Here we are yet again. Another month has gone by. My babies are 1 and 1/4! It is crazy to think of the possibility that one year from now they could be out of diapers if they follow in big brother’s footsteps! Not that they should or will but it is possible. And I know that year will go by at lightening speed, especially with all we have planned for our family. Their development has been awesome to watch. They are meeting or exceeding milestones with the possible exception of walking which they do but not exclusively.
It is unbelievable to me every month when I do their update how much time flies for us with these two (well really for all three!). This month has gone by so fast and our sweet twins continue to make me so proud to be their Mama.
Rory has always had BIG emotions and those emotions have gotten even bigger lately. He is a passionate boy. He knows what he wants and he wants us to know too. had done two or three signs with Elijah and decided that we would not do that with the twins because the words Elijah knew how to sign he resisted saying. Well with Rory, his biggest frustration seems to be not being understood and so one day I signed “more” for him…just ONE TIME. A couple days later I asked him if he wanted more of something and he did the sign so I am just going with it. I was shocked that after only seeing it once, he absorbed and embraced it so quickly. The other “sign” he has caught on to is when I ask him if he is all done I sort of throw my hands up in the air. Well not only does he do this for “all done” but he SAYS “All done Mama”. I could not believe it. He only has a couple of words (Mama, Dada, Ball, Eia for Elijah) and here his is saying his first phrase. Such an amazing little guy! So Rory is well on his way to conversational English!
Rory loves to nurse and it is still a big part of his day and nutrition. There are plenty of solid foods in his life as well. He loves meat, especially beef. He is a big fan of our nitrate free hot dogs, smoothies, and carb rich snacks. Water is the only beverage he is given other than Mama’s milk through nursing. Rory’s eczema is still something we battle on an almost daily basis. It is the worst on his poor little bottom but he also gets major outbreaks on his arms and legs although those are not red so they are hard to see. I believe one of the main culprits is wheat (which is normally not part of his diet but we were lax about prior to the last bad outbreak) and he has an appointment with a dermatologist to try to help us figure out how to prevent and manage. I am also going to be making a homemade eczema salve this week to see if that helps. Rory is tipping the scales at 18 pounds 11 ounces and this month, although the twins are still a couple pounds away from 12 month clothes, they are long enough for them so I made the big wardrobe transition to 12 month clothes. It was fun to make the change because I have had them in 9 month clothes for like six months! So I’m having blast putting them in new and new to them (Elijah’s) clothes! I am a little surprised that I only seem to have about 6 PJ’s in that size. I guess with one baby that was enough but it looks like Mama might need to go PJ shopping for my tiny two.
Rory is sleeping great at night! He goes to bed around 6:30pm and sleeps for about 12 hours most nights without waking. He had been a rough napper but this past month or so, his napping has been awesome too. He will sleep for a three hour stretch and sometimes even still take a second shorter nap. This further supports my theory that Rory’s meltdowns are developmental leap related and a temporary thing.
So although Rory is going through a developmental leap that apparently involved some pretty intense meltdowns, as he learns to communicate more, I believe his frustration will lessen. He understands and uses head nods and shakes. If you ask him a yes or no questions, you will get one of these two appropriate responses. And really, he seems to understand what you are asking most of the time. His comprehension is pretty amazing. All three of our children are so different as our their needs and it just shows that although being fair and equal is super important to me, they will have different needs as well that need to be nurtured.
Rory loves to play with his big brother. He and Elijah play together all day long. They take turns pushing each other on riding toys. They play cars. They tickle each other and erupt in giggles. These two are thick as thieves and it warms my heart to see how strong their bond already is. Rory already loves games. He thinks it is hilarious to try to get away when I come after him. Although he can walk he still mostly crawls and he thinks crawling at lightening speed to get away from me in his own version of tag is super funny. He thinks it is even funnier when I catch him. He already has an awesome sense of humor. He is just such a sweet and fun boy! He loves to give hugs and kisses and will do so on demand but he also give a lot of spontaneous hugs. It just melts my heart when I watch him playing and catch his eye and he makes a beeline for me and wraps his tiny little arms around my neck with his sweet head on my shoulder. Those are some of my favorite moments that I savor. I read once that when children hug you, you should never be the first to let go……I live by this. And there is a lot of hugging in our home.
