Pearly Whites

It's true - Casey has teeth. Over Father's Day weekend Miss C cut her first 2 teeth and she let us (and anyone within ear-shot) know that she did not enjoy the experience. We were actually at a friend's wedding when the first tooth finally broke through the gums.

About an hour or so before the 1st tooth broke through the gums.

Casey was doing her high-pitched "singing" (as B calls it) and then she just stopped. When she suddenly got quiet I knew one of two things: 1) the tooth cut or 2) she gave up and was just super tired.

For several nights leading up to that day Casey had veered away from her normal sleep pattern of only getting up 1-2x a night and instead was waking anywhere between every 45 min - 2 hours wanting nothing but to nurse but then would be asleep within just a few minutes at the breast. It was exhausting, to say the least. Then, that night Casey went down around 8pm in my arms at the wedding and after waking for a brief period when we got to Brendan's sister's apartment (where we stayed the night) she slept until 5am (if I remember correctly). It was heavenly! The next day, I believe, is when the 2nd tooth broke through and I could tell life was going to be "normal" again (at least until the next set of teeth started bothering her).

Can you see the teeth?

How about now?

So what did I learn through this whole experience? Teething really does hurt! It never really bothered Tegan except for when he was getting his eye-teeth and molars and even then it was very quick and didn't effect his sleep and attitude towards life. All he needed was a little Tylenol and he was back to his normal self. Casey is the opposite, aside from drooling like MAD when teething. She voices her discomfort to the entire world, does not respond much to Tylenol and, as mentioned above, does not sleep well that last week or so before the teeth cut. She also cut her first tooth/teeth long before T did. I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure T didn't cut his first tooth until he was close to a year old... C, as you know, is just 6 months and being that she cut her tooth a few weeks ago was really only 5 1/2 months when hers made their appearance. I was hoping that maybe I'd get a reprieve from the night-time sleep disturbances due to teething, and I have to a point, but I have a feeling that the upper 2 front teeth are already bothering C as after a week or so break from the droolfest Casey is back to being a drool monster and her nighttime sleep is unpredictable. So, I'll keep you updated on how that goes and when the uppers make their grand appearance. UPDATE: so I started writing this a few days ago and she's still back to her up 2x/night routine. So hopefully it'll stay that way for a while. I'm still surprised that she's not sleeping longer. Casey used to sleep until almost 2 or 3am before waking for her first nighttime feeding and now is on a schedule of waking around 11:30 and again at 3:30 (so every 4 hours). Her 6 month appointment is next week, so we'll learn her official weight then, but I'd guess she's around 17 pounds. SO, as far as size goes, she's definitely big enough to sleep for a longer period of time at night than she is...

T (3 yrs 5 mo) & C (6 mo)

Oh, and how could I forget? Here are her 5 and 6 month pictures on the red chair. :)

5 months

6 months

All for now, love to all!
~j

Yes, We're Alive

I know you may think that we fell off the face of the earth being that it's been 5 or 6 weeks since my last post, but we are still alive and doing well. Even Brendan got on my case for a lack of blogging the other day. Having 2 kids requires so much more attention than one, and the funny thing is that it's actually Tegan that's requiring more energy than Casey. HA! Additionally, we have been quite busy, especially with the official start of Brendan's race season and all the commitments that come with summer (weddings, playdates, yard/garden work, housekeeping, etc.)



I don't even know where to begin (do I say that every time I blog now?)

Hm... well, over the 2nd weekend in May I packed the kids up and the 3 of us headed over to the Madison, WI area for a long weekend of visiting friends and a wedding shower I was co-hosting. We stayed with my dear friend Jessica, her husband and 2 children, Eli & Celia (C.C.). Eli was just 10 days shy of 5 when we were visiting and C.C. is 2 1/2 and as sweet as can be. Despite Tegan and Eli having twin personalities and butting heads quite a bit (they are both strong willed little boys!) they did have some good playtime together and were sad when it was time for us to say goodbye. C.C. strikes me much like what I anticipate Casey to be like when she gets older - a little girl who adores her big brother, follows his lead but also likes to stand back and quietly observe a lot, too. However, after saying this I also must mention that a few weeks ago Casey discovered how to control the pitch and volume of her voice. For a while there she truly enjoyed practicing this skill as much as she could, especially exercising the ability to control the volume. Brendan refers to it as singing - if it's her singing, then sorry sweetie, but you are not going to be the next Christina Aguilera.

