June 2018 – Jocelyn Rau

June 15, 2018

The monkeys are definitely out!

We’re reaching the end of the first week of summer vacation, and it’s off to a great start!

Personally, I love summer vacation, what with the total lack of schedules since I cherish our lazy days and don’t make the kids do tons of activities and lessons in the summer. People keep saying oh man, how are you going to manage all 5 at home this summer, and I just politely smile and nod and think psshht, I got this. Just like any other day.

Lana finished up K4 the day before Della finished 2nd grade, and they both had such wonderful years. I can’t believe Lana’s first full year of school is already over!

But to kick off our summer break I’ve already taken all 5 of them on a run, we got the big 3 signed up for the summer reading program at the library, they had a picnic lunch in the backyard, the girls have both created and started filling nature drawing binders, the girls are also loving the daily entries in their summer bridge workbooks (a sure sign it’s still early in the summer since Della has never wanted to finish it by the time school starts up again), we’ve played at the school playground where Della and I raced on the monkey bars (totally a tie!), and Ryan’s taken them to various parks a couple times plus out to lunch. He’s home for 4 weeks right now finishing his paternity leave from the twins and working on the attic. Plus we play with friends every day. And by playing with friends, I mean all the kids run around together while the parents enjoy cocktails.

We also sold the little wooden playhouse we’ve had in the backyard since Lana was born. The girls were outgrowing it, even though they all still played in it a lot, but they all voted to set up a new picnic area in that space instead of fixing up the playhouse. So away it went, with us all waving goodbye to a good little friend. Fortunately we are all enjoying what I like to call my new cocktail lounge very much.

We’re going on a family trip up north next week, and we’re all really looking forward to that. Summer is here, and life is good!

June 15, 2018June 15, 2018

Twins 4 month stats

Nat and Avit turned 4 months old the same day Morrison turned 3 years old, so that was a very fun day around here.

We did have a 4-month well check, so here are the twins’ official stats:

Nat

Weight: 14 lbs. 15 oz. (38%)
Height: 25.5″ (62%)
Head: 41.2 cm (33%)
BMI: 16.2 kg/m2 (24%)

Avit

Weight: 14 lbs. 8 oz. (27%)
Height: 24.5″ (18%)
Head: 42 cm (59%)
BMI: 17 kg/m2 (45%)

So Nat is an inch longer and half a pound heavier, yet Avit’s head is slightly bigger. These 2 have gotten so big! No more tiny babies. Not that they ever really were super tiny, though, both being born the same size as most singletons. Just tiny to us.

I can’t remember if I switched their clothes before or after they turned 4 months, but now they wear mostly 6 months sizes. There are just a couple 3-6 month pieces I’ve kept up because they’re cute and run a little bigger, but I couldn’t bear to squeeze their chubby little legs into 3 month sleepers anymore.

I’m bumping up to size 3 diapers for this next shipment, but, in all fairness, I think the brand we use runs a little smaller than others. They’re still almost exclusively breastfed, with their daytime bottles having just a little formula mixed into each one. I haven’t really noticed any difference in their sleep patterns based on the amount of formula they have, but I like mixing it to stretch the milk supply and get them some vitamins and minerals.

They’re still getting their 4 bottles throughout the day, then nursing overnight, and I pump twice a day to keep the stash stocked. We haven’t started any solid foods yet, because they’re still young enough to not really need them, plus I’m lazy and bottles are easy.

I’m finally starting to notice the typical baby 3-nap-a-day pattern – sleep a little while between the last nursing of the morning and the first morning bottle; may or may not sleep after the first morning bottle; take a pretty solid nap after the noon-time bottle (hopefully!); then doze a little off and on after the mid-afternoon bottle. Then they go right to bed after the 6:00ish bottle for the night (hooray!).

