18 weeks, (4 month check up), & Keatonisms

Keatonisms from the past week:

(He's a little obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...)
Casey: "It's like mini lettuce."
K: "It's like Daisy lettuce."

Keaton, to me, because I put my hair back in a ponytail: "You look purdy. You look like Daisy's ponytail on TV."
**

Me, to Casey: "Is that kid in Hot Tub Time Machine?"
Keaton, the parrot: "Why is that kid in hot tub sound machine?"

Keaton asked me a question, and I didn't know the answer. "Is that a Daddy question?" (Most of them are...)

While picking up pizza the other night, Keaton yelled this out in front of the restaurant: "Wow look! It's a big pizza picture! Let's take our ceiling fan down and put the pizza where the fan is!" ??

Daft Punk song Get Lucky was on the radio (oops) and he listened for a second. "Why is he saying Mexican lucky?"

Frustrated because he was not listening to me:
Me: "When are you going to listen to me?"
K: "Tomorrow." :-P

Me: "Your shorts are on backwards."
K: (Does a 180° turn) "Now they're the right direction!"

Keaton went from calling Nikolas "Nik" to "Nickel" and now..."coin". Lol

Personal fave: "Mommy, are you sweet or spicy?"

 *****

After a night of intense cluster feeding (Read: I saw the clock every single hour last Tuesday night, which brought back memories of bed rest), the boys were apparently binging for their weigh-in Wednesday at the Pediatrician: 4 month checkup stats: Nik is 10 lbs 9.5 oz, 22 3/8 inches...Rowan is 10 lbs 11 oz, 22.5 inches. They are only on a growth chart for head circumference (2 and 3%, respectively)...but it's the first growth chart they've hit so far! They are making great strides to catch up, and are more than triple their birth weight! They are gaining at least an ounce each day, so they must be about 11 lbs this week. AND, I no longer have to boost their bottles with formula... in reality I hadn't been giving them bottles twice a day as I should have been anyway, and they are still packing on the pounds, so Dr. Tang told us we are in the clear and no longer need to do supplemental bottles if we didn't want to. WOOOO HOOO!!!!! (Nursing moment ahead, just to warn you.) I do not mean to sound (fill in the word with whatever adjective you'd like) here, but I am so glad not to have to do bottles anymore. Nursing is so much easier in my opinion, and I'm glad not to have to clean bottles all the time. They were taking over my sink and drying rack. I am really glad that both boys took to it, and that we are having success. I will do it as long as I possibly can. I thought it would be impossible with two, but what I am finding out currently is that not much is impossible with these two. Difficult, yes. Tiring, yes. But not impossible. So we're going to just keep going.

Keaton is absolutely awesome with them. He loves them so much, in fact, that he is starting to get protective of them from US. Yesterday after Casey got home from work and was spending time with all three boys, Keaton got upset with him because it was "his turn" to talk to his brother. He sits in the middle seat in the minivan, with one brother on each side, and holds their hands. He was basically helping me parent them yesterday. And I have cute video of him 'reading' to Rowan, which was too adorable for words. I need to get that on YouTube ASAP. It melts my heart whenever I see him interact with them, and especially when they smile and interact back with him. He loves to entertain them. Yesterday he was sitting with Rowan while Nik napped (because usually while one is awake, the other is sleeping) and I ran to the mud room to get some batteries. I heard Rowan belly laughing, harder than I had ever heard him laugh before, at Keaton. It was absolutely precious. I wish I could have gotten that on video, too, but I'd need a reality TV crew in here to really capture all the little fun moments the brothers have together. They are too much fun. I really feel like things are finally starting to seem... dare I say... easier? They aren't crying as often, are awake and aware, are becoming less 'bobble-head' and more controlled with their movements. They are very opposite, in that Nik makes more facial expressions and may or may not be a bit on the fussy side, comparatively, where Ro is very laid-back and smiley. He doesn't open his eyes as wide as Nik (which is one way I can tell them apart), but he really only seems to get upset if he's tired/overstimulated, or has an upset tummy. Nik, on the other hand, is my wild card. He is very happy and smiley one minute, and the next he is having a meltdown. This could be interesting as time goes by! But they are no more like they were in the womb, and more like I thought they would be. either way, they are very fun little dudes, with an amazing big brother. We are enjoying our boys. :-D

Last night, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the second time since we moved here. I am officially a fan. I never thought I'd be a hockey fan, but I can't help myself. I don't know much about the sport- still learning the rules, etc., but I DO know that I would never want to be an NHL referee... being on ice, without pads, around all those big, burly dudes slamming into each other with all that testosterone... NO THANKS. I've got enough testosterone in my little house with my boys.Keaton tried tackling me the other day and I was ready to tap out. I've gotta get a bit tougher before they all start wrestling each other!

