My Little Fox Cub

I realized that if I wanted to get anymore pictures of him in his fox hat I'd better do it soon since he's just about outgrown it already with his trademark giant Elkins/Anderson noggin.

We've had a bit of a rough last couple of weeks as this little guy has become a lighter sleeper.  His favorite place to nap is still (of course) in my arms but it's been impossible for him to nap as long as he needs while his brother is around since Bears is quite the active, boisterous little fellow.  So I realized that it was time for him to nap in his own quiet space.  This resulted in a dilemma since I couldn't soothe him to sleep while Bears was around and I couldn't just lock Bears away for the 5+ hours a day it was taking to keep Fox sleeping.  But I was determined to continue on this fool's errand because most of the literature I've read on the subject indicates that leaving this young of a baby to try and soothe themselves to sleep would result in them forever dealing with feelings of abandonment and also heightened cortisol levels leading to brain meltage.  Or something.  I found out that when you're trying to keep two babies happy who are each demanding 100% of your attention, it leads to them both pretty much constantly crying.  After over a week of this and a couple of meltdowns of my own, I decided to let little Fox cry a little in his swing to see if he could eventually put himself to sleep.  It just so happens that he actually can do it and cries for less than 2 minutes on average and sometimes not at all.  So I try to console myself with the fact that letting him cry on his own for a little has resulted in much less crying overall vs when I tried to do everything for both of my boys.  Plus, now that he's napping on his own, I actually have time for things like blogging and laundry!  Amazing.


I still spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to soothe him to sleep at night but so far it still works out because Bears is already asleep for most of it.  Right now the process takes an average of 2-3 hours.  Hopefully we can streamline that soon but for now I'm trying to enjoy all the extra baby cuddles.

 The above picture shows off his typical expression.  Ryan claims that Bears never made that face and thinks that Fox will have this expression well into adulthood.  Maybe we'll have to recreate this picture when Fox is 18 or so to see if he can still pull it off.

Here he is trying to act sophisticated and hoity toity. You'd never guess that this haughty-looking gentleman insists on spending just about all his waking hours cuddled up to his mommy.

This one is really similar to the first picture but I couldn't resist posting it as well.  I love his sweet smile.

2 Months Old

Fox is getting a lot more fun and interactive...and I'm not sure that "mellow" really describes him as much anymore.  When he's happy, he's usually very happy and when he's sad, he's very very sad.  Devastated, even.  I'm having more and more difficulty getting him to nap anywhere other than on me.  Thank goodness for baby carriers because there's no way that I'd be able to facilitate this otherwise with a toddler. Occasionally I can get him to take a long nap on the swing but 4 out of 5 times he'll wake up within 5-10 minutes of being put in it, which makes for a very sleep deprived baby.  I'm pretty sure that this was Bears' main problem when he was tiny and why he was so blasted fussy.  He just wasn't getting enough sleep because I was under the mistaken impression that he'd be able to sleep in his crib if he was tired enough.  He eventually learned the self-soothing skills to sleep on his own but I'd say he was consistently sleep deprived until about 5 months old. Hopefully I can get Fox sleeping all on his own by the time he's as old as Bears was when he learned.

Speaking of Bears, jealousy is really starting to rear it's ugly head.  I think it's because Fox is requiring more interaction and can no longer be seen as a sack of potatoes that I carry around.  Luckily he hasn't done anything too terribly serious yet.  Mostly just tender hugs/pats that gradually turn into rough squeezes or smacks.  Once he was smothering Fox with kisses and suddenly couldn't resist the urge to bite him.  It reminded me of when cats or bunnies have licked my hand in a frenzied fashion that almost always resulted in biting if I let it go on long enough.  Ah well.  Luckily Fox didn't seem to mind.  Certainly not ideal though.

My parents took Bears out this morning, giving me some time for a bit of a photoshoot with Fox.  He really outdid himself doing the various baby poses:

We'll start with the classic "Blue Steel" (or "cheerio face" to some) that they all know so well when they're tiny.  It's so sad that they eventually lose this crucial skill.

The "toothless old man" look that they get when sucking in their lower lip

The "brave-but-tragically-conflicted super hero who's boldly flying off to do battle with evil" look.  Okay, so perhaps this isn't a classic baby expression.  It just might be though.  I'm almost certain that I remember Bears doing it.

Happy silly baby face

And lastly (and by far the most important) we have "Sean Connery face." This is another one that I'm not quite positive is universal...but my heart nearly breaks at the possibility that maybe not every baby makes this face at some point or another.  No.  I can't believe that, so I won't.  They all do this.  Yeshshshhhhh.

Fox Smiles and Tries To Talk

The little guy has been smiling since he was about 4 weeks old but today is the first time I've gotten around to filming it.

Bears 'n Fox

I wanted to take a couple pictures of Sawyer in his little fox outfit and Bears decided that he wanted in on the action.  He insists on holding his brother (or kissing him, rocking him, feeding him, etc) all the time.  It's usually really sweet and only sometimes problematic, like when Sawyer is in the swing or being nursed or changed. Bears is still wrestling with feelings of devastation when he can't cuddle his brother right when he wants to.  I had been pretty worried about Bears being jealous and trying to hurt Sawyer but so far the only hazards are when he wants to jump around like a crazy man too close to his brother and throwing things too nearby.  I'm really hoping the lack of violence keeps up but I'm still feeling like it might be too good to be true.  Only time will tell but for now I'm just trying to enjoy how sweet they are together.  Bears has already gotten li'l Fox to smile at him a few times.

6 Days Old

So far Fox is such a sweet and mellow guy.  Even when he's fussy he just sounds like a whimpering puppy.  It's the saddest, cutest thing.  He's turning into a pretty great eater and would nurse pretty much constantly if he had his way.  Bears is still really sweet with him although I can tell that the transition's hard on him.  Thank goodness for Diddum coming over every day to hang out or that poor little cub would probably be having lots of meltdowns.  As it is, he spends his mornings going to parks, the market, or wherever just having a blast while I get quiet time with little Fox.

What the toes??  This kid just about has fingers for toes and...I dunno what for fingers.  Whatever is longer than fingers but looks like fingers.  He's got those.  Ryan claims that we've gotta be super nice to him because he's gonna grow into a giant.  Only fools incur the wrath of giants.

Meet Sawyer Fox

This li'l bundle was born yesterday morning at 5:50.  His birth was everything I'd hoped it would be.  I was able to have him naturally and with no complications.  Such a dream.  I fell in love with him right away and feel great...such a different experience from last time.  But I guess that's to be expected with a natural 8 hour labor vs 44 hours then epidural/pitocin.  Bears is doing great with it and is so sweet with "baby Fox."