6 Months old and lots of new things!

I am belated in posting their 6 month pictures, they are starting to look like little boys...

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Here is the latest: everyone can ROLL!!  We woke up this morning to Evan on his belly in the crib!  We put him on the blanket for wiggle time while his brothers were in the jumperoos, and he rolled off!!  So excited for him, but also scared that all the boys are semi-mobile now.  Evan also does this adorable wiggle/squirm that we call his "shimmy".  Collin likes to bite his lower lip, and Ryan loves to make a raspberry noise with his lips.  All the boys are much more demanding of attention.  They want face time, all the time.  They also are awake for a lot longer during the day, taking 2-3 naps of an hour or so throughout the day.  Yesterday we started spoon feeding rice cereal, no one was really into it.  Collin was the only one that opened his mouth for the spoon, Evan and Ryan didn't get the connection.  They each got about 4 spoonfuls, Collin got more on the spoon than the other two since he actually opened his mouth for it.

We had a wonderful trip to Houston last weekend to visit Neenee.  We had a great time visiting our old youth pastor at his church in Conroe, shopping at the outlet mall, going to the Houston Zoo (where we felt like they should put us behind a fence as an attraction), and eating yummy Mexican food.  We can't wait to make another trip, the boy's were great.

6 month well-check

We went to the doctor yesterday for the 6-month well check appointment.  We had our last vaccines for a while, yay!  Here are the updated weights and stats...

Evan 17# 8 oz, Ht 26.75", head 17.5"
Ryan 17#, Ht 26.25", head 17.25"
Collin 16# 15 oz, Ht 26.25", head 17.75"

Ryan and Collin are still pretty close, they look different to us most of the time but there are moments (especially when they are sleeping) where you can really tell they are identical.  They both sleep on their belly now and flip over almost immediately when laid on their backs.  No issues on their check-ups.  Ryan still has the hemangiomas, a big one on his back, and a little cluster on his left side, but they are not a problem.

Evan still doesn't roll much, and his head is still a little flat on the right.  We may need to get a helmet for him because his forehead isn't quite symmetrical from the flattening... we're waiting to hear from the company and get all the information before we do that though.  We want to get all the information.  He also has an appointment with another specialist for another non-medical issue.  Otherwise he is doing great!  You can't even tell he has the hemangioma, we'll continue the medicine for another 6 months more than likely, especially since it is doing such a great job.  And he's obviously the big boy of the group!

They are all pretty much spot on developmentally, no real delays to speak of.  They are definitely vocal, Ryan and Collin have no problems rolling, and they use their hands constantly.

We are supposed to start spoon-feeding any time, but I'm post-poning another couple of weeks for selfish reasons... The first is that we are driving to Houston with the boys for their first car trip, and it is just too much to mess with and will be too messy.  The second is that it is just too much to mess with and so messy in general!  Once we start, that's the end, there is no going back to our easy 4 times a day bottle feedings.  I'll post updates and more importantly PICTURES of that once we start!

Here's pictures of our play session last week...

Evan and Ryan

Collin and Ryan

Evan, Ryan, and Collin (awake)

Collin and Ryan

Evan, loves to pat his head :)

Baptism

The boys had a wonderful Baptism at church on Sunday... They were perfectly behaved and the stars of the service.  Lots of people came to see them after and sent lovely cards in the mail.  I hope they can grow up feeling like I did in the church, as a home and a common ground with friends.

We've been to two Water Babies classes, the first one I took one at a time for 10 minutes or so and they did fine but it was more about getting them acclimated.  The second class Sean, Steph and I each took turns with all the babies.  They did great!  Ryan was the first to figure out kicking, and Collin wasn't far behind.  Evan was pretty tired by the end, but they all loved it.

They are eating 5oz of formula with a little over 2 tsp/oz of rice cereal at 7am, 12pm, 5pm, and 9pm!  We added another half ounce to their feedings at night and they are (knock on wood) sleeping fabulously!  Not a peep until 7am after going down between 9 and 10.  Except Ryan.  All the babies have rolled over from their belly to back (Evan has only done it once, it surprised him), but Ryan can roll from his back to his belly and does it A LOT.  Including at night.  Normally he can roll back from his belly to his back again, but I don't think he can with his sleep sack on, because he will wake up on his belly and not happy about it.  We've had to save him from his belly a few times the past couple of nights.

They are all fascinated with their hands and suck on them all the time.  Evan is often called "boy with fist in mouth".  Evan also likes to pat and feel his head with his hands.  Collin likes to touch and hold his feet.  They also like their toys now and hold them and chew on them.  It is so cute.  They bounce in their jumperoos, play with toys on their mat, and hold their heads up like champs when on their bellies.  They are SOOO close to sitting up on their own, but they are still a little wobbly.  More to come later...

5 Months!!!

It's really hard to get pics these days... seems like the boys are always in motion, or have their hands in their mouths or over their faces!

Look how BIG we are now!

Evan

Ryan

Collin

That's all I have time for right now...

What we've been up to...

We are such big boys now!  We are trying really hard to sit up on our own, and we don't like it when we can't.  Here are some things we are doing...

Ryan smiling

Evan holding his head up

Collin grabbing Sophie the giraffe

Ryan blowing bubbles

(he makes the cutest noise when he does this!... it sounds like "ah-boo")

We spin the toys now, and we try to stay upright

We were so good and had so much fun at the Thunder game!

We're trying to take more videos to catch the cuteness in action...

