Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

We had a fabulous first Christmas with the babies! My parents and brother were here and we spent the morning opening presents and enjoying a family breakfast. Then we went to Aaron's brother Jonah's house for lunch (a much bigger affair than the 5 adults gathered at my house. I think the number there totaled 24). We opened presents and Lola and Jackson enjoyed lots of playing. Then we came back home and had dinner with my family. It was a wonderful family-filled day. The kids got lots of fun new toys, books, stuffed animals and most of all TONS of attention. Our first Christmas certainly lived up to my magical expectations!
Jonah tries to put together Lola and Jackson's new walking toy while the babies try and help.The kids enjoying their new toys at Aaron's family Christmas. Jackson enjoying he and Lola's new giant stuffed turtle and ladybug pillows.All their new toys and Lola and Jackson are having a blast with a ladle.

Monday, December 15, 2008

9 month check up

The official news is that Jackson and Lola are doing great! The doctor is pleased with both Lola and Jackson's growth and development. Both babies seems to be right on track. I absolutely love it when the doctor says, "You would really never know they were preemies!" I feel so lucky and proud and thankful and well...happy.

Even though I was sure he had, Jackson still hasn't reached 20 pounds. He weighed in at 19 pounds 4 ounces, which puts him in the 25th-50th percentile. He is 27 inches long (10th-25th%) and his head circumference is 17 3/4 inches (50th %). He seems soooo big to me but he is either average or just below on the growth charts. His eyes, ears, mouth, lungs and heart all sound great and despite a lingering cough was pronounced to be in excellent health.Jack has 2 teeth poking out on the bottom. He crawls (everywhere), pulls up (on everything) and protests when we take away a toy (or the remote, cell phone, close the dishwasher or freezer). He stands freely but not for long and is beginning to walk along furniture. He doesn't say "da da da" like Lola but is very verbal (as some of you have heard, he screams and squeels plenty).Lola seems to have had a growth spurt. Even though she is still small, she is now much closer to average, especially for her length and head circumference. She weighs 16 lb. 5 oz. (10th-25th %), is 26 3/4 in. long (25th % up from 5th-10th %) and her head circumference is 16 3/4 in. (10th-25th % up from 3rd-5th% at 6 months). She grew 2 1/2 in. in length since September! And like Jackson, Lola's eyes, ears, mouth, lungs, and heart all look and sound perfect.
Lola has 3 teeth showing, 2 on the bottom that have been out for a while and 1 on the top that just popped out. Like Jackson, she is crawling everywhere we let her, pulling up on anything available, and trying to stand on her own. She is getting better at it and has managed to stand freely for 4 seconds. She says "da da da da" with varying inflections although I'm not sure exactly what each one means. Sometimes she looks right at you and says, "Da!" which is appears to have a different meaning from the "da da da" she says to herself as she's crawling around the house or hanging out in her crib. I keep waiting for Jackson to pick up on it but that hasn't happened yet. So far their verbal exchanges consist of her saying da da da and him yelling back at her. Lola has also started clapping which is really adorable. She isn't all that great at it yet and only gets a couple of good claps in before missing her hands or hitting herself in the face. Doesn't bother her, though. She seems quite pleased with herself.
The doctor asked me if the babies were waving. I had a small moment of panic as I said, "No. Should they already be waving?" "It's a milestone we look for but kids don't all progress at the same pace. They are hitting all their other milestones and if they aren't waving there is no cause for concern." Very diplomatic of her but c'mon, I'll admit it...I freaked a bit. And so in true ridiculous crazy mommy style I have been waving at my kids whenever the come and go. I also wave at the train, at the cat, at Daddy, at the Christmas tree, and pretty much everything else we see. Neither of them have waved yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted so you can rest easy :)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

gratitude

Today in church the Minister, as he always does, called for the congregation's joys and concerns. After some are shared publicly he asks for us to have a moment of silent prayer. This time is for us to pray for those we've heard about and share our personal joys and concerns privately with God. When the Minister called for this moment of prayer this morning immediately to my mind came "Thank you thank you thank you thank you." I repeated it over and over for the entire period of silence. "Thank you thank you thank you thank you." Blessed, privileged, fortunate...I have an awesome life. I have an amazing family. I am healthy. I have all the material possessions I really need. And I am grateful.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Lola and Jackson's First Snow!

Who would have thought Lola and Jack would have experienced their first snow in New Orleans even before their first Christmas! I like to think that it snowed just for them since today is their 9 months birthday! Here are some great pics of the the kids in the snow:

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Consistency?

Aren't kids supposed to thrive on consistency? At least that's what everyone says (you know, that allusive "they" who say so much). Kids like routine and structure, or at least that's what "they" say. So we wake up and have our bottles, go down for our nap around 8(sounds early but not so when you wake up between 5 and 5:30), eat breakfast about 30 minutes after waking up from our nap, eat another bottle about 1 hour after breakfast... and so goes the day. We might go to the mall, hang out with a friend, take an afternoon walk, or run a few errands. But by afternoon we're right back in to the routine. We eat dinner at 5, baths at 5:30, bottles at 6, and bed around 7. Sounds pretty consistent right? Even a little like the movie Groundhog Day when Bill Murry wakes up to the same thing over and over and over.

So I am providing routine and structure with a few changes of scenery and new experiences mixed in for fun. I am doing the right thing, right? But now I'm left wondering WHERE THE HECK IS THE CONSISTENCY FROM THEM!?!

"They" say kids thrive on consistency. So why are they so darn inconsistent? Yesterday morning both babies napped for an hour and a half. That's awesome for Lola and a downright miracle for Jackson. How did it go this morning? Jackson slept for a whopping 30 minutes and Lola never fell asleep at all! One day Jackson likes to eat, the next he only wants bottles. One night both babies sleep (or at least mostly sleep) through the night. The next night I'm up every 20 minutes. Lola used to go to sleep and stay there. Recently she has been waking up at some point before 11 pm wanting to play. Not every night, though. That would be too consistent!

It's not like I expect them to fall asleep at exactly the same time and stay asleep for exactly the same duration every day. I guess I just expected all of my consistency to rub off a little on them. But that doesn't seem to be happening.

Just when I think I've got them figured out Jackson stops liking apples or Lola doesn't want to nap. The only pattern I can find is that there is absolutely no discern able pattern. So that gets me to thinking... is all this effort to provide structure and consistency for their benefit or for mine. Am I trying to make reason out of chaos? Are "they" just grownups like me trying to impose structure where there are really only the whims of inconsistent 8 month olds?

Friday, December 5, 2008

Babyproofing

I guess baby proofing is more a process than a task to be completed. I know my house isn't totally Lola and Jackson-proof. And everyone talks about how babies this age (crawling and pulling up) are in to everything. But like other things us new parents believe either won't happen to us or everyone else is just exaggerating about, I didn't really think everything meant EVERYTHING! Well, here are Lola and Jackson with a couple of thier new discoveries from the past couple of days.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Teething biscuits

The largest bib in the world couldn't protect their cloths, the high chairs, or the floor from the giant disgusting mess that teething biscuits produce. The one good aspect (other than the obvious one of the kids learning to self-feed) is this activity keeps them occupied for at least 10 minutes.
Click on this picture of both kids eating to enlarge it. You really have to see it bigger to appreciate Jackson's face. Notice the bruise on Jackson's eye? He lost a fight with a chair. Someone suggested that I wrap him in bubble wrap. Maybe this is not such a ridiculous idea...