4 Months Old

Dear Elana,

I've been thinking about this post for awhile now.  I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to write it, but I thought I'd better finish it before you turn 5 months old.  Well, as it turns out this post has been on hold for awhile and in you are turning 5 months old in a few days.  That's how life is a the moment.  You are such a different person now than you were the last time I wrote.  You have grown so much.  At your 4 month check-up you weighed 12 lbs 13.oz 19th percentile, were 23.5 inches long 11th percentile and had a head circumference of 42 cm  which is about 16.5 inches which puts you in the 90th percentile.  Wow big head!   Knowing what I know about brain development and autism, this had me a little worried.  Dr. Lau said it was nothing to worry about because you are still on the growth curve.  So, I sure hope it's filled will all good brain cells.  I guess we'll just wait and see how things look at your 6th month check-up.

 

Cooper used to enjoy holding you, but that has all changed.  He still likes you deep down and doesn't want to send you back (like I did with my brother), but he doesn't like it when daddy holds you and he says that your crying hurts his ears.  He doesn't pay much attention to you, but right now he's trying to adjust to you being here and having to share daddy with you.  He does however really like it when you smile at him.  But who wouldn't like a cute adorable baby smiling at them.  

You smile a lot now and have started to squeal sometimes when you smile.  It is supper cute and I love it!  But not so much at 3 a.m. 

Lately, you seem to want mommy to hold you the most.  As much as I love a "momma's girl",  you need to understand that after being with you for 8 hours a day, I need a little break from holding you.  And Daddy has not seen you most of the day so what a great time for him to hold you.  And the good thing is, you usually don't mind.

You still aren't quite sure what to think of baths.  Sometimes you smile, and coo, but most of the time you have a serious look on your face and kick your legs and squirm all over.  Usually after the bath you pout and cry because you are cold and hungry.  And girl, can you pout!  When you are not happy, that lower lip sticks out and then the fussing begins.  I hate the fussing, but the pouty lip is pretty cute.

 

For Halloween you were going to be a reindeer.  Cooper wore this costume, but it was way too big on him.  It barely fits you.  And you didn't like to wear it either.  This was the most non-fussy looking picture I could get.  

 

I wasn't sure how trick-or-treating would work out this year.  I wanted to go and take you along, but you were already fussy before we left the house. Luckily I was able to see Cooper go to a few houses before you and I headed home.

Sometimes when you lie on the ground Cooper likes to lay down next to you and try and make you smile.

This picture was taken the day you turned 4 months old.  Posed pictures don't work out so well because you have that "deer in the headlights" look.  Still cute non the less.

You are letting daddy hold you more and not fuss hardly at all.  He's getting pretty good at making you laugh.  He is also known for startling you with his burps or loud noised.  Luckily you don't usually cry, only a few times.

Daddy giving you a bottle.   Ever since Grammy Rachel left in October Daddy has been trying to give you a bottle every day to get ready for my return to work.  It was really difficulty at first.  You screamed and cried almost the entire bottle.  But after a few days you calmed down and took a morning bottle calmly.  I'm so glad because I was getting a little worried.

You have started to like looking at books.  Mostly simple ones with big pictures and few words.  It's so cute how you look at the pages as I read them to you.

A few weeks ago when we had our first snowfall I took you to the park down the street from our house to try sledding for the first time.  You really didn't have an opinion about it either way, no smiles or frowns going down the hill.  You, however didn't like being cold so we didn't stay very long.  Just long enough to get a few cute pictures. 

Since your last doctor appointment, we were told to start giving you some rice cereal every day.  It's not the best tasting, but you tolerate ok.  You usually only let me get a few spoonfuls in and then you start fussing.

I don't have a picture of you sleeping lately but your sleep schedule has started to work out ok.  During the day you are now taking a 1-2 hour nap in the morning and afternoon.  Sometimes the naps will go 3 hours.  This is nice because I can have some time to relax, do a chore or two, or play with Cooper.  You have stopped taking evening naps.  You usually wake up from your last nap at 3,4 or 5.  After this you are awake until usually 7.  Then you usually sleep until 1 or 2 and then wake up again at 5 or 6.  The week before I had to go back to work you started to wake up at 11 or 12.  That was not fun because I had just gone to bed at 10.  Luckily now you have decided to sleep longer and wake up at 1,2 or 3 and then at 4 or 5.  I don't mind 5 so much because then I'm up for the day and have a little more time to get ready before work.   When I get home from work you are almost always awake and if I'm lucky I get to feed you.  In the evenings is when you are most fussiest because you are awake for 3 hours or longer.  It makes me a little sad that I come home to a fussy girl.  I can get a few smiles here and there but that only lasts a few minutes.  But fussing or not I love coming home to you every day!

