G3

My beautiful youngest child....

And he is still a HE!!!

He is already a chunker - weighing 2lbs 14 oz at 27 weeks! He could be a 9 pounder when all is said and done.
Everything else is excellent! Placenta has moved to a safe place, my BP was 100/60 and I passed the 1 hour glucose with a 113 - YAY me!!!

I can't even post once a month!!!

So it has been 6 weeks since I last wrote! Sorry!
Here is our life in bullets....

• Rob is insanely busy at the new restaurant. Never home but the business is good. It has slowed down some this past week and I am no longer feeling like a single parent
  



• We bought this

We really had no choice with 3 in car seats. As much as I said I would never own a mini-van I actually enjoy it. It is pretty tripped out - power doors, XM radio, and all the jazz. *sigh* I am a mini-van mom now....

• Ryan attempted soccer classes. He is just not ready for them I guess since he spent the entire 45 minutes making trips to the bathroom and back to me for water. We tried twice and then decided we won't try again until next year. He seemed so excited though....




• Rachel did this:

So we really have no idea how but she ended up with a buckle fracture of her left leg (tibia? fibia? I don't really remember what they said). I picked her up on a Thursday from the sitter and she was crying and miserable. She had done this a few nights before so I thought she was maybe teething (although she had never been cranky about it before). She spent all night like that until she fell asleep on my lap. I went to play with her adorable toes and she started screaming again. It was then that I realized that her leg was a little swollen looking. Friday at 10 we went to the pediatrician and after that, Xrays, and an ortho visit she was sporting her cool purple cast. 2 weeks later and she is as good as new! There was no defining injury (although she did take a tumble at my mom's the night before the pain seemed to start) and she had napped in a pack n play (ruling out her leg getting caught in the crib bars). Unsolved mystery of toddlerhood I guess! Oh yeah, the line of questioning about it at the ortho's office was kind of insulting to us!

• Ryan had a birthday!

3 years!!!! I can't believe it has been 3 years already! He is an amazing child. So fated to become an attorney with his amazing arguing and bargaining skills. Got a clean bill of health and development at his well child exam this week. And a flu shot which he wasn't 2 happy about but the stickers seemed to make it better.

• Speaking of development: Rachel is doing wonderfully in her physical therapy! of course there are now concerns about her communication and self help/adaptive skills being delayed. We are scheduled for another EI evaluation in a month to see where she is at. I don't think she'll qualify for services yet, but she is probably pretty close to needing them. She wasn't even that early a preemie, but she is definitly working very hard at keeping up with her peers right now!


• I'm currently 26 weeks pregnant!!! No complications from the previa to date (knock wood) but I did take a nasty fall Sunday that sent us into a panicked tizzy! No need to see the midwife as I had no conractions, no bleeding, and good kick counts from G3. Another 2 weeks and we will see if the placenta is cooperating and double check the gender since the pictures and videos we have seem to resemble Rachel's U/S more than Ryan's.... Hey, they have been wrong before!

What will you be doing in 20 weeks???

I'll either be:
Giving birth;
nursing a baby; or
miserably, hugely pregnant!!!
I can't believe we have made it to the halfway point already - woohoo!
Wednesday was our BIG ultrasound. Everything is great! WE found out that Rachel will be retaining her princess status! Yup, another boy will be joining our clan!!!
He was a very active, silly little man through the entire ultrasound - repeatedly standing on his head or spreading his legs for us. But he measured right on target and looks good.
The placenta doesn't look so good. Let's take a journey through my palcental history shall we?
2004 - low lying placenta diagnosed at 20 weeks. By 30 it was migrated to a good spot for a normal labor and delivery
2006 - marginal placenta previa. Not on my cervix but too close for comfort. Moved by 35 weeks (which is when the other issues were diagnosed). Pathologoy reports that it is smaller than it should be but older looking than it should have been. One possible cause was that Rachel literally laid on it for 35 weeks. We will never know...
2007 - "partial placenta previa" not covering entirely but covering a portion of my cervix none the less. I am given some moderate restrictions - no heavy lifting, no strenous exercise, and no sex. We go back in 6 weeks for another check.
So there are a few things in life I can't ever get right - placentas and instant rice being on the top of that list!!!
No other news. I'll try to get pictures up this weekend. The kids are devine as usual :)

baby wiggles, puke free (knock wood)

17 weeks today!

