Family of Five

We hardly ever get a picture with all of us included. Our neighbor was nice enough to take this one while our kids were playing outside last week.

Two and a Half

Melody officially turned 2 1/2 on Thursday. I truly can't believe it. Where did my baby girl go?

Fifteen

Joseph was 15 weeks on Tuesday. He also now weighs 15 pounds (and 3 ounces)! He is a true squirmy wormy who can no longer be left in a bouncy seat for any length of time. Here's what happens if we do:

So now he spends most of his time on the floor, where he is quick to flip onto his tummy every chance he gets. Then he paddles away like he intends to go somewhere. My days of having a stationary baby are numbered for sure! He also loves bath time and has figured out how to kick and splash with gusto.

Baby olympics, here we come!

Imaginary Friends

Julie has an imaginary friend named Belinda. I have no idea where she came up with the name, but now Belinda joins us for most things. In fact, Julie is planning to get married to Belinda this July...July 100th to be exact. In response to Julie's Belinda, Melody has decided that her imaginary friend is named Sohpia. Melody has also decided to join in at the upcoming wedding, where she will marry Sophia and Joseph. Save the date!

And the little one said....

...Roll Over!

I can hardly believe it, but Joseph figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy today. I'd been helping him a little in his efforts, but then when neither Larry nor I were looking he did it all by himself! I had gone upstairs to grab a diaper and Larry had gone to check the mail. When we came back into the living room Joseph was on his tummy! I'm pretty sure 3 months is young for this skill, but he's always been a strong baby. Before I know it he'll be crawling and getting into all kinds of trouble!

Joseph has also found new uses for his hands, including grabbing at toys hanging overhead and holding onto rattles placed near his fingers.


It's amazing how fast they change...

Faces of Julie

Mad

Sad

Happy

Surprised

Silly

And sweet as can be

That's my girl!

Budding Artist

This is what happens when you leave a 2.5 year old alone with a marker and a baby:

I suppose she thought his head looked like as good a canvas as any! And just so you know, I was only out of the room for the amount of time it took me to put Joseph's poopy clothes in the bathroom. My budding artist is quick about her work! Thankfully it was washable marker and it wiped right off. Joseph never even made a peep either. He must not have minded too terribly much! Kids...

HMO Woes

Grrrr. That's how I feel about HMOs, at least for the most part. Yes, it's great that nearly everything we need is covered in full (the girls' many surgeries, my prenatal care, Joseph's birth...), but I find myself once again frustrated by the lack of choice involved. I ran up against this issue in my pregnancy and I'm running into it again now. I woke up 12 days ago with symptoms that I later learned were the result of a UTI. Looking back, I believe I've been fighting it since Joseph's birth, probably due to the catheter they gave me. I actually called the hospital the day after I was discharged with the same symptoms, but they eventually passed. They cropped up a couple more times but always passed. Then 12 days ago they came to stay. I finally went to my primary care doctor who confirmed an elevated white blood cell count in my urine and sent it out to be cultured. That was a Wednesday. The culture didn't come back until Monday. While I was waiting, I started taking Amoxicillin because I couldn't stand it anymore. The culture came back positive and also indicated that the bacteria should be susceptible to penicillin. Well, okay, but I'm still not getting better. I'm currently on day 7 out of 10 of the prescription and I'm still suffering. The most frustrating part is that I have called the doctor's office twice and both times they just tell me to finish the prescription and then come back for another urine test. Don't they hear the part about me not feeling better? Apparently I'm going to have to feel this way for another week before I get more help, since I'll be giving my next sample on Monday and waiting until Thursday for the results. I've even called my OBs office twice but they can't help either. I feel like a child under the thumb of the big HMO that won't give me permission to get the help I need. I understand that my doctor wants to be conservative because I'm breastfeeding Joseph, but there have to be other medications that are safe. Or she could send me on to see a specialist. I know I'm not accomplishing anything with my rant, but I'm physically uncomfortable, mentally frustrated and emotionally hurt by the lack of care I'm feeling right now. I'd better go crawl in a hole until my attitude improves. Scroll down for a much nicer, cheerier post!

Baby Blues

Joseph's big blue eyes are usually the first thing people notice when they meet our little guy. Personally, I think he's just the cutest baby boy ever, but I'm biased! What do you think?

