5 months, 3 months, 1 year!

Happy 5 month/3 month birthday my boys! And, happy 1 year! It was a year ago today that you started out as two little quickly dividing embryos. How our world has changed since then.

(This post gets really long really quickly. Suffice it to say that the boys are doing great. This is mostly just for me -- so I can remember it all.)

(You know, I always find these posts written as if the author is writing to her children to be really obnoxious. But... I can't seem to stop doing it. So... Um... Yeah, sorry about that in advance...)

I truly can't believe that it has been 5 months since you were born. You are firmly past the "newborn" stage and are starting to be such big boys! We look back at the pictures of you when we brought you home from the NICU and we're just astounded. I want to record this stage in your lives so I don't forget just how far you've come.





D -- Sometime in the last month, a miracle occurred. My angry, stubborn, colicky boy became an absolute sweetheart. Not that you don't still let us know when you're mad or hungry or lonely or tired or gassy. But, nowadays, you seem to only scream when there's a reason! Was it the increased zantac dose or just "growing out of it?" Who knows! Whatever it is, we'll take it.

You're weighing in at 12 pounds! I believe that puts you somewhere around the 40th percentile for your adjusted age on the very low birthweight chart! And, lo and behold, you have actually cracked the "real 3 month old" chart at the 10th percentile! Wow! I will never cease to be amazed by your chubby thighs. You're wearing mostly 0-3 month and some 3-6 month clothes and size 1 diapers. Except for your favorite "bugs bugs bugs" shirt that claims to be a newborn size but still fits. You just LOVE to grab ahold of the fuzzy bug on the front of that shirt and squeal with joy. Not sure what we're going to do when you grow out of it...

Your eyes are still blue -- grey in some light. While your dad and I have brown eyes, both of your grandfathers have blue eyes, so they may very well be staying that way. What little wispy hair you have seems to be kind of blond so far. Your dad and I were both blond as kids, so we'll see what you end up with.

You're still eating mostly breastmilk with 4-6 ounces of formula (gas and reflux friendly) mixed in per day. You're a good eater at night, finishing your bottle quickly, but are really into "grazing" during the day. You're a good napper and go down at night pretty easily (most of the time). BUT, we'd really like it if you'd figure out that it's OK to sleep longer chunks at night, OK? Three hour and four hour (or, sometimes, two hour) blocks are getting a little old. Did you see how excited we were the time you slept 5.5 hours straight? Yeah, do that again.

You are a curious boy who loves to check out everything around him. You're perfectly content to hang out in the pack and play kicking your crinkly washcloth and watching the jingly monkey. You've even started to try to hit your hanging toys! You have started chewing on anything you can get into your mouth -- hands, blankets, toys. You LOVE faces and new people. You smile at everyone and arch your back with happiness when someone smiles back. You babble at everyone and at yourself. I'm amazed at all the sounds that come out of your mouth! (Um, and out of your butt -- you are a champion farter.)

You are obsessed (OBSESSED) with your blankies. Blankie of choice? The tri-fold cloth diapers we use for burp cloths. You will spend hours just chewing on it and hugging it and snuggling with it. We have to let you have it to fall asleep. We take it from you later, though, because you seem to like to put it over your face and I'm not a fan of that! Thank goodness you don't seem to have a preference for one particular blankie -- we've got about 60 of them...

You love being outside and going for walks. In fact, if you are inconsolable, all we have to do is open the door and stand on the porch and you are instantly silent. You love to ride in the stroller watching the trees. You love being read to. You really seem to be paying attention to the pictures in the books.

You've started weekly physical therapy for your tortocolis (the very cute cocked to the side neck thing that makes you look so curious in your pictures). You're doing a great job and we are working hard everyday at doing your stretches and strengthening exercises. You've rolled over a few times and are working on tummy time -- you're getting so much stronger!

I'm absolutely loving this phase of your life my Darling D!





S -- You continue to be our happy, sweet little boy! When I wake up in the morning, I look down into your bassinet to see you sitting, wide awake, waiting for someone to play with you. That is, if I've managed to sleep through you chatting away, trying to get me to come see you. As soon as you see me, you smile from ear to ear and squeal with happiness. It makes the lack of sleep worthwhile!

You are closing in on your brother at 11 lb 14 oz! A week's worth of crazy eating a few weeks ago seems to have closed the gap. That puts you around the 40th percentile, too! And, you are actually on the regular chart, finally, too for your adjusted age! You're wearing the same clothes as your brother but don't seem to be nearly as obsessed with grabbing them as he is. You, too, are eating mostly breastmilk with 4-6 ounces of formula a day. We've recently switched you to the gentlease, too, because you were seeming a little fussier. In general, you're a much more consistent eater than your brother and are much more willing to finish your bottles. You love to stop in the middle of a feeding and just sit and smile at us and squeal and giggle.

You are a great sleeper at night. You go to bed pretty easily and, if no one else (ahem...your brother...ahem) wakes you up, you'd be willing to sleep at least 6 hours straight. When you do wake up to eat, you smile at us and we can't help but smile back through bleary eyes. You're a pretty good napper and are always happiest if you get some good, long naps during the day. Doesn't always happen, but it's nice...

Your eyes are still blue, too! A somewhat darker blue. They are framed by absolutely gorgeous insanely long, brown eyelashes. Your eyebrows are brown, too, and so incredibly expressive. You have more hair than your brother and it seems to be kind of a light brown. Poor guy -- you've still got cradle cap although it seems to be better than before.

You seem to have discovered your hands. Either that or you've been on an occasional drug trip. (Dude, my hand, dude...) You've started putting everything in your mouth. Yesterday you grabbed the rattle and started shaking it. So exciting!

Your biggest struggles have been with your neck and your skin. You've always had sensitive, dry skin but now you're dealing with some uncomfortable eczema as well. The first really bad flare up seemed to coincide with your learning how to control your hands. How sad that the first thing you learned to do with your hands was scratch your wrists! The doctor also heard a wheeze when we took you in, so you were on some prednisone for a few days. That was NO fun for anyone. You did eat ravenously, though, and I think that's how you started to catch up to D. As soon as the meds were done, the flare-up came back. The doc gave us some ointment for the flares (works like a charm within hours) and then we're just being extra diligent about moisturizing cream in between. We think we may have figured out that you're allergic to apples and cherries like your dad -- you seemed to keep flaring up the day after I ate them and haven't since I stopped.

Your neck issues are pretty bad. You're really stuck looking to the right. But, with PT and lots of stretching, it's getting a lot better. You have a lot of good head control, you just really don't want to turn. Your head shape has improved a lot as we've worked on the stretching, too. Tummy time is slowly getting better but you've got a way to go. You'll get there, though.

You are such a sweet guy. Everyone loves to interact with you because you have the biggest flirty-smiles! Your entire face lights up. Your daddy has the hardest time leaving in the morning when you're smiling at him.

When we go for walks, you stare at us the whole time. The world could be going by but you only have eyes for your parents. You love to be read to -- Dr. Seuss is definitely your favorite. That's good because he's our favorite, too. You love your jingly shoes and your rattly cloth. You kick with joy whenever you're happy.

You're just a wonderful joy to be around my Sweet S!