Saturday, April 7, 2007

I was changing out winter clothes for summer today (wishful thinking I know) and I came across the shirt and pants that Timothy wore to Mandy's wedding - awwwww, he was little once! Well, not that little - in fact Jesse is so small and Timothy was so big that even though Jesse was Nov and Timothy was June, Jesse will still be wearing Timothy's hand-me-downs this summer!

I guess that brings us to the «ticka ticka ticka» pump report! I was a tad up this week and the freezer is up to 286oz - woo hoo! Jesse will be 5 months tomorrow, officially marking the longest I've breastfed – yay us! It was about a week before 5 months that Jocelyn developed a bottle preference and went on strike and we never made it out the other side. I think this time it has helped that since I went back to work Jesse has not had a bottle while I'm home, so he therefore seems to know that mommy home = boob. The only downside is that I seem to make low-fat milk! I weighed him today and it looks like we're pushing 111bs, which actually is pretty good gain since most babies slow at the 4 month mark. One more month until solids and I'm getting excited! I went out today and picked up a mesh feeder to let him try a few *momsicles* (my milk frozen into cubes and then put in the feeder) so that will be fun. I was going back and forth on even bothering with cereal vs. going straight to bananas but ended up picking up a small box of Earth's Best organic whole grain baby oatmeal - sounds yummy!

Jocelyn's been cruising about on the lady bug car thing my mom got her for her birthday - it's so cute!  

Friday, April 6, 2007

Well Monday morning Josh took Timothy to the doctor to have his blood pressure checked before we left. It had been high 6 months ago at his annual appt so they wanted to recheck it. The first check had it high again (120/80 I think?) but then they checked him on every other cuff in the office and the rest were all fine, so they chalked it up to being nervous and he was given the clean bill of blood pressure health.

We had planned to leave here at 11am and got out at 11:45 - not bad! I almost remember when I used to be early for stuff - not so much any more!! The drive down was relatively uneventful. I have a car adapter for my pump so I pumped about 90 min into the trip then we stopped in the Montvale rest stop (as per usual) at the 2 hour mark and I tried to feed Jesse while Josh and Joey took the boys to the bathroom and changed Jocelyn. Jesse was mostly just wanting to play so was not much into the eating thing. He was not so psyched to get back into the car seat! He whined for a bit, as did Jocelyn (which always leads to Morgan whining) so I gave him what I had pumped, but that didn't do it. I actually tried giving him a little water just to fill him up a bit but he wasn't having it. So I pumped again and then he settled into a nap and we found some figurines for Jocelyn to play with and everyone settled back down. It seemed like a long time but was only 30 or 40 min that were hairy.

We got to the hotel and were very glad to see that we got our favorite room right next to the pool - yay! We got unpacked and fed the baby and then I took the 3 kids for a swim while Joey and Josh hung out with the baby. Jocelyn loved the pool! She was kicking around and splashing and generally having quite a good time - woo hoo! More baby feeding and then we got dressed and headed to the Rosenbaums for the Seder.

Timothy and Jocelyn stayed up for the whole Seder (which went until about midnight)! Morgan fell asleep just as it was starting.

Jocelyn definitely considered herself the star of the Seder and was quite the ham. Towards the end I had made her a little bed in the foyer beside the dining room and she decided she would be more comfortable without her pants on so she took them off and danced around on her bed and then laid down and pulled every blanket she could find onto herself. It was really quite comical. Timothy did the 4 questions (in Hebrew) which I thought was great and he also ate horseradish! In a million years I would have never thought I'd see the day!!

The next day everyone slept in (Jocelyn slept until 10!) and more swimming and then we had a little birthday lunch for Susan and Jonathan which was very nice. Morgan slept during lunch (at this point we started to wonder if he was turning narcoleptic!) We went back to the hotel and Jocelyn napped which helped her stay awake for the 2nd Seder as well! Both nights she sampled various foods, spitting back the ones she didn't care for.

No time for swimming Wednesday as we hurried to get everything packed and into the car for noon checkout and then head over for lunch. It was a very nice visit as usual - Passover is always so much fun. Jeremy and Jonathan wrestled with the boys. Jesse let everyone hold him. Jocelyn was her usual cute self. And of course there were pictures. I haven't seen them yet but assume that Susan got some good ones. The first lunch we were all color coordinated so I hope one of the ones of the 6 of us came out.

The trip home is where it really got interesting.

