Happy Holidays!

The Holidays are here and we've been busy celebrating with friends and family.

Isaac and I joined our good friends Andre and Lindsey for dinner and the holiday parade downtown. We managed to pick the coldest night of the year to attend the parade but it was great fun.

We've spent many afternoons making cookies and candy. Isaac is a fantastic helper in the kitchen. He keeps asking us for a chef's hat.

We also spent an evening making cookies over at the neighbors' house. I left early to put Theo to bed and the guys stayed to help. I heard they quickly moved on to ping pong and over things, leaving poor Jennifer to finish the decorating. Hopefully, Theo will hang in there longer next year so we can decorate together!

We've been lighting the candles for Hannukah

and opening a few gifts each day. We have been overwhelmed with cards and packages from our far away family. It's always fun to see what arrives in the mail each day.

And then there's this guy. During the festivities, Theo sometimes likes to hang out in his office (also known as an 'exersaucer'). He's a watchful young man and 'the office' is a safe place for him to observe his brother's wild antics.

6 months

Theo is six months old today. When I mentioned it to Carl he said, "That went fast." It truly has. This little boy is growing up before our eyes.


At six months:
*Theo is eating solids. Carrots are a favorite.
*He sits by himself.
*He rolls over both ways, but still gets stuck on his belly.
*He loves his big brother, looks for him when he hears his voice and smiles whenever he's around.
*He's learning to fall asleep on his own.
*He likes music and loves to dance with Dad.
*He's a big boy, barely fits into 9 month sizes. He's quite long.
*He has one tooth and his second could appear any day now.
*He knows his mom and dad and almost always greets us with a big grin.
*He fits perfectly into our family.

carrots

Telling secrets already. "You get to come to my school on Friday."

Sleeeeeeep

It's 3:45 in the morning and I could be sleeping because little Theo is. Many of you know about our sleeping troubles. They started when Theo was 2 months old. It was a cough we couldn't figure out. Finally, at 3 months, we realized it was reflux and he began taking medicine. He slept okay for a month and then at 4 months we really hit a rough patch. Many nights since then he's woken up every hour or two. During Thanksgiving we decided to tackle some issues. We got him out of the car seat and stopped walking or nursing him to sleep. He was doing a great job of falling asleep on his own, but he wouldn't stay asleep. He would startle every thirty to ninety minutes. So, I called our pediatric clinic for help and they sent me to the sleep clinic. Over the phone I described Theo's pattern and the consultant said, "It sounds like reflux." I then explained about his reflux and the medicine he's been taking. She told me he should try a different 'better' medicine. So, last Saturday Theo started a new medicine. Last week Theo also started rolling on to his stomach while sleeping. At first, he wasn't so thrilled about being on his tummy. He's still not able to roll from front to back, but over the last week he's gotten a lot more comfortable about being stuck on his belly and our boy is sleeping. The past two nights he's only woken up 3 times. That may seem like a lot, but it's far less then the 6-8 times we've been dealing with. So, we're hoping his good sleep continues. Hurrah! Now, I'll have to start retraining myself to sleep through the night!

A Little Bit of Love

A little bit of love goes a long way. We are very lucky to have so many people holding us up and helping us out as we find our way through these sleepless nights and foggy days.

They invite us over for delicious meals, love our children, and send encouraging text messages night and day.
They hold the baby, play with the preschooler, and spend holidays with us.

They keep us up on current happenings, love our boys with big hearts, and bring a little excitement to our lives.

They drive long distances to visit, do our yard work, and smile while our three year old follows them around like a shadow.

They bring us wine, bread, and laughter. They play Legos and write stories with our big guy. They hug us like only a mom can.

And this is just a little bit of the love coming our way. There's the friend who comes over to cut hair at a moment's notice, and the friends who are always up for a quick outing, the friend who calls from the road to check in, and the aunt who sends a card for every holiday. And of course there's more than I've listed here because we are so blessed! Hurray for you all!

