PHOTOS!

We've always done mall studios for Averie's milestone pictures but we've seen a lot of our friends going to a place called FotoFly recently and we decided to check it out.  Our photographer was so energetic, took a TON of shots (which I loved, because sometimes that half-second difference between clicks can be the difference between a sour face or a smile on a little one!).  

These are only about half of all the ones we loved and ordered prints of, so I'll just say that I don't think we'll be going back to the mall anytime soon! 

Declan -- 4 Months!

So I was in a blogging funk for awhile there and didn’t get Declan’s 3-month post up.  A few tidbits that he did while he was 3 months:

Sleeping 10 hour stretches at night

Grew into his 3 month clothes (just as he was supposed to be growing out of them! :P)

Laughing! 

Rolled over from belly to back with no assistance

OK, now onto the 4 months!  

I’m still late even on that one, still kind of in the funk, but I can’t get even further behind than I am now!  

Declan now rolls from back to belly and his head control is SO much better, but I think sitting independently will still be a ways off because he is still a bit bobbly-headed when upright.

He is already babbling some.  Maybe this is the normal age, but Averie didn’t do it consistently until closer to 8 months, which now we realize may have been an early sign of her speech delay, but since she was our first and I don’t really keep up on the milestone charts, it seemed fine to us.  Anyway!

He is still a great sleeper.  What a relief, because I am absolutely worn out by the end of the day.  He falls asleep for his naps by himself now!  No tears, rocking, bottle!  Averie didn’t fall asleep by herself until she was past 6 months but with a noisy toddler in the house, we needed to figure out something for Declan sooner because Averie was always waking him up when he would finally drift off out here.  And I'm not comfortable with CIO (cry it out) this early so I was glad it didn't come to that.

This is the time we started rice cereal and other solids for Averie, but she had reflux which Declan does not, so I think we will wait a bit longer.  

Declan also got his first tooth!  I swear we didn’t even know it was coming yet – he’s been chewing on his hands and drooling like a faucet for weeks, but he wasn’t any fussier than usual, and then, that little tooth was just there!

He is in size 1 diapers and 0 to 3 month clothes.  His 0-3 month pants are too short, but the 6 month ones won’t stay up so I will just have to get over my hang-up about too-short pants!

Due to a scheduling delay at the pediatrician’s office, he won’t have his 4-month well-baby-visit for another week, so I will have to have a separate post for his stats.

OK, some more visual interest now! 

Sleepy

The cutest frown in the world

Obviously didn't last long

A little drunk

Grandpa pants!

Hmmmm...

Peace

Super baby

:)

4th of July

For the 4th, we headed down to Orem to visit and hang out with our old neighbors/still good friends.  It's been a scorcher of a week so we were pretty excited to hang out in the pool and cool off.  Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead so all I have of the evening are a couple mediocre phone pictures.

Averie hasn't been in a pool since our vacation last year and to say she was not a fan then would be an understatement.  This year though, she LOVED the pool!  She was jumping in off the edge, getting her face in the water and paddling and kicking like a natural!  We weren't planning to enroll Averie in swim lessons until next year, but after watching her yesterday, we're going to start her in them as soon as we can after her 3rd birthday (the parent-child classes for kids under 3 sound like they would be a little boring for her).  

Declan lounged in his pool float the whole time and drifted off to sleep despite all the splashing near him. 

Averie and Ethan became best buds while we lived in Orem, and it is so fun to see how they just pick right up where they left off when they get together again.  Ethan had a speech delay as well but is talking some now and pronounces Averie's name "wee-wee".  It. Is. Adorable (and hilarious :D).  I snapped this picture of them last night and I just can't get over his cute expression.

We did the responsible thing and skipped out on fireworks because of the recent fires in the area (plus, while I do generally enjoy seeing them, I didn't feel like figuratively setting hundreds of dollars on fire ;-)).  Plus, two kids in the pool = two exhausted parents at the end of the day!  Thanks, Allen and Morgan for an awesome celebration!

Kids on the Move, Round 2

A couple months ago, before Declan was born, we finally had KOTM out to the house to evaluate Averie again for her speech delay.  As with the first evaluation in July last year, she was on track for social development and motor skills, her receptive speech was at the advanced level (95th percentile), and her expressive speech was practically nil -- 4th percentile, which means she only speaks as much as or more than 4% of her kids her age.

Chris and I have been wondering in particular about the possibility of speech apraxia as the cause of her delay.  Apraxia is a neurological disorder where there is a disconnect between the brain and the muscles that move the mouth to form a word.  One of the hallmarks of it is advanced receptive speech, and severely delayed expressive speech, which fits Averie to a T.  We still haven't reached an official diagnosis, so it may be apraxia, a general articulation disorder or something else entirely.

We've been meeting with a developmental therapist twice a month since April, and we've just started meeting with a speech-language pathologist and we'll see her twice a month as well. 

