PB&J anyone?

There has been a rediscovery of the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich in the Koel household lately, and we're on to a whole one these days, Mom, not just a half. Check out this full-on jelly mustache.

This is his best frowny face, with a little added pb & j for extra effect.

Gavin holding Gage...

This is a moment that a mother remembers forever, I'm sure. The first time this happened was last week when my mom was here helping me, and the best and only picture we got of it was on her cell phone. The second time this happened (the other night when my friend, Diana, was over) we got pictures, thankfully, and Daddy was home to witness the precious sight too. Gavin says, "Can I hold him?" And then he holds out his little hands right next to each other a few inches from his body and waits. Then, only moments after Gage is in his arms, he says, "You hold him now." I'm so glad that we didn't push this after the first time Gavin expressed interest in the hospital and then changed his mind. It was so much better to have him really want to hold his baby brother and let us know that when he was ready.

Our three monkeys at bedtime...

Isn't this sweet? Too bad that Gage looks upset, but otherwise this is adorable if you ask me. And, yes, Gavin loves his monkeys. There's always at least one in bed with him at any given time and sometimes several. When we're exhausted and have to leave his room at night we tell Gavin to tell stories to Curious George. (It works sometimes but not as often as we would like.)

Gavin at the zoo...

Gavin loved hugging and giving five to these zoo groundhogs, as you can see. (Or were they supposed to be prairie dogs? I can't remember now.) This was Gage's first trip to the zoo, but poor guy didn't even make the pictures. He did well while we were at the zoo but then became ravenous on our way home, causing us to pull over on the way home so that we could nurse him. It's so handy that I always have the food with me!


Brent was practicing for his National Geographic photo shoot. Isn't this a cool picture of the cheetah?

Gage at 1 month old....

I can't believe that Gage is already one month old!!! Where did that month go?! It's funny for me to see him in Gavin's old outfits. He's definitely starting to look and seem like his own person to me more recently.
What a sweet dude!


This might have been the picture (or one like it) that earned him the title of "Benjamin Button" (given to him by his Uncle Zachie, of course). He looks so stoic and--I'll admit this, Honey--ridiculous in this WAY outdated argyle suit. Maybe some things really should be retired, which in this case would have been 15+ years ago.

Our two babies...

Here are our two babies, though one definitely fits the bill a lot more than the other these days. But I know that they will always be our two babies. Gavin likes to climb up in my lap while I'm nursing (can you picture this?) and say, "You're holding both of your babies." I love to hear him parrot the things that I have said that come to mean something special to him.


Oh, and by the way, how are we liking the argyle outfit that Gage is sporting? That's thanks to teen Uncle Adam who wore it as a baby. (Don't worry: It hasn't been worn out of the house...yet.)

Early mornings with Mom...

The title of this post and the over-sized white robe just about say it all: these mornings are EAR-LY! I suspect that part of Gavin's adjustment to Gage is his messed up inner clock, as evidenced by later bed times and earlier mornings up (5:00 a.m.!). My friend, Miranda, put it well today when she said, "My goodness! I don't even know if Jesus is up that early!"


I'll be so sad when Gavin's response to "How did you sleep?" varies from the current "Good morning" status. (The cutest part is that he answers this way even at 4 pm when he's getting up from his nap.) Precious!

Uncle Zach and Aunt Lorna meet Gage...

Oh my goodness! What a sweet piece of flesh resting on Auntie Lorna! The sad reason for their visit home was the death of Lorna's grandma, but the redemptive part of the trip was getting to meet their new nephew, Gage, at just two weeks.

How I wish that our boys got to see their aunt and uncle more often. Gavin was asking about Uncle Zachie for days after he was gone. He got very used to the response, "He went back to Texas." "On an airplane?" he would ask. Get back here soon, guys, I mean it now!


We were calling Gage our sweet little "wrinkle in time" when Zach was here. And Zach was also making reference to sweet little Benjamin Button. Go figure.

Gavin

Here's Gavin (aka, Andre the Giant). Isn't it true that your toddler seems like such a giant when you bring home the new baby?!

Grandpa Bruce, Grandma Emily, and Uncle Adam visit

Gavin, Brent, Gage, Emily (Brent's step-mom), Bruce (Brent's dad), and Adam (half-brother)

While Brent's family was visiting, we celebrated Madison's one-year birthday. She was so cute and messy by the time she was done with this cupcake!
Here's Grandma Emily doing a puzzle with Madison.

Uncle Adam is a natural with kids. This was his first time holding Gage. It was fun to see Adam playing with Gavin so much during his visit and so special for Gavin to have someone around who could be dedicated to giving him so much undivided attention. Thanks, Uncle Adam! He loves you!!

Gavin "helping" Gage get to sleep...

Check out the size comparison, for starters. How did Gavin get so big?! It was amazing to me, during those first few weeks, how Gage could practically sleep through anything, even his big brother hanging on his crib and likely not speaking in his "indoor voice." Gavin likes to know where Gage is at all times.

Sleeping just like his big brother...

This could easily be a picture of Gavin taken 2 + years ago. He used to sleep like this all the time, and now we see Gage sleeping in the same position from time to time. Brent and I both got schooled in swaddling by one of the pediatricians during our stay at the hospital, and we understand that--in theory--Baby's hands are supposed to be down at his sides and tucked in tight. But neither of our boys seem to have liked that whole hands-bound thing, so we've sort of given up on the traditional swaddle with Gage for now.