Eight Weeks Old

The bean is eight weeks old. I'm pretty sure it happened overnight, but that's probably because I haven't slept in eight weeks, so the last two months have been one long night.

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Maybe it's the whole third child thing, or the fact that we've had so much going on, but I've done very little writing about LB thus far. I really want to absorb this peanut and everything she has to offer. But to be honest, I've been exhausted and just surviving most days. Three kids is seriously no joke. I really felt like I had it together with the twins -- even at the very beginning -- but three has sent me reeling.



So I'm going to make a concerted effort to capture her little moments, hopefully as well as I did for her sister and brother. Lauren already has as many (if not more) nicknames as her siblings -- Lola, Lola Bean, Lola Burger (any Nantucketeers reading?), LB, beaner, porkchop, baby Lala, I'm probably forgetting a few.



We are still Sleepless in Saratoga. Seriously this kid has set a new world record for crying at night. I am literally runnin on dunkin. Horrible. We're currently turning to alternative therapies to help her with the screaming fits - Webster chiropractic, cranial sacral therapy and Bowenwork. After we make it through a few appointments I'll share the effects it has had on her disposition, in case our trials and tribulations can be of help to other sleepless sets.

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Scheduling



Given that I am the militant mama, who lived and died by a schedule with the last batch of offspring, I have not done much to schedule her thus far. Much of this has been because we've constantly been in a state of transition since she was born. But it's also because the twins were able to drive their schedule since they were my only children; whereas the bean needs to adapt to the schedule that our family already has.



We moved into the new house last week and her room is finally (somewhat) set up. So I plan on rereading a few chapters out of BabyWise and a few other books that I used with the twins and coming up with a plan for her starting this month.



We have a huge issue with daytime/nighttime confusion and she is still in that super sleepy newborn phase. During the day I wake her up to eat every 2-4 hours (depending on what is going on and where I am with the other kids). After she eats she's usually held while I'm running around, or she's in a carrier, or her car seat, or the swing. This is in huge contrast to what I did for the twins and I hope it  doesn't come back to bite me in the ass. But I'm sure it will.

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Crib Transitioning



Poor peanut hasn't even had a bed. She's either in a swing, a rock and play (not as awesome as people proclaim) or our bed (don't judge until you have three kids). I'm so excited that her crib is finally set up, now I just need to actually find and put bedding on it so that we can use the darn thing. Baby steps, people. My plan is to move her to her own room later this month.

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Colic



Porkchop definitely has colic. I'm 98.4% sure that it's a result of my oversupply, so I have been trying furiously to combat this issue. We've also been giving her chamomile supplements which has helped a ton! Way more than colic calm or gripe water or mylicon. At her 2 month well baby visit (which happened at 7 weeks) our pediatrician said I could steep a chamomile teabag in water, just until the water changes color, and then give her the tea in a bottle. Roughly 3 ounces does the trick. Mommy drinks wine and baby drinks tea, and we all sleep happily ever after.

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Breastfeeding



I'm still plugging right along. I forgot how much I hated nursing until I was nursing again. I will say that this time has been more enjoyable - at times - when the twins are already asleep and I'm not yet asleep. I never got to cuddle a baby and relax while s/he was eating. With the twins it was all business, so it's nice to have that downtime with LB.



Once again I have been dealing with a major oversupply. In the first three weeks the baby was home I banked over 200 ounces of milk and I wasn't pumping to bank milk. All I was doing was pumping off the side that she wasn't eating on. Which, I learned the hard way, was not the way to handle my supply at all. I am blessed to feed her so easily, but it's been hard to balance the discomfort and juggle feeding her and keeping up with her siblings. I have learned that my best recourse is block feeding again. So I  feed in 12 hour blocks and only relieve the other side when necessary. And I'm finally -- after a full week of this -- regulating down to normal. Lola is not coughing or sputtering or drowning and she's been a lot less gassy and fussy. Hallalujah! Cause this momma can't take any more crying.