A few weeks ago T got to spend the weekend with my parents while B, C and I headed over to Milwaukee to attend the wedding of Brendan's college roommate. We just decided that 12 hours in the car over a 24 hour period would be a lot for Tegan and he'd have more fun with Gramma and Papa - we were right! The wedding was beautiful - outside overlooking Lake Michigan with the reception just a few hundred feet away from the ceremony site in a nice little restaurant. Here's a few pics of B and C keeping cool.
Tegan continues to grow and mature (socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically) with each day. He is acutely aware of Casey and her needs at all times. If she's crying, he lets me know, even if I'm holding Miss C. However, in saying that he's also becoming more and more independent and opinionated (though I didn't think it was possible for him to do that as he was already quite a strong willed and opinionated little guy). His rude attitude and stubbornness are hitting (what I hope) is an all time high. The kid just doesn't understand that when Mommy and Daddy say "no" or "stop" we mean it and when we say "if you ____ one more time we will take away ___" we WILL follow through. Whenever he asks me for something and I don't answer in the way that he wants I get quite the attitude from him and he won't back down without a fight, which has been happening a lot (the "fight" a.k.a. him using a rude tone of voice with me and after stomping and yelling landing himself in timeout with toys taken away for the day). I hate seeing him get so upset, but I'm also SO frustrated with his lack of following rules and directions and blatantly disobeying me with a smirk on his face while he does it. Needless to say the other day the kid went to bed with 75% of his toys put away in garbage bags or out of reach on a tall counter and without bedtime books or story. It was a rough day on T and I - I even cried in front of him (which I didn't want to do) but I think him seeing that got to him and he realized how upset I was. The kid is, and has always been for that matter,very aware of the emotions of others and does not ever intend to hurt anyone's feelings. As soon as he saw me crying he stopped his screaming and kicking and all that (tantrum) and immediately hugged me, apologized and we had a serious heart to heart about how much his bad behavior and lack of following directions hurts Momma and Daddy makes us very sad. I have to say, in the days since then I have had to remind T to follow directions much less. Maybe that was the trick. Not saying he's done a 180 and is a perfect angel now. The kid did start to throw a fit yesterday when it was time to leave the beach (we went down to Lake Calhoun with my long-term substitute and the kids she's nannying this summer), but the fit was very short lived and he settled down much more quickly than it's taken in recent weeks/months. I'm sure it's all part of being a 3 year-old but I'm still allowed to NOT like it one bit.

Totally switching subjects: For over a year I've been talking about getting a big blank canvas (or a few smaller ones) and letting T go wild on them with paint. A few weeks ago I finally did it. I went and got four 16x20" canvases from Micheal's (craft store) along with some Crayola washable paint and ooh-gobs of kids paint brushes. I put those foam workout/kids' play mats on the garage floor (since I could just hose them off afterward) and gave T 7 colors to use: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, brown & white (T insisted on white even though the canvas was already white - but I knew he might mix it with some colors and it would probably turn out cool). I then put the canvases together so that it could be one big piece of art and then I'd then separate and hang them a few inches from each other. There were definitely a few times when I began to regret the project but I made myself (or at least tried) to relax and remember that I needed to just let T be 3. At one point I caught him pouring the green bottle into the brown bottle and I nearly called the whole thing off but I didn't, again reminding myself that it was all part of the experience and it' just paint. :) After drying in the garage overnight and, of course more procrastination on my part, I hung T's first masterpiece(s) in his room and I think it turned out pretty darn cool! What do you think? I also hung his framed train poster, which I've been meaning to do for several months, too. HA!

