Dear Time…SLOW DOWN!

Relax and enjoy yourself for a moment.  That’s what I have to say about having 13 month old babies that were once tiny littles.

 

Aiden

This loveable squeezable silly boy needs some help with eating.  We had his follow up study done at MUSC last Friday, and watched as he sucked thickened liquid down his airway without trying to clear it out.  Normally if an adult does this they cough to try and clear the airway, but because he does it so much he has desensitized himself to it.  NIIICE.  So maybe he doesn’t need that much pulmicort?  Speaking of pulmicort.  Remember we saw the allergist/asthma doctor?  That whole cutting down to one vial didn’t work and he coughed and he coughed and he coughed so we went back to his regular dose.  Then we saw a pulmonologist who said he is clearly on too much pulmicort, and he needs anti-reflux medicine.  He has been on the prevacid and smaller dose of pulmicort and so far so good.  No coughing and is sleeping comfortably in his crib.  He is currently cruising around objects, but still not walking or standing without assistance.  That is OK with me!

 

 

Maxwell

Oh where to begin?  Maxwell is 22lbs of drama.  He cries when someone takes his toy, and he cries when someone gets in his way, and he cries every single day when I drop him off at daycare.  He is the last one out of the van, and still he cries when I hand him over.  His swallow study is coming up in October, and I am interested to see how he does.  He is now on Soy milk since the whole milk made him very gassy.  He is doing very well though, and is walking behind the lion when he can.  Usually Carolyn has the lion, and Alexis always steals it from Carolyn.  Max and Aiden are still on baby food because they are still having texture issues, and just not ready to eat table foods.  He can drink from the sippy cup with a straw now though!  He just won’t accept his milk in it.  :-\

 

Alexis

Forever going until she crashes, and then she gets up and starts going again!  She is walking much better, and is trying to walk as quickly as she can most of the time.  She takes her shoes off as fast as we put them on, and is always taking someone else’s toy.  She is now eating table food!!!  She will eat just about whatever we give her, except daycare gave her a peanut butter sandwich and she wasn’t thrilled.  Doesn’t like peanut butter????  How does that happen?  LOL Andy and I LOVE peanut butter!  Hopefully this is a phase I can’t imagine having a child that doesn’t like peanut butter, but if it isn’t a phase we’ll still love her.  HAHA ;)  Alexis is still making her annoyed face that looks randomly like a kissy face.  She also fake cries.  Diva.  She is the one that is always ready to giggle, but she also is ready to cry if you steal her toy.  Not if she falls though…she just shakes it off and keeps going.  She has developed a fondness for carrying around blankets so I made her a tag blanket, but she tends to want the boppy cover instead.

Carolyn

Still being the bottle thief!  She will take someone else’s bottle just to watch their reaction to her taking it.  She is also walking behind the lion now, and doesn’t actually care for anyone to come near her when she is playing with it.  She is afraid they will steal it away I think, and they will!  She still squeals and screams with excitement and with anger, but the squeals have just gotten louder.  The screaming can’t possibly get any louder.  She is also eating table food.  Most of her food ends up on the floor though because she likes to get both hands full of food then try to pick up additional food in her pinchers to eat.  She also hoards as many cheerios as she can in her hands.  So if I put my hand out with Cheerios Max will take one, but Carolyn grabs with both hands to pick them all up.  Aiden also grabs as many as he can, but with only one hand.  Alexis picks up a couple, but cries when she notices everyone has taken the rest.  Carolyn is doing very well with her shoes, and is less nervous when they are on, and even now when they are off, but she still gets a little nervous.  She has been practicing standing up a lot lately.  She usually stands up and then throws herself down on whichever person she is practicing her WWE moves on at the moment. 

 

Group Shots…

These tutus were sent to us from Holly over at Heart Break Kids.  I had to see them on the girls because they are so pretty!  Better shots hopefully will be taken in the next two weeks!  Please go visit Holly’s website to see all her cute tutus!

Max about to make a move on Aiden’s bottle that Carolyn stole.

Momma & her boys

Playing with a spare mattress we have…

Max looking silly, but check out the crazy behind him.  Aiden is always ready for pictures.

