Thursday, October 10, 2013

Maggie is 15months

So Maggie had her 15month well baby yesterday. She lost a few ounces and has been having strange poops so they took a stool sample and told us to add some pediasure into her diet. I hope that helps. She doesn't want to poke and prod Maggie since she figures the few ounces is because Maggie being more active and has a great metabolism. She said she doesn't want Maggie to be plump just to maintain her growth curve. We go back in 6 weeks for a weight check. She is verbally more advanced than Maxim at this age. She says no, go, uh oh, night night and we swore she said "where you go" two separate times. Matthew actually asked me about her saying that before I said I thought she said it.  She also can feed herself with a spoon and is practically run.  Update yall in 6 weeks.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

14months Old

So our little coconut is 14months old. She is now walking. Matthew has been gone alot this summer. A few days before he came home he got an email about Maggie is taking steps a few here and a few there but the days between were getting fewer. Then in the week he was home she went from that to full blown walking. It was crazy. I am so glad he was there to see it! I think she had some kind of intuition that he was coming since this visit home was a little unexpected. She is still a huge eater. It doesn't matter what it is she wants it. Fruits, veggies, meats, cheeses, crackers you name it she will eat it. She is still in 6month clothes though some are slowly getting retired. She is still in size 1 diapers. Her hair is getting thicker and longer and it is getting easier to put a small bow in and have it hold.
Her newest thing besides walking is she puts on a necklace and sits on the dino rider. I don't think she knows it moves or how to figure it out but as of now just sitting on it makes her happy.

Monday, August 19, 2013

Look Alikes

I recently got some pictures of my husband as a baby. I put some collages together. I think Maxim and Maggie are little clones of him. You be the judge


 I couldn't find a good picture of me at 2 to compare. Though my face was round at 2 like Max's is but he has all daddy's features.

Friday, August 9, 2013

13month Coconut update

Our little Coconut is 13months today. No, she is not walking. She does have days where she takes a crazy amount of steps and then nothing for a week or more. I think she is waiting until Daddy is working less. If you remember she didn't really start rolling over until 7months but by 8months she was crawling and 9months pulling up. She just likes Daddy to see her milestones just like her big brother. No weight or length updates until 15months. She babbles alot. Her newest thing is she tries to blow kisses. It is so cute. She is still a huge foody. There is not much she doesn't like. Maggie is still in 6month clothes and her hair is getting so long that I often take a small clip to keep it out of her eyes. I don't plan on cutting it anytime soon. Her hair doesn't surprise me since about 11months Max has had monthly haircuts. Hair on the ears bugs me.

Max though he still isn't most understandable 2 year old his vocabulary is definitely coming along. I think the newest addition is Water and Bubbles. Bubble Guppies is the first tv show he has requested. He will point to the tv and say bubbles. Sometimes he will just point and say tv. He also calls both the radio and tv, "tv." Whenever we try to differentiate different items like radio and tv or car and truck, he just looks at us and says okay. He doesn't say "yes" he says "okay." For instance, "max, are you hungry?"   "Okay" will be the response. "There you go," "here we go," "no" and "uh oh/ oh no" are still big staples of his vocabulary. Maxim also loves to grab people by their finger and show them things where in a store or in the house or at the aquatic center.  We love our little buddy. He is also doing so well transitioning into a toddler bed. I have also been leaving the door to his room ajar and when he is finished reading books to sleep he wakes up and comes out. I am so proud how well he is doing.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Boys Home

As you may or may not know I am part of an organization called MOMS Club. It is a great group of ladies with wonderful kids. It is such a great drama free environment. Seriously! For example a little boy in the middle of potty training peed on a little girl during a playdate in the backyard and nobody got mad. What can you really do but laugh?  Anyway after a year I was asked if I was willing to join the board. So I am now the Administrative Vice President (Admin VP). I am in charge of charities and fundraising.
One of our ongoing charities is the Methodist's Boys Home. They house about 12 boys at any given time. Each friday we volunteer to bring a baked good. We also keep track of birthdays and if a birthday falls that week then we make sure to bring something like brownies or cupcakes.
Well it is back to school season and to help them out a little more we are donating some school supplies. I am so thrilled with what we are donating considering we only have about 25 members and probably half are actually actively involved. We have 22 notebooks, 2 package of paper, 3 packages of pens, 2 packs of highlighters, 2 packs of colored pencils and 4 glue sticks.
I know they are grateful and appreciative of our donations especially when we drop off the baked goods and the boys look excited. It just feels nice to give back.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Breastfeeding

