Four Family Members, Two Weeks, One Truck, Three Thousand Miles...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! We arrived home from our epoch road trip this afternoon at just shy of 4:00. What a whirlwind. We had a most excellent time on our little adventure to see family and attend the wedding of a great old friend of mine. We saw many different landscapes, lots of family, and had tons on new experiences. But first things first...

In the car this afternoon, I was in the backseat with the boys and was talking to Arlo - telling him his name and he repeated it!!! Seriously. Repeated it. Sean and I were stunned. Even James heard it. So, I know he really didn't know what he was saying, but we thought it was super cool that he was able to mimic the sound that he was hearing. It was very, very cool. We also noted that when you say his name he looks at you. We think he does know that Arlo is his name. He also almost rolled over tonight for the first time. So close there!

Back to almost a month ago...Arlo weighed in at his four month appointment at 13 lbs, 12 oz. WOW! He also was 23 1/2 inches. Again - WOW! I wasn't crazy in thinking that he seemed so much heavier! Considering that he was born at 5, 4 and came home at 4 lb, 11 oz, I just can believe the size he is now. For reference, James was born a hearty 7 lbs, 11 oz and 21 1/2 inches. At his four month appointment he weighed 14 lbs even and was 24 inches long. Little A has just about made up the difference! Astonishing to me.

We have not really stopped moving since then! We left on our road trip two weeks ago today after a little drama with Bodie (he took himself on quite the adventure out on the town without a collar on on Friday the 2nd - luckily Sean posted an ad on Craigslist and the guy who found him had the great idea somehow to check the site! We really thought we would never see him again) at 6PM for quite the drive to Pocatello, ID in serious wind and black icy roads. I must say that I am married to a serious rock star when it comes to keeping cool and steady in tough situations driving. He is sooo good. I am a lucky girl, for that and many other reasons. We made it to Las Vegas the next night in time to schlep all of our gear (you should have seen us, it must have been quite the site) through the Treasure Island casino, make so PB&J sandwiches for dinner, and head out to see the volcano explode at the Mirage. Next up was the pirate show at the TI. At first James was scared and didn't want to watch it because he proclaimed that he was afraid of pirates. But when he say it was a bunch of scantily clad chicks shaking their booties he was super into it. Seriously. It starts this young. Three years old and 11 months. He was really into it. We were not.

The next day Sean took James to see the lions, tigers and dolphins at the Mirage while Arlo and I hit up Nordstroms. Fun was had by all. Then we took off after lunch across the desert to Palm Springs. We took the road less traveled and ventured on back roads across the Mojave National Preserve. Spectacular. So glad we did it. The road was full of whoopdie-do's which James loved and we even met up with Route 66 for about 10 miles. When we told him we were on 66 he instantly said "We need to find Doc Hudson" (from Cars). He was grinning ear to ear and thought it was so cool. We had a great time in Palm Springs thanks to the terrific room complements of Judy and Pat and their timeshare. The weather was good and we had a marvelous time at the wedding of one of my best friends from high school. It was a very small, intimate wedding of only 28 people at the most beautiful place the Korikia Pensione (www.korakia.com) in downtown Palm Springs. We highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the area. Super cool place.

Next it was off to Orange County for the day and WONDERFUL visits with Auntie Barbie and Uncle Bob, Grammy and Papa, and Auntie Wheeze, Steven and Hayley. We enjoyed the day so much and it was nice to catch everyone even if all the visits were too short. We headed off from Auntie Wheezes house at about 9PM for Rory and Nicole's place in Santa Ynez. Driving through LA at night is SOOOO much easier and we made it to their house in less than three hours, even after making several wrong turns.

Our visit on the central coast with Rory, Nicole and Dad and Patty was terrific. Superb weather, great visits and good food. We all ate at Full of Life Flatbread on Friday night for a most excellent meal. Check it out if you are even in the Los Alamos area! James had a blast. Especially at Funpa's house doing "farm work". He kept asking Funpa to do the work. He collected eggs, fed the horses, picked fruit, and most importantly drove the tractor!!! Funpa let him steer all by himself. When Sean got on the tractor to take James for a ride, he had hardly sat down in the seat before James had the thing started up on his own and was lifting the bucked up to take off! It was so cool.