This past week has brought on the very first baby wiggles in my belly! They are still inconsistent and occur mostly at night when I am settling down but I'll take them where I can get them!!! I also only puked once this week!!!

Of course the puking has been replaced by the afternoon headaches. Sigh. I had these with Ryan but not Rachel - hmmm, another boy perhaps? I guess we will know on 8/29!

IN non-pregnancy news:

Ryan is getting his big boy twin bed this weekend - YAY! Maybe he will actually sleep in it instead of my bed. Really we are starting to run out of room in there. I got him an adorable blue plaid quilt at T*arget and am planning on getting him the Little E*instein sheets from there as well. I have found some adorable blue rocket crib bedding in case G3 is a boy - they will look so cute together! Ryan is still convinced G3 is a girl but now we are naming her Elephant - nice huh? He talks to her(?) every morning and night through my belly now

The bad Ryan - well he is acting 3. Everything is his way or a tantrum - I am tired of them already and I know it is just the beginning. I swear last night someone in the store parking lot probably called CPS on me with the screams of "you're hurting me! I don't like you" that were coming from our car as I tried to strap a bucking 30 pounder into his car seat.

Rachel is, well, Rachel. She is such a princess and we adore that about her! She loves shoes as long as they are not on her feet and her daddy's ties. She sits in the bathroom every morning and brushes her teeth or her hair (with the correct brushes) while I am getting ready for work. Her physical therapy is coming along wonderfully and yesterday she managed to pull herself to a full stand all alone! We are so proud of her and all her hard work! I think she may be walking by Halloween at this rate!!!

In other family news, Rob's grandpa passed away a couple of weeks ago. We went to RI for the memorial service and are planning to make the trip to Arlington in October for his interment. My BIL skipped the service saying he was too busy working. After a week of vacation. Oh and we had almost 2 weeks notice on the memorial service. Oh well - no loss there!

To end some pictures:

baby girl eats her corn like a big shot

catching bubbles

yes, I know she has a power cord. Yes, I know it looks like Ryan is strangling her. I wasn't home and it is the only picture I got this month of the 2 of them together!

One trimester done, 2 to go....

Can you belive that I am 14 weeks already? Time has flown for sure! Onyl 5 more weeks until we find out which way the gender scale will be tipping in our house!!!

Had an appointment with my midwife this week. All is well, labs were good, HB was great, only thing was their scale showed me gaining 4 freaking pounds!!! There is no way - I weigh myself at home and I have gained MAYBE a half a pound. I am really trying to not use pregnancy as a license to eat since I am still trying to get rid fo the extra weight from Ryan and Rachel!!!

I am still puking my brains out every morning but it is getting better (minus the lovely stomach bug I got from Ryan earlier this week - I truly thought I was dying from it!). Mostly in maternity pants or regular pants and my bella bands (well generic ones from Ebay!). I ahve even been using those suckers to hold up my maternity pants that are a little too big on me!

I guess that's it for now. I'll leave with the closest thing I have to a belly shot - a picture of me and Rachel on the carousel!



If you look closely at my midsection you can see the bump! Of course, I am still getting those - is she pregnant or has she just not lost the gut from the last one looks!

A game...