4 Months!

There has been so much going on that it's been difficult to sit down and do this.  And there are so many photos I would want to add, but I don't think that will happen.  A big part of the busyness is that I went back to work, first 2 days a week at the beginning of January, and now 3 days a week.  I really miss the boys when I am gone, it is really hard to leave them.  Once I get to work I'm usually busy, and I still love what I do, but it is not easy.  The boys' cuteness adds to the difficulty!  They spend so much of the day awake now, looking and smiling and even laughing.  They spend time in the jumperoo and on the playmat and interact with each other and with us.  Collin was the really smiley and flirty one at first, but now we get lots and lots from all of them and Ryan and Evan are just as cute.

Stats from 4 month well check visit on January 11th:
Evan - 14# 5oz, 24.25" tall, head 16.25"
Ryan - 14# 12oz, 23.75" tall, head 16"
Collin - 14# 10oz, 24" tall, head 16.25"

Evan is on Propanolol for his hemangioma under his eye, it has really helped (he had an ultrasound on the 3rd to make sure it was).  His torticollis was really mild, and is already much better.  I think he also wasn't looking left because he had more difficulty seeing out of that eye, the eye shrunk practically immediately and we noticed a dramatic improvement.  We still try to make him look left more to help even out his head shape.  The babies are doing AMAZING sleeping... they eat 5 times a day, and for the past few days have woken up around 7am, talking but happy in their cribs.  If they wake up in the middle of the night they have been putting themselves back to sleep.

Here are our 4 month pictures.

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Check out this entry for their previous pics at 3 months, you can tell how much bigger they are!

We've also been taking them out more... a trip to the mall:

And tonight they are meeting us at the reception after a friend's wedding!  It is so fun to take them out... I just need to get used to all the attention.  And the outings are much easier now that we have our new car.  It's a Ford Flex and I love it, it's cool and young and not a mini van.  Plus, we can now carry more than 2 adults and the 3 babies so no more trips in the back of an SUV for me.

Boys' First Christmas

The babies are 15 weeks old today.  Can't believe how time flies... they are huge!  Here are their stats from Saturday's Synagis injection...

Evan 13#, 23.5" long, head 41cm
Ryan 13.3#, 23" long (don't know if I buy that), head 41cm
Collin 13.2#, 24.25" long, head 41cm

 We had the second white Christmas that I've been able to remember in Oklahoma.  Actually, it was a little more than a white Christmas... it was a record breaking blizzard!  Oklahoma City had 14.1" of snow in less than 12 hours (some reports said 8, I don't know, it was a lot) on Christmas Eve.  Aunt Steph was at our house, Dee and Harold and Mike were driving in from KC, and Grammy, Daniel, Marmee and Bear were at their house.  We had plans to head over there for dinner and church, but then church got cancelled and dinner got postponed.  Sean got the fire going and cooked a lovely Christmas Eve dinner for Steph and I while we sang carols to the boys.

Christmas morning we got up and took photos of the boys with their stockings...

Evan, Ryan, Collin

Then braved the roads to get to Marmee and Bear's and see everyone.

Evan

Ryan

Collin

Ryan

Evan

We had a lovely Christmas and dinner, and the next day got to repeat the festivities when Grandma Susie and Grampa Pat, Uncle Eric and Aunt Kathleen came over here.  Definitely not the usual Christmas celebration, but fun nonetheless.  We can't wait until the boys are old enough to understand the holiday and enjoy the celebration, but on the other hand there were many comments about how different it would be with 3 toddlers...

Collin

The babies are such fun right now.  They are pretty much smiling non-stop, cooing, and even giggling or laughing a little.  I was nostalgic about their newborn stage, missing their tiny sleeping bodies, but I love this stage too!  They are still major cuddle bugs and just melt into you when held, and we still take naps together on the couch or pull one or more into bed with us when they wake up early.  I love the cuddles and snuggles!  And the smiles just melt your heart.

They are getting better at holding their heads up, they can sit when supported, or spend some time in the jumperoos, but it still has a short timespan.  The head issue caused me to pick up on something that I hadn't, Evan has Torticollis.  His head is always to the right.  He can move it to the left, he just doesn't.  And if his head is straight, or he is trying to hold it up, it eventually moves so he is facing right.  He has a very mild case, but his head is a little uneven from it already.  We're very optimistic that now that we have recognized it and can work on it he won't have any lasting effects.  When we went to the doctor about the Torticollis, I also asked him about the puffiness under Evan's left eye.  About 3 weeks ago it came up and looked like a bruise, so we put him on the far right in the crib to protect it from his whacking brothers.  It looked better, then worse, then better, etc. but never went away.  The doctor thinks it is a deep hemangioma, similar to Ryan's superficial one but underneath his skin.  Since it may be obscuring his vision he wants to address it by getting an ultrasound of it and then start him on medication (propanolol) for it.  We go in on Monday at 7:30 for the ultrasound downtown at Children's Hospital.  Good news is that both of these issues are pretty benign and once we address them shouldn't cause him any long term problems.  Especially important is that he is not in any pain or experiencing any discomfort from them... except for maybe now since I am constantly adjusting his head to look left!

Collin

Collin

That's the latest, the babies are enjoying their Christmas presents (thanks everyone!) and we are now officially in 3-6 months clothes and frantically using the last of our Size 1 diapers.  I put together a couple bags of their preemie, newborn, and 0-3 month clothes to take to Mercy's NICU where Collin and Ryan were for 8 and 9 days.  We were so excited when they could start wearing clothes after being under the bili lights and in the bili blankets, I hope other parents will think their babies are as cute in the clothes as ours were!