes quite a lot to capture both of our babes in one shot, as you can see.

Stride

Williamsburg, 2014

Nearly two months in with two under two (!), and I'd say we are hitting our stride. Oscar is getting much more gratifying and interactive and even has something of a bedtime, around 8:30 p.m. (though he's up two or three times between then and 6:30 the next day.) Axel is also that much more verbal, and so it's easier to manage him as well, except when he's in the throes of an inexplicable toddler meltdown.

75% of the time, I think it's easier and more fun than I had expected....the other 25% of the time things are pretty chaotic, and it's hard to, say, feed ourselves, or manage the usual social get togethers. We had some friends over for Easter and while it was fun, there were a lot of crumbs on the floor, crying babies, and a sense of general disarray. Relaxing it was not!

Other than that, I've been working on recovering physically, heading to post-natal pilates and doing some old fashioned, P.E.-style training a few days a week to try and get some of my stamina back. After a night of choppy sleep the last thing I want to do is situps, squats, and sprints, but I also know that the fitter I feel the more I'll be able to keep up with Axel and Oscar. It's going to be a long road, but it feels good to have begun.

Home Again

Oscar, 2014

Back in Brooklyn! It was certainly tough to leave the Caribbean...I feel like I could have happily spent a month there, and Axel was so happy splashing away in the sunshine. Today he called the East River the ocean, and, well, it's not quite the same thing. Still, there are buds on the trees here and it's nice to catch up with friends and our life here.

We've shaken the sand out of our suitcases until the next jaunt (a trip to the Virgin Islands next month for a dear friend's wedding.)

I feel like Axel grew up so much on this trip, and is so very communicative now...it's getting so much easier to parse what he wants, and to have little chats with him. Oscar, meanwhile, is getting big! I weighed him on our scale at home and he is nearly 13 pounds now.

Seven Weeks Old

Oscar, 2014

Little Oscar was such a trooper this week. And the sun and fresh air seem to have done him well...I swear he's grown a ton this last few days. He's getting very pink and plump and cute. He still has very fussy evenings, but he's doing great at night (last night he slept from 8 p.m. 'til 3 a.m. and then was up just one more time.)

There are of course some rocky moments, but mostly we're feeling very lucky and grateful these days.

And here's a look back at Axel at seven weeks old.

Scampering

Here's a little video of Axel loving the beach...

Blissed Out: Part Two

Bahamas, 2014

On the last day of our trip we had a long layover in Nassau, and decided to take Axel to the aquarium at Atlantis, a horrifically cheesy resort. Still, the aquarium was a perfect way to spend a few hours in the shade, and it was funny seeing the contrast between the idyllic out islands and a busy port city.

Blissed Out: Part One

Eleuthera, 2014

We are safely home in Brooklyn and I've had some time to go through the one million photos I took (it was a very photogenic holiday.)

Although it went by all too quickly, it was such a special trip. Oscar was just a week old when we got a call from Will's cousins, inviting us to stay with them in a private villa they had been gifted for a week as a wedding present. We knew it would be challenging to travel with two under two especially with such a little one, but it only took about 24 hours to figure out that there was no way we could turn down the offer. I joked to Will that my reasoning was something along the lines of "What would Beyonce do?"

Clearly, Beyonce would say yes!

So we expedited Oscar's passport and high tailed it to Rock Sound, Eleuthera, a tiny airport accessed by a tiny plane that connected through Nassau. The house was on the south side of the island and had the most beautiful beach, accessed by a lovely little sand path with a canopy of sea grape trees and palm fronds.

Admittedly, the week before the trip I was in a bit of a tizzy buying diapers in multiple sizes and packing what felt like a mobile medical unit just in case we found we needed Infant's Tylenol or somesuch during the course of the week (we fortunately did not!) And it took a few days to settle into the rhythm of the holiday and figure out what we could and couldn't do.

Both boys did so incredibly well. We played in a clear little ocean pool every morning while Oscar chilled out under a thatched umbrella in his little car seat. A beach holiday really seemed to suit Axel, and he happily spent hours digging in the sand or looking at little pieces of coral or running in and out of the ocean.