Dylan: 12-14 Months

Oops! I'm feeling exceptionally bad that I just pulled a stereotypical 'he's the 4th child' move and forgot to update my blog with Dylan's birthday stats and milestones. Ugh, now so much has changed in the last two months that I'm sure I'll get things confused, but better late than never!

Dylan started cruising around the house using furniture and walking toys around 9 or 10 months but it wasn't until around 13 months that he officially started walking on his own. He's now a champ at sliding down the stairs, standing up without holding on to anything and changing directions. My favorite thing is how he doesn't even take a break on each step, he just lays his body at a 45 degree angle and slides the whole way down on his belly.

He had been back to sleeping like a champ, 7pm to 9:30am, but we knew that couldn't last long. Now he's back to sleeping 7ish-pm to 6:45ish-am. The bad news is that unless we give him motrin, tylenol or benedryl, he wakes up multiple times in the night. Not sure what that's about, but he's had a runny nose for a LONG time now, so maybe they're related.

I wonder if he *might* be getting over his milk allergy because he can tolerate things like mac and cheese and frozen yogurt, but I haven't tried him with cheese or milk lately and the almond milk is a big hit with him. I might give it a little longer. His favorite food right now is cheeseburgers. Healthy, I know : )

He's waving and pointing now, goes to bed every night holding two links and a paci, eats a banana and cereal every morning for breakfast, loves to lay his head on my shoulder when I pick him up and laughs at anything his brothers do. He and Garrett like to hold hands in the van and Garrett says to me all the time 'I love Dilly.' He has six teeth, is tall and skinny, still wears 12 month clothes and is just starting with separation anxiety.

He's amazing and we love him : )

Dylan - 10 Months

Hard to believe we're so rapidly approaching the one year mark with Dylan. He is so full of joy and laughter and continues to fill us up with the same. He loves to eat, snuggle and sit up in carts. He now has 6 teeth, pulls up to stand (and has let go a few times, but not consistently), sleeps for 13 hours straight at night, usually takes two naps but can survive on one, squeals with delight when he sees me or Charlie, puts everything in his mouth, still goes through multiple bibs a day, climbs the stairs any chance he gets and can't get the hang of a cup (which is making me a little nervous for the day when we stop nursing!). 

From his 9 month well visit, he weighed 18 lb 12 oz (35%) and was 29" long (75%). The day after we left his well visit with a clean bill of health he started getting pink eye symptoms. I waited another two days to see if it would clear up with the drops we had, but it kept getting worse. Turns out he had a double ear infection and a pink eye virus. Yuck! He's back on track now and back to sleeping, thank goodness.

We love you Dilly!

Dylan - 9 Months

Dylan made huge progress this month in so many categories! He's now a crawler - and a power crawler at that! Just a few days after he turned 8 months he decided that sitting still was for the birds and he got his move on. I forgot how much I love the sound of little baby hands slapping on the floor as they crawl around. He quickly transitioned to standing too, while holding on of course, but hasn't yet figured out how to sit back down. This is especially an issue when he stands in his crib and hangs over the rails, exhausted, but can't lay back down.

He started drooling up a storm again, and when I finally checked in his mouth I found a top tooth! The other three had their bottom teeth as of 7 months but didn't get their tops until their first birthday. As the month progressed it's clear that he's actually sprouting all four top teeth! So weird to see such a small baby with so many tiny teeth! It is helping with the table food transition though. He's eating real bananas, sweet potatoes, pancakes, cheerios, yogurt, green beans, carrots, cheese and crackers. He loves the textures and all the new tastes. I'm working on a sippy cup, but right now it seems like more of a chew toy.

He has been sleeping like a champ all month, going to bed around 6:15pm and sleeping until 7am... FINALLY!! I feel like a new woman with uninterrupted nights of sleep. He's napping pretty great too, usually with two 1 1/2-2 hour naps, unless he misses the first one and is over-tired, then the whole day is a bust.

His 9 month well visit is next week, stats to come.

Dylan - 8 Months

Getting bigger every day! This was a big month for Dylan with lots of firsts. He tried lots of new foods and we found out that he's allergic to either apricots, blueberries, or both (by a rash that broke out all over his face). He tried a cup with water, unsuccessfully. He now inhales puffs, which the boys call baby pups, and they love to be the one to give him more. He's up to three meals a day, breakfast and dinner with oatmeal, lunch is just a fruit or veggie, and still nursing, though he has entered the severely-distractable-stage, which is just annoying.

