"We match!'

Daniel says and does all these funny things and I need to be better about capturing them before the phase passes and I forget.

Lately Daniel likes to find something he has in common with Kevin or me.  For example: "I'm brushing my teeth and you're brushing your teeth.  We match!"  He notices "matches" on hair and eye color, food we're eating, even the position our feet are in.  It's cute how proud he is to notice things like that.

Here he is on a recent Friday when everything was closed down because of the ice storm, aka "Icepocalypse."  I knew he'd be home from school that day and that Kevin might be at work so I woke up early to get a little time-sensitive work done before the kids woke up.  Alas, Daniel bounded downstairs right after I turned on my computer, so he grabbed his "laptop" and sat down next to me so we could match!

Rebecca: 9 months

This last month has been an eventful one for Rebecca.  It occurred to me recently that she's now at least 41 weeks old so I've known her longer on the outside than the inside.

She's graduated from the scooting "army-crawl" she was doing last month to the faster hands-and-knees crawling.  She's pretty proficient at it but unlike Daniel, she isn't really eager to use her newfound mobility to explore.  She crawls to get to a toy, book, or person that catches her attention but doesn't often crawl just to check out her surroundings.  She's just as curious as he was but expresses it by being a careful observer of the people around her.  She really studies faces closely and is especially interested in people who wear glasses.

Shortly after she started crawling on hands and knees she also started pulling up to standing.  I first saw her do it at the kitchen toy she and Daniel play so often with.  It's perfect for that-heavy and low to the ground, so it can easily support her weight and keep her balance.  She also started doing it in her crib, leading us to adjust her mattress height to the lowest setting.  She's not really cruising yet but she keeps herself balanced well on two legs.

Speaking of the crib, she's still a great sleeper and napper.  Sometimes getting to sleep takes a back seat to testing out her newfound crawling and standing skills though!

She loves to eat too.  She still nurses 3-4 times a day and also eats about 3 solid meals a day.  She's a bottomless pit of hunger and enthusiastically enjoys sweet potatoes, fish, pureed spinach, turkey, and oatmeal.  

And as we discovered thanks to Daniel's eagerness to help, she also eats Goldfish.  I had just given him a cup of Goldfish then when I turned around he was standing by Rebecca saying "here you go!"  I went to help thinking she might choke on it but to my surprise she was happily chomping away.  (Though I did warn him to ask Mommy and Daddy before feeding her anything else!)

She's got 2 new little top teeth to do that eating with now.  As with the bottom teeth, these broke through fairly uneventfully.  She was fussier than usual but still pretty mellow and amazingly, no drooling.  Daniel was such a drooler I feel like he had to wear a bib almost constantly through the second half of his baby year but Rebecca has never needed one.  If you didn't know how easy she usually is I don't even think you'd pick up on the fussiness.

You'd think all that food would be plumping her up but she weighed in at a light 13lb 3oz at her 9 month check-up and is still firmly anchoring the low end of the growth chart.  Her pediatrician is satisfied though, as I am, that Rebecca is a healthy size for her.  She eats well and is perfectly healthy and it seems that small babies just run in our family.  Fine by me, as it means they're lighter to carry around ;)

She's not super chatty, preferring to observe rather than talk, but she does babble a fair bit.  She also likes to communicate by happy little squawks and enjoys making a game out of taking turns doing it.  She'll play with me but her favorite playmate for that game (and just about anything else) is Daniel.  She adores her brother and watches him with fascination.  For the most part the feeling is mutual and he seems happy to have an increasingly interactive playmate, though he isn't always eager to share his toys.

9 months in our sweet baby girl is such a fun, easygoing little personality.  We love our "Baby Rebecca" and the joy she brings to our house!

"My hugger and kisser are broken"

Whenever something doesn't work Daniel says it's because it needs new batteries.  Even if the thing in question doesn't even use batteries, like a toilet or the garage door.  And after bathtime one of his favorite games to play is for Daddy to lay on him like he's a pillow then act surprised when the pillow starts wriggling around.  The broken pillow then needs new batteries so Kevin makes a big show of "unscrewing" the battery cover on Daniel's hip and putting new batteries in.