Before I forget, here are a few of the things T has said recently that are either really sweet or cute or just plain need to be remembered as well as some of his favorite things:)
- "Look, Mom, it's the TVS truck!" -- it took me a while to figure out that he was talking about the UPS truck.
- T: "You're lucky, Mom!"
Me: "Why am I lucky?"
T: "Because I love you!"
- "Not anyfang!" (meaning "anything") This phrase follows when we ask him what he wants for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The only thing he wants to eat lately are snacks like Popsicles (his FAVORITE thing int he world. Especially green and orange ones). He's still a big fan of fruit nuggets (like fruit snacks but 70% or so real fruit and occasionally marshmallows, too). Favorite meal foods are the typical kids favorites: hot dogs & mac 'n cheese. I made spinach and cheese ravioli the other night and he really liked that. He's a fruit and juice-aholic. The kid refuses to eat veggies (knowingly that is) so I've resorted buying juice that has veggie juice in it mixed with the fruit juice. I thought w had a break through the other night as he wanted to eat Casey's squash, ate almost an entire baby container of it... but he's refused to do so since.
- The kid is addicted to the Backyardigans show from Nick Jr. We've got a DVD with 4 episodes on it and he L-O-V-E-S it. I love it because it really encourages imagination, imaginative play and working together. The kid walks around singing the songs and reciting phrases from it every daily.
- T is now into "exercising". This consists of him getting in semi-push-up position but with butt up in the air and then pushing up and down with his arms and legs. It's pretty naughty looking, actually. HA! He'll also jump around, jump on one leg... stuff like that and say he's exercising.
- The pool is still the "cool" according to Tegan. We've had it out a lot this summer as it's been pretty darn warm and humid. Even a several days where it's been down right HOT! A great excuse for the neighbor kids (including T's girlfriend, Lilly, remember her?) to come over and play. :)
- T's been adding "y" or "ey" to the end of a lot of his words, especially when he's whiney. So he'll say things like, "I need my beddy" or "I need my bikey". It's so frustrating at this point because it usually means he's getting overstimulated or just plain tired/worn-out and a tantrum (large or small) is potentially on the horizon.

Then there's Miss Casey. The little lady continues to grow more and more each day. Her hair has even noticeably gotten longer and thicker just over the past week. The girls gonna have dark hair like her mommy and daddy. :) She's also basically sitting on her own, though I don't let her do so for long as her little belly is so big that if she's eaten anything within the last 2-3 hours she's very susceptible to spitting it up if she's sitting. She still leans over quite a bit when trying to sit so her belly gets super squished. She'll usually just sit there and grunt - makes me laugh, that's for sure.

Casey's hair has really started to grow over the past few weeks. I was looking through pictures I've taken and was just astonished by how long and thick it's gotten! She's also growing as an individual and gaining so much personality. I just love all the cute faces she makes a us. She's now content to lay and talk to herself after she wakes from a nap and even in the morning when she's gotten up for the day. I enjoy standing outside of her room and listening to the conversations she has with herself. It's truly cute.
She is also rolling over and seems to prefer to sleep on her belly, so no more swaddling. She sleeps better when her lower half is swaddled, even from the armpits down, but I worry about leaving her in her bed with a large blanket as she frequently wiggles herself out of the blanket and then pulls it around with her has she moves around the crib.

Enough for now - I'll post this so that there's something new and will begin working on another post soon (I promise). I'll make sure to post C's 5 and 6-month pics (the ones I take in the red chair) in that one.

Take care and love to all!
~j

Post in the Works

I've got a blog post that I've been working on for a few weeks now (seriously, I'll sit down and get about 5 min of work in on it and something will come up and I'll have to step away... such is my life now that I've got 2 little ones to keep track of).

I will leave you with a cute mental image (hope it's not too much info for some). I was pumping tonight after putting C down for the night when the phone rang. I put my bottles down, covered up and got up to answer it. When I returned no more than 30 seconds later I found Tegan with one of the flanges (the part that cups the breast while pumping) held up to his own chest/breast. I guess the kid wanted to see a) what it felt like and b) if he could get some milk out of himself because when I asked him what he was doing he replied with something along the lines of "trying to make milk like you." I explained that only mommies can make milk and he insisted on trying again but I said "no". It was so hard not to just break out in tears from how hard I was laughing (and trying to hide my laughter from T - he was experiencing a serious learning moment). To be honest, I'm surprised it has taken this long for the kid to try to milk himself :)

Hope that leaves you with a grin and/or a chuckle (maybe even a good belly laugh - did me!)

Love to all!
~j

One Third

Just over a week ago our little sunshine baby girl turned 4 months old! Yes, 1/3 of a year has passed since her much anticipated and prayed about birth... actually it's been 4 months 1 week and 3 days if I'm doing my math correctly.

Where did the time go and what happened to the tiny baby we brought home from the hospital??? I know times goes quickly when you have children, but I didn't anticipate it going by faster and faster with each child. You live and learn, that's for sure!