He learned how to go from his belly to sitting, then from sitting to crawling all this month too. He has just started to attempt to 'stand' by putting his hands up on the bottom stair, but hasn't gotten his legs into the action yet. He took his first brother-less trip with me to Michigan too. We also found out this month that the second tear duct probe didn't work, so we could potentially be looking at surgery to put in a stint when he's a little older. As of now it only seems extra teary when he's congested, so I would consider that a huge improvement to where he started anyway. 

He loves watching his brothers play and is content to do that any time they are around. He has the cutest belly laugh that he breaks out when we sing D is for Dilly (to the tune of C is for Cookie). Hopefully I'll get that on video soon. Also on the horizon: his first haircut.

Dylan - 7 Months

This was a big month for Dylan! He is getting much better with baby food and has tried pears, sweet potatoes, peaches, bananas, squash, carrots, apples, green beans and peas so far. He's pretty particular about the temperature and does a gag-shutter-shake-sputter if it's not warm enough for him. After he gets a few bites in he usually gets with the program and can now plow through the whole jar in one sitting. He is just about sleeping through the night again too. Bedtime is around 6:15pm and there were a few days when he slept straight through until 7:00am. Usually he wakes up around 3:30, nurses and goes right back to sleep. He is now rolling like a champ in both directions, sitting unassisted (though he still tips over), scooting in circles and getting up on his hands and knees. He loves to put any toy in reach in his mouth and is a slobbery mess most of the time. He laughs and coos all the time and is starting to babble with B sounds too - super cute!

We took Dylan to a pediatric ophthalmologist this month to check out his blocked tear ducts. They used a probe to break up the blockages in both eyes but he healed too fast for the ducts to stay open. We re-probed them today but if they close back up again he'll have to have surgery to place a tube in his tear ducts. We're praying that the second time does the trick. 

All in all it was another great month with our amazing baby boy : )

Raspberry face!

Dylan - 6 Months

Dylan doesn't look all that much different in these pictures than he did in his 5 month photos but there was a huge difference in actually taking the pictures. Last month as soon as I would let go of him to take the picture he would lunge forward and almost roll off the chair. This month he was proudly sitting up and smiling away, much stronger and more sure of himself (and slightly less drooly too!). 

The biggest change for Dylan this month was the start of baby food - pears and sweet potatoes so far. I skipped rice and oatmeal this time around and went straight to the good stuff (for no other reason than because I'm the mom and I can ; )) He has mastered opening his mouth but hasn't figured out how to keep his tongue in yet so it's a pretty messy event. He is so happy all the time and rarely cries. He loves the exersaucer, laying on the ground and sitting in the high chair, even though he's still not that great at sitting upright. He has the cutest giggle and is getting pretty ticklish. At his 6 month well visit he weighed in at 16 lb 2 oz (25%) and is up to 27" long (75%).

Although it's a little sad that he's our last baby and our last time through these milestones, it's also exciting that he's growing up and will soon be a contender in the fight for toys around here, trying desperately to keep up with his brothers. Those will be great days too : )

Dylan - 5 Months

Thankfully, we seem to be back on track with sleeping as of Dylan's five month milestone. He goes to sleep around 7pm and only wakes up once to eat around 4am, then he's up for the day around 7:30am. Sometimes he's up a few more times needing a paci, but he's pretty easy to get back to sleep. His new addiction is watching the mobile above his head, even when it's not on! He is rockin' the exersaucer and rolling from his belly to his back like a pro. I know he rolled once from his back to his belly, but I didn't see it in action and he hasn't done it again. Dylan loves to suck on his hands and will stuff as many fingers as possible in there as he can. He's pretty much a drooly mess all the time! Dylan loves babbling, cooing and smiling and is really content most of the time. We still haven't started solids, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Dylan - 4 Months

Hard to believe that four months have come and gone already. I just took him to the pediatrician and he weighed in at 14lb 6oz (15%) and was 26" long (70%), up from 6lb 14 oz and 21" at birth. Dylan just started rolling from front to back, he smiles and giggles all the time and he's gotten to be a generally terrible sleeper. We were severely spoiled with Garrett who slept 12 hours straight as of 8 weeks old, and got a small taste of the glories of a full night of sleep while Dylan was about 2 1/2 months old and sleeping for 10 hours straight, but since then he has woken up anywhere from 3 to 7 times per night. Per night! It's a good thing he's cute, is all I have to say! He's definitely the drooliest baby we've ever had and tries to shove his entire fist into his mouth all day long. We haven't tried solids yet and I don't plan on it for at least another month or two, though I wonder if solids would help with the sleep issue. And finally... here are the four month pictures of our little Dilly.

