3 months old

Kaili is 3 months old today!
He is around 12 lbs now, having more than doubled his weight. He respnds with smiles, coos, and possible giggles when you talk to him! He's been practicing his squeals, sitting up in his Bumbo seat and rolling in bed (on the soft mattress). He has found his hands and thinks they are a snack. He kicks his feet intentionally at his playmat and bouncy seat to initiate the music and of course to splash in the bath! He can see further and follows movement with his gaze! He is sleeping better on his own in the crib or bassinet for naps and parts of the night. Still mostly in our bed though. He's developed a bad case of cradle cap on the whole top of his head, and I've noticed some excema patches...just like Adrian had. All is going well and he continues to grow as a happy baby! He fits into 3-6 month clothes and is outgrowing 0-3 month now, and definetely no longer fits in newborn anything. He's a fidgety baby, always tapping his fingers and moving, even in his sleep. I love his long lashes, his immediete smiles when he wakes up or recognizes me when I get home from work, and how he's starting to smile at his brother and follow him with his gaze!

First week to work went well. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Half Day Friday! Lunch breaks to see the boys and making time to pump at work keeps them in the front of my mind and most important. Liza watched them on Wednesday and Grandpa Tim on the other days. Next week, Liza can't watch them, but Grandpa Tim and Patti will be watching them.

Now for Christmas!!! Adrian keeps saying 'I'm so 'cited mom!!" Me too!

Loving Life and Baths

I love re-experiencing all the little things again as Kaili learns new tricks...splashing in the bath, cooing, laughing....He's loving it and so am I. Adrian gets to re-experience it as I tell him the stories of how he learned how to be a big boy too!
We are going ice skating today and I have a massage scheduled for 7pm this evening...enjoying my last weekend of maternity leave to its fullest.

The countdown begins...

Christmas Shopping

Christmas shopping is almost done...it's not going to be a crazy shopping spree year as I am on maternity leave and we didn't budget cash for Christmas and really who needs more stuff anyway. Adrian wanted to get his cousins and his friends some gifts and is making gifts for his
Grandma's. He picked out and wrapped a toy for his brother and and wrapped a present for his daddy. He even wrapped a present for himself: a glow in the dark sword from the dollar store. So cute! Barry's getting me a remote start for the van so I Can heat it up without leaving the house in the morning :) He got some new Keens and camping gear at the REI Garage sale and a PS3/Blu Ray DVD Player on Black Friday so that is his Christmas..we'll just have to repackage and wrap them up and put them under the tree.

Speaking of the tree, we love our tree and our new ornaments! We found more candy coane ornaments at the dollar store, and thomas the train xmas wrapping paper too! We have a signing chipmunk and snoopy playing the piano that Adrian likes to push on over and over again. The Chipmunk sings "I'm getting nothing for Christmas, Mommy and Daddy are mad, I'm getting nothing for Christmas, cuz Ive been nothing but bad." Adrian asks what the chipmunk did that was bad to his little brother and what the chipmunk's name is.

The baby still has a cough...doctors say no medicine since he's to young..just wait it out. He at least hasn't had any fevers and is breathing just fine. Adrian got over the cold a few days ago. I still have a cough, stuffy and sore throat. I went tot he clinic yesterday since it had been 10 days...got an inhaler since my chest was tight but gonna just wait it out and hope it goes away soon.

Going back to work on Dec 20th so I've started having anxiety dreams about work, clients, and babysitters. I have my childcare situation worked out but still tying up loose ends and finalizing details. My coworker Liza will be watching the boys Mon, Wed, Fri. Grandma Biss and Grandpa Tim will be watching them at the house on Tue/Thurs.

I still don't sleep well as it is and am up every night 2-5 times. Although Kaili might be asleep I'm still awake for who knows why. The last thing I need is a sleeping disorder. At least Adrian still sleep through the night, ever since we got him his big boy bed and memory foam mattress. Kaili still sleeps with us. He sometimes naps in his crib for a 1/2 hour but sleeps best in his swing or bassinet, and best in your arms :) Kaili's new tricks are grabbing at toys and blankies and his binky...chewing on his hands...more vocalizing and active intentional kicking in his bouncy chair.

Did Santa come yet?

