Double Check-Up

I was very brave and scheduled Amelia's four month and Seth's three year check-ups together for today. They both did great. Who do you want to hear about first? ha!

Amelia weighed 13 lbs 8.6 oz (50th percentile), a full 3/4ths of a pound bigger than her brother at that age. She was 25 1/4 inches long (75th percentile). Only minor concern is that she has a touch of eczema on her stork bite, nothing a little Hydrocortisone won't fix. She was given the a-okay to start rice cereal, so be looking for pictures of that in the near future. She only had two shots; the third was out of stock, but as far as she was concerned, it was two too many!

Seth remains on his skinny-boy curve, weighing in at 28.8 lbs (so really he hasn't gained anything in six months). He was 37 1/4 inches tall. He had a great check-up and talked so much trying to keep the attention on him that Dr. Krieter now said he could be considered average for his age. One more thing checked off the preschool list...next step, undies!

Preschool Practice

For three days this week, Seth is going to summer camp at Case's preschool. I thought it would be good practice for preschool in the fall. We talked it up Monday, and he was so engrossed in the toys yesterday morning, he didn't mind that I left. He's had two good days, and I get HUGE hugs when I pick him up. I hope it is a sign that preschool won't be as tough a transition as I thought. Nathan is sad that we are already packing lunches and have permission slips on the fridge (tomorrow is a field trip to the Children's Museum...Mommy and Amelia will be going, too). I have thoroughly enjoyed running errands with only a non-ambulatory assistant this week, and I think Amelia thinks she's getting away with something by being out shopping alone with mommy!

Amelia has been a restless sleeper for about ten days now...she has found her thumb, but once she starts sucking on it, she realizes she's rather have her binky, it's been no fun. She also found her feet the beginning of last week, this has been her favorite this to do for the past week:

Monday she realized she could roll to get places...she hasn't made it across the room yet, but she is all over the playmat, and really is getting some good tummy-time in.

PS: The kids love each other right now!

Three days of celebrating 3

Seth's third birthday was last Friday. We started celebrating at about 7am that morning, and the party continued all weekend long. It was a very busy weekend...I told Nathan I felt like I'd had two days off rather than four! Friday we went to a double baby shower luncheon for two of my coworkers, and that evening four of Seth's crew came over for some fun in the sprinklers. Saturday the kids got to play with their cousins, and Sunday Gram and Pops came over.

Opening presents before Daddy and Lisa went to work on Friday...Testing out the slip'n'slide...
I think Bennett enjoyed it most of all...
Since April, Seth has been filling this bucket with all sorts of miscellaneous and singing the Happy Birthday Song to us. I thought it was only appropriate to have a dirt cake this year in the bucket!

Cool monster robe from the Andersons and wheelbarrow from Lisa and Michael...
Seth has mastered the fireman pole...
The highlight of the playground trip...Will and Seth sharing a swing...it was giggles galore! (And check out Seth's calves versus those of his nine-month-old cousin...also giggle worthy! We have a check-up on Monday...I'll post the skinny boy's stats!)
Colette was sure this must be for her, since it smelled like Cary...three years later, and she still has hope that "Granddog" will outweigh "Grandkid", ha!

life in the NICU

I was just online reading about the teen pregnancy pact in Massachussetts when at the bottom it recommended a preemie article, so of course I read it. This two-part story is a very honest account from the father of 24 week twins, below are the links if you're curious and have ten or fifteen minutes to spare:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25063903/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25063900/

Hugs to Annie and Mary Jo from Nurse Mayse!

"We not vandals!"

Party week continues as we celebrated Nathan's 30th birthday yesterday. Nathan and I don't want big hooplah for our birthdays, but I did want to brighten his day a little bit at work. Since Seth can't keep a secret right now, the kids and I set to work as soon as Nathan left for work. We made posters for the truck, headed to Borders to buy presents, and then went to Party City to buy balloons. Seth got a little upset when I tied the balloons to the truck, so I didn't put as many streamers on as I had planned, and I thought we were running out of time because sometimes Nathan takes an early lunch. Some of the girls saw me working out the window, but luckily they kept a secret. And to make it more perfect, Nathan had offered to drive for lunch, so he had a group of guys with him when he saw it. You can click on the pictures if you want to see them blown up.

My partners in crime:

Nathan called after lunch and called us vandals, to which Seth said "we no vandals!" After naptime, Nathan opened his presents and then we had a date night to Firebirds Restaurant. It was a very nice evening, and the kids got a good report card from Auntie Lisa. We're all back to work today, and Seth is anxiously awaiting his birthday Friday; he keeps telling me "Seth next!"

Zoo Trip (2008 edition)

We made our annual trek to the zoo on Saturday. It was pretty hot outside, but the kids had a great time! It was so fun to go with Auntie Lisa on the carousel, he cried when we didn't let him do it a second time...
Check out the shoes...these new size 9s barely fit...Nathan's kid, you think?
We've entered the "overuse of bandaids" stage...

Gotta love cheap onesies...

Amelia usually just wears a onesie if she wrecks her outfit during the afternoon...these are some new ones she's grown into...

