Last day as SAHM

Today was my last day of maternity leave. I don't want to talk about it.

My mom has been in town this week...it's been great to have the companionship, help with the babies and Ethan, and a break from constant laundry, cooking and dishes. I will miss her greatly!

Ethan has been super funny this week...with only the occasional two-ness. Now that the babies are much more interactive, he's been MUCH more interested in them. It's mostly good, but we have to really make sure he's not patting them too hard or climbing up on them. He likes to help burp, and says "Nice baby" while rubbing their bellies. He thinks it's absolutely hilarious when they smile. Dylan and Owen have been smiling a ton...my mom recently discovered that Dylan LOVES peek-a-boo...and Owen, well Owen smiles at just about anything. He has quite the personality...he will mimic you when you stick out your tongue and it's super cute. Their eyes are totally amazing...bright, bright blue. I am in love. Just when things start to get really fun, I have to go back to work. Again, I don't want to talk about it.

Today Ethan went up to Owen and said "Hi Owen, it's Ethan"...and he called Dylan a "little rascal"...where does he come up with this stuff?

I've been keeping a log of sorts for the babies' schedule...when they eat, when they nap and where. I'm hoping it will help us organize into some sort of routine eventually. Today I really let them dictate it. I've realized that it's not so plausible to always get them to eat at the same time, especially during the day. They have different appetites. Owen tends to eat less at a feeding so sometimes he doesn't go as long between feedings. And I don't want to feed Dylan just because Owen wants a bottle. It turns out that they cue for feedings within about an hour of each other anyways, so they ate together at the beginning of the day and were synched up again by bedtime. We'll still feed them together during the night though!

Napping is still a challenge. Yesterday Owen barely napped and was super cranky at the end of the day...wanting to have his last bottle and go to bed at 6pm which is earlier than usual. So today I made sure to really watch for their sleepy signs. They were up for the day at 6am. Owen dozed off just a bit before his next bottle at 9:30a but no real nap. He was tired throughout the bottle so I went upstairs to rock him in their room while he finished the bottle and then put him in his crib. He cried for a bit, but slept from 10:15 until 12:30!! D didn't eat until 10:30a and then napped in the swing from 11:45 to 2. I hate to have them nap in the swing (Dr W says this is a no-no), but when one is already in the crib I don't want to bring the other one in there for fear one will wake the other...it's a conundrum. Dr W says in his sleep book to put babies down for naps every 1-2 hours...so I use that as a guideline, but it seems like my babies tend to go a bit longer between naps. It seems like they fit in about 3 per day, but they aren't on any type of schedule so far.

I'm hoping that a well-rested and napping baby will sleep better at night eventually...Dr W tells me it will! Bedtime has been pretty smooth this week. It helps that my Mom can watch Ethan while Andy and I are putting the babies down. I don't know what we'll do when it's just the two of us. So far we've had VERY little crying at nighttime. The babies will have their last bottle around 6:30 and are swaddled and in their crib around 7pm. Dylan fussed a bit the first night we tried this, and a little last night, but that was it...not too painful. I'm hoping for a trend here!

Week 11 pictures

Pic 1: Dylan on the blanket...his head was up WAY high...he's so strong
Pic 2: Owen in the boppy...also a tough little dude for his size...they are both getting so strong and holding their heads up high
Pic 3: Chilling out in the bouncy chairs after bathtime - 11 weeks old

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.

If at first you don't succeed...

...try again in a couple months...

Most of the new things we've tried recently have flopped big time.

Target brand...lots of gas, lots of poop. Andy went out to get Enfamil right when he got home from work that first day after using Target. Poor Gamma had to change 4 Owen poops. And both D and Owen were so gassy all day...really upset stomachs. I think they are still trying to get it out of their system. That sucked.

