Dropped a Half-Pump

On Monday I went from pumping every 12 hours (morning and evening) to every 18-ish hours.  I spent all of Sunday evening researching the prescription I had filled to help dry up my supply, and I actually got a little leary of the side-effects, so I thought I would give it one more try to wean on my own.  I did it no problem with Matthew and Kayla, so I'm hoping that this time is a charm.  Please stay away, mastitis!  I'll probably continue pumping every 18 hours for the next week, and then I'll drop down to pumping only once a day.

Matthew's Patch

Matthew went to see Dr. Cline (eye doctor) yesterday for a follow-up appointment to his appointment a couple months ago.  Dr. Cline wanted to see if there had been any change (either positive or negative) to his left-eye because it has been drifting inward at times.  The first test Matthew had to do was look, with one eye, at a letter across the room, tell the doctor which letter it was, and point to it on the chart sitting on his lap.  They started with his right eye, and he did great.  When they switched to his left, he couldn't read the smallest letters, although he had just done it with his right eye.  They also had him watch a movie while they held different measuring instruments in front of his eye(s).  Dr. Cline concluded that his left-eye would/could not be corrected with glasses.  The other option is surgery to tighten the muscle in his eye, but he doesn't want to jump to that solution too quick, because there's a risk of tightening the muscle too much, and then you have an eye that drifts outwards.  So, for now, Matthew has to wear an eye-patch on his right eye (his good eye) for one hour every day, to try to strengthen the muscle in his left eye.  We have an appointment again on June 24 to see if there has been any change to the strength of his eye.

This is not a good picture at all (Matthew actually looks chunky here!), but it shows my little pirate :).  He does not like wearing the patch because he says it feels funny.  Today I told him he could watch two (30 minute) episodes of Little Bear and then when it was over, he could take the patch off.  It was actually okay!  He was relatively distracted enough by his favourite cartoon to forget that his one eye was covered.

38 Months Old!

**There's another entry below this one that I posted as well today for Nathan:  7 Months Old!**

I told myself that as soon as Matthew and Kayla turned three that I would only do updates on them every six months.  Unfortunately, I can't help myself.  They've grown up a lot!

Matthew is a Mommy's boy.  In a good way, in my opinion!  Jon might think otherwise.  Every time he is hurt or angry or upset and someone other than myself tries to tend to him, he says, "I want Mom!"  It drives Jon nuts.  When Matthew fell off of his bike during our recent camping trip at Cultus Lake, Jon tried to comfort him.  Matthew said, "I want Mom!".  When Jon asked why, he replied saying, "I don't like you, I like Mom."  Poor Jon.  I've tried to work with both Jon and Matthew so that their relationship can turn around...for Jon that's making sure that he's sensitive to Matthew's sensitive side/needs, and for Matthew that's not helping him if Jon is right there.

Every time I help him pull up his underwear and pants when getting changed or after going to the bathroom, Matthew hugs me and says, "I love you.  I want to stay with you forever."  He's recently started rubbing my back while he says it because he knows I like it.  It's the cutest thing ever.

Matthew continues to be such a fun kid to be around.  He has such a zest and joy for life.  He knows how to have a good time, and smiles and laughs with his whole body.

He loves funny cartoons and giggles while watching them.

He is still such a slow eater 90% of the time.  He's getting better at drinking his milk faster...half the time he's fast at it, and half the time it takes him a good 20 minutes.

Matthew loves playing with our Marble Works set and loves driving the kid tractor at my parents'.  According to Matthew, he always drives when its him and Kayla because, "Kayla not a good driver because shes hits stuff."  He has definitely mastered steering and shifting.  He effortlessly switches between first gear (slower), second gear (faster), and reverse.  Today he helped my Dad plant the vegetable garden by bringing the flats of potted vegetable plants from my Dad's truck to the garden using the tractor.

This month Matthew learned how to pump while swinging.