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Baby Carriers



I bought a Ergo before LB was born and I LOVE it so much more than my Gemini. My friend Rebecca loaned me a sling so that I can wear the baby more easily and even attempt to (gulp) nurse in public, like...really public. I put the baby in the sling and she folded in half. I stopped putting her in the sling until I watch some videos and learn what to do to avoid a baby sandwich again.



I should have been a carrier tester or something. With three kids we've blown through the Moby Wrap, a knockoff Peanut Sling, a Bjorn, a Gemini and now an Ergo. And my friend who loaned me the sling also gave me a Mei Tei and one other carrier to try so I can attempt to nurse on the run without (literally) hanging out there. Maybe I can muster up the energy for a full review on all of them since I've worked my way through eight to find one that works.

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Siblings



Lo loves her brother and sister. When they stick their chubby faces in hers she smiles and coos. Melts my heart. They love her too. Reese and the baby are next to one another in the car, and Reese holds Lola's hand every single time we drive anywhere. They give her hugs and kisses like crazy and try to rock her in her swing or RNP if she's crying. Even though I have siblings, I wasn't close in age with any of them and so our relationships were very different. I love seeing my kids together. It is exactly what I wanted for my life and theirs. And while life is challenging some days, I really can't imagine it any other way.

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Here are Bean's stats through her last well baby. She is leaps and bounds bigger than her brother and sister were at this time. I guess that's what happens when you don't have to share your food?



Birth: 7 lbs 2 oz (37%) | 21.5" (>97%)

Hospital Release: 6 lbs 14 oz (26%)

1 week: 7 lbs 3 oz (30%) | 20.25" (66%)

2 week weight check: 7 lbs 9 oz (28%)

1 month: 9 lbs 3 oz (46%) | 21.5" (58%)

2 months*: 10 lbs 2 oz (53%) | 22.25" (69%)

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* our pedi does the 2 month well baby as close to 6 weeks as possible since that is the earliest that they can vaccinate for whooping cough, so Lola's 2 month stats were taken at 7w, 1d.

38 Weeks Old

Another photo shoot, and another week gone by. On Saturday my babies will have been outside of my belly as long as they were inside of my belly. That's unbelievable to me.

{ why do they look so big? }

This week Ryan got on all fours and started rocking, doing the little hop hop thing and reaching out an arm (only to fall flat on his face, rather than move forward). He's not trying to crawl as hard as his sister did, but he's trying. Which means that life is going to get a lot more interesting here soon.

{ shaking her head no, no, no when say sit next to your brother and behave, ha! }

{ he's laughing at her shaking her head no at me, 

I'm quite outnumbered these days }

He's still the happiest boy I've ever met. Snuggly and sensitive. Plays with a box of blocks for hours, has funny little toes that are always curled and hides his face when he's excited about something. Ryan is my best cuddle buddy.

{ "Oh hi, Mom! Whatcha doin?" }

This week Reese has gotten brave. She will hold onto furniture with just one hand. She's taught herself how to fall from standing (by flopping on her butt) and she will walk while holding on to the furniture. She's getting into lots of trouble these days, hands in everything. Yanking on tables, curtains, climbing into the dog's water bowl. We've put up more fences and gates in one week than I care to recount.

{ seriously with these kids, I just love them to pieces }

The whole photo shoot was her crawling to grab my camera and me moving her back to sit next to Ryan. What will I do when they can both crawl?? Probably have a lot less time to take pictures, that's for sure.

And tonight, on her 38th week of life, she learned how to do this.

Which means all of the childproofing we managed to do in the last 72 hours still isn't enough.

Little Fishies

We took the kids to Victoria Pool for the first time yesterday. Their bumble bee and lady bug weren't approved flotation devices (go figure) so the boys became the floatation devices of choice. My kids are almost too comfortable in the water. 

I was super excited to have my brother with us, because the water was way too cold for me. I couldn't believe the kids were happy to go for a dunk. I thought for sure they'd stick their toes in and high tail it back to dry land. 

