Swimming Lessons

Kendall and Seren started swimming lessons this past Saturday.  They were excited the week leading up to it, nervous when we handed them over to their instructor and generally seemed to enjoy the class.  They are the cute little things in pink and blue-green sitting on the pools edge (I'm sure you can't tell...silly me didn't bring a good camera to take a couple pictures).  They stood in the water, chased easter eggs and had fun.  The instructor dunked all of the kids to get them used to the water in their face.  They were NOT a fan of that and both girls got visibly upset but the teacher distracted them and they continued enjoying everything else.  We were given the assignment to work on it though and have since been playing in the big jetted tub every night to get used to water in their face, closing mouth and eyes, blowing bubbles and such...hopefully they show improvement by this coming Saturday.  

We sat across the pool so they wouldn't notice us

Nolan came to watch too and even dipped his toes in (didn't care one bit about it though)

They were glad to be done and a little chilled with slightly blue lips but BIG SMILES

5 Month Update

Weight / Length:  (guessing) around 15 lbs and maybe 27 inches.  He is starting to wear  6-9 month clothes and is still in size 2 diapers.

Eating:  We are still breastfeeding (yeah!).  He took one bottle and now refuses bottles again.  I don't know if it's the bottle or the formula.  He also won't take baby cereal when it's mixed with formula (yes I gave in to see if this would help with his sleeping; it doesn't haha).  Can't say I blame him.  I have tasted both and formula isn't all that appealing if you know the difference of more mild and sweet breast milk.  I am at a crossroad on whether I want to offer any other "solids".  I have given him cereal a few times and he does seem to enjoy it.  I mushed up a banana and he was okay with that too.  But he still comes back for his main intake from me.  It's only another month before the recommended time frame now anyway so I may just cut it out again for that time.

Milestones/Development:   Nolan has good head control.  He does better with tummy time and likes to look at toys and faces this way.  He rolls tummy to back and also back to tummy now.  He rolled back to tummy the day of his 4-month appointment when we got home.  He definitely squirms around to try to get places.  He's getting better at trunk control too and trying to sit up so I imagine he'll be on his way to crawling soon.  He has been more quiet recently in his vocalization.  Maybe it's with all the motor development that speech has taken the back burner.  He still laughs and coos but is distracted more by things around him and across the room and what his sisters are doing, etc etc.  He is able to grab things and hold things more easily.  He is starting to anticipate more (ie with tickle games he will giggle before I get to tickle him).

Physical Therapy/Torticollis:  His PT is going well.  His tilt is improving to almost normal range (within 5 degrees).  His turning is still not great and he has tightness in his neck and resists stretching.  I have been a little more lax on stretches and he fights me the most on turning his head (go figure where the most improvement is).  He does turn to his right (weak side) more often now but mostly when he is relaxed.  You can still see that he fights it when he doesn't like the stretch. 

Sleep:  He doesn't sleep very good at night still.  He goes to bed between 7-7:30 and sleeps a few hours.  Wakes up between 10:30-11:30 usually.  Then another 3 hours and up again.  We did get a 11:30-4:00 stretch the other night so that was nice and gives me hope that he can do it.  We try to let him fuss more and I hope that helps.  

Fun Memories (Outings/Events):  We got an Ergo baby carrier and took him for a walk and the girls on the trikes with it.  He seemed to really enjoy being outside even though it was a little cool.  I think he will love getting out once the weather warms up.

Challenges:  His torticollis and sleeping is the only big challenges we have right now.  He is a really good baby in general though.

Likes/Dislikes:  He loves his sisters and seeing what they can do.  He likes to grab at our phones, the remote or other types of things we mess with.  He also like to try to grab at Thor and stares at him.  We let him pet Thor with us controlling his hand as it makes Thor nervous.  Thor is good though and never nips he just licks like crazy to avoid any unwanted grabs of collar, ears or fur.

Looking Forward to:  Him being able to sit up and play.  I know it's frustrating to him to do tummy time so much and I don't like him playing on his back too much.  Anyway I know he will love to sit up and be more mobile as he wants so bad to move.  I try to teach him and he's excited to use his arms to pull forward (with my help) but so mad when he can't do it on his own.  Hopefully looking forward to being done with physical therapy (skipping the helmet if we can but still concerned on head shape).