"Oh my darling" and "oh my goodness" and "you don't want to miss this" are some new sayings from my 3 year old who never stops talking. He's talking to himself, his imaginary friends or his parents but always talking. "You hurt my feelings" is another one that he has started using, sometimes valid and sometimes to try to get out of timeout.
He's as clumsy as me...always biting his tongue and stubbing his toes. Poor thing. Hopefully he's just growing and getting used to his body.
Imaginary friends have stockings by the fireplace. He received a letter from santa and also wrote a wish list to santa. He wrote "Dear Santa, I want a sled please. Dear Santa, I want a kite. Dear Santa, I want a beautiful batteries and games" (for his Leapster 2). THen he added also a paddle ball toy.

This morning he was making a sled from string. He has been cutting up egg cartons and making 'buckets' "for all my friends." He wants to send Christmas cards to all his friends now that we've started receiving some. He's so excited...he's memorized what everyone's stocking looks like and quizzes me about it.

We have been sick since last weekend. It's a nasty cough, runny nose, and congestion. I also had body aches, headaches, and Barry had nausea also. BBlehh. Glad I'm off to take care of the babies when they're sick and also to get better myself. Adrian had his flu shot this year but we still haven't and the baby's too young. We did go to the doctor for Adrian since he was starting to show some asthma symptoms or reactive airway disorder? signs as he's not diagnosed asthmatic technically, just treated as such. He was fine though and they said that benadryl would dry up the postnasal drainage so that he wouldn't cough as much. It worked and he's been feeling much better for the last couple days except is still coughing off and on. The baby can't take any medicine and so I've been doing saline rinses and using his booger sucker often, as well as the humidifiers and holding him lots....aka all night long so that he sleeps in more of a sit up position. He's eating less often so hopefully he's eating more at these feedings and staying full longer. He's happy otherwise. I weighed him by holding him on the scale and subtracting that from what I weigh and it said 11 lbs....so if that's accurate then he's definitely still gaining weight :)

How Many Days Till Christmas?

That is the new question!
We pulled out our decorations on Friday and Adrian since then has been asking all sorts of questions about Christmas and Santa. Why does he come down the chimney? We have hung our stockings and also Ogo and Oscar the Fox's next to Adrian's!

On Saturday we went Ornament shopping. The baby had to have a first year ornament with his picture like Adrian. And we also added some more to our collection with Hobby Lobby's half off sale. Adrian's favorite color is green and so he got two green ornaments and a red strand of lights for the mini tree in his room. You should have seen the expression of surprise and joy on his face when I plugged in the lights!

We bought a "Charlie Brown" Christmas Tree from McCoy's Tree Lot today! We set it up on the train table and we set up his Santa Express train underneath. We were so excited that we baked some sugar cookies too.

November is almost over....but we have food until the end of the month.

The van is wonderful...so much room, a 6 cd player, automatic doors, a cool blue color :)
I have noticed that there is a slight scraping after it is turned on and after shifting into second. I'll have to ask them to check it out when I go to the dealership to get it detailed.

Kaili is now 2 months old as of 11/23/11 on Wednesday! He talks a lot...coos...he smiles more and especially in the morning time when he wakes up. He is getting stronger and holding his head up for longer periods. He is super fussy lately with tummy gas aches :( We're using gripe water and simethicone drops. He had his first shots...the first shots since we start them when they're born or at the two week appt at his 2 month well check. He was 9lbs 10oz (4th percentile) on 11/18/11. He was 22 1/4 (24th percentile) inches long. Head circumference is small at 14.25 in (1st percentile) but Adrian's was always small too when he was an infant. We got the Dtap, Polio, Hib, rotavirus and pneumoncoccal conjugate vaccines. I've been keeping up on the baby's memory calender and might start his photo book soon...instead of doing a scrapbook.

Adrian getting his name down!! He can write it and say the letters...although he sometimes trades his I for a T. He continues to get smarter and therefore more manipulative...he snuck chocolate the other day when told only one, ran away and snuck it then (here was his mistake) proclaimed "haha momma...I ate it." I made him spit it and then he got in trouble. We're learning one step at a time.
He loves playdates with his friend William and seeing his cousins at family dinner!

It's winter and so as soon as everyone is feeling better someone else catches and spreads something else. So far we have not landed in the ER and only had to use our inhaler as preventative last time he was ill. Barry and I will still get our flu shots since it helped last year and neither of us got sick from the flu. Sure don't want the baby to get it.

