Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Friday, December 31, 2010

Happy New Year & Happy Birthday Papa!

Last Year


THIS YEAR


Last Year


THIS YEAR



Last Year


THIS YEAR

-Can you see Addy eating lotion in the background?

Last Year


THIS YEAR


Last Year


THIS YEAR


Last Year


THIS YEAR


Last Year


THIS YEAR

(If you're happy and you know it clap your hands)

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas

Just a few highlights until I can recover from the last few days...

I was nervous about what the kids would do with the tree and ornaments without having to put up a gate. So I came up with an idea to make all the ornaments out of paper with pictures of their favorite things- mostly dogs and bikes hung on the tree with ribbon. That way if they took off ornaments it would be safe and if something got destroyed no big whoop. Then there were paper chain elephants made out of brown paper Whole Foods bags.

The tree topper was their Cate & Levi Puppets and their finger puppets from Monica at Hanukkah.
They did pretty good with only 1 total loss but days other than Christmas day the ornaments were moved above the reach of little fingers. Because this is what happens...


And then crying from getting poked in the face.


What is Christmas without a bike (at least in our house.) Rich brought it up the stairs and you have never seen a little boy light up as much as Beckett did. He went running for it screaming.

After falling over, he is now scared of it. Not Eloise.


Of course, their all time favorite present...


Favorite stocking stuffer...



We started a new tradition of performing dance and song numbers on the coffee table on Christmas Eve. The triplets danced and cousin Oliver sang amazingly creative songs about "Star Whores" (Star Wars) and Darth Mader (Darth Vader). It was a true performance by all. At one point Addy tapped danced her way out of her shoe.



They don't really understand Christmas at this point but they knew something special was going on. Besides the new toys they were allowed to skip breakfast and eat the snacks in their stockings right out of the package.


I'm guessing the Rice Krispie treat for breakfast and my encouragement caused Addy to go crazy in my favorite video (besides the Star Whores singing) of the holiday.

And a little doll in love with her tutu. Pure joy all around.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Welcome Christmas

This was the kick-off of our holiday festivities a few weeks ago. We tried to go see Santa and his reindeer but all of the big festivities were scheduled at the same time as lunch and napping. You know us, nothing short of World Cup Soccer and Tour de France could alter our schedule. So we showed up early to play in the park hoping that a stray reindeer and maybe Santa would be around for the early birds. Lucky for us, this was right in the middle of the first snowfall of the year? Maybe because it was my first snowfall back in Wisconsin but it was the most beautiful snowfall I have seen in a long time. Super wet and heavy snow that just soaked everything and was coming down in droves. It was really the first time the kids experienced snow, boots and snowsuits. We had a few issues with keeping mittens on and I figured out that Addy's hand was cold when she started to suck on it but overall, a pretty magical start to the holidays.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

We Found Her Kryptonite

"We found her kryptonite" is a direct quote from Rich referring to Addy and... poop in the bathtub. She had a little, I mean big, accident in the tub over the weekend and when she saw it in the water just freaked out and starting crying and clinging to Rich trying to get out of the tub.
Ever since then she doesn't even want to step foot in the bathroom. She shakes her head "no" when I say it is time to take a bath and clings and tries to climb up me like a little monkey while I'm prying her off to put her in the tub. When she is standing grasping the ledge she keeps peering over her shoulder looking for floaters. She stands with one foot on top of another like two feet on the bottom is too scary. And she shakes. No lie.
I've never seen anything like it from this girl. Prior to this weekend she would dance, splash, pour water on her siblings and refuse to get out of the bathtub even when the all the water had drained out. I have to say, it is pretty sweet for Ms. Independent Crazycakes to cling to me like that. Sometimes I'm a little worried she is one of those kids that doesn't have any pain receptors because she is that wild. But it is time to get over it. Those curls have not been properly washed in a few days and her one dreadlock might be joined by others if this continues.
Oh yeah, the other day she came running around the corner naked. She figured out how to take off her diaper. Maybe the fear of poop will curtail that activity.

Monday, December 13, 2010

18 Month Check Up

Normally with up to or down to -15 degree wind chills we would keep the kids inside but it was their 18 month check up so had to brave the cold for their appointment. This is their first real appointment with their new pediatrician so I was a little anxious about liking her as much as we liked our last pediatrician in Texas, Pretty Dr. Monica as we called her. But it went great and I loved, loved, loved our new pedi. Getting then all bundled up with snowsuits, hats and mittens is really a pain but doctor appointments at this age are so much easier than last year. They pretty much just played in the exam room, got off and on the scale, read books and used tongue depressors to poke in their snack traps. So here are the stats...

