So it wasn't really a New Year's resolution to start blogging again, but it is working out that way so far. While I figure I'll be updating with Keatonisms more regularly, I also know that my need to write has gotten overlooked, and I need that outlet again. I tend to let everything sit inside me until I become overwhelmed and anxious. It's not a good way to be. Here's what's been up lately.
Ideally, Christmas 2013 would have gone like this: Open our gifts from Santa, pack up the van, head to Kansas. Instead, Keaton got pneumonia the Monday before. The poor kid was hacking and coughing, with a low grade fever most of the day (coupled with nightmares every night). We decided to try heading to Kansas on Thursday instead. We set up a tent for him with a humidifier and let him watch movies and play, hoping to help with the cough, but also keep him separated from his brothers. That didn't work. Nik started getting a bad, deep cough on Christmas evening. I worried myself silly, knowing he was getting pneumonia, thinking about his little preemie lungs and what might happen to him. I found myself on the phone with the pediatrician at 1:30 in the morning, terrified we would end up in the ER. Luckily we didn't.
Thursday we were cleared to go to Kansas, since Nik didn't have pneumonia, and Keaton was on antibiotics. I actually had reservations about it, but the pediatrician we saw encouraged us to "go, do!" so we went and did. We left Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Des Moines. We finally made it to Kansas Friday afternoon. That day, Rowan got the virus. We spent most of the time in Kansas either taking care of sick children, or making our family members sick. Seriously, I think we gave at least a little bit to just about everyone we saw. Not really what we wanted to hand out for Christmas this year.
We are all finally over it (Casey came out unscathed, although I'm not sure how. Maybe it was because he was sick two weeks prior to our little virus... I dunno. I was thankful he was home to take care of all of us without having to take off work. It was work nonetheless.).
In other news, I'm sure there's a ton to catch up on with the boys. Keaton is growing up to be such a sweet, smart, considerate boy. He's slowly transitioning from the horrible 3s (or whatever you call those) and into this almost four year old smarty pants. I'll admit, sometimes his long list of questions gets to me after awhile, when it's rapid-fire style and wanting to know everything about anything that we are talking about, whether he should or not. But he's a very sensitive little guy, in the best way. He really cares. He's such an amazing big brother, and I will forever be thankful that we had a 3 year gap between the kids. He proves daily that he's going to be their protector, entertainer, and friend.
The twins change every day. Rowan has 6 teeth (maybe more, but he's a biter, so I tend not to stick my fingers in to search around. I've learned, over time. There's hope for me yet!). Rowan's hair is constantly having a party... I can't control it. I try to tame it, but it's not worth the effort these days. I want so badly to cut it, but everyone tells me it's "cute". My kids will not have mullets, so I suppose that will be the day I cut it or have someone else cut it. We'll see! Rowan can now say Hi, Hey, Mama, Dada (his absolute favorite word and person in the whole wide world!), Baba (for Big Brother, we think), and Yeah!!! (more like Yayayayayayaahhh!). And now... he crawls, as of Tuesday. Forward crawls, I should say. He was backward scooting for a few weeks now, and he loves to get stuck under the couch. He could back himself up and then sit up, which has proven to be entertaining and terrifying as he reaches for cords, cups, and decides to pull the baby gate over on himself. Luckily he wasn't hurt. He's going to be the go-getter, I think.
Nik, on the other hand, reminds me a lot of Keaton as a baby. He is content sitting where he is, analyzing his toys, looking at fine details, and having visible reactions to facial expressions. He's still the more animated of the two. And he still eats more than Rowan, yet is still smaller by almost half a pound. He is sweet and flirtatious. He's a bit of a Mama's boy, but I'm TOTALLY okay with that. He'd rather be held than try to pick himself up and crawl like Rowan does. He dives for me if I'm anywhere near him on the floor. He's a better sleeper than Rowan. He can now say Hi, Hey, Mama, Dada, More (just learned this yesterday!), Nana... I'm sure I'm forgetting something here. He is very conversational, and I am pretty sure he thinks we understand what he's saying. He makes funny inflections in his voice like he's trying to tell us something very important. He caught up with Rowan and has 6 teeth as well. He really likes to 'share', and will regularly give away his toys or food.
Both boys like to feed themselves, and can't get enough of the little cereal puffs and Cheerios. They are fun to watch. Nik, who never seems to be full, learned "more" yesterday when we were eating puffs and he kept trying to attack me to get some. I said, "Do you want more?" and he tried repeating it. I'm still surprised either of them talk at all, because Keaton talks so much! But it's going to be fun to hear the conversations between all of them in the near future. We are having a fun, chaotic time around here.
Casey and I are doing our best to stay afloat here with all these energetic boys. After the virus hit our house, the little guys still aren't sleeping so great and have been waking up coughing throughout the night. They also think they need their nighttime feeding again, which has made it tough to stop nursing because they are a bit unpredictable. I nursed them more while they were sick, and the pediatrician thinks that may be one reason they didn't get full-blown pneumonia (thank goodness, although I'm not entirely sure how that works... but I'm thankful either way). They will be ELEVEN months old in TEN days. That also means I've been nursing, with the exception of the time they were in the NICU, for almost eleven months. I am both proud of myself, and ready to stop. It's tough to do these days. I made it farther than I ever thought I would, but I think it's probably time to start weening them and getting them ready for regular milk. I know there will probably have to be a bit of a delay since they were preemies, but I'm anxious to hear what the pediatrician will say about it. They are only a tiny bit behind in eating solids, and prove to have a little bit of a food aversion to anything thicker than applesauce (with the exception of dry cereal, of course). I tried giving them stage 3 food and they both gag and choke. We'll get there.
So I'm sure I've missed a ton of things, and for that I am sorry. I hope to try and update this more often. I always say that, but I really mean it. I have a problem with forgetting things if they aren't staring me in the face (don't even ask me about laundry right now) so I'll do my best to start getting back into the habit of updating whenever life will allow... which is hopefully a bit more often.
Until next time,
Ash
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