We got through 2.5 feedings with the fast flow nipple before concluding that we needed to switch back to slow. Neither of us could imagine getting through a nighttime feeding with the fast flow...there was too much mess...and we felt like each baby really needed to be held upright for a LONG time afterwards...pleasant during the day, but not all that fun at 1am/4am. Dear Playtex: Why do you only make Slow and Fast flow nipples? Where is Medium? Sincerely, Mom whose babies' cheeks hurt

We are undecided on the removal of the inclined sleep positioners. This one is a serious Catch 22. I brought them back in the middle of the second night. Each time I came in to feed the babies their heads were lying in a wet spot...they had spit up after the last feeding. Once, Dylan was crying shortly after being put to bed and I realized that he was lying in wetness...I merely moved him over an inch and voila, back to sleep immediately...clearly that was uncomfortable. However, this morning they were up early again and both of them had both legs through the slats of the crib...they slid down and kicked through the breathable bumper! So...without the positioners they spit up and wake up in the wet spot...with the positioners they slide down and wake up with their legs through the crib...so what works?! Tonight I am trying sleep positioners with their heads together the long way of the crib.

The sleep sacks work ok, but we haven't mastered the timing of getting them in them. It turns out that we need to dress them in the sleep sacks before the last feeding, but sometimes we're not sure if it will be the last feeding until it's done...5/5:30 may or may not be the last feeding, or we might end up clusterfeeding around 6:30/7. If they fall asleep for the night and are not in their sleep sacks then we don't want to risk waking them up by putting them in the sacks. But, when the timing works, the sacks work well...the added benefit is that they are zipped in so they stay in them all night versus the swaddle, which they wiggle out of in like 5 minutes.

Ethan's new thing is smelling. He says to everything, "I smell it!" He wants to smell things that smell and things that don't smell...and not just once. Soaps, eye cream, lotions, saline solution, my coffee, his toys, floss, my sleep solution book...I hope this is just a stage. This all started with getting on his Learning Tower next to the sink and asking to smell the spices on the spice rack above the sink...he calls them "ices"...I made a pot roast one day when Ethie and Gamma had been at her house. When they walked in the door to our house Ethan said, "It smells like ices."

Dylan and Owen woke up from a nap around 5pm tonight and were frantic for their next bottles. Both of them were screaming and I realized that I was unprepared for the next feeding...clean bottles, but no formula made...I had used naptime to wash bottles and play with Ethan...my bad, I guess...there is never enough time. While I was starting to make formula, Ethan ran to the couch to give the babies their paci's and then ran back over to his Learning Tower to push it over to me and "assist", yelling "I'm coming babies, I'm coming babies" the whole time.

Not only does his pick up the things we say, like "I'm coming babies", but he's mimicking the things we do too. Not only does he try to smell my saline solution, but he tips it upside down to put some on his finger and then puts his finger in the corner of his eye and blinks. Most mornings he is in the bathroom with me when I put my contacts in...He is also getting a lot more interested in his potty. Every parent knows that it is nearly impossible to go to the bathroom alone. Ethan comes with me often and we'll sit on our respective pottys together...he'll ask for some TP and pretend to wipe! We'll let daddy explain why boys stand.

My sister started a blog recently. Go check it out...she's cool and knows lots of good stuff about baseball and baking decadent treats. Lefty's Hot Stove

This is where I landed at 5:30am on Sunday...not a bad way to start the day...a tad early though!

Updates with bullet points...lucky you!

Pic 1: Crib disaster in the morning...they're in there...see Dylan's foot on the left.
Pic 2: 9 weeks (last week!) Owen on the left, and D on the right.

Bullet points!

*Ethan knows lots of names of people in his family. He knows his own first, middle and last name too...but says it like this...Ethan Donald Sandberg Toystore. We were talking about his full name and his trip to the toy store with Gamma in the same afternoon and apparently they meshed.

*I got my cross-stitch for Dylan and Owen framed. It's beautiful. I dropped it off a week ago last Friday and he said it would take about a week and a half...but it was ready last Wednesday. Gampa Pete picked it up for me on his way up to Bloomington this past weekend so I didn't have to make another trip to Northfield. Andy's going to hang it in the boys' room today. I'm so happy with the way it turned out...so worth the money. I will post a picture once it's on the wall.