Got this off of Michelle's blog and thought it looked fun! So here goes:
The game is SCATTERGORIES. Its harder than it looks! Here are the rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things. NOTHING can be made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your Name: Andrea
1. Famous Singer/Band: ABBA
2. Four letter word: Arse (if we were in England of course!)
3. Street: Arbordale (about half a mile from my house)
4. Color: Aubergine
5. Vehicle: Audi
6. Things in a Souvenir Shop: A t shirt (so cheating on that one!)
7. Boy Name: Aidan
8. Girl Name: Adrienne
9. Movie Title: All that Jazz?
10. Drink: appletini
11. Occupation: architect
12. Celebrity: Alex Trebek
13. Magazine: American Baby
14. U.S. City: Atlanta
15. Pro Sports Teams: Arizona Diamondbacks
16. Reason for Being Late for Work: Accident
17. Something You Throw Away: apple core
18. Things You Shout: ARGH!
19. Cartoon Character: Alice in Wonderland

So after 33 months of being vomit free Ryan decided last night was the night. Could he do it at home? NOOOOO! Could he do it somewhere easy to clean up? NOOOO! How about the car? YES! After a lunch of Spaghetti-os? YES! UGH! I now feel like my car smells like carpet cleaner and puke but I could be imagining it (or it could be the pregnant women super power sense of smell)
The thing about this is Ryan ate spaghetti-os that I just bought a few weeks ago and when I checked the can last night they had expired in February 2006!!!!
My poor baby!

Don't want to jinx myself, but....

it appears that at 33 months my genius boy may be potty trained!
We have been taking a very casual approach with it - I didn't want to push him if he wasn't ready, but then we went 3 dry days - with me constantly prompting him to go. Then there were 2 poops in the potty. Then another 4 dry days where Ryan actually told us he had to go. Really he told us he was going but he meant that he had to :)
And then today he went by himself and then told us he had gone!!!
I am so happy that he is doing so well with this! He is such a big BIG boy now!

One year ago yesterday...

Rachel came home from the NICU!!!



She was 4 pounds 13 ounces and I've got to say she looks about as freightened in that picture as we actually were to have her home! She did great though! Slept well, ate well and grew into an 18 pound 10 ounce TODDLER!!! How, exactly, did that happen????

11 weeks down, 29 more to go

I did a dissmal job of journaling my last 2 pregnancies. I am taking this suprise third one as an opprotunity to write things down (and maybe take some pictures!). I love LOVE being pregnant and want to remember it forever.
So, here I am 11 weeks today and at this point? Not so enjoying it :( The morning sickness held off long enough that I though perhaps I would escape it this time. It appeared around 9 weeks - what the heck??? It has peeked this week. Yesterday was by far the worst day ever! Today, not so bad - no puking but then maybe I would feel better if I did (that didn't work yesterday but worked up until then). What settles my stomach seems to change daily. Some days salty snacks and other days sweet snacks. It is hit or miss and breakfast is always an interesting time for me. I generally bring 3 or 4 different things to work and try them all until something works. I hope that I am almost out of the woods on this. It went away around 14 weeks with Ryan and 18 weeks with Rachel.
I can feel my uterus now - above my pelvic bone but below my belly button. It feels about the size of a large softball which I think is about right for now. Some days I need maternity pants but I think that is more bloating than anything else.
I have some weird insomnia that I remember getting with Ryan. I can fall asleep fine but then I wake up around 4 and have the worst time sleeping after that. This means that I am ready to crawl under my desk by 2 most afternoons :)
Onions. Did you know that they are the weed of the devil? Seriously they are fatal to me right now! Even one little piece and I will have horrendous heart burn for hours. I just have to avoid them for the time being (which isn't hard since I don't really love them anyway). Oh and hot food is kind of grossing me out. All I want to eat are sandwiches and fruit. Too bad the deli meat is off limits for now :(
No belly pictures for now because you really don't need to see my left over pooch from kid A and kid B :)

Ryan, the hot dog snob

We live in Rochester, NY. The city is known for Kodak mostly, but also for some serious hot dogs.
Zweigles to be more specific. Now, I am not a huge fan of hot dogs at all, but I will get one of these at the ballpark every summer because, after all, what's a ball game without a hot dog?
ANYWAY, when we got out to eat locally (and we go out a lot sadly) Ryan almost always gets a hot dog. They are almost always Zweigles.
For Rachel's party we bought a huge pack of hot dogs at B.J.s - since we had 50 people coming over. Last night I told Ryan we were having hot dogs (and all the other party leftovers) for dinner. He told me that he didn't want the "yucky" ones from Rachel's party! When I asked why they were yucky he said they just were and they were to tiny. I think he meant skinny!
My boy child - a true Rochestarian* :)

* He can also identify a Wegmans truck on the road as well as requesting Abbotts for ice cream :)

One finger old!