A few weeks ago I asked him to give me a goodnight hug and kiss and he said he couldn't because his hugger and kisser were broken and needed new batteries.  So now every night we have to put new batteries in him before we get our hugs and kisses.  Also needing batteries in order to function: his "good morning" and "goodnight."

I have to write these little funny things down to capture them so I don't forget them as he gets older.  Daniel is such a clever, entertaining little guy.  It's hard to imagine our little Energizer bunny needing batteries though!

And, a few bonus pictures:

Dressed as Woody the cowboy for Halloween

I think this is what the kids call a "selfie":

Daniel's surgery

Blogger ate my earlier draft so here's take 2:

At his 3 year well check-up Daniel's pediatrician noted that he had very large tonsils and referred us to a pediatric ENT doctor.  The ENT recommended removal of the tonsils and adenoids to help Daniel's breathing and sleeping.  

We debated about it for a few months.  On the one hand, he wasn't visibly suffering.  He doesn't really get sick much and other than snoring and heavy breathing the large tonsils didn't seem to bother him, so why put him under general anesthesia for elective surgery?  On the other hand, we know how essential restful sleep is for a growing child so knowing that he was snoring and possibly even suffering from sleep apnea concerned us.  His teachers had commented on his heavy breathing as well.  And our friends whose kids had had their tonsils removed all said their kids had had dramatic improvements in their sleep, breathing, and energy after their surgery, but the older the kids were when they had the surgery the harder and longer the recovery, so we could see that if we were going to do it it was better to do it sooner than later.

Finally we decided to do it.  We scheduled the surgery for October 11.  My mom came up from Austin to help watch Rebecca so we could focus on Daniel.  He was excited to have her here and the night before the surgery she got to watch his swim lesson.

Daniel couldn't eat the day of the surgery so we did our best to stuff him full of food the night before with a Fuzzy's quesadilla and some treats afterward.  We worried he'd wake up too late to early but early enough to have time to kill before the surgery but luckily he woke up with just enough time to get up and get in the car.  We let him wear him pajamas so he'd be comfortable.

We got to the hospital, which specializes in pediatric day surgeries, and waited to be called back to the pre-op room.  Daniel was given some "silly juice" to mildly sedate him.  It made him pretty wobbly and he couldn't stand up without support.

After the silly juice had worked its magic a nurse came and took him to the back where he was put under general anesthesia and taken into surgery.  Our wait between leaving him and getting to see him again post-surgery was probably less than an hour but it felt longer.  After it was over the doctor met us to confirm that the surgery had gone well.  He noted that Daniel had a lot of blockage in his airway and that he expected Daniel to breathe much better afterward.  A little later we were called back to see Daniel in recovery.  He was pretty tired and obviously still feeling the effects of the anesthesia.

After some popsicles and juice in the recovery bay it was time to go home.  For the next few days he ran a fever on and off, an expected side effect.  We had him on Motrin round the clock to help with the fever and inflammation.  He didn't complain much during the day but he was pretty listless for the most part.  He was tired and didn't have much of an appetite.  At night he woke up screaming several times a night and had to be comforted.  The fever ran its course within about 5 days but the listlessness and lack of appetite persisted for over a week.  I think it was partly that his throat was hurting but also an unfortunate vicious cycle of not eating so not having any appetite and so not having the energy to eat.

He wanted to be held a lot which is definitely unusual for him.  He napped in our laps for hours at a time.

But sometimes he'd want to play and show no signs that it was bothering him.

We kept him home for the most part that first week.  He tried school for a few days but didn't stay long either day.  He even had to miss his school's field trip to the pumpkin patch which he had been looking forward to.  But his teacher got him a pumpkin anyway and he enjoyed decorating it.

