I'm exhausted...just so you know

ETHAN

Ethan is in to naming everything...he wants to know what everything is and what it's name is...I named the wild things in "Where the Wild Things Are"...I named the Tonka trucks, planes and helicopter (Peter the Plane, Harry the Helicopter and Tommy Tonka)...Ethan named his cement truck "Cementy" and his nickname is "Emy"...He has two Speed Racer race cars, one big and one small...they are "Big Racey" and "Little Racey."

I was cooking something on the stove recently and Ethan was in his Learning Tower next to me and was talking about a blue flower. I looked all around...was there a blue flower on any cans, boxes, or containers? Then I figured out that he was talking about the flame below the pan I was cooking with. Now he knows that the blue flower is very hot and not to touch it.

Ethan ate a hole into the middle of a piece of french bread and called it a bagel.

I was making banana bread recently and Ethan was "helping" and said "Let's use some of that little beer"...he was talking about the vanilla extract which comes in a brown glass bottle with a red top...similar to his daddy's beer.

Last night after bathtime Ethan was pointing out his body parts as he sometimes does. He said, "Here is my little belly button...I have two little belly buttons"...he was pointing to his nipples.

Ethan wants everything big...he'll call out when we are fixing some food, "I want it big!"...this goes for crackers, bananas, etc...he doesn't want anything cut up or broken in half for him...he's a big boy now.

Andy let me sleep in last Saturday because I'd slept terribly the night before...he was double-feeding Dylan and Owen when Ethan announced he had poopy pants...can you see where this is going? Before Andy knew it, Ethan had stuck both his hands down his pants and when he pulled them out they were covered with poo. Andy yelled to Ethan to stay still, but Ethan looked at his hands and promptly wiped them all over his shirt. When I woke up and came downstairs, Ethan was sitting in his highchair in just a diaper. Andy asked him to tell me what he did and he said "I was bad, Mommy...I was bad" Hopefully we don't have any repeats of that!!

*****
DYLAN & OWEN

Last night we had the nighttime bottle with Dylan and Owen at 6:30 up in their room. They were both drowsy but we put them down in their crib when they were still awake and nobody cried...at all...not one little bit. They were both asleep by 7pm. I've been reading a book about sleep and we followed some of the instructions...early bedtime, soothing in dark & quiet places, place in crib drowsy but awake. And it works! It was just one night though, so we'll see what happens tonight. Of course, bedtime would be too smooth without someone freaking out...Ethan spazzed about bringing cars to bed and then freaked out on Andy about not saying "Night night" and "I love you" in the right order. All in all, bedtime went pretty well though. D & O still woke up at 11pm and 3am and Ethan was up and in our bed at 6am...twins up at 7am. It's a work in progress. Naptime deserves it's own post.

I brought Dylan to the pediatrician yesterday. I'd called the clinic last Wed to ask about his goopy eye...it has been really runny and secreting some yellow goopy stuff since at least last Friday (the 13th)...They told me it was viral and would go away within 3 or 4 days. I was skeptical since it had already been going on for 3 to 4 days by the time I called on Wed, but waited until yesterday to call again since it was still happening. I felt like a tool when the Dr took one look and told me it was just an underdeveloped tear duct or dacryostenosis which is actually a blockage of the tear duct which can cause excessive tearing or pus...he sees people all the time for it, but nothing is needed for it...we're to use a warm compress and massage a few times a day. He apologized that we had to come all the way to the clinic to learn that, since triage should have told me what to do based on my description of his symptoms over the phone. Oh well, at least now I know he's not going blind.

At the ped yesterday we learning that Dylan is 13lbs 6oz...the nurse said "you must be feeding him really well"...I feed him when he's hungry. On that topic, Dylan is in 3-6 month clothes and is outgrowing the size 1 diapers. Owen is in 3mo clothes and still fits into some 0-3 month. Size 1-2 diapers are going to be too big for him since he still sorta swims in size 1...so that means I have two babies in different size clothes and different size diapers...I need a good organization system.

I am sad. Owen's hair is falling out. I had noticed that the top of his head was thinning out, and my Mom & sister pointed it out to me today too. And after bathtime this morning, there were little dark hairs in the tub. My brunette is losing his hair. This happened to Ethan around this age too...and grew back in blonde. Maybe Owen's will grow in dark again. Dylan is still as reddish and thick as ever!!

I was looking at old Ethan baby pics recently and expected to see him look exactly like Owen...but I was surprised when I saw Dylan's face...baby Ethan really looks more like Dylan with his chubby little cheeks, but had Owen's dark hair. Now I can see all the boys in Andy's baby picture on our mantle, when previously I just saw Ethan and Owen...they all look so much like Andy, but my mom says Ethan has my expressions and my sister is convinced Owen looks like me. Lots of theories out there.

The medical bills are rolling in. Just like Ethan, we got the NICU bills before insurance was applied, due to timing of when they were added onto our insurance. I just had to call in with the info to get them adjusted. I can't seem to figure out why Owen's bill after insurance was lower than Dylan's bill after insurance since Owen was there longer, but I won't question it...a couple hundred dollars each is better than $68K and $71K. Of course, those are just their hospital bills, there are the practitioner bills as well...and mine, and all my prenatal visits, ultrasounds, progesterone shots. We have wasted none of our pre-tax HSA in 2008.

I've taken a lot of pictures of the boys lately...will post some tomorrow once I take them off the camera.