Christmas Soup

Remember this post? Scary. Don't worry, I made sure the old-fashioned ladies and basting instruments were no where to be found. Besides, I think this kid requires a slightly bigger pot.

When You're Smilin'...

...or laughing.

Numbers and Tears

Eva's check-up went really well on Friday. She is 7 lbs. 11 oz. (5th percentile) and 19 1/2 inches long (<3rd percentile!). I was really interested to find out that they're comparing her to other full term infants her age although I guess it shouldn't really surprise me. Maybe it does because the percentiles they gave me when she was born were compared to other 34 weekers (80th in weight and 60th in height). I think it takes a year or two (?) for preemies to catch up to their full-term peers, so it will be fun to see how she measures up with each check-up. For now, she will be called "Lil' Eva."

Last night Rodney took Will to our church's anual Hanging of the Greens Party where Santa made an appearance. Eva and I stayed home and I'm actually kinda glad because my heart couldn't have handled these faces:

I wish we had a scanner because the picture they got of him shows a clearly upset little boy trying to be brave. It's precious.

Growing

Eva is officially out of her preemie clothes! I truly can't believe it. Tomorrow we visit the pediatrician for the second time and we will find out the exact amount, but she is definitely growing. I look at the 5 sleepers that she lived in for the first 5 weeks of her life and think "wow, she's was so tiny." She is now looking and feeling more like a 6 day-old newborn rather than the 6 week-old that she is! This is the refrain that's been playing in my head all week: Well, we're movin' on up (movin' on up) to the next size.





Last week (on the coldest of all days) we got our Christmas tree. This year Will actually had a reaction to it which basically consisted of one emotion: fear. After a little while of running in the opposite direction and crying, we got the lights out, put the Christmas music on (a little Bing) and he started forgetting about the gigantic outdoor object being indoors (isn't his fear justified?). He then spent the next few hours saying "ligh" and took on the role of daddy's little helper.





May the force be with you all this Christmas season:

Will and Eva Updates

I thought it'd be fun to start with some photo comparisons.

Will:

Eva:

3 week-old Will:

3 week-old Eva (I remembered that my very first blog post was titled "3 Weeks With Will" with the photo above and I wanted to do the same for Eva with the same exact pose, but of didn't get around to it. I managed to get the pictures below but they didn't turn out how I wanted):

(there's one in between these two where she's very unahppy- hence the pacifier)

Will's first bath:

Eva's fifth bath (the 2nd baby gets the shaft- unfortunately we didn't capture her first bath on camera):

Now for the updates.

Eva: She will be 5 weeks tomorrow and she is growing so fast already. When she was born she was so tiny and fragile that she felt more like a doll than a baby, but not anymore. She's starting to fill out and has more control over her body. A week ago Tuesday she was 5 lbs. 15 oz., so I'm sure she's over 6 lbs. now. She's eating great and wakes us every 3-3 1/2 hrs. at night. I've mastered the side lying position with breastfeeding, which makes me feel far less sleep deprived. I wasn't confident enough to try this with Will because he wasn't a great latcher early on and I was afraid I'd smother him. No such worries this time. Another difference between the two as newborns is that she doesn't cry half as much and really likes her pacifier (maybe this is why she doesn't cry as much?).

Will: He just had his 18 month check up on Monday and he's doing really well. My biggest concern with him is his appetite (I've mentioned before that he often asks for food all day long and would eat well beyond good portion sizes if we let him- not to mention that it takes him two seconds to clear his plate) and he actually went down in percentile with regards to weight so the doctor was not concerned. This was very good news because I was ready to call the endocrinologist if it continued to rise (it jumped from the 50th to the 75th between 9 and 12 months and rose even more at 15 months).

He has discovered the word "no" and it has replaced "bus" as his favorite word, although it's a close 2nd. I read a really good article here about toddler discipline strategies and there's a good section on responding to the word "no" (scroll down to the bottom). It's pretty interesting if you have a toddler. I've heard lots of people say that 18 months is when things got really interesting with their kids and now I see what they mean. Besides discovering his ability to decide things for himself, he's becoming pretty self-aware. Sometimes when we're talking about him he responds with looks or certain words even though we're not talking to him (I've started to monitor more closely what I say around him). He is a very smart and affectionate boy and it's been so much fun to watch him during this stage.

Here are some cute photos of the two of them I took the other day:

What I'm Thankful For

I know it's a little overdue, but I wanted to be sure to express what I am thankful for this year. A dear one once told me that Thanksgiving was her favorite of all the holidays because she felt that thankfulness is the most important spiritual attidute. With that in mind, here's my list:

1. A healthy baby girl despite complications

2. A son who makes me smile everyday and who I can't seem to hug and kiss enough (he'll probably be that kid that says "MOM!" in a whiney voice because he's embarassed at my constant affection.)

3. A hardworking husband who challenges me to be better

4. A loving and supportive family

5. A home with everything I need

6. The opportunity to sing without needing to make money at it

7. That there is a loving and forgiving God, regardless of my lack of faith.

8. My health

9. My friends and mentors

Now for photos. Here are a few from our Thanksgiving visit with my mom and Rodney's dad last week. It was such a great week. Mom, we miss you so much already! Jerry, we're glad you're O.K. (he was in a car accident on his way home to S.C.).

Will and Nana at the Botanical Gardens

Grandpa and Eva

Thanksgiving Dinner

More to come with pictures and updates of the kiddos.