*We had our first night out, overnight, away from the babies last Friday night. We went to a wedding. Gamma Leslie and Gampa Pete stayed over...so awesome of them! Recently I had written on my Facebook status that I "needed to party...bad." Let's just say that I no longer feel that way.

*Today is our first day trying out the new nipples. The boys have seemed pretty pissed off during feedings lately and our theory is that they are having to work too hard to get the formula. We have done two feedings today with the fast nipples, which are listed for ages 3 months + (the boys are 10 weeks today, 4 adjusted). So far they are doing well on them...just a little spitting up, which is typical for them. They are making a serious mess drooling some out while they are eating, but I think it's just the adjustment of getting used to the new flow. They seem to be more relaxed during feedings and it cuts the feeding time in half.

*Today is our last day of Enfamil before we move on to Target brand. Actually, the last big bottle (we make 24oz at a time) I made had two scoops of the Target brand in it. I hope that changing formulas and nipple flows on the same day isn't a big deal. No problems so far.

*Last night we took the inclined sleep positioners out of the crib. We were waking up to find Dylan and Owen in some interesting positions all around the crib (see above)...feet through the slats, completely unswaddled from their blankets and under their top blanket (this blanket was a very light cotton, so breathable...don't you worry!...we used it to try and secure them in place in their sleep positioner and to keep the swaddle in place...it never worked), parallel to the crib slats (we were putting them next to each other the short way...this will have to change soon because they are LONG!!). This morning I found them just how I had left them after the 5am feeding. Tonight I think we'll try to sleep sacks instead of swaddling.

*Dylan and Owen seem to be falling into somewhat of a routine at night...we at least have some idea of what to expect. We are putting them to bed around 6-8. They sleep until about 11-1. Then sleep again until about 4-6. It's not terrible...until I go back to work, I get up for the unattractive 4-6 feeding and Andy does the late night 11-1 one. He is typically up that late anyways. We still have no schedule for naps, but I have been trying to get them to nap in their crib. They are sleeping there at night, but during the day are just sleeping wherever...swings, boppy pillows, bouncy chairs, on me. I'm trying to get the morning nap more routine around 9-10, and they are doing ok on the afternoon nap already...typically around 1-2, which is when Ethan naps. The other day we had all 3 boys napping at the same time for about 2 hours...did I nap? No. I cleaned. I'm not smart.

*Dylan has a goopy eye. Not sure what else to call it. I first noticed it around the time they all had their colds, but it has not gone away. His left eye just waters all the time...sometimes not as bad, but sometimes worse and it's more goopy than watery. I told Andy I was going to google it, but he told me not to do it for it was sure to come up with eye cancer or something. All I can think of is the movie "Ray"...when he started to go blind. A couple weeks ago I thought D had pyloric stenosis and he totally doesn't, so call me an over-reactor or whatever...but they're my kids!! Of course, I totally forgot to put this on my list of questions for the pediatrician last week...I may call.

*I just got approval from my boss to work Tuesdays and Thursdays from home. I am so excited to have this flexibility. That means that two days of the workweek I won't have to run around like a crazy person in the morning trying to get all presentable for the office while juggling 3 kids...nor will I have to plan for the crazy morning the night before. Being able to monitor loads of laundry while I'm working at my office in the basement is also an added bonus. I might, however, have to move my office to the guest bedroom at some point as Ethan really likes to play in the basement since we've moved some of his toys down there. We'll figure it out...for now, he'll still have M/W/F when I'm at the office. I head back to work full-time on March 2nd. I have lots of emotions about this, but at least with this maternity leave I can be happy that I actually got to take a full 12 weeks of leave after their birth.

We went to the Ped today and survived!!

