Wednesday, November 30, 2011

bald beauty

and her mama
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11.29.11

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Kayaking at Discovery Green

Last weekend we went to Discovery Green and there were kayak rentals on the lake. IJ started off strong...

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And then started slipping...

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And eventually ended up flat on his back. But he didn't seem to mind. He never dropped that paddle and just kept on going. He seemed to enjoy himself, even though he either couldn't move, didn't want to, or both.

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11.19.11

Monday, November 21, 2011

these kids are driving me mad already

on my first day alone with the two of 'em

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11.19.11

Friday, November 18, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

ZJ's 1 month and IJ's 28 month photo dump

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10.10.11

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10.11.11

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10.13.11

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10.13.11

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10.14.11

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10.15.11

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10.15.11

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10.17.11

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10.19.11

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10.26.11

IJ is 28 months old!

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11.6.11

Since turning 2 in July IJ’s vocabulary has skyrocketed. He loves to talk and often does so non-stop. We can have a complete conversation with him now. He also likes to sing and listen to music. His favorites are baby beluga, ABCs, Yankee Doodle (“Yankee ride pony”), happy birthday, EIEIO, any song from Yo Gabba Gabba, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Blackbird (Beatles song). He also recently picked up on a few curse words we occasionally use. He yells them out repeatedly when the mood hits. He loves vehicles, playing outside, his tricycle (which he rides expertly), his daddy’s bike, and reading books. He has memorized his books’ titles and various phrases within them. He likes to say “once upon a time.”

He decided he was ready for the potty about 2 weeks after his second birthday. He frequently uses the potty or pees outside all day long and only wears diapers for nap and night time. He started wearing underwear out of the house and while at school towards the end of September when he also began peeing on full size toilets. He does go through phases where he resists his potty and prefers to go outside (or resists going completely) but has been fairly consistent. He has perfected his color identification although confuses brown and black. He counts to 12. He is doing better with letting me leave him at school and I either sneak out or he actually tells me “bye bye mama.”

In the last month since ZJ was born IJ has seen a lot of changes at home. His mama was gone for a couple days and then brought a new baby into the house. He seemed quite interested in her and wanted to touch and hold her. At the same time he spent about 2 weeks being mainly cared for by his daddy and didn’t see his mama as much as he is used to. He did show a little aggression towards his sister a few times during these first few weeks but more often he wanted to kiss, hug, and “pet” her. He likes to help pat her when we are burping her. He always announces when she is crying and likes to talk about her pooping (even before he had ever witnessed her doing this). Most recently, he has only shown love and seems to be adjusting to the idea of her staying around. But, he has had lots of extra attention with his grandparents staying with us.

Days after turning 2 IJ went his first 24 hours ever without breastfeeding. This continued for about a week and he then asked for “gnu” and went back and forth skipping days. Prior to this, my milk had completely dried up due to the pregnancy, so he wasn’t really drinking, just latching and sucking. He continued to randomly ask here and there for a few months. He basically puts his mouth on and takes it off then repeats on the other side. He now only calls breasts or breastfeeding “gnu” and all other beverages are now called “wawa.” He went a long time without asking by the time his sister was born and then asked a few times when he saw her breastfeeding. He has only tried it out once and not again since. He has been drinking breastmilk daily since her birth due to my oversupply while pumping for her. I plan to continue providing milk for him as long as I am nursing and able.

IJ went through a rough sleeping time where he would not let us leave him in his crib awake and we would spend hours laying with him trying to get him to sleep. He finally, gradually got to a point where he was used to me leaving him at nap time and NJ worked on night time. He is now used to the routine of being put to bed awake. Naps are inconsistent. Sometimes he skips them and will just play/talk/sing in his crib and sometimes he sleeps. When he skips his nap he goes to bed around 7 pm if he naps he goes to bed around 8 pm. He usually wakes between 6:30 and 7:30 am.

In the last few months he started having more intense and frequent fits when he doesn’t get his way. He yells “No”, “Mine” and “My turn” constantly. Sometimes it seems like everything is a battle. We are getting a bit better at avoiding and talking him down from these situations but they are still frequent.