He loves to sing his ABCs (although he misses a few letters) and "Jesus Loves Me".

He still LOVES the vacuum.

While Nathan was napping on a Sunday, Matthew, Kayla, and I went for a walk in the rain.  

Kayla is such an easy child to parent, most of the time.  99% of the time she is very cooperative and understanding...but the 1% of the time when she's not...watch out!  When she throws a tantrum she collapses to the ground with tears falling from her eyes, boogers running from her nose, and drool dripping from her mouth.  It's disgusting!  :)  I'm working on teaching her to not drool while throwing a tantrum.  When she throws a tantrum she's placed in timeout until she stops crying, and then we discuss whatever caused the tantrum in the first place.  Other than that 1% of the time, she's amazing.

Kayla likes to follow the rules and have order.  She knows that toys have their certain places, and if she finds something out of place she'll come up to me and say, "This doesn't belong in that basket!".  After Oma and Opa (Jon's parents) babysat the kids this month and cleaned up all the toys before we came home Kayla had quite a few instances where she came and told me that Oma and Opa put toys in the wrong spot :).  She also reorganized a portion of my parents' toy room because it "wasn't perfect".

Kayla is a quick eater.  We seldom have any issues in getting her to eat or drink in a timely manner.

Kayla is proud of her ability to touch her nose with her tongue - just like her Dad!

Her hair is really starting to grow!  Yes, she still has balder patches behind her left and right temples, but with the right hairstyle, no one notices!  I often take pictures of her hair so that she can look at the picture to see what her hair looks like that day.

Kayla loves her baby (doll).  She received a new one for Christmas because her current baby's head is really starting to flop, but she seldom plays with it.  She just loves her original baby.  She enjoys putting her baby down for naps in the cradle, carrying her around (inside or outside), or feeding her Stove Top stuffing (so random, I know).  At least once a day I get an update on what her baby is doing at that exact moment.

 This past month Kayla has really started to use her imagination during play.  It's fun to watch her play with her Fisher Price Little People, making up stories and moving them around.  Her and Matthew still continue to "go shopping" with their strollers and Kayla is always telling me stories about which stores she went to, or which friends' birthday party she went to, etc.  She's very convincing!  If I didn't know any better, I would probably believe her about some of the things she says.  Kayla is usually the leader when her and Matthew play together...I imagine this will change in a few months when Matthew catches up to this developmental stage...although, maybe it's just a personality thing.  We'll see!

Over the past couple of weeks, as the days have become longer and thus the nights lighter, I've stopped napping Matthew and Kayla during the day.  It's bittersweet.  It was nice having the hour of time during the day when all of the kids were sleeping to do some work or nap myself, but Matthew and Kayla were fooling around for a good hour or so after being put to bed at night, coming out of bed several times each evening.  Since I've dropped their nap, they fall asleep almost instantly after being put to bed.  Their bedtime didn't change...just their exhaustion level.  I still will nap them if I think they're too tired during the day, because the last thing I need is for them to fall asleep during the late-afternoon or dinner.

They still love to colour, and when I have time to sit down with them, work in their 'workbooks' (from the Dollar Store.  As a young girl (and now, who am I kidding?!?!?), I always wanted to have workbooks.  I think my Mom only ever bought me one: I think it was summer after grade 2 or 3 and it was a math workbook.))

Kayla has really learned how to colour in the lines.

Matthew still prefers to cut his colouring paper into tiny snips, rather than colouring it.

Matthew and Kayla loved their first camping trip of the year.  They had completely forgotten what the inside of my parents' fifth wheel was like, and so it was liking going into it for the first time for them.  They are outside kids, and so camping for 3.5 days was so much fun for them.  Yes, we go in a fifth wheel, but we spend as much time outside as we can!  A little rain doesn't stop us from playing at the playground or taking walks!