Mario and Nolan - getting closer in size to each other

So adorable just want to eat him up

I thought the couch was blending with his shirt so moved him to our nursery  chair and he just wanted to eat his toes

The Talk

I've been reading reviews of different books and how to introduce the donor egg aspect with our children.  It made me realize I haven't shared some of the fun stories of the girls learning more about this.

I figured that with Nolan coming into our family they would have more questions about babies and I was right.  They asked how Nolan got in my tummy and I kept it simple with saying "mommy and daddy went to a doctor who helped put Nolan in my tummy" and that we went to the hospital and the doctor helped us to have Nolan.  Nothing I felt was misleading but enough information for a little 4 year old mind to understand.  They seemed okay with it and remained fascinated with their baby brother and not necessarily where he came from.

A week or two ago though we had pulled social security cards out of the fire safe for tax season.  I found the girls embryo-scope picture.  I thought they would find it interesting so I brought it upstairs and showed it to them.  They were interested and started asking questions.  I told them how babies were made from egg and sperm to become an embryo (like the picture).  I also told them I didn't have any eggs so a nice lady gave us some eggs to help us make them.  They were fine with this explanation and didn't ask more.  Then Seren started asking how the doctor got them into my tummy.  She said "did he make you swallow us and we went down into your tummy" (motioning with her hand into her mouth and down her throat into her stomach).  Oh wouldn't it be easy if that were the case.  I laughed a little and then reintroduced the difference between boys and girls that we've explained since Nolan's arrival.  I explained that girls also have a uterus where babies can grow.  I explained the doctor put their embryos into my uterus and that's where they grew to become babies and be born.  Kendall then piped in and asked "so then the doctor cut your tummy open and we were born?" (with a prying motion to her own tummy).  HAHA Not exactly.  I told them that some babies were born that way (with a doctor cutting the mommy to get the baby out) but some were born another way.  I didn't go into more detail there and they had enough of "the talk" by then and were ready to go play.

Honestly at least the medical aspect makes it more simple to answer questions about how they came to be and came into our family.  I'd rather explain that than the other method of having babies at this age HAHA.  I'm sure we'll continue to have some interesting discussions about this along the way but for now we're starting on the right foot I hope.

4 Year Old Appointment

The girls went in for their 4 year appointment yesterday.  We were thrown off schedule a year ago with our pediatrician taking maternity leave and now more so due to insurance only billing a check-up once a year.  Good news...they are doing great.

Weight / Length:  

Kendall:  38.78 inches tall (23rd percentile), 28 lbs 10 oz (3rd percentile), BMI was around 2nd or 3rd percentile

Seren:  39.84 inches tall (45th percentile), 31 lbs 15 oz (20th percentile), BMI was around 15th percentile

Eating:  They are still not hefty eaters but they do okay.  They eat better when it's their favorite food.  We asked about their eating habits and were told to just keep giving options but not make eating a negative experience.  Just keep exposing them and eventually they'll like more food (hopefully). 

Milestones/Development:   They are on target with everything developmentally.  They are excited to start preschool and I'm excited for them to learn new things and new ways of learning as well as meeting new kids and friends. 

Sleep:   They are awesome little sleepers.  They sleep 8 pm to 7-7:30 am and don't have trouble sleeping through the night.  They tell us about their dreams a lot more lately and it's fun to hear about their imaginations working. 

Fun Memories (Outings/Events):  We enjoyed movies at the park this past year, Jeff took them on hikes and nature walks, We enjoyed a trip to Zions National Park and loved all the hikes and walks there.  They loved going to the zoo this past year and seeing the animals.  They liked the park and pool.  They talk often about going to the zoo and getting out the pool when it's warm again.  They were excited for Nolan to join our family.  Seren was a little more eager and Kendall a little more reserved about him at first but they've both mellowed into the middle ground of being helpful enough but not overbearing.  Nolan adores them and loves to watch them and interact with them.