Averie is doing well with imitating sounds and even though the sound/word she produced can be wildly different from what she is trying to say (another common sign of apraxia), at least she is trying.  That's more than we could say a couple months ago!  Maybe dropping the binky habit will help, too. 

At the very least, she'll continue in the KOTM program until she turns 3 years old, then she will be re-evaluated by the local school district.  If she still qualifies for services, she'll be eligible to attend their special preschool where she'll continue to receive therapy. 

Some days are quite discouraging, and I wonder if it will be months, or even years, before she can say "I love you, Mommy!" or tell me about all the places her imagination takes her.  Somebody smack me if, one day, I complain about her talking my ear off because I need to be reminded to not take those words for granted.

Bye-Bye, Binky!

We won't have any more pictures like this!

There is no greater love than that between Averie and her binky.  Or should I say, was. She has taken a pacifier since night one in the hospital and if you've seen the pictures I post of her, I'm sure you've noticed the ever-present binky leash clipped to her shirt.

But Saturday morning, after the ride home from her Little Gym class, Averie voluntarily handed over her pacifier.  Chris and I have lost count of the number of times we’ve tried and the number of plans we’ve come up with to wean her from it, so we silently jumped for joy and put it up out of sight to avoid temptation.

To our surprise, she only asked for her "beeeee" a few times during the remainder of the day and when we distracted her or told her she didn’t need it, that was it. 

We were dreading putting her to bed without it, but again, after tons (TONS) of reassurance, and tucking her in with all five of her bunnies, she drifted off without the binky, and slept all night without a peep!  One nap and one more bedtime later, I think it’s safe to say she is officially weaned off the pacifier!

This is one baby phase that I'm not sad to see go, but  it’s just another sign that my baby girl is growing up into a little girl!  I'm so proud of her for doing it by herself!

Declan -- 2 Months!

Declan is 2 months old (a week and a half ago) – finding a minute (or thirty) to post “on time” with two kids is kinda tough!

He is still holding his head up just barely during tummy time.  We spoke to the pediatrician about it and it seems Averie likely just had advanced head control, but none of us are worried about it because his head is pretty huge in relation to his body, and he does have good control when “sitting” or being held.   He started smiling at the end of May, but it took until just the other day to get one on camera.  I couldn’t choose just one, or even two....  How can you NOT grin back?

Declan outgrew his newborn clothes lengthwise a few weeks ago, but the 0 to 3 months things are still swimming on him.  At least we have already run the clothes gamut with Averie and know what brands work for our long, skinny kids.

We could fit two of him in there, but his toes are almost at the end already!

He is in size 1 diapers (still big on him!) and drinking 4.5 to 4.75 ounces (yes, it’s that precise!) of formula every 3ish hours, except at night when he sleeps 9 hours (woohoo!!!!).  I stopped pumping at the end of May also and my frozen milk stash just barely ran out!  He is doing great on just formula now, which is a big relief. 

Declan hates his car seat, loud noises and tummy time.  He loves bathtime, music, and being cuddled (to which we happily oblige).

We have been trying to move up his bedtime but it’s slow going.  We’ve made it to 11 PM a few times now that we know his “tricks” – swaddle, feed last bit of bottle, lay down, turn on seahorse.  A couple nights ago, he fell asleep all on his own (we put him in his bed drowsy but awake) without his pacifier, so hopefully weaning him from it won't be the fight that it is/has been with Averie. 

2 Month Stats

Weight: 11 lbs, 2 oz (10^th percentile)

Height: 24 ¼ inches (95^th percentile)

Head: 41 cm (95^th percentile)

Declan's Birth Announcement

Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Credit goes to my awesome brother-in-law David for the beautiful pictures!

Declan -- 1 Month! (Belated)

Declan turned 1 month old last week!  He had an appointment at the pediatrician the previous Monday and he is 8 lbs, 15 oz (no updated length).  He’s a pretty tiny little peanut by our standards, seeing as Averie outweighed him by a pound at this stage, so we’ll be keeping an eye on that.  I think it may have something to do with my overabundance of milk -- perhaps not as calorie-rich? -- but since he’s gaining just enough, the pediatrician isn’t concerned yet and I’ll keep giving it to him for all those immunities.  He’ll need them considering the number of times Averie has sneezed on him…

His kidneys were slightly dilated on my ultrasounds during the pregnancy so we followed up on those last week.  The left kidney resolved itself and is no longer dilated, but the right one still is.  He had some tests done at Primary Children’s and they found that the right one has an obstruction.   It may work itself out over time but if not, he will have to have surgery in a few months.  The idea of putting an infant under general anesthesia is a little bit terrifying for me, so we are praying it clears up on its own!

As for that “does lightning strike twice?” post awhile back -- well, it seems like it does!  Declan has been consistently sleeping about 7 hours per night since he was about 2 weeks old.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t go to bed until late (we’re talking midnight) -- much like a certain big sister did as a newborn herself -- but once he’s asleep, he’s asleep!  It takes me awhile to fall asleep though so I’d rather have a late bedtime with longer stretches than earlier with more wake-ups anyway.  We’ll just work on getting him to an earlier bedtime, but he fits pretty well into our night owl family :-).