 

Having twins as your first children, and especially twins as easy to parent as Matthew and Kayla is such a blessing.  They are each others' best friends and guaranteed playmate.  I never have to worry about them being bored because they have each other.  They are still so very much alike, but so very different.  I really hope they stay close because the bond they have right now is really special.  I love these two so much!  I couldn't have asked for two better kids for twins!

7 Months Old

My baby boy is no longer a baby.  Seriously.  This past month he has gone from being a baby to being a 'not-baby' (for lack of a better word).  At seven months old, Nathan weighs 21 lb 1 oz.

This past month we have nailed down Nathan's routine.  Like Matthew and Kayla at this age, he doesn't have a set schedule (ie. specific times where things happen), but we have a routine and things happen around the same time each day.  I'm not a stickler for specific times, so this works for us.  Nathan's routine is:

7:00am  Wake up and have breakfast (3 Tbsp baby cereal + 1/4 jar fruit + homo milk in sippy cup)
7:15am  Play time (while I pump)
8:15am  Bath time
8:30am  Nap time
9:30am  Wake up and have bottle (5-6oz)
11:15am  Lunch (1/2 slice bread + 1/4 jar fruit + homo milk in sippy cup)
12:00pm  Nap time
2:00pm  Wake up and have bottle (5-6oz)
3:00pm  Snack (Yogourt / Cheerios / Graduates / Mum Mums / Cheese)
4:15pm  Nap time
5:15pm  Wake up and have bottle (5-6oz)
6:15pm  Supper time (Usually whatever we're eating + 1/4 jar fruit + homo milk in sippy cup)
7:30pm  Bottle (5-6oz)
8:00pm  Bed time

Nathan learned instantly how to drink from the sippy cup this month.  My only wish is that the sippy cups I had were the ones with handles, because I think he would figure out how to put it in his mouth himself...however, I'm too cheap to buy new ones :).  Matthew and Kayla learned, so he will too!  He knows that when he's eating a meal that all he has to do is reach for/grab his cup and he'll get a drink.

He has also learned how to grab small piece of food (ex. Cheerios and Graduates), but he grabs them with his whole hand and so it ends up in his palm and then he can't get it in his mouth.

Nathan has become very aware of when people are eating and he isn't - especially if it's something that looks delicious.  When he saw that Kayla had a ring pop during the Cloverdale Rodeo parade he freaked out.  No lie.  He saw it and went nutso.  Jon took one for the team and opened a ring pop for himself to share with Nathan.  Nathan's not spoiled at all ;)

Nathan got his first tooth on May 6!  Matthew and Kayla were quite excited.  Now they say that they're babies (dolls) are getting teeth too.

Nathan has made no progress in the rolling department.  He did roll once this month (!), and the only reason I knew is because he started screaming in anger and when I looked it was because he was on his tummy.  I think he might be another 'Matthew' (ie. slow in accomplishing the developmental milestones).

Nathan continues to be a very easy baby.  He definitely likes to be held and played with and entertained, but who doesn't?  He's often being accidentally pushed over or knocked and so I don't blame him for wanting protection.  He is extremely friendly and is very giving with smiles.  He definitely smiles with his eyes.  He isn't necessarily quick to giggle when you tickle him, but he does have a cute giggle when you hear it.

Nathan loves Matthew and Kayla, and they love him (most of the time!).

Nathan loves when you dial/answer the phone.  He giggles with the beeping sound of the buttons.  He gets excited when I pull the jolly jumper out.  He LOVES dogs.  He talks and jumps as soon as he sees one.  It's a good thing that Lacey (my parents' dog) is very tolerant of babies because Nathan doesn't quite have the concept of being gentle down pat yet :).  He HATES having his nose picked/cleaned.  He doesn't like having his shirt pulled on/off over his head.

He LOVES sleeping with his blanket touching the one side of his face.  If his blanket isn't in easy reach, he'll try to pull off the playpen fitted sheet in the playpen or the receiving blanket he lays on in his crib.