He was sick twice during August. First with an ear infection and then with a sore throat/swollen tonsils and fever. Then, 2 days after ZJ’s birth he got a cold and was snotty for a few days.

ZJ is 1 month old!

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11.6.11

ZJ has had an exciting first month…and not in a good way. She was born almost 5 weeks early at 5.5 pounds and we were quite lucky that she was perfect and healthy and didn’t require additional days in the hospital but roomed with me the entire time and was discharged at the same time. Despite this, due to a couple of low blood glucose readings within hours after birth I was threatened with having to give her formula or sending her to the NICU for an IV which would require her to stay there for at least 24 hours. I was able to delay this decision and the following glucose measurement was normal [side note: babies can go hours without any feeding and their glucose levels will regulate on their own, hers was likely low due to being premature but they would have regulated on their own eventually]. She also had some jaundice and we took her in for daily bilirubin blood tests the following 3 days after discharge until that final measure was in the normal range.

She did not seem to breastfeed efficiently after birth so I began hand expressing colostrum to feed her with and pumping when my mature milk began coming in. We supplemented her with syringe feedings. Once home I continued pumping every 3 hours but she took very little of this extra milk and continued to mostly just breastfeed directly. Regardless, I continued to pump to make sure I had a good milk supply. I was worried if she was taking in enough milk so I checked her weight at 1 week and 2 weeks. At 1 week old she weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces and at 2 weeks she was 6 pounds even. The goal is to have the baby regain their birth weight by 2 weeks so she was doing quite well with having gained a half pound over her birth weight by this point. She was no longer being supplemented yet I was still pumping and freezing enough milk to feed another baby. Over the next week I worked on decreasing my pumping frequency. At 1 month she weighs 7.5 pounds.

At 3 weeks old ZJ got sick and stopped asking to eat, stopped pooping, and developed a fever. We were told to take her to the ER at the childrens hospital and while there her fever spiked to 100.4. While in the ER she had blood drawn, urine collected, and a spinal tap and was admitted to the NICU for 48 hours of observation and treatment for possible bacterial meningitis. During this time everything was cultured and continually checked to see if bacteria would grow. Based on content of the CSF, she was diagnosed with meningitis, and since nothing ever grew on the cultures it was categorized as viral. Regardless, she had to undergo 48 hours of antibiotic treatment in case it had been bacterial. She was poked and prodded and it was miserable to watch. Her first IV, in her hand, started leaking and had to be removed and a second started in her foot. Her hand and arm were very swollen. She also had a chest xray when pneumonia was suspected, but it was clear. We left the hospital on Friday 11/4 and have spent the weekend catching up on sleep and trying to get back on track. ZJ finally started eating normally again today and seems to be feeling better.

She has spent the majority of this month sleeping, peeing, pooping and eating. She spends very little time awake and with her eyes open. She likes to pee during diaper changes far more than her brother ever did. She is also a better burper than he was. All of a sudden the last 2 days she has been having long periods of quiet alertness and staying awake with her eyes open. She is quite content to hang out and be held as long as she is not hungry. She enjoys being worn in my wrap and sleeps through everything that way. She has only had a couple of proper baths and seemed to enjoy the last one very much. When she is unhappy she squeals and fusses and even that is cute. She is lovely and delicious and great to cuddle with.


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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Dewberry Farm

Last weekend we went to Dewberry Farm. IJ loved it.

He rode the tractor tricycle.
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Went down a giant roller slide.
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Climbed on a rope web (and tried to take a nap).
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Rode on a barrel train.
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Played in a corn box.
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Sat on a big tractor.
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And made daddy pull him around in a barrel wagon.
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ZJ hung out here the entire time.
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And made appearances only to eat and have her diaper changed.
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10.29.11

pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins

Every year we get excited when the pumpkins come out because we know cooler weather is on its way. This year IJ learned all about Halloween while NJ was home after the birth of ZJ. Our first pumpkin patch visit was down the street at the nature center when ZJ was just over a week old. IJ chose his own pumpkin to take home and paint.

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10.16.11

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We also visited the pumpkin patch where we have been taking pictures each year since IJ was born. Yay for 2 weeks postpartum family pictures...

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10.23.11

And of course there was pumpkin carving.

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10.30.11

Previous pumpkin pics are here and here.