Hunter brought home a wrapped gift for John and I on the last day of school but told us we couldn't open it until Christmas. He also mentioned it was breakable so we did not put it under the tree for fear that the babies would get at it. Instead we put it safely up on top of the built-in stereo next to the couch. On Christmas day we didn't think to look up there and I actually forgot it was there until this evening. I remembered at about 4 p.m. and here is how my conversation went with Hunter right after I found this last unopened gift:
Me: "Oh my gosh! We forgot to open your gift from school!" Hunter: "Open it!" Me: "Daddy isn't home work yet. We have to wait for him to be here too!" Hunter: "I'll give you a hint. It starts with an 'o'." Me: (Thinking in my head that of course it is an ornament but I didn't want to guess it in front of him and ruin the surprise.) "Is it an owl?" Hunter: "No." Me: "Is it an octopus?" Hunter: "No." Me: "Is it an orangutang?" Hunter: "No." Me: (Now out of all "o" words.) "Is it an 'oogoo boogoo'?" Hunter: "Ummm...that starts with a 'u'....and that's not even a word!" Me: (Now laughing so hard I can't guess anymore.) Hunter: "Mom...look at the front and that will give you a detail of what's inside."
I kept going with the "oogoo boogoo" idea. He must think I am so dumb but sometimes it's so much fun to play stupid.
Tonight John made some cookies so we had some to put on Santa's plate. (This year we did not bake hardly anything.) Before bathtime Hunter and I started to prepare it together. I ran upstairs for a minute and came down to see Hunter had stacked five cookies for Santa and he was pouring the milk all by himself. I said, "Oh, ya gettin' the milk ready for Santa?" and he said, "yep...I'm givin' him lots because it's good for him!" I said, "Let's not forget the reindeer!" and started to get the celery out of the fridge and he said, "Actually, Rudolph likes carrots so you can give the rest celery but put some carrots on the plate." This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions. There are so many that I cherish but this one is so simple and sweet. I still remember doing it as a child and being so excited about it.
Hunter was lucky enough to see Santa three times this year. The first was at an event put on by the Bartolotta's for the restaurant where I have a part-time job. The second was at the annual Children's Party at the Twin Club and finally, Santa came to Hunter's school and had breakfast with the kids. The second time he saw him he was sitting on his lap and Santa asked him what he'd like for Christmas. Hunter said, "Um...the Air Hog Helicopter and a science lab...I already told you!" Yep! My five-year-old giving Santa some attitude! Could not believe it. So when we got the letter from school asking if we'd like our child to attend the breakfast with Santa I was hesitant. However, I did not want Hunter being the only kid left back at the classroom alone. So I paid the $5.00 and hoped for the best. When John picked him up from school that day he said, "Dad, I don't think that Santa was real." YIKES! So John trepidatiously asked him why he thought so. He replied, "because he didn't look like the other Santas." John went on to say, "You're right Hunter. He wasn't the real Santa. Think about it...don't you think Santa is pretty busy this time of year? He has to make all of these toys (etc. etc.) so he has all of these helpers to pose as him for pictures all over the world." He thankfully bought it.
In the picture with all three boys you may notice that Hunter has a bandaid on his face. A few days prior to this day I picked him up from school and saw that he had a scratch on his face and asked him what had happened. He was clueless that it was even there and had to look in the mirror to verify that I was telling the truth. A few days pass and the morning of our day to meet Santa he decides he HAS to have a bandaid for his owie. Didn't need one the previous two days but okay!
Tyler has figured out that he is small enough to sneak under the living room gate and he takes advantage of this newfound freedom frequently. We never had this problem with Hunter because he was much bigger when he was this curious age and wouldn't fit. This picture is deceiving. The bottom of the gate looks a lot higher off the ground than it truly is. I actually measured it (because everyone knows I have extra time on my hands) and it is only 5 1/2 inches off the floor. I guess leaving them with Hunter in the baby-proofed living room for 10 mins while I sneak off to shower is out of the question now.
This afternoon while Tyler and Brody were napping Hunter and I were having so much fun in the basement. He and I were about to play "store" shopping at "guns and bullets" (he picked the name) with his play cash register and I realized that I should probably scan the barcodes that came with it before we used them all up and couldn't play with them anymore. So I introduced Hunter to the scanner. Who knew how much fun a five-year-old boy would have with this?! I wish I wouldn't have deleted all of the images he and I scanned before thinking it would be a fun thing to blog about and remember at a later date. These two images are the ones I hadn't yet deleted before that thought came to me. We had also scanned his fist, his face (I made him close his eyes) and some random things we found in the basement (all his ideas). He was laughing HYSTERICALLY! I love that little boy...
This post includes many random thoughts that are not very cohesive but I want to get these thoughts down before I forget them and I don't have time to figure out a creative way of making them all tie in.
Pictured here is one of Tyler and Brody's favorite pasttimes of late. They put these buckets over their heads and walk around blindly. Of course, there is lots of bumping into things and falling over. Not sure what the draw is but they keep coming back to it. They've been doing this for a few months already.
Other news (since I haven't posted in FOREVER)...Tyler is finally getting his third tooth (his first one on top). It broke skin about a week ago. John and I both agree with how different he is going to look with this top tooth.
Hunter asked me the other day if they have classes in "patience." After asking him why he wanted to know he told me that he thought I needed to take a class in it. YIKES! I will admit, it is definitely a weakness of mine. Especially when he is supposed to be at school in 15 mins but it's a 20 min drive and he is still in his underwear with his breakfast half-eaten. Not too much patience in my life at that point. I told him I would try harder to work on being more patient.
Tonight right before reading Hunter his bedtime stories I accidentally poked him in the eye with the corner of the book we were about to read. Don't ask me how...it was such a random occurence. Anyhow, he was crying really hard (poor thing) because his eye had been open when the accident happened. Ouch! I tried to console him and when he was able I asked him to open it to take a look. I said, "Well, it looks a little irritated." After a pause he said, "I don't know how this has anything to do with my ear Mom...it's my EYE!!" I had to explain what "irritated" meant. He didn't find any humor in it given his sad state but I thought it was HILARIOUS!!