Traffic was not so good. Usually a 4 hr trip, it took us 5 1/2. Jesse was fine until Montvale but again wouldn't eat much, though some, and then REALLY wasn't psyched to get back in his car seat. In fact there was much screaming involved. After pumping what I could I ended up kneeling in the back seat next to him nursing him in his car seat, which, as it turns out, is less than comfortable. My knees are scarred today and I think I have a permanent indent on my ribs. Not to mention that while I was back there Jocelyn was screaming about something we couldn't figure out so Morgan was freaking out and kicking me in the butt. So there I am with boob fully out (thank goodness for tinted windows as we were pretty much stopped in traffic), Morgan's foot halfway up my butt, using my arm to reach around the ground looking for the figurines that had entertained Jocelyn on the way down. Ahhhh, parenthood.

Eventually I had to give up, so Jesse pretty much cried on and off the last 90 minutes home, which was very sad and certainly didn't pass the time any faster. Jocelyn at least fell asleep, which kept Morgan quiet, so thank goodness for that. At one point we stopped so I could pee and when I got back in the car Morgan asked for help. Josh and I looked back and his fingers were stuck in the little flappy window that had been open before but closed when we stopped. He was not particularly concerned, just wanted his hand back. Yikes! We're such good parents - d'oh!

We got home a bit past 8pm and had to wake Jocelyn to put her to bed. Jesse was not particularly hungry but rather VERY excited to be out of the car seat so he played nicely in the exersaucer while we unpacked the car and put everyone to bed and even gave me enough time to get my pump cleaned and ready for work on Thursday.

I hadn't been able to get connected while I was down there so I got up extra early for work on Thursday and managed to clear 200 emails in just under 4 hours (despite several meetings in that time) - woo hoo!

Today the boys had no school so I got up and out of here early again and then left early too and here I am. No plans this weekend. We need D batteries for the swing, so someone will have to leave the house for those. Else we have about 5 loads of laundry to wash, fold, and put away and I need to get some clothes sorted in Jocelyn's and Jesse's rooms. That's about it! 

Saturday, March 31, 2007

I ran out to Target today to get some new Passover clothes for the kids. I'm a little nuts trying to get them color coordinated so had to keep running from the boys dept to the girls to the babies - it took me forever! But I think I got some good ensembles. I also picked some sundresses up for Jocelyn. When I got home she was sooooo excited to see the dresses and insisted on trying them all on! Josh tried to put her back in her regular clothes after she had gone through all the new ones, but she pitched a fit and was having no part of it. Too cute!

Seemed like a long week this week. Morgan's been sick with a cold and missed more school. Jocelyn has a cold and keeps wiping her snots allover her face - in the morning she gets up with very shiny skin! Just beautiful! Jesse has some boogies but nothing major - I thank breast feeding. Timothy seems alright.

For such a long week nothing really happened. Grandpa Rosenbaum turned 60 on Wednesday and we have a little something something for him that we'll bring when we go down on Monday for Passover. We're leaving here Monday around 11 (Timothy is getting his blood pressure checked at 10:30 since it was a little high when he was in for his annual appt last summer) and then we'll be off.  With 4 kids and Uncle Joey - it'll be one full car! We actually have so many kids that we had to get 2 rooms this year - 5 is their max capacity per room. I suppose we could have snuck the baby in but we really do need the space - we don't exactly travel light! We're not taking a port-a-crib as we plan to put Jocelyn either in a bed or on the floor and Jesse can sleep with me. I found a swing frame that the car seat snaps into so we'll take that for the baby. And of course we'll all be bringing our bathing suits! I tried to pick up some swim diapers at Target but couldn't find them but instead found some cloth bathing suit diapers all in one. I got one for Jocelyn (though really I don't think she needs it) and one for Jesse. The smallest size they had was 13-18 lbs - I hope it stays up on him!

Jesse is starting to look bigger to me. I should weigh him and see how he's doing. His double chin is coming in nicely and even his legs look a bit thicker. I'm getting excited for when we can start giving him food (beginning of May) and am thinking about making my own this time. I have ice cube trays for freezing milk that also are meant for freezing baby food - then you pop it out and put it in zip locs and store in the freezer for up to 3 months (but better only 1 month). There's a web site (http://wholesomebabyfood.com/ babyfirstfoods.htm) that has instructions for how to cook things like sweet potatoes (I've never actually eaten sweet potatoes!). I'd like to add avocado early because it's high in calories and a good source of iron. I have plenty of breast milk in the freezer for blending up the food.