Thanksgiving was fun....we had dinner in Longmont on Wednesday and dinner at home on Thursday...about 15 people at each shindig. Loved Chris' mom's cranberry sauce and the spedinis!!!!
:) On Thursday, we had two turkeys-fried (sooo juicy) and baked, two stuffings family-recipe and seafood, salad with homemade dressings, sweet potatoes, baked ziti, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, rolls, bread, kahlua pork sandwiches with homemade bbq sauce, turkey soup with dumplings, and perogis. Then for dessert we had pbj tirimisu, pumpkin cheesecake, caramel pumpkin pie, walnut pumkin pie, regular pumpkin pie, venitians, cranberry chocolate torte with coffee! We all have leftovers to eat at least until the end of the month.

Wanna see my (potential) new mom car?

http://www.dellenbach.com/used/Honda/2006-Honda-Odyssey-ddc68c430a0a00020075479a3476a6ff.htm

We are test driving it for the weekend! We ran a carfax on it and it all looks good. Their reports look good too that they showed us. It drives smoothly, no transmission jumps when shifting, takes grade 5 hills just fine, and has so much room.

Adrian fell asleep both rides and Kaili slept too, but he always does when the car is moving.

Dellenbach is where my last subaru came from, and Barry's work does a lot of business with them, and so we started there....hopefully we won't have to keep looking. Barry's having his mechanic guys look at it on Monday and the dealership is looking into getting a better rate than 3.74% that my credit union got me, then we'll go from there. There was another odyssey: an 04 in boulder with fewer miles, a dvd player and leather seats but 06's have better safety ratings.

So why a mini-van? I can easily transport all the people that I ever want. It fits 8 p eople!!! Automatic doors....great storage...drives like a car :)  I like it...and what a great color! Easy to use dials and other doodads! And Barry talked them down to 13, 288.....from 14000 online listing price :) 15000 is the sticker price...

November Photos

 Play time

Sleepyhead

A good read

Thanks Grandma for the crabby outfit

In this contraption again?

Some favorite photos of August 2011

7 weeks...and so it begins

How do I protect little sibling from big sibling? Intentional or not? In retaliation or not?
How do I teach them to be safe with one another? And that there job as brother's is to keep each other safe?

Adrian accidentally dropped a toy that swiped Kaili's face, causing him to cry hysterically, despite a lack of any mark. He must have been frightened and surprised by it. Adrian kissed him after prompting some empathy and remorse from him. He gets really quiet/non responsive when he feels bad about something, which he did.

I guess I just keep reminding him of his job as a big brother to keep his little brother safe. And to evoke empathy...humans who are such social creatures may not be so empathetic without learning from mistakes and pressure to conform. I wonder if children would be empathetic without learning but I fear not as humans are cruel creatures that put themselves first, starting at a young age. Perhaps that is what is wrong with the world...there is a fear of parents to make their children empathetic that it may crush their independence or spirit. I hope I'm mostly wrong. The root of the problems in this world is the seperation of families, clans, small societies and tight knit cultural groups that ensured that each of their members was cared for and raised to the same standard. That is 'no child left behind', and near impossible in today's society for most. How then in this disassembled society do I raise a good, empathetic, caring child? Even my own support group that helps me raise my chilodren has collected from each a different generational group of support and therefore are without a unity of ideals and practices.

7 weeks old
Kaili weighs over 8 lbs now. I no longer go to weekly weight checks as he is consistently gaining weight, and is growing rolls!! Kaili smiled at me last  Monday over and over and has done it about once a day so far. Yay!!! He's  also been a little more vocal...fussy with gas, cooing when content or when talking with him, he squealed today while sitting in his vibrating bouncy seat, and I can tell the difference between his angry/hurt/scared cry and his fussy/I'm all alone/I'm gassy cry.
Overall a good baby. Loves to be held and near his mommy and daddy. Sleeps well when close to a body. Sleeps better though on his own in his little bassinet. Slept once in his crib for over 10 minutes, over an hour actually. I should probably start conditioning him to sleeping in his crib but tend to place him in his swing to sleep during the day instead, and in bed at night with us.