We went to a Halloween Kids Party at the twin club on Sunday and Hunter had a blast. He went around the retirement home where we have our meetings and events and trick or treated with the old folks. Then they had crafts for the kids to do in the dining area. Hunter made a necklace with black and white beads and told me it was his "Halloween rosary." We had a super fun afternoon. Tyler and Brody were a hit in their costumes. More to come (with pictures) on this later...check back after Saturday. I should have good pics by then.
Today while we were at the grocery store a lady asked if Brody & Ty were girls. AGH! So on a whim I decided to brave their first haircut by myself. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! What a disaster. I came prepared with my camera and our video camera to document the occasion. That was wishful thinking. The picture shows how it went. Lots of screaming and crying the whole time. Not even milk would calm them down. I can understand why...there was hair all over their bottles. Mmmmm...tasty!
Tyler went first and hated every second. I was assuming he would stop crying once it was Brody's turn. Not the case. Next time it's John's turn to take them!! :)
Hunter is losing a tooth! He bit down on his breakfast this morning and started crying hysterically. I thought he had bit his lip or tongue because he kept saying how it hurt but then he told me that it was wiggly. I got him a washcloth with some ice in it and there was a little bit of blood on it. He's mostly afraid of what is happening. I tried to reassure him and he said, "Well, I like the tooth fairy but I don't want to lose all of my teeth!" Chalk it up to more growing pains...
This is what we've been dealing with of late. Lots of CLIMBING!! Tyler and Brody LOVE to climb and the chairs on this play table are the perfect enablers! They just push them around to whatever taller piece of furniture they'd like to explore and voila! they're up in no time. To their dismay we've had to put them on top of the play table for now to put an end to this new development. Big brother Hunter has saved the day on a number of occasions either by calling it to my attention or by getting them down safely on his own.
Sometimes Hunter can be soooo dramatic. Today he and I were playing his new favorite game, Monopoly, and I asked him if he wanted to buy any houses for his properties. In the most dramatic fashion he said, "No...I do not want to lose any of my big dogs!" (meaning his $100 bills) and then he put his hand over his eyes (palm facing eyes) and shook his head back and forth.
I finished my first Olympic distance triathlon this morning. I had done two sprints prior but this one required more stamina as it doubled the distance (1 mile swim, 25 mile bike, 6.2 mile run). The weather was super horrible...worst conditions EVER! It was cold and rained most of the race. The rain started as I was setting up my transition area and so I quickly donned my wetsuit to try to stay as warm as possible. Of course, I didn't notice the rain while I was swimming but I did notice the decent-sized waves! A few times as I was attempting a breath I got a mouthful of water. I was super excited that I actually had passed a few of the half-ironman competitors in the water. Not sure how that's possible! All in all, I was VERY satisfied with my swim. I finished it in under 30 minutes (28:52)!
The transition to bike took forever because not only did I have to take my wetsuit off but I chose to wear running pants for warmth; however, getting those things on with wet legs is difficult to say the least! Not to mention all of my things were wrapped in plastic bags to keep them dry. Why I tried (or anyone did) is beyond me though because everything was soaked within a few minutes of biking/running.
The bike itself was the worst. First of all, I have a $5 bike that we bought at a rummage sale and while we have put some money into it to make it road-worthy it is still from circa 1983. Bike technology has changed a bit in the last 30 years. So much that while I was trying to have a quick conversation with a fellow racer she was sailing by me while coasting and I was pedaling my butt off just to keep up! How embarrasing! A guy even passed me on a MOUNTAIN BIKE! I passed maybe 12 people and at least 127 (give or take 50) passed me. YIKES! Clearly I need a new bike if I want to continue doing this sport. But to be fair I did spend the least amount of time training on my bike. The results showed. The rain hit us hard on the latter part of the 25 miles. Believe me, biking in the rain=not fun. Not only is it hard to see because of the rain drops pelting your face but it's dangerous! There were quite a few people who had wiped out and injured themselves pretty badly over a set of very slippery railroad tracks. The officials were making us dismount and walk over the tracks after that happened. Another bummer is the spray from the other bikes coming at you. At one point I rode past a Garage Sale sign and turned to another racer and said, "You wanna hit it?" She laughed. The route was very picturesque on winding, hilly tree-lined country roads. I wish the weather had been better so that I could have enjoyed it more.
During the transition to run another racer asked me if I was breathing okay. I thought that was odd and after telling him I was breathing fine I asked him his reasoning for asking me. He said my lips were blue. I said, "Yeah...it's because I'm freakin' cold!"
The run leg was SUPER challenging. The Lake Geneva Triathlon (actually held in Fontana) is known for "Frank's Killer Hill" so I had expected one tough hill to climb...not six or seven! WOW is all I have to say. These hills were ENORMOUS! I didn't mind the rain so much on the run leg. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was refreshing because I was still dang cold but I will say that it was a welcome distraction (Note the rain in this picture). Running in soggy shoes however was not. I passed a percentage of those racers who had passed me on my bike leg but I had expected that because usually running is the best of the three disciplines for me. Although today I would venture to say that my swim may have been. I did have to stop and tie my shoe at 3.5 miles, which was very difficult to do with numb fingers. I'm satisfied with averaging a 9 minute mile, especially after the swim and bike.
I know by now you are probably thinking, "suits you right for voluntarily signing up for that nonsense!" but I can't even try to express the feeling of accomplishment I had when I crossed that finish line. It's something I've had my sights set on for two years and to see it come to fruition really puts a smile on my face. This triathlon made the top 100 triathlons in the country for 2005 by Inside Triathlon Magazine so I'm especially proud to have completed my first Olympic distance on a challenging course such as this. I finished the entire race in just over 3 hours if you don't count transitions, which I don't because I'm not a super elite racer. I was hoping for under 3 but given the conditions and those ungodly large hills I'm happy with what I've accomplished.