Yesterday was Rachel's BIG day and what a great day she had!!!

The weather couldn't have been better - 80's and sunny with just a little breeze - which is great considering that we had almost 50 people coming to our house! There was plenty of food and drinks (and cake, of course!). And no lack of presents for the princess. We had a pinata (or a pana as Ryan called it) for all the kids that were in attendance and I realized that the birthday Princess was the only girl at her party! She had a harem of boys ranging from 2 to 6 years old! Lucky girl :)

She got GREAT gifts - too many clothes, but I kind of expected that! From Mommy and Daddy she got a newborn Cabb*age P*atch, from Aunt Renee a sheep rocker, Aunt Kara bought her books and a footprint charm for her bracelet (since she will, God willing, start walking this year!).

Ryan made out well too! Rachel gave him a D*ora lego set, he got some clothes and the coolest Auntie ever gave him a S*piderman slip & slide. Rob just called me to tell me that Ryan was bugging him about playing with it and then went upstairs for a little bit. He came back down in his bathing suit! How cute is that????

In honor of becoming a big girl, Rachel decided that she could, in fact, sit herself up! After practicing all day Saturday, she is now a pro at it! Go, Baby Girl, Go!!!

Rachel's big birthday post!!!

Hard to believe that a year ago today I was meeting with neonatologists to discuss what the situation may be after I give birth and this morning I was lugging cupcakes to the sitter's to celebrate that birth!
It's been a hell of a year - the whole preemie thing still gets me and I find myself saying "well, she was a preemie" at least once or twice a week! I hate that! She is a beautiful baby girl regardless of what she can (or can't) do!
That reminds me - I never did write about her EI evaluation. Basically what is boiled down to was that she was on target for her adjusted age in every area EXCEPT her gross motor skills. She was on par with 6 month olds (she was 9 almost 10 months adjusted). The therapist said her joints are hypotonic (which means she is a loosey goosey to the hilt!). Fortunately they don't seem to think that it is a sign of anything more serious, most likely it is caused by a combination of developing w/out amniotic fluid for a while and genetics (I am freakishly flexible and was a late walker as well). So she qualifies for an hour a week of physical therapy.
In the 3 weeks she has been receiving the therapy she has started scootching! YAY for scootching! She has also gotten herself to a seated position twice but no one saw her do it! She was laying down and then she was sitting. It's like the proverbial tree falling in the woods!!!
So, in a nut shell here is Rachel at 1:
Rachel has been overly healthy! She has had one cold all year! That is it! Did the Synagis help? Maybe, but then Ryan is a pretty healthy kiddo as well. I just grow em that way I guess!
* FOOD! Loves anything and everything! Her favorites are strawberries, hamburgers, ice cream, watermelon, basically anything sweet. She was fully weaned at 11 months, had about 3 weeks of formula and then went to whole milk. She is indifferent to it really. If it's in the right cup she will suck it down, otherwise she could care less about it.
* about weaning: it was a slow process honestly. Around 9 months I cut out on of my 2 daily pumping sessions but still nursed her in the am and before bed. At 10 months I cut out the second one and at 11 months she was no longer showing an interest in nursing at all. I feel like we did a combo mommy/baby led weaning thing and it worked for us. She never acted like she needed it (but she's not an overly cuddly baby to begin with so I think she always viewed it as nutritional more than comforting). I am hapy with the whole thing. I never thought I'd nurse even close to that long anyway!
*SLEEP! Rachel is an angel sleeper! 2 naps, and down for the night at 7:30 - sleeps until 6:30. I can't complain. If only she could teach her brother how to do that!!!
Things she can do:
Sit unsupported (if you put her there)
clap
wave
bang things together (LOUDLY)
feed herself - she will occasionally entertain the thought of a spoon but fingers are faster and this girl loves her food!
SCREECH if she doesn't get her way :)
THings she can say:
Mommy
Ha (this means hat and is said as she is putting her bowl (usually full of food) on her head
No
Yayan - we are pretty sure this is Ryan as it is said when he is not around OR when he is annoying her!
So, all in all, pretty damn good for a 35 weeker who couldn't quite figure out the whole breathing thing a year ago, huh?