Well, I suppose that's about all for now. Fun times around here. I am homesick and ready for our big Kansas trip soon. In fact, I'm pretty sure I left my brain there in November. So ready to be home!!!

-Ash

17 weeks old, more Keatonisms

Our chunky little men are triple their birth weight now, and are doing wonderfully. Smiles, coos, and even laughs are frequent around here now. Keaton loves when they do any of the above. They still sleep quite a bit, and cry less and less all the time. I am still waking up at least twice a night to feed them, but they seem to be stretching their feedings out to about 3.5 hours now, so I get more solid bits of sleep... usually. It feels like I blink and they are awake again to eat, which makes the night fly by, but the day kind of drag on sometimes. It's good, though. They love to be swaddled and put in their swings, and they will take extended naps (usually) while doing so, so I have been able to get a tiny bit more done around here. Soon, though, they will start getting mobile. I find myself having small moments of panic over this. How will I manage going out and doing the things I do now when they are bigger, moving, and awake more often? It is anxiety-inducing sometimes. I know we will get through it, and I know it won't happen overnight, so I'm grateful for that. I am just becoming more aware that this may be the easiest stage in general. So glad for gradual transitions when it comes to having three kiddos.

The countdown begins... 15 days until we leave for Kansas! I am already there mentally, and have been for some time. I believe the 14 weeks of bed rest and knowing that I couldn't be home for Christmas this year really threw a wrench in my system. I miss being home. I really can't wait to bring the boys home and have them meet their extended family. And we get to be home for almost 2 weeks, so I'm really excited to have time to plan things out and maybe even relax a little bit. Casey will be gone to the UK for one of those weeks, so it allows the boys and I to stay a little longer. I can't imagine a week here in IL without Casey! He's got a lot of travel plans coming up before the end of the year, so I'm hoping to enlist help either here or at home during those crazy times. It seems like every week, someone at work wants him to go on another trip or conference. I'm glad he's a hot commodity, but I also know it's hard for him to be away so often from the boys, especially while they are so small and change so much. We'll make it through, though.

Keith & De came up this past weekend, and help us paint the bedroom in the basement. I really like the color a lot, and Casey and I only have one more coat to do before we are finished with that room and can start on the bathroom. This time a week ago, we barely had drywall... now we have an almost completely finished room! It's exciting. By Fall, we should have a finished basement. It's come a long way in 5 years!

Father's Day went well, I think. Casey was excited about his gifts, and just as excited as I was about the Periodic table of elements board game I got him (which is a lot like Scrabble, only you make words with the symbols from the elements). We had a fun brunch with the Hetricks at Eggs, Inc in Bolingbrook before they flew home. I'm glad they were able to come help, and I'm glad Casey enjoyed his day. :-)

Keatonisms, as promised:

We were at Home Depot with Keith and De, and I was pushing Keaton in the cart. We went past some multicolored duct tape. One of the rolls of tape had mustaches on it, and I pointed it out to him.
Keaton: "Nana has a mustache like that!" (????) Later: "Nana drives a mustache like that!" Then it hit me- Nana just bought a new Mustang, and Keaton got the words confused!

Keaton was counting how many adults and children their were in our group. "There are four adults. Daddy, Mommy, Nana, and Papa." I asked how many kids there were. "Four- Keaton, Nik, Rowan, and Papa."

I put one of my old shirts on Keaton so he could hang out in the basement while De and Casey were painting. I thought it was funny that he was wearing my old t-shirt from ~4th or 5th grade.
Me: "Keaton, can I take a picture of you wearing my shirt?"
Keaton: "No, today is not a picture day."

Random: "Papa is a workin' man!"

Me, to Casey, about wanting to paint the bathroom downstairs but not knowing how to do it by myself while at home with the twins: "I'm not sure how to paint."
Keaton: "You use a paintbrush, Mommy."

"Tooty Fruity is my favorite. I like fruits, but I don't like toots."

Keaton: "My airplanes are invertibrates."
Me, mind blown that he even knew how to say that word. "No they aren't, honey."
Keaton: "But they don't have any bones!" (Can you tell my kid enjoys school??)

Until later!

-Ash