(Well 10 years ago yesterday actually, cause I forgot to hit publish)
On July 29th 1998 I was talking to a friend online. She asked me if I'd like to go hang out with her and some of her friends. I had no plans that night so I said sure, but I had to work. I was kind of a dork and really not good with girls back then so I had no idea that she was asking me to hang out cause she liked me.
I got done with my shift as a, cashier at Cub Foods, and walked out to my car. I saw this girl standing by a car...blond hair with a streak died blue that hung down on either side of her face, wearing an Unwritten Law hoodie. All I could think was "wow". I wasn't really into the whole Punk scene at the time...I had started to listen to some Punk music (well a very little actually and mostly popular stuff like Green Day, Rancid and The Offspring ) and was just getting familiar with what it was all about, but I knew there was something special about this girl. I just had to meet her. Then to my surprise as I walked closer, the friend I was going to meet turned out the be standing along side the same car.
She introduced Jamie to me along with a couple of other friends that were there. I was so happy that I was going to get to hang out with this beautiful girl. As I said I was a bit of a dork and really bad around girls so it wasn't until well into the night that I finally admitted to Jamie that I liked her.
We went and dropped my car off at my house, and I just rode with them for the rest of the night. I have a terrible memory, but one thing I'll never forget is spending the whole time trying to figure out how I was going to talk to Jamie. I remember asking her who Unwritten Law was, and when she said it was Punk band that she really liked, that just got me more interested. Beyond that I was having trouble getting up the courage to talk to her more.
Later we decided to go cruising that night. Apparently that group was too cool to cruise Main so we headed to Appleton to cruise College Ave. instead. I was already growing out of the cruising main phase, but it was a chance to spend some more time with Jamie so I jumped at the opportunity. We had too many people there to take one car so I made sure that I was in the same car as Jamie.
We listened to a lot of random different music. All the girls were taking turns controlling the radio. There was the dance music radio channel, that sucked. There was the Classic Rock channel, that was not terrible. There was the hard rock channel, getting better. There was the weird Nine Inch Nails sound a like band, I think they were called Stabbing Westward. Then there was this crazy music like nothing I had ever. To this day I don't even know how to explain the band other than maybe as a funk ska band. It was Jamie's choice to pop in that CD, so it gave me a chance to ask her what in the heck we were listening too...it was The Little Blue Crunchy Things ( http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=78629623 ). The song was called Wasp( http://pownce.com/edvedafi/notes/2954110/ ). What a fascinating taste in music...more drive to learn more about this girl. On the way back to the Party ( which was the original plan for the night ) Jamie got to play some music again and this time she put in Unwritten Law. They were more of a typical punk band. Good but not quite as intriguing as LBCT.
( Note: I do not approve of underage drinking, and if you are a parent of somebody else that would be upset that we might have done some underage drinking please substitute all instances of Apple Pucker, Beer, drinks, and Captain and Coke with your favorite soda in the following paragraphs )
We got back to the party and all I wanted to do was get to talk to Jamie a little bit more. But first somebody asked if I wanted a beer. I couldn't say no so I went inside to get one. I ended up talking to a few people in there, and wondering where Jamie had went. So I grabbed a Captain and Coke and went looking for her. It took a little while but eventually I found her. It wasn't that big of a party and not at that big of a house, so I got a little worried that maybe she was trying to avoid me ( I did come to find out later that she was actually looking for me ). At this point I had a couple of drinks in me so I was able to talk to her, but being the dork that I was, it was still hard. I had no idea what to when I actually did find her. So when she asked me if I liked Apple Pucker I was excited because, yeah who doesn't like Apple Pucker, and it meant that she was going to talk to me. We made our way out onto the porch, where we sat and talked the rest of the night and shared the bottle of Apple Pucker. I can't for the life of me remember what we talked about that night. It took us a long time to drink that whole bottle of pucker so we must have talked a lot. I just remember being so excited that a beautiful girl would actually want to talk to me that it didn't really matter what we talked about.
I just kept thinking the whole time we drank the bottle, "boy I hope she's not all drunk and just talking to me because she is drunk." But then the next day she paged me ( yeah I was one of those kids that thought pagers were cool ). I called her back right away, and the rest is history.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
How to pick weeds with Crabby Babies
I NEEDED to pick weeds today. But the boys were pretty cranky today, in fact I think that Kevin may have a bit of a tummy ache. So how was I going to pick weeds. I couldn't just let the boys cry out in the back yard. So I developed a system, employing my own newly coined system of efficiency through inefficiency.