Dylan - 3 Months

Oh Dylan, I'd love to say that the last three months have been perfect in every way, and the truth is that they mostly have been, but this last week has been rough! You hit your three-month growth spurt the day you turned three months, which translates into lots of eating and not much sleeping. You went from sleeping for 10 hours stretches at night to no more than three hours at a time for the last four nights. I can tell you're getting bigger though - almost right before my eyes! Unofficially, you weigh in at 13 pounds.

In spite of all the hours of sleep I'm losing because of you, I wouldn't trade you for the world. I guess that's true love : )

 

Dylan - 2 Months

How is it possible that two months have already flown by since Dylan joined our family?! He fits right in and it already feels like he's always been here. He started smiling on purpose at 8 weeks, though Charlie can get him to smile way more frequently and consistently than I can - maybe Dylan just thinks he's funny looking ; )

At his two month well visit, he weighed in at 11lb 5oz and is now 22.5" long. He was born at 6lb 13oz and 21" long, so that's a pretty big growth spurt in two months. He got 3 shots and everything else checked out great. Dylan is still in newborn and 3 month sized clothes, a big difference from Garrett who only wore newborn clothes for 3 weeks. In the last couple days I quit waking him up for one last feed before I went to bed just to see how he'd do. The first night he slept from 7:15-3:30! The second night he slept from 8:45-4:15. I'll take it!

All three of the big boys love to help with Dylan - from putting in his paci to telling me when he's crying. They always want to know where he is when he's not downstairs with us and want to hold him more often too. Garrett will say 'no MY turn, MY baby!' when Owen or Eli are holding him.

Two months already, time is flying by! (As always, you can see plenty more picture here)

Garrett - 7 Months

We're on the back-nine towards 1 year already! Garrett's 7th month was pretty eventful; he can now sit unattended, crawl all over the house, and he perfected his feet-mouth coordination! He's up to four different foods: apples, squash, bananas and green beans, all with oatmeal, and loves trying to eat Cheerios and puffs. Still no teeth for our little man, but they have got to be coming any day now with the amount that he's drooling and chewing on everything. His new thing is to grab my face with both hands and suck on my cheek. It's disgusting, except it's so darn cute (a sentence only a mom would understand!) : ) His bedtime is routinely before 7pm and he sleeps until around 7am. We're getting him down to two naps a day, but sometimes he still needs that last catnap to get him to bedtime. He's eating two solid meals a day now, which helps him keep up his muscle man figure (or is that marshmellow man figure?!) Unofficial weight right now is 20 pounds. He started saying dadadada and will sing it every time he's at his most content. He still loves being held, but he's getting used to the exersaucer more and likes having free range of the house too - especially with access to all of the boys' toys (puzzle pieces, cars and the magna doodle pen are his current favs).

Garrett - 6 Months

This has been a big month for Garrett! He started out the month in the jumper, which he quickly figured out and loves. He started solids this month with rice, which didn't go great, so we switched to oatmeal. Oatmeal and apples are his current favorite (even though that's all he's had - ha!) and he devours it. He learned how to roll from his back to his belly this month and just today he started army crawling! Six months and he's already crawling! He generally shoots for the boys' puzzle pieces and Cars cars, but I'm sure things like the remotes and wires will soon trump the toys.

Four Month Weight: 16 lb 14 oz (90%)
Six Month Weight: 18 lb 13 oz (75%)

Four Month Height: 25.5" (70%)
Six Month Height: 28" (90%)

His head is 44.5cm (70%)... plenty of room for a big brain : )

Garrett - 5 Months

Sheesh! Five months already!? In my biased opinion, Garrett gets cuter and cuter every day. He loves his jumper, grabbing and chewing on toys, being held and smiles all the time. He stopped sleeping through the night while we were travelling, partly because he was pretty conjested and partly because of the pack-n-play, but we're back on track now. By my measurements, he's already 18.5 pounds! Good grief, Owen and Eli were almost a year before they weighed that much! He's in 9 month clothes already too. Our chunky monkey is growing up so fast!