John came out to root me on which was really encouraging and fun to have someone to hug after it was all over with. He is my biggest cheerleader and has been such a wonderful support for me while I trained this summer. His confidence in me never wavered! I was very nervous about this race feeling like I hadn't trained enough and even contemplated dropping down to the sprint distance last week. I really was doubting myself and voiced this to him. I am sooooo glad he talked me out of it and gave me the boost I needed because I really would have been disappointed in myself had I done that. We got a bite to eat before returning home and I really enjoyed this alone time with him. Mark (my brother) was taking care of the kids at home. All in all I am very pleased with how I raced my first "real" triathlon and I'm looking forward to beating this time at next year's race. I still had energy at the end of this one so I know I can do better next time if I push myself harder. Hopefully the weather will be better.
Today during Tyler and Brody's nap Hunter got the bug in him to put up Halloween decorations. Since it is technically still summer until the 21st I decided to draw the line at "Fall" decorations only. So we put out some pumpkins and leaf-related decor. No witches or ghosts at the Collins household just yet. Two solid months of Halloween decor is a little much. I allowed him just one little bat that he could put on his window if he liked. We had just finished up when Tyler and Brody awoke from their nap. I must say that we have some very observant babies! They were entranced with the transformation. I could barely get them to eat their lunch because they kept reaching for the gourds! I think they enjoy the change of scenery!
When I picked up Hunter from his first day of Kindergarten his comments were, "School is AWESOME! I love Mrs. Stanioch! I stayed on the green smiley face all day!" He said he met a new friend but he doesn't know her name. I'm not sure why his friends are always girls (with the exception of Quinn but that friendship has been imposed on him through my relationship with his mother). He sits at the "green table." He also had music class and met Mrs. Nokavich (not sure of the spelling?) and learned a new song with lots of movements. He was SUPER excited about everything. YAY!!! That is such a relief.
I made him a "Welcome Home" sign (right) and sent the pic to John at work for him to see (on his phone). I also told him that I used Hunter's window markers to decorate his side of the van with "Yay Hunter K5 man!" He replied with, "How about sky writing...got any of that?"
I just dropped Hunter off for his first day of Kindergarten not long ago. I cannot believe this day has arrived. Over five years cannot have already passed from when the doctor laid him on my chest and told me "it's a boy!" That went WAY too fast.
He was BEYOND excited. In fact, two days ago he told me "Tomorrow I get to go to Kindergarten!" When I explained that he'd have to wait two days he started crying! I couldn't believe it. Earlier in the week he learned that there is a library at school and by his reaction you would've thought he just found out that he'd been told that we were taking a trip to Disney! What can I say? The kid loves books!
This morning I had no trouble whatsoever waking him up. He jumped out of bed and started telling me about some "really great" dreams he had been having. One was about being at a fun place with trains and waterslides with his buddy Quinny. He wanted to eat breakfast with his backpack on and I agreed that it was a fun idea. I packed his lunch. He requested a tuna fish sandwich, grapes, and bbq chips for a treat. I threw a pickle in there too since he loves them so much and of course, a special note that said, "I love you Hunter! Love, Mom See you soon!"
He told me on the way to school that he was a little nervous about meeting new kids. I reassured him that all the other kids were feeling the same way he was and that I was sure he would make friends easily. He said, "Maybe I'll even make friends on the first day!"
The drop-off went very smoothly. We all assembled in the gymnasium and he was able to meet his teacher (Mrs. Stanioch) there. He insisted on bringing her a quarter. She took it and acted very excited to receive it. She said, "What's this for? It must be for good luck! We're going to have a great year!"
I wasn't emotional until I got home to an "empty" house. Hanging out with *just* the twins today. I miss my little BIG guy already.
I *only* took 43 pictures to mark the occasion. No joke. Kindergarten is BIG TIME. Never thought I'd be saying that.
The other day I put the boys down for a nap (just the youngest ones) and went back downstairs. After a little while the normal crying got worse and I could tell it was Tyler. His cry is a little higher pitched than Brody's. Since it was increasingly alarming I went upstairs to check on him. He was sitting up in his crib with his blanket over his head crying his little lungs out. He looked like a little ghostie. It was so sad and cute all at the same time. Somehow he got his blanket over his head and he wasn't able to pull it off. Luckily these are very thin muslin blankets that we use in the summertime so he was able to breathe just fine. It just scared him.
Speaking of scary things...Brody has developed a fear of any toy that moves on its own and looks like an animal or person. We have a bath toy that's a seal and his flippers move if you wind him up. He's TERRIFIED of this toy so we have to remember to remove it completely from the tub at bathtime or else it's a recipe for a complete and utter meltdown. Hunter likes it when he bathes so we still have it around for him. We also have a few other wind-up toys that do jumps and flips and the like and even if they aren't wound up and moving he will look at those toys wide-eyed and then crawl far far away whenever he stumbles upon them. He's our little sensitive guy.
Tyler and Brody got into Hunter's Flintstone vitamins yesterday. They were covered from head to toe in red dye. They had half-eaten at least 12 of them. I didn't completely panic until I read the bottle. It said, "Keep out of reach of children. Overdose of iron is the leading cause of infant death. Contact poison control immediately." So I did. They turned out to be just fine but I am sooo embarrassed to say that this is the second time in a week that I've had to contact poison control. The other time was about a week ago when Tyler got a hold of the sunscreen spray bottle and was sucking on the nozzle. Once again, I wasn't too concerned until I read the label with many warnings against this sort of behavior. For the record, I never had to contact poison control when I had only one baby (Hunter). These guys get into EVERYTHING!!
Today at the grocery store Hunter made me laugh out loud and almost pee my pants. We usually give Tyler and Brody some kind of a toy to hold onto while we are shopping to keep them busy. This time Tyler had what we call "goo." It's this gel-like gooey stuff that's safely encased in plastic (that you can open to get to the goo but they're too little to do so at this point). Anyway, we were walking through the aisles when I noticed that Tyler didn't have his toy anymore. I relayed this information to Hunter and he suddenly got frantic that his toy was missing. We started re-tracing our steps and on the way he turned to a random lady and franticly wide-eyed said, "Have you seen any goo in the store?!" I think I may be one of few people who think that this is HYSTERICAL because when I've re-told this story only one or two people reacted the way that I did. I think it was just HOW he said it that was so funny. He was so serious and matter-of-fact about it. I'll never forget it! We never did find the goo. Both "babies" have two bottom center teeth now and are sleeping through the night again (THANK THE LORD!). They currently both have a summer cold. Such a bummer.