You may or may not know this is world breastfeeding week. You may be surprised that the reccomendation is 2years. Well personally that is too long for me. My goal with both kids was a year. Max we only got to 6months and with more support I think I could have made it a year. Though many people do it tandem nursing non multiples doesn't appeal to me, so Maxim would have been weaned a at year.
One fact about breastmilk that I find fascinating is your babies saliva changes the content of your milk. Basically as your child grows and needs change so does your milk. Also breastmilk is supply and demand. When you are empty your production increases and when you are full it decreases.  So when baby is constantly at your breast during a growth spurt constantly "emptying" it is telling your body to make more! Also I use quotes around empty because you are never truly empty. Even though it is almost a month since weaning Maggie I am still producing milk.
It makes me sad that many moms are told they can't. Your milk can take upto 10days for your milk to come in. Before that you are just producing colostrum.  This is certainly enough for your newborn. Many moms in the 80s and 90s were told that they couldn't breastfeed and this was probably simply not true for most. Luckily, more and more hospitals are taking formula samples out of delivery rooms. When I was admitted6/ when Maggie was born they were in the bottom of the bassinet and the nurse simply asked if I was planning on breastfeeding and when I said "yes" she removed it. I wish nurses would stop telling new moms "just incase." I feel this just leads to breastfeeding failure.
Though Max was a champ off the bat, it took Maggie 2 weeks to get the hang of breastfeeding. It is nice having a husband who is a good support system and even through those 2 rough weeks was a huge help.
Just because you didn't breastfeed your previous babies doesn't mean you can't breastfeed subsequent babies. Also even if your baby is 3/6/9months old and formula fed you can relactate. It may take 4-6weeks of dry nursing but you can do it.
I know this blog is usually just about family but this is a topic that inspires me.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Car Trouble

So found out on July 1st my car needed major repairs. I was dropping Matthew off at work and the gate guard was like "don't you hear that?" Naturally, we said "no." Once we parked, Matthew looked under and my dust cover had half fallen off. I had a dr's apppointment later that day and I was telling the nurse about it and she said oh that happens to me all the time since I have a low car. It is a simple repair. And it would have been if that was all that was wrong.
I took it to the repair shop only to discover that not only had the dust cover fallen but my grill and bumper were cracked and my radiator tubes were rubbing against each other. So they told me to go to an autobody shop. Great!
Both places said that I ran over something. I don't remember doing this and I even asked Matthew incase I had told him and forgotten. Since it was the week of July 4th and they were taking days off they said to bring it in the following Monday. So I do and they tell me Friday for sure it will be ready. Well it is Saturday and they are telling me Monday afternoon. So we will see.
In the meantime, I am driving Matthew's truck. The first time I drove it and came home, my car was still in the garage so I couldn't turn it around. The next time I drove it I then killed 2 of our lawn lights backing down. So we are now down to 2 lights. Matthew killed one and a guy he works with killed another. So it isn't like he is in the clear with running over lights either. In my defense, our driveway is long, inclined and curved.
Now that my car is not in our garage I can turn the truck around at the top of the driveway. I have to say after almost a week of doing this I am doing a pretty good job if I do say so myself. Also since driving the truck I have not hit anything or run over curves. I am not so worried about hitting things but I thought I would have run over a curb thinking I could take a tighter turn than I can. Maybe I am just being ultra cautious.
Anyway that is what is new with us. 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

The Coconut is a year!

Maggie turned a year today. She was born at 3:40pm weighing 6lbs 8oz and having a length of 19". Today at her appointment she weighed 14lbs 11oz and had a length of 25.5". She is still in the zero percentile but we are blessed with a pediatrician that doesn't look at the chart and looks at my child and sees she is happy, healthy, and meeting milestones. We have used up our freezer stash of breastmilk and started whole milk. So far so good and she loves it. Matthew was concerned because they taste so different. Turns out not be a concern. She is still nursing when she wakes in the morning. I could probably wean her from that one if I wanted to. It is most likely more for me.

 It took her about a week to get used to a sippy cup as I started weaning her down to one nursing session a 2 weeks ago. I feel blessed that we got a year of breastfeeding snuggles together. It was a rough 2 weeks with her but thanks to the support of my husband we got through it. If you have been following this blog you know we were bullied into formula feeding Maxim at 6months when he was diagnosed with Failure to Thrive (FTT). Maggie also was diagnosed as FTT at 6months. Funny to see dramatically different outcomes. I think this makes me secretly judge those that don't breastfeed/pump for their children. I am lucky here that my group of friends all breastfeed and we all share our knowledge and support with one another.

For instance one Mom had a baby and was determined to BF and even though the baby dropped to 5lbs at one point she never gave up and never supplemented and now that baby is thriving. She said it was because of our support and guidance that she was able to ignore the doctors' pressure to formula feed.