Addy
Weight 22 lbs, 4 oz (25th percentile)
Height 32 inches (50th percentile)

Beckett
Weight 20 lbs, 15 oz (less than 5th percentile)
Height 31.5 inches (25th percentile)

Eloise the little peanut
Weight 20 lbs, 5 oz (less than 5th percentile)
Height 30.5 inches (10th percentile)

Few things-
1. I don't believe the heights for Eloise and Beckett. He looks way taller than her.
2. There has been some concern over Eloise's head size because of rapid growth and that is it proportionately so much larger than her body. But since her head growth curve is starting to taper off, we are just going to watch it. I'm not sure what it means and I don't really want to know at this point because it would just give me something else to obsess and worry over.
3. Although Beckett and Eloise are still not on the growth charts their growth CURVE is what they are watching. They are continuing to gain weight and and even make up a little weight. The growth charts are not adjusted for prematurity.

At this point, all 3 are in the marginal range for communication and problem solving which usually go hand in hand and if there is a lag it is usually in these areas. But again, the assessment is not adjusted for prematurity so at this point there does not seen to be much concern. It seems that language really starts to take off typically between the ages of 18 to 24 months and that for many kids one day they just kind of "get it." So we have another 6 or so months to wait for the light bulb to go off. We are still going to have further assessment in January to qualify for the state program but no huge concerns at this point with the lack of expressive language.

Language comprehension is another matter. I think that Beckett can differentiate between about 15 or 20 different kinds of trucks or things that go. I can say, "Where is the school bus, tractor, delivery truck, fire truck, snow plow, helicopter, motorcycle, cement mixer, dump truck, bicycle..." or whatever and there can be 10 different trucks on the page and he can point to the correct one. I can't get him to say mama but he sure knows his vehicles. And there is no problem with his eyesight because when we are driving he can spot buses from a mile away, even in the dark. I think he recognizes the light pattern.

The best thing they do is they give each other something if they have 2 like sippy cups or lovies. Well, lovies is another story but sippy cups or snack traps. I can ask them to go get something like a diaper or wipes or lovie and bring it to me and they usually do but it all depends on how involved they are with their current activity and how exciting the thing is that I asked for. The other day I was changing Eloise on the floor and she was crying and Addy brought her milk to drink. It was so sweet but unfortunately Eloise didn't want milk. Addy is was very insistent so it ended up dripping on her face which didn't help matters. But sweet just the same.

I'm continually surprised at how the practice of medicine is so regional. Like all children in this era, our children received a hearing test before hospital discharge. Which they passed. But today our pedi said that she would like us to have a second hearing test which is common practice "in this area" for preemies. Because I feel their comprehension is so good, I would be surprised if there are hearing issues but I do talk really loud so who knows.

We had a few questions at this visit which were cleared up. Such as...

Is this adoration going to last forever?
Answer: Soak it up now lady and bring this picture back out when they are about 13.


They love rice and black olives. Can I let them eat that at every meal to make my life just a touch easier?

Answer: You would be a terrible mom. They need a wide variety of food in their diet.


Why does Eloise always have half a butt cheek hanging out of her diapers?
Answer: Application error. Or she needs a bigger diaper.


Addy signs "more" when she wants something. Does that count towards her language in the assessment?
Answer: Yes, even though this is a modified baby sign.


Should Beckett be airing out while walking on carpet?
Answer: It is never good to pee on carpet.


Please tell me that is not what I think it is on the table?
Answer: It is a piece of dog food that I made Beckett spit out.


Does this hat make my head circumference look like it is above the 90th percentile?
Answer: Sweet doll you are perfect no matter what your percentile.


Is Beckett old enough to be wearing high heeled boots?

Answer: NO


Should we continue to let Addy think she is a dog?