Well, as I sit and finish up this blog post I think about how I've already had to go back to work.  The first week went well.  I didn't cry once when I left the house.  This next week will be my second week back at work and over the weekend I have been a blubbery mess!  Every time I held you, which was most of the day, I started to cry, thinking about how much I am going to miss you.  You, your smile, your squeals, your laughter, and even your cries and fusses have become such an important part of my daily activity that I am truly going to miss it all.  Sometimes I think it would be great to be a stay at home mom, but then I remember I really do like my job, despite all the paperwork, and poor salary.  I do my job because I like it and as much as I love being with you I would miss my job very much.  I just wish I could stay home a little longer.  Hopefully I can hold myself together as I go to work tomorrow and enjoy my day without becoming too upset or sad.  

Thank you Elana for being part of our fun loving, crazy family!

Something To Smile About

4 years old

On the 12th of October my baby boy turned 4 years old.  I can't believe how grown-up he is getting.  He is such a fun loving, stubborn, contradicting, whinny (hopefully a short stage) independent,imaginative, whole-hearted little boy.  Oh excuse me, Cooper would correct me and say 'big boy'.  At his 4 year old well child check-up he weight 31.7 lbs and was 40 inches tall.  He's in the 11th percentile for weight and just above the 25th percentile for height.  Hopefully he got his daddy's genes for height.  Cooper is till wearing his dafo (leg/foot brace) on his right foot to help with correct foot placement and aliment while walking/running.  He's doing great most of the time with and without it the brace except when he is tired.  Then sometimes you can see him dragging his right leg a little.  Cooper is now FINALLY potty trained! (insert band playing and crowd cheering)  It only took a year to do it...and boy, was it a tough year.  His teachers at school finally said "ditch the pull-ups." And so we did, and haven't looked back since.

Here are a few of Cooper's favorite things:
Cooper has the best imagination.  He can make up the most interesting games to play.  Usually involving a fireman, policeman, or some sort of super hero.

Cooper LOVES to watch daddy's "iPad" while he eats.  We started this when he was about 2 in order to keep him at the table.  Now it's the only way he will eat his meals.  Or I guess I should say stay at the table.  We still have to constantly remind him to eat. Hopefully when Elana starts sitting at the table too, we can remove the movie watching.

Favorite movie/shows to watch: usually Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but he also likes to watch Chuggington, Handy Manny, Roary the racing car, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Veggie Tales, and lately the Pink Panther (which is much more violent than I remember from when I was a kid).

Favorite book:  Not sure he has a favorite book, but he does like Mickey Mouse, Handy Manny, Thomas, Little Critter.  Cooper says his favorite book is, "All By Myself," but that could be because it was the last book we read.
Favorite Healthy food: Oatmeal, scrambled and flat eggs, cereal
Favorite Veggie: Carrots
Favorite Sweet: any kind of candy will do, he's really into bubble gum now
Favorite snack food:  Cheetos (or Pcheetos, according to him)
Favorite toys: wooden trains, Hot Wheels, construction vehicles
Favorite game: super hero game he invented (he is usually spider man)
Favorite pizza toppings: red eyeballs and grapes (aka: peperoni and olives)
Favorite place to visit and play: train museum  
Favorite clothes: naked boy  (underwear only) or PJ's
Favorite method of transportation: hopping.  He hops all over the house!
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite Animal: A monkey and a parrot
When he grows up, he want to be: "A dad."
Cooper is also starting to like helping cook or bake in the kitchen and he loves to help daddy whenever he is fixing something.
Cooper loves to ask questions and not just simple questions either.  Complex questions such as "why do we need zero?" and "why do we sometimes need to be squishy?"
And Cooper's most favorite thing in the whole wide world right now that he can't live without... Daddy!  I'm glad he loves his daddy but he's becoming a little too much like Velcro.

Here are a few of Cooper's dislikes: 
Eating without watching a movie
Getting ready for bed
Stop playing to do anything
Taking naps at home

Cooper talks well for his age but still has a few word that he doesn't say correctly.  Being a speech pathologist, I do try and make him say most things correctly but there are a few that I think are still just too cute to correct.  Here are a few of his Cooperisims:
Chicken for kitchen, ut (short u as in up) for ate, ament truck for cement truck, beblongs for belongs, light boat for light bulb, smallow for swallow, same of the time for at the same time, flat egg for fried egg, betanic for mechanic, last day for last night, gynosaur for dinosaur.