Nathan went on his first camping trip to Cultus Lake from May 8-11.  We stayed in my parents' fifth wheel...and so there was my Mom, Melissa, Jackson, myself, Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan all in there.  With so many little kids, we had Jackson and Nathan each sleeping in their own box on the ground.  Yes, a box.  It was a long cut-flowers box, so the sides were only about 6" high.  It worked perfectly.  Matthew and Kayla shared a bunk bed (Yes!  It still worked to put them in the same one this year!), the bunk above them was reserved for Jon, I was in the bunk bed across from them, and Nathan was on the ground by me.  Matthew and Kayla's bunk is a fair bit off the ground (3 feet?), and so they still slept with the bars on the side that my Dad had constructed last year to prevent them from falling out.  The first night, Matthew, Kayla, and Nathan all went to be at the same time...unfortunately...I don't think I put one of the bars in correctly, and Matthew must have tried to move it himself...because all of a sudden we (my Mom, Melissa, and I) heard a ear-piercing scream from Nathan.  I ran into the bunk room to discover that the bars had fallen off of Matthew and Kayla's bunk and landed right on Nathan's forehead.  Poor kid.  He had a few small bruises on his forehead - it could have been a whole lot worse though!  He was a little bit traumatized.  Matthew didn't touch the bars again after that (and I made sure they were in good and tight too!).

I LOVE this picture.  This is exactly what Nathan is like...so smiley!

First time having a bath while camping!

On Friday, we were getting ready to go for a walk and so I had put Nathan in the stroller already, and parked him by the back of our Tahoe while I got his blanket out.  Kayla was going to ride on the tip of the stroller (where Nathan's feet go) and so she started to climb on herself.  Unfortunately (yes, unfortunately again), the stroller was on a slight slope and so the weight of her climbing on from the side caused the stroller to tip, with Nathan in it.  Luckily I noticed from the corner of my eye so I was able to catch his head before it hit the ground.  He was a little scared, but not hurt.

Tired from a busy few days of camping!  (Looking at this picture, I noticed that he definitely gets his cheeks from me!)

Mastitis Again

I have been pumping twice daily for about a week now, and lo and behold, I got mastitis yesterday.  I had  horrible sleep the evening before, and woke up feeling very achy with a pounding headache.  I stayed in bed until Jon left for work (7:30), and then dragged myself out because someone had to take care of the kids.  Thank goodness Nathan slept through the night again!  I loaded up on tylenol and got on with my day.  When I went to pump, I noticed a HUGE red spot on my breast, which confirmed my suspicion.  My Mom came over at noon so that I could head to the clinic to get a prescription.  When I explained to the doctor that I was only pumping twice daily in an attempt to wean, he asked if I was taking any medication to assist with that.  Ummm...prescription?!?!?  YES, PLEASE!  I left the clinic with a prescription for antibiotics and medication to dry up my milk supply.  Once I've gotten over the mastitis and have finished my antibiotics then I'm allowed to start the other medication.  I'm just tired of mastitis and cracked nipples.  It's not worth it if I'm bracing myself for pain even before the pump starts.  The end is in sight!!  At least I'll have given Nathan breastmilk for over 7 months!  Especially since I had considered switching him to formula after he was first born and we were having the feeding issues.  

P.S.  Nathan slept through the night AGAIN last night.  That's three days in a row!  Maybe this is actually it!

Nathan Slept Through the Night!

I feel SO good.  Two nights ago, when I was sleeping at my parents', he woke up crying about 10 times, and so I had to get out of bed and give him his soother about 10 times.  I was NOT impressed.  That's why him sleeping through the night is such a treat!  I was so tired that I need a good night's sleep.  And he's lucky (and I am too, I guess) that he slept through because I didn't bring a bottle for him upstairs, with the intention of only allowing him his soother.

Now I'm scared that I've jinxed everything and he won't sleep through tonight.  PLEASE, sleep through again!  Is that so much to ask?