Pumpkin patch

My peanut needs butter!! :)

So, James and I have been wondering if Ethan was gaining any weight since he came off the oxygen. I was concerned enough about it that I set up a doctors appointment to get his weight checked. We went in last Tuesday and he weighed 17lbs 5.5oz.

Guess what?

That is the exact same weight he was 2 months before when we went to their 12 month check up.

So, he has not gained any weight. But... he hasn't lost any either. So, Ethan is now on a high calorie diet. We are putting butter and cheese in everything that he is eating. He is getting about 3oz of half&half in his milk (3oz .5&.5 and 5oz of milk). We also put Carnation Instant Breakfast in his oatmeal in the morning to make it extremely high cal.

However, he needs to be keeping his food down. He hasn't had the best track record this week at keeping his food down after eating. He gets to gagging and then he doesn't keep his food down. (Alex is actually having this same issue too.) But we had forgotten his Prevacid for a few days, so hopefully with a couple of days of us remember it will help him get back to none puking.

We will be going back in on election day to do a quick weight check and then we will go in again on Nov 16th for the 15 month check up. If he doesn't gain weight or doesn't gain enough weight we will be discussing going back to the pulmonologist about the O2 issue.

Sometimes if the body is working too hard on trying keep it's o2 supply up then it doesn't work on gaining weight. So, if the high cal diet doesn't work, we may have to go back on o2. I really don't want to, and I am sure Ethan really doesn't want to. But if that is what we need to do then we will do it.

Please pray that he gains weight these next couple of weeks.

October... so far...

At the beginning of October, my company had it's annual meeting. James brought the boys to the meeting and our Executive Minister, his wife, and one of our coaches got to hold the boys and carry them around a bit. They all enjoyed it.

Yesterday was the boys' due date birthday. They are offically considered to be 1 year old now (developmentally). So, we got a cake to see if they would eat it, unlike on their real birthday. Here is a picture of the boys and James with the cake... it says "AGE Happy Due Date B-day"

Here is the video of them with the cake. They weren't too sure about touching it still.

Ethan and Alex yesterday. They actually end up sitting like this A LOT! I am not sure why, but they do.

Here is a picture with Grant in the jumper in the back. He loves that thing. :)

Here is a video of Alex throwing the ball. He loves to throw things. They like to play ball on the kitchen floor.

We had to make room in our expedition for James' parents so we could all go in one vehicle next week while they are here. So, we put Grant and Alex in the backseat forward facing. They are big enough for that now, so we decided to do it. I think they like it. Since Ethan still has not hit 20lbs, he has to stay rearfacing. That's ok. He can see A and G and they entertain eachother.


All the boys are feeding themselves now!! I am so proud of Grant for finally getting it. It took him a while, but he can feed himself some cheetos now. We are working on the smaller things still, but it's one step at a time!!!

Tonight at our church for Wednesday's Together dinner the boys were getting a bit fussy. I had our portable dvd player so i set it up. We ended up having quite a few kiddos (and a few adults join in watching the video.) This picture shows our director of music watching Baby Einstein with the kids. It was cute! :)

We have 3 crawlers

Last week both Ethan and Grant started crawling. We now have 3 crawlers. It took me a little bit to get a video of Grant crawling, but here it is.

Here is a fun little video of Grant too. He is the first one that will actually let me do this. He is funny.

Sam's Club

Sam's Club gets a lot of business from us lately. I can get the boys' 3rd foods there and we buy 8 gallons of milk at a time. It is much cheaper to buy the milk there at $1.98 a gallon than at the grocery store for $2.39 a gallon. Some times I can even get it at Sam's for $1.50/gal.

Sometimes I have to take the boys with me to the store because I haven't planned my shopping out at the right time. This last time I figured out a new way to take the boys in with me. I got more comments about this then I do when they are in the stroller...


Ethan is a bit squished between Alex and Grant, but I didn't have anyone complain. They just enjoyed being out of the house.

Videos of Ethan crawling and the boys playing

One of Ethan's first times really crawling across the room.


Another video of Ethan crawling. Notice how he moves his legs. It is kind of funny, but it is a start. He'll get the hang of it soon enough and be cruisin' just as fast as Alex.


Grant doesn't quite have the crawling skills, but he has this up-rotate-sit thing that s fairly entertaining to watch if he is really moving. Here is an example. Poor child can't get to the toy, but he isn't to concerned about it.


Last video is just of all the boys playing (and playing without screaming!!)

Videos from this week

When Ethan is pushed up to the table he somehow figures out how to get his feet up on the table. The other day he was doing this with his feet...


Alex is getting good at the crawling thing. He loves to crawl up to something or someone and pull up. He is also walking along furniture now. It won't be long for him to be walking.


One of Alex's favorite things to do is to crawl into the kitchen/dining room and toss a ring around. It sort of bounces and rolls around so he has to chase it. Watch him play...


I found Grant sitting on this water play mat yesterday. I suppose it works well to build up his core strength...


You get to witness some of Ethan's first "steps" crawling. We have been working hard on crawling, but Ethan and Grant just don't quite have it yet. He is Ethan's progress though. He is so close...


I caught Grant this morning pulled up on to his knees for the first time. I was so excited I had to get the camera. The are progressing fast.

1st haircut!!

The boys got their first haircuts today!! Thank you Robin for doing them for us!! :)

I have seen them all sit up on their own now

So, on September 8 I watched Grant sit up on his own. I thought he had before but I hadn't seen it to prove it. I did see it that day so now I know he can do it!

Then yesterday I saw Ethan sit up a couple of times (I thought, but I wasn't positive.) So I wasn't sure if he could do it or not. Last night, he woke up screaming in his crib. I went in to see what was going on and he was sitting up in his bed!! I know he can now!!

All my babies can sit up on their own now!!!

1 Year Pictures

Ethan in the background. Grant in the middle. Alex in the front. Check out the picture at the top of the blog for my FAVORITE picture of the boys.




I am envisioning them in about 15 years on a football team doing this pose... What do you think?




They all really don't like touching grass!! :)


Ewww... grass....




Ethan






Alex








Grant






Please let me know if you want any of these printed. I can send you the electronic copy that doesn't have the watermark on it if you want to print pics.