Patrick has always been our strong, brave boy. He remains the same sweet and gentle boy through every challenge he faces. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, we were concerned about Patrick’s transition to including solids in his diet, along with the numerous nursing session that he continues to enjoy. Although Patrick would fed himself with no problem (we do Babyled weaning for introduction of solids) and chew he was spitting out a majority of what he chew up. As an infant he was diagnosed with upper lip and tongue ties which we chose to take the “wait and see” approach. Because of these issues we had him reevaluated an it was determined that Patrick would benefit from a frenectomy (which is clipping those two ties) to give him better movement of his mouth and lips. Since this procedure Patrick spits out only about half of what he was before (a huge improvement!) has put on about half a pound in about three weeks (he had not put on any weight in a couple of months leading up to the procedure) and just seems happier in general. When he would cry before I would see his tongue tie straining and often though that just didn’t look like it felt good. We did the stretching exercises for a few weeks and although the first week there were tears, by the second week he though the exercises were funny and would giggle when we did them. Because he had been eating solids for a couple of months before we had the procedure done, we want to make sure there there is no further PT needed and so we have an evaluation scheduled with ECI. He qualifies for these evaluations because of his 12 day stay in the NICU. His first and only evaluation was at 2 or 3 months old which he passed with flying colors. It was nice to have this as an option to follow up. I feel confident that we will have the same results with this evaluation but it will be reassuring to know for sure that all is as it should be.
Patrick is an excellent walker. Every day there is less crawling and more walking. Although I would not yet call him “efficient” he is getting there and he is so proud of this accomplishment. Nothing but smiles when he comes strolling over with his hands in the air. Patrick is very laid back. He loves to watch his brothers as they act silly and perform. He seems to be a rule follower. I have never known a child so young to listen so well. If I tell Patrick “no”, he stops and goes to something else. If I tell him to sit down, he does. If he knows what you want of him he will do his best comply. I think this could be a sign of a heart for service. It will be so sweet and fun to see how his little personality develops. I see him making his world a more loving place.
As I mentioned earlier, Mama’s milk is still a big part of Patrick’s nutrition. He nurses several times throughout the day and occasionally he will wake to nurse though not very often. He loves is learning to love solids food more and more. He loves his daily smoothie (that all three boys enjoy). He is a big fruit and veggie kid and would eat that all day long if he could, especially strawberries. He loves coconut milk yogurt! Patrick is now tipping the scales at 17 pounds which is AWESOME! I thought this sweet boy would never hit 17 pounds!
As I said, Patrick sleeps though the night most nights. Once in a while he will wake up and want to nurse but most nights, if he wakes up at all, we just hear a few whimpers before he rolls over and goes back to sleep. Patrick sleeps in the pack in play in the game room because I didn’t want the twins to wake one another up but now that they are both sleeping so well, I am thinking of trying night sleep for them together in the nursery…..Rory in his crib and Patrick in the Pack N Play and if that works, putting Elijah’s old crib in there so they each have one and beginning their journey as not just “wombmates” but ROOMMATES! I’m nervous about this transition….and a little sad because that will mean I have to move out of the nursery but I think they might be ready.
Patrick is very affectionate, sweet and loving. He will sit quietly on my lap at watch a Baby Babble or Praise Baby video. He is happy to be worn as I go about my day. All my boys are sweet and cuddly which I LOVE. However Patrick his this gentle way about him. He adores Wrigley more and more every day and loves attention from his brothers. I see Patrick having a very sensitive heart that I just want to shelter and protect. He is an amazing little boy, as are all three of my precious littles. They make me so joyful and proud. It is an amazing journey so far and I am grateful for every day.
Here’s our fun monthly comparison shot! I can’t believe how much they look alike here! Usually Patrick looks like the odd man out but even he favors his brother in these shots.
Rory posing in front of our purple broccoli that Elijah and I grew from seeds. Yeah…I’m still waiting for it to look like broccoli.
Rory showing some spirit.
Checking out part of our “garden”
That face just lights up my world.
Big smiles with those big emotions
There are those famous Rory eyebrowns.
All done Rory?
I asked him if we were all done….so he showed me all done.
Then he headed for the door!
See ya later guys!
My sweet Patrick’s turn!
Love that precious face.
So sweet and gentle.
Hey there Mama
I love that sweet smile.
So full of smiles this morning.
Our little Pfunk
He was such a little ham this morning.
Another month with my sweet three….
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