Adrian has been getting better at numbers and counting. He knows about 'zero' now.
He has been getting better about spelling hiis name and recognizing lower case letters of his name. He is great at his ABC's except for I gets confused with T, and he sometimes forgets occasional letters.
We have a new math book for pre-k. He works hard at his preschool workbook. Our sticker chart has 'got dressed by myself' 'practiced preschool skills' 'wrote name' listened to mommy/daddy' and 'picked up my toys'.
So far so good!
Jealousy issues continue. Of course. Cannot leave him alone in the room with the baby as he tends to get close and poke at his face, put things in his face, ad being 3 not be fully ware of his personal space and boundaries.

Holidays and gifts...FYI

Not that the kids need anything, but....

I have updated the baby registry and will be updating the other wish lists. Adrian does not get any new toys since he already has one of everything. Kaili will get hand me downs. And what they both really need are education funds. Preschool costs $810 per year for the two days a week. Adrian will be in pre-K next year. This is a 3 or 4 days a week class and will cost either $1143 ot $1512 depending on how many days he goes. This is what I am passing on to people when they ask what he wants/needs: an education fund.

He is outgrowing his clothing tremendously quickly as well. He currently wears size 4T and 5T in some items such as shirts and PJ's. He is wearing size 3T and 4T pants. Size 10 shoes (still fits in 9's barely).

If you asked Adrian what he wants, he'd say marbles and a Leap Frog Leapster 2 Games for his Game System that he got last year. He is happy with a bandaid instead of a sticker, a rock, and a bouncy ball and will carry them around in a basket or bucket truck for days on end as his special things.

Another FYI: I do not dress them in promotional/cartoon/clothing with writing or characters on it unless they are pajamas. He will be getting a pair of Diego PJ's from me since that is his favorite right now. He's outgrown Caillou, but still likes his jammies with Thomas on them.

Kaili has everything he needs since we saved everything from Adrian. He enjoys sleeping, bathing, staring at things, being cuddled. He will eventually need a big boy carseat :) I will add that to the registry.

six week update

Adrian is demonstrating more jealousy lately. This is hard for him even though he has said nothing bad about the baby, he has blamed coloring on the floor on Kaili, has said that he should go to jail, and that he is dead because he beat him up then explained that he was just playing around together. Sounds frightening but he acts lovingly all the time, sometimes too lovingly where he crowds his face, licks him, over stimulates Kaili. Only once did he possibly bite him but he said he used his lips so he may not have.,.but the baby did start crying :( He helps by getting diapers, wipes, holds him, and sings to him whenever he cries. He discovered that the baby likes to suck on his fingers so I've been encouraging him to wash his hands and not to touch the babies face or mouth.

Ogo and Kermit, Adrian's imaginary friends, have been participating in our daily routine lately...their moms' are sick b/c of a spider bite, which is why they are having sleepovers at our house. They attend preschool, go on errands, and to grandma's house with him. We usually have to save them a seat and they usually want their own plate of food.

ON 11/1/11 KAILI ROLLED FROM TUMMY TO BACK. TODAY HE WEIGHED 8 LBS 4.3 OZ AT OUR WT CHECK. SLEEPING FOR LONGER PERIODS AND STILL EATING A LOT. HE'S COOING MORE TOO. I LOVE IT ALL! I have the roll on videotape but it's a super long video so I need to figure out how to edit it shorter either on my camera or computer so I just get that clip.

Sending out announcements today...finally! 11/4 Kaili is 6 weeks old. Had 6 week appt yesterday for me and all is well.

Now that my time off is half way over, I'm starting to stress about childcare, buying a new car, going back to a stressful job and still doing everything I do now (and the house isn't even clean daily), buying this house sometime in the near future hopefully, and also getting transportation for adrian to and from preschool twice a week. Also I'll need to be pumping at work, and its such a hectic schedule that I don't know how I will build that into my day.

Adrian is getting sick again-he has a cough. Any exposure to third hand smoke-hair/skin/clothing/furniture/walls/carpet or second hand-in the air, seems to exhacerbate him into a cold. I'm happy he's been well during the time I've been off so far but I don't know what I'll do when I go back to work since I have no time off saved up if the kids do get sick. I know Barry will take off if he needs too but it's his busy season too. It doesn't help that my coping mechanism for stress is to freeze. So basically nothing is getting solved. I'm sure I'll figure it all out by the time I go back to work but so not looking forward to having to do that.