Hunter's vocabulary astonishes me sometimes. The other day he was downstairs with Uncle Mark playing a game and he knew that we had somewhere to go soon. He heard me coming down the stairs and said, "I presume you are going to say that we have to go now." What? Presume?! Does he know that he's five? Then tonight we were coming home from a fun but exhausting day at a water park and I said to him, "I don't know about you but I'm bushed!" He replied, "I'm bushed and my dogs are barkin'!" My final story for the night...Tonight I had to clip his nails (his most hated thing EVER) and afterward I told him, "The good news is that now they're short and we don't have to clip them for a while." His response: "I'm dubious about that!"
Last night Brody finally cut his first tooth and he wanted to make sure the whole house knew about this momentous occasion. In other words, he was up crying ALL NIGHT. Sleepless nights are the hardest part of parenting for me. I am WAY too crabby when I don't get my sleep. I feel bad for the poor little guy though. He is in some serious pain. Hopefully the first is the worst and the rest won't be so bad. One can dream, right?
Brody has been playing peek-a-boo lately by covering his eyes with his hands anytime he hears the phrase "peek-a-boo!" He has a toy that says it and he even does it then. It's adorable!
Hunter filled his "pom-pon jar" (reward jar) so he was able to pick a fun place to go. He chose "Altius Gymnastics." We attended his best preschool friend's birthday party there in May (Hailey) and he LOVED it. He has been asking to go there ever since. Since they do not have open gym we couldn't just go whenever we wanted to. They host a "parent's night out" though where you drop off your kids from 6-10 p.m. and they organize all kinds of fun things for the kids (bucket rides, trampoline time, obstacle courses, etc.). It was our first time leaving Hunter somewhere for that long unsupervised by us. We were a little concerned that he would feel lonely because he didn't know anyone else there but he had a blast! He was talking about all these games he played with the other kids called "octopus tag, hospital tag, and mountain tag." Evidently it was a hit. He stayed the entire time too. I thought for sure we would be getting a phone call to come and get him early since 10 p.m. is several hours past his bedtime. His eyes were all red when we picked him up and he yawned the whole way home. Our "parent night out" was a parent night in but that's okay. We had a nice time together regardless.
Tyler is officially walking! Two days ago (August 9th) he took seven or eight steps in a row toward John, who was standing a few feet away holding his hands out and coaxing him toward him while moving slowly backward. It was an awesome moment and one that we will all cherish. Hunter was there too and both were calling to me from the living room (I was in the kitchen cooking dinner) to come and see, "He's walking! He's walking!" It was such a BIG moment for our little guy. He looked really proud of himself. Both boys will walk around if you hold onto their hands but this was hands-free! He was soooooo slow and deliberate about it (of course!) which made it all the more cuter!!
He's getting his second tooth now too. Brody still has none.
I mentioned in my post last time that Tyler turns everything into a phone but I should mention that Brody does now as well. All you have to say is, "Hello? Is anyone there?" and both boys will put whatever they are holding up to their ear. Brody has taken this even further lately by "dialing" the item and babbling what sounds like a question. So cute!
Both boys like to blow raspberries on my shoulder while I'm holding them if I'm wearing a sleeveless shirt. It's sooooo funny! We got Tyler doing it on video yesterday. If I can get both of them doing it at once maybe I'll send it into America's Funniest Home Videos. You never know!!
On a different topic, the other day we were driving around and I looked in our rear-view mirror to see Brody with his foot up near his ear. I laughed and Hunter turned around to see him also. He mused, "Hmmm...Brody's doin' yoga!" This was way too funny to have it not documented. I want to remember that one for a long time.
I've been wanting to post this story for at least a week now and I'm finally getting around to it now. One night (about a week ago) John started to brush Hunter's teeth before tucking him in and Hunter immediately protested saying, "YUCK! Dad, that tastes TERRIBLE!" John inspected the toothbrush and thought maybe some soap from the dispenser in the bathroom dropped onto it so he went and rinsed it off really well and tried again. Their conversation went something like this: John: "Is that better?" Hunter: "Yeah! I think it was the bleach." John: "Bleach? What bleach?" Hunter: "This morning I used the bleach pen on the bathroom floor. I read the instructions and it said to use a brush. I didn't have a brush. So I used my toothbrush!" Ewwwww!!! Needless to say we got him a new toothbrush. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with organic this and natural that. I do have boys afterall!! John had to relay this story to me by starting with, "He is SO your son! What five-year-old decides out of nowhere that he needs to scrub the bathroom floor UNASKED and doesn't tell a soul about it?" Okay, I'll admit that a little of me is rubbing off on him.
Things have been active around here lately. Tyler is FINALLY getting his first tooth. It started on Thursday, the 22nd. He had a fever and we thought he might be getting sick but then John noticed he was pulling at his mouth. We checked and sure enough...that first tooth was breaking skin! Brody still has none. John and I have both said that we'll miss their toothless grins. They've been around for so long. On to another stage!
Then the very next day Tyler one-upped himself and took his very first step all by himself! We were over by the stairs and he was standing unassisted (been doing this for a while now). Then he just decided to side-step to the bathroom and took not one but TWO steps in a row to get there! He didn't even act like it was any big deal...wasn't proud of himself or anything. But I was clapping like a mad-woman.
They are getting to be such BIG boys!!
They are so good at keeping things from each other. It's funny to watch. If Brody wants Tyler's toy (usually Brody's the instigator) Tyler will do everything possible to avoid losing that toy. He will switch hands, move around in circles away from Brody, crawl away or just about try anything to keep it away. One time a few days ago Brody was playing keep away and he was dangerously close to losing his ball to Tyler until he threw it across the room and then quickly crawled after it and got there before Ty. Ingenious! So entertaining these boys are!
Tyler turns everything into a phone, including the remote, calculator, Hunter's sunglasses, you name it and he puts it to his ear. He also loves to put things on his head as "hats," for instance, his sand toys (haven't been put in sand yet thankfully), clothing, the phone, whatever is close by that he can lift! It's pretty cute!