- Pack stroller with boys & Gatorade
- Locate the part of your weed picking duties that is the most concentrated, or if that doesn't exist then just the part of your yard that is going to take you the longest.
- Place weed deposit bin there. ( bonus tip: recycling bin works well for this )
- Find shaded area very near to this location to put the stroller
- Pick weeds
- Wait for crying to commence...if you have children this will happen
- When crying starts:
- Roll stroller to weeds that are in a distant part of the yard ( for me weed bin was in back yard and we rolled up to the front yard )
- Pick a single large weed
- Note: never pick more then one weed at a time, you may likely need that weed later
- Roll back to bin
- Deposit large weed in bin
- If Crying continues go back and pick another large weed.
- When crying stops continue picking weeds in the heavily concentrated area
- Repeat step 7 whenever the crying starts again
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Rolling boys everywhere
Today was the day that the boys really figured out that they could roll over.
Alex had rolled over a few times before. He has been getting up on his side for a couple of weeks now. On Wednesday when Jamie took them over to Grandma and Papa's, when she was going to work, Alex rolled over. Luckily for her it was before she left their house. She wasn't watching him at the time, so she didn't actually see him roll but she saw him on his tummy, then he flipped back onto his back. I think Jamie said he has rolled over a couple of times here and there since then.
Kevin has never rolled over completely on his own before today. Yesterday when the boys were home with Jamie, while I was working, Kevin rolled over by grabbing the blanket that he was laying on and pulling himself over. So I missed the first time that both of the boys rolled over.
This morning Alex really realized that he could roll over. I was working downstairs and Jamie called me up cause he had rolled over. Then he rolled over a couple of more times before Jamie left for work.
This afternoon I took the boys over to my Nana and Papa's. And there Kevin realized that rolling over looked fun. The first time he rolled over from his back to his tummy he couldn't quite pull his arm out from underneath him. Then he used the arm that was stuck underneath him to flip himself back over. And I mean flip, like you flip a pancake, not rolled back over. Then when I went in my Grandpa's office to help him with his computer he rolled over several more times for Nana.
The rest of the afternoon the boys both just keep rolling over. From back to tummy, and sometimes they figure out how to get back onto their backs. Alex is a little bit better at going from his tummy back onto his back. Kevin will sit there for a while on his tummy thinking about it, and eventually trying to roll back to his back. But if he doesn't get it quick enough he gets really mad, because he never has liked being on his stomach. So I have spent a lot of time this afternoon rolling Kevin back over.
Time to go do some baby proofing of the living room floor.
Alex had rolled over a few times before. He has been getting up on his side for a couple of weeks now. On Wednesday when Jamie took them over to Grandma and Papa's, when she was going to work, Alex rolled over. Luckily for her it was before she left their house. She wasn't watching him at the time, so she didn't actually see him roll but she saw him on his tummy, then he flipped back onto his back. I think Jamie said he has rolled over a couple of times here and there since then.
Kevin has never rolled over completely on his own before today. Yesterday when the boys were home with Jamie, while I was working, Kevin rolled over by grabbing the blanket that he was laying on and pulling himself over. So I missed the first time that both of the boys rolled over.
This morning Alex really realized that he could roll over. I was working downstairs and Jamie called me up cause he had rolled over. Then he rolled over a couple of more times before Jamie left for work.
This afternoon I took the boys over to my Nana and Papa's. And there Kevin realized that rolling over looked fun. The first time he rolled over from his back to his tummy he couldn't quite pull his arm out from underneath him. Then he used the arm that was stuck underneath him to flip himself back over. And I mean flip, like you flip a pancake, not rolled back over. Then when I went in my Grandpa's office to help him with his computer he rolled over several more times for Nana.
The rest of the afternoon the boys both just keep rolling over. From back to tummy, and sometimes they figure out how to get back onto their backs. Alex is a little bit better at going from his tummy back onto his back. Kevin will sit there for a while on his tummy thinking about it, and eventually trying to roll back to his back. But if he doesn't get it quick enough he gets really mad, because he never has liked being on his stomach. So I have spent a lot of time this afternoon rolling Kevin back over.