On the subject of breast milk, it must be time for the «ticka ticka ticka» pump report! VERY close this week and actually on a Mon-Fri basis I came up short by 5oz, but I pumped more than that last weekend so on a Sat-Fri basis I was alright and the freezer is now up to 282oz! wow! I have too much to do this weekend in preparing for our trip (and also a bridal shower tomorrow) to be able to spend much time pumping, so will need to dip into the stash this week I'm guessing, but that's ok. My goal was to make it to 6 months with no formula, and I think we are going to make it! Now my new goal will be 12 months no formula. Oh, and tip for all the pumping moms out there - I was having some nipple pain while pumping this week (even some rips and bleeding) so I lubed up the horns with a few drops of olive oil - worked great!! No more pain and no more bleeding!

Well for the first time ever we're not bringing our computers with us to Philly. We just have too much stuff to tote down there. I'll have to bring a book instead. In case of emergency I can be reached at my work email (Mandy and Elisabeth have that) or potentially on my cell phone (which now holds a charge for about 30 min - sigh - I need a new phone).

Well Jesse just finally fell asleep so time to do some packing!! 

Monday, March 26, 2007

Right now Jesse is on the floor next to me on his back, nope his belly, nope his back, nope his belly - he can roll both ways! He looks quite proud of himself!

Tonight Morgan kept asking to hug the baby so he was on the couch holding Jesse and the two of them were quite enjoying each other - very cute! 

Sunday, March 25, 2007

I got out paper and crayons tonight. It had been a while and even though none of my kids has ever been particularly interested, I continue to try (with pretty much the same crayons I've had for 8 years) every few months. Well I'm so glad I did because Jocelyn had a field day! She was so excited and quickly got to work trying out every crayon. She couldn't decide which hand to use though! Kept pass it back and forth from left to right and eventually was coloring twice as fast with 2 crayons. I made lines, she made lines. I made circles, she made circles. We practiced colors - she was good at black and blue - the rest were a bit of a craps shoot. She kept trying to eat the orange. When the paper was full she flipped it over and did the back. She had so much fun! She kept handing me crayons - color mommy! and then she'd get back to work.

After 40 minutes I told her it was time for bed and she looked at me like I killed her puppy. I assured her she could color more tomorrow, so she took the two crayons in her hands and put them in the box and closed the lid (of course, she didn't pick up the other 40 allover the ground - but that's ok) and marched off to bed. I picked up the crayons and left them with fresh paper and a new coloring book (well, by *new* I mean I bought it 5 or 6 years ago and no one ever used it) - all on her high chair for tomorrow.

Girls are fun. 

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Today we packed up and went to BCC to visit. Of course, there really is no such thing as early in the Lessard family, so the rest of my family was already there, including Grammy L - hahaha. Baby Chase is now definitely bigger than Jesse, though I think Jesse is at least a nidge taller for the time being. We got that great picture of my folks with all the kids (all with brown eyes except Jocelyn, and sort of Morgan who is starting to go green). Jesse was happy to get passed from person to person - he's actually pretty social for a 4 month old.

In our haste to get out of the house on time, we ended up forgetting a sippy cup and binky for Jocelyn - so she learned to drink out of a regular cup and she whined all the way home, but no major catastrophe.

Michael and family and Peter and family and Stevie and Andrey and Margie arrived soon after and wow was that a lot of kids! 13 under 10. Kayla wanted to hold all the babies and the funny thing was Patience went to her happily even though she'd rather eat fried worms than come to me. This was our first time meeting Brady who was just adorable, and Aidan who besides being so cute had the most beautiful hair I've ever seen! I was almost an auburn - brown with light reddish blonde highlights - I swear you couldn't replicate hair like that if you tried. And sooooo soft, like a long-haired kitten.

Jocelyn barely held it together while we were there and kept having minor meltdowns over silly things. Not real surprising since she'd been up since 6am (she usually doesn't get up until about 8:30) and though she'd napped on the way up, wasn't quite the same. She's at that fun I-can-do-it-myself age and if anyone tries to help her  - LOOK OUT! I thought Morgan did quite well. He escaped into the quiet of the kitchen to eat but otherwise seemed to deal well and only covered his ears a couple times. I really should get him some noise blockers for such occasions (maybe some for my dad too! hee hee hee). It was super cute when Morgan was up in the loft playing under some pillows and Andrey joined him and I think Jordyn too. Timothy said today was AWESOME (it's nice - he still thinks everything is awesome). At the very least between me and Elisabeth and Mandy and Jeana it was a boob fest (milk boob that is!).