This post is embarrassingly late but I did want to write about their BIG milestone of reaching one year old (June 13th). We had a nice party and lots of friends and family attended. The theme was "Dr. Seuss" and we had lots of great decorations and food. The kids played "Pin the Wocket on Baby's Pocket." Grammie flew from Arizona to spend 11 days with all of us, which was great fun! It rained for a while during the party so everyone came inside. Our house is not big enough for that many people but it made for a memorable party. Brody and Tyler LOVED the cake! They ate so much of it...handfuls literally. I definitely got my cake-face pictures this time around. Hunter didn't eat one morsel for his first birthday. It was pretty cute to watch. All of the kids at the party hovered around their highchairs to watch them eat it. There was lots of laughter. People, including kids, just love babies and twins makes it double the entertainment!
The boys are doing so much lately. Both are climbing to the top of the stairs. Brody did this first and Tyler followed about a week later (he just accomplished this about three or four days ago). Brody has started to sign "more" and I think "milk" too. Tyler hasn't demonstrated any signs yet. At their one-year doctor's appointment we received some new stats:
Tyler 29.5 in (25%) and 18 lbs. 14 1/2 oz. (3%) Brody 28 3/4 in (10%) and 19 lbs. 1 oz. (5%)
They're a little small for their age but their Pediatrician doesn't seem alarmed as long as they are growing. They got a few immunizations and had to have blood drawn for a lead test. This was HORRIBLE! John came with for the appointment but had to leave right before all of the pokes because he had to go to work. So I held Tyler for his two pokes but had to put him down (still crying) in order to hold Brody for his two pokes. Then we had to go down the hall and do it all over again with the blood draws (which were worse because they had to stick a needle in their arm for that one). I really hate going to the well-baby checks when they have to get poked. :( It breaks my heart! We held off on giving them their MMR because of all the controversy surrounding autism and that particular shot. We'll probably wait until just before they go to Kindergarten to have that done.
We have switched them to cow's milk for the majority of their feedings. They are still nursed twice a day, morning and night, but this is more for nurturing than for nourishment. We are now buying four gallons of milk at a time and running out before the week's end (that's for the whole family).
The babies are eating more and more table foods...fruit cut up into tiny bites, cheese, pancakes, waffles, turkey and veggie burgers, pasta, bread, and peas but they still don't have any teeth! They are good at gumming everything and are GREAT eaters. The only thing they don't like very much so far is green beans and rice.
They are so much fun to watch and so distinct in their personalities. Tyler LOVES to jump. He jumps in his crib every morning, night and nap time, holding onto the crib railing. Brody sometimes joins in. It's fun to go and get them after their naps and see them both happily jumping together in their respective cribs. Brody is so verbal! He is downright LOUD! He's not talking yet but he gets his point across in his little baby babbles and squeals. They steal toys and other things from each other and occasionally share, offering each other a toy or nook and returning it a few seconds later.
Brody loves playing with balls. It's his favorite thing to do. He lifts them up over his head and throws them to roll across the room (even heavy full-sized basketballs!) and then chases after them. Then repeats!
When we are tickling one of them the other will laugh also (even when un-touched). When we do something goofy to get one to smile, we get a bonus smile from the other baby as well. They are both standing unassisted for at least 10 seconds at a time and crawling very quickly now. No walking yet, except around furniture.
We went on our first family outing of the summer yesterday. It's tough to get away with our schedules so it didn't happen until halfway through the summer but it was worth the wait! We went to Idle Isle Park in Muskego for some fun in the sun. Hunter and John fished from the pier and I hung out with Tyler & Brody on a big blanket. We had a nice picnic lunch together and then went swimming in the lake. It was Tyler & Brody's first time in open water, or any water other than bath. Tyler was a little timid at first and acted as if he was going to cry but warmed up after about 10 minutes and started splashing. Brody loved it from the start and giggled a lot. Hunter had a great time swimming and jumping off the pier. He is such a water bug!
Hunter is so GREAT with them. If they are crying he tries his best to distract them with his five-year-old antics. He gets them to laugh most times and to forget why they were sad to begin with.
That's all I can think of right now but I'm sure I'm leaving a ton out. I will post new pics soon!
I haven't posted in forever because it has been a very very hectic last few weeks. Our beloved cat, Roman died a few weeks ago and we miss him dearly. He was the best cat EVER and anyone who met him during his 17 years here would most definitely agree. He was a true friend and companion to us. The last few days he wasn't eating anything anymore and would barely leave John's closet. He had to be carried to the litter box and when he did try to walk anywhere he was stumbling all over the place. He even stopped drinking anything the last day. It was so sad and makes me cry thinking about it again. Hunter was hopeful that he'd pull through and kept saying, "Mom, I think Roman is gonna make it because he drank a lot yesterday." I think he was in denial. He told me on several occasions that he didn't want Roman to die because then we would have no pets. I don't think he remembers much about Bailey (my cat who died a couple of years ago) but he has seen videos and pictures of him. John finally had to make the decision to take Roman in to the vet to end his misery. He left work several hours early and was bringing him out to the truck and Roman died in his arms on their way down the stairs. I think that the way it ended up happening turned out to be for the best because this way John didn't have to make the decision to end his cat's life. Roman decided. John took him to his parent's house in Madison and buried him there so he'd have a place to visit him. He didn't want to bury him in our yard because we hope to move in the next few years. We are sad that Tyler and Brody will never remember Roman because he is a cat that should be remembered. They did enjoy "chasing" after him. Roman would casually walk away and occasionally glance back at them while they were fiercely trying to catch up to him crawling as fast as they could. We miss him every day.
