The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Babies

Have I mentioned that Jacob is a dream? He is so smiley, so squishy, so good at naps, and so pleasant. I can't even handle it.

But he is more than just a wonderful baby. He is also a great mentor. And he's here tonight to teach us things that will improve our lives and careers.

1. Be proactive. If you see something, you should reach for it.

2. Begin with the end in mind. What do you want? Those blinky lights? Then keep your eye on the ball and constantly review your mission statement.

3. Put first things first. Prioritize the tasks in your life, starting with:

Important and urgent

Attention is important and urgent.

Important and not urgent

He can't really spend the night like this.

Not important and urgent

You really don't have to use the bathroom, mom. Don't leave me. Ever.

And finally not important and not urgent

Don't you dare check your phone if I'm awake.

4. Think win-win. If you go to sleep, then you and your parents will both be happy! If you smile instead of crying and swallowing air, then you won't be uncomfortable and your parents won't have to burp you.

5. Seek first to understand,

then to be understood.

Develop your ethos,

 pathos,

 and logos.

Or legos if you are an older brother.

6. Synergize! You can make a better selfie when you work together with mom.

7. Sharpen the saw. Renew your resources and energy for an effective, happy lifestyle.

Yep, he's got life figured out! And he's helping to keep us happy, too.

How to Win Friends and Influence People

1. Be really really really cute.
2. Actually, that's pretty much it.

I never managed to capture how he was licking the burp rag

Practicing Positive Leadership

Back in January, we started prepping Joseph on his new sibling by reading these books to him.

Just kidding. We never opened them. We read other books about siblings, but not these. (Actually, to my dismay, his favorite book seemed to be Julius, the Baby of the World until I had the forethought to hide it about 3 days before the baby came.)

But even without opening the books, Joseph seems to have picked up on the important points outlined in each book. For example:

Practicing Positive Leadership: "I'm the big brother!" is the phrase commonly heard around the house these days. He knows that it is his job to teach the baby how to lift his head,

play dress up,

and pose for the camera.

He also likes to help Matthew learn how to sing.

The Peacegiver: Joseph has done pretty well keeping things peaceful (well, as peaceful as they were before Matthew came . . . we still have the same conflicts we had before the baby came, but I think that's normal). But more than being a peacegiver, Joseph has been a really good piece-of-advice-giver.

(When he saw that one of us was about to swaddle Matthew with a blanket) "We don't put toys in the baby's crib. Or blankets."

(When Matthew cries) "Matthew cries because he doesn't know how to talk yet like me."

(When I'm nursing) "Matthew isn't supposed to eat food. Just milk."

(Changing a diaper) "You need to put another one on him."

He also likes to know my sources. I once explained to him that Matthew drinks milk, and then later he needs diaper changes. Joseph said, "Oh . . . where did you learn that?"

The Gathering Storm: Even though he understands why Matthew cries, he sure doesn't approve of it. (We could have maybe prepped with this book a bit better.) (But Matthew really doesn't cry that much, at least not yet.)

Shadow of the Giant: Suddenly, Joseph gained 20 pounds.

"He's so little!"

Overall, the transition has been fairly smooth. Starting from day one, Joseph has been a big fan (albeit a cautious one) of his little brother.

It'll be fun to see them interact more and more as they get older.

Pictures from August

In keeping with my accidental pattern of posting pictures 3 months late, I figured it was time to post some pictures our friend Aura Maria took of us back in August that I've been planning to post for a while now. (If I keep this pattern up, you can look forward to pictures with the Toblers in Columbus in December, pictures of the cider mill and arboretum in January, and Thanksgiving pictures in February.) It's fun to see how much and yet how little Joseph has changed in 3 months.

 

Pictures from July

Okay, you all have heard way too much from me the past few weeks. So it's time for some pictures! These were taken, oh, middle of July? We went up to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner in Alpine one Sunday afternoon and my uncle Mark was nice enough to take these pictures of us while we were there. Joseph was a bit of a grump that whole afternoon (refusing to nurse, not smiling much, acting touchy) so we didn't get very happy pictures. But they're still cute all the same.

I love his face.

Okay. I have to explain this one. I put him on his tummy but on the way down his head hit my knee. So that made him scream. I don't know why I was smiling, but if you look at the later pictures you'll see that I actually did try to comfort him.

This one is funny because he's so stiff and I'm so relaxed.