Facts of the Week...

With the babies approaching the eleven-month mark, things are getting alittle more crazy/fun everyday. Here are some fun facts from this past week:

#1) Leah is crawling! She is slow and very wobbly but it was so exciting to watch her realize what she could do and how impressed she was with herself. She obviously takes second to Zachary in the crawling department which puts Caleb third by default. Poor guy. I guess someone has to come in last. We can tell he is getting progressively more frustrated with himself because of his inability to get around. Hopefully with the other two moving he'll just get the picture and start going! We're pretty proud of Leah though!

#2) The bedtime bottle is gone, done, eliminated, banished. We used to feed the babies some veggies and cereal before their bath and then give the bottles after. It came to a point where we were fighting with all three babies just to drink anything for that feeding. They weren't interested, too full, overly tired, etc... Who knows. I was tired of the battle and of throwing away unused formula. Sooo....now we do three bottles a day (6am, 11am, 3pm), two meals (8am and 5pm), and a snack (1pm). I make up for the formula they're missing from that eliminated bottle by mixing it into their food or offering a sippy cup with their meals. This has been helpful because they need to master the sippy cup anyway since bottles will be disappearing very soon. Let me tell you, one less bottle a day is a dream. We just feed them dinner, bathe them, and they are off to bed. Love it.

#3) Leah is back on reflux meds. I know, I just can't escape the throwing up; though my odds of being rid of it have never been good with three babies in the house. Zachary has completely outgrown his reflux and projectile vomiting. I never thought that time would come. I've been waiting for Leah to outgrow her reflux but it has seemed to worsen with each passing month. She never vomits but is a constant case of spit up ALL day. On our plane ride to Idaho she spit up ALL over the chair in front of us, all over my arm and shirt, and all over the bag. LUCKILY, the passenger next to us was spared. I called the doctor and she put her on Prevacid which has made a VAST improvement in the past few days she has taken it. We're definitely happy about that but hate having those pills on the counter again.

#4) Leah received a CT scan. Remember a long, long time ago when she had that lump under her chin in the NICU? The ENT came to examine the lump and ended up discovering that one of her airway passages was completely closed (the nurses would try and get a feeding tube down into her stomach and could never get it through her nose). Her condition is cogenital and we were lucky both passages were not blocked because she would have had major breathing difficulty after birth. Point is, she received a CT so that the doctor can determine whether the blockage is from bone or cartilage. That way we can make a more informed decision of the procedure that will help open that airway. We can't wait for that day. Poor girl....only have one working nostril. How miserable. Here she is at home after the CT scan with all our bands and her cutsie smock. She was pretty delirious coming out of anesthesia and cried a lot but after about 30 minutes was feeling pretty good again.



#5) Caleb is awesome. It's a fact. I mean, look at this picture:


#6) Caleb's early waking just might be cured! We love Caleb. Like I said, he's awesome...but what's not awesome is the fact that he is usually awake one hour before the rest of us. This is usually around 4:45am-5am. Normally I wouldn't mind but considering he is the loudest baby ever, he wakes everyone up which makes for a really terrible morning. We've endured this for 6+ months trying everything from more food at night, crib toys, later bedtime, etc... Nothing seemed to work. Recently I have come across something called 'wake to sleep.' Basically it is just readjusting a babies sleep pattern to they no longer wake at their normal intervals. We have tried this for the recommended three-night period and have seen some positive results already! Of course some mornings he does still wake early but it is not near as bad and he actually plays quietly. Cross your fingers he will continue to improve!

#7) Lastly, my handsome, hunk of a husband built us an incredible pergola in the backyard. It's been hot here, like REALLY hot. Over 100 degrees everyday with lows in the mid-80's and humidity that envelopes you when you step outside. Regardless, he has put lots of time and sweat into this project so our family can enjoy our back patio with shade and privacy. He has climbed the ladder about 1,000 times, measured and cut and measured and cut, and painted; all with only a few times of asking for my help. He is so talented and loves doing projects like this for our family. There are a handful of finishing touches he wants to do so we can't wait until it is all the way complete!