Rachel at 4 days old - off CPAP but still needing some O2

Rachel at 2 months still wearing preemie clothes

4 months on Halloween

Chubby at 6 months

A 9 month old Rachel Bunny!

A bathing beauty at almost 11 months

the most beautiful birthday girl in the WORLD!!!

So much happening....

Alright - I still haven't made a final decision but for weeks I have been thinking about closing the blog. I never write anymore, I never have anything exciting to say, and well, I am boring.
I like blogging - I love reading blogs even more! If I could just sit down for 10 minutes every day and write I think I would be less overwhelmed by writing an entry.
The kids are doing so many amazing things that I really want to remeber that perhaps I should contine writing!
What the heck???
Now for our REALLY big news.....
I am, most unexpectantly and shockingly, PREGNANT!!! YUP! After finally deciding that our family of 4 was perfect, fate decided we should be a party of 5!!!
I'm due around mid-January (I will be 10 weeks tommorrow).
So I didn't write about this before because honestly, I wasn't very excited about it until recently. I was actually more upset and scared than anything. Now our families know and seem excited and I guess it has worn off on us, because we are pretty happy!
This changes everything - I need a bigger car (I am pretty sure 3 car seats won't fit in an Elantra!), if it is another girl the kids will have to swap rooms since Ryan's is much bigger and could accomodate 2 kids. All logistical I know. The one thing that we know we have enough of is love.
I am still freaked out though - Ryan will be just over 3 and Rachel will be 18 months when this one comes! YIKES! My new theory is to raise them like a liter of puppies! At least there will always be someone to play with, right?
So, those of you with 3 - what's it REALLY like?????

Mexican Fest, allergies, laziness and the weekend to come

We had a Cuatro De Mayo party here at work for lunch today. It was fun - the food was good and it was a nice distraction. I have, however, noticed increased raffic flow to the rest rooms!!!
The beautiful day of gardening I had on WEdnesday has officially kicked off allergy season for me! Saved by Benadr*l but I seriously can only take that while lying down in bed and with nothing ahead for 6-8 hours!
I have been so tired lately - like bone tired. Wednesday I fell asleep in Ryan's bed with him and woke up at 10 and went to my own bed! At any time of day I could probably close my eyes and LAY DOWN! So exhausted!
This weekend - WALKAMERICA!!! The weather is supposed to be GREAT! Rachel's Proud NICU Graduate shirt is in and is adorable! I can't decide if she should wear the pink or the green capri pants with it though :) It amazes me how much she has grown since she was born. I remember looking at her and thinking how impossible it seemed that she would actually ever be as cubbilicious as Ryan was in infanthood and now she is even more delicious than I ever could have dreamed!
Tuesday is her Early Intervention evaluation. I am kind of excited for it. I am interested in seeing where she falls over all for babies her age. Oh and Tuesday my dad is being honored at a luncheon so Rob and I will be going to that as well. We are also going to the circus next week - how fun does that sound????
And to end - a picture!
This is Rachel last month (so almost 10 months). If you look hard you can see the 2 bottom teeth!

I match!

It appears that my pants match my blog today! It is supposed to be in the upper 60's so capri pants it is! I am so glad the weather is finally decent around here - the lack of sun was really starting to get to me. I was only half joking when I told Rob I thought I was suffering from seasonal affect disorder!
Yesterday was the United Way Day of Caring. My team from work spent the day gardening and washing windows at the Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse. This is pretty much where old nuns go (and some priests). There is skilled nursing, assisted living, and a memory care unit. So it was pretty fun - the nuns were very interested in us and the Bishop was there celebrating mass which we were invited to join in for. I am going to count it as my church obligation for the week since Sunday is the March of Dimes Walk America! We are walking in honor of Rachel and raising money as thanks for all the resaerch and support MOD has done to help preemies like Rachel.