When Jesse was starting to look drowsy we all headed out in a whirlwind pretty much forgetting to even say goodbyes. It's funny how you have to learn to move fast! We made it though and he slept most of the ride home and then played with an empty water bottle for the last 15 minutes of the trip (I had handed him a toy frog but of course as soon as I did that Jocelyn was it DESPERATELY and was heartbroken over not having it and I didn't really feel like listening to her scream, so she got the dumb frog). When we got home we let the kids play in the driveway a bit while we took a trash bag to our cars. They both needed it very much.

So that was our day. Let's see, what happened this week? Not much really. The kids had the day off on Friday for a professional teacher development day.

I had given up caffeine last week and Jesse started sleeping a heck of a lot better. Thinking it was perhaps a coincidence I had too much coffee on Sunday and Sunday night I'm not sure he slept at all. Ugh, worst night ever! So Monday it was back to decaf (a challenge given how little sleep I had gotten) and all week he has sleep from 10:30 or 11 until 3 (one time 3:30!) and then eaten and slept 2 more hours. A much better schedule!

I guess that brings us to the «ticka ticka ticka» pump report. I broke almost exactly even this week (phew - it was close!) so the 8 ounces from last weekend went into the freezer, which is now up to 278oz - wow! We have to start rotating a little faster so have been taking out 4oz each day and putting back in the same. He averaged 11oz a day this week, which is exactly what he should be eating - a textbook eating baby, just not a text book gaining baby! I haven't weighed him yet this weekend but he is starting to look a little bigger to me. He's outgrown (lengthwise) almost all his 0-3s (the shirts all look like 3/4 shirts) and for a bit we were folding over the waists of the 3-6 months but now they seem to stay up without falling down (though there is plenty of room for sure).

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention last weekend! Dara and Jon and Anna and Matt (all from high school) and their kids (Eliana, Leah and Lilly, Sam respectively) came for a visit last Saturday. It had been a looooong time since we'd all been together - I believe Dara calc'd it as 5 1/2 years. It was so nice to see everyone and the kids all played really nicely together. Lilly and Timothy it is off (Lilly is 5 1/2) and Lilly cried when they had to leave - awwww! Everyone looked about the same as high school, though as Dara pointed out more glasses all around (except Matt I think). I think I'm the only one with wrinkles and gray hair starting.

Well I guess that's about enough rambling from me. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but really, what else is new?? 

Friday, March 16, 2007

Oh what a week! !

I can't remember where last we left off. On Sunday Jocelyn was still not eating, not drinking much, and still threw up a couple times. Monday was much the same. Monday night Timothy said he wasn't feeling well at bedtime so we set him up with a bucket (lined with trash bag) next to the bed. Around 10pm I was nursing the baby in bed when I heard that familiar sound. Jesse and I scooted out of bed and into the hallway to find Timothy throwing up allover the hallway carpet. Oh the smell! He was just STANDING there - when is it that boys learn to go to the toilet?!?! I snapped at him to get in the bathroom. He ran in, stood over the toilet, and threw up allover the walls and floor, missing the toilet completely. argh. Did I mention the smell??

So now I'm upstairs and can't get downstairs without stepping in it, and Josh is downstairs and can't get up. I deposit a now screaming Jesse back on the bed and throw towels down so that I can get downstairs and dig out the carpet cleaner (thank you Santa) and Josh comes upstairs and starts hosing off the bathroom. the SMELL!! I do NOT know what he ate, but it should have been deemed a hazardous chemical. I get the carpet cleaner loaded and set up but then have to go back and tend to Jesse, leaving Josh with most of the clean up. He cleaned everything up including Timothy and put Timothy back to bed, reminding him about the bucket and telling him really not to bother trying to get to the toilet, just USE THE BUCKET.

Tuesday morning Josh had a doctor's appt so Morgan went to school and then I was home with a much-better Timothy who wanted to get out of bed and have breakfast (no way - he got water instead) and Jocelyn who was still sick and dry-heaving on the couch (poor thing) and of course Jesse who just wanted to be held. Josh got home from the doctor around 11 and I ran off to work.

I guess Jocelyn started feeling better as around 1pm she started asking for food and then didn't stop eating the rest of the day. Timothy was finally given a waffle for lunch, and seemed fine. We kept him home Wednesday as well but he had no further episodes.

Then last night at 12:30 Josh wakes me up.

Josh: "half the power is out"

me: "what do you mean HALF the power is out? how can HALF the power be out?"

Josh: "some things work and some don't"

me: "ok" zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This morning I woke up to feed the baby and looked at my clock to see what time it was. My clock was out. I looked at the cable box. 6:15. hmmm, I looked back at my clock. I looked back at the cable box. "I TOLD you" says Josh. I start to worry about all that milk in the freezer.

