Tuesday, January 31, 2012

18m Well Check

This morning we had Ryan's 18 month well check visit (at 19.5 months.)  He was so good while the nurse listened to his heart beat and weighed him.  However, he did not like her looking up his nose or his left ear.

20lbs 14oz & 31.8 in

He is still in the 1% for weight, but he is now in the 20% for height!  At 15m he was in the 3%.  They gave him a book and the boys got matching shirts with the office logo.  At the end of his appointment he had to get 2 shots.  He laid down on the table with his legs dangling over the edge & I had to hold down his arms.  He got a Hep A shot and a flu shot.  He wasn't a fan of either, he screamed.  =(  When she was done he reached down to his leg and then started taking the bandaids off.  I held him for a second and he stopped crying.  What a trooper.


We had a good afernoon playing with cups...



& finger paint..



& eating the finger paint... 


& going for walks.



When Ryan was 1month 1day old is when I started bathing him every night and giving him a bedtime routine.  He officially had a bedtime of 9pm.  It didn't always work, but I always tried.  Tonight Jake is 1month 1day, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I bathed Ryan tonight and brought the bouncer into the bathroom and bouned Jake.  After I cleaned Ryan I let him play.  I got to thinking that I should probably start bathing Jake everyday now.  How can I bathe Jake with Ryan in the tub?  Tim wasn't home so I thought I'd wait for him so he could get Ryan out and watch him.  Nah- I don't need Tim, I can do it myself!  I got the little yellow bath sponge and put it at the front of the tub and bathed Jake, took him out and wrapped him in his towel, and laid him back in his bouncer.  Then I got Ryan out and wrapped him in his towel and took him out of the tub.  I picked up Jake with my free arm.  Took both babies back to Ryan's room- diaper, lotion, and jammies.  We spent the rest of the night playing in Ryan's room, reading books and dancing.  Daddy & Ryan danced.  Mommy & Jake read books.  Ryan went down at 8- Jake was sleeping at 9! 

I'm sure moms of multiples now find this easy- & I know someday I will too.  I was pretty dang proud of myself and now it's 9:30, babies are sleeping, toys are picked up, and kitchen is clean!

Monday, January 30, 2012

Happy 1 month Jake!

Life is soo busy with two little monkeys.  I don't have time to write in here!  It's 11 o'clock at night, I need to be sleeping.  But nope, I need to keep up with this blog too!

This past Friday I had my 4 week check up with my doctor.  You know what she told me?  That everything looked good!  I could not have asked for better news.  It took multiple visits, an MRI & finally when Ryan was 6 months old, Dr. Riley told me that I was good to go.  6 whole months. 


Last weekend we went to our niece Kylie's 8th birthday party at Skate Country and Peter Piper Pizza.  Little kids just grow up too fast.  I can't believe Kylie is 8.  She is such a sweet little girl.  She loves playing with Ryan.  At Peter Piper Pizza Ryan had fun playing.  It still blows me away that he's like a little kid, runs & plays. 


I like this picture, Ryan had fun just playing on this little step that led into the play place.  He's such a good boy.

 

Ryan totally has food all over his face.  I took a lot of pictures this night because it's probably the first time he's ever paid any attention to me when I had a camera in his face.  Look at those big blue eyes.


Ryan is at an age where he is learning new things every day.  He doesn't say as many words as a lot of kids his age but he is really starting to understand everything we say to him and follow directions.  He is sooo much fun. 19 months is perfect.  He's really starting to love Jake <3  Ryan runs over to him when he makes noises.  If he sees his pacifier sitting on the table Ryan gets it and tries putting it in his mouth.  Ryan doesn't say "baby" he says "day-de."  I'm not sure why, because he can say the "b" sound but when he says Baby he replaces the "b" with the "d" sound.  Every time I've bathed Jake, I've done it after Ryan went to bed for the night.  Last night I decided to bathe him when Ryan was still awake.  Ryan ran into the bathroom and stood at the tub and watched me bathed Jake the whole time Jake was in the tub.  He is so interesed and curious about him.

"AYou're Adorable."-- I love this book. I bought it for Tim when we first met.





Eating a blueberry muffin and watching Barney in momma's chair.  When I go back to work I'll miss mornings with Ryan the most.  Snuggling and watching Barney is my favorite!