Maggie can stand by herself now and she pulls herself up and walks along furniture too. She makes lots of sounds far more than Max did at this age. Maxim wasn't silent just his sounds were less diverse. Maggie's cake smash pictures came out super cute but she quickly gets tired of cake since she picks at it very daintily with her thumb and index finger. She is a huge eater, like nonstop. I hope she keeps this up. Though Max likes a bunch of food he has narrowed his interest and also doesn't always want to eat when he is supposed to or what he is given. I guess that just comes with him being 2.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Missed a month

So let's go back to April. Maggie had her 9 month appointment and she was 13lbs 10oz so 4oz less than Max at that age. By the end of April she also was pulling up and walking along furniture. We recently had to lower her crib because she learned to stand up in her crib. Next check up is at a year.

Maxim just had his 2 yr check up and he was 25.5lbs and 32.5" tall. This puts him at 20th percentile for weight and 6th percentile for height. Still little. Oh and he is in the 0 percentile for head circumfrence. He is loving all his birthday presents. We now have lots of trains, cars and trucks! He had a bounce house for his birthday which he loves. He jumps well and often shows us when he gets up in the morning and after nap in his crib. His birthday party was Elmo themed.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

She's Mobile!

It seems like our coconut was waiting for Daddy. Since he came home the beginning of February she started rolling over regularly and as of a little over a week ago she has been crawling. She is starting to be all over the place. She even tries to chase, though unuccessfully, Maxim. I crudely weighed her on our scale and she seems to be about 13.5lbs.

Max is slowly becoming more vocal though when he says little phrases it still surprises us. He will occasionally say new words. He is picking up signing pretty fast now. So we can get him to sign please and thank you. Because of this we are going to try to potty train him with signing. He is showing lots of signs that his body is ready. We'll give it a try. Hopefully it all goes well. We also signed him up for swim lessons so we'll see how that goes.

We had a great time on our vacation this month to New Orleans. We have gone to zoos alot this month as well as children's museums and it is great to see Max getting old enough to really get excited and interact. Before we know it we'll have two toddlers that are excited about these activities.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Time to Update

So I realized it's been awhile since we've updated. First off Matthew is home!!!!!!!!! He came home just about 2.5 weeks ago and we are all loving having him home. It is amazing how you forget what the kids have learned in 3months until someone is amazed by it all. 

Maggie started solids at 7months and Matthew was the first to feed her. Since it was something that could wait I decided why have another first without him when we could wait. Her first food was sweet potatoes but she didn't like it. We suspect it was too thick. She now takes it fine. I thin any veggies with breastmilk. She has had pumpkin, sweet potatoes, pears, apple sauce, plums and mangos so far. Later this week we'll introduce carrots. She also has had odds and ends off our plates. Maggie is still in 3month clothes and I'm just waiting for her to length the tiniest bit so she'll grow out of them and we'll have fun in new clothes. Maggie also had her first trip to the zoo this month. Next well baby is at 9months so no weight/ length update.

Maxim is still as mobile as ever. He said a new word a few days after Matthew got home and another a few days later, shoes and socks. We recently got Max some more outdoor toys since we love to play outside but he hasn't had many outdoor toys. We got a nerf style soccer ball and a rubber ball the size of a cabbage ball along with a bubble wand. It's fun to see him run around the yard and laugh. He recently got a new pair of shoes and they are squeak shoes. It helps us keep track of him and the squeaking doesn't bother us one bit and frankly I don't care if it annoys others. It's funny when he stops and looks around like he hasn't quite figured out the squeak is coming from him. He has another pair of shoes for when we need quite shoes like church or someone's house.

421

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Maggie 6month update

Maggie's 6 month well baby was today and went pretty well. Much better than Maxim's. Maggie is 11lb 6.5oz and 23.5" long. So she gained a lb. Apparently according to the chart Maggie shouldn't be thriving but her ped said she looks great and acts fine so we're all good. But because of protocol Maggie had to have a full blood work up and a urine catch. After two failed attempts at the clinic they sent us to the hospital to get the blood draw where they got it and Maggie laughed the entire time. The urine catch was a failure. They gave me 2 kits and both times she leaked out of them. I will go back tomorrow have them do it and then get the immunizations she needs that we didn't finish getting today. Because the flu is on the rise her pediatrician wanted her to get the flu shot instead of one of her immunizations. But the flu shot is in two parts for her. So my plan is go the lab having them put on the bag securely, go get immunized and hopefully Maggie will have peed and we can return to the lab. Fingers crossed.

Max of course is still doing great and runs around non stop. He enjoyed openning all of his presents at christmas, and everyone else's as well. Next year he'll have competition.

421