Max found one of Sean's covers, and I found another one for Jack, and they have both been wearing them all day. Of course not in public, I might get arrested or something, but other than that, they've both been obsessed. Jack has been asking for it by saying "Papa?" SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!

Max was very into the little guy, he is going to be a great big brother to our new one. He wanted Baby Aydan to sleep in his bed and camped out right in front of him to read.

He even gave him a bottle.

Jack on the other hand was not even a tiny bit interested in Aydan - when I asked him to kiss the baby, he scowled and grunted - but he didn't seem hostile or jealous. Actually he was jealous - but not of my attention. At dinner the boys have been cracking each other up lately, making silly noises and faces. Well tonight Aydan was screeching and making silly baby noises of his own, and Max thought it was hilarious, copying the baby's sounds and laughing. Jack did NOT like this, he kept trying to draw Max's attention back to himself, making their usual noises. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes not. Luckily the new baby will come out really really boring.

Even though everyone was great, three is just inherently more exhausting than two. I guess this should be obvious, but I didn't really expect the extent to which I'd be more tired at the end of the day, even without tears or drama. More kids is more mental energy - more to keep track of, to think about how to feed, to clean up after, etc. And even though Aydan was super duper easy, this was still my view for a good part of the evening:

You have to hold babies a lot! And you can't do anything else while you're holding them. At least Max can make PB&J so the boys won't starve.

I guess I am nearing the end of my pregnancy - still two and a half months but that's not so long. I am already nesting. (Last night I cleaned the ceiling fans! Which I have never done before in the three years we've lived here. Talk about absolutely disgusting!!) And I'm feeling really really sentimental towards Jack, just like I did towards Max before B#2 emerged as our little Jackie. It's not that I don't have lots of lovey dovey emotions toward Max, of course I do, but our relationship is firmly established. Jack is still so little and I just love him so much and he's so so sweet and snuggly - I don't want him to feel replaced! Tonight at bedtime, I was feeling this outpouring of emotion and went back in and gave him a cuddle and a peptalk about how much I loved him. He cooperated really well, resting his head of my shoulder and hugging me. Then Max asked for a snuggle too, and so I sat down and held him and told him how much I loved him, and how he'd always be my baby, and that I'd still cuddle him even when he was as big as Papa. In reply, he looked up at me and said - I am not making this up!!! - "Mama, can I have a different Mama?"!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily it was hilarious or I would have cried. And I know he loves me the best, even if he doesn't know it.

P.S. to Grandma Jean: burst of joy received. Strangely, even though he already has the rest of the set, Jack never let it leave his sight!

Even though we've only been swimming once or twice a week, Max has made HUGE progress. I cannot even believe this is the same boy that was so very very cautious a month ago. And he knows that we are proud of him. I finally thought to take a quick underwater shot. Jack too actually likes to go under, I do the "1, 2, 3" dunk thing, and he both goes into and comes out of the water laughing.

The big downside of pool days, besides having to wake the boys up from their nap, is how late we get home. Tonight's dinner, if you can even call it that, was cereal, fruit, and carrots.

Jack was on a mimicking rampage today. As soon as he saw Max put blueberries in his cereal, Jack had to follow suit.

They also came up with the apparently-hilarious "ew" game, which started out with pointing at the floor and exclaiming "ew!!!" (apparently I need to up my cleaning) and quickly evolved (/devolved) into just exchanging ever-louder "ew"s. Even as much as Max snatches and smooshes, they really are turning into great buddies. They really really love each other.

Our bedtime routine is changing all the time. Right now after the first installment of bath/teeth/jammies/read, I go back in later for "snuggle time". Before tonight, Jack has always lost his snuggling privileges - I bring him into Max's bed with me and tell him that if he gets up to get a book or acts crazy then he has to go back into his crib. I know he understands but he just can't help himself - he pops up and starts exploring all of Max's cool stuff. But not tonight! Tonight he laid still as can be, pulled the blankets up, and snuggled his little heart out. During snuggle time, Max and I have been telling each other Goldilocks, and then we sing "silly Skidamarinkadinkadink".

Bad interactions also abounded. I do not know what to do with Max, he wants whatever toy Jack picks up and takes it from him. Sometimes his "badness" is understandable - Jack breaks his tracks or his Lego creation - but most of the time, he's just taking advantage of the fact that he's bigger.

During Jack's extended nap today, Max did some watercoloring. He painted hearts.

Also some beadtime, this time attaching a clasp to his favorite beads so the necklace can come on and off. He likes that.

Post-dinner we went for a short walk. Short because it started out with Max letting go of Puppy Love's leash and me having to run-walk to catch her. That was NOT good for my back, and it still hurts. Max was only up for a short walk anyway, it is sooo hot outside, and we stopped every few minutes to switch out sticks - he only got to take one home and kept finding better ones.

Max learned a cool new trick on his last day of Gymnastic's Camp. He must have flipped 50 times in the 5 minutes I was there watching!

Although Max is driving me insane (EVERYTHING is an ordeal right now), he is still a good boy. I love to listen to him tell stories and "read" to me.