We had been told to expect the recovery to take 10-14 days and it definitely took until then for Daniel to get back to his normal self.  Since then we can definitely tell he is breathing more easily and not snoring anymore at night.  As time passes we may see improvements beyond that; it's too soon to know right now.  He had his follow-up checkup yesterday and the doctor said his tonsils have healed well and everything looks good.  We're glad it all went well and hopeful that the improved breathing and sleep will bring further improvement.

Rebecca at 8 months

What a busy month this has been for Rebecca!  Several noteworthy developments to report.

First, she seems to be going through a growth spurt of late.  She nurses as often as she gets the chance and has decided her favorite place to nurse is in the tub during her evening bath (I sit in the tub with her).  And she has quite an appetite for solid food too.  Sweet potatoes and oatmeal are the favorites so far but she also likes bananas, eggs, and yogurt.  She seems to have 3 stomachs: one for milk, one for sweet potatoes, and one for anything else.  Even when she's full she can find room for sweet potatoes or to nurse a little more.  She seldom takes a bottle, since I'm usually home to nurse her, but she'll take one well when it's offered.

She's still got just the 2 teeth so far but she may be working on some new ones.  I can't feel anything cutting throught right now but I think she's got a top tooth or 2 coming along.

The second big development came just in the last few days.  She has learned how to army-crawl scoot her way along the floor to reach a desired person or toy.  She's not particularly fast yet but I suspect once she realizes that her new skill lets her explore her world she'll get better and faster at it.  She seems quite proud of herself in the meantime.

She continues to be the mellow, agreeable, happy baby she's always been.  The very first night after she was born she woke up once in the night and after nursing fell asleep in my arms and slept there comfortably for hours.  A little food, a little cuddle, and she was content.  That first impression proved to be a very good predictor of her personality!

She babbles now too-not a lot, but she likes to say "babababa".  And she likes to make this smacking noise with her tongue too.  Very cute!  She's generally a quiet baby, content to observe rather than talk.  She's got a sweet little laugh, which Daniel is adept at drawing out of her.  

She adores him and loves when he plays with her.  He also likes to help feed her and while I'm not sure much of the food actually makes it to her, she loves the attention.

Playing together:

She's also fond of our cat Todd and will always turn to watch him if he's in the room.  Here she is yesterday morning when she heard the jingle of his collar when I went to get her from her bed.

Here's her 8 month car seat picture:

And in her Mickey and Minnie Mouse outfit:

7 months: Baby Rebecca...yeah!

I missed the 6 month writeup (oops) so we'll just move right along to 7 months.  Our happy, easygoing girl is still as cheerful as ever but is becoming more interactive by the day.  No longer content just to observe the world around her, now she reaches out to grab things that catch her interest.  This means bath time and diaper changes have become more interesting and challenging as she wants to roll around instead of stay still!

We've also started solid foods in the last month.  Thus far sweet potatoes in a mesh strainer are her favorite.  She likes snacking on MumMum rice rusks and Puffs too.  I'm not sure she's actually getting a lot into her tummy but she's getting used to the tastes of different foods.  Breastmilk is still the majority of her diet, as it should be at this age, but in the months to come solid food will play a bigger role.  

Rebecca looking skeptical and confused during an early feeding effort

She and I are home on our own Mondays and Fridays and during the middle of the week our nanny Gena comes to watch Rebecca.  Both kids adore her.  Daniel only sees her briefly after we get home from school but asks about her a lot.  Rebecca enjoys reading books and playing with her while Mommy works.  It's working out well for us.

She loves rolling back and forth between her tummy and back and is enjoying the jumperoo and exersaucer we put up for her in the past week.  She's still not sitting up independently yet and there are no signs that that or crawling are imminent.  She stands well on her legs though when she's supported so I have a feeling once she starts crawling she'll be pulling up to standing pretty soon.  In the meantime we're savoring the last few weeks/months of not having to be in full-on babyproofing mode again.  We've still got a lot of it in place from Daniel but will have to put a few things back up.

Bath time remains a favorite part of the day.  Now when the water gets low she likes to roll over on her tummy and play in it.