Cooper is really into super heros lately, mainly Spider-Man. How that quite happened, I'm not sure.  So he wanted to be Spider-Man for Halloween and he wanted a Spider-Man birthday party.

Cooper was so excited to help me make his birthday cake,

His favorite part was helping put the frosting on the cake (actually he just ate it).  My favorite part too.

We ended up making two cakes.  One to have on his real birthday and one to have for his party.

 

This is a picture of Elana sitting on the kitchen table while we sang happy birthday to Cooper.

For Cooper's birthday party, we decided to do something special this year.  We had the Tumblebus come to our house for the kids to play on.  The kids had a blast.

 

 

Who knew Cooper was so strong!

Rope swing

 

Parachute play

Monkey bars

Zip line, love his face!

 

Awards ceremony, getting a medal.

Giving his friends a medal.

 

Getting a new bike from our neighbor Papi.

After the Tumblebus we ate cake and ice cream.

Then the craziness began with opening presents.   After opening his presents, Cooper decided he wanted to go play outside.  It was a cloudy, chilly day. 

Even Elana didn't want to miss any of the fun.

Cooper plays with Monroe's Jeep more than she does.

 

Playing around in the leaves in the yard.

Later that night Cooper got two more presents from grandparents.  Grammy Terry and Grandpa Ed gave Cooper a gas station.  Now he can fill up his fire truck and lawn mower.

  

Grammy Rachel and Poppy gave Cooper more wooden train tracks and trains.  This track is usually set up somewhere in the house.  

It was a great day for a birthday party!

I still can't believe my baby boy is 4 years old!  Every day I am more amazed at the things he knows, the things he says, and the things he can do. 

 

First Snow Fall

 On Thursday we had our first snow fall of the season.  Cooper came home from school that day saying "Daddy, it's Christmas at my school".  I'm sure he'll be a little disappointed when he realized he has to wait two more months.

 Cooper wanted to go outside and play in the snow and make a snow man.  This is the end result.  Carrot from our garden for the nose and flower heads for the eyes.  Then 4 small snowballs for the mouth.

Then Cooper decided he wanted to shovel the snow off the driveway.  Too bad it only lasted a few minutes.  That's ok, most of it has melted by now.

And what blog post wouldn't be complete without a cute video of baby Elana.

2 Months Old

Dear  Elana, 

I  can't believe you are now 2 months old.  You have changed so much since you were born.  When you were two an a half weeks old you gave us all quite a scare.  You were having a rough day, not eating or sleeping too well.  It was about 6 pm on a Sunday and I was trying get you to eat.  It wasn't going very well.  Then all of the sudden you stopped sucking and your face and feet turned slightly purple.  I rushed you outside to dad and we try to do something, what ever we could to figure out what was wrong.  I remember daddy tipping you upside down and patting your back to see if anything was stuck inside your throat.    You were sort of sleepy and non-responsive. So then we went back inside we tried to wake you with a cold wash cloth and took all your cloths off.  You color was a little more normal but you were not squirmy and wiggly like normal.  You were not even crying, which was a little scary to us.  After about 45 minutes of trying to decide what to do, we decided to bring you over to the ER to get you checked out and make sure you were ok.  You were so well behaved, and of course better by the time we got there.  You were crying now and your color was much better.  Many people came in and out of the room to examine you and stick you with needles, ouch.  I think it was more painful for me to watch than for you to endure, because you, being my strong, brave, princess, did not cry one bit when the nurse poked you repeatedly to try and get an IV in you.  Dad and I could not believe how brave you were.  After many hours of prodding and poking the ER doctor, which by the way I totally loved, because he was so patient friendly and thorough with his explanations, he told us that they couldn't seem to find a cause for this episode and to watch you carefully for the next few weeks.  

 

Your little legs and arms were so skinny.  