He’s still in newborn clothes and, at his current rate, he’ll be in them for awhile yet, but he’s pushing the limits of the newborn diapers.  

Declan hates tummy time more than Averie ever did but has lifted his head slightly a number of times.  He loves his playmat though and Averie is happy to lay down with him and point out the moving shapes.

Now for some pictures that we've taken over the last month!

2nd day home

 

Not happy!

Hey.  Wake up.

There! I lifted my head. Now leave me alone.

Trying to crawl away? :P

Big sister love

Helping

So peaceful

Who's that?!

Eyes wide open!

She adores him

Finally got him to cooperate holding her hand.  Love their expressions

It's Official

I’m a college graduate.  It only took 8 years and a million dollars in grants and student loans (only a slight exaggeration) but a degree in Business Management is now mine. 

Business Management wasn’t actually my original plan.  That was Accounting.  But Accounting requires a passing grade in Calculus and the semester when I took attempted to take Calculus was the same time when I started experiencing symptoms of what would later be my multiple sclerosis diagnosis (kinda rhyme-y there!), and I dropped the course.  I took all the courses for an accounting degree, EXCEPT that one and, well, I don’t much care, because even though my diploma will say something different, I know I know my stuff.  *Childish Calculus rant*  I hate calculus!  Accounting is truly just arithmetic.  The last time I calculated a trial balance on the ledger, and completed my employer’s quarterly tax filings, I did not need to know how to find the peak velocity of a ball originally thrown at a speed of 37 mph (or something like that) so there!  *End rant*  

It feels good to be done.  It's been a long time coming but having kids and working full-time over those 8 years certainly will drag the process out!  And I was actually done 5 months ago, but I have also earned a degree in Procrastination (I'll leave that one off my resume though), which came in handy when actually applying for graduation :-D. 

Also, did you know Utah Valley University charges you $20 to graduate?  Even if you’re not walking?  You'd think that might be built into the thousands of dollars I already paid them to get here....

How we're doing...

This post is just as the title says -- an update on us!

Chris...

Is loving his new job.  EMC is a much better environment than his previous two jobs and I love that he has a job that he is happy to go to!  Of course we miss each other and he misses the kids, but having a good job makes the time apart a little more bearable :).  They have been incredibly generous with time off since we had Declan and just everything about the company so far is great.  He can really see having a long-term career with them, which he hasn't been able to say about a job in several years!

Meghan...

Waited and waited for the horrible C-section recovery I was warned about but it never came and now at more than three weeks postpartum, I think I’m in the clear.  Just two days after my discharge from the hospital, Chris, the kids and I spent an entire day out and about, running errands, visiting friends, etc.  I was walking around for a good 8 hours and I felt fantastic the entire time.  Can’t say that about my recovery with Averie!  I’m below my pre-pregnancy weight and have been back in all my regular clothes again for a couple weeks. 

Chris and I had originally planned to formula-feed Declan from the start as I will be starting my MS medication soon, but I never struggled with nursing Averie and it seemed like such a waste, so I decided to nurse him for a short time.  And I’m almost producing enough for two babies so in 3 weeks, I’ve already built up a freezer stash of over 300 ounces!  Maybe by the time I stop in a few weeks, I’ll have a whole month’s worth of feedings stored!

Averie...

She insisted on holding him all by herself, and did a great job!

Is a great big sister.  Better than I expected since she does have a speech delay and I worried she wouldn’t understand when I had to put her off to tend to Declan.  Sometimes her help is not always so helpful – like a little over-eagerness to get Declan’s bottle in his mouth, or trying to pick him up herself when he is crying (maybe once his neck is a little stronger!) – but I try to remember that she has good intentions.  Thankfully, we haven’t really had more acting out than we had to begin with, so that’s been nice. 

She has just started receiving therapy from Kids On the Move and she is already imitating sounds!  Based on her evaluation scores, her pediatrician does think speech apraxia is a distinct possibility as the cause of her delay.  If that is the case, we probably have a long road ahead of us, but seeing her already start to take off just makes my heart sing and I’m so glad we finally got everything started.

Declan...

Finally beat his nasty case of jaundice.  We didn’t have to resort to the phototherapy lights with him since leaving the hospital (which is nice because Declan sleeps in our room and those bili beds are BRIGHT!), although we did feed formula-only for a weekend on the advice of the pediatrician and that seems to have flushed out the rest of the bilirubin.  He’s already holding his head up for up to a minute at a time!

He loves to sleep which makes Chris and me happy!  One night, he slept nine hours straight!  That one was a fluke because he hasn’t done it again since, but we are regularly getting 6 to 7 hours in a single stretch now, and he’s almost always asleep for at least part of Averie’s nap so I can sleep too, or at least just rest.  

We are loving life as a family of four!