Celebrating Andrew's 21st and First restaurant trip

It was Andrew's 21st and we were invited to dinner at the Outback Steakhouse. It was the boys' first restaurant trip and they handled it very well.   The first boy outfits that I had bought for them arrived and I was able to get a pick of Connor showing off his new polar bear onesie.

The normally wide awake Jackson didn't even open his eyes much to everyone's dismay but he was happy. 

Connor woke up and everybody at the table took turns holding both of the boys.

Twin Twin Cuddles.

The boys and I let Daddy go out and it was a good thing that mommy decided to go home.  Jackson had a very rough remainder of the night with tummy issues and we had almost an hour of playing the pacifier spit out game after the 2 a.m. feeding where both boys had "surprises" for mommy and part of Connor's surprise ended up on the changing pad cover. The boys were having their own party at 2 a.m. and we aren't even sure that Andrew made it to last call?!?

Jackson and Connor : One Month (actually 5 weeks but close enough)

The boys had their third visit with Dr. Sibila on February 1st and we were told that whatever we were doing -- we were doing right. He was very pleased with everything and gave us direction to let the boys inform us when they were hungry. This has been chaotic but we are starting to figure things out. Connor can go almost 5 + hours in the crib without issue but Jackson is having some tummy problems and needs a little more attention. But, they are only 5 weeks old so we understand.

Stats:

Jackson - 8 lbs 15.5 ounces and 21 inches

Connor - 9 lbs 4 ounces and 21 1/2 inches

It is really hard for 1 month olds to keep their eyes open.
Thanks for trying Connor.

Everybody that sees the boys thinks that Connor is so much bigger but Jackson is only 4 ounces behind. With regard to their weight and length, they have moved out of the newborn diapers and are on to size 1(in case you didn't know --- there is only 1 Sesame Street character instead of 2), are going through their last wear of Newborn sleepers and have moved to the "big boy" bottles since we are aiming for 5 ounces at each feeding except the early morning. Anybody that has fed them has noticed that it almost takes triple the time with the extra ounce but we have to try!!!

The boys are doing so well and have started to get in to some new things like their crib (we are finally getting use out of the nursery) and the swing. They are 2 different personalities. Jackson loves to be held AND spends a lot of time looking around. It is not like he is getting in to much now but it is looking as though he will be an energizer bunny like his mom. Like his dad, Connor is more serious and appears to be thinking about things and of course, likes to nap a lot. At times, we wonder if he would ever wake up to eat.

It may be time to retire the NB clothing

So, Connor has definitely stepped it up in the eating department and we are not saying that this isn't a great fashion statement but buttons and bare belly may not be the best.  We will probably be moving on to the 3 month clothing as Connor seems to have just squeezed himself into this outfit.

When it's 60 degrees in January -- you stroll

Since it was almost 60 degrees, I decided to take the boys out for their first stroll around the neighborhood. They were doing so well that we were out for about an hour despite their being snow on the ground.

They both seemed to enjoy it except that Connor wasn't too happy with the bumpy sidewalks. I think that he would like to ask his neighbors to get them fixed but we don't want to create too much of a stir since it was their first time out!!!

After we got into the house, I took a couple of pictures of Jackson in his Squeeze Please outfit. I remember purchasing this outfit for the boys early on in my pregnancy. I didn't buy very much knowing that we had very generous family and friends but had a feeling that since we weren't finding out the gender, we wouldn't get very many clothes and I was right.  Gender neutral and animals will always be a good buy and yes, all the cuddles please.

3 week stats

Jackson and Connor had their 2nd visit to the pediatrician on Monday, January 18th.

Everybody that had seen them was starting to notice how much bigger that they were getting and it was time to weigh in....

Jackson was 7lbs 12 ounces and Connor was 8lbs 0.5 ounces

The pediatrician was thrilled with how much they gained. He recommended that the feedings could be increased to every 4 hours. We know that an hour is not a lot but it definitely means more sleep time for mommmy and daddy!!!!

Overnight visit with Aunt Gina and Uncle Tony

The boys had their first overnight visit on Friday, January 22nd.  Aunt Gina and Uncle Tony offered and it couldn't have been timed any better. Michael had either food poisoning or the stomach flu that is going around and was out of commission from Thursday evening until Saturday morning. I was so worried about him and the boys that I didn't get any sleep.   Next time, we will make it out to dinner but a good night's sleep was all we could ask for.

We were super happy to see our little people.

And, we got the report that the boys were well behaved and Uncle Tony has a nickname for Connor. He is calling him "toast" because he basically slept the entire time that they were visiting.

Connor decided it was going to be a little different when he got home and was awake for almost 2 hours after the next couple of feedings. We were happy to see him but are still wondering what was going on at Aunt Gina and Uncle Tony's house???

First Tub Bath

Both Jackson and Connor lost their umbilical cords so it was time for their first real baths.  It doesn't look that way but Connor actually did calm down and seemed to be enjoying himself (even it it was only for a couple seconds). 


Jackson, on the other hand, didn't cry as much as I expected. Hopefully, the boys will start to enjoy bath time and the tears will disappear....

Edited by mom to note: Their first tub bath was given to them by the doula that their mom's office had hired to help.  I was in the bathroom and helped but not as much as I wanted to.  The idea of bending down was a no go.  If I wasn't completely ignoring the instructions to not over do it and and was actually resting and not walking/running up and down the steps -- yes.  But, a c-section is major surgery that requires recovery time especially after all of the blood that I lost and the required transfusions.  Next time for sure!

Good Luck Charms for the Ravens

I know that it was only their 2nd game but Jackson and Connor were definitely happy to see another Ravens victory. We think that they are the Ravens' good luck charms!!! They are not so sure about our corners being able to handle Peyton Manning's arm but we are all hoping for the best.

Getting the babies to sleep

When you are pregnant, your friends offer a lot of advice and you think that you are NEVER ever going to do *** regardless of what *** is and when it comes down to only running on adrenaline and needing sleep, you do WHATEVER you need.

And, if that happens to be letting your child sleep  in his or her carseat or bouncy seat on the regular, you don't rock the boat and let it be.  Someday, they will sleep in their crib. It doesn't have to be now.

He apparently was hot and since he looked adorable and the camera was handy.  Of course, there are pictures.....

Our sweet Connor.

First Pediatrician Visit

The boys had their 1st visit with their pediatrician, Dr. Sibila, today.

It was our first outing and mommy and daddy were not as prepared as they needed to be. We forgot the diaper bag and were lucky enough to be only 10 minutes late but the morning was quite chaotic.  Connor peed all over his outfit and everything else that was stored in the pack n play and Jackson's mid-morning feeding didn't exactly agree with him. So, we had a load of laundry before we even walked out the door.  We also managed to find a second sock for Jackson.

The doctor said everything was going well but that he wanted the boys eating every 3 hours, which we anticipate to be an interesting adventure... especially since they had previously decided (together) that 3 a.m. was their designated hour to need to eat at the same time.

We will need to figure this out and it is better than the eat, change diaper and repeat for the 2nd baby in an hour and get no sleep.  It is a fact that we will be ignoring the Don't Wake Up a Sleeping Baby to fatten the little people up and encourage them to sleep through the night.  All that baby gear that we had to have will be getting some use.



The boys were weighed in as follows:

Jackson - 6 lbs 6.5 ounces
Connor - 7 lbs 2.5 ounces