Video Blog

This week I decided to do a little video blog instead of actually typing out the update on our weekend. The quality isn't great, but it was my first attempt at this type of blogging. Live and learn. If you like it leave a comment and let me know. I may do more like this since it is a little bit more of a personal blog experience. Yea so sorry for the quality, but let me know what you think.

Rockin’ and Rollin’

Well I can honestly say I am so HAPPY it is September!  The babies had their first “school” pictures taken at daycare yesterday.  They tried on Thursday, but for various reasons couldn’t get any pictures so they did them on Friday instead.  I am very excited to see how they look.  I know I have a nice camera and take lots and lots of pictures, but I LOVE pictures!

Aiden was off playing by himself with his most favorite toy ever.

Aiden is crawling now.  He is slow, but always gets to where he is going.  His medication was adjusted at the allergist appointment, but that didn’t seem to be working well because he has been coughing a lot more since the change.  For his food we’ve been giving him puffs and he is doing really well eating puffs and mum mums if that is even how you spell the things.  He still gets level 3 squash and sweet potatoes, but we’ve been trying Beech Nut foods and if we mix a level 3 gerber with the level 3 BN he seems to do ok.  The BN is a lot more chunky than the Gerber, but mixed together he still gets some chunks and is tolerating that well.  He is going soon for his first hair cut because his hair is out of control.

 

 

 

Maxwell is taking steps better around objects, and was the first of the four to require shoes.  While I was out I got Alexis some shoes, but they ended up being for Carolyn because Alexis’ feet are bigger.  We tried shoes on at the last physical therapy appointment and since everyone did well we went ahead and bought everyone shoes.  We hadn’t bought them before because after talking with Michelle, our PT, we decided to wait for them to need them instead of having them just for looks.  Shoes can sometimes frustrate a new walker, and the wrong shoes can discourage them from trying.  But we’re doing great with shoes now!  Max is eating cheerios and puffs really well.  He even gets cookies at daycare.  We didn’t send them cookies, and do not give them cookies at home but he gets them at daycare.  I’m not sure how often…I pray it isn’t very often.  I’m hoping to not have sugar fiends.  He started having really bad screaming tantrums.  It started after the milk and I’d notice he would have gas a lot when he was screaming so we are trying him back on formula for the weekend to see if that is really the cause.  If he does a lot better then I’ll take him to the doctor and see if they can give me some advice on if he is lactose intolerant or not.  He seems to really be feeling better already, but last night he screamed again.  I’m thinking that is because he was tired, but I seriously hope it is a phase that he grows out of.  He could make the paint peel with that scream of his. 

Not amused…clearly.

A melt down.

Alexis is walking most of the time now.  She will still crawl a little bit, but for the most part she is a walker.  At first she wouldn’t walk with shoes on, but they were too heavy so we got her some different shoes.  Because she is so fast and is not wanting to sit still we got her stride rites with velcro.  They are super light, and SR was the only place I could find her size!  Aiden also has SR, but Carolyn and Maxwell have Nike.  Alexis is really ready for table food.  So we’ve been giving her bites from our food when we eat.  Usually I sit on the floor near them while I eat so I can share.  Carolyn, Alexis, and Maxwell all like getting bites of table food.  Aiden is still not a fan of the texture.  Alexis is very serious when she is figuring out something new or is around someone new.  She likes to study them and her surroundings before relaxing.  She also runs over people with the lion push toy still, and often tries to run over whoever is playing in front of the band walker.  She likes to push them and turn them, but the others like to sit in front of them and play with the toys. 

Checking out the new shoes

Carolyn is still running things.  She is crawling really well, and pulling up to stand.  She will walk behind the push toys, but does get nervous.  She will also walk with someone holding her hands in front of her, but doesn’t get too nervous then because she has someone to focus on.  Michelle keeps her busy with puffs during pt so she does much better.  Her stability is much better in shoes, but she lags a little bit with walking them.  That may just be her needing to get use to them.  Carolyn still does really well, but sometimes just needs to be left alone.  She will get into moods where she wants to be held, but doesn’t want anyone else being held with her.  That can kind of be hard because everyone likes being held.  We do the best we can when she is in that mood to hold just her and give her alone time.  She is usually happy after a little bit of one and one time.  She still likes poking people in the eye, and will take something from one of the others just to watch their reaction.  It is cute unless she targets Maxwell. :)