Hunter turned five last week and we had a nice party at our house. We had 21 adults and 9 kids over. Luckily the weather cooperated and we enjoyed a beautiful day out in the backyard. Since Hunter has been obsessed with Scooby Doo for about a year now he decided that's what his birthday theme would be this year. We decorated the van like the Mystery Machine, and when I say "we" I mean "I." As I was decorating the van at 11 p.m. the night before the party it occurred to me that I probably cannot top this in subsequent years so we better come up with a Plan B. It was a total pain but turned out awesome and Hunter loved it. When he saw it parked in the garage (before moving it to the street) the morning of the party he said, "Wow!" We sent the kids on a hunt at the party to solve the mystery of the birthday present caper. They went around the yard collecting clues by playing certain games like musical chairs and "Scooby Scooby Phantom" (Duck Duck Goose) and at the end unmasked the villain (John) who was hiding out in the Mystery Machine with all of the presents. John agreed to be the villain as long as he was allowed to say, "And I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids!" We cannot believe that our "baby" is already five years old and will be going to Kindergarten in the fall. I can't even think about that right now.
He went to the doctor today for his well check-up and here are the stats: 44.75 inches (90%) and 52 lbs. (95%). He got a kick out of answering the questionnaire before seeing the doctor. It has a series of questions to test your child's development. Hunter had to draw a picture of a person and stand on each foot for as long as possible (8 seconds is the goal), identify which animal gallops, etc. One of the sections had blanks I had to fill in with his answers to questions like, "What is a ball?" and "What is a fence?" I thought his answer to, "What is a ceiling?" was interesting. He said, "It's for holding the lights!" He seemed pretty amused by all of the questions and kept saying, "Mom, I already know what all of these things are!"
He was over at his friend Hailey's house (preschool friend) for a playdate recently. Hailey's mom and I were busy talking and hadn't heard either of them in a while so I went up to her room to check on them. I found them in the closet with the door closed. I opened the door and Hunter immediately told me that I had to leave because they were doing something private. YIKES! Hailey was holding a doll and she spoke up and said it was a baby. I said, "Oh and are you playing Mommy and Daddy?" to which she replied, "Yes." Tonight before Hunter took his bath out of nowhere he says to me, "Hailey told me that I wasn't going to marry her because I was probably going to marry someone else like Nyelli (another classmate)." He said he told her, "No! Why would I do that?" I cannot believe this is starting already. HE JUST TURNED FIVE!!
I've been wanting to document a few "Hunter-isms" that I never want to forget from this stage of his life and so...here they are!
Baby smatter=baby drool or slobber Scirf=scarf (one of the questions at the doctor's office was "What do you do when you are cold?" He said, "I put on a scirf!") Coverds=cupboards Susposed to=supposed to
I know there are more so I will publish them in future posts as I remember them.
Brody has started crawling as of a few days ago. Yay Brody! He is as careful and slow as Tyler was in the beginning. I'm so happy he figured this out because he was getting so frustrated that he couldn't do it that he would just sit there and cry/moan. He's a lot happier now!
Tyler is crawling to other rooms now. He's made it to the kitchen a few times to check out what Mom and Hunter are up to. It's pretty cute and Hunter and I laugh whenever we see him coming. He is also trying to walk around the coffee table while holding on (side-stepping). He's made it a few feet already. It's only a matter of time before they will be moving in opposite directions and I will be constantly chasing them around.
Happy Mother's Day to all of my friends and family! Today seems like any old day to me though. John's at work and I'm at home with the kids. He's going to be cooking dinner tonight though so that will be a nice change-of-pace.
Tyler is officially getting places while crawling. Granted, it takes him a LONG time because he makes little baby movements and is very careful while moving but he's moving nonetheless. He also pulls himself to a standing position while holding onto things and is pretty sturdy while doing so. He surprised me when he did this for the first time about a week ago. I left him near a footlocker-type trunk in our living room in a seated position and went to help Hunter with something in another room. When I came back a few minutes later, there he was, standing up all by himself! I think a mother will always remember this moment. I know I remember the first time Hunter did this too. He was in his crib with a very accomplished look on his face as if he were saying, "Look what I can do Mom!!"
Brody has started shaking his head back and forth like he's saying "no" although he doesn't equate the meaning to the motion. In other words, he does it all of the time just for fun. It's super cute because he usually begins by waving, then starts clapping and finally shakes his head all in a row. He really likes showing off his skills!
Brody started waving and clapping this week so now we have two babies to wave "hi" to all day long. YAY Brody!!! Today while feeding them both lunch Brody started clapping for no apparent reason (practice!) and Tyler heard me saying, "good clapping Brody!" and he started too. They both kept clapping for a few minutes together. It was so cute! He's not very interested in crawling yet but he'll get there. Before long he'll be crawling all over the place and getting into things he shouldn't. He is up on all fours and rocking so it won't be long now. For now he gets to where he wants to go by rolling, and rolling, and rolling! The other day one of them, I think Tyler, rolled all the way from the living room into the kitchen! Whatever works!
Not that the title isn't adequate warning but this blog is not for those with weak stomachs. Tyler and Brody got me up at 5:17 this a.m. I nursed them as normal and Tyler promptly started puking all over me. Good mornin'! I didn't know if he was sick or if he had just had too much milk in him because I always have a lot of milk in the morning and on top of it I had given him a full bottle last night before bed. (Both boys were very upset after I fed them their dinner so I thought they were still hungry.) Anyway, I changed them, changed me and hoped for the latter explanation for the interesting start to my day. After everyone is changed and I've started a load of laundry I pick Brody up to bring him downstairs and low and behold...more projectile vomiting...all over me (and my fresh new clothes), him (and his fresh new clothes) and their bedroom floor. Mental note: wait a while before starting the laundry again. I went to work still hoping for the best. Maybe Brody also had too much to drink?!
I called home on my lunch hour and John, who was at home with all three, said neither had puked since so I thought we were home-free. A half an hour later I get a very desperate and emotional phone call from John asking for the dentist's phone number (Hunter had an appointment at 1:30 p.m.) so he could cancel. Bad news...Menards had shown up with the delivery of our fence, which was taking up half the alley. They were unable to drop it in our garage because the equipment would not make it in. John proceeded to move 2300 lbs. of building material (wood, concrete, etc.) leaving the boys unattended inside. He had no choice! He asked Hunter to stay inside and report back but with a delivery such as this, that was last on his mind. Who could blame him? That's exciting stuff to a four-year-old. So John worked as fast as he could to bring all of the stuff inside the garage where it would be safe from theft, clearing the alley in the meantime and rushing back inside only to find Tyler lying (asleep) in a pool of puke. Poor guy. Needless to say, Hunter did not make it to the dentist office today. It's amazing how babies bounce back though. They are incredible. At one point Tyler was sitting in the exersaucer projectile vomiting everywhere over and over again and after expelling about a quart of puke he looks up at John with a big smile on his face and starts waving at him! John, wide-eyed with panic proceded to pick his jaw up off the floor before waving back. Brody threw up his dinner again before going to bed. I'm turning in early because I'm not sure what the night has in store for me.
