Monday, May 31, 2010

9 Month Update

Well it has been a while…AGAIN. I can’t seem to find time to blog, and when I do have a free moment something happens. Since my last post we went in for our 9 month check up. Their weights were…

Aiden – 19 lbs 6 oz

Maxwell – 19 lbs 4 oz

Alexis – 17 lbs 3 oz

Carolyn – 15 lbs 9 oz

The doctor said we can take everyone off Neosure, but since the High Risk Clinic at MUSC has always controlled their diet we are not going to discontinue Neosure until we go in to their HRC appointment in July. Everyone is looking great, and gaining well. We aren’t supposed to go back until 12 months. A YEAR!!! Can you believe in 2.5 months they will be 1? I cannot it doesn’t seem like it has been a year already. An update on everyone…

Aidensitting

aiden1

Aiden is still improving on his sitting! He has even started turning himself while on his belly. He is taking Zyrtec for allergies, and pulmicort for his asthma. He is still coughing, but that is because he has asthma apparently. That is what Dr. Coons thinks at least. Not a lot we can do to stop the coughing. Every time we take him in for it we are told the same thing. He is gaining weight really well, and looks great so he isn’t concerned. He continues to be in a good mood even when he has coughing fits. He likes to spit a lot now. It is a little much when we feed him because you never know when he is going to spit a mouthful of food all over you. This evening it was all over my face. Nice. Not only has he learned to pffffttt all over us during meal time he also cut two top teeth. So Aiden has 4 teeth now!

maxwell

maxwell1

Maxwell has started moving around the room in his own way. He rolls to get where he wants to be. Rolls from front to back and from back to front until he is across the room playing with whatever he can find. A lot of the time if he finds a toy that he can rub on his gums he will hold onto it until Alexis steals it from him. He still likes to hog all of the toys though…the more toys he has around him the better. He also likes to reach for whatever camera, phone or food is around him. If you have a plate of food Maxwell is always wanting to taste what you have. It doesn’t matter what it is he will taste it. So far we really haven’t found anything he doesn’t like. He especially likes Arby's sauce! He has stopped crying when you put him in the crib unless Carolyn starts really screaming then he will give a few sympathy cries, but then falls asleep. He is the happiest of the babies, but will start screaming ASAP if something happens he doesn’t like. Like Alexis stealing his toy.

Alexis

alexis1

Alexis, Alexis, Alexis (shaking head). What can one say about Alexis? She is crawling every where, and is in to everything. No matter if it is allowed or not. She steals toys, grabs wires, pounds on laptops, and is fast when she does it. She will pause when you call her name to tell her not to touch something, but that is all she does. Pause. Then it’s back on track. She likes to grab something and talk to it. She also likes to become so focused on whatever she wants that she takes a lot of falls. She most of the time will just sit up or get back up and keep going. She is banned from some things around the house because she likes to try and get out of stuff. She is the main reason we no longer do two babies at a time during baths. She likes to flip over and put her face under the water. Not cool. She is no longer allowed to sit in the toddler chairs because I had her strapped in, but when I went in the kitchen I heard her crying and I came back to only a foot wrapped in the harness and her on the floor. CRAZY! She twisted and turned until she had enough room to slide out. She loves to clap, and giggles a lot! She and Max gravitate more towards each other. While Carolyn and Aiden seem to enjoy playing together more.

Carolyn

Carolyn1

Carolyn. The screaming terror. She is on prevacid on a trial basis to see if she is screaming at night because of reflux. She LOVES books. She will sit and look at the same book for hours at a time. Today she played with a book while everyone napped. Three hours after everyone else laid down she finally fell asleep holding the book. She doesn’t really nap unless she is in the swing. She will sleep for about 20-30 minutes before waking up crying. She played today in the crib while everyone else slept, but she did have a book in the crib with her. She is still scooting backward instead of forward, but she does well going forward with help with the physical therapist. She is chewing on her fingers more, and I have seen her more than a few times with her thumb in her mouth. So not sure if she will suck her thumb, or if she is just chewing on her thumb because she is teething. She gets very excited when we go pick her up, and her laugh when she gets really excited is still crazy.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Counting To Ten and Back To Zero


Aiden, Alexis, Maxwell & Carolyn 8.5 months

With every new stage the babies have gone through there is what I consider a learning curve. They test the waters and learn what works and what doesn't, and we learn what works and what doesn't.

Alexis is now crawling. It is a low crawl, but still she gets from point A to point B by any means necessary. Take for example the day Maxwell was playing with Mr. Crinkles. Alexis saw the toy, wanted it, and pulled herself up using Maxwell's clothes and took the toy from him. She rolls from front to back, and back to front. She pushes up on her tiptoes with her face buried in the floor trying to figure out how to crawl. She knows she can move, but she isn't really sure how to get there yet. She rolls over during feedings, diaper changes, and baths. While she learns how to get away we're learning how to keep her safe. Tonight she crawled over to one of the toddler seats they sit in to watch Baby Signing Times and tried to pull herself up. We.Are.Terrified.





Maxwell is continuing his nightly screams, and even has started screaming during the day. We're trying to figure out how to not encourage the screaming, but give him the comfort he needs. The hardest is when he cries because I leave, and it happens more and more when I drop them off for daycare. Sometimes he is just frustrated, and wants to be sitting up instead of on his tummy, but sometimes he is just frustrated because he doesn't want to be put down. Part of it is his not feeling good due to teething. We are learning to count to ten and then back down to zero when he starts screaming because it is really loud! He has started trying to get his knees up under him. I'm not sure if he is just trying to crawl or if he is learning it from Alexis. Hopefully a little bit of both. :)





Aiden has started coughing AGAIN! I'm going to take him into the doctor's and ask to see a specialist to maybe find out if anything else is going on. I don't honestly know what could be the problem. He has asthma, but when I looked I learned it really won't cause a reoccurring cough. It's hard to see him coughing and not have anyway to help him. He gets a breathing treatment before daycare and one before night. If he is having retractions then we give him a different kind of breathing treatment, but he hasn't been retracting since starting the two treatments a day. That means the two treatments a day are working! YAY! More good news is that Aiden sat unassisted for the physical therapist for 50 seconds!





Carolyn is still crying herself to sleep. We go in to check on her to make sure she doesn't need anything, but if she is just crying because she doesn't want to be in her crib we let her cry it out. Sunday it was almost an hour, Monday it was 30 minutes, and then it was 20 minutes last night. It is a long painful process especially since it is lasting longer than when she kicked the pacifier habit. She is scooting backwards, but we're hoping soon she'll realize she can go forward. She is still the smallest and still has the most attitude. :D