Baby Blog

August was a big month around here because… ARCHER HENRY WAS BORN! Archer joined our family in the early morning of August 3rd. He was born at home with the help of Nancy Wainer, our midwife, and surrounded by his family. Sebastien slept through the whole thing and woke up to find his new baby. (When Nick went to him in the morning and told him that the baby was here, he said, “Baby Archer!” We had told him the names we were considering, but he didn’t know which we had picked!) He ran in, jumped up on the bed and visited his new baby brother. But as soon as we brought out his gifts from the baby (books, a couple of DVDs and play-doh), he was off and running. Here are some pictures of the birth, Archer’s newborn shoot and his first bath:

It took a few weeks, but we have all gotten used to being a family of four and found our new normal. Sebastien had some extra tantrums and occasionally asks us to, “Put the baby down!” but most of the time, he loves his baby brother and gives him tons of hugs and kisses. He likes to make him smile by tickling his chin and making a siren noise and whenever he sees that he is awake, he says, “Hiiiiii baby Archer!”

Archer’s sleep position of preference is on his side or his belly with his hand up near his cheek. (Toward the end, every time Nancy would check his position, he always had his hand near his face so it totally makes sense now.) He is happy to sleep in the pack and play during the day, but will only sleep at night in our bed pressed up against me. He makes the same “old man face” as his big brother Sebastien when he stretches and Archer is really alert with huge, wide eyes. He’s also the loudest sneezer ever – takes after his daddy. He has been a bit less quiet and calm than big brother and we weren’t sure if he had a bit of reflux or colic in the beginning or if it was just that my milk was coming out so forcefully he couldn’t handle it. It hit its worst point around 5-6 weeks and although he still spits up quite a bit, things have been steadily getting better. We definitely saw first smiles on the 15th of September, although there were a few times we almost called it a bit earlier. Otherwise, Archer is different from Sebastien in almost every possible way. After he is noticeably tired, he seems to prefer falling asleep on his own, whereas Sebastien would only sleep if he was in our arms. He nurses almost constantly for hours at a time, then sleeps for long stretches, whereas Sebastien ate every 2 hours on the dot. Archer is quite unhappy with a dirty diaper; Sebastien never fussed about his diaper. Sebastien hated the car with a capital H; Archer almost always falls asleep as soon as you start driving. When Archer wakes up, he seems to be able to put himself back to sleep after a little bit of fussing whereas once you heard Sebastien, he was definitely awake for good. Sebastien loved his pacifier from day one, but Archer will only take it when he is about to fall asleep, otherwise he forcefully spits it out and makes a face like you’re poisoning him. And the biggest difference is that Sebastien was nearly my twin, while Archer is most definitely his daddy’s!

September was a big month for Sebastien – his start of preschool at Charlestown Nursery! He was a little unhappy getting ready the morning of and wasn’t thrilled waiting with dad outside the school, but once he got inside, he was like, “What? There are trucks? See you later, Dad.” He really seems to love it and reports from Emma and Nancy (his teachers) are that he has tons of energy and is quite a jokester. He is getting quite good at counting and saying his ABC’s and practices them every night with Daddy during bath time and while brushing his teeth. Speaking of brushing teeth, after Grammie and Pop-pop redid our bathroom, it took a few days for Sebastien to get used to it – the first night he leaned the wrong way and spit between the sinks! Lately everything is “bery, bery” (very), especially scary. He seems to have lots of new fears, including Halloween decorations (especially a card from Grammie), thunder and lightning and his dark room. He’s very into looking at faces in books and on TV shows and saying whether they are happy, sad, jealous, angry, etc. Sebastien loves “fixing” things with drills and screwdrivers, going down the slide at the pool and jumping off and over things. He also finally used the potty! But it was definitely a one-time thing – he has refused ever since. Transitions have been really hard with lots of temper tantrums, especially getting out of the house in the morning. He has become a little couch potato and would be happy sitting home all day watching movies and eating popcorn. During dinner, we ask Sebastien his favorite part of the day and it’s really fun to hear his answer.

Before school started, we also spent a great week in Nantucket, which might be my new favorite place. We rented a house and spent our days at the beach, visiting the lighthouses, eating take-out, getting ice cream and playing outside. Labor Day was the perfect week to go – the weather was still gorgeous and the crowds had mostly gone. If we can ever afford it, I’d love to get a house there someday! Either way, we will definitely be back for another visit!