Getting ready to scream at momma!

This picture makes me laugh!  Ryan discovered the blinds yesterday and was laughing and screaming like crazy playing in them.  I know I know- bad momma- but he was so happy!


Last night was a rough night in this house.  This past week Jake has been crying/screaming a lot.  I'm thinking it might be gas pains, I'm going to try and cut dairy out of my diet for a week and see how it affects Jake.  Anyways- he spent the majority of yesterday crying.  Last night I was trying to get both the babies to sleep and they were both crying.  My kitchen was still a mess from dinner.  I wanted to clean up, I wanted to comfort Jake & I wanted to hold Ryan all at the same time but I couldn't.  Ryan didn't fall asleep til around 10.  Jake didn't fall asleep until about midnight.  I decided to sit in my bed and just cry it out & text my best friend (who also has two little monkeys.)  I know there will be plenty more tough times being a mommy to two babies.

Today definitely made up for the rough night last night. Ryan is just so so amazing and Jake was a sweet little baby today.  We played alll day long.  Jake is 1 month old today, so after Ryan went to sleep Tim took Jake's 1 month pictures.  Hopefully I'll post them soon!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Weekly Checkup!

My sweet little babies.







Not sure what it is about these pom poms that Ryan likes so much, but he sure thinks they're entertaining. 



Giving Mommy kisses :) 


A couple of weeks ago JC Penney had a Step2 patio set online listed for $15, of course I bought it.  Well, it was a pricing error.  They ran out of Step2 patio sets but in order to make up for it, they sent the rest of the people a $50off coupon when you spend $50 or more!  We chose to get him this Litte Tikes police car.  It came in the mail when the babies and I were napping, so Tim started putting it together.  Ryan LOVES this car!  Theres a little handle on the top of the car in the back so I can push him when we are going for walks.  He also sits in it when we're in the living room.  He eats his snack in it, drinks his milk, and watches Barney.  Best of all, I paid $11 out of pocket!  Awesome deal.





Ryan is getting more and more interested in Jake.  Ryan tried climbing onto the bouncer, I made sure that Jake's leg weren't under Ryan when he climbed on.  Jake isn't even long enough to have Ryan sitting on him.










Jake was born at 7lbs2oz, the next day he was 6lbs13oz.  He was 6 days old at his first doctor's apointment and was up to7lbs5oz!  I was happy that he was already over his birth weight.  It took Ryan a month to get over his birth weight.  At 2 weeks Jake was 7lbs8oz.  He had only gained 3oz in 8 days.  The dr. said that he should be gaining closer to an ounce a day so we had to schedule a weight check for the following week.  We took him back at 3 weeks and he was 8lbs6oz.  That's 14oz in 7 days!  Geez.  I'm glad he's gaining weight from my milk.

Speaking of milk, I've started pumping again.  I hate pumping.  I doubt there is anything out there that actually enjoys it, but you do what's best for your baby.  The last time I pumped was when Ryan was 10 months old, it was a nice 9 month break!

In Ryan's baby book there are a few spots blank, first time he clapped and the first time he played peek a boo.  I don't know those dates off the top of my head. Thank God for blogger!  I know I wrote those in here so one day when I'm not too lazy I'll have to search through old entries so I can make sure those baby book spots don't always stay blank.  So now I have to put in here that last Tuesday (1/17) Ryan got two more teeth!  He got one tooth on each side on the top.  He has his 4 front teeth, then a space for one tooth, and he is getting his teeth next to the space.  That makes 8 teeth. Big boy.


FYI- I changed my blog URL.  If it doesn't show up in the dashboard, you have to unfollow my blog & then refollow it. 









Monday, January 16, 2012

19 months & 17 days

My mom has been in town since the night before Jake was born.  Do you know how wonderful it is to have your mom in town for17 days?  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  She helps out SO much!  She woke up in the mornings with Ryan so Tim & I could sleep in, she helps cook and clean.  She left this afternoon and I missed her the second she drove down the street.  I know Ryan misses her too.  I hope everyone is as lucky as me to have such an amazing mother.

I have a ton of pictures I want to share.  I uploaded some the other day but never got around to actually writing a blog entry.  I figured I'd write in here now.  Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things with this blog because I want to remember e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g.