The World's Easiest Baby

Rebecca is, for the most part, continuing to live up to her title of the World's Easiest Baby.  The WEB says "I don't always wake up crying at night, but when I do, I quickly soothe myself back to sleep so as not to trouble anyone."  Sunday night she briefly woke up crying for the first time in months but quickly got back to sleep.  Monday was my fault.  I went in to kiss her goodnight and she looked so cute I couldn't resist holding her little hands and feet.  Her eyes were open at that moment so I knew I was playing with fire.  Sure enough she woke up crying when I touched her, but again, soothed herself back to sleep easily.  Not sure what we did to get 2 great sleepers but I'm not complaining!

The WEB says "I think I'm teething, but don't trouble yourself, I'm fine."  No teeth have broken through yet but it looks like she's got a few that will come up soon.  No drooling yet so it remains to be seen how imminent the breakthrough is.  If it's bothering her she's not letting on much about it.  She has occasional moments where she's a little unhappy but so far she's handling it well.

The WEB, alas, is not much of a car napper, as we discovered the hard way on Labor Day weekend.  Maybe it was just too hot that weekend but she napped about an hour total out of 12+ hours in the car over 3 days.  She wasn't screaming the rest of the time but she wasn't the happiest I've ever heard her.  Before the next car trip we'll switch her to a rear-facing convertible seat.  Maybe sitting more upright will be more comfortable and let her see her surrounding better and thus keep her happier.  Daniel wasn't a great road trip kid either till he was about 18 months so this may just be how it is for the next year or so.  But she's so easy the rest of the time it's hard to get too bothered about that.

Her 7 month picture:

Laughing:

Daniel: 3 years old

Somehow when I wasn't looking my little baby turned into a 3 year old.  He's a happy, energetic, thoughtful little boy who keeps us laughing.

He recently moved up to the next oldest class at preschool.  He moved over gradually, first just in the afternoon but as of a few weeks ago he's there all day.  He's adjusted well.  The new class doesn't have naptime; given that he wasn't napping anyway that suits him perfectly.  He enjoys clean-up time at school and is a good helper.

Before he moved up to the new class, he enjoyed the "celebration of life" birthday commemoration in his old class.  Ms. Becca shared stories and pictures from each year of Daniel's life and he did a circle around the candles for every year of his life and she prayed thanksgiving for the 3 years past and blessings for the year to come.

Soccer lessons are offered at school once a week and he's been taking them since January. He loves it and is excited to tell us about scoring goals.  He has also been taking swim lessons once a week since late May and is enjoying those too.  He does every lesson with enthusiasm: kicking in the water, jumping off the side, swimming, and best of all, going down the slide!  No sooner does he finish something than he's calling out "I want to do it again!"  

Here he is swimming in the neighborhood pool:

They also do yoga at school and his favorite pose is star pose, which he does by spreading his arms and legs and announcing "star pose!"

When he's not swimming and playing soccer, he's happily reading books, singing songs, and loving on his baby sister.  He's very sweet with Rebecca, for the most part.

For his birthday we did a pool party with his school friends and a few other close friends.  He had a great time playing with all his friends.

He got a lot of birthday gifts he enjoyed but so far his very favorite is the kitchen set his teacher Ms. Emily got for him.  Apparently he plays with the school one a lot so she knew he'd love to have one of his own.  The minute he opened it he insisted on "cooking" for everyone!

He also enjoys the camera Mommy and Daddy got him:

Looking forward to Aggie football and showing off his Heisman pose!

He remains, as ever, a happy healthy boy.  At his 3 year checkup though his pediatrician noted that he has very large tonsils and that they partially obstruct his airway.  She referred us to a pediatric ENT doctor who suggested removing the tonsils and adenoids to help his breathing and sleeping.  It's a big decision and one we're still researching.

This year saw a major adjustment for him from only child to big brother and he handled it wonderfully.  He also adjusted from home care to preschool and is thriving at school.  The next year shouldn't hold such dramatic adjustments for him but it'll be fun to watch him continue to bloom in his new roles as student and brother.  Our first 3 years with Daniel have been a blessing and I'm excited to see what the next year brings.