Inauguration Giggles

On Tuesday we spent the day in our jammies watching the inauguration. Jack was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to watch his usual tv shows, but became even more disappointed that O-o-mommy (Obama) wouldn't be coming to "my own house" for a visit.


For one voter in the Hanks Household Tuesday was a GREAT day, and for the other it was a very sad day. I'll let you decide who had the better day...


Tuesday was a very exciting day, as Sam began giggling. I have yet to get it captured on video, but will try my hardest for next week's post.


All of our Christmas decorations are put away with the exception of this snowman. Jack is VERY afraid of it, so we put it in front of our entertainment center so that he keeps his little fingers off of all the buttons that are so enticing to a 2 year old. If you come by for a visit in July and you see the snowman still sitting out, you'll know why.


Sam is such a happy baby, and yes, that is spit-up on his bib. It looks like we have another "happy spitter" on our hands!


On Friday night we decided to brave the bitter cold and met the Jaegers out for a fish fry. While we waited for our table we checked out the game room. Miles, Jack, Tom and Chris had a blast playing Spider Stomp. I'm sure if Tom and Chris find this game when they are out on their annual ski trip, in a few more weeks, they won't have quite the reflexes they did on Friday.


On Saturday morning we attempted to take the boys to their first movie on the big screen. Unfortunately it was sold out, so we headed to the Mitchell Domes to view the train display. Jack was in his glory! I think we spent close to 2 hours there watching the trains go round-n-round.

Visitors

On Mondays the Milwaukee Public Museum allows county residents to have their admission fee waived. We took advantage of this and had a fun day exploring the museum.


Auntie Annie and her boyfriend, James, were able to take two weeks off of work and come for a visit. They stopped in Milwaukee on their return trip to Montana. We had a great time, and really enjoyed the chance to meet James. He is a WONDERFUL guy, who makes Auntie Annie almost as happy as her two nephews.

Jack was very confused when we told him that James would be coming for visit, as the only James he knows is the train from Thomas the Train. We spent many conversations trying to explain that the James who was coming to visit was a person, and not a train. James, the person, showed up with a James, the train, for Jack. We think that he finally understands the difference!


Grandma and Papa were able to come down for a visit too. We had a great time visiting, and can't wait until we get to see them again!

Doesn't James fit right in to our group of redheads?!?! And they say redheads will be extinct soon....


The cold temperatures hit Milwaukee this week! Schools were canceled due to the cold temps. Jack bumped his lip, so we gave him a popsicle to keep the swelling down. It was pretty crazy knowing that it was -4 outside, and we were inside eating frozen treats!


We invited Meema and Papa down for the weekend, and they agreed under one condition, that Tom and I would go out and spend some time alone together. We agreed to these conditions, of course, and had a WONDERFUL time. We went out for dinner with the Hoffes, who are expecting their new little one to arrive any day now. While we were out enjoying ourselves the boys, Meema, and Papa were back at the house freezing. To make a long story short, Jack had turned the furnace off! Once it was back on everyone became more comfortable, and we returned to a nice warm house, after a wonderful evening out! Thanks Mom and Dad we appreciate all that you do for us!

2 Months

I took Sam to his 2 month Well Baby check-up on Monday. Dr. Kessen said that he is growing and developing just as we would like. Tom and I can't begin to express how lucky we feel to have such a happy healthy little guy, especially after everything we went through during the middle of the pregnancy.

Sam's 2 Months Stats:
13 lbs. 14 oz. 90th Percentile
23 in. 75th Percentile
41 cm. (Head Circumference) 90th Percentile

Looks like Sam is a pretty proportionate butterball!


Check out Sam's GQ smile!

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Now that the holidays are officially over we spent the week getting back into a routine.

No, donuts are not part of the regular routine, but they do qualify us for the Parents of the Year award, when we let Jack have one for breakfast!


There are many rumblings that next week will be EXTREMELY cold. We made sure to get outside as much as possible while we could.


My resolution for this year is to make sure that I spend more time playing with the boys. Sam's playing is limited to just a few minutes these days, and he would prefer just to be snuggled. It seems when Sam wants to be snuggled, Jack wants to play trains. I got tired of dealing with the guilt of not being able to snuggle Sam and play with Jack, so I took the advice of Tom's cousin, Britt, and purchased a Moby Wrap. I LOVE it! Now I can attend to both of my boys' needs, and put my "mommy guilt" to rest! I HIGHLY recommend this wrap. I have gone through three different ones in order to find the "right fit" for me.


Tom even wanted in on the Moby Wrap, and since it can hold up to 35lbs. we decided to put it to work. Hold on Jackers!


It is so exciting that we are now getting real smiles from Sam. He is such a happy little guy, and very willing to flash us one of these heart-melting smiles whenever we talk to him.


I bet you wish you could have a cool elephant towel!

Happy New Year!

We rang in the new year by hosting a kid friendly shin-dig at our house. We had 11 adults, 4 toddlers, 2 babies, and a little one ready to make his or her appearance any day. It was a great time. After we put the kids to bed the adults had a Wii bowling tournament.


Jack must have tooted, since no one wanted to sit next to him...darn holiday gas!


The championship...I think these two spent the entire week prior practicing. How else would the championship come down to a duel between a husband and a wife?


Sam has become much more alert. Up until this point Jack hasn't shown a lot of interest in him. Now he is very interested in helping "brother" out.


These overalls are too fitting. Sam has become our little moose. He weighed 8lbs 7oz at our one week check up, and then two and one half weeks later he weighed in at 10lbs 10oz. Jack is starting to get a little nervous that pretty soon Sam will be the "big" brother!