Monday, July 25, 2016

one year + seven months

It amazes me that time has flown by like it has. One year ago we were in Texas spending every moment possible in the NICU just waiting to take our little boys home. Here we are, celebrating the first year of their life.

And what a year it's been.

It's been crazy, hectic and exhausting. It's been amazing, surreal and the best moments of my life.

These boys have changed me in so many ways. I feel happy and complete. (Even when I can barely keep my eyes open)

Since the moment I laid eyes on them they stole my heart. But seeing the little people they are becoming has been a dream. Their laughs and their personalities can brighten even the hardest of days.

As far as an update, here goes:

Casey is 24 pounds 2 ounces and 29 inches long, though he was pretty squirmy so that could be off slightly. The pediatrician wants the poor guy on 2% instead of whole milk. Speaking of which. He likes everything. I really haven't found any foods that he won't eat. And lets not be late on serving this guy...when it's time to eat, he is ready! This kid is the tidest eater ever. Mainly because he prefers that all food actually make it into his belly. He also is not a Still no walking, but he's a speed crawler. And he walks really well holding onto things, so we're getting there. He has the best laugh ever. It comes from deep in his belly. There is nothing better than hearing my Casey laugh. He's also such a snuggler, but is also very independent. He's the less needy of the three, he's really good at just waiting his turn (unless we're talking food...obviously) He says mamamamamamamamamamamama...and he knows how to clap. But no real talking yet, except for their own language, which I can't quite decipher yet.

Nickname is Casey Bear still. Cause...his bear hugs are amazing. We also like to say "Casey Smash" cause he kinda just barrels through everything. There is nothing delicate about this guy. I love it.

Britton is 22 pounds 8 ounces and 29 1/8 inches. He gets whole milk now.  He also likes pretty much everything but is WAY messier about it. You can bet your tush he's gonna have half his meal in the seat of his high chair or on the floor. Still no walking, he and Casey pretty much are neck and neck with their abilities. He's a little needier and wants to be held a lot still. When it comes to separation anxiety, this guy definitely shows more of that than his brother. But he's also more likely to snuggle in your lap and let you read a book than Casey is. He likes his downtime a little more and definitely has a bubble...that Casey likes to be in. They either love laughing at each other or are horse collaring and pulling each others hair, making one another cry. Guess I better be ready for many years of that! He knows the difference between Mama and Dada. And this guy...is a daddy's boy. He loves, loves, loves his Daddy. He is all about me until his Dad walks through the door. Then I'm pretty much chop liver. Luckily we have 3 babies.

Speaking of three. Liddy turned 7 months. And watch out, there is no stopping this girl. She's 17 pounds 8 ounces and has been scooting/crawling for a month now. She's also standing. The boys were MONTHS behind this little chickadee. And she loves them! She wants to be near them. Even if it means getting toys ripped out of her hands, pushed over, crawled on top of, for the most part, she doesn't care. She's slowly eating more foods. But it's SLOW. About 60% of the time she just refuses. She likes rice cereal or oatmeal (probably because it's soaked in breastmilk. Anything else, it's a gamble. She still nurses regularly. Like every 3-5 hours. Even at night. So she's still sleeping with me. And, if you want to talk about separation anxiety...this one has it bad. I can't even get up to pee at night without her losing it because I left the room. So maybe this is for another day, but would love to get some feedback on how often she's nursing at night and the fact that she is a little magnet to me. Is that okay? My husband wants to put her in her crib and just let her cry. (Uh...yeah, I'm not thinking I can go to that extreme.) But, I am tired. And after a year of waking up nonstop every night...the lack of sleep is starting to get to me a little.

The boys also had to get tubes last week. We've just had too many ear infections. I was super nervous but the procedures went great and were super fast. So here's hoping we're officially on the road to some happier little boys!!

I feel like this post is a giant ramble. But...I posted and these days that's a major accomplishment. I'll leave this with some of the pictures from the boys birthday party.



 
  
   
  

  

  






14 comments:

  1. LOVE. Love, love, love.

    Also, I think I'm with Trevor on this one...mama, needs her sleep. You're going on 13 months of waking up every single night. I can't imagine. I'm going on ten months of sleeping through the night every night, so ummm, yeah.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOVE! That last picture is the sweetest. Just can't get enough of your sweet family

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with your hubby too! Let her cry it out! She is big enough to make it through the night without eating. We did the cry it out right around 3 months- when I went back to work, and I can't imagine having to wake up every night. and then going to work everyday I never would have survived. It is a miserable, sad two or three nights but it will be soon worth it!!!

    I am super impressed with the cute birthday party your threw. You are super mom!!! Happy birthday babies!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, I've been following your blog for a while now. I love to see your family grow! They are too cute and you guys are an adorable family.