Garrett - 4 Months

Four months have come and gone and Garrett is doing great! I took him to his four month well visit yesterday and was just shocked at his growth from only two months earlier. You know you have a chubby baby when the pediatrician refers to him as the Michelin Man!

Two Month Weight: 13 lb 4 oz (75%)
Four Month Weight: 16 lb 14 oz (90%)

Two Month Height: 23.5" (70%)
Four Month Height: 25.5" (75%)

He's laughing and cooing and smiling all the time. He's getting really close to rolling from his back to his belly, but doesn't really attempt to roll from him belly to his back. He actually hates being on his back. He's getting into the phase where his naps are only about an hour each, but he is still sleeping straight through the night, so I can't complain too much about his naps. Owen and Eli love his and will usually stop to pet him on the head and say 'cute baby' or 'BayGate nice' as they are running past him. We switched him to size 3 diapers to celebrate his four month birthday : )

Garrett - 3 Months

Our little man is three months already! We won't have another 'formal' weigh in until next month, but by our measurement he's already about 15.5 pounds! We just moved him into the crib in his own room, which went great! He sleeps about 13 hours straight every night and is so happy and relaxed during the day. He loves to watch us and smiles every time he locks eyes with us. He started cooing this month and will 'repeat' a sound back to me. He loves to be held, snuggled and kissed, but I think he's past the point of falling asleep on us, other than when we're out and about and wearing him in the bjorn. I miss that stage already! The boys call him 'BayGate', which morphed out of 'Baby Get' when he was born. They ask about him any time he's not in the room and have started asking me to help them put his paci back in when he starts to cry. 'Hewp Mama, BayGate sad'. He's not sad very often, but they are very concerned when he is. We love love love this baby boy!

Garrett - 2 Months (a Little Late)

Garrett Parker is growing and growing! We took him to the doctor for his 2 month well visit and he weighed in at 13lb 6oz (75%) and 23.5" (70%). His head was 40cm, which doubled from his birth! Is that normal?! He got three shots and an oral vaccine, but handled it like a champ and only cried for about 10 seconds. He is wearing all 3 month or 3-6 month clothes.

He sleeps on his belly all the time. I know that's not recommended, but he prefers it and sleeps way better that way. The bonus is that he doesn't mind tummy time at all and his head is perfectly shaped. The downside is that he pretty much hates being on his back - which means he isn't crazy about the swing, bouncy seat or his car seat. He has rolled over 3-4 times and is great at holding his head up. Around 6-7 weeks, I started putting Garrett to bed between 8:30-9pm just to see how he would do and he wasn't waking up until 4am! By now, he goes to bed (awake!) around 8:15-8:45 and sleeps until 7:30-8am!! He's a pretty great napper too. I think we'll transfer him to his own room sometime this month, but I like having him farther away from the boys room so he doesn't wake up when they do.

As of now he still has bright blue eyes and started smiling on purpose this month too. He is a momma's boy and loves to be held. I've had a lot of success wearing him in the bjorn when we go out, which keeps both hands free for the boys too.

I can't believe more than two months have already flown by! We love this little man more and more every day!

Snapshot: ONE!

We have had a full year to get to know Owen and Eli - their likes and dislikes, their personalities and similarities and differences. With one year under our belts and many, many more to go, here's a snapshot of the little men we love so much.