Time to go do some baby proofing of the living room floor.
Plagiocephaly - Good Insurance Man
Well it turns out that our insurance is going to cover the helmets for the boys. After doing some research and talking to our doctor's more it just so happens that our case is one of the few where insurance is most likely going to cover you. The one case that insurance will pretty much always cover is if it can be linked to a problem from birth. Since a multiple birth is a very common cause of Plagiocephaly the doctor was able to code it as being due to the fact that they are twins. Looking around at quite a few blogs about this topic I have seen lots and lots of people that have insurance not cover the costs for them. The biggest thing that I keep seeing is that insurance often doesn't cover it because they say that the parents don't do enough to prevent it, so therefore it is the parents fault and something that insurance won't cover. I think the biggest thing to remember in all of this is to catch it early...First that helps with the recovery and treatment, and secondly it helps with the insurance because the younger they are the easier it is to code it as a problem from birth.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Plagiocephaly ( ie. Helemts For Boys )
We had the appointment today to get the boys all measured up to see if they would need helmets. And finally get word on what the X-Rays looked like that they took last week.
It turns out that both boys have do Plagiocephaly, aka Flat Head. Although they are very different types of Plagiocephaly, neither one has anything more severe. It turns out there are all kinds of Cephalic Disorders. Of the ones that actually require treatment Positional Plagiocephaly is the least dangerous of them. The reason that they took the X-Rays was to look for all of the other problems that come along with it, like...the brain not growing correctly or skull bones fusing to each other or the neck. The X-Rays showed that none of these are a problem with Kevin or Alex, both just have Positional Plagiocephaly.
They do 2 measurements to see if a baby has Positional Plagiocephaly.
The first is a measurement compares the diagonal length difference from the back right to front left versus the back left to front right of the head. Anything under a 6mm difference is considered fine. From 6 to 10 mm they suggest treatment, but it is the parents choice. Any thing over 10mm and they say its pretty much necessary.
The second measurement is a percentage based on the difference between the width and the depth of their heads. The "normal" range for this measurement is 80%-90%.
Alex's percentage is 91%, which the doctor said he would not normally recommend treatment for. However his diagonal measurement is 14mm which is well into the range that needs a helmet.
Kevin's diagonal measurement is 8mm so he is in that gray area where he would not really need treatment for it if we didn't want to. However is width to depth ( or is it depth to width, I don't remember...I was always good at math and there were too many numbers for even me to keep up with them all ) ratio is 96%. So he needs a helmet to help correct that.
The Doctor said that they cannot say ahead of time how long they will need to wear the helmets. Although he did say that it is very good that they got checked now. The skull grows very fast at this young of an age. The doctor offered a guess that they might be in the helmets for as little as 2-4 months. On the other hand in most cases parents don't bring in their kids to check them out until they are 6 months old, and then the average is to wear the helmet until they are 14-16 months old. So many thanks to our regular doctor for having us get the boys checked out this young.
Next step is the insurance. Since this problem is pretty common now days (some numbers suggest that 40% of children should have helmets at some point) insurance companies often deny it, saying that the parents keeping the children on their backs is the cause of the problem. However it turns out that multiples are also a really big cause of Plagiocephaly ( some numbers I have seen suggest that up to 60% of multiple births require a helmet ) . This is because there is not enough room in the womb for the skulls to grow normally. Since their heads have always been a little flat the doctor said the reason for them developing Plagiocephaly is likely the fact that they are twins. Apparently insurance companies are more likely to cover Plagiocephaly helmets when the problems are caused by birth, so my fingers are crossed.
It turns out that both boys have do Plagiocephaly, aka Flat Head. Although they are very different types of Plagiocephaly, neither one has anything more severe. It turns out there are all kinds of Cephalic Disorders. Of the ones that actually require treatment Positional Plagiocephaly is the least dangerous of them. The reason that they took the X-Rays was to look for all of the other problems that come along with it, like...the brain not growing correctly or skull bones fusing to each other or the neck. The X-Rays showed that none of these are a problem with Kevin or Alex, both just have Positional Plagiocephaly.
They do 2 measurements to see if a baby has Positional Plagiocephaly.