{ peek-a-boo, Daddy }

{ kick, kick, kick. Future Michael Phelps }

{ nom, nom, nom. Those top two teeth can't grow in soon enough. }

{ 33 weeks old }

{ love this little chipmunk }

{ still just pretending to crawl }

{ got you Daddy! }

{ what did parents do before Sophie? }

They tiny humans are not so tiny anymore. So much personality out of such itty bitty beings. I swear every time I pick them up from a nap they look a little bit bigger. I am in the middle of making their Halloween costumes and as soon as those are done I'm starting on their first birthday party. Because you know once Halloween hits, the year is pretty much over.

28 Weeks

 

{ they look ridiculously big in this picture }

 

{ my favorite from this week, so much love there }

27 Weeks Old

I have squirmy babies. Really squirmy. If you put them on the floor they roll away. And if you put them on a chair to take their picture, they scoot down, flip over and try to roll away. Yesterday I was taking the babies' 27 week pictures for their photostream.

Reese kept scooting, flipping and rolling. I'd stop, put the camera down, readjust her, pick the camera back up - wash, rinse, repeat.



She was having none of it. She wanted to roll and she wanted to roll NOW. My constant repositioning only infuriated her. Cue the meltdown.

My kids are really into sympathy crying these days, so it wasn't long before Ryan decided to join in the fun.

I was *just* about to pick them up and console them (really, I was) when I realized how well you could see their teeth while they were crying. I've been trying to get a good picture of Ryan's teeth for weeks. And Reese just cut her first two teeth yesterday. Clearly I couldn't pass up the opportunity to freeze their tiny teeth in time.

 

{ see our teeth? }

The effects were cataclysmic. I mean, my kids really lost their shit. Over a picture. Of their teeth. Sheesh. So then I thought, my husband should really get to see what my day is like. Let's keep taking pictures. So I readjusted them and snapped away. 

It looks like I left them flailing for hours. I promise it was a mere 30 seconds - yup, this much fun in just 30 seconds - not all days are filled with happy babies hitting milestones. Some days are spent in diapers, others we make it to PJ's and sometimes, we get all dressed up and just cry.

 

{ Ryan's hand on his face - priceless }

 

{ doesn't she know we're seriously pissed off?

why is she still taking our picture? }

 

{ The babies both blow raspberries when they cry.

Here, Reese is caught mid-berry; the drool is particularly classic. }

 

{ are you still crying brother? Okay, good. So am I. }

 

{ just let me rollllllllllll }

 

Enjoy your weekend :)

20 Weeks Old

A few days late, but we've been buried by basement construction. The basement is completely finished and painted, now we just have to lay down the floors and move furniture back in and the kids' playroom is complete. We moved some furniture over last night to see how it would look and, of course, half of our stuff doesn't fit right. Thankfully our neighborhood is having a garage sale next weekend and we can sell a bunch of stuff and use those funds to buy some more space appropriate pieces. The fun never ends.

In addition to two weeks of construction (dust, hammering, drilling and heavy metal - the music, not the power tools) coming through the floorboards, the babies both suffered their first fevers. Of course, their fevers broke out on our first 90+ degree day so initially I just thought the babies were too hot sitting with us outside. I moved them back indoors and lo and behold, fever-land broke out. One lukewarm bath and two doses of baby Tylenol later and all was well again.

We are also knees deep in sleep training. Both kids are going down much more easily for naps, Ryan is still having difficulty going to bed at night when Joe puts him down. He goes down pretty easily for me. That's not cool. It's definitely making Joe feel bad, and it makes me feel bad too. I want him to have the same ease with the babies as I do and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want the break once in a while. Ferber's book just arrived. Um, what is with these parenting books being 400+ pages? I think I'm going to start a company that does parenting books on tape. Like I have time to read a 400 page book. But I'll make the time. Sigh. My kids will probably be 9 before I understand sleep training.

Bug is a rolling machine now. You put her on her back and she flips right over to her belly. Strangely, it's as though she forgot that she also knows how to flip from her belly to her back. So after about ten minutes of belly time she goes bananas, and I have to roll her over. As soon as I roll her over again, she stops crying and then rolls right back to her belly. WTH?



Ryan is putting everything in his mouth he can find. The poor munchkin has a rash all over his lower jaw and chin from a combination of the constant drool and friction from all of the things he puts in his mouth (pacifiers, bibs, burp cloths, toys, etc.). I hope he cuts a tooth soon. He's not a happy camper.