Challenges:  They are finding more independence from us and from each other.  It's good for them but a struggle also.  They play well together mostly but get into more arguments and fights about who's in charge and toy sharing.  Kendall does much better socially than she used to but she still struggles a little bit with warming up to people and feeling social at times.  She has a slightly harder time emotionally also and gets her feelings hurt fairly easily.  Seren used to be very bossy and pushy with Kendall.  She has improved with this but can still be a bit of a bully and instigator in aggravating Kendall.  Seren seems to struggle a little more with learning letters and numbers.  It's mostly a confidence and practice issue.  We think she depended a lot on letting Kendall answer or identify letters before and so she is playing catch-up a little in learning them for herself now.

Likes/Dislikes:  They like playing pretend together and dress up.  They play princess, mommy and various animals.  They like riding their big wheel tricycles around the neighborhood.  They enjoy playing on the swing set in the back yard.  They don't always listen as well lately but are still very well behaved.  We are trying to teach them responsibilities and chores.  They are excited to help put their dishes away and help cook when they can.

Looking Forward to:  Looking forward to summer activities.  They want to play in the pool and go to the parks and just be outside.  We are looking forward to movies in the park again and a trip to the petting zoo in Pleasant Grove in April.  We are also planning to visit my parents in Florida this summer.  We haven't told the girls yet although we slip up but I don't think they know or understand.  We're going to fly this time and I hope that they enjoy flying and don't freak out.  They will be doing in class preschool 2-days a week as well as online preschool through the state 5 days a week.  I'm excited for both and hope especially that they will enjoy the in class preschool and new kids to interact with.

*I'm hoping to take pictures of them soon.  I've been neglectful of taking nice pictures with my good camera so that is my goal to do soon*

Rediscovering White Noise

A.K.A.  I'm finally getting some sleep

It's a good thing babies are cute.  Nolan has been sleeping like a baby.  You know up every couple of hours crying and wanting to eat.  It got worse around 3 months and lasted about a month.  I was exhausted and cranky and pretty much a zombie.  At his 4 month appointment I mentioned his horrible sleep to our pediatrician.  Not really normal as he was waking 3-4 times every night.  She suggested sleep training him (ie let him fuss it out more) or possibly trying a little baby cereal at bedtime.  We sleep trained two nights before I decided to give the cereal a little try.  He was up an hour later with crying and tummy ache/gas pain.  We hoped it was a fluke and tried again the next night with more time between cereal and bedtime.  He barely went down this time and same tummy trouble.  So cereal was out.  We'll try again around 6 months as planned.

Somewhere amid the bloodshot eyes and collapse in brain function one of us remembered the girls doing well with white noise and a strict bed routine.  So I found a white noise machine the next day and tried out a bed routine of rocking him and reading/looking at a book with Nolan then feeding him and laying him down drowsy but awake as usual.  Holy cow!  The kid slept and he slept good.  He went down around 7:30 or 8 pm and didn't stir until about 1:30 am.  Unheard of.  We both woke around 1 am and asked the other if he'd woken up yet.  I even sent Jeff in to check on him.  Out cold.  Praise to the white noise machine.  He woke up shortly after the check and wanted to eat.  I fed him and put him back down within 15-20 minutes.  He was out again until almost 6:00 am.  It was marvelous.  And it pretty much happened again last night.  I feel so rested.  Rested to the point I'm almost groggy when I wake up because I'm not used to so much sleep.  Yeah!!  Normal sleep is coming back in the picture for a visit...you know until teething or a growth spurt hits again.

A cute picture of the littles...they all looked at me for it...AMAZING!!

4 Month Update

*as with my girls these updates are for me to keep and remember.

Weight / Length:  14 lbs 11 oz (32%) and 26.38 inches (91%).  Head circ. 42.7 cm (61%)

Eating:  We are still breastfeeding (yeah!).  We did run into him refusing bottles for about a month but I kept pressing the issue and finally found a bottle and hopefully formula that he will accept should the need arise (date night pretty please).  He is hitting 4 months for "solids" but I'm going to try putting this off until 6 months or until he shows more interest in what we eat.  Also want to skip the rice cereal stage if possible but may use it for breakfast once we get going that route.  He did show interest when I drink water around him and loves to grab at the glass and drink a little ice water from our cups (he sticks his tongue in or we give him tiny sips).

