First Month Done

There hasn't been much going on with the Munch family. We spent some time with Ama, Guy, and the Uncles Munch, but we spent the time with each other instead of chasing the kids around with a camera. Daddy Munch went on a business trip for a few days, too. It was successfull, but the most successful part was when he got home! We miss Daddy when he's gone. Miss Munch has been spending most of her time sleeping.

Beauty sleep is essential

There is good news to report. Miss Munch is 5 weeks into her little life and still nursing well! There was some difficulty with this when we had Mr Munch and while fed is best regardless of method, it is encouraging that she is still going strong.

Milk drunk and dribbling!

Today I pulled out a shirt to dress Miss Munch and realized that it was the same shirt we took her home in. How does it look now?

Then: Two days old. It was loose and long enough to cover her butt

She was enjoying the feeling of a clean diaper and went to town kicking her legs. This was the least fuzzy picture I could capture, but you can still see her cute toes!

Now: Five weeks, three days. Her tummy peeks out adorably from under the frills and she fits the sleeves perfectly!

Mr Munch is still head over heels in love with his baby sister and makes sure she can see him every time he sees her eyes open. Ever my composer, he sings songs to her about how much he loves her and how silly she is. His serenades even put her to sleep on occasion.

He dotes on his "baby sweetie"

Catching up on the weekend

WARNING: Photo dump ahead!

The weather has thankfully gotten much warmer this weekend. The Munch family took advantage of this with a few walks and open windows. Miss Munch spent her time laying around in short sleeved onesies. As always, though, keeping her blanket swaddled was an exercise in futility.

My swaddle Houdini

Artsy photo through the crack in the door

The evenings are still a touch chilly, so Miss Munch (after kicking out of her blanket) woke up on Saturday with cold toes. Mama found some cute socks and just had to take a picture.

Flower power!

Saturday was Record Day and the shop down the street had live music playing on the sidewalk all day. It made for a pleasant atmosphere with which to start off the weekend. Mr. Munch wanted to visit the park and we couldn't say no when the sunshine was so inviting.

He conquered mountains... 

Raced cars...

And ran away from all of the monsters!

On Sunday the weather remained glorious, so the Munch family took a stroll down to the grocery store for some snacks.

I love watching my boys hang out together.

More adorable socks modeled by Miss Munch!

We also splurged on some take out and Mr. Munch got his very own watch! He was very excited and proud of this new toy, but he got distracted when it came time to show off for the camera.

Here's my...um...yeah...

Today Miss Munch was more awake than asleep which made Mr. Munch happy. He had a lot of fun showing off books and toys that are being handed down. 

Just hanging out...

Wait, what's that gurgling feeling?

Did that big noise just come out of little ol' me?!

Bonus pic: Mama on this side of the camera!

Gassy baby smile!

Sunny Day Adventure

Yesterday was a fairly uneventful day around the Munch household. Miss Munch is still pretty active during the night, so Mama and Daddy are functioning on coffee during the day. Miss Munch did take a moment to show off her superhero pose, though.

Up, up, and away!

This morning dawned warm and sunny. As Mama planned a walk, Mr Munch insisted on helping with his little sister. When asked how he would like to help, he held out his arms and asked to hold her. (She was heavier than he expected, so she came back to Mama after a couple of minutes.) His observation? "Miss Munch smells like sun." 

He adores his little sister

We took a delightful stroll to our neighborhood library and enjoyed the balmy weather. Mr Munch loved pointing out the different kinds of flowers that we could see. Once we got the library, he was very happy to find one of his favorite books waiting for him! We spent the rest of the day reading and snuggling.

A good book on a beautiful day!

A Study of Siblings

Having one child is a special adventure. You get to watch them as they progress from a brand new person to a developed being with their own thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Adding a second child into the mix has so far brought it's own unique set of observations.

Almost five years have gone by since Mr Munch struck his pose. 

Baby duck face!

Today Miss Munch struck her own pose. 

Cute as a kitten!

Mr Munch adores his little sister and Miss Munch isn't generally opposed to the attention she receives from him. He is a big helper and loves to be involved when the baby is up and about. Already I am noticing similarities and differences between my Munchkins. I'm excited to continue watching them grow, as people and as siblings. 

Sibling love!

We are back!

After nearly four years, we are officially back and the Munch family is bigger! On March 18 we welcomed our 7 pound 2 ounce bundle of joy, Miss Munch. Mr Munch is super excited to be a big brother and has been incredibly helpful these past three weeks.