Here's a little collage I've made of how she's grown (beginning at 1 month as I forgot to do the newborn pic in the chair - still mad about that):I even got a picture with my newest baby on Mother's Day - a first as I've never gotten to have my pic taken with any of my babies (they'll always be my babies, even when they are parents themselves). Not too bad if you want my opinion :)

As far as stats go, here they are as of 1 week ago (5/3/10):
Weight: 14 lbs 11 oz - 74 %ile
Height/Length: 24.5 in - 60 %ile
Head Circumference: Can't remember measurement but it was the 63 %ile

Here's even a few pics from the doctors' office while we were waiting:

"Dancing" (as we call it) on the examining table

Eating her fists

(one of her favorite things to do these days & YES she can fit her entire fist into her mouth)

Flirting with and showing off for the camera :)

So as you can tell (based on the numbers and the pictures) my little love-bug is growing quickly! She even started eating baby oatmeal cereal last week. Seriously, like I said, where has the time gone?! As you can imagine, C wasn't sure what to think of the whole first "real food" experience, as some call it.

Preparing for 1st "solid" food...

This might be good...
The girl didn't want to open her mouth.
Mommy giving some encouragement and Tegan showing Miss C how it's done.

I'm not exactly sure how much even made it into her mouth let alone her stomach, but since then the girl has become a oatmeal cereal eating champion! Today she even "asked" for some cereal at lunch time. When I say she "asked" i mean she got super cranky even after nursing, specifically the same kind of cranky she gets now if I don't feed her her dinner-time cereal... so it's not yet a very fun or nice way of asking, but I seemed to know what she was asking for once I realized it wasn't from being overly tired. SO, she got cereal at lunch and did pretty darn well. She didn't eat quite as much as she tends to at dinner, but a fair amount. I just wish she'd go longer between nursing feedings now that she's getting extra calories between a few of those feedings... eventually, I'm sure.

Developmentally Casey is right where she should be if not even a bit advanced. She not only brings her hands together but she is getting them to her mouth and even starting to grab for objects. She is rolling from tummy to back on a fairly consistent basis (did a handful of times today alone, plus several times yesterday and last week). She is pushing up with her arms and thus holding her chest up off the floor for "extended" periods of time when lying on her tummy. She is "talking" with us (not sure what on God's green earth she's saying most of the time, if at all... but she seems to). She is smiling SO much and favors especially Mommy but also Daddy. She LOVES standing up and often times even locks her knees and hips and doesn't want to bend/sit. It's really funny to see us try to sit her down when she's this way - despite her extra padding/pudge she's one strong girl!

The little stinker is even starting to show interest in TV...
though I'm sure it's more the bright moving colors than anything.Doing 3 of her favorite things:

1) Standing 2) Sucking on a fist & 3) spending time with Daddy

At night C generally sleeps from 7-2 or 3 before she wakes, though the past week or so has been much more unpredictable and she'll wake at 11 or midnight wanting her pacifier and then fall back asleep until anywhere from 2 to 4am. On Saturday she pulled a fast one on us and seemed to go to bed for the night at 6pm after throwing a nearly hour long crying fit. Then, at 9pm she woke up hungry. After a little socialization and some food she fell back asleep around 9:45 and slept until 5am! Happy Mother's Day to me, that's for sure! Thank you C for that one! During the day, though, she's still hungry about ever 3-3.5 hours. Occasionally she'll go 4 hours between feedings, but that happens maybe 1-2x a week, so not much.

As far as Tegan goes, Casey thinks he's the bees-knees! The way she smiles at him is priceless and when Tegan sees her smiling at him he melts just a much as we all do. He'll often say, "Mama, Casey is smiling at me. I think she loves me." So sweet!!!

T and C exploring the exersaucer

That pretty much catches you all up on all things Casey... Hope you enjoyed all of the pics and that this finds you and your loved ones happy & healthy!

Love to all!!!
~j

Mr. Thirsty Straw

Yesterday marked the beginning of a now life-long experience for Tegan - he had his first trip to the dentist! I'll admit that I was not only nervous about him freaking out and refusing to open his mouth but also that he would have a cavity (or more than one). He hasn't been complaining of any tooth pain but the kid is a juiceaholic and his favorite snacks are Florida's Natural brand fruit nuggets (like fruit snacks but not as squishy and made from like 90% real fruit and juice) and fruit bars (similar to fruit leather). Thankfully, though, neither one of my fears came to fruition! YAY!

The visit began by Tegan playing in the toy room while we waited for his appointment to begin. After a few minutes Heidi, the hygienist, came in and introduced herself to me and Tegan. Then she got right down on the floor to play with him and gain his trust. After a few minutes of talking and searching for the balls that go to a toy Heidi invited T back to the room and off we went.