Nathan and Lisa didn't really find this one amusing...I bought this one a long time ago...at least she has a little bit of hair!

Happy Father's Day! (2008 edition)

You know, people always talk about what a great career nursing is for it's flexibility. It some ways, that's true, because I can probably get a job almost anywhere. And yes, I can work non-conventional hours and therefore not have my kids in daycare full-time. But that takes a lot of flexibility and compromise on the spouse's part, especially in a case like ours where we have no family locally to help with childcare. For almost three years now Nathan has had a least two weekdays where he's gone straight from work to daddy-duty, and every third weekend I have to work and it's just him and kids from 2pm on. He does a great job, and I know it's not always easy. His job is busy and I know there are times he'd like to just dumb out in front TV and instead spends the evening playing "You've Got Me" (Seth's version of tag). Not to mention the work holidays that I schedule myself to work so we save a day of childcare, and the major holidays that I'm still required to work. So three cheers to Nathan, and all the other daddies who have to take care of bathtime and bedtime because the mommy is at the hospital taking care of someone else. I know Seth has an extra special relationship with Nathan because of our lifestyle, and I'm sure Amelia will, too.

Father's Day is the beginning of a week of celebrating around here...both my boys have birthdays this week, and we have a double baby shower to attend Friday. I'll post pictures throughout the week!

Also, my Grandpa B will spend his Father's Day in Roseau recuperating from spending a week in the hospital, so we're hoping he has a restful day regaining his strength and getting his voice back!

"Delicious"

To make a long story short, Seth didn't want to finish his dinner tonight, and after a lot of whining we settled on some Dora yogurt. I was sitting with Seth when he took a bite and said, "Mmm! It's delicious!" I about fell on the floor. Lisa has been telling him stuff is delicious for the past two weeks. I was STUNNED that such a big word came out of his little mouth, so of course we had to make a movie of it!

Rainforest Jumperoo

Amelia had an aversion to being anything but vertical this weekend while I was at work. We made an emergency run to BabiesRUs yesterday morning to get a Johnny Jump Up, and splurged on the Rainforest Jumperoo. Amelia loves playing in it, but she still decided to be mean to her daddy and Lisa while I was at work.
I don't know what it's like everywhere else, but it's been HOT (like 100 degrees, people!) here. Friday night the pool was open late, and we went for a swim. Amelia took her first dip in the pool. It was a short trip, because Mr-Almost-3 would not share his pool toys, to the point he was carrying his basket everywhere with him. I might be brave and try to do a solo trip to the kiddie pool Wednesday morning.

Announcing it to the Triangle

6/12/08 update: Cary News version...if you click on the announcement, it will blow up to a size that you won't have to squint to read!

Lisa and Michael's engagement announcement was in the N&O this morning:

http://www.triangle.com/129/story/20427.html

There will be a longer announcement in the Cary News later this week. I will see if I can attach that link here, too.

Don't call him Jack...

...but Seth has finally made it to the top of the beanstalk at the Children's Museum! He usually gets scared about three leaves up. Case, who is five months younger, also made it all the way up the beanstalk today. But you know Seth...he's not going to do something until he can do it completely...which usually means later rather than sooner. I think it wore him out, what do you think?

Amelia was content to just look at me at the museum...somebody misses her momma when she's at work. She'll get the hang of it soon. I think she had a growth spurt over the weekend...look at those cheeks!

They think they're big

Sunday we joined the neighborhood pool. We had literally been there ten minutes when somebody lost their lunch in the kiddie pool. The boys spent the rest of the time in the big pool. Seth wanted to jump to Nathan--no hands. I think we are really going to like it, especially if I want to take the kids by myself. One drawback is it seems like they are very lenient about toys. There were several kids that had this type of water gun...Amelia got shot in the face once, but before I could say anything, that girl's dad reamed her out about it. Maybe the novelty of the water toys will wear out as the summer wears on.
Yesterday morning it dawned on me that I should crack out Melissa's bumbo seat and see if Amelia liked it. She doesn't just like it, she loves it! Nathan and Lisa both commented on how she liked being a big girl while I was at work last night.

A Day Out with Thomas

Friday afternoon we drove up to Boone for an overnight trip. The boys had a great time in the hotel's indoor pool, and everyone got a great night's sleep. Saturday morning we headed to Tweetsie because Thomas was in town. Who's Thomas? Only the most popular train in the under-5 crowd! Seth has just recently started watching the videos, but he has had several Thomas toys for awhile. Our tickets got us a 10:30 ride on Thomas and access to the entire park. Seth was VERY excited. We sat way in the back of our traincar, and Seth hid most of the time because the "sheriff" was standing right behind us. He loved the rest of Tweetsie, though! We had a great day, and spent a lot more time there than we thought we would. It was a lot of fun!Seth didn't like being in jail...
Our turn on the train...

It appears our son likes rides. If it turns out he likes those of the rollercoaster persuasion, we're going to have to send him out with his aunts and uncles...mommy and daddy will hang out with the other 'fraidy cats.