Tyler has added clapping to his repertoire of skills in the last few days so now he spends most of his day waving and then clapping, waving and then clapping, waving and you get the idea. The clapping is very quiet. It's mostly just putting his hands together very gently over and over again.
He stands very well when propped against the coffee table and has been doing this for weeks. I am there to spot him in case his legs give out but he doesn't need my support at all. His legs are very strong.
Yesterday we were at a friend's first birthday party and Tyler moved as if he were crawling (finally in a forward motion) but I'm not sure you can technically call it crawling just yet since he only moved about an inch. He did move one of his arms and one of his legs forward though. You make the call.
It was one year ago yesterday that I was admitted to the hospital on bedrest. I drove by the Pavilion yesterday on my way home from work thinking about what I was feeling at this time last year. I had so much anxiety and uneasiness over our situation. I was constantly worrying what would become of our little guys. I kissed them an extra 100 times so far today so thankful to have them in my life, healthy and strong! They are such a blessing and I am honored to be given the experience to be their mother. It's coincidental that today I got a message on Facebook (that was sent yesterday) from one of the nurses who took care of me while I was in the hospital. I am sure I have mentioned her before in posts from a year or so ago. Her name is Tonia and she was Hunter's favorite nurse because she took the time to show him all of the equipment in the room and how everything worked. She was also the nurse who came in on her birthday (and day off) to take pictures for me and be there for the birth of the twins. I haven't seen or talked to her since the boys were in the NICU and out of the blue she found me on FB. She said that she thought of me a few weeks ago because they had another set of mono-mono twins born at the hospital. I hope to stay in touch with her. Hunter mentioned her by name a few weeks ago so I'm sure he'd love to see her again too! I was amazed at his memory but I guess that was a pretty big event in his life, even if he was only just three years old at the time (almost four).
Tyler started waving this week. I think he is pretty proud that he can do it because he does it ALL THE TIME. I don't know how his arm isn't getting super tired from all of that waving. It's not a open and close of the hand, it's giant movements of his whole arm up and down. Super cute! He knows how to get us to smile at him, that's for sure! Still no crawling but both boys are pulling up to a kneeling position, usually at the coffee table. They like chewing on the wood, yuck! I guess it's better than cat food but I try to stop it as much as possible anyway.
On Easter this week while at John's parent's house Hunter disappeared for a solid 10 minutes. Every adult present (about six of us) was looking inside and outside of the house for him. After checking all of the obvious and not-so-obvious places John finally got in the van to drive around the neighborhood to see if he had maybe walked down to the park and as soon as he started backing out of the driveway Hunter popped up from the cargo area of the van. We had even gone in the van calling his name several times but just hadn't looked in the way back behind all of the seats. I guess he thought it was pretty fun to hide from us...not so! We were about ready to call the police. It was so scary and we had a serious talk with him about how when we are clearly looking for him he needs to answer us because what he did was not acceptable. Anyway, that's actually twice that we "lost" our son in the last week, the first time being about a week ago.
John had gone out to the garage to see if he could start up his motorcycle after it sitting idle all winter. The wind had blown the pedestrian door shut (on the garage) as Hunter was approaching coming from the house. The main door (where you drive in and out) was still open and he went out into the alley to get into the garage that way but John (unaware that Hunter was out there) had finished up and shut that door and walked back through the pedestrian door, closing it behind him. Hunter ran into the garage as the main door was closing but John had already shut the pedestrian door so Hunter was locked inside the garage but nobody knew this. Our pedestrian door is really tricky to open from the inside. You can't just turn the knob, you actually have to turn the lock (which sticks and is fairly high) and pull at the same time. About 10 minutes after John had left the garage (still oblivious to the fact that Hunter had gone missing) Hunter came running up to him in the front yard with a frantic story that went something like this, "Dad! I was locked in the garage and I tried yelling but nobody heard me and I tried banging too but that didn't work so I stacked some wood up and climbed on it to push the button but I couldn't reach so then finally I remembered that Mom twisted the lock to get out so I tried it and then I said, "Well....whattaya know...I'm free!" It was so funny how he had ended his little rant. I guess we should keep better tabs on our little guy!
Hunter has a pair of pants that is hard to zipper and snap and so recently he asked John to help him. But he warned that then Dad was "going to see (his) private parts." I asked for clarification and he said, "you know...my belly button!"
Tyler and Brody are moving backward and not at all forward when on hands and knees so that's not exactly crawling but it's one step closer (or further away technically speaking). They don't seem to mind that they're not getting to the places they are attempting to reach...or maybe intend to go backwards. Who can say? That's the beauty of being so young. They just go with the flow. I need to take a page out of their book!
I really like the "Super Baby Food" book because at the beginning of each chapter it lists all the new foods your baby can be introduced to at each new month. For example, at six months your baby can try avocado, bananas, and rice cereal. Now that Tyler and Brody are nine months old, I wonder if now is a good time for them to try cat food...because they did so yesterday. I was upstairs straightening up and when I came down to the kitchen I heard Hunter say, "Mom! Look at what Tyler did!" I walked into the living room and almost had a heart attack. There was mushed up cat food all over his mouth and the front of his jammies and the cat food was spilled all around him. I think Brody got a few kernels as well. DISGUSTING! Somehow I don't think that's organic. I grabbed my phone and took a quick pic to send to John at work. It said, "Daddy! I discovered cat food is really yummy today! Mmmmm! Love, Tyler"
Today we met with Miss Martha, Hunter's preschool teacher, for parent-teacher conferences. She told us that she noticed he was very interested in sea creatures, particularly the sea anenome. We already knew this because we have a book at home that is all about the California reef system and he has memorized each picture in the book. Miss Martha told us that she had mentioned to Hunter that she noticed this interest and that maybe someday he would be a scientist or a marine biologist. Hunter said, "Miss Martha, I can't be a scientist because I can't read all those big words!"