Pic 1: Owen, Dylan
Pic 2: Owen, Mommy, Dylan, Ethan

I should be sleeping, but I have too many blog-thoughts running through my head.

Today was Dylan and Owen's second time out of the house since they've been home...another exciting trip to the pediatrician. Their 2-month well-baby check, already!! I started planning this trip in my head last night...what do I need to pack, when do I need to shower by, when do I need to start warming up the car, how many trips will I need to load up the car, when do I need to leave, how do I work the double-stroller? Thankfully, Gamma Leslie was here to help so I had time to shower and dry my hair and also time in the garage with the stroller manual to figure out how to heck to open the thing, click in and out the car seats, and fold it up again...phew. Ethan and Gamma were leaving for school at the same time I was leaving the house for the 10:15 appointment so I had lots of help with loading D & O in their seats and getting the house locked up, etc.

Andy met me in the parking lot at Children's. We had no trouble with the stroller and were ON TIME for our appointment. We were called in right away and the twins were weighed and measured by the nurse. Dylan is 11lbs 7oz...I don't know his exact percentiles for weight and height...I was writing them down, but our dr assured us the nurses would bring us that information but nobody ever did and I left forgetting to ask for it...ugh. But I believe it was somewhere around 25-40th percentile. This is for their age UNadjusted...meaning 9-10 weeks. When it is adjusted for their prematurity (3-4 weeks) they would be much higher in the percentiles. D's head was like 25th too. Owen is 9lbs 8oz and slightly shorter. His head is about the same circumference and percentile. His percentiles for weight and height are 10th. So, both boys are very proportional. And the doctor was very happy with their growth rates and said they are THRIVING!! They have each gained about a lb since their last weigh-in at the Synagis shot a few weeks ago. Yay!

I asked about a thousand questions about the million vaccinations they were to receive today. I am all for vaccinations, but since there is so much controversy about them, I wanted to hear the doctor's rebuttal to the articles I have read in parenting magazines with the other side. I had some other questions too...it's amazing how much you forget after 2 years...we've been through all these things with Ethan, but I needed a reminder!! Maybe it was the sleep deprivation then, or the sleep deprivation now, but my brain is mush and I just can't recall what we did and when.

Our Dr and his partner are expecting twin boys through a surrogate this Spring so he was asking US questions about raising twins. He was assured that we were 2 months in and still smiling!! At least he knows everything medically, the rest you just figure out as you go...but it was fun to exchange ideas with him about feeding schedules, sleep schedules, etc. One thing that we are really excited about...and it was one of my questions...is that he believes that Target brand formula is ok and he is planning on feeding it to his twins. Andy's co-worker uses it and has compared it ingredient to ingredient to Enfamil Lipil, which we are using and which Target says their brand is comparable to. It is half the price so I definitely thought it was worth asking our doctor about. I was skeptical about it, and one of the moms in my multiples support group said she asked her ped and she said no to it, but our ped says ok, so I think we'll try it out and see how it goes. I would never skimp on the quality of our sons' food, but if the ped says it's ok and it's half the price...we'll give it a go!!

The boys are doing ok so far after their shots. They screamed during them and it was way sad...I've never seen Owen's face get so red. But they fell right asleep afterwards and ate well and slept well this afternoon. Their next appointment at the Clinic will be at 4 months.

We had some rough nights on Sunday and Monday. We're trying to work out the schedule of who gets up and when...I was on the losing end of that on Sunday night and had a hard time getting back to sleep. Monday the babies were great, but my busy brain kept me awake most of the night after waking for feedings. Last night was good...Andy got up at 1am and I got up at 5:30. I was feeling ok today...but yesterday I was the biggest moron. I went to the Mall of America with Ethan in the morning for Toddler Tuesday. I went to Caribou for coffee instead of the Starbucks that was in the Barnes and Noble where we were playing with the Thomas table...I had a gift card for Caribou so I went there specifically...but when I paid for my coffee I paid in cash. Then I went to Macy's and used Andy's Macy's card so I could use a coupon I got in the mail, but not only did I fail to spend enough money to use the coupon, but I failed to present the coupon at the time of my purchase as well....duh. I admitted my stupidity on my facebook status stating that I doubt my employer will enjoy having half my brain back to work in a few weeks, but my boss' wife...who is a friend on FB...assures me they will...I wonder what my first dumbass move will be in the office.