Thankfully I’ve noticed a slight increase in their overnight sleep, too. I won’t feed them before about 1:00 at the earliest now, and most nights it’s become closer to 2:00-3:00. A few nights ago one of them actually slept until 4:00! And because I’m still so sleep deprived I can’t remember which one it was, but I think it was Nat. Avit did wake up for about 1:30 and 3:30 feedings that night, but for some reason little Natty Nat didn’t (I think). Then it’s about every 2 hours until morning for feedings after that. So if it’s a 2:00 wakeup, I can generally count on that one to be up again around 4:00 and 6:00, etc. I don’t force them to wake up at the same time anymore, because I’m so tired that I just grab any sleep in between wakeups that I can get. Hopefully they’ll both get to the same wakeup schedule soon, though, and stretch it out even more overnight.

Their smiles and talking sounds are amazing, and Avit has started adding some “D” sounds to all their “G” sounds, coos, and oohs. And they have both now laughed, which about makes my heart explode every time.

I just brought the jumperoo up today and took both arched playmats out, so we’re transitioning them to more activity, too. They’re so close to rolling but just can’t quite get all the way over yet, so maybe getting them a little more physical will help. Lying on the floor like little blobs doesn’t exactly do wonders for large motor skills. They both try to pull themselves up to sitting positions, too, and Nat is so close. He can get himself about halfway up, then curls up into a little ball on his side. It’s pretty funny to watch. They both loved the jumper this morning, though, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of days before they both jump themselves to sleep in it, just like each of the other 3 did.

I say it all the time, but I still can’t believe there are 2 of them. I look at them both every day and just think how happy they make me. All 5 of these kids are little miracles running around my heart.

Now here are the comparisons again. The big 3 first, then the twins.

And now the twins month-by-month. Growing every day!

June 14, 2018July 8, 2018

He’s Three!

This crazy little monkey turned 3 on May 31, and I seriously think I love him more by the day. And it just kills me that it took me so much of his infancy to really like him. That’s the sleep deprivation for ya…

We had his 3-year well check this week, but they forgot to give me the printout with all his stats on it, so I’ll update this with those as soon as I get them if you want to check back later. But all looked great, and our pediatrician was particularly impressed that he is not only potty trained but doesn’t wear diapers overnight anymore either and that he has no more pacifier. She said it was a dream checkup and wished all her patients were this easy. Go Morrison!

Here are his official 3-year stats:

Weight: 36.6 lbs. (89%)
Height: 39.75″ (92%)
BMI: 16.3 kg/m2 (60%)
Blood pressure: 97/61

He still loves all things dinosaurs, Thomas trains, cars, stinky green, Cuphead, and has recently become a huge Star Wars fan. Every time he wakes in the morning or up from a nap, he comes out of his room saying, “Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Mama. Good morning, Mama,” until he finds me. And I can never not bend down and give him the biggest hug ever when I see that sweet little face come out, fresh from sleep and still all warm and snuggly.

His laugh is infectious, and for as maddening as he can be, there is no one else on Earth who can melt my heart with his eyes like he can. His big, bright brown doe eyes are simply endearing.

He’s clever, he’s funny, he’s smart, and he loves drawing just like his sisters. Hearing the 3 of them playing together outside so far this summer makes my heart swell, and I know we’re doing something right by them. He loves running around with all the big kids on the block with the girls, too, and thankfully they all stay together and watch out for each other, even the little ones.

He’s honestly a great help with the babies, and they could not have ordered a better big brother. These 5 are pretty fascinating, and it makes me happy on a daily basis knowing that they’re mine and my main job right now is just to be with them. Then they’ll turn around and do something infuriating, and it makes me want to pull my hair out, ha! Fortunately the goods far outweigh the bads.

Happy 3rd birthday, sweet Morrison John! We love you so, so, so, so much, my little lovebug! I hope you always stay my sweet boy.

June 5, 2018

Twins 3 month stats

Ok, this one will be short and sweet. The twins are already 4 months old, we had their 4-month well check yesterday, and Morrison turned 3 last week, so there are bunches of other posts I need to do, but I didn’t want a month to slip by with these little guys. There was no 3-month checkup so no stats for this month, so here are pictures instead (for real this time, i’ll save more writing for next month).