It's Hard to Believe

It is hard for me to believe that my babies are 4 months old.  Yes, they are 1/3 of the way through their first year.  This makes me sad some days because I know they are my last children but most of the time I am so happy that they are getting bigger and more interactive with us.  I neglected to put up a 3 month post so here are some pictures that I took at 3 months.  I don't have official weights or lengths but I think Zach was around 14 1/2 pounds and Jake was close to 16 pounds.

Zach

Jake

Uncle Danny was able to make it out for a quick visit and Olivia had a ton of fun with him.  They bonded over jumping on the bed and decorating her brothers with stickers.  Now, if only I could have gotten him to get up with the boys at night it would have been a perfect visit!

Never know what is going to happen when Uncle Danny comes!

Zach always stops smiling as soon as I raise the camera so I kind of caught a partial smile here.  He has the best wide open mouth smile ever.

Jake looks as if he's planning something here.

My boys

They are both really happy boys. Jake, in particular, wakes up with a huge smile on his face which sticks around most of the day as long as he is fed and gets adequate sleep.  For a stretch both boys slept through the night (7:30 to approximately 5ish) but now Jake is getting up at 3:30 which I suppose is better than 1 or 2.  He is usually up for good at about 6 or 6:30.  Zach, on the other hand, is getting up around 5 to eat and then wants to stay up.  Not fun.  He'll usually go back to sleep around 6:30 when Jake is getting up.  They have impeccable timing.

Both boys are still eating a ton but luckily I am still keeping up.  In fact, after having to defrost about 1 bag a day for about a week and a half after a clogged duct about a month and a half ago, I've actually been able to freeze a bunch more milk in the last couple of weeks.  I am so glad that I have been able to exclusively give them breastmilk though we do cheat and put some rice cereal in their bedtime bottles.  I think it helps Zach more than Jake.

I won't have their heights and weights until the end of next week at their check-up but here are some things they are doing.  At 4 months both boys are getting used to the Bumbo chair as they practice sitting up on their own.  We attempted giving both boys some rice cereal over the weekend without success.  Zach about gagged and Jake started screaming.  We'll try again in a few weeks but at least we have video to blackmail them in the future. 

Jake is blowing raspberries and talking up a storm both to himself and to others.  He's becoming very proficient at reaching out and grabbing at the toys that hang on the toy bar on his bouncy chair and he loves grabbing fingers and playing with them.  He has start belly laughing which is the best sound.  He still loves his sister - she was the first thing we ever heard him laugh at - and his pacifier.  Another paci kid.  Great.  You all know how I feel about that but whatever.  He is still the smiley one and is still a mama's boy.  He is a load and when he wants to be held all.the.time. my arms ache.  He has much better control of his head now but is still kind of spastic with his movements.  He scratches his forehead and the back of his head all the time to the point where he has scratch marks and irritated skin even though I keep his fingernails clipped as short as I can.  Jake also loves his baths.  Water in the face doesn't bother him in the least and I think he'd spend a lot more time in the tub if he could.

Jake, our happy boy

Zach started blowing raspberries before Jake and will still talk a lot but not as much as his brother.  He is kind of laughing but not the belly laugh yet.  He is close though.  Turns out that Z is our thumb sucker.  It has to be his left thumb though.  He has seemed to favor his left side so I'm wondering if he is going to be our southpaw.  He is trying to reach out for stuff but isn't quite there yet but you can see him concentrating so hard on it.  One major physical milestone that he has passed is rolling from front to back.  I walked into their bedroom one morning and he had rolled to his back.  It happened again a couple of nights later and now he does it all the time.  You can tell that he is so proud of himself but it becomes a problem when he pushes himself into a corner of the crib and can't roll out of it so starting the whining and crying for mom and dad (this inevitably happens at the most inopportune time).  He is drooling and gnawing like crazy so I wonder if he is going to be getting a tooth sooner than later.  Plus, he sports a sweet mohawk.

Zach getting ready to blow a raspberry.

"Hello there!"

Olivia is 3!

Olivia turned 3 a couple of weeks ago and we had a party for her with several of her friends able to make it. We had a lot of fun and her brothers enjoyed their first birthday party even though they both slept through part of it. We had lots of extra hands to hold them and I don't remember even seeing either one of them for a couple of hours. It was odd but kind of nice to have a break and let everyone else enjoy them. 

We opened presents after everyone had left and I didn't think to get pictures.  She got several Zhu Zhu pets and the Zhu Zhu pet princess castle and carriage, lots of stickers and activity books, one of those sit on bouncy balls (that she adores) and several other things.  We really need to get rid of some stuff to accommodate all the new items she received.

We got a bunch of balloons and pink and purple decorations

My sister and parents were able to come out for the party



The set up for our ice cream sundae bar!  We had chocolate, strawberry and caramel sauces, mini chocolate chips, marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles to top the ice cream as well as fruit and marshmallow cream dip to go along with the cake.

 

We were singing to her.  She wasn't quite sure she liked that.

She wanted a cake with pink and purple horses on it but the best I could come up with were My Little Pony decorations.  She picked out the other Minnie Mouse decorations to add to it.  It was kind of a strange themed party with a My Little Pony and Minnie Mouse cake, and Backyardigan, Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse balloons.



At 3, Olivia is going on 13.  I went into a lot about her in the previous post but some days the things she says make me wonder where she came from! I'll "blame" some of it on her father.  I can only imagine what she is going to be like as a teenager with the attitude she throws at us at times.  But all in all she is awesome.  She is a good kid and a great big sister.  I can't wait to see the girl/teenager/woman she will turn into.

The other big news in Olivia's world is that she is now pacifier free! Woohoo! I hated that thing. The Paci Pixie came a few days after her birthday and left her a present for giving up her pacifier. We put the pacifier in a bowl and left it just outside her bedroom door for the Pixie just like we left treats for Santa and the Easter Bunny. When O went to bed she didn't whine or ask for it once and hasn't since. It's been awesome. I didn't think it was going to be this easy! I think it helped that she could understand what was going on and was (kind of) ready for it.

One last picture of her with her pacifier.  We also removed the barriers on her bed so now she is in the "day bed" set up.

The day before O's party our friends Andi and Kyle had a 2nd birthday party for their son Landon.  It was at our local splash pad and we had a really fun time.  O loves going to parks but still isn't quite sure about the water.  We can't get her to get her face wet at all.  I am not looking forward to ever getting her into swimming lessons!



Landon got Elmo and Cookie Monster cakes.  He loved the singing and wanted us to sing more so we sang "Happy Birthday" twice.

Ashlee enjoyed her Elmo cupcake!

So did Olivia.  She even had some Cookie Monster cupcake too.  She has a sweet tooth just like her mom.