YOU BOTH:

• Have had only one haircut
• Are getting really good at 'nesting' the stacking cups inside one another. You're figuring out sizes and shapes!
• Think it's hilarious to ride/bounce on our shins and will pull into a canonball giggling
• Love buttons, especially the ones on the stereo
• Can stand independently and walk along the furniture but haven't taken any steps yet
• Have two bottom teeth and your outer upper top teeth
• Love to stand in the bathtub - and it drives us crazy because you both fall all the time!
• Are mostly wearing 12 months clothes, but can still fit in some of your 6 month onesies and sometimes wear 18 month pjs
• Almost never wear shoes, though you have some really cute pairs, you won't keep them on (but you love to chew the orange crocs)
• LOVE the pool and will kick as if you're swimming
• Say ma-ma and da-da, but not necessarily in reference to either of us
• Still sing yourselves to sleep
• Are consistently sleeping through the night and wake up around 7-7:30 every day
• Only nurse 3-4 times a day
• Still eat babyfood for breakfast, but all table food for the rest of the day
• Sleep on your belly with your butt in the air
• Usually only use your binks when you sleep (or when you're teething and incredibly drooly)
• Are warming up to the idea of real milk, though not consistently
• Will eat almost anything that's put in front of you
• Go to bed every night without a fight
• Drop whatever you're doing when daddy starts saying "A-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-woowoo-woowoo!"
• Have taken your diapers off in bed, with messy consequences

ELI, YOU:

• Love to crawl holding anything stick-like (the doctor tool, the blue and red tupperware rattle) and will hold them for hours at a time
• Stood independently first
• Cry when Owen gets yelled at or hurt
• Were much more adventurous at the beach and would crawl right towards the ocean
• Didn't want to get messy with your birthday cake and would only eat from a fork
• Are starting to give high-5s and say ba-ba
• Will stand next to a block tower and pick one block off at a time
• See it as your personal mission in life to keep all the doors closed on the pop-up toys
• Love to give slobbery kisses all over my face

OWEN, YOU:

• LOVE Monkey Boy and will hold him while you crawl around, sleep, eat and play
• Took a long time to warm up to the beach and the ocean. At first, you would watch the waves and cry as the water got closer, but then you started to really like it
• Dove into your birthday cake face first and didn't care how messy you got (and you got MESSY!)
• Are starting to wave (with both hands) and say ni-ni
• Love tags, especially when we go shopping and you can feel all the tags on the clothes as you roll past in your stroller
• Will plow a block tower down in one swipe
• Crawl to me when I sit on the floor just to give me a hug
• 'Windshield wipe' your tray when you're done eating to knock all the remaining food on the floor
• Love to pull all the books off the shelf and turn the pages as if you're reading them

11 / 12

Wow. The next time I write one of these posts it will be to talk about the boys' FIRST BIRTHDAY. I am blown away by how fast this first year is going/has gone, and yet I'm so excited that we've come out on the other side as such a happy little family. This month was a fast one, since we spent so much time in Pittsburgh visiting friends and family, moving, and getting settled in Arizona.

A few stats from this month:

• Owen weighs about 19.5 pounds
• Eli weighs about 18.5 pounds
• Visited this month: my family, Charlie's family, Charlie's grandma and Uncle Dan, my mom's extended family, my dad's extended family, many many friends from college and Pittsburgh, my mentor teacher, my co-workers from Pine Richland, a few ex-students and many more! It was a busy month!
• Milestones: trying whole milk for the first time, walking along the furniture, Eli standing on his own for a few seconds at a time, both boys cutting 'their fangs' on the top, only eating babyfood for breakfast - lunch, dinner and snacks are now table food!
• Challenges this month: moving, with two boys who want to be on the go all the time, getting through the plane rides, trying to unpack and entertain babies, getting adjusted to two time zone changes, being away from home for 3+ weeks, being away from Charlie for 2 weeks. The bathtub is still a challenge too. Ugh.
• Current favorite toys: cars that you pull back and let go and they move on their own. Actually, I should just say anything with wheels that they can push along as they crawl
• Words: Eli says "mom" plain as day, and usually it's in reference to me, not just babbling. Owen will say "dada" and what sounds like "hidad," which I'm sure we're just imagining : ) They have both started this obnoxious high pitched screech too, which we're hoping they outgrow soon!
• Interactions: They are really starting to care when they get something taken off of them. Whether they are taking toys from each other or we're taking something from them that they shouldn't have, a mini-fit typically occurs.
• Big Deals this month: After 3+ weeks of resorting to middle of the night feeds, we're officially sleeping through the night again! The boys go to bed around 7:30 and wake up around 6am to nurse, then they're back to bed until 7:45. This morning they went back to sleep until 9:15!! Life is good!

We are 11/12 of the way through our first year as parents of twins! Almost there!