Anyways...hopefully this weekend goes well and we find a car for me so that we can alleviate one stressor.

Going to family dinner is good...every Thursday. It's important to me and I need to figure out how to do it even when I'm back at work.

October events are all over, all too soon. We had lots of fun though at the Fritzler's Corn maze, Tiny Tots Trick or Treating, the Zombie Fest and Barry took him trick or treating in the evening of Halloween. He was a "dinosaur dragon".

One Month Old (October 23)

BATHTIME

LEGOS WITH DADDY

 ITS TALLER THAN ME-ITS THIS TALL

 SLEEPY-HEADS

 SWINGING

Kaili is one month old. I am excited that he feels heavier and looks a little chubbier. He's still tiny though. The size of a newborn....7 lbs 7.4 oz as of our weight check today. Adrian was 7lbs 4 oz at birth. He doesn't sleep long without being held, rocked in his swing, vibrated in his bouncy seat, or moving in the car. He can tell he's not being held or near someone and even slept fine when placed next to his sleeping brother. But if I place him in his bassinet or crib, he's awake within 5-10 minutes. He uses his pacifier for short periods of time for self soothing. He is making bigger noises-coos, cries, screams, and I swear I heard him laughing in his sleep earlier. I think he has my ears, his eyes are still very dark. His hair seems a little lighter than Adrian's, maybe he has Barry's hair color. His baby acne is going away, but now cradle cap is showing up. He has periods of waking time where he stares at his surroundings in the mornings and evenings. I'm pumping still and stocking up for going back to work. I am still giving him one bottle a day at least for his vitamin drops since he doesn't like the taste alone.

I'm sad that 1/3 of my leave is over already though. I need to figure out what the childcare situation will be when I go back to work. I need to figure out what the benefits are if I stay to my 5 year mark since that's only a year and a half away. I need to get a new car. I need to consolidate credit card debt. I need to figure out buying this house. I need to see about getting my teacher licensure from the state for my certificate from CSU. I am feeling overwhelmed when I think about all of this.

Regarding childcare: I want Adrian and Kaili together most of the time. I want Adrian to be able to go somewhere where I can get assistance with transportation to and from preschool. I would love someone to come to my home since that is the kids' environment and I have more control over it but of course that could get really expensive.

MORE SLEEPY-HEADS

Funny Sayings or Mis-said Words

Ride the Alligator *Elevator
Beard *Beer *Soda is also Beard and usually just as off limits
Going to the Movie Gator or Movie Alligator *Theater

Adrian playing with his cars...'don't scratch my apple"..no idea

Week 2 to Week 4 Day to Day Stuff

10/1 142lbs from 157 :) Fitting in regular clothes again...at least some of them. 10/3 Newborn Screen, Dr. Appts for both boys. Daddy off work. Car dies while out at appts. Towed to dad's work. Figured out that the timing belt snapped. 10/5 PS work Day. Liza watches Kaili and Adrian loves having mom be parent teacher! Dad took off monday or else today would have been his assigned day. Then we head to mommy's work to visit, drop off time sheets, and add kaili to insurance policy. What a long day! 10/6 Liza's kiddo William comes over for a playdate with Adrian. They have lots of fun outside:) 10/7 Mom sells her car for $350. Goodbye dear car, a present from my parents for graduating high school and going to college...a surprise when I returned from NJ to work over the summer at the YMCA in Estes and live at home until I moved into the dorms at CSU. It was a good little car and I will miss it, and especially miss never having my own car payment :) 10/8 and 10/9 Weekend 10/10 Weight Check for Kaili: 6 lbz and 4.9 oz. He's gaining!!! Going to a mom's group at FUMC in the morning while the kiddos are in PS...915 to 1030am. 10/12 Wed. Kaili's Due Date! 10/13 Family Dinner :) Dad works late tonight though so we go on our own. Adrian misses his Grandma D and seeing his cousins and was asking for them this past week...so we decided to go to family dinner and for Adrian to go to see Grandma D on on of the days she has Cavyn and Nyco. Maybe we'll also do another sleepover at cousin Cavyn's. 10/14 Kaili is 3 Weeks Old 10/15 and 10/16 Weekend: Fitzler's Farm and BBQ at home 10/17. No mom's group today. Mom goes home during PS and takes a nice nap. 10/19 PS conferences today. Adrian is a good easy going kiddo. He does have a tendency to be negatively influenced by peer pressure...which is why it is good that he is in PS now and learning what is acceptable and what is not in a big peer setting. As we discussed, it's easier to mess up now and learn than in middle or high school when there are bigger stakes to negative peer influences and behaviors. He is slow to warm up in the mornings...takes after his mother. We head to Library Park afterwards, have lunch and play for 3 hours with Arie and Ollie, friends Adrian made last week on our Library trip. We planned to tentatively meet up again and they were there. Adrian was so excited. The mom is Amber and Oliver is 14 months and Arabelle is 4. Adrian had lots of fun, then we went to get new books and another Diego DVD for the week. Adrian has been watching way less TV lately...maybe his Diego DVD every other day or so. He has been asking less for the TV also. No matter though he always engages with his toys and enjoys playing with his friends Lexi, Julian, and Jacki when they are over here or when he goes to their house. He loves reading and it ranks as high as watching his dvd. He can be read to for hours. I'm thinking about taking him to storytime at the library. I also need to get a CD player so I can get books on CD....I lent mine to a friend and the CD part broke which is the main reason for buying it in the first place. 10/20 Family Dinner :) Daddy works late again tonight. 10/21: Is Kaili one month old today? Four weeks later? Or is he not one month old until the 23rd of the month? Today he showered with me in his new little bath seat. He did ok...I think he'd rather have a bath. Adrian Says: "I want to save my brother from the monsters. I'll hide with him in the tent, okay?" and "where I came from?"