Look at me!!!

Just some spring cleaning of the old (tired and seldom updated blog!) Also a more recent picture of me and the kids. By recent I mean Thanksgiving of 2006! Rachel is much bigger now and Ryan, well, he is still Ryan!

10 & 31

I have been a terrible blogger! So terrible, but I want to change! Isn't that half the battle, really?

So starting today I am going to post every day (except maybe the weekends because blogger and my home computer are not very friendly!)

I'll start with the kiddie update:

Rachel

10 months old! Rachel had her 9 month well baby visit 2 weeks ago. She was 27 and a half inches and 17 pounds 4 oz - not to bad for a preemie, huh? Everything else checked out fine but we are getting an evaluation by Early Intervention for her gross motor skills. She is not moving. Plain and simple. She can roll, but doesn't. She can sit, but only if you put her there. Part of it, I think, is contentment. She is just very easy going and will sit if you sit her, lay down if you put her on her back and not complain at all about either. However, it appears that the muscle tone in her legs is very weak so off to therapy we go! I did read something about preemies and mucle tone development. Apparently the time spent developing outside the womb can hinder their development. Given that she only spent 5 weeks outside it seems that this could be a reasonable reason for her mild delay.

Other than that she is an absolute ANGEL! She is off baby food entirely and eats what we are eating every meal! She feeds her self, thank you very much! And does a pretty good (albeit messy) job of it!

She hasn't said any new words since last month I don't think although she does now say "mo" when she is done with what you have given her to eat and wants more. I am calling it a word! Rob agrees :)

2 teeth - bottom ones (first one came in 3/18). Occasional bouts of late night teething but it appears that Hylands Teething Tablets are the BOMB! Pop a couple in her mouth and she is good for the rest of the night!

I have stopped pumping at work so Rachel gets 2 4 oz bottles of formula a day. She doesn't seem to mind and will actually take a bottle from me. Sometime this month I plan to transition the second bottle to a sippy cup since she seems to need a snack around then as well.

Out of her infant carrier and in her big girl car seat. She seems happier now and loves to play in the car and stare at Ryan while I am driving. her favorite game is to remove her hat and wave it aruond victoriously until I call her out on it and then she stops and looks like "how does she know what I am doing???" - I have a mirror!

still loves riding around in the sling. I use it whenever we go somewhere with a single kid cart or if I just don't want to deal with the double stroller.

Ryan

What can I say that hasn't been said before? Ryan is still cracking me up all the time, but he is also challengin me at every turn! Rob says it is because he is just like me an when he gets an idea in his head there is no changing his mind. He is probably right :)

Also, can anyone tell me why he feels the need to SQUEEZE his sister???? OH and knock her down all the time? It is driving me crazy!!!

9 & 30

So I am a little late in posting Rachel's 9 month post and a little early in Ryan's 30 month post - it balances out!
Rachel
9 months! How did that happen? She is such a sweet little girl and so darn cute as you can well see!
This past month brought Rachel's first illness - not sure what it was, but she was sick for a good 2 weeks and so was I! Fun times I tell you. She had a cold and then her eyes were all goopy, and then the cough, and fatigue - she slept 20 hours on Rob's birthday! Being cautious about her preemie-ness I had her at the doctor 3 times. So after 3 visits, one chest x-ray, and a round of antibiotics (for the alleged early stages of an ear infection - I am a bad mommy, I didn't give her the full dose) it was determined that we probably had the flu. We are recovered and Rachel received her very last EVER Synagis injection 2 weeks ago. She was 17 pounds even. She sees the pediatrician next week for her well baby visit.
Food
Rachel easts like a champ! She still nurses 4 times a day (or takes a bottle) but the good news is that she will now take a little formula with her BM! YAY! I only have to pump once a day now! She eats what we are eating for the msot part. If we are having something heavy or spicy she has macaroni. Her pincher grasp rocks now and she focuses so intently on her food that meal time with her is very enjoyable.
Last week my FIL watched the kids and gave her: 1/2 a pice of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, watermelon, and then a jar of baby food! That was the night that I was christened in puke by one of my kids! Fun times all around. Of course Rob was working and she did it 3 times and then had 2 nasty diapers. She was fine after that though.
development
Rachel sits like a champ. She also rolls when she wants to and reaches for everything she can get her chubby little hands on. Still does not want to use her legs at all and would rather lay than sit. She gets her developmental eval this month as well.
She is right on target socially! She played peek a boo last weekend for the first time (well the first time that she initiated the game, she will kiss you bakc but only if you make a bog MWAH! when you kiss her. She says Dada to Rob occasionally and MaMa when she is tired, hungry, or upset (aren't I lucky?). She laughs and loves to be tickled and played with. She hates baths passionatly and is very leery of Ryan still. He can play with her but only when she deems it to be okay. Yes, she is a princess!