Andy bought us a new camera (our V-day gift) at Circuit City since they are having awesome sales as a result of going out of business. I have been complaining about our camera for a long time as it is slow, slow, slow...and I'm missing capturing precious moments!! The new camera is awesome. I need to read the instructions before I get comfortable with using it, but Andy has been playing around with it. Each day he comes home from work, changes clothes, and comes downstairs and puts the new camera around his neck and documents the evening. Gasp...I have actually been in some photos!! I am thrilled...however, I am hoping that over time I will be captured in more flattering poses than at the stove making scrambled eggs.

Ethan says...

Ethan came to sit next to me the other day when I was feeding Dylan and said in the sweetest voice I have ever heard, "Look at his pretty eyes!"

Great Grandma Liz was in town for a couple days earlier in the week. Gamma Leslie, Great Gma Liz and Ethan went to the store and when they were done shopping, since it was cold out, Gamma and Ethan walked to the car in the parking lot and Great Gma waited at the door of the store. On the way out to the car, Ethan worried out loud, "I lost my udder Grandma!"

We read "Where the Wild Things Are" every night. Ethan calls it "Where are you wild things?"

Last night I was in the bathroom with Ethan as he was playing in the bath. I was looking in the mirror and from the bathtub, seeing two of me, Ethan said "Hi mommy! Hi udder Mommy!"

Ethan loves his blankets and will carry a bunch of them around, especially right after waking up in the morning or right after waking from naptime. He will bring them around the room and tell people to "Put your chin on it, it's softy"

Ethan likes to call me "softy" too...it's usually when he's touching my clothes, so I try not to assume he's talking about my post-partum softness. He also calls me "big." But the other day we were making dinner together and he was in his Learning Tower and doing a little dance saying "Ethan's skinny"...then he said "Mommy's skinny, mommy's skinny" and I said "Shout it from the rooftop, Ethan!" and he said "MOMMY'S SKINNY! MOMMY'S SKINNY!"...I heart him.

"Goodnight Moon" is another one of our bedtime books. Ethan and I were at school last Wednesday...the moms meet and discuss a topic for an hour first while the kids play in another room with a few teachers, and then we all play together afterwards. One of the teachers will come in at the end of the hour and talk about what they did when we were separated. They read "Goodnight Moon" together and she looked at me and asked if we read this a lot because Ethan helped lead the story...the teacher asked them where the mouse was in every picture and Ethan did it with lightning speed, even on the last page, when the teacher couldn't find it.

Gamma, Ethan and I were talking about birthday cakes the other day and Gamma asked Ethan what kind of cake he wanted for his 3rd birthday. He said "A green cake." Gamma asked if he wanted dinosaurs on his cake and he said, "No, just big red balls"...I think this either means red frosting balloons or red hots. The "big red balls" on the Christmas cookies were really red hots...but he also pointed out "big red balls" in our pepper grinder. I told Andy about this tonight so he asked Ethan a bunch of times what he wanted on his cake...."Do you want puppies on your green cake?"..."NO! Just big red balls!"..."Do you want trucks on your green cake?"..."NO! Just big red balls!"...so he's pretty adamant about it.

He's so cute.

More updates on my crew of boys...

HIKE!!


Let's start with a little bathroom humor.

Ethan: "I need my butt better."
Hilary: "What's wrong with it?"
Ethan: "It's stinky."

"I have oatmeal in my pants."....Ew. Not sure where he ever came up with that, but as a non-oatmeal eater, I am sure to never start now.

Ok, enough of that. Here's a few more conversations with Ethan...

