The boys - Jan - Apr 2012

In the interest of getting caught up, I guess we'll have a girls post and a boys post!

In January, Ian participated in his first ever spelling bee! I guess this was the first year they let third graders participate. I think they just took the top spellers from each class, the letters kept saying he'd passed the first round of the bee but he hadn't had a grade or classroom bee. Anyway, it was third through sixth graders. It's the luck of the word on a spelling bee, for sure! Ian was fine about it until he got sat down in the front of the gym - then he got really nervous but I didn't go talk to him, the school counselor talked to him and tried to get him to calm down. By the time it was his turn for his first word, he'd calmed down and did it! And got it right! He made it to the fourth round before he got out! I was so proud of him.

One day I had to take Ellie to an all day doctor's visit out of town, and they built this tall tower with Daddy they were really proud of. Levi and Caleb are apparently calling people to tell them about it :). (January)

Caleb's crane - he's lifting the airplane. (January)

And Levi's crane. Pretty ingenuous, really. (January)

One of their homework assignments was to use blocks to measure everyone in their family's shoe to see whose was longest and shortest. Afterward Levi made a shoe train! (January)

And another block creation - I think they used every block, and made it symmetrical. (February)

Over the past few months Caleb and Levi have asked me several times to take their picture together. They sure are best friends. But there are times they want to be separate, too, they just have a little too much togetherness sometimes. They say they need some alone time. For the most part, though, they get along really well. (February)

March was really busy. All three boys had some school projects to do along with their science fair projects. Ian made an electromagnet, Caleb found out which objects light would and wouldn't shine through, and Levi tested what things a magnet will stick to. Science projects are fun, making the presentation is the hard part!

We also spent part of spring break out of town. My brother was visiting my parents so we went there. He moved away soon after I did, and I hadn't seen him for over 2 years. Two other brothers live nearby so we saw them, too. It was a fun trip, it's always good to see family. I keep thinking that some day it will be more fun to travel when all four children eat like regular people. Someday.......

Ian's first pinewood derby car! Yes, he's nine, but last year they had the derby the month before he turned eight and this year it was the month after he turned nine. We don't know what place he got, he didn't win, but he was pretty pleased with it. (March)

Happy April Fool's Day! The night before we planted some "doughnut seeds". In the morning, they had grown! By morning some of them had slipped down on the stick and Levi and Caleb thought they just hadn't grown as big as the others yet :). They did wonder how tape grew, but seemed to believe it otherwise!

Happy Easter! (April)

One day they were eating lunch and said there was a bird on the porch railing. That's not too unusual, we have lots of trees and lots of birds. But Caleb was saying it was behind the grill - I knew that from where he sits he couldn't see a robin on the railing behind the grill. So I went and looked, and it was this pheasant! I'm sure glad to see him sitting on our railing rather than flying into our front window (we've had three do that). (April)

Just a fun picture! (April)

Ian's invention to carry his laundry easier. (April)

In April all the boys combined into one bedroom. It was Ian and Caleb together, with Levi having his own room (Ellie was still in my room). Then we switched Levi and Caleb so Caleb could have his own room for a while. But I let Levi sleep on the bottom bunk bed and so Caleb wanted to come back. The original plan was to have the two of them share the bottom bunk (it's full sized) with Ian on top anyway, we were just going to wait until summer! It is working fine, although I'm not sure why we bothered with the bunk beds at all - I think Levi and Caleb have only slept on the bed a couple of nights - they each usually make up their little bundle of blankets on the floor! Who needs beds anyway?

Ellie, Jan - Apr 2012

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd start with the one who has changed the most - Ellie! She's had an eventful few months, and I was going to write about all her medical procedures but that would be long and boring, but if anyone wants to know I'll tell you! The pictures are all out of order, and I can't figure out how to change it so it's staying the way it is. And I can't figure out how to type before the first picture! But it is a picture I was trying to take of Ellie when she turned 18 months (April). I love the dress she's wearing, and I thought she'd look adorable in her rocking chair. She wasn't all that cooperative in staying in the chair, or smiling, but this picture got her personality! In January Ellie was one year from her due date (but 15 months old). By April she was 18 months old but only 15 months past her due date. No, I haven't let her go to nursery yet, I think I'll wait until she's 18 months past her due date. Perhaps she'll be walking by then and have less chance of getting run over by the big boys in there!