The first is a measurement compares the diagonal length difference from the back right to front left versus the back left to front right of the head. Anything under a 6mm difference is considered fine. From 6 to 10 mm they suggest treatment, but it is the parents choice. Any thing over 10mm and they say its pretty much necessary.
The second measurement is a percentage based on the difference between the width and the depth of their heads. The "normal" range for this measurement is 80%-90%.
Alex's percentage is 91%, which the doctor said he would not normally recommend treatment for. However his diagonal measurement is 14mm which is well into the range that needs a helmet.
Kevin's diagonal measurement is 8mm so he is in that gray area where he would not really need treatment for it if we didn't want to. However is width to depth ( or is it depth to width, I don't remember...I was always good at math and there were too many numbers for even me to keep up with them all ) ratio is 96%. So he needs a helmet to help correct that.
The Doctor said that they cannot say ahead of time how long they will need to wear the helmets. Although he did say that it is very good that they got checked now. The skull grows very fast at this young of an age. The doctor offered a guess that they might be in the helmets for as little as 2-4 months. On the other hand in most cases parents don't bring in their kids to check them out until they are 6 months old, and then the average is to wear the helmet until they are 14-16 months old. So many thanks to our regular doctor for having us get the boys checked out this young.
Next step is the insurance. Since this problem is pretty common now days (some numbers suggest that 40% of children should have helmets at some point) insurance companies often deny it, saying that the parents keeping the children on their backs is the cause of the problem. However it turns out that multiples are also a really big cause of Plagiocephaly ( some numbers I have seen suggest that up to 60% of multiple births require a helmet ) . This is because there is not enough room in the womb for the skulls to grow normally. Since their heads have always been a little flat the doctor said the reason for them developing Plagiocephaly is likely the fact that they are twins. Apparently insurance companies are more likely to cover Plagiocephaly helmets when the problems are caused by birth, so my fingers are crossed.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Cereal Wars
Its been a week now since we have started the boys on cereal. Overall its going pretty good. This has been like a week long experiment. When we started we were giving them plain cereal for breakfast, before giving them their bottle.
The first couple of feedings they seamed way too hunger to eat at the slower pace of the cereal.
So we started giving them half of the bottle first and then giving them the cereal and finishing up with what ever remained in the bottle.
In the middle of the week we switched from the regular cereal to banana cereal. They really like banana cereal better.
Once we knew they were OK with the cereal we switched from the morning feeding to the night feeding. This way they sleep really good at night ( almost too good, they have been sleeping until 8, and I'm supposed to be at work at 8).
Since we don't want them sleeping until 8 in the morning we have decided we are going to start trying to feed them a little earlier at night. Starting last night we started the process of changing them and making the food right at 7. Then give them the Cereal first followed bye the bottle as a "good night" feeding. This seamed to work pretty well, but the boys still slept until close to 8 this morning since we didn't get started right at 7 like we were planing.
So now with banana flavored cereal at night before getting a bottle...
Alex LOVEs his cereal. When you are feeding him you just can't shovel it into his mouth fast enough. He is so good about keeping the food all in his mouth too. Of course he does not keep it all in his mouth by any means, but rarely does it get all over his face.
Kevin on the other hand is not so fond of the cereal. When I feed him the cereal he cries ( oddly doesn't cry for Jamie ). And he spits a lot of his cereal back out of his mouth. When he is done eating his cereal you practically need to change his cloths cause he has so much of it everywhere. Although a bonus of him crying for me last night is that I could just keep pouring it in his mouth and almost none ended up on his face and/or cloths.
The first couple of feedings they seamed way too hunger to eat at the slower pace of the cereal.
So we started giving them half of the bottle first and then giving them the cereal and finishing up with what ever remained in the bottle.
In the middle of the week we switched from the regular cereal to banana cereal. They really like banana cereal better.
Once we knew they were OK with the cereal we switched from the morning feeding to the night feeding. This way they sleep really good at night ( almost too good, they have been sleeping until 8, and I'm supposed to be at work at 8).
Since we don't want them sleeping until 8 in the morning we have decided we are going to start trying to feed them a little earlier at night. Starting last night we started the process of changing them and making the food right at 7. Then give them the Cereal first followed bye the bottle as a "good night" feeding. This seamed to work pretty well, but the boys still slept until close to 8 this morning since we didn't get started right at 7 like we were planing.
So now with banana flavored cereal at night before getting a bottle...
