Sunday, July 19, 2009

19 Month Update

This summer is flying by! Ethan and Mia are keeping us plenty busy. The kids are starting to fight more and more. I don't know when to step in and when to let them work it out themselves. They are both pretty equal as far as fighting. Mia is quite strong and determined despite her size. Ethan can be gentle with her, at times, and lets her get away with stealing toys from him. Mia wants whatever Ethan has. Sometimes he'll give in and sometimes there's a big fight. I had a bowl of cereal the other day and both kids wanted some. (They're little vultures!) Mia had all ready staked out her spot when Ethan came over for a bite. She pushed him hard enough to knock him over. He weighs 8 pounds more than her so she pushed really hard. He didn't cry or anything. He gets up, walks over to Mia, and gives her one giant push. Mia went FLYING. She screamed bloody murder! There's also scratching and biting going on. They were fighting over a toy and Mia scratched Ethan's back all up. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ethan chomp down on Mia's foot.

The temper tantrums are in full swing. They actually don't bother me too much. I've learned to ignore it. They get over them much faster if I don't pay attention. The thing that tends to get on my nerves is the whining. It drives me crazy, especially when they follow me around the house while doing it. Mia's my whiner. Ethan does it to, but not quite as much. I need to work on my patience when it comes to this!

Our kids are SO picky. They're junkfood junkies! They've learned really quickly that junk food tastes much better than healthy stuff. Ethan has a huge sweet tooth. Mia likes sweets too, but not as much as her brother. They both like french fries, anything chocolate, peanut butter & jelly, cereal, brown sugar pop tarts, juice, they LOVE pop (but hardly ever get any), donuts etc. Mia's favorite food is fruit, by far! Basically, they like anything that's unhealthy for you. Meals have become a struggle. They hardly eat anything when we sit down. They like to throw all of their food down to Elsa. Elsa sits right next to them, too. She's learned quickly where the food is at. Elsa has gained quite a bit of weight in the last few months. Even the vet said she's getting really round! I bought some pediasure for Ethan and Mia. They really like it, but it's kind of expensive so they've been sharing a bottle of it per day. At least they're getting most of the nutrients they need this way!

Ethan is still climbing all over the place. It's getting worse and worse! Nothing is safe anymore. He can reach everything with the help of a chair. He hasn't pushed a chair over to the counter yet. We're in trouble when he figures that out. He's a stereotypical boy. He excels in motor skills and is behind his sister in language skills. He has added "dedta" (Elsa) to his vocabulary. Ethan talks a lot but we can't understand what he's saying. He's getting really good at throwing objects. I've had a few toys come flying at my face. He doesn't do it on purpose, but it still hurts none-the-less. He's got to work on his aim! His favorite thing to do is to go outside. When I tell him we're going outside, he usually grabs his shoes and runs for the front door. Ethan has started not liking things on his hands. If he has food or cat fur on his hands, he runs over and shows them to me so I can wipe them off. I hope this doesn't become an obsession!

Mia is still my cautious one. She hardly ever gets hurt. She would rather watch Ethan climb all over the place and get the bruises. Her vocabulary has really exploded in the past couple of weeks. She can say, "ella" (Elsa), "all gone", "uckie", "bu" (bunny), "tickle tickle", "more", "hot". She has started repeating things that I say. I guess now is a good time to stop swearing! :) She also loves going outside. She thinks it's a big game to run for the road. She makes sure we're looking at her and darts for it. What a stinker! This has gotten her put inside many times, but she still continues to do it. I guess she gets her stubbornness from me. She continues to love Riley, most of the time. She likes to kiss her and stick things in her mouth. She tried giving Riley part of her granola bar today. How sweet! Except that it was made of peanut butter and she can't have it yet!



Going down the slide.

Cute picture of Mia, freaky picture of Rusty.

Playing with the baby gate. He tries and tries to figure out how to unlatch it. It's hard for adults to do, so I don't think he'll figure it out.

I bought them a potty chair. I know, a little ambitious. They like to sit on it, but have no interest in actually using it.

He loves putting the stethoscope around his neck.

Playing in the sand box. The best $100 we've spent!

Ethan dumped wet sand all over Mia's head and body. She screamed bloody murder!

Trying to get inside.

Nice and dirty. She had a good bath after that!

Here's right after it happened. It was pretty funny, but not to her!

Checking out the potty chair for the first time.

Don't know what to think of it. It plays music when they potty in it.

Playing in the pool for the first time. The water was ice cold, so they didn't stay in too long. They liked it though!

This was one of my dresses when I was a little girl. I'll scan my picture of me wearing it one of these days!

Just hanging out on our changing table.

Just hanging out on the table.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Happy 4 Months, Riley!

Riley is four months today! She can now roll over from her stomach to her back. She doesn't like tummy time a whole lot though. Riley loves to kick on the floor. Her floor time is limited because of her big brother and sister. They pester her relentlessly when she's on the floor. Riley gets floor time when they are napping. She is starting to drool! I remember when Mia went through this stage. It seems that Riley is progressing faster than the twins. The twins were always a couple months behind because of their prematurity. It's amazing to see the differences between the three of them. She's been holding her head up for the past month and occasionally gets to sit in the bumbo. Again, it depends on Ethan and Mia. Anytime she's on the floor, they're right there.

Riley has been sleeping through the night for the past few weeks. She usually goes to bed around 11:00pm and wakes up around 6:00am to eat. She'll go back to bed for a couple of hours and is up for good around 9:00am. There's no complaints here, but it'll be nice when she skips the 6am feeding! She still takes little 30 minute cat naps throughout the day. Though, for the past few days, she's been taking one long 1 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. I hope this continues!