    I do have a word of caution with your co-sleeping baby. I did that with my first baby for 14 months. We moved our first to her own room/crib at that point and it was horrible for us and horrible for her. She was too old and aware of too much by then to accept it. For a whole year we struggled with getting her comfortable with sleeping in her own room. With my second I moved him out of our bed by 6 months. At that age they are much more accepting of a move. I found the longer we waited the worse it was for our daughter and it was heartbreaking for me to see her go through that. We were not planning on co-sleeping for very long but I caution you that your little one will want to co-sleep with you for a long time. So, unless you are planning on co-sleeping for a long time to come, I would suggest moving her out now before she gets any older. It will get harder and more heartbreaking the older she gets. And when she starts walking and climbing you might have a real challenge then. My daughter climbed out of her crib and we couldn't keep her in her room without locking it. She didn't like that too much either. I wish I had moved her out of our room at 6 months like I did with my son. Just my experience. You might not have any issues when you do decide to move her. Good luck!!! Happy Birthday to your little guys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fantastic advice! SO many keep their "babies" in bed with them up until they are 3 or 4 and these kids struggle so much with sleep issues and mom and dad are walking zombies. I don't get this need to not allow a baby to cry it out and get used to sleeping in their own crib.

      Delete
  5. Congrats on surviving the first year of parenthood! Wishing you many more happy ones.
    As for Liddy and her sleep: SHE is fine. It is fine for her to sleep with you, it is fine for her to have her cry it out, it is fine anywhere in between. It is about what will work for you and your family as a whole. I had a mostly co-sleeping baby for 10 months (we put him down in his crib starting around 5 months, he was up hourly after the first 3 hours and spent the remainder of the night in my bed). Eventually, we were both exhausted. At 10 months I allowed my husband to sleep train him (while I was on business on another continent). He cried for 40 ish minutes.. and slept through the night for the first time. The next night it was less than 20 minutes, slept through again. Ever since he wimpers for a minute or two (at most!) and sleeps through the night. May be 10 times he's woken up in the night since. It was a LIFE changer for all of us. He was happier getting more sleep, as was I. It don't know if I could have been in the house when it was happening, but the results were wonderful. He is just as loving, connected and wonderful before and after sleep training. We just sleep more!
    All that said- do what works for your family!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Abbie was waking every hour at 6 or 7 months, and that's when I just had to do it and move her into her crib. You can still go in there and nurse her, but it will also help her figure out how to put herself back to sleep. Since she's so advanced developmentally, I think she will be great at self-soothing, she just needs a little push. Right now when she wakes up, she smells and feels the boob, so of course it's what she wants!

    We did some cry it out, but I also nursed once or twice a night until I weaned a few weeks ago. It was just easier to do that than let her cry. So you can definitely do a combo approach, moving her to her crib doesn't mean just letting her cry for hours.

    Oh, and when I was trying to cut out one of the nighttime feedings, I just sent Tom in. He soothed her well enough, but it wasn't enticing enough that she wanted to wake up for that, so she started sleeping through it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I live this post! Your descriptions are great! I can picture them all. What a lucky momma! I have no advice for you. I just think you should do what your heart allows you to. Nothing more. Nothing less. It will all work out in the end! Your gut has gotten you this far! Hugs!! Looks like you guys are rocking this parenting thing!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Happy Birthday Britton and Casey! You are adorable :)
    As for the co-sleeping and nursing - we're still doing that, at 21 months. I do realize we're in the minority, but I also think this one varies widely between kids and moms. SB loves nursing, and for the most part, I don't mind. I don't think I could do cry it out, and neither does my husband (which normally seems to be the way to go). Except when she's sick, I don't find it too exhausting. But you have 2 extra kids to take care of... I think if it works for you, follow your heart. If you feel too tired (which would be very understandable), there's some gentle night nursing ideas online, though admittedly most I've read is for toddlers. With SB, learning to speak and understand language also helped a lot - sometimes she's nursing in the morning, 90% sleeping, and I tell her gently that mommy needs to get up - and she turns around and continues to snooze.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It makes my heart feel so full and happy seeing your family of five. I still can't believe it sometimes!! Just so cool.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So much I want to say!! Casey Smash... Gah! That makes me giggle. I still just can't believe they are a year old. And Liddy! What a doll. I am by no means a nursing expert, but what gets me through the middle of the night feeds is that I know exclusively breastfed babies still need to nurse at night until a year. I moved Olivia to her crib at 7 months and before that she was in her RNP at night next to my bed and would sleep with me probably a third of the time. Email me if you were interested in how I transitioned her. The funny thing is when she would sleep with me she would nurse constantly because the buffet was always open. Now she is up 1-2 times in the hours of 7:30pm to 8:30am. So I am more than willing to chat about how I transitioned her.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy 1st birthday! You did an amazing job with the decorations!!!!!! Isn't it nice to have it out of the way?? I felt so much pressure! And a huge relief when it went well. Here's our girl's 1st: http://megandewitt.blogspot.com/2016/05/her-first-birthday-party.html

    ReplyDelete
  12. Stunning, Fantastic its looks so astounding. Much obliged to you for sharing this article and keep doing awesome.Carpet in Dubai

    ReplyDelete