Sunday, June 9, 2013

Baby, We're Blessed!

Back in March (yes, that would be over 3 months ago!) Cole was blessed at church. It was a beautiful experience and he was so good with all the craziness of the day. 
 (I made little Cole his own suit for it! We meant to take pictures...but he got a Pavlik 25/7 the next Tuesday, so that didn't quite work out as planned!)
We got to have fun with Tyler's mom and sister's family and our might-as-well-be-family Uncle Corey and Aunt Jenni. We love spending time with family and are so grateful they could all be there!
 We could not get a picture where Jack kept his hands off his face and I kept my eyes open (so we'll put up the hands-on-face, since I'm doing all the work here!).
 Can you believe how big our family has gotten? I still find myself counting kids and saying, "5?!? Dude, we have 5 kids! Crazy."

Cole, lately

Um, it has been a while. You are correct. Last you heard, Cole was born.
Here are some selections since January 3rd!
1 week, sleeping like a baby!
2 weeks, checking out the world!
3 weeks, discovering literature (Amelia loved reading to him--it was a great way to get her involved without mauling him!!)
 1 month (lookin' sharp in his sweet dressed-up-duds from Grammy). With Great-Grampa Larry and Great-Gramma Diane at the Martins'
 6 weeks (working on head control)
 2 months (I think they like each other...)
As a side note, just after he hit 2 months, Cole went in to Shriners' to check for (DDH) hip dysplasia(due to Amelia's history). He checked out awesomely in all his well checks so I nearly cancelled the appt--boys are also way less likely to have DDH. Unfortunately, the ultrasound on his hips showed DDH. BOOOO! Fortunately, we caught it early due to the family history factor (lesson? If you have close family history of DDH, get your kid checked between 1 and 2 months!) so he's rocking the Pavlik Harness. You will notice mostly onesies due to that!
 He's 3 months in these picts. Look how happy he is in the harness!
Unlike his sister, he did not mind the harness. It set back his sleep a little, but he was generally happy after the first few days. He pretty much wore onesies or sleepers. We could still swaddle his arms. Tummy time was pretty impossible, since he was in the harness pretty much 24/7. That meant no baths if we could avoid it. No awesome clothes. It stunk since he'd learned to roll from front to back around 6 weeks (thus leading to the incident with the couch introducing him to the floor. Ouch. Maybe the harness preserved his health...) so he couldn't develop some gross motor skills.
 But...let's be honest, it is WAY better than the Spica cast!! We can still nibble on his tummy and change his diaper simply!
 More sister love around 3 months. Sheridan loves to play mommy!
 Awwww! Peaceful sleep! (4 months)
 I just want to eat him up!!
 At his 4 month orthopedic visit, his hips were almost 100%!! That earned Cole 4 hours of harness-free time! Welcome back to your tummy, kid!
 (He figured out how to work his core. Managed to flip himself from front to back within a week, but wasn't consistent with it).
 Cute 5 month-old babe! He loves getting all swaddled up for sleeping!
So, at his orthopedic check this week, the ultrasound showed some ossification!!! Can I get a woot?
What, who cares?
Well, it just shows that his hip and femur are enjoying some perfect contact! Although the percentages for hip coverage haven't changed, the bone development shows that the few percentages the coverage is off isn't causing a problem. So we're off the Pavlik harness during the day!! His appointment was Tuesday and he'd figured out rolling from back to front to back to front by Saturday. Can't keep our Cole down!

BTW, this little guy is a total sweetheart. He has such a mild, pleasant nature. He laughs a lot and only really gets upset when he's hungry, tired, or poopy. Or when a bigger sibling is tripping over him. So blessed to have this little monkey in our family!

Speaking of monkeys, I'll throw in some fantastic picts my friend Rebecca took of Cole when he was 6 weeks. Enjoy!




A Little too Two

(Sometimes it isn't easy being the 4th kid. Your mom and dad forget to take pictures of you because the big kids have so much big stuff going on. Add to it your big sister having a birthday the day before yours, and your mom just might have already gotten birthday burn-out by the time your birthday rolls around.
Especially if she just had a baby 5 weeks prior. And 3 other kids' parties and birthdays to plan between Halloween and February 11th. She is not, after all, Super Mom. Because Super Mom can plan a little better to spread out those birthdays throughout the year.
So, it shouldn't surprise you that the blog post about your birthday doesn't go up until June, even though your birthday was in February.
Fortunately, you won't figure out how neglected you are until you're older.
Like, 3 or 4.
But then you chuckle and realize that your little brother probably will only have 3 pictures of his childhood, all taken the same week that mom realized she hadn't pulled out the camera in months.)
 Amelia turned 2 in February! She was so excited to be 2!
So, we started the morning off the right way--with gifts! She really liked that part. The gift unwrapping at Christmas (not to mention ALL of her siblings unwrapping their birthday gifts for months WITHOUT sharing!) had primed her for this year's present-unwrapping. It's a good skill to have. She played with Mega Blocks and her little walking puppy and the myriad other toys ALL MORNING. It was a little slice of heaven for everyone involved.
Sadly, Amelia got the burned-out remains of mommy's cake-bakin' skills. She wouldn't settle on what sort of cake she wanted, there was not party to throw, so...
She got the sickly looking kitten cake, decorated right after dinner with frosting left over from Sheridan's birthday party. I think it was a 10 minute job from once the base coat went on. I was honestly embarrassed to present it to her, but she LOVED it. Phew! Thank goodness kids just turning 2 aren't the biggest critics (well, at least of cake decor!).
 She was so excited for the cake!!! The fire!!! The song!!!
Finally!!!!!! The experience she'd been dreaming of for 4 months was HERS!!! Wicked-crazy cat cake and all!
 Cake was YUMMY.
 How much cuteness can you cram into one little body?
Amelia is still one of the most gregarious, pleasant kids we've ever met. She just climbs right up into laps and turns the lap-owner into a puddle of gooey sentiment. This little girl ADORES people and wants to be adored right back. We try really hard not to spoil her, but she is pretty irresistible. Mia (as she calls herself) loves to sing and dance. She likes to pretend that Sheridan gives her dance lessons. Heck, the girl loves to pretend--she's a kitten, a baby T-Rex (rrrow), a mommy... The girl is opinionated about what she wears, what books we read to her (and she LOVES reading, esp Sandra Boynton), and what Daddy wears after work (she thinks it's her job to convince him to change from his suit and tie into a t-shirt).
At age 2, Amelia is 35" tall (78th %) and 24.5 lbs (40th %). She seems so tiny, though!
Favorite color: Yellow (but she also loves pink and purple)
Favorite food: She says pizza...but it varies day to day.
Favorite animal: Mia LOVES animals, but probably kitties. She also loves dinosaurs and any other animal that has been rescued by Dora or Diego.
Favorite shows: Super Why, Little Einsteins, Dora and Diego