Pictures from November

5 months

Theo is a little over five months now. He's showing more of his personality and becoming more a part of things around here. He's working on sitting up, rolling over, scootching along the floor. He's eating solids. Carrots are a favorite. He's teething, seems to be getting teeth on the sides first. He's a charming little guy but still hasn't figured out the sleeping thing. We're tired, loving our boys, but very much needing and looking forward to sleep! It should only be a few more months from now. ;)

My Hero

This superhero costume was made from one of Carl's old t-shirts. Isaac loves it so much he slept with it under his pillow last night and woke up at 5:20 in the morning to put it back on.

Fall Fun with the Neighbors

We have great neighbors. D and J live just two doors down and we see them almost everyday before the weather turns cold. We usually meet outside after dinner. But as the weather changes, our visits are less frequent but still fun and looked forward to. The other day Isaac and I were walking home from the park when I noticed a big leaf pile in the neighbors' yard. We went over to check it out. It turned out they left that pile for Isaac. He had a blast!

Here he is talking leaf strategy with neighbor D.

Here he is throwing leaves at Mom.

Just a few days later Isaac dressed up as a construction worker for Halloween. He called it being a 'worker man'.
Before heading over to trick or treat with some friends, he stopped by D and J's house to show them his costume and get a treat. Instead of candy, they gave him a Lego helicopter toy. He's only asked once about his Halloween candy, but that Lego helicopter is the first thing he looks for in the morning and what he zeroes in on after school. Thanks neighbors!

Boy Love

There is a lot of love flowing around these parts.

Isaac loves Theo...

a lot!

Carl loves Theo. Come on Theo, show them a real smile!

There it is.

Isaac loves Carl.
This is the first picture we've ever seen Isaac draw. It's usually just a whirlwind of color, you might call it scribbling. Last night Isaac drew something we could identify as a person of some sort. He told us it's a picture of Carl. He's also been 'writing' messages lately. The other night he wrote, "Carl loves me all the time."
Yes. Yes, he does.

Apple Orchard

We love to visit the orchard. There are apples and pumpkins to pick, animals to pet, play structures to play on, hay rides, and a very bumpy cow ride. Here's a little bit of what it looked like this year.The boys.

Wagon puller.

Pumpkin picker.

Apple eater.

Cow rider.

The rest of us were there too, but Isaac saw most of the action. We're sure Theo will be in there with him next year.
One of my favorite parts of going to the orchard is the apple crisp Carl makes from the apples we pick. His crisp is the best!

Big Guy

There was a time when Isaac was followed by a handful of doctors. There was the physical therapist, the geneticist, the neurosurgeon, and the endocrinologist. Now, he just ses the endocrinologist once a year. She's a very nice, shorter lady. That visit was yesterday. Isaac is still falling somewhere between the 5th and 10th percentile for height which means he's following his curve. This is great news. He had an x-ray of his hand to see if his bone age is still behind his biological age. The doctor suspects it is and that's a good thing. You stop growing when your bone age is 17. So, Isaac should continue growing after his peers have stopped. Based on his place on the curve and the bone age factor, the doctor predicts his final height will be somewhere between 5'7" and 5'9". Wow!

In the meantime, Isaac lives his life like he already is a big guy. I understand. I'm always surprised when I see myself next to taller friends and family members. I feel taller than I am and I think Isaac does too.

That's Isaac resting on the top platform. I love that big guy!

4 months plus

Oh Theo!
Theo is a little over four months old. He weighs 16 pounds, 10 ounces and is 26 inches long.


He's certainly had some rough days, but we're hoping they're behind us. His fever and spots landed him in the ER three times before they decided to admit him based on his strange combination of symptoms. Seven doctors looked at him and all they could agree on was that he had some kind of virus. That virus cleared up and he quickly caught the cold bug floating around our house. With an irritated throat, he didn't sleep longer than an hour at a time for almost a week and a half. Ugh. We finally tried the car seat and he's been sleeping much better. So for now, he's a car seat sleeper. This feels like a step backwards and like progress all at the same time! But we'll take the sleep any way we can get it for now!