Answer: Probably not

Thursday, December 9, 2010

18 Months Old

18 months old. Amazing. It feels like it has been 18 months and then some but at the same time it feels like yesterday that I called Rich from the hospital and said, "They are going to deliver me now, come to the hospital and bring the name book!"
We go for our 18 month check up next week so I'll have the facts about height, weight and development. In addition, we are being evaluated for the Birth to 3 Program which is the Wisconsin equivalent of the Texas Early Childhood Intervention program which we qualified for in TX because of the low birth weights and Beckett's torticollis. But like a knucklehead I scheduled both visits on the same day and just realized it this week so I had to reschedule the development assessment and the soonest they could get me in is January. Bummer. But we should have a good idea from the visit next week what kind of delays if any we are looking at. I'm pretty sure we will have some speech delays with Beckett and probably the other two. I just want to get the evaluation done so we can start therapy.
The sooner they can tell me what they want the better. Right now there is lots of pointing, grunting, and screaming. They favorite thing to to point to the counter and grunt. I look in the direction they are pointing and say something like this, "No Beckett, you can't have a knife, wine, doggie medication, cookbooks, or coffee. You have to find something else to do."
They are recognizing food and what boxes/bags look like of their favorite food and where it is located. For example one afternoon Eloise kept pointing the counter and stomping her foot. I figured out she wanted a banana but how do you explain to a 17 month old that they can't have a green banana? Poor girl, threw a fit. Through that and various other incidents I've figured out that I have to hide everything they can't eat immediately, only open the cabinet/fridge doors partway and sneak out what I need for fear they see something like say freeze dried strawberries or ketchup or the yogurt container. I also hide the snack traps close to mealtime because they are little snack monsters. At least the girls are.
Right now the big excitement is yogurt. Not just any yogurt as my sister found out. Yogurt eaten out of a Brown Cow yogurt container. My sister babysat on Monday when Rich and I went to the Bucks vs. Miami Heat basketball game, I mean the LeBron James show. She was feeding them dinner and brought out the large 32 oz Bogart container and they all started screaming and pointing. So she put some in a dish and started to feed them and they refused to eat. She didn't know that they will only eat if you put a serving of yogurt, applesauce or whatever in the empty individual Brown Cow yogurt containers and they try to eat by themselves. They love the cows and point and talk at them while eating. We usually have to help Beckett because the kid would starve to death if we left it to him to get the food from the table to his mouth. He can do it, just doesn't want to. He'd rather be playing and almost every meal is a struggle.
Here are a few of the most recent favorites for each:

Eloise- tofu, freeze dried strawberries, Parmesan cheese, black olives, water, pushing the shopping cart, hugging and carrying around a stuffed goat, LOVIES, screaming with delight, pretending to fold clothes, sorting socks, taking things in and out of containers, truck books, garbage trucks and pictures of buses

Addy- tofu or any protein, cheese, blueberries, milk, any electronic device she is not allowed to have(such as cell phone, computer, TV), dogs, babies, pretending she is talking on the phone using a calculator, reading out loud to herself, running, laughing, doing something she knows she is not supposed to be doing and then looking at me to see if I am watching, bath time

Beckett- TRUCKS! Garbage trucks, buses, delivery trucks, diggers, fire trucks, motorcycles or anything with wheels, taking anything his sisters are playing with, sitting on your lap, turning circles to make himself dizzy, sweeping, hugging the dogs, hugging my legs, and maybe he might eat some yogurt, black olives, pears or blueberries if he is really hungry.

Who could be gripping that blueberry in those stained little fingers?


Does the shirt give it away?


It's Crazycakes. Or Crumbcakes as I call her when I take her out of the feeding table due to the amount of food on her lap.


Oh Mom, you are just going to love changing my diaper tomorrow!!!


Wiping my hands means I'm done and you have about 2 seconds to get me out before I start whipping food over the edge.


The girls with their yogurt cups. I may have gotten away with giving Addy a different cup but I can't pull that off with Eloise. She MUST have a BROWN COW cup to eat out of.


You can tell by the food on the forehead she was trying to drink it. And no, still not cutting the mullet but trying to soften the look with a hair clip.


We went to my Dad's for Hanukkah on Sunday and Eloise found a shopping cart replacement. Kind of looks like the Teddy Bear is on patrol packing some heat.


And yet something else to push...


My turn. No I'm going to push. No, I am....


Did I mention that Addy likes to find and carry around things she is not supposed to have? Like a whole chocolate bar?


Beckett you can play with the candles all you want but I'm not giving you a match!


More on their 18 month old stats and antics after the appointment next week but I have to go to bed. I had an exhausting day because I put up the Christmas tree today and spent most of afternoon trying to convince them not to touch it. I didn't put a gate around it because I made all of the ornaments out of paper so they would not break and it it would not be a big deal if they touched them. But since I put so much work into the project I've now decided that I don't want them to destroy, rip, or eat all of my hard work in one day. Tomorrow I'm moving all of the ornaments out of their reach.