Next it was off to the Bay Area for a great visit with the family. We got to see all the Uhlenbrock families, which was very nice. Especially since Grandma was recovering from hip replacement surgery. We also had a terrific day playing with Jason and Jessica (and of course Jen and Jeff). The kids had a blast playing in the backyard and picking mandarins from Grandpa's tree, and even riding bikes in the street out front. They had a blast. James even said to me when going to sleep that night that he wished that we lived there so that he could play with Jason and Jessie every day. It was precious. I think he may have even had a tear in his eye. Tuesday, the rain began in time for us to head out to the coast. We tried to explore Point Reyes but only made it to Point Reyes Station where we ate at the Station House (www.stationhousecafe.com) which was AWESOME. Go there if you can. We also had a nice visit with our friend Kari. Then we were off to Truckee for a quick visit with friends and with Pat before heading back North on Friday.

Phew - did we get our miles in or what!!!

February 25th! Arlo is 4 months old today!

James has decided to begin dressing himself this week.... Hilarious what he comes up with. He climbs into bed with us already dressed first thing in the morning. This began on Tuesday. This morning he is wearing plad flannel pants, a blue stripped thermal shirt with a Radiator Springs Cars tee shirt over the thermal. He likes to put tee shirts (short sleeves) over a long sleeve shirt. I love it.

Aro is also doing this cute thing where he sucks in his lower lip and makes these cute noises. He is drooling up a storm! He is also talking up a storm! He makes a whole lot of really cute noises and is very expressive in his mood. Love it!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Life here in the O'Callaghan house hasn't slowed down much in the past weeks, but we are somewhat settling into a routine and have a bit more regularity these days. James is growing like a weed! All of a sudden all of his pants seem to be too short. I swear it happened over night. He continues to just say and do the funniest, smartest, and most hilarious things. The other night I found him in his bed wearing sweatpants over his jammies. He has lots of friends and is super outgoing. His best buddies continue to be Sawyer and Oscar but he also has Rio, Tyson, and Michael. Today he told me that Augusta (a girl!) is now one of his best friends. Specifically, he said to me "Hey mom, did you know that Augusta is one of my best friends now? How cool is that?". He also has proclaimed that Jen and Kelsey's daughter Jayne will be his wife and they will have three babies. He is such a happy-go-lucky kid that is so fun to be around.

Last month we had a great time at Disneyland. James just fell in love with Uncle Rory and Aunt Nicole. What a fantastic day. James was pretty timid of some of the rides that we went on, but was super brave and was up for trying just about anything. But, he really loved the Peter Pan ride and the Winnie the Pooh ride. He also loved the little roller coaster in Toon Town. He was pretty scared during parts of Splash Mountain (he had a terrified look in the picture) and had a death grip on my hand during Pirates of the Caribbean, and said that he wanted to go home during Thunder Mountain. But, he was a trooper. He had an awesome day and went strong with no meltdowns all day (till 7:00!). He fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot. I am impressed at his memory of the day too! The other day he recounted specific events in the day with great detail.

Arlo has grown like I can't even believe. Sean and I can't even believe he is the same baby that came home from the hospital at four and a half pounds. He has little hamchop legs and is way chunkier than James ever was. In the last couple of weeks he has really just blossomed. Last Thursday he had his first real giggle (not just his regular happy sounds). It was so cute! He is super smiley and loves to just look at you and smile. He smiles all the time! We never saw that coming! He was so serious for the first couple of months. He is also just starting to reach for things and bat at toys hanging in front of him. He loves to look at Wimmer-Ferguson toys and is totally mesmerized by the shapes and colors. He is also super close to rolling over but really loves to sit up. We have just started using the Bumbo seat and he really likes it. He will now let us put him down for periods of time and is so much more content. He loves to suck on his fist and is drooling everywhere.

He also has some serious regularity. I think you can tell time with Arlo's movements. He also...sleeps through the night. Usually. One day last week he slept until 6:15 without waking up all night. I was terrified and in quite a bit of pain myself waiting for him to stir! He's a great nurser and is overall such a sweet little baby. He kicks his little legs like he's riding a bike when he gets excited. He also loves to have his little friends (little blankie with a stuffed animal head) smashed up against his face when he sleeps. I think he may be a good sleeper because we break the rules and let him sleep on his belly. His gassy barfyness has really been better since we have started tummy sleeping with him. Could be a coincidence, but either way we will take it. He is still barfy, but nothing like it was.