Gaining Weight! Losing Weight!! Halloween Fun!!

Kaili is 6 lbs and 13.2 oz per our weight check on Monday 10-17. That means he's gained over an oz a day since last Monday!! He's been eating well. Still a slow eater though. We're giving a bottle or two a day since he gets more faster and doesn't tire out. I never did give "at least 8 supplemental bottles after pumping each day" we maybe had up to 5 per day at one point. One a day with his vitamin supplement will be good for now unless of course he starts losing weight or is away from mom for over 2 hours. Not so worried anymore. He's gaining and I'm losing. I've actually lost all the weight I gained and am back at pre-pregnancy weight as of Sunday (16th) putting me at 136lbs. I was about 10 lbs over what I normally like to be at (125) so I hope I keep losing. I can at least fit into my clothes again, for the most part. Kaili still wears premie outfits and diapers but is fitting in lots of newborn size outfits and diapers also!!! He's feeling more 'baby' sized these days. He has started to stare at his hands more, suck on his hands more and is taking his binky for longer when upset....aka not being held or nursed. All he does is eat, eat while sleeping, while awake, and between poopy diapers. He reacts to our voices and stops crying when Adrian sings to him :)He cries. Adrian never did so it's a new sound to get used to but sometimes I just can't get to him as quickly and so he cries. He stops when held, fed, talked or sung to...except when put in his carseat. He hates his carseat. He usually falls asleep when the car is moving though but sometimes has to cry himself to sleep. Having a second child is so much different than the first. Not everything is as urgent or unknown or surprising. It is just as enjoyable only in a different more relaxed way. Of course with Kaili being so early, I had other worries. I worried about him being early, gaining weight, not being ready to be born, being born by induction affecting him, etc...in the end, it's better he was born early due to the complications of not growing but what are the alternate affects. Kaili also didn't have a 'smell' like Adrian did. I actually just started noticing one this week which is comforting for some reason. I just remember always sniffing Adrian and kissing him, like some instinct for bonding. Of course this made me worry that I wouldn't bond as well to Kaili..I think we're doing okay though. He definitely stops crying every single time I hold him, whether or not I feed him. I like the Ergo carrier!!! He rests against my heart and falls right to sleep hearing my heartbeat. This is good for bonding also. We take walks, go shopping, and get stuff done around the house with it. We are borrowing a carseat and snap&go stroller where the carseat snaps directly into the stroller base!! Very handy for this infant stage. I cannot carry that carseat if gains any weight as it is heavy on it's own. Thanks to Rachel and Mike and Leo!! Adrian is doing great...no real jealousy issues. Of course he needs and gets attention and acts out when he's not getting what he needs but that's to be expected and he does not seem to associate it with not getting attention because of his brother. He constantly says 'Our baby is so cute' and tonight he said 'I really love my brother'! He always says "I want to see his face' and " I want to kiss his face" and "I want to hold him". He shows off his baby to his friends at preschool and checks out their babies...I guess 3 year olds tend to have baby siblings. Adrian has been intersted in 'family structures' and we have been talking about how each family member is related to each other in other ways than how they are related to Adrian. He finds this very interesting. He has been very interested in tractors, trains, and of course Halloween lately. On Saturday 15th we went to Fitzler's Corn Maze and only had time to do a few things: slide, barrel train and jumping pillow. We have tickets that are good until Halloween so we'll go back next weekend probably to do the corn maze, the monster, and more slides, maybe some pumpkin or corn cannons, and campfires. On the 22nd is the Zombie Crawl, Zombie Ball and during the day some Zombie children events which we'll take the Zombie Children to. We want to do the Treatsylvania trick or treating at Lee Martinez Farm and also the Tiny Tots Trick or Treating downtown on the 31st. We may also go trick or treating in the neighborhood. Halloween is Barry's favorite...as we speak he is perfecting his facial prosthetics for his zombie makeup. I haven't decided if I'm going out on the 22nd as a Zombie or not...since it'd be a late night.