Alex LOVEs his cereal. When you are feeding him you just can't shovel it into his mouth fast enough. He is so good about keeping the food all in his mouth too. Of course he does not keep it all in his mouth by any means, but rarely does it get all over his face.
Kevin on the other hand is not so fond of the cereal. When I feed him the cereal he cries ( oddly doesn't cry for Jamie ). And he spits a lot of his cereal back out of his mouth. When he is done eating his cereal you practically need to change his cloths cause he has so much of it everywhere. Although a bonus of him crying for me last night is that I could just keep pouring it in his mouth and almost none ended up on his face and/or cloths.
Xrays
We took the boys in this week to get the X-Rays on their heads. That was quite the experience, and one that hopefully we never have to go through again.
When we got there they took us right away. I followed the nurse carrying Kevin, and Jamie followed me carrying Alex. The next thing I know the nurse is closing the door behind me and Jamie isn't there anymore. Apparently there was a nurse behind Jamie and they took Alex into a different room. Not a big deal, but I would have liked to say good luck to Jamie and Alex before we parted ways.
The nurse got the table all ready for use and had me lay Kevin down on his back looking up at the X-Ray machine. She put a lead sheet over him, and had me wear a lead vest. Then she had me hold these foam pads on the side of Kevin's head so that he wouldn't turn while she took the X-Ray. Then she repositioned the X-Ray machine and had me keep Kevin looking straight up. So far this was seaming pretty darn easy. I thought we were going to end up being in and out in a matter of just a couple of minutes.
And then came the fun pictures. They had to get side shots of the head. So I had to turn Kevin's head to the right and hold the foam on each side. Well since he is laying on his back and looking to the right, that means one foam mat is on the back of his head and the other is pressed up against his face. As you can probably imagine he did not like having that foam pressed against his face. After a few attempts I decided that instead of holding the foam in front of his face I grabbed his toy off of the car seat and crunched the wings along side of him so that he would look at me. The nurse and I thought it was working well so she snapped the picture, and then had me go to the other side of the table and do the same thing.
Then the nurse went back to look at the pictures and saw that both of the pictures of the sides of his head were bad. So she had me lay him on his stomach and see if we could get the shots that way. Of course that did not work well, because Kevin HATES being on his stomach. So we tried for a few times, with no success. Finally I thought that I had him in the right position so the nurse ran behind the wall to the controls and snapped the X-Ray. And as I expected these were also bad. After taking 2 bad pictures of each side of his head the nurse finally went to get another nurse to help. He stood behind the wall ready to hit the button as soon as we had Kevin in a good position. So we left Kevin on his tummy and I stood in front of him with his toy, held slightly higher than his head to force him to really turn his head that way good, and the original nurse stood on the other side of the table and held his head down as best she could with the foam thing. After those set of pictures, the nurses said they were not quite perfect, but good enough so we were finally done. For all the wiggling and refusing to turn the right way at least he never cried the whole time.
Alex's went much easier for Jamie. Apparently she got two nurses right from the start. So all she had to do was go behind the wall and watch the nurses hold Alex down to take the pictures.
Now we get to go next week to the specialist and have them read the X-Rays, to tell us if the boys have to get helmets to try to straighten them out.
When we got there they took us right away. I followed the nurse carrying Kevin, and Jamie followed me carrying Alex. The next thing I know the nurse is closing the door behind me and Jamie isn't there anymore. Apparently there was a nurse behind Jamie and they took Alex into a different room. Not a big deal, but I would have liked to say good luck to Jamie and Alex before we parted ways.
The nurse got the table all ready for use and had me lay Kevin down on his back looking up at the X-Ray machine. She put a lead sheet over him, and had me wear a lead vest. Then she had me hold these foam pads on the side of Kevin's head so that he wouldn't turn while she took the X-Ray. Then she repositioned the X-Ray machine and had me keep Kevin looking straight up. So far this was seaming pretty darn easy. I thought we were going to end up being in and out in a matter of just a couple of minutes.
And then came the fun pictures. They had to get side shots of the head. So I had to turn Kevin's head to the right and hold the foam on each side. Well since he is laying on his back and looking to the right, that means one foam mat is on the back of his head and the other is pressed up against his face. As you can probably imagine he did not like having that foam pressed against his face. After a few attempts I decided that instead of holding the foam in front of his face I grabbed his toy off of the car seat and crunched the wings along side of him so that he would look at me. The nurse and I thought it was working well so she snapped the picture, and then had me go to the other side of the table and do the same thing.
