Quick Oliver Update

At Oliver's doctor's appointment yesterday, he weighed 12 lbs 9 oz. That's almost 4 times what he weighed at birth (3 lbs 4 oz)! It also puts him on the regular growth chart, at 5th percentile (for 4.5 months). His adjusted weight (from his due date) is 75th percentile.

Length: 23 3/4 inches (6th percentile unadjusted; 80th percentile adjusted)

Head: 15 1/5 inches (45th percentile adjusted--I can't help wondering how accurate this is, as my other kids were always in the 90th percentile for head size and Oliver doesn't look like he has a little head . . .)


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Overheard from Evelyn, while she and Andrew were playing with plastic snakes Andrew "bought" at school with his reward "money"L

"I'll go put on my green dress and we can go to snake church." 

October's End

Sometimes I wonder why I keep posting, even when there's so little to report. I suppose I'm trying to keep up the habit, for weeks when there *is* something worth saying.

Our feat of the week: Dan was gone for two nights to a conference in SLC--and we survived. I'm always nervous the first time I get left alone with babies. (Dan was gone for a week when Andrew was not quite 2 months old and it was probably the longest week of my life). Even though things went okay, we were all very glad to have him home again yesterday.

Andrew brought home his first quarter report. He seems to be doing well--but he was indignant that he wasn't doing better (for instance, in writing his letters legibly, etc.).

The kids have been thrilled that leaf-raking weather is finally here. They're working on a pile in our yard, and they spent a happy hour or so yesterday at the neighbor's helping them with their (much bigger) leaf piles. At least they were, until our neighbor (Bro. Petersen) sent them home. Andrew, apparently deciding he was thirsty, turned on their hose--and accidentally sprayed their 18-month-old baby. What I can't figure out is why Andrew thought this was a good idea in the first place. The last time he tried something like that at our house, he got in big trouble. So if it's not okay at home, why would it be okay some where else . . . ?

After Dan got home yesterday, we went into celebration mode. That is, Evelyn, Oliver and I took a nice nap. Then I took the two older kid's to a local grocery store, where they were handing out Halloween candy at various stations in the different departments. The kids wore their costumes and I tried to get groceries. The only problem was that some clever employee decided to do a "cupcake walk" in the store--each aisle had two numbers, one at each end, and every five minutes or so they announced a number as a winner. The problem, of course, was that my hyper-competitive boy was *sure* he would win if I would just let him stay on a number (that's what other, older kids were doing). Since I wasn't about to let him camp out on a number while I went to other aisles--nor did I want to stand around and wait for the next announcement--we neither of us were particularly happy with each other.

And then, because I apparently don't ever remember how much I dislike crowds, I took the kids to a free City event last night. It ran from 6:30-8:30 and promised candy, games, and photo ops for kids. So, once again in costume, we headed out. I figured if we got there when it started, we could get in and out more quickly. Apparently half the town had the same idea--and the space allotted for the event wasn't very big. We arrived at 6:30--to a line that stretched almost to the street. It took us 45 minutes just to get in the front door. (Why didn't we just leave, you ask? Because by the time I realized how long it was going to take us, we'd already been in line for 20 minutes . . . .) Once inside, it was sort of disappointing. Candy, yes, but there were still really long lines for the games, and my kids were too chicken to do the haunted house. We made it maybe 15 feet inside the dark room before Evelyn was crying and Andrew wanted out. We still hadn't done any games, but I learned from my earlier mistake and offered to get ice cream for the kids if we could just leave without waiting in any  more lines. Next year, I think we'll skip the event.

Look, I had more to report than I thought I did! I suppose I should add that I went to book group this week (we read Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken). It was coed this time--and while it was fun (even if Dan didn't go with me,on the grounds that he couldn't get past the first chapter without falling asleep), I was reminded why I generally prefer an all girls book club. It's funny how different the dynamics are. The husbands tend to do a lot more talking in mixed groups--and I find myself saying more scholarly (i.e, nerdy) things in an attempt to keep up with the more intellectual of the group. You'd think by now I was beyond trying to impress people. Apparently not.

Both kids are counting down the days to Halloween, so I'm sure we'll have more to report next week.

Catching Up

I missed last Sunday because we were out of town, visiting my parents.

Not that there was a lot to update.

Oliver's newest accomplishment: smiling!

Here's a picture of Andrew at just over three months. Their noses are different, but sometimes the similarities just kill me.

The older Oliver gets, the more clear it seems to be that he will be the first of our kids to *not* have brown eyes. Since he is in most respects Andrew's twin, this is startling (but fun to watch). (And no, he doesn't have red hair--this is just a trick of the light).

Also, Andrew's attempt at photography for the PTA Reflections contest. The theme this year is "The Magic of the Moment"--so Andrew had me put Oliver in his Halloween costume (shark) and surrounded him with sea creatures. Maybe he'll get points for creativity? (This is not, I should add, the picture he's entering--just one to give you the flavor for his entry).

I missed Oliver's 4 month birthday last week (on the 16th). Here's more evidence that he is, in fact, growing: Oliver at 2 months v. Oliver at 4. It's good too see.

October Adventures

I don't actually remember much from the midweek part of this week.

But we've had an interesting weekend--a mix of good and not so good.

The good: a friend from PA (Steph Asalone) came to visit with her roommate. Really they were here to see the Shakespeare festival and go to Tuacahn, but they stayed with us so we got to visit with them. It's always fun to see old friends.

On Saturday, we went to the NICU reunion. Granted, we haven't been out all that long, but the reunion was held at S--- Farms and it had free admission, so the older kids got to enjoy the amenities. And the food (crackers, yogurt, cheese, candy). In fact, Andrew got so excited by the bowl of candy corn and the candy scooper that he filled his plate with candy corn before I saw what he was doing. I made him share with Evelyn, but he still had more than even he could eat.

