Jonah's First Haircut

As often seems to be the case, we are way behind in blog posts. I think we've had some good excuses lately between the move and Jude's birth, but at some point, we need to catch up. One that has been long overdue is Jonah's first haircut!

Two years, three months, two weeks, and one day after he was born, we finally brought Jonah in to get rid of the little mullet he was starting to develop. It still didn't seem particularly long, except in the back. The hair behind his ears would get cowlicks in them that just would not stay down.

On October 13th, we brought him to Comb 'n Shear, which is where I get my haircut. Just a small, local shop where the barber is the owner and only employee. Tom the Barber was particularly busy this day, but he works pretty quickly and we didn't have to wait too long. Jonah kept busy in the meantime playing with the cars and other toys Tom has out for kids. We filled the place up with spectators, too, as Grammy Sweets was in town to help us move, and joined Michelle and me for this first.

When his time came, we sat Jonah in the kid's cutting chair, which Tom has a variety of different vehicles that he puts on the stand. On this particular day, Jonah got to sit in a tank. He needed the incentive of keeping a truck with him to get in the chair.

Getting ready for his first cut!

Jonah was great. No crying and very little fuss. He did have a tendency to move away from the clippers, but I would imagine that to be normal for any kid getting their first haircut.

Suited up and ready to go!

"Hey, I'm driving trucks here!"

The kid cleans up pretty nicely. I think he liked getting vacuumed.

Tom put some trimmings in an envelope for us and gave Jonah a first haircut certificate. It was a good experience, and we hope future ones go as well. You can see more pictures on our web album.

Jude Thomas Sweetser!

Our new family of four on Jude's birthday

We are excited to announce the arrival of Jude Thomas, born on October 25 at 9:27 a.m., weighing 6 lbs., 2.4 oz. and measuring 19 inches long. He has beautiful blue eyes for the time being and about as much hair as his big brother had at a year!

The beautiful baby boy!

Jude arrived nine days in advance of his due date, and due to all that took place late this summer and into the fall we weren't entirely prepared for his arrival (buying, selling, and moving houses, amongst other things ... we will get the blog updated in the coming weeks)! My water broke at 1:15 a.m. (it also broke at home when Jonah was born); when I woke Ben to let him know we needed to go to the hospital, his response was, "are you kidding me?" Just hours before, around 9 p.m., I had sent emails to friends who had volunteered to help care for Jonah when the baby was born, providing information about Jonah's care, hospital information, and the like. I'm pretty sure none of them had a chance to read it before we were calling around in the middle of the night! In the end, Jonah got to stay at Kristin and Ryan's house, and we arrived at the hospital around 2:45 a.m.

Mommy, Daddy, and Jude, just before we moved to the private suite.

Daddy with Jude, just after he was born.

Contractions came on naturally with Jude's birth, unlike Jonah's, when the doctors administered Pitocin to bring on the labor. I had a lot of back pain as Jude was sitting very low, and I struggled a lot to get comfortable during labor, but the entire process went pretty quickly. Ben was great dealing with my constant shifting of positions, trips to the bathroom, and requests for massages and ice packs. We had a great staff of nurses during our stay at St. Joe's and I felt like this visit was much quieter and more relaxed than the last (perhaps that is also due to the morning delivery time versus Jonah's delivery around dinner time).

Kristin picked Jonah up at day care and she and brought him to the hospital in time for dinner. We were definitely excited to see how Jonah would react to his new baby brother. We'd been talking up his arrival for some time and had read a few books, shown him ultrasound pictures, talked about going to the hospital while playing with his car mat (which includes a hospital), etc. But we knew that he wouldn't really know what it all meant for him until the time came. Jonah was definitely interested in meeting his brother and gave Jude and me kisses and hugs, but then he was quickly on to bigger and better things. What 2 year old boy wouldn't be interested in all of the things to play with in a hospital room: the buttons on the bed that adjust it up and down and backward and forward, the sliding curtains to give patients privacy, the doors to the bathroom and other little cubbies throughout the room, etc.?

Jonah discovers how to adjust the bed! Trouble ahead!!!

Eating dinner on the bench in the hospital room. A special treat!

I spent nights alone with Jude at the hospital so that Jonah could have normal nights at home with Daddy. That was definitely a bit of an adjustment for me - feeling so far away from the normal routine of seeing my oldest going to bed and getting up in the morning and off to day care. I'm thinking that some of that adjustment may be the most difficult for me in the future - we'd become pretty set in our ways as a family of three and I won't always be able to be there for Jonah in quite the same way as I once was (for example, Jude's nursing schedule at times precludes me from putting Jonah to bed or helping to get him up). We will make new memories and routines, I know, but life is definitely different.

Holding his baby brother for the first time!

The hospital offered a family pizza party for us on the second night of my stay, which was a nice option that allowed us all to enjoy and partake (they also offer a fancier option for just the parents, but Jonah enjoys pizza and we'd heard we would be able to leave with leftovers, which is never a bad thing with a new baby in the house!!!).

Afterward, we felt brave enough to let Jonah try holding his brother with the aid of the Boppy nursing pillow. He was very sweet and gentle in doing so and seemed to be proud and interested in touching all of the visible parts of Jude's body (ears, nose, mouth, eyes, etc.). We hope he continues to show this same gentleness in the months and years to come!

Using gentle touches to talk to his little brother!

Playing around with the boppy!

A big boy helping get things to the car!

On our final morning in the hospital, Ben picked up doughnuts from Cranky Al's as a special treat to me. He picked up some for the nurses as well and had Jonah deliver them in his little shopping cart (brought along as a distraction for the hospital room and also as a means of assisting in getting things in/out of the hospital). Everyone enjoyed his antics, and Jonah was a proud little helper. When the time came to leave, he hauled a bouquet of flowers in the cart all the way out to the car. I'll have to be sure to look for creative ways that I can have him help me out with tasks both at home and when we are out!

We are so blessed and look forward to our new adventure! More photos are available on our photo site.