Life with two babies takes some getting used to.  I recently read on a fellow mommy blog that going from 1 to 2 babies is easier than going from 0 to 1.  I have to say that I agree 100%.  Before Ryan was born, I had no one else to look after.  I had no idea how much you could love another human being.  I didn't know how much of my life would be devoted to this other little person.  I knew I would love him, I just never knew how IN love with my child I could be.  Ryan changed Tim & me.  Instead of living for ourselves, we are now living for him.  We had a routine life.  17 days ago we added Jake into our lives.  Is it harder, yes.  Is it even more time consuming, yes.  It's unpredictable.  Less sleep.  More diapers.  More crying.  & lots and lots and lots of more love :)


I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to experience being a parent all over again with a brand new little baby.  I have had 17 days with this perfect little miracle.  A miracle that I found out about on May 8, 2011.   A miracle that scared the crap out of me because Ryan was only 10.5 months old.  I know it won't be easy or relaxing.  I know I'll have plenty of days where I'll want to pull my hair out.  But for now, I'm going to soak it all in.


Jake got his first bath at home when he was 6 days old.  My mom gave Ryan his first bath, so why not keep up with the tradition.  We let her give Jake his first bath as well.





After we brought Jake home, Ryan was jealous.  He wanted up whenever I was holding Jake.  He was crying out more for attention.  It made me feel sad.  For the past 18 months and 2 weeks Ryan was the center of our world and then we bring in this tiny little newborn who also needs our attention, especially from mommy.  We tried to still give Ryan as much attention as he always had before.  I can honestly say that he is getting better already.  I haven't seen signs of jealousy in a few days.  When Jake is laying in his pack n play and he starts crying, Ryan runs over and peeks inside.  When Ryan sees pacifiers sitting on the table, he picks them up and brings them to Jake.  If Jake's blankets are not wrapped around him, Ryan picks them up and gives them to Jake.  Ryan gives Jake kisses.  Today he even gave him one without me asking him to :)


I'm happy that we gave Ryan a brother.  I can't wait to watch the bond these two will share.







Ryan is 19 months old today!!  That means he is closer to being 2 than he is to 1. =(  He is the sweetest little guy.  He is learning new things everyday.  I went to the hospital with a little 18 month baby at home and feel like I came back to an 18 month old kid.  Ryan looks so big now that we have a newborn.

Ryan is still on the same schedule he has been on for months and months.  He wakes up every morning between 8:30 and 9:30.  We watch Barney in the mornings while he eats breakfast.  Ryan adores Barney.  He starts dancing as soon as the theme song comes on.  If he is sitting in his high chair he kicks his little feet up and down.  He loves all the songs they sing on Barney.  When they sing "If you're happy and you know it," Ryan claps his hands along with them.  He plays all morning and gets into everything.  His favorite toy lately are his Mega Bloks.  He can play with them for hours.  He builds towers and will move them from one table to another and back to the coffee table.  He loves his books that play music along with them.

He takes his naps everyday at 1.  No matter what time he wakes up in the morning I always lay him down at 1.  I tell him it's time to go ni-night. Then he starts waving to Daddy.  We got Ryan to start waving when I would take him upstairs to take naps or go to bed, the habbit never broke and he still waves bye whenever I lay him down.  He never puts up a fight at naptime, I pick him up and he puts his head down on my shoulder.  He usually naps 2-3 hours.

He jibber jabbers constantly.  He still doesn't say a whole lot of words yet.  His list is pretty much the same with maybe one or two new words: hi, bye (uuuhhh), up, here you go, ni ni, yes, dada, mama, baby- which sounds a little like dada.  We've been working on body parts.  He knows his toes, eyes, nose, tongue, and belly button.

He's getting better using a spoon or fork.  He also uses the wrong end of the fork too.  He recently stopped eating his fruits!  ahh.  We sneak them into his oatmeal and he eats them, but won't if they are sitting on his plate.

He follows simple directions too.  "Let's go." "Go get your shoes." "Give me a kiss." Little things like that.  He recently discovered walking backwards.  It's pretty cute watching it too.  He likes building things and reading books.  He likes discovering things.





My 40 week belly picture.  Baby Jake came 9 days early.



Jake's first bath in the baby tub.  He wasn't a fan.



Today marks 1 month since I have seen my kids at work.  I miss them.    But I am loving being with my boys.