Ryan
2 and a half! WOW! That sounds so much closer to 3 than I ever imagined he'd be! He is quite a personality. 85% of the time I want to kiss him and 15% I want to strangle him! I am guessing it is typical 2.5 behavior!
Still talking up a storm and still challenging me at every turn
Since I am just finishing this up a month later I can't remember which Ryanisms are from March and which are from April so I will just post them in the next post I am doing (later this morning!)

8 & 29

This kids are 8 months and almost 29 months! How crazy! I have started telling people that Ryan is 2 and a half already (he will be in a month!). And Rachel - 8 months! How crazy is that?!!?!
So here they are:
Rachel at 8 months
It seems that the best way to get Rachel to start doing a new skill is to complain about it on the blog! Right after I posted last month she started rolling! And rolling, rolling, rolling! She manages to get stuck behind her bedroom door and she tries to get under her crib all the time - silly girl! Earlier this week I left her in the middle of her room and took a shower. I got out and she was cooing away but sounded really close. I thought she had just rolled to the heat vent (which is connected to the one in the bathroom) and that was why she sounded so close. NOPE! She was right outside the door! Time to gate the stairs again...
Rachel attempts to sit and as of last night she is able to spend a few seconds unassisted and then she topples over. I think another week or so.

*scratch that* I wrote this on 2/23 and by 2.26 she was able to sit all be herself! Of course, Ryan now likes to play "baby bowling" and see how easily he can knock her down

She is following Ryan's patterns of development (a few months behind, but the time between new skills is eerily similar). She is really vocal but no distingishable sound yet. She needs to get her hearing checked next month because of the horrible antibiotics she received in the NICU, but I think she is alright, just a slow talker (which is fine given that Ryan never shuts up!). Dadada was her string of choice but now she is on to bababa. And still with the Ah-ooOO when she wants attention (and the slamming her legs onto the floor, crib mattress, whatever surface she happens to be laying on).
Food
Rachel eats a full jar of baby food 3 times a day. I feel kind of bad - I made most of Ryan's baby food, but I can't seem to find the time to do the same for Rachel. Second child syndrome I guess!
She seems to like everything we give her but sweet potatoes are the favorite by far! I was giving her fruit puffs and she got the concept of hand to mouth but has a really hard time actually getting one in! I opened the sweet potato ones and then she figured it out! She noshes on those and cheerios while we are eating dinner. She gets a sippy of water but isn't really very interested in it yet. I have also started giving her pieces of what we are eating and she really chews them! It's very cute to see this little toothless angel chewing away on pasta, bread, veggies, fruit.

She is still nursing, but again showing little interest in it (except first thing in the morning - she is like a boob junkie when she wakes up). I am still pumping twice a day and plan on doing so for another month and then dropping one session. I seem to be getting less and less milk, but then I noticed that when I send her to the sitter with two 6 ounce bottles, 2-3 ounces come back home. So I have just been sending her what I have pumped and that seems to be working okay. She no longer wants to nurse when I get home from work (which is nice because I can eat dinner in peace) but she is insistent on a bedtime nursing whereas before she was willing to skip that one. I don't mind, I am letting her lead the way... I think she will be self-weaned by her birthday or soon after though.
She's a cutie for sure, but so BALD! By 8 months Ryan had 2 real haircuts! Doesn't that just figure - the boy has a full head of hair and eyelashes I covet! Rachel's eyes have turned decidely green - just like her mommy! She still looks a lot like Rob though! Actually she looks like his sister in her baby pictures! Too funny!