We went downstairs and I fed the baby more while Josh called the electric company (no one else had reported a problem) and then an electrician (someone would call us back once they were in the office). We had no heat and snow coming. Not sure if we had hot water and if so how much. I went upstairs to wet down my hair (the only working thing in out bedroom was my hair dryer - but it's still hard to style in the dark) and get dressed for work. I couldn't work from home - no internet! Josh comes in while I'm changing - he sees Wilson Electric at the neighbor's house. I tell him to get over there and see if it's the same problem. Turns out, it is, and by him going over, they now know it's an electric company problem and not a house problem, so yay.

I go to work. Josh gets Timothy and Morgan ready for school and sends Timothy out to the bus. Timothy comes back 10 minutes later. Josh calls the bus company to see what's up. "No school today _ can't you see it's a blizzard outside?" (It wasn't actually snowing yet). oy!

So I called Josh at 10 to check in. Morgan isn't able to grasp life without electricity - he has asked for help with the TV every second for 3 hours. There are 3 trucks and 6 men out working on something underground. One of them had come to the door and asked what the problem was - umm, we don't know!

I called again at 12 - same problem with Morgan, ALL the power is now out, the baby is hungry, and there's no way to warm a bottle. Turn on the car and set it on the heater I say. The house is down to 58 degrees and Timothy's wearing 8 layers and crying that we're all going to die (he'd never have made it in the house I grew up in!) By now it's snowing and I'm plotting my escape from work. I tell my boss I'll take my 3pm meeting from home and start printing a bunch of work. Josh calls at 1 - the power is on! The baby is sleeping and now that the tv is working, Morgan has lost the desire. I manage to leave the office at 1:30.

It usually takes me 30 min to get home but due to the snow (it's actually pretty bad - the highway is icky) it takes me 45 - not too bad. I feed the baby and we took my 3pm meeting together. Josh ran out for bread and milk. And that brings us to right now.

Dara and Anna are supposed to visit tomorrow but not sure if the snow will let up enough. Where's our early spring??? 

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Well Jocelyn was still ralphing yesterday but slept through the night and is still sleeping, so fingers crossed! Jesse had 3 poops that were progressively greener and runnier so that means he had whatever this is too. He seems ok today so far. Josh isn't feeling so great and is still in bed. Timothy and I are holding our breath.

I forgot to mention that we got Morgan's IEP report and according to that he can add and subtract single digits and tell time to the hour - yay! It seemed to be a good report. We'll meet on it in April and decide on goals for next year. 

Friday, March 9, 2007

SBS - Small Baby Syndrome

Jesse had his 4 month appt today and weighed in at 10lbs 5oz. That means he's gained an average of only 3oz/week over the last 2 months (vs. rec. min of 4oz/week), and also that he is below the Oth percentile! He's between the lOth and 25th for length (24 in) and 25th and 50th for head circumference (41 1/2cm), so those things are fine.

So the nice thing is, my doctor is not concerned. He says he'd be more concerned if he was growing and then stopped, or if he wasn't growing at all, but since he's just been a slow grower the whole time, maybe that's just how he is. He says Jesse looks bright, alert, and healthy.

I asked if it could be a malabsorption issue and my doctor had me describe Jesse's poo situation (which is every other day, mustard yellow, between runny and creamy consistency) and he said it didn't sound like that was the case because with malabsorption the poo just basically runs out of them all the time (makes sense since they aren't absorbing it ... ). I asked about the spitting up but he said babies spit up. I love my doctor!

My doctor hesitantly said that if I wanted to start solids … but I told him I'd rather wait and he said that was fine too. He knows that we're exclusively breastfeeding and didn't say anything about formula - yay!

On the brighter side, I got to answer yes to all the developmental stuff - always a treat in this family!

Oh, also Jesse started rolling (belly to back) last weekend, which is pretty cute! 

Saturday, March 3, 2007

Well we've had to reset the injury counter - Morgan bit his teacher on Friday. He was doing so well! I'm not sure exactly what the problem was. He was a bit out of sorts at school this week. Between being sick and snow days and school vacation, I think he only went to school about 5 days in February, so he was sort of getting back in to the swing of things this week and it was a bit bumpy. I hope next week is better!

My weight is holding steady at ridiculous. Ugh, it's very frustrating. I can't seem to hold motivation to eat well without exercising, and how on earth to find time to exercise I have no idea. Maybe just starting on the weekends will help me. I'm finding it difficult to get started. Maybe if spring shows up I can break out the jogging stroller and take a kid or two with me.  Josh got me a new iPod for my birthday so I really have no excuse.