 The next day we took you in to see your doctor, Dr. Lau.  I really like her a lot.  She is very thorough in her examinations, patient friendly, informative, knowledgeable, and has a really cool accent because she is from Columbia.  Love her! She thought that the episode might have been caused by acid reflux and you may have had some breast milk get into your lungs momentarily causing you to turn purple and stop breathing for half a second or so.  That would explain the spit up.  And wow, this was only the beginning of the spit up.  It has gotten much worse since this time.  So you are now on acid reflux medication and tolerating spitting up a little better.  We suction your nose out almost every time before you eat to help with your breathing through your nose.  It helps a little bit, but you often sneeze a lot after you eat to try and clear out the milk that has refluxed up into the back of your nasal area.  I should also suction you out after you eat too because you seem to be gasping for air often when you sleep because your nose is so stuffy.   Dr. Lau thought it would be a good idea for us to use an apnea monitor on you to monitor your heart and lungs while you were sleeping in case you momentarily stopped breathing again.  I thank God everyday that this never happened again!  Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of you wrapped up in the electrodes.

Last week you went in for your two month check up.  Girl, you have grown, and are the cutest, chubby baby I know!  Of course I'm a little biased because I'm your mom.

  You now weigh 10.8 lbs and are 22 inches long, double what you weighed at birth.   Here is a picture of you in your car seat when you were first born. Your head was so tiny and your legs and arms were so skinny. 

  

This is you in your car seat now.  So different! You are still not crazy being in your car seat so it makes it difficult to go places.  Eventually you will get used to it.

 A month after you were born Daddy had to go away on a business trip.  So we made flat Daddy so he could be with us while he was gone.  Here is flat Daddy playing with you on the floor.

 

Your first smile caught on camera.  Thanks to Grammy Rachel.  So cute!

 

About a month old, you developed an umbilical hernia.  If you look closely you can see that your belly button is big and puffy.  This was because of all the fluid inside.  It didn't seem to bother you and the doctor said it should go away on it's own, which, by now it almost has.

Grammy Rachel stayed for 8 weeks at our house to help take care of you and Cooper.  This picture was taken the day before she left.  Cooper apparently wasn't down with having his picture taken. You at the moment were calm and not fussing.  

 

 As soon as Grammy Rachel left you began your fussing stage.  Most days from 4-8 you will cry uncontrollably and there is no stopping you.  You usually are awake the entire time and skip your evening nap.  BRUTAL!  Cooper never fussed this much so we were at a loss as to what to do or where to even begin to stop the insane crying and screaming.

 

We have yet to figure out how to get you to completely stop screaming except to wait it out and then feed you again and put you down to sleep. 

 Sometimes walking outside wrapped in your so called princess blanket (above picture), other times lying on your changing mat or having daddy stand you up works. 

 

About 8 pm you are exhausted and this is the end result.  Sleeping in the swing.  You have spent many hours sleeping in this swing these past few weeks.  So much that we have moved it into your room so we can listen to you on the monitor.

You are completely different from Cooper at this age.  You sleep better at night, 5 or 6 hour stretches and most often sleep 3-4 hours during the day, which Cooper never did. 

You are now starting to stay awake for a little longer after your naps.  You still spit up often so you spend at least 30 minutes in your bouncy chair or I will hold you for some of the time.  But you are a very wiggly worm and prefer the bouncy chair over being held.
 
Sometimes we will play on the floor and try to give you some tummy time.  You often start fussing within the first 30 seconds of being on your tummy.  

Cooper likes to play with you when you sit in your bouncy chair. 

He is learning to play peek-a-boo with you.  You aren't quite sure what to think of peek-a-boo but you do like looking at Cooper.

 

Here is another photo of you looking cute.  After a few minutes of picture taking you began to fuss.

 

You really enjoy spending time on your changing table.  I'm not sure quite what it is about it,  but if you are fussing it seems to calm you down for a few minutes at least.  You smile the most when you lie here.  Something about mom or dad looking down at you or having you bottom free from cloths or diapers makes you happy.  I'd spend all day there if you wanted to.  Anything to keep my baby happy.

 You love your daddy and don't fuss as much when daddy holds you as apposed to mommy.  You always think you get to eat when mommy holds you.  You look so cute and small when daddy holds you.  I hope you stay cute and small for awhile. 

This is such a cute photo of you, almost a smile. You are looking around more and turn your head to look at me if I am in your view.  You are now starting to smile much more when we talk to you and even coo at us.  It's so much fun to have a conversation with you.  There will be moments where you are very loquacious and I love every minute of it.  It's pretty amazing how you develop.  I love every step of the way. Ok, well, maybe not the screaming moments but they are part of you and your cute personality!   I'm so happy you are part of our family.  I can't imagine life without you.

Love,
Mommy