This next picture was from March. Ellie had to have several tests done at the hospital where she was born, to try and see what's going on with her stomach. For one test, we had to wait an hour and a half before the next step so I let her crawl down the NICU hallway. Yes, I let her crawl on the hospital floor. What else do you do with a mobile toddler who has been strapped into a carseat for two hours, onto a board for one more, and has to be strapped down for a two hour car ride back home? So yes, her socks and pants were nearly black and I washed her hands as soon as I picked her up, but it kept her quite happy. And, we ran into her primary NICU nurse!

I only have pictures from one test (in March), she is in there, under the machine, getting imaged.

Ellie loves her car, and Ian loves to play with her (March)!

Levi likes to read books to Ellie, she loves books (March).

She likes books so much she pulled them all off to read (February) :).

Ellie is very helpful with the dishes (February).

Levi the engineer was taking Ellie for a train ride (January).

In January Ellie could get to her knees - that's an accomplishment for her!

And then to standing (January)!

Daddy's shoulders is just about Ellie's favorite place to be. Which is good, since she has to be kept upright after eating and at bedtime it's sometimes hard to keep her happy (February)!

Ellie's 18 month bear picture (April). When Ellie was born, she was about as long as this bear. But skinnier. She certainly has grown!! She's 9 lb 6 oz! And 30.5" long (at 19 months). At 19 months old Ellie can walk holding onto furniture or someones hands, can walk between two people, can crawl super fast, is saying about 8 words spontaneously, eats at about an 8 month level, is on 3 medications for reflux related problems (although at the doctor today she will start back on a fourth), loves books, loves her brothers, and is the cutest, happiest, most fun little girl we've ever had around our house :).

I just thought this was cute (April)!

 I was trying to get a picture of Ellie's wild hair (April). She usually doesn't leave her hair bands in for too long so her hair looks like this most of the time! She really needs to grow some hair on the sides soon! When I leave it down, without hair bands, someone always calls her a boy - even if she's wearing a pink shirt!

And Easter (April). I had to have a picture of her first Easter dress! Yes, she was alive last Easter, but didn't go to church so I didn't get her a dress.

 

Happy Birthday, Ian!

I'm way behind on updates lately, but couldn't let today pass by! Ian is nine. He was so excited to have a birthday. He took treats to his class at school Friday, and they sang to him in Primary today. Both sets of grandparents called and talked to him, it couldn't get much better! He loves the movie Cars 2 lately, and loves Finn McMissile because he's a spy and he thinks spies are cool. So I made him a Finn cake. While he was waiting for his dad this afternoon and going crazy wanting to move on with his birthday celebrations, we decided to interview him. Caleb and Levi thought up some of these questions:

Favorite color: black, but all dark colors

Favorite foods: pizza, oatmeal, apples, bananas, meatballs, mashed potatoes

Favorite books: Geronimo Stilton books, there's always a new adventure

Favorite movies: Cars 2 and Toy Story 2

Favorite job: setting the table, sweeping

Favorite subject at school: science

Favorite thing to play: cars, building with blocks

Favorite thing to do outside: hike, especially on a trail to see nature

What he would do if he's bored: read a book

What he's most excited about this year: being a Bear in scouts

What he wants to be when he grows up: he wants to invent new things

One thing he predicts in his future: he might write a book

His favorite thing in his room: paper airplanes

Ian is a super sweet boy (can you still be sweet at nine years old??). He is really good with his brothers, he can get them to do any job by making it a secret mission. He's good with Ellie and he's learning how to watch her and help her stay safe. He loves to play with her and keeps telling her he's her favorite brother :). He loves school, when it's a day off, like President's Day, he said, "oh, I just wish there were school tomorrow." He's a mostly happy boy and he loves to read. He loves cub scouts. Basically, he loves life and is excited about most everything he does!

December 2011

John takes a family picture every Christmas - since it was Sunday at least we're all dressed up! I love Levi's face on this one :).

Ellie fits in the stocking! I couldn't find pictures of her brothers in the stocking from when they fit......

She apparently is trying to recreate last year, when she was the gift under the tree (see next picture). Actually, she wasn't too interested in the tree, which I was surprised. She did go over and take ornaments off a few times, and felt it, but mostly left it alone.

Our 2010 Christmas present :).

We got some firewood, just to be prepared if we needed to heat our house with our fireplace. Ian and Levi were good little wood carriers!

This is how Ian spent most of December :). When he has a good book, he just reads and reads. Sometimes it's hard to keep enough good books! When he reads shorter chapter books, he can be done with it the same day we get it from the library.