Timothy came home on Friday and informed us that Ray was coming over to play on Sunday. Ummm? We have to teach him the order of operations for inviting friends over!

Jocelyn had her 2 year doctor's appt this week. Josh got to answer yes to all the developmental questions - yay! She is 23 lbs (between 5th and 10th percentiles) and 34 1/2 inches (between 75th and 90th percentiles). If the doubling-age-2-height estimation were true, it would put her at 5'9" as an adult. I guess we'll see! No shots until next year and we're now on annual appts.

It snowed on Monday so I worked from home. It was warm the rest of the week so everything is just wet wet wet.

Thursday night I stayed late for a reception for our Chief Actuary who is retiring (or I guess did retire since 3/1 was his last day). He was my first boss at Aetna. I volunteered to speak and was nervous because it was a pretty big turnout - probably over a hundred people. But it went well and people laughed in all the right places. He happens to be friends with my oId boss (Bob) from Andersen, so Bob was there with his wife and I got to chat with them a bit.

Josh was nervous about me not being home at 5 to feed Jesse like I usually am, but as it turned out he fed him at 4 and he slept until about 7, so that worked out alright. I got home at 6:30 and fit in some time with the pump before he woke up, almost getting the extra bottle he had eaten.

Which brings us to «ticka ticka ticka» The Pump Report «ticka ticka ticka»

Good pumps this week - only short by about 3 ounces for the week and since I had some from pumping last weekend - net 10oz went into the freezer and the freezer is now holding 258oz. I'm quite pleased with that. I've been back at work a month now and started with 206oz and figured it would only go down, so this makes me very happy! Plus, he's eating exactly what he should be - about 12-14oz in the 10 hours I'm gone, so I feel even more confident that his lack of weight gain is not due to a lack of food.

Jesse has his 4-month doctor appt on Friday. I fully expect we will fall off the chart for weight, but still hold out hope that he will hit his goal weight of 10lbs 14oz. Not much hope, but hope just the same! If I had to put money on it though, I would guess closer to 10lbs 5oz. He's so very happy and aware (except when he's suddenly STARVING without warning - at which point he's the opposite of happy but still very aware!). He's eating faster and going longer so we have more time to play. He goes quite some time at tummy time before getting irritated with it, and enjoys the spinning toy and today we started the exersaucer which he also likes. He's been sleeping a bit better - going 3-4 hours again in the first spurt instead of the 2 that was starting to become a tough schedule. A couple nights this week he has also snoozed from 8pm until we go to bed around 1Ipm, which has been a nice respite.

I just can't get enough of Jocelyn these days. I never fail to be surprised at how freakin' adorable she is!! She's a candy fiend. Josh found her huddled in my office today eating my stash of candy hearts (those valentine ones with the words on them), which was just too funny. Actually I really shouldn't say huddled since she wasn't really hiding it! She's also a big smartie fan. She's starting to form longer sentences. I asked her where her baby doll was today and off she went around the house yelling "baby doll! where are you?!" So cute. She talks to herself while she does stuff - like today as she was making herself a bed of pillows (a favorite activity of the princess) she was saying "one pillow, two pillow, blanket" and then plunked herself down.

Ok, this is a super funny story but don't tell Josh I told you. Josh farted in the general vacinity of Jocelyn this week so she went and got him the wipes and handed them to him!! I think I peed myself laughing so hard. I guess we need to potty train her since she seems to get the idea. 

Holiday Cards - thank you Shutterfly!

Thank goodness for digital cameras.


I remember that special day every year when I was growing up - picture day.  The day my mother would make us dress alike and go outside to stare at the sun while she took a roll of film of me and my sisters.  A week later we would all sort through the pictures - one was going to be our holiday card.  There was never one that was the perfect picture of all of us.  Someone was frowning/blinking/squinting.  Someone had their hair over their face.  Someone was poking the baby.


But now we have digital cameras - yay!  I still torture my kids with the annual picture day, dressing them alike and dragging them outside to stare at the sun.  But at least I know when I've gotten the picture!  Unfortunately for them, it takes even longer because I need the perfect picture!


Since the number of kids has grown to 4, it's gotten more and more challenging.  I've had to adapt my card.  Luckily, http://www.shutterfly.com makes this easy!  They have a variety of cards where I can include not just the one perfect picture, but rather an array of pictures.  This year's picture day was so awful, I may just have to do 4 individual shots!  But usually I like to do one group shot and then other pictures in groups of one or two.


So now I just go here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards and choose a design that lets me arrange 5 or so pictures onto the card.  Since my husband's family celebrates Hanukkah and my family celebrates Christmas, I'm always happy to find a nice generic "holiday" theme to keep everyone happy.


Oh - and another improvement - the letter!  My mom always wrote a letter to go with the picture, to catch all the distant relatives up on what we'd been doing all year.  Then print out 50 or however many and collate them with the pictures.  Well Shutterfly makes this easier too!  Plenty of room inside the card to write out my updates for the year.  No collating!


Of course, there are often discounts and sales at Shutterfly and so I typically go the extra step and order thank you cards too (here: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-thank-you-cards) for the kids to send everyone after the holiday.  The various grandparents seem to really enjoy this - I'm pretty sure it's why they continue sending the gifts!


So thank you to digital cameras and to Shutterfly for making my life easier.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

I've had trouble organizing my thoughts lately. It's a bit of a mad house around here and fun as it is, it's turning my brain to mush. Poor Josh says his brain is already liquid and running out his ear.

It was vacation week this week and I worked 3 days, which left Josh with 4 kids for those full days. They all survived, but I guess it was pretty close. I'm hoping the boys going back to school will lead to an improvement in his sanity levels this week - especially since this is my first 5-day week and also I have to attend a reception Thursday evening so won't be home until late ... eeek!

Jocelyn has her 2 year dr's appt this week and then Jesse's 4-month is a week from Friday. I'm not at all concerned about Jocelyn but am anxious to talk to the doc about Jesse's weight gain (or lack there of) and see if there are some tests we should run. I feel relatively confident that he is eating enough, especially given how appropriate his bottle intake is while I'm at work, so if it's something, it must be something else. Or maybe he's just little.

Since I've been back at work Jesse has gone from sleeping 3 or 4 hours at a time at night to 1 or 2. I guess he misses me, which is all adorable and all, but man am I tired! Granted, all I have to do is switch sides, latch him on, and go back to sleep - so at least he doesn't get up and think it's play time or anything.

On the bright side, Jesse seems to be meeting all developmental goals. He is alert, he giggles and smiles and follows voices and objects with his eyes (especially the other kids). He holds his head up well and is quite close to rolling over. He smells good (well, except when he doesn't!).

I was trying to distract Jocelyn from something the other day so I put a sock on my hand and started talking to her. As it turns out, this is about the funniest thing that has ever happened to her! After a laughing fit she found another sock and put it on her hand and the two hands talked to each other and then we both collapsed in giggles.

Does anyone read the lactivist blog? Apparently the author sells shirts on cafe press, and one of them says "breast - the other white milk". Well the pork industry sent her a threatening letter about impinging on their slogan and accused her of encouraging a fetish (breastfeeding?). She published the letter on her blog and let's just say the pork industry didn't know what hit them and within 48 hours she had a personal note of apology from the CEO and all the employees kicked in to donate to her cause of choice (the milk bank of Ohio). Fascinating!  Note to corporate America – don’t screw with nursing moms.

Let's see let's see. What else.

Saturday Jesse and I took a little sojourn to Leominster to meet Chase. While they are about the same weight, Jesse looks to be a good 4 inches taller - hee hee. It was nice to visit and Chase was quite a cutie. Jesse got to sit in Chase's ocean wonders bouncy seat and liked it so much that I may order one. Around 12:30 Chase decided to pee straight through his clothes and soaked through 2 layers of Elisabeth's clothes as well, so we excused ourselves and went over to see Mandy and Patience. We had a nice visit hanging out there and then headed home. Jesse had slept the whole trip up and ALMOST made it the whole way home but started to cry with about 15 minutes to go. It was a long 15 minutes!

I guess it's time for .... The Pump Report <ticka ticka ticka>

I was about 9oz short this week - and that's only a 3 day week (I can pump about 10oz a day, and he ate about 13oz a day this week)! That's all right though. I had started the week with 17oz pumped from last weekend, so 8oz went into the freezer on Thursday and my stash is up to 248oz. I believe we have now max'd that out as I can only pump at most 10oz per weekend and expect to be 15oz short each week, so the stash will likely start to dwindle. However, even if it drops 10oz/ week, it can last for quite some time, so I'm happy with that. Short term goal = 6 months, no formula.

ok, what else. I think I have more kids around here somewhere.

Timothy continues to have fun at Club penguin and has now been promoted to Secret Agent Penguin and has acquired a pet puffle. Morgan is in desperate need of a haircut and I just can't get psyched up for it. Actually Timothy could use a haircut as well. I got my own hair cut the day before my birthday. It's falling out pretty good on its own, so cutting it will at least partially save my drain.

I have completed my taxes but keep forgetting to actually send them in - doh! My bonus paid out on Friday and was spent by noon. Nice.

I think that's it for now. I can smell myself so I think I'll go take a bath since the 2 littlest are napping. 

Monday, February 19, 2007

I think I've forgotten how to sleep! My birthday present from Josh was sleep. I fed Jesse as much as humanly possible last night (both sides, then diaper change to wake back up, then both sides again with a lot of poking to keep him awake) and then headed to bed, alone, at 11:30. Josh slept on the couch with Jesse in the swing, with the agreement that he would do whatever necessary until at least 5am. At 5:55 I woke up and sat up straight in bed, confused. Where the heck was the baby? Oh yeah, now I remember. I laid back down and tried to will myself back to sleep. After 20 minutes I gave up and came downstairs to pump. Josh woke up to the pump and stumbled up to bed without speaking. Jesse didn't wake up until 7:45 - I could have slept much longer!! But I seem to have forgotten how to sleep!

Josh said Jesse got up at 3:30 and ate 5oz over an hour and that was it, went back down pretty easily. I got about 5.5oz when I pumped so that's a pretty even trade.

I have a pumping obsession. It's a love/hate thing. I hate pumping, especially at work, but on the other hand when I have a productive session I practically throw a party. I started the week with 14oz in the fridge from last weekend's pumping and worked 3 days (though Wednesday from home due to the snow so I half pumped, half nursed on that day) and ended the week with 12oz to add to the freezer (bringing me to 240oz), so that's not bad at all!

He seems to eat anywhere from 10 to 14oz in a day, which is exactly what he should be eating. Why he's not putting on more weight I just couldn't tell you. He should be about 10 lbs at this point but I think he's a bit shy of that. I'm hoping the 4 month growth spurt kicks in early and hard! We see the doc on 3/9 and I plan to ask for some tests regarding various things that could be causing him to gain less. I feel confident that I have a good supply and that he's eating as he should be, so it must be something else, or nothing.

******************************

I got distracted yesterday and didn't finish this. Then today I spent pacing the floors waiting for news from Rob. I think it's almost more stressful than actually being the one in labor! Anyway, now I'm exhausted from all the worry so I'm just going to send this. I'll catch up next week. 

Saturday, February 10, 2007

So this week I worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Jesse seemed to know I was going to leave him because Sunday night he got up at 2:30, 4, and 5:30. Then my alarm goes off at 6 and our routine is that I feed him for 4 snoozes (28 minutes) and then Josh takes him downstairs while I shower and dress for work. That part seemed to work out all right. The increase in night wakings seems to be permanent, or at least it continued through the week though he managed to stretch the first wake until 3:30.

I must admit, it's not that bad. I don't know if it's just because he's small or he's my last or what but I don't mind feeding him whenever he's hungry. At his size I'm guessing it'll be a while before he sleeps through the night. I remember with the other kids just being soooooo ready for them to sleep, and usually angry with Josh that he was sleeping all night, but for some reason with Jesse I'm ok. He's a good little bed buddy - instead of crying when he's hungry he head butts me. Such a boy! So I wake up with a little head bopping into me - it's too funny.

I have an office at work with a door that locks and blinds that close so I made myself a do not disturb sign and I pump in my office. This way I can leave the pump set up and also keep working while I pump.

I only told my boss and our exec assistant (secretary) about the sign and what it meant because I figured everyone would either figure it out or not but they didn't really need to know. Well one guy that works for me (he's 26 or 27 or so and single) emailed me and asked what was up with the sign (he's a bit of a busy body) so I told him that was when I was pumping. He wrote back - EWWWWW - you couldn't make something up? hahahahaha. Silly nosy guy.

Anyway, I was so very excited this week because in 3 days I pumped 30.5 oz and in 3 days he ate 30.5 oz - YAY! I got to put the 12oz I started the week with into the freezer along with another 4 that I pumped at home on Thursday - so my freezer stash is up to 222oz wow! Then yesterday I started pumping for Tuesday's bottles (I'm working Tues, Wed, Thurs this week and next week and then I'll be back full time after that) so got two 3.5oz bottles. yay again! I need 2 more bottles (he usually drinks 3 but on Wed he did take 4 depends on whether it's a growing day or not) and then whatever else will go into the freezer. I'm sick of my pump but I've got my eye on the prize - making it to