Big Girl Julie

We had Julie's annual IEP meeting two weeks ago and the news was all good! She has made such amazing progress at school that she has changed classes for the 4th quarter of the year. She is now in an integrated classroom rather than a self-contained class! She still has an IEP and she still receives therapy, but now she is in a larger class with many more "typically developing" peers around her. The other big news is that she will go to regular (mainstreamed) kindergarten next year rather than a special self-contained program. We are so proud of her! If only you could all see how far she has come...and if you could only listen to her read! She amazes me every day.

Here's a picture of Julie in her new preschool class. Can you guess what they were studying last week?

Yep! Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham! Yum!

Big Girl Melody

Melody is in a place of great change right now. I remember Julie going through something similar right after we came home from China with Melody. Perhaps gaining a younger sibling has something to do with it. It started in January when Melody decided it was time to sleep in a regular bed. Julie made the move to the top bunk and Melody took the bottom, where they both settled in with no problem.

Next, Melody started going to Sunday School without Larry and without them calling us out of service to get her. There were some tears, but she made it through and now she goes just fine. Then on Friday, she went to her class during MOPS! I can't tell you what a big deal this is. All year long I've been keeping Melody with me in the MOPS meeting because she would scream if I left her in class. She just wasn't ready. This week, however, I asked her beforehand if she would go to class and she said "yes!" We packed a bag with her special baby doll and a lollipop to eat in the car if she made it through class. When I dropped her off, she looked at me, said "You will come back," waited for me to assure her that I would and then turned and walked into her classroom. Amazing!! When I picked her up she was happily sitting with the other kids, eating her snack. The teachers could hardly believe she was the same child they'd met earlier in the year! I was doubly excited about this success because it was the first time I had Joseph with me at a meeting and it would not have been easy to keep both kids with me for it.

To top off all the changes going on, yesterday Melody successfully peed in her potty 5 times in a row! She's still quite a way from being fully trained, but she's working on it. I am so proud of my big girl!

Here's the only picture she'd let me get of her on Friday:


And I love this one...can you tell what she is doing? She is very much into the idea of Joseph drinking "her milk." She may be growing up fast right now, but thankfully not that fast!! :-)

Big Boy Joseph

Joseph is 3 months old today! I am really amazed at how much he has changed in that time. He is so social and he loves to have little conversations with us. I could spend hours cooing and gurgling back and forth with him. Sometimes when he nurses I catch his eye and he breaks out in a huge grin, which of course derails the feeding, but is so precious! Just yesterday he started pivoting his body 90 degrees while on his tummy. He is so strong! He's also a big boy. A few weeks ago he was already 13 pounds. Every time we go to the doctor he comes out 77th percentile for height and weight. Where are the tall genes coming from? The one area we're struggling with is sleep. Last night he and I were up 5 times, which is way more than it should be at his age. He seems so uncomfortable in his bed for some reason. Part of it is gas, part of it is frustration over his hands being near his face and who knows what else. He does better sitting in his swing, but I don't like the thought of him hunched over in there for hours on end. Naps pose the same problem. This morning, for example, I got him to sleep at 9:15 in his bed after much effort. He woke after 45 minutes, clearly still tired (his eyes were still closed!) but unable to get back to sleep, even with help. I finally put him in the swing and he went back out and is still sleeping at nearly 11:00. He and I are both sorely in need of some consolidated sleep at this point. We do use a pacifier, but even that doesn't work in the middle of the night. Anybody have any helpful thoughts??

Here's my little cherub at 3 months!

Silly Fun

Need I say more?

Signs of Spring

It got up to about 66 degrees yesterday! If that weren't enough to prove that spring is coming, consider this:

Shortly after getting off the bus after school, Julie decided that it was plenty warm enough to pull off her shoes and socks and experience the outdoors barefoot. Of course, Melody followed right along. I wish I could have captured the squeals and giggles that went along with this photo :-).

12 Weeks...Baby Meet Thumb!

Believe it or not, Joseph is 12 weeks old today! I'm excited to see what changes happen this month. From what I've read and heard, a lot of developing goes on between 12 and 16 weeks. I'm really hoping that's true in the sleep department! Here's what he learned to do today:

He still frustrates himself trying to get that thumb into his mouth when he wants it, but I believe this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship :).