Milestones! 17 months and 3 months old.

Yesterday was the 23rd, which means the boys each hit another month milestone - Jack is now 17 months and Declan is 3 months old. We didn't do much to commemorate the "birthday" but we had a full day nonetheless. I was jolted out of bed by the doorbell at 7:45 (I was lying in bed with a sleeping Declan listening to Jack chat in his crib) - the insulators for the basement had arrived (side note: the basement refinishing is coming along nicely - so exciting - I'll have to post before and after pictures.)

The boys and I ran around in the morning - first, the dry cleaners, where I parked the car at the delivery entrance so I could quickly unload the boys and the laundry, and the owner of the place loves Jack so she comes out to carry him, then the grocery store, where Jack goes in the cart and Declan in the Baby Bjorn. Sometimes I think I get looks from others in the store that aren't quite pity... more like "Is she insane?" but maybe that's just me projecting. Anyhoo... after a stop at the house we were back in the car heading to Crate and Barrel so we could pick up the new chair and ottoman for the back porch - hooray! After about 3 minutes of crying in the car, Declan fell asleep and Jack told me to "Shhhhh", which I love. Jack has also started to copy me when I shhh Declan when he's crying and I have to say it's the cutest thing. I've seen Jack rock Declan in his carseat and say "shhh. shhh. shhh." just like I do when I'm trying to settle him. Again: love it.

Yesterday afternoon after lunch and naps, we headed to playgroup at Gail's house. Jack's been playing with these kids since he was 7 months old and met them at the My Gym class. Well, more like I've been hanging out with these moms (who have since become my good friends) since Jack was 7 months old, but now the kids are starting to take notice of each other and interact, even if they don't exactly "play" together. It involves a lot of toy stealing (Jack's not a big stealer - yet - and when someone takes his toy, he's usually like "whatever" or just confused). Jack also knows that share means to give what he's using to someone else, and he's pretty compliant. He says "ssssss" for share. He'll hand me an object and say "ssssss." Both boys were great at playgroup - once he woke up from his nap, Declan was his usual chill self, just hanging out on my lap (and then other laps as he was passed around) and smiling at people who would talk to him. I call him "smilely guyily" because he's pretty much always smiling. And Jack's a big independent player, which means he's not causing too much trouble. I received the highest of compliments from the girls yesterday as they asked me what I did to deserve two such wonderful boys. Yay!

As for sleep (which is what I'll be dying to remember as I re-read these posts with potential future children) - Jack is a rockstar (knock on wood) and Declan's still learning. On the optimistic side, Declan no longer has inconsolable crying spells in the evening. I don't know if he ever had full-blown colic, but he would cry inconsolably at times, which was the worst. He takes a catnap in the evening, then plays around, gets a bath, and goes to bed, either with a feeding or with walking and rocking. Last night I nursed Declan to sleep around 9:40, and he slept until 1:20 (3 hrs, 40 min), then he was up at 3:30, somewhere around 5 (when I brought him into bed with us because I figured he needed to stretch out - he's kind of cramped in the moses basket these days) up at 6:30, and I rocked him down around 7am (I knew he was still tired because he was crying and trying to fall asleep), so now it's 7:50am and he's sleeping on the couch and Jack's playing in his crib - which he's been doing since about 7:10. But he's starting to get fussy and I"ll have to get him soon. Tomorrow we get Declan's crib which I think will be another huge step forward for us in the sleep department because I won't worry about him being cramped, and also he'll be in another room so I probably won't intervene as much as I do when he's in our room. I used to just really want Declan to reliably fall asleep at 7:30 every night, but now I'd take the 10pm bedtime (late for me!) if I knew he'd go 6 hours. But like I said, we're making progress and I'm optimistic that we'll have long stretches soon.

I'm off to get Jack in a minute, but I have to record a few things/milestones for the boys: Jack has been crawling up on the coffee table now for a few weeks (a major no no and he knows it) but now he can crawl up onto the couch. His favorite things are animals and he says "doh" for dog and "dat" for cat. He's extremely "busy" and always needs to be doing something, opening and emptying drawers, or moving items from one container to another. He's so busy busy busy, just like his daddy. Declan is almost rolling over, but not quite. He's a big "scoocher" - I'll leave for a minute and he's somehow turned himself 90 degrees. He loves his activity mat and is starting to reach for things - he loves the rattle and the sounds it makes.

OK, Declan's stirring now as well, so we're off to start our day.