In other news, he also discovered his manhood. It happened last week in the bathtub. It started out as a cursory glance to the special spot and then evolved into a lot of, ahem, checking that the spot was still there. Now it's a daily ritual. Over the diaper, under the diaper (one of his sitters was a little generous with the elastic snaps on his diaper and he was able to get his hand in there...), in the bath, during diaper changes. Diaper changing has become an Olympic sport to ensure that he doesn't end up with a handful of poop. Grossness. The joys of boys.



Both babies have learned how to hug and both give kisses. They are, of course, the open mouth kind. It's the sweetest part of my day. Reese will reach for you to pick her up now. She also grabs your face with both hands and gives big, wet, open mouth smooches. With her Daddy, she grabs his face with both hands and plays with his stubble. Ryan loves to pet his Daddy's hair and he loves to lay on your shoulder and cuddle.

 

{ everybody was kung-fu fighting... }

They are laughing machines and are both extremely ticklish. Ryan is ticklish on his upper chest and neck and Reese is ticklish in her underarms and feet. They have the best laughs ever. I need to record their baby laughter before it goes away. They have changed so much in the last month that it's astounding.

The kids are in love with each other and are now completely engaged with each other at all times. I have to do a lot of work to nurse them these days since they distract each other so much. I love that they play together and hug on one another. Thankfully it has finally stopped raining and we have all been able to get out and get some fresh air. Old toys seem new again when you put them in a different setting :)

19 Weeks Old

This, by far, has been my most favorite week of motherhood.

 

{ older by 13 minutes :) }

Ryan continues to be a total goofball. He is super ticklish, especially around his neck and upper chest. He laughs when you talk to him, when you roughhouse with him and when toys make noise. He wakes up like a total bear, but as soon as he sees your face he's all smiles. He talks up a storm these days. And if he's not talking it's because his whole fist is in his mouth. He has really grown by leaps and bounds and has caught up to his sister with rolling, putting weight on his feet, and interacting with toys. He is very focused and can keep himself busy in his exersaucer or on his activity mat for upwards of 25 minutes.

Reese is sweet as pie. She's starting to cuddle with us; when we pick her up from her swing or her crib she hugs us around our necks. She rubs my ribcage while she's eating and looks directly into my eyes. Her eyes are so, so blue. I am hoping they stay that way (we noticed a brown spot in her right eye when she was 6 weeks old, but it seems to be fading now). She talks up a storm at the most random times, and she loves to explore the range of her voice. The kid has many, many octaves. She has a happy squeal that makes my whole day. And she giggles at us, her brother and her puppy. Gracie has taken to licking Reese's toes, just to make her laugh. Reese is still very tactile and will touch anything in her reach. She pets things, people and her puppy. At night she snuggles up to a fuzzy purple blanket thing a friend of mine gave us and during naps she curls into and pets a blanket that Joe's Nana knitted for the babies.

This week, while I was trying to take the babies' pictures I had the hardest time because they were so focused on each other. Touching, reaching, grabbing. I sat them in a chair and Ryan reached out toward Reese, grabbed her shirt and she looked at him and laughed. Be still my heart. I love watching them interact with one another.

Then today Joe was holding Reese and I took her from him so I could go nurse her. We were chatting about lord knows what and while I was standing there holding her she turned toward Joe and reached her arms out for him. SHE REACHED OUT FOR HIM. So he took her back into his arms and she snuggled into his neck and rubbed the stubble on his chin. Could you die?

Both babies will burrow themselves into your neck and body while you are holding them, especially if they are tired. I love being their momma. I love that they curl into us, that they know that they are safe with us. I love that they know how much they are loved.



Don't get me wrong, this week also included me scrubbing poop out of my beautiful living room rug after an extremely gag inducing diaper blowout and drinking jack and cider after a particularly napless day. But the good moments outweigh the bad.



My friends all told me that every week as a parent gets better and better and, so far, it's so true. I keep thinking "it can't get better than this". It does.