Let the cuteness overload begin!

A Big Day!

Hey all! Today the Munch Family got to go to Uncle J's Eagle Scout Court of Honor!!! We are so proud of all the work he's put in.

Congrats!!

During the ceremony, unfortunately, Daddy and Mr. Munch had to step out. Mr. Munch isn't quite old enough to sit quietly through a whole ceremony. They went to the nursery to play, and while there, Daddy got video of a very big first for Mr. Munch...WALKING!!!

I'm going mobile!

Mr. Munch has also added "uh-oh" to his répertoire. He enjoys the challenge of removing his diaper and while he has only succeeded twice, it's about time to stock up on duct tape...

Happy Mother's Day!

As my gift to all of the mothers (grandmothers, stand-in mother's, dad's-who-are-mothers, etc.) I will be updating today!

As I look back at the last year, I've realized that my transition into motherhood went smoother than I expected. On the one hand, I was terrified of making any mistakes. I couldn't believe that the nursing staff had let me walk out of the hospital with this precious, fragile little human being. On the other hand, I figured that all of my years taking care of children would kick in if my brain checked out, so I was golden. This ended up being mostly true, although I'm not sure how much of the auto pilot was experience and how much was instinct. As the months have simultaneously dragged and flown by, I've grown more confident as a mother and a caretaker. I don't have to analyze every cry, Mr. Munch and I have started working out our own systems, and the confidence in what I do is there full force (most of the time), but there are days when I look at my own mom in amazement and I look at my grandmothers in awe and I look at my great-grandmother with...well, reverence is the best word I can use. Those are the days when I am at the end of my rope, I don't know what to do, and I am frustrated to the point of anger, but I can look at these women in my life and say, "They can do it, I can do it too" and while I don't feel like I've been in the game long enough to take this holiday as my own, I raise my glass to every mother out there. Without them, the world would probably fall apart.

Happy Mother's Day from the Munch Family!

P.S. Don't forget to check out our new Tumblr! Mama's having fun playing around with Instagram on her phone and uploading pictures to mamamunch.tumblr.com!

Calm in Chaos

Mr. Munch's life has been pretty down to Earth lately. At least, compared to the lives of other people. Our neighbor welcomed her own baby boy into the world this past week and many of his friends are on or planning to be on vacations soon. Mr. Munch hasn't done much beyond traveling to Grandma and Grandpa's and hanging out at home with Mama, but he still has fun discovering something new everyday.

Today Mr. Munch had milk for the first time! Eaten with a meal of carrots and oatmeal, he had reservations at first (as is the case with everything, even food he ate the day before), but difficulties were encountered when it came time to get the cup out of his hands.

Yeah, good luck getting carrots past my cup!

Colors

This week's book was Mr. Munch's colors book. We learned about animals that were orange, blue, green, brown, black, white,  and even purple! The most fun, however, can be had when a certain baby decides to push the smooth plastic book across the carpet.

Yeah, yeah, colors. Let's slide now!

While Daddy was at work, Mr. Munch took a 4 hour long nap! He seems to be going through a little bit of a growth spurt. While this left Mama plenty of time to get her own projects worked on, she couldn't resist a sleeping picture, for old time's sake.

Still curled up.

After Daddy got home, he and Mr. Munch spent some quality man time together while Mama made dinner for everybody. Pork chops for the adults and beef with squash for Mr. Munch. Afterwards Mr. Munch played in his room until it was time for bed.

Is this how you make it go?

Because of his longer nap earlier in the day, Mr. Munch ended up skipping his late afternoon nap. It was obvious when he had reached the end of his day, however.

So...tired...

*Facepalm*

Today was day two of meat for Mr. Munch. He wasn't thrilled about sitting still to eat, so much of lunch ended up on his hands, face, and highchair tray.

I'm savin' it for later!

Mama and Mr. Munch were just sitting around the house while Daddy was at work when they were suddenly scooped up by Grandpa. The afternoon was spent hanging out and Grandma and Grandpa's house, exploring as much of the house as he was allowed. Mama got some fun pictures, but left the camera behind. *facepalm* Another visit is planned for Sunday, so until then, Mama will be pulling out her old digital camera and saving the book review until tomorrow. Many apologies for the poor post today, but it will be more than made up for this weekend!