James is still totally in love with "his baby". He always says 'Arlo is so cute" and can I have my baby. He loves to kiss him and make silly faces at him. It is great. I am so impressed with how James does with him. He hasn't really yet gotten jealous, but has been irritated a few times when Arlo goes on a crying binge. Love these boys...

James and Buzz

James is in love with his new Buzz Lightyear toy. Here he is sleeping with him on Christmas night. He was so cute!

Christmas!

What a wonderful holiday we had! James had a wonderful time. What a blast we all had. James even stayed in bed with us (as a foursome - so nice!) until 7:30. He had a hard time controlling himself when it came to opening presents. According to him, all the presents were his for the opening. He sure had fun opening gifts for himself and Arlo. The highlight for him was "opening my Buzz Lightyear" from Santa. He was so excited for everything though. No meltdowns either. It was great. Then, after a great day and a viewing of Cars 2 courtesy of mom and dad, Jen and Kelsey and Jayne came over for dinner. I made prime rib and yorkshire pudding and it was AWESOME! James fell asleep with Buzz Lightyear tucked safely under his arm. Adorable. He saw the basketball hoop that Sean got him and said "I've been waiting for this my whole life!" It was the best.

Arlo's first smile caught on camera!

What a great gift!

Arlo and our first seven weeks as a foursome!

Life has been pretty good here in Bozeman the past seven weeks! James is shaping up to be an awesome big brother. He absolutely loves Arlo and kisses him constantly. We only have to remind him to be gentle periodically now. At first he needed a little coaching on how to handle the baby, but he mostly has it down now. He has taken the transition with ease. We had a little bump earlier this month with a little sadness due to lack of undivided attention, but he never took it out on Arlo, so that is good.

Arlo is growing like crazy! He is putting on at least ten ounces per week and has grown about an inch and a half in length. He actually is a little chubby now! It's crazy given how tiny and scrawny he was when he was born. Sean and I can't believe it is the same little guy that we brought home. He is smiling periodically and has pretty cute cooing noises. He is definitely our little snuggler! James hated to be held - not this one! He hates to be out of our arms and cries when he is on his own. Yesterday he did much better with that though. Sunday night he also slept awesome and we got seven hours of sleep - thank goodness! I felt like a whole new person! He also is our barfy kid. James never threw up (ok, maybe three times). Arlo has a little reflux, which our Dr. says should work itself out in a few months. In the meantime we just have lots of burpcloths around and are sure to do lots of burping and holding him up when he is done nursing.

We have been busy decorating the house for Christmas (our house was built to look good this time of year, in my opinion), and doing lots of holiday activities. Last weekend we did the annual Christmas Stroll downtown (see picture) and had a ball. Sunday night we went to Learning Circle (James Montessori school) Holiday party where all the kids sang holiday songs. James was hilarious. He was mostly stone-faced the whole time and didn't really sing, but occasionally chimed in. He mostly was more interested in turning around to listen and watch the kids behind him singing. Sean and I were totally cracking up. He and his buddies had a blast though. We left early (a whole nother story) which really upset James, but we had a great time anyway hanging with James's friends and their parents. He makes friends very easily and has a number of great friends. At Learning Circle he has a group that also went to Little Tree, so they have been a foursome since they were just babies. They are Oscar, Michael, and Rio. They are great boys with terrific parents too. They are just thick as thieves and have to be separated often so that they can actually do their learning lessons. We love it. At preschool, James has Tyson, who is a wonderful little guy. He is still best friends with Sawyer though, most of all.

Speaking of learning...wow! James can identify all numbers and most of the letters in the alphabet and say the sound they make and give example of words beginning with that letter. We are so impressed with how much he has learned since going to Learning Circle. He really is thriving in that environment. He is exhausted when he comes home from learning so much and playing so hard with his "homies". It is totally worth the steep price-tag. Yeah Montessori!

All in all we are adjusting to our new gig as a foursome. I know that more sleep will come and we are all happy to be together. I am looking forward to finishing up my class this semester at the end of this week, and will go back to work from home a few hours a week next week.