Then the nurse went back to look at the pictures and saw that both of the pictures of the sides of his head were bad. So she had me lay him on his stomach and see if we could get the shots that way. Of course that did not work well, because Kevin HATES being on his stomach. So we tried for a few times, with no success. Finally I thought that I had him in the right position so the nurse ran behind the wall to the controls and snapped the X-Ray. And as I expected these were also bad. After taking 2 bad pictures of each side of his head the nurse finally went to get another nurse to help. He stood behind the wall ready to hit the button as soon as we had Kevin in a good position. So we left Kevin on his tummy and I stood in front of him with his toy, held slightly higher than his head to force him to really turn his head that way good, and the original nurse stood on the other side of the table and held his head down as best she could with the foam thing. After those set of pictures, the nurses said they were not quite perfect, but good enough so we were finally done. For all the wiggling and refusing to turn the right way at least he never cried the whole time.
Alex's went much easier for Jamie. Apparently she got two nurses right from the start. So all she had to do was go behind the wall and watch the nurses hold Alex down to take the pictures.
Now we get to go next week to the specialist and have them read the X-Rays, to tell us if the boys have to get helmets to try to straighten them out.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Getting Better Already
The first cereal feeding was a mess...The second one was much better, at least for Alex.
First off, thanks for this idea Grandma JoJo. This morning we decided to start out by giving the boys about half of their bottle first before giving them the cereal. Then after the cereal giving them the bottles again to finish topping off their bellies.
Kevin didn't necessarily take to this idea so well. He didn't do any worse than yesterday's feeding, but he really wasn't much better. Jamie feed him this time, and he still cried almost the whole time that he was eating the cereal. Then he did not want to eat the bottle at all after the cereal. But he did eat enough cereal and formula that we just called him done.
Alex on the other hand really got into eating the cereal this morning. It was like I couldn't shove it in his mouth fast enough. Until we got towards the end of the bowl he never cried the whole time. Of course I did make quite the mess out of him. I had to wash his face and hands, as expected, but I also had to wash his clothes cause they were all crusty from the cereal. It was so cute how he learned so quickly that he needs to open his mouth as I put the spoon up to it. Hopefully he continues to eat this good now.
Instead of sitting in front of him, like Jamie did yesterday, I sat along side of him. And I think we know from now on that we need to sit alongside of the boys when we are feeding them instead of in front of them. If I would have sat in front of him them I would have ended up with cereal all over me just like Jamie did.
First off, thanks for this idea Grandma JoJo. This morning we decided to start out by giving the boys about half of their bottle first before giving them the cereal. Then after the cereal giving them the bottles again to finish topping off their bellies.
Kevin didn't necessarily take to this idea so well. He didn't do any worse than yesterday's feeding, but he really wasn't much better. Jamie feed him this time, and he still cried almost the whole time that he was eating the cereal. Then he did not want to eat the bottle at all after the cereal. But he did eat enough cereal and formula that we just called him done.
Alex on the other hand really got into eating the cereal this morning. It was like I couldn't shove it in his mouth fast enough. Until we got towards the end of the bowl he never cried the whole time. Of course I did make quite the mess out of him. I had to wash his face and hands, as expected, but I also had to wash his clothes cause they were all crusty from the cereal. It was so cute how he learned so quickly that he needs to open his mouth as I put the spoon up to it. Hopefully he continues to eat this good now.
Instead of sitting in front of him, like Jamie did yesterday, I sat along side of him. And I think we know from now on that we need to sit alongside of the boys when we are feeding them instead of in front of them. If I would have sat in front of him them I would have ended up with cereal all over me just like Jamie did.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Moving onto Cereal
The boys have been slowly doing better now every day since getting their shots so we decided that we would give the boys their first cereal this morning. We sat on the floor in the living room and put the boys in their bouncy seats to feed them.
The boys really did not get as excited as we did. Both boys cried quite a bit while we tried to feed them.
Alex seamed to be eating OK ( in between crying ) for Jamie. But then he got fussy and kicked the bowl of cereal right out of Jamie's hands. I think Jamie got even more covered in goo than we normally would by Alex's spit up. She cleaned up and although he wasn't too happy about it Alex finished what was left in the bowl.