Ian earned his Wolf Badge!! Okay, he really finished it the beginning of November, but they didn't have pack meeting until December. And, the badge hasn't come in yet so he doesn't physically have it....but this is him looking up at the Cubmaster who was announcing his awards. He earned his fourth bead, his Wolf, and a gold arrow point! Way to go!

Caleb, trying out the rocking chair Grandpa and an uncle made. It's for Ellie, but is the right size for Caleb and Levi. Levi loves to rock, he really likes it. Ellie sits in it and rocks, but she's sitting straight up and so the back of the chair comes and hits her in the head. And the cars were handmade made by Grandpa/uncle, too, they're pretty fun!

This is my attempt to take a cute Christmasy picture of Ellie in her pretty dress someone gave her. She wasn't too happy on Christmas, this is the best I got.

It's a tight fit! Hopefully Caleb doesn't move too much in the night, there's no room between his box of books, Buzz, and stuffed friends! At least we talked him out of sleeping in the "nest" he made that didn't even allow him to lay down.

One day I put out a couch cushion to see if Ellie can crawl over it (she can, if she wants to). Now her brothers love to try and entice her over. But they put toys, especially music ones, that she can just sit and watch over the cushion! It's not very effective.

Gingerbread houses! We invited a family over to make them with us, it was fun. I didn't get a picture of John with the stable he made, however.

Happy One Year, Ellie!

Ellie is one year, again! Today is one year from her due date, meaning that at her young age we can only expect her to be like a 12 month old, and she's actually mostly behind that. But she makes up for it in cuteness!





She's finally getting some hair! These little piggies didn't stay in very long at all, since one of her main modes of transportation is rolling, and you couldn't see them from the front of her head, but it's progress!

I had to take her back to the hospital she was born in (all the pediatric specialists are there) to see a nutritionist, to try and get her to gain weight. In the two months from October to December, she gained 7 oz (not good). At the nutritionist she had gained 12 oz in just the first two weeks of December. I'm still a little skeptical about that, we'll see what she weighs at her pediatrician appointment this week! This statue of Ronald McDonald is by the pediatric specialist offices, and by the Ronald McDonald rooms inside the hospital (different from the Ronald McDonald House, at a location a mile from this hospital). I stayed in these rooms a couple of times (and in the House for three weeks).

As far as eating goes, Ellie really doesn't like it. Really. And the more you try and get her to eat, the less she likes it. This picture was taken after a meal - I feed her still, no self-feeding (except crackers occasionally). This shows what the battle looks like. She's like an octopus, guarding her mouth with what seems like eight arms, with a high pitched squeal and head dodging to go with it. I can usually convince her to eat, but it's really not a pleasant task. Even more unpleasant when it comes right back up. We're working on that.....hopefully the doctor will listen to the nutritionist and the therapist who both say she has reflux, since he doesn't seem to believe me. While gaining weight is a huge part of feeding her, she also needs to become a little more age-appropriate at some point, her eating skills are probably that of a 6-8 month old (oddly enough, she's the weight of a 6 month old, and the height of an 8 month old.....).

As far as physical development, I don't know her age, the score we got from the therapist is a number that I have no idea what it represents. But she can sit, and get down from sitting (but not up to sitting), she can roll, she can pull herself forward on her tummy, she can get on her hands and knees, just doesn't know it can get her someplace. She has the mechanics of how to pull up to stand, but needs to get stronger to really be able to do it herself. And yesterday, for the first time, she was on her knees, not hanging on! It only lasted a minute, before she lost her balance, but it was a good start! Her fine motor skills are probably behind, too, but nobody is concerned about that! She is finally, in the last week or so, discovering the rest of the house outside the living room. She's realized she can leave the room to explore! I guess we'll need to baby proof one of these days :). Thankfully our baby gate is good and strong, as she has tested that with her kicking many times.

Her speech was tested, along with her oral-motor skills. Last month (at 11 months adjusted age)her speech was at an average of 12 months! Hooray! She's ahead of the game on something. The SLP didn't see any problems with her oral-motor skills, either, meaning she can eat, she just doesn't want to, and can't keep half of it in.

We sure are happy to have Ellie around, even with her eating troubles.....she's a sweet little girl, and really quite happy most of the time. Her brothers adore her, and she loves them! We're pleased with how well she is doing after her early start. She's truly a blessing.