The kids rode on tire swings, jumped on a giant pillow trampoline, explored a wooden ship, attempted to rope fake cows, went down slides and generally had a good time.

I spent a lot of time feeding Oliver. It was fun, though, to see the doctors and nurses who'd spent a lot of time with our baby. They were all suitably impressed with how well he's grown--11 lbs at his last weigh-in! He's finally on the growth charts (albeit around the 1st-3rd percentile) for his unadjusted age. For his corrected age (from due date), he's at the 50th percentile.

 After the reunion, I dragged the family to Sears, where we got some pictures taken. The pictures were middling--but at least we have a documented professional shot of everyone in the family. Part of the reason for the middling pictures? This smile:

 

 Or lack thereof. Andrew doesn't seem to know what to do with his mouth. He either covered his teeth with a funny simper, or he grimaced at the camera.

We also went to Costco and had dinner at the kid's favorite restaurant: Red Robin. You can tell we were really making the most of getting out of town. Technically, we probably shouldn't have taken Oliver to the restaurant, but the bigger kids were grumpy and hungry. Plus, we were killing time so that we could stop by and see Sarah when she got to her in-laws' place.

And the bad? Well, we had an emergency room visit early Saturday morning. Dan was burping the baby (I'd just fed him), felt light-headed, sat down in the rocking chair, and then passed out. Since he was holding the baby, this meant that Oliver rolled down his lap and landed, face-first, on the floor. Everyone seems okay (we took Oliver in to make sure he wasn't seriously hurt), but it sure was scary for a minute or two.

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Because of Oliver's new weight status (he's almost out of 0-3 month clothes!), I got out all his 3-6 month clothes to wash. In the hand-me-downs, I discovered some pajamas that matched pajamas Grandma had given Andrew, so Andrew insisted that they wear them. (Who cares if they're Christmas themed?)

 

 And of course, Evelyn couldn't see pictures without being in them. I love this one. Oliver's crying, Evelyn looks scared, and Andrew looks menacing.

 

 

And, as promised from last time, a picture of me.

  

Just for visual comparison--here's me holding Oliver when he was just a couple of days old. We're glad he's growing!

And last, some baby toes--just because I couldn't resist.

 

Showing Our Colors

This week, we've been gearing up for fall (and not so incidentally, Halloween).

A friend of mine gave me some darling baby pjs with a glow-in-the dark skeleton--I then spent more time than I'm willing to admit scouring internet sites looking for matching pjs for the bigger kids (in case you were wondering, we finally found some big enough for Andrew at OshKosh). They were a big hit, although Oliver didn't much like posing for the camera. Evelyn wore hers to preschool on Friday. I wish you could have seen her, balancing on a short brick wall near the doorway, chanting/singing (with her friend Sydney, also in pajamas), "We're cool girls! We're the cool girls!" Nothing like skeleton pajamas to show how cool you are. (I wish it was that easy as a grown up).

Aunt Sarah sent us this darling onesie for Oliver, so of course we had to take pictures. (Thanks, Sarah!). My favorite is the bum: "I've got a loaded booty." Since Oliver is still in the newborn stage where he poops with great regularity, this is singularly appropriate.

 We decided to try something new (for us anyway) for Conference weekend. Instead of trying to keep the kids quiet and contained in one room for two days, we decided to listen to conference on the radio (on Saturday) and head up the canyon. The colors were gorgeous--although when we got to the top of the mountain, it was pretty clear that the colors had already passed their prime. I thought it was funny (if unplanned) that Andrew and Evelyn coordinated with the scenery . . . Oliver was a champ and slept the whole time (funny how the movement of the engine will do that), except of course when we stopped to feed him.

 In between sessions, we stopped for lunch and then took a short hike. You can see Oliver, below, in his handy wrap (I love it--it's called a Sleepy Time Wrap, very similar to a Moby wrap), on his first ever hike (which he also slept through).

You'll notice something new this blog: more pictures of me! Or, I should say, any pictures at all. I was really moved by Allison Tate's Essay, "The Mom Stays in the Picture" about the importance of documenting ourselves in our children's lives, even if we look less than perfect. (I'm not the only one; apparently there's a new crusade to do just this). I've always avoided the camera because I don't love how I look most of the time, but I think Tate makes a great point: we need our children to see tangible evidence of how often we were really present in their lives. A lost of my childhood memories are shaped by the pictures of those events, so even though my children know I'm there for them now, I think this will be helpful in the future.

 I made Dan pose for a few pictures for the same reason.

 Me again--the blue hat on my chest is Oliver.

And, to finish, some random pictures from the week.

Oliver's head looks much more proportional to Evelyn's, a sure sign that he's growing. Also, you can see how much lighter his eyes are than Evelyn's. We still don't know what color he'll end up with, but Evelyn and Andrew were both clearly dark brown by this point in their infancy. It's kind of fun to wait to be surprised . . . (And, for the record, despite our clone children, blue eyes are a real possibility for this kid: my mom and Dan's dad both have blue eyes, which means both of us carry the recessive gene for blue.)

Also, apparently Andrew struggles with school pictures. Here's the one from last year.

 I guess this year he was trying to compensate for the wide-eyed surprised look with the slanted eyes and closed smile (that, or he's self conscious about his teeth, which are in all stages: baby, missing, just coming in, and adult).

Two pictures of Oliver in his car seat, just to highlight how much he's grown in the two months since he came home: on the way home from the hospital and a week ago at Andrew's soccer game. We love this baby and his fat cheeks. (And now I'm off to enjoy the last session of conference!)