Lately, a lot of his cars have been going to Northfield when asked where they were headed. Yesterday we were eating lunch and a car drove by our house and Ethan said it was going to Louisville...where Gramma Nana and Grampa Dode live. We talked about flying there in a plane and he seemed really excited...maybe we'll try that sometime this year. A plane trip could be either really good or REALLY bad. We've never done it...out of fear.

Ethan has been practicing batting his eyelashes. It's killer. He'll blink at me really hard when we're sitting at the table. He also will shut his eyes and say, "Now Mommy can't see me"...I corrected him once, that it actually meant he couldn't see Mommy and he FLIPPED out...For now, we'll let him think this makes him invisible...it could be interesting.

I've been thinking it would be fun to make a garden in our backyard this Spring. I asked Ethan what he wanted to plant and he said, "Elmo's sunflower Sunny"...he recently went to Elmo Live with Gamma. So, we'll plant some sunflowers. I need to do a little research on what environment sunflowers grow best in...I am decidedly not a green thumb. I suggested we plant tomatoes and other veggies, but he said "No, just flowers grow"...so a garden of flowers it will be.

*****

Dylan is a bottomless pit. Can you overfeed an infant? Last night, he downed his bottle, which is already more than his brother Owen eats...about 6 ounces. Then he took the rest of Owen's bottle...about 2 ounces was left of his 4.5...he has a cold and his eating hasn't been that great...and he's spitting up too...fun times. Anyways, after that 6 + 2, he still seemed hungry...so I got 2 more ounces for him and he sucked that dry...I'm sure he could have eaten even more, but more than 10 ounces at a feeding seemed a bit extreme to me. I have a guide for what to feed your baby and when, and it suggests a serving size of 3-6oz for 1-2 months, 5-7 times a day. Typically Dylan is eating about 6 and Owen is eating about 4. But 10?!

Ethan has been a bottomless pit lately too. Especially at breakfast...toast, cereal, clementine, bananas, yogurt, vitamin...he typically eats some combination of these items. I believe he might be going through a bit of a growth spurt. He's been a little better with dinner too. We've been using a really cool dinosaur plate that Gramma Nana bought for him...it has a few sections and we put lots of different options of food in them...giving him the choices, combined with the coolness of the plate, has been eliminating some of the battle and helping him eat more variety than applesauce and fruit.

Owen is the saddest thing ever right now. He has a cold, is eating like crap, and spitting up all over the place (I when I say "place", I mean "me"). Just before I started writing this paragraph, I heard some suspicious gurgling from the swing and went to check it out...picked him up and BAM! He waits for me. The poor little thing looks so alarmed when he coughs...his little face turns red and then he sighs. I still can't bring myself to use the snot bulb, but I've been pulling as much gunk out of there as I can. Being a mom is very glamorous, you see.

Even with their colds, Dylan and Owen continue to amaze me when they do tummy time. They lift their heads really high up and are kicking their legs a ton. Owen has some serious stomach muscles and almost lifts his bottom half...he rolls to each side, but not completely over...those arms are just in the way! They both look like they want to crawl already...they are just 8 weeks today so obviously they won't be crawling for awhile, but I believe I have two more freakishly strong boys on my hands...just wait until the 3 boys realize they are all stronger than Mommy...I bet that will happen around age 3 and 5...trouble.

*****

We watched the Superbowl last night and I was unimpressed with the commercials. I was impressed by the game, however, even though I didn't really care who won. I picked the Cardinals ahead of time just to make it fun...Andy was cheering for the Steelers. Ethan likes to shout "Go team go" when sports are on the TV, so we asked him to say "Go red team go" or "Go white team go"...he clearly favored the white team...could it be because daddy was for the white team, or does he just choose the favorite?! Andy picked up some 3D glasses for the movie preview after the first half...I wondered if we had them on at the wrong time...when was it going to start? Is it me, or did that whole thing just suck? Ethan and I had fun looking like geeks wearing the glasses though (see above).