The boys (all three of them) have been sick for the last few weeks so I haven't had the energy to post. That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. It started with Hunter. He had symptoms of the flu for several days and had a bad cough that persisted for over a week. It developed into his very first ear infection. He wasn't even complaining about any pain. The only reason we had him checked out at all was because Brody had started wheezing and John had to take all three in for him to see their Pediatrician since I was at work. On the way there Hunter told John in the car, "Dad it feels like I'm on a roller coaster!" After some further prodding he said, "you know, like sometimes at night in bed I feel like I'm moving but I'm not really moving!" John knew there was an inner-ear issue going on from that comment so he had the nurse check out his ears. She was shocked to find out that he was not complaining of any pain because I guess they were pretty bad. Hunter started crying when John told him he had a (double) ear infection and that he'd have to take medicine to get rid of it. He liked that feeling (dizzy) and didn't want it to go away. That lasted all of a few minutes though. When he tried the medicine he forgot all about why he was sad. They make children's medicine taste pretty good these days. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm not so sure I want my children being conditioned to think that medicine is great because at a young age it tasted like candy.
When they examined Brody they learned that his pulse-ox reading (reads the amount of oxygen in his blood) was low. They gave him a breathing treatment (Albuterol) and told John to get him to Children's Hospital right away. Their concern was because everyone's natural oxygen level drops lower during periods of rest/sleep and since his was so low while awake they said this lack of oxygen during the day and night can cause brain damage over time. I had to come home from work so that John could stay home with Tyler and Hunter since the hospital wouldn't allow other children in. By the time we arrived at Children's Brody's pulse-ox reading was within normal range. After some further examination they allowed us to leave and not spend the night. Thank God! We gave him some more breathing treatments at home for several days and thankfully all three boys are now on the mend. John unfortunately is fighting off something similar but I have managed to remain healthy for now. That's the update in our household.
I picked Hunter up from Preschool the other day and walked with him to our minivan. He said to me, "This doesn't look like our van." I knew where he was going with this and instantly smiled but asked, "Why is that?" He said, "Because it's so shiny!" I guess I should get around to getting it washed more often than I typically find time to do.
Hunter wrote his first love note last night to his little girlfriend at Preschool, Hailey. It said, "I love you Hailey" with a picture of two smiley faces (one was Hailey and the other was him) and on the back, "Love Hunter." When he brought it to her today one of the teachers saw it in his little hand and said, "Awww...a love note. You know, Jack has a thing for Hailey too but I gotta tell ya that Hunter is totally winning that battle!"
A while ago Hunter told me, "Mommy, my coughs are frozen." I said, "What does that mean?" He said, "It means that when I cough, snow comes out. (giggle) My yawns are frozen too!"
Tonight during storytime Hunter chose a book called, "Everyone Poops." You can guess what it's about. In the first couple of pages there are actually pictures of different poops and Hunter likes to guess what animal makes each one. He pointed to one and asked me who I thought made that one. I said to him, "Do you think it's monkey poop?" and with a dead straight face he said, "No, monkeys don't poop!" I said, "Why do you think they don't?" and he replied with, "because monkeys don't have butts!" He didn't find any humor in this at all but I was dying laughing. I had to point out the title of the book to him again. I find it so interesting to enter the mind of a four-year-old.
We had such a great Christmas. Hunter really enjoyed the Advent Calendar during the month of December and learned how to be patient with waiting for the big day to arrive. We all went to church on Christmas Eve as a family, which I especially loved. I go every Sunday "alone" with the kids and to have John there with us was really special. Christmas morning we opened gifts at home, had a big breakfast and then headed to Madison to spend the day/evening with John's parents. We ate spedini, an Italian tradition celebrated in the Collins household. YUM! We left earlier than in years past because of the snow and icy roads. Hunter was sad when I told him we would be taking the holiday decorations down until next year and insisted that we wait until the end of the month (Dec.) to do so. I complied although I desperately wanted them packed away earlier. Our house seems so crowded lately. It feels like we have an in-home daycare with all of the baby apparatus in our living room. The Christmas tree takes up a lot of much-needed space and I just wanted it gone. I'm happy that it's January and we don't have any holiday decorations out anymore.
We celebrated New Years by taking Hunter bowling for the first time. We went with a few friends and their families during the day yesterday and Hunter could not have been more excited. He was REALLY loving it and it was so much fun to watch. We used bumpers and tried to get him to use a ramp but when he saw that none of the adults were using it he preferred to just throw the ball out there without it. He's pretty good considering the strength that that requires! He got an 84 (of course, the bumpers helped his score out tremendously). After bowling we put the boys to bed and John and I went out to dinner for the first time since March. It was sooooo nice.
Mom to four little boys, Hunter (8), twins, Tyler and Brody (4 years) and Greyson (2 years) and wife of 13 years to the love of my life and best friend, John. I keep busy but I love it!! Maybe not every second of every day but that's what this blog is sometimes about! I want to document the good and the bad regardless of who reads it. My purpose behind blogging is so that I can remember these fleeting moments someday when my children are grown and have families of their own. Maybe they'll read a few entries someday, maybe not, either way I'm doing this for me!
Hunter brought home a wrapped gift for John and I on the last day of school but told us we couldn't open it until Christmas. He also mentioned it was breakable so we did not put it under the tree for fear that the babies would get at it. Instead we put it safely up on top of the built-in stereo next to the couch. On Christmas day we didn't think to look up there and I actually forgot it was there until this evening. I remembered at about 4 p.m. and here is how my conversation went with Hunter right after I found this last unopened gift:
Then they had crafts for the kids to do in the dining area. Hunter made a necklace with black and white beads and told me it was his "Halloween rosary." We had a super fun afternoon. Tyler and Brody were a hit in their costumes. More to come (with pictures) on this later...check back after Saturday. I should have good pics by then.