Kevin cried the whole time I feed him. Luckily for me he never got wiggly enough to kick the bowl out of my hand. He kept spitting out the cereal as fast as I could put it in his mouth. Once he really started crying good it actually went better. While he was crying he wasn't able to spit the food back out so he started to swallow it. He never seamed too happy about it, but he finished his whole bowl. Although I'm not really sure if that is accurate, because I think there was quite a bit more cereal on his bib than in his mouth.
I'm thinking its just going to take a few feedings before they start to like it...at least I hope they start to like it at some point.
The boys really did not get as excited as we did. Both boys cried quite a bit while we tried to feed them.
Alex seamed to be eating OK ( in between crying ) for Jamie. But then he got fussy and kicked the bowl of cereal right out of Jamie's hands. I think Jamie got even more covered in goo than we normally would by Alex's spit up. She cleaned up and although he wasn't too happy about it Alex finished what was left in the bowl.
Kevin cried the whole time I feed him. Luckily for me he never got wiggly enough to kick the bowl out of my hand. He kept spitting out the cereal as fast as I could put it in his mouth. Once he really started crying good it actually went better. While he was crying he wasn't able to spit the food back out so he started to swallow it. He never seamed too happy about it, but he finished his whole bowl. Although I'm not really sure if that is accurate, because I think there was quite a bit more cereal on his bib than in his mouth.
I'm thinking its just going to take a few feedings before they start to like it...at least I hope they start to like it at some point.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
4 Month Checkup
We had the boys 4 month check ups yesterday. The boys are pretty healthy. They are both growing very well. Alex is now 14 pounds 2 ounces, which puts him in the 32nd percentile. He is 24.75 inches long which is the 43rd percentile. Kevin is 16 pounds 4 ounces (75th percentile) and 25.5 inches long ( 71st percentile). Its crazy that only 0.5 inches seperates them but that jumps from percentile from 43 to 71 and 2 pounds causes a jump from 32 to 75. All of the percentiles for both boys actually went up since the last visit, except for Alex's weight, which dropped from 35 to 32, but that is basically just staying the same. The doctor said that is perfectly healthy growth for both.
The only thing that the doctor did say we need to get checked out is their flat heads. The boys hate being on their tummies, so we tend to not give them enough tummy time. Especially Kevin, because he will just lay there with his face buried in the floor screaming until you roll him over. He won't even attempt to turn his head. So first off I think we are going to have to start living with the screaming for a little while each day and put him on his tummy even though he doesn't like it. And it sounds like we might have to get them little helmets to wear when they sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I remember to bring the phone number with so that I can make an appointment for next week.
There was speculation that Kevin had a hernia so we made sure to ask the doctor about it. The doctor checked him and couldn't find anything.
The only other thing we asked the doctor about was feeding. He suggested that we can start giving them Cereal now. I think we are probably going to wait until the weekend and start them on it then. We wanted to start right away, but the boys reacted to the shots a little bit more this time. They both were running a little fever and just generally acting like they didn't feel so good. They are also spitting up quite a bit now ( well Alex is anyway ), so as soon as they are back to being themselves again we are going to get the cereal started. Its always exciting when you get to experience a first.
The only thing that the doctor did say we need to get checked out is their flat heads. The boys hate being on their tummies, so we tend to not give them enough tummy time. Especially Kevin, because he will just lay there with his face buried in the floor screaming until you roll him over. He won't even attempt to turn his head. So first off I think we are going to have to start living with the screaming for a little while each day and put him on his tummy even though he doesn't like it. And it sounds like we might have to get them little helmets to wear when they sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I remember to bring the phone number with so that I can make an appointment for next week.
There was speculation that Kevin had a hernia so we made sure to ask the doctor about it. The doctor checked him and couldn't find anything.
The only other thing we asked the doctor about was feeding. He suggested that we can start giving them Cereal now. I think we are probably going to wait until the weekend and start them on it then. We wanted to start right away, but the boys reacted to the shots a little bit more this time. They both were running a little fever and just generally acting like they didn't feel so good. They are also spitting up quite a bit now ( well Alex is anyway ), so as soon as they are back to being themselves again we are going to get the cereal started. Its always exciting when you get to experience a first.
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