Development:   Nolan has good head control.  He does better with tummy time and likes to look at toys and faces this way.  He has rolled from tummy to back a few times.  The first time (around 3 months) I barely put him on his tummy and turned to get some toys and turned back around he was on his back looking surprised ("woah...what just happened?).  He loves to babble, laugh and squeal with delight.  He is starting to grab things more with his hands.  He loves sucking on his hands constantly.  Usually he sticks his index finger and thumb into his mouth.  I think he's grabbing at or playing with his tongue.  

Physical Therapy/Torticollis:  His PT is going well.  He had a month between his intake and first appointment and immediately was doing well enough to do every other week appointments instead of weekly.  Of course our next bi-monthly appointment was cancelled due to him getting sick so it will be another month between appointments again now (yuck!).  His movement is great, head control is great but his flat spot still remains.
As of February 9th:  He had an improvement from 10 mm to 8 mm with his flat spot.  His tilt and turn are doing well but still need a little more improvement.  Most likely he won't need a helmet though if his head shape keeps improving by 6 months.  Yeah!!

Sleep:  He doesn't sleep so good at night anymore.  He is going down around 8:30 pm and then is up at 11-11:30, 2:30-3 and then 5:30 am.  Then usually sleeps until 7:30-8 am when the girls get up.  I don't know if it's for hunger or comfort.  I still get okay sleep so it's not too torturous yet.  Hopefully it'll improve again soon.  Naps are improving which I am grateful for (usually one one-hour in the morning and one two-hour in the early afternoon).  The house recovers and the girls get some attention during this time.  We're hoping to move his crib into his own room so hopefully this will somehow help improve his sleeping.  

Fun Memories:  He enjoyed time with Grandma and Grandpa B for Christmas.  They were both good with him and he would soak in the attention and cuddles he got.  Grandpa B was particularly good at getting him to calm down or sleep during the cranky time.  He would rock and hum to him and Nolan would just stare at him and doze off usually.  We haven't been out much since the new year due getting sick a couple weeks into it and this cold has last two weeks now.

Looking Forward to:  Grateful to have the house coming back together (usually).  Kendall and Seren will be starting preschool in the fall and they are excited for this.  We're also going to visit Grandparents B this summer so we're looking forward to the time with them (we haven't told the girls still haha but I'm sure they'll be excited).  Hoping to finish putting together Nolan's room soon and then move him over.  I need to sew curtains as those I ordered were horrible.  Also going to be doing a minor remodel on the girls room.  Seren fell out of the top bunk about a week ago (thankfully no broken bones or injuries) so I'm getting rid of the bunk beds as they take up too much space when unbunked.  Going to be a busy little time for a bit I guess.

My stinkin cute little boy

Lots of blur from all of his movement this time

Love his skin and kissable cheeks

...and those eyes.  Be still my heart.

3 Month Update

*as with my girls these updates are for me to keep and remember.

Weight / Length:  Around 14 lbs with scale at home.  Length unknown.  Wearing 3-6 month clothes as of almost a month ago.

Eating:  We are still breastfeeding (yeah!).  We have actually run into the opposite kind of snag (problem?) in that Nolan is refusing bottles now.  It happened during the holidays and I've tried formula supplement (new formula though), breast milk and medium flow nipple.  He won't have anything to do with anything but direct breastfeeding right now.  I hope it doesn't stick.  I may try the supplementing formula we started with but other than that I'm at a loss for what to try.

Development:   Nolan has good head control.  He still doesn't love tummy time but he tolerates it and doesn't cry immediately (the holidays and relatives holding him have probably put a slight damper on tummy time).  He loves to babble.  He is starting to grab things more with his hands.  He loves sucking on his hands too.  He has started laughing and squealing a little. 

Sleep:  He sleeps good at night.  Naps are touch and go though.  He recently started going to sleep around 8 or 9 pm though so hopefully that is why.  He sleeps 8 to midnight or 1 am and then again until 6 am (then another hour or two until I get up with the girls).

Fun Memories:  Nolan slept through Christmas.  He was a good baby for the holidays and enjoyed time spent with both grandparents.  We saw the ZooLights at Hogle Zoo before Christmas and he was interested in the lights and would stare but eventually gave into the warm snuggles of being strapped moby-style to me.

Looking Forward to:  More baby giggles.  Nolan being able to grab and play with more things.  Summer and warm weather to get outside more.

3 month comparison with Mario

Love his little grins and giggles

Wide eyed wonder