10 / 12

Ten months down, only two to go until the one year mark. That's amazing. I'm sure all you parents out there can attest to the fact that everyone is really and truly correct when they say that the time flies by. Between this month and last month, the boys have lost a lot of baby and gained a lot of toddler in my eyes. They are so mobile now (even though they aren't actually toddling anywhere!) and they seem to have gained personalities overnight. They seem to be all caught up on the milestone chart too, with practically no sign of premie left.

A few stats from this month:

• Owen weighs 19 pounds
• Eli weighs 18.4 pounds
• Visitors this month: Dwight (aka Grandpa Fox) came to Dallas for almost a week and we (the boys and I) spent four days with the Boltons before moving to Scottsdale
• Milestones for Eli: kneels in crib (6.9), sits up on his own while crawling (6.15), pulls to stand (6.16)
• Milestones for Owen: kneels in crib (6.2), pulls to stand (6.5)
• Challenges this month: Owen being diagnosed with Croup two days before the movers came, their first ear infections, flying alone with both boys, trying to keep them from standing in the tub (any suggestions?!)
• Current Nicknames: peek-a-boo, booboo, peanut butter, jelly, bubba, buckaroo, owie (pronounced o-wee, short for Owen)
• Current favorite toys: Noah's ark pink peacock, stacking cups, peek-a-boo dump truck, the baby einstein toy (in all five parts now, not just the shapes, colors and songs piece)
• Interactions: the boys were eating breakfast the other day and in between every bite they would stop, look at each other and bust out laughing. They also entertained each other for over an hour in an empty room in Dallas just looking at each other and playing with each others' feet. I love that I get to watch as they become best friends! As for interacting with us, they have both started lifting their arms to be held and will crawl across the room to kneel at our legs for us to pick them up. Sort of like a begging puppy : )
• Communications: The big one that started this month is slapping. Thankfully not each other, but slapping their tray when they want more of something. I've tried to teach 'more' but they still resort to the tray slap. Owen seems to be the communicator for both boys. He'll yell out so I come in their room when they are both awake and he'll yell out when they are in their highchairs if he wants me to hurry up with their food. Eli just enjoys the fruits of his labors!
• Big Deals this Month: coming home to Pittsburgh after being gone for a full six months

We are 10/12 of the way through our first year as parents of twins!

9 / 12

We are officially on the move, and are quickly realizing just how much babyproofing needs to occur before two boys (who are usually moving in opposite directions) can have the run of the house. I think we took it for granted all these months that we could leave a book or the laptop or a hot cup of tea on the floor and it would be right there where we left it when we came back. Not anymore! It seems that the things they absolutely can't touch are the things they go for the fastest. I'll bet every other mom reading this knows exactly what I'm talking about!

A few stats from this month:

• Owen and Eli are weighing 18 and 17 pounds respectively. Official 9 month weigh in is on June 9th, with percentile updates.
• Visitors this month: we visited Matt, Julie and Samantha McHale (Matt was Charlie's roommate in college) in San Antonio
• Milestones: Owen says Dada and Eli says Mama and baba, sitting up unsupported for long periods of time, laughing at each other, crawling, cutting teeth
• New foods: egg yolks, noodles, black beans, pasta salad, pizza crust, pieces of chicken
• Challenges this month: keeping two mobile boys away from everything that isn't baby-proofed!, Owen's phase of sticking his tongue out the second you put a spoonful of babyfood in his mouth
• Current favorite toys: anything they aren't supposed to touch! The laptop, kleenex boxes, diapers, remotes...
• Owen: started crawling backwards on 5.12, can rock back and forth on his hands and knees, cut his first tooth on 5.14 - the bottom left, cut the second bottom tooth on 5.21, started crawling forward on 5.20 and started sitting from laying on his belly on 5.29. He's also starting to do a few yoga moves, namely Downward Dog!
• Eli: started army crawling on 5.12, cut his first and second teeth (both on the bottom) on 5.20
• Interactions: Eli's new favorite thing is sucking on Owen's hair. He'll power his way across the floor, hold Owen's head in both hands and lick most of his hair, covering him in drool. It's so gross, but Owen doesn't seem to mind it!
• Big Deals This Month: finding out that we're moving to Scottsdale (and trying to figure out how to work with three time zone changes in a month!)

We are 9/12 of the way through our first year as parents of twins!