Ryan

Ryan is 29 months old. Another month and I can start calling him two and a half! He is, in short, a genius! His verbal skills are superior, his motor skills rock, and most importantly he is a very creative thinker. He is a story teller through and through (occasionally I'll have to check with the sitter to see if it is a story or the truth) and has very specific ideas about how things should be. He is getting somewhat easier to discipline as he is able to understand the consequences to his actions (sometimes) and last weekend was told that he needed to nap in order to go to Papas. When he not only didn't nap but trashed his room instead, we called papa and cancelled our visit. Ryan sobbed for almost an hour afterwards. Broke my heart but it had to be done!

Mostly for this month I want to remember Ryan's words:

"bunglebees" - Bumblebees

"pot-tohns" popcorn

"locodile" - crocodile

"lavaololis" - ravioli

"puddun" pudding (with "team" - whipped cream)

He calls Rachel "achel", "baby duhl" "guhl"

"wafwafs" - waffles

"slevin" - seven

I am sure there are more but these are the funniest ones

When I tell him Daddy is at work he just sighs and says "making the meatball sauce".

We are going to Rhode Island for my FIL retirement in May and Ryan loves to talk about our upcoming trip:

"going to see Papa on the big boat, going in a simmin pool, gonna see mickey mouse, and donald mouse..." Not sure if he thinks we are going to Orlando after R.I. but won't he be sad to learn we are not. I did also tell him we are going to the aquarium and that they have fish so he has added "gonna see dolphins and sharks!" Hmmm, maybe I had better check it all out and let him know exactly what we will see!

Size wise Ryan is a peanut! Maybe a little taller, still around 25 pounds (he was 26 with his snow boots on). Wearing all 2T tops and 18-24 month pants. He is doing good on the potty so he is wearing pull ups now. He likes to pee standing up, but doesn't understand the difference between peeing and pooping and gets them confused all the time (and yes he has pooped on the floor because of this!)

Month 7

It is so hard to believe that the Rachel Girl is 7 months old already!!!
It has been an uneventful month for her (which in my opinion is a good thing). At her last Synagis injection she was 15 lbs 2 oz (I am guessing about 26 inches). It was funny - she was happy and laughing until the nurse walked in the house and she saw her. Took one look and started to cry! Poor Baby KNEW what she was in for. She had her normal 3 days of a runny nose after the shot (how weird is that).
Rachel is still not rolling over. She can go tummy to back but only once (and she was really angry) has she gone back to tummy. I like to think it is laziness, but I am beginning to wonder if it is something more. If she hasn't mastered it in a month I think we will go see the doctor again. Other things she doesn't do - bear weight on her legs. Again something I hope she masters this month. I think her efforts have been so focused on growing for the last 7 months that her development has taken a back seat. Perhaps that will change soon!
Ryan is the most hysterical 2 year old I have ever known! He uses complete sentences on a pretty regular basis and I think we can understand what he is saying 95% of the time. He understands so much more than I thought he could at this age, but I am so glad for it. He loves doing "projects" with his baby sitter and coloring pictures for everyone (although paint is his preferred medium!). We took him to see D*sney on Ice last week and he had such a great time! Totally worth the $8 popcorn, right? Most recent cute Ryanism: Last night I was feeding Rachel some sweet potatoes and Ryan was whining for some pudding. I told him he had to wait and asked him to tell his sister a story while he waited. He thought for a minute and then said "Once upon a time there was a big, Big BIG monster. He ate all the pudding. The end!" I laughed so hard I got tears in my eyes! Ooh and he told me when I was home sick with a wicked sinus infection Monday that I was "pretty like a princess". Just one more way my boy is being groomed to be the perfect husband :)

Happy Friday!

Check out the legs!!!

I love baby rolls!!!