On the go!

Everyone can army crawl! Time to childproof more thoroughly!

Binky transition

When you become a parent there are things you do that you did not think you would do before you had kids. One of these things for me was to use binkies. I wasn't against them but just didn't foresee using them. However, when you are home alone with two crying infants you do what you need to do and for me that was give them binkies. I never forced the binkies upon them and if they popped back out after a few seconds I took that to mean they were hungry and went ahead and fed them. The use of the pacifier was one of the five "S's" from the Happiest Baby on the Block and I also read that pacifier lowers the risk of SIDS.

I'd hoped to wean them off the binkies by about six months but this didn't happen because they still used them for soothing at nap times. In the past couple weeks we've noticed that when we give them binkies at nap time they often end up playing with them more than sucking on them so we decided it is probably a good time to begin to transition them away. We now only use binkies at nap time, bed time & when we are going for a car ride (because this usually leads to a nap). When we give binkies now we also give the girls their "lovies." These are little blankets with stuffed animals attached so they get accustomed to the idea of having something else at nap & bed time. We are hoping to be rid of the binkies within the next couple of months, but at the latest a year per Dr. J. Wish us luck over the next month as we make the transition.

Seven month pictures

Seven month update

To my beautiful seven month old girls -

Your Dad and I look back with amazement at the past seven months and wonder where they've gone so quickly. We spend a lot of time savoring every moment with you as we know they will pass quickly and before we know it you will be a year old.

During the past month you both have become much more independent. You play by yourselves for up to thirty minutes at a time. You love to play peak a boo and giggle at your Mom and Dad as we try to make you laugh when you are upset. Your laughter is infectious, you both have deep cute belly laughs. I remember how we loved your fascination with your hands, well it has moved onto your feet. You grab them whenever you can and N, you love to pull your socks off!

You are both getting up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth - crawling is not far away. You also love to bounce around in your exersaucers and to play with the piano barnyard toy you got for Christmas.

You are still enjoying the mommy milk. Since you cannot have regular formula we've decided it's more important than before to continue pumping for N and nursing L. We are going to make it to a year, our goal was 6 months and we have definitely passed that!!! You are also eating solids 3 times a day. Usually a fruit with oatmeal for breakfast, a veggie for lunch & a veggie with some oatmeal for dinner. We still haven't figure out a favorite food yet but I'm leaning towards squash and sweet potatoes.

L, you began army crawling this month. It is too cute to see you set your eyes on something and go after it. You also got your third tooth this month. You are a growing girl weighing in at around 16.5 pounds. We moved you up to 6-9 month clothes in the past week.

N, you are our champion sleeper. You sleep through the night more consistently than L does and this has been briefly interrupted in the past couple days because you are teething. We hope you get that tooth soon. You also now sit up unassisted for a couple minutes at a time. Somehow you always tip over but it doesn't seem to bother you. You are just shy of 14 pounds and are making sure we make good use of the 3-6 month clothes.

We love you!

Mom & Dad

RSV

L and I have been sick off and on for a few weeks. When we were at the doctor for the girls' six month visit he said she had a cold gave us the standard instructions for treating it (humidifier, sleep, tylenol for any low grade fever). We both finally broke them early last week and by the weekend Leah seemed to have another cold with a nasty cough. On Tuesday, Greg took her to the doctor expecting him to say she had another virus and send them on their way. Unfortunately, we were not so lucky. He examined her and diagnosed her with RSV.

Most people probably do not know that RSV scares the crud out of me. One of my younger brothers had it twice when he was a baby and ended up in the hospital both times. I vividly remember sitting in the ER with his watching his O2 sats drop while we waited for him to get admitted the first time.

Greg knew this and called me when Dr. J left the room so he could get any questions I had before he left. When Dr. J returned he came bearing a nebulizer and a couple prescriptions. Greg asked if it was definetely RSV and Dr. J said he was 90% sure. He said he could run a test for sure to diagnose it but he was going to give her the same treatment either way. The nurse showed Greg how to use the nebulizer and Greg took L home so he could start her breathing treatments right away. He called me later and said she screamed the whole time. I knew we were in for a rough couple of days. I took the next day off and stayed home with her. She has been better the past couple of days but still sounds a bit wheezy unless she is getting breathing treatments. We are going to follow up with Dr. J on Monday if she doesn't show more improvement. We will keep you updated.

Goals for 2011

So everyone knows that if you write your goals down for the year that helps them be more concrete, real, and raises your likelihood of achieving them.  So, I figured I would not only write them down but share them with the rest of the world so that you can all help keep me on track for the year.  Here are my goals for 2011:

• Run a marathon - Shooting for the 2011 Niagara Falls International Marathon in October.
• Lose 20 pounds by the girl's birthday June 10^th 2011 - Get me back to my pre-baby weight.
• Take L and N on separate outings before their first birthdays - Only good thing I learned from "John and Kate Plus 8." 

Going along with this goals post Melissa and I would like to run in the following races this year:

• American Heart Association Mini Marathon - 3/20 - Greg and Melissa.
• Flying Pig 10k Run - 5/2 - Greg and Melissa.
• Reggae Run 5k - Greg and Melissa.
• Niagara Falls International Marathon - Greg. 

Double Bath Time

Melissa and I give the girls a bath every night before bedtime and we usually give them their baths 1 at a time but this time we decided to give them their baths together.  It went pretty well.  The girls had a lot of fun and they liked to splash each other.  Check out the picture.

Making baby food

When I was pregnant my Dad encouraged me to begin eating organic food. I thought he'd lost his mind, organic food is expensive. I did a little research and learned about a lot of the benefits of organic food. Greg and I recently watched Food Inc and we decided that we would go organic wherever we can. We've found that the best place to buy organic milk is at Costco; we also bought organic beef there recently. We have organic vegetables delivered weekly from Green Bean Delivery, the concept is just like the milkman. If veggies are not organic they are at the very least locally grown so we can support the farmers.

We've been using our Green Bean Delivery orders to make our own baby food. As everyone knows baby food is not cheap and never looks or smells particularly yummy. I did some research and found the Wholesome Baby Food website. I found that making baby food is really as simple as steaming various fruits and veggies and pureeing them. I figured that was easy enough and decided to give it a whirl. It is pretty easy and doesn't take me a lot of time. I bought some freezer trays that are similar to ice cube trays with lids and I make a couple fruits and veggies a week and freeze them. I still do buy some baby food from the store but not a lot and the girls definitely like the foods I make. I'm enjoying making the foods they eat and knowing where they come from.

Happy New Year!

Confetti Countdown Filmstrip New Year's

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