Brothers

Shot this yesterday afternoon during a particularly sweet exchange between the boys. Sebastian is very chatty already and as you can see, Zander is fascinated with him.

Meanwhile, back at the zoo...

Zander may have a new little brother, but Sebastian isn't the only show in town. In fact, we have a baby elephant in the house as well.

But before he was born...

Sorry to go backwards for a moment, but who doesn't like to see a big belly?

Zander was a good big brother, even back then. I am fairly positive you could have confused me with the broad side of a barn, but hey, that's what happens when you're pregnant.

That said, I was lucky enough to be part of a pregnancy article in the Middle East edition of Shape magazine (which means I couldn't have been quite as rotund as I think I was). Not only was I in a photo shoot, I also got to review two amazing mom-to-be spa treatments. There are perks to being pregnant and in publishing!

Here I am at 6 months pregnant, demonstrating the sideways lunge. In a surprising turn of events, I am also demonstrating what happens when a make up artist gets a bit over zealous with eye shadow and blusher...

Introducing Sebastian

Here he is, TL2 in the flesh. Sebastian was born on the afternoon of April 25th, making him exactly two years and one month younger than his big brother.

As with Zander, I was induced when I had Sebastian, but thankfully instead of 16 hours of labor he arrived after only four hours -- and only three big pushes. It was a much smoother process than the first time around, and I was up and taking a shower within two hours of giving birth.

Zander, Tonny (Bas' mom) and Leizl (our nanny) came to the hospital that evening, and immediately Zander was intrigued by his little brother.

For those of you keeping track, this is the same hat Zander wore on the day he went home from the hospital. And both of them seem to have a mutual dislike of the beanie. Oh well. Mama thinks it is cute.

How does a year pass so quickly?

More than a year has passed since I chased Zander around his room with my mobile phone, hoping to finally show off his prowess in the walking department. As they say, we've come a long way, baby.

Our little man will be two tomorrow, which just doesn't seem possible. Zander is growing into a joyful, silly and wonderful kid. He has a wicked sense of humor and loves to tease (especially his mother).

The past year has been a busy one for Zander. Besides embarking on a 3-week road trip around Europe (Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Germany), he has learned the fine art of charming everyone he meets. His current passions include trucks ("doot doots"), music (particularly Big Band/Swing and um, Radiohead) and story time.

But these days, he's got something else to get excited about. You see, he's about to be a big brother. Yes, I realize that when I was pregnant with Zander I completely forgot to update our blog until a mere month or so before he was born. And this time around...I've done the same thing. Chalk it up to being busy or prenatal porridge brain -- either way, at least I'm predictable.

Zander is particularly fond of my belly. The bigger it gets, the more Zander likes to give my bump a friendly pat whenever it passes him by. And most of the time when I ask him to kiss his baby brother, I get a nice kiss on my navel. I've never seen a kiddo who is so ready to be a big brother!

TL2 (the in-utero name of our soon to be born son) is due to make his appearance in late April/early May. Watch this space for updates. No, really!