RIDING THE BARREL TRAIN

3 Weeks Old

Kaili is 3 Weeks old Today! He feels a little chunkier too! He's sleeping 3-3.5 hours at a time once in awhile. He's eating between 1-3 oz at a time in a bottle. He nurses every 1 to 2 hours usually. His due date was 2 days ago on Wednesday the 12th. I will probably take him to another weight check on Monday after Mom's group at the church that Adrian attends preschool at. Some of the mom's get together for an hour or so on Monday mornings to chat and share ideas about parenting, life, etc. It's some nice adult time. Adrian is still doing great with him. He talks about all the things his little brother will do when he gets bigger. We've kept busy with playdates, friends over, preschool, library and park trips, and visits to daddy's work! We've made special outings to see construction sites also! Occasionally Adrian will be naughty and lick the baby, put his feet near the baby, try to take his blanket, but really just trying to get my attention. Considering the amount of time that I hold Kaili and feed him I'm surprised that he's not more jealous. I do spend one on one time with Adrian and include him in big boy activities, etc as usual. Not much is different for him. We are working on writing our name, getting dressed on our own, picking out clothes that match on days we don't have preschool, listening to mom on the first try, not interrupting, and continuing work on manners, letters, being kind to the animals, social skills with friends, not whining, accepting that no means no and mom always means what she says, and cleaning up our toys, home and self on an ongoing basis. All is going well. It is harder with 2 because it's busier. I can't imagine going back to work and it streses me to think about it. I have until December 20th. I love being off and being able to keep the house neat and clean, and being around to hear Adrian playing and learning and being able to take him to things that I otherwise would not be able to except on the weekends. I also like knowing what he eats, when he sleeps, what he does every minute of the day!

Oh and working on not drawing on our face...only happened once...but he also drew on his cousin Maddox's face...

New Baby Pictures

Week 1 Hectic Week

Wee Steps Appointment: Kaili lost more weight. Need to pump and feed him 1-2 oz at least 8x a day on top of regular feeds every 2 hrs. HaHa...who has this much time in a day. 9/27. Adrian sick with allergies or cold, asthma is flairing up. Had to go in to Dr. today. On liquid steroids, serious cough meds, and inhaler. Still making it to preschool though. Had to take to Dr. appt first day on own with kids. 9/27. Kaili will only take the Born Free Bottle. I have one glass bottle 9oz. Seems funny feeding him 1 oz out of htat big bottle. took first bottle 1.5 o at 7:30pm. 9/27. Took 6oz total 9/28 in 5 bottles. Getting better at taking the bottle. Also started the pacifier with him in the hospital. Didn't start early enough with Adrian and he never took it. 9/28 My rings fit me again. 9/29 I'm sick...allergies or sinus infection :( Down to 147lbs from 157. 9/30 Kaili has boogery eyes and nose :( Playdate for Adrian at Springfied park with Liza nd the boys. Weight check of Kaili gained 3 oz 5lbs 12 oz!!! Mom gets Massage today!!!