I'm not going to lie, though, Tegan did not want to sit in the special chair despite seeing Mommy do it and with the bribe of watching Dora while in the chair but Heidi, the hygienist, was A-MAZING! She invited T over to her little work are to meet the dental tools including the water & air squirter, Mr. Thirsty Straw (the suction straw), and Mr. Zebra who wasn't working and then was switched to Mr. Tiger Tooth Cleaner (tooth polisher). He even got to hold and use Mr. Thirsty straw to drink up the water that Heidi squirted into a cup. It was too cute and Tegan was very excited to be allowed to touch the tools. Go figure, the kid figured out in a matter of seconds how to turn Mr. Thirsty Straw on and off. HA!
After "working" with Mr. Thirsty Straw Heidi invited T to hold Mr. Tiger. She explained that if T said "Spin Please" Mr. Tiger's mouth would spin and "eat" up the toothpaste (strawberry, just like at home but after a taste T decided it was better than ours). So after a few "gobbles" of the toothpaste Heidi asked T if she could help Mr. Tiger help her count T's teeth and, to my pleasant surprise, T thought that was a fun idea. So standing there (with one shoe on and one shoe off no less) Miss Heidi polished T's teeth. HA! It was definitely quite a sight. I wish I took some pics of that, but I was more focused on keeping T calm. After a few shor minutes we "learned" that Tegan has 20 beautiful, healthy & big teeth (yes, she commented that he has big teeth - he got that one from me. Hopefully he won't have big adult teeth, too, but I'm sure if he does he'll still be a beautifully handsome boy!)

After the cleaning T decided he wanted to sit in the dental chair so up he went and Miss Heidi let him go for a "ride" up and down and back and forth.


Then he wanted to watch Dora so on the headphones went and he was zoned-in before we knew it. A minute or two later and Dr. Jeff was in to say "hi" and take a look. T thought it was cool that Dr. Jeff had on Crocs just like he did, but Dr. Jeff's were army green and T's were/are red. Tegan even got to try on Dr. Jeff's fancy glasses (no pics of that one, it was a fast experience!).


Again Tegan opened wide and his teeth were counted and checked and confirmed Miss Heidi's observation that T has a mouth full of strong and healthy teeth. YAY TEGAN!!!


While Dr. Jeff was examining T's teeth Miss Heidi took some pictures with the office camera. As I was leaving she offered to email them to me and the following was in my in-box before I even got home!


If you're looking for a dentist in the Shakopee/Savage area I'd highly recommend Crossings Dental Care! The entire staff is SO friendly and I was beyond impressed with how positive they made Tegan's first visit!

Love to all and Happy Friday!
~jenn

Young Love

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned it on here or not but Tegan has his "official" first girlfriend. He tells everyone about her now. OK, so not everyone but lots of people, especially his friends at daycare. When I picked T up from daycare on Wednesday I was informed by our daycare provider "Rolie" (really, her name is Laurie, but that's how Tegan says it) that Tegan asked several of his daycare friends if they knew what his girlfriend's name is and then quickly and very enthusiastically shared that her name is Lilly.

Yes, her name is Lilly (Lillian, really, but she goes by Lilly) and she is a true southern belle. Born in Dallas, I believe, and her family is mostly from Alabama and with her mom and dad both having the awesome southern accent little Lilly has one too - it's SOOOO cute!!! It's a rare occasion if you see her without her rhinestone sunglasses and I don't think I've ever seen her without her hair "done" whether up in a ponytail or curled or something. Seriously, the girl is precious!

Anyway, we had Lilly and her family (Mom, Dad and baby brother) over for s'mores and a bonfire a few weeks ago and the two (T & L) decided to play Ring-Around-The-Rosie. Not sure where they learned this version...

If that's not cute enough then here's another display of T's fondness for Miss Lilly. On our front porch we have 2 chairs and a small table (not a bistro set, but similar). Generally the table is located between the chairs. Let's just say that when Lilly wanted to sit on the porch it was decided by a certain 3 year old boy that the chairs should be located immediately next to each other. As it's true southern style, Lilly also goes along with what her "man" says/does, so when T didn't want his picture taken, neither did she. The following is a series of pictures demonstrating just that:

Tegan: No, I DON'T want my picture taken!

Lilly: [giggling] No, don't take my picture.

Lilly peeking to see if T was still "blocking" the camera (that's what he calls it, "blocking")

Tegan post offering Lilly some of her water
(and yes, he holds the bottle for her as she drinks, ha!)

This is (obviously) from another day when the 2 love birds were blowing bubbles together.

I'll stop there for tonight. Hope all's well with you and yours...
Love to all!
~jenn