She absolutely LOVES to watch Ethan and Mia run around. She sits on my lap and watches them forever! She smiles at both of them. I love watching them interact. Mia loves her baby sister. She kisses her and hugs her constantly. Ethan is still jealous of her and will hit her any chance he gets. He's starting to try and poke her in the eyes, too. I've seen him kiss her a few times, so I think he's warming up to her. I still have to watch the twins like a hawk when they are around her. They're always trying to stick stuff in her mouth. They've put mulch, plastic baby doll pacifiers & bottles, real pacifiers & bottles, the end of a medicine dropper etc in her mouth. I don't know where this fascination comes from! All I can say is Riley is going to be one tough little girl!

Riley is still a big mama's girl. She has a rough time when I leave for work. I'm hoping it gets easier and easier. She's taking the bottle much better, so that's a load off my mind! I think she's starting to notice strangers, which seems early for that. As long as she can see me, she's usually content with someone else holding her. But if she happens to see the person holding her, she starts screaming. It makes it challenging when we're at family gatherings. People want to hold her, but she screams bloody murder! The twins went to anyone, and they really didn't go through the stranger phase until around 15 months.



Playing nice with Riley!

Mike's probably going to kill me for this one! I remember when we got the baby bjorn. Mike said he wouldn't be caught dead using it! He used it all the time with the twins.

Loving on Riley.

Hanging out on the couch.

On the slide at the park. I don't know if you can tell, but her hair is sticking straight up due to the static electricity. She laughed when Mike took her down the slide.

Having fun on the slide.

Long day at the park. I drool everywhere!

Happy and in a good mood!

Look at my pretty dress!

Hanging out.

Trying to show off my cute legs.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Eating Some Cereal

Riley turns four months tomorrow, but we decided to give her some rice cereal tonight because I have to work the next three nights. She seemed to like it. Though, I think she had more on her bib than she ate! It was cute to watch her try and swallow it! Mike thought he'd be funny and gave Ethan a bite of the rice cereal. Ethan tried spitting it out the second it hit his tongue and then proceeded to gag and gag on it. I've never seen him gag before! And then, since we gave Ethan a bite, we decided to give Mia one. She also spit it out instantly and started crying. What mean parents we are! Mike and I had a good laugh!


Mmm

Yummy

Give me more!

This isn't too bad.

Eating some more. That's Mia's hand in the picture. She's always checking Riley out.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Rolling Riley

Riley rolled over from her stomach to her back today. I thought it might be a fluke, but she did it the next day too! She's getting so big!




Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy Belated 4th of July


I hope everyone had a good fourth of July! We spent it with Mike's side of the family in Chamberlain, SD. The kids had a blast seeing everyone and playing outside! We took them boating and fishing. Ethan and Mia rode big bertha for the first time, which is an enormous inner tube. Both of them liked it. I figured Ethan would, but I was surprised that Mia liked it! I had to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, so I headed back to Sioux Falls on Friday. I was pretty bummed out that I missed the entire weekend of fun! Can I just say it sucks being a nurse sometimes!
Mike said that Mia liked the fireworks, but Ethan was kind of scared of the noise. I totally thought it would have been the opposite. I guess Riley was one tough cookie after I left on Friday. She's such a mama's girl. All of Mike's aunts helped take care of her. Thank you everybody for that!
Ethan was put in time-out over that weekend. His pack and play was right next to Grandpa Schmidt's dresser. Ethan was so ticked off that he pulled out all of Grandpa Schmidt's underwear and socks and threw them all over the place. He is such a stinker!
Riley napping on the couch.

Ethan and Mia with Grandpa Schmidt. They're riding the lawn mower. Both kids LOVE the lawn mower.

Fishing for the first time. We didn't catch a thing!

Fishing...not even a bite.

Still fishing. Ethan wasn't quite himself that weekend. I don't think he was feeling very well. He was in a somber mood and not his usualy smiley self.

Ethan on the boat.

Riley on the boat.

Mike, Ethan, Mia, and Elsa on big bertha.

Riding big bertha.

Ethan swimming in the river for the first time. He kind of liked it!

Having a great time.

Mia swimming in the river for the first time. She didn't like it! The water was kind of cold.

Ethan on big bertha. He had a blast!

Having fun!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

18 Month Check-up

Mike took Ethan and Mia to their 18 month visit, but he forgot all of the kids' stats. I've been patiently waiting for the clinic to send me the info, and I've finally gotten it.

Ethan: His head circumference is 19.7 inches, which puts him in the 95th percentile (hey, we've made it back on the charts!) His length is 33 inches, which puts him in the 70th percentile. His weight is 26 lb 8 oz, which puts him in the 55th percentile.

Mia: Her head circumference is 18.5 inches, which puts her in the 55th percentile. Her length is 30 inches, which puts her in the 10th percentile. Her weight is 19 lb 14 oz, which puts her in the 3rd percentile.

Both kids lost weight. Ethan lost 5 ounces and Mia lost a pound. The doctor didn't mention anything about them losing weight. They're both so active, and they're both getting so picky! It looks like Ethan's head is starting to catch up a little bit to his body. Mia's head actually got a little smaller. I'm guessing they measured it wrong last time.

The doctor said we needed to start working on words with them. When they want something, they point and go "uh, uh, uh." We need to teach them the word for whatever they're pointing at. They had the dreaded MMR vaccine. All doctors will tell you there is no correlation between the MMR and autism, but most parents that have kids with autism will tell you there's a connection. He did an autism screen before the vaccine. I asked Mike about the autism screen (the doctor told me about it at the 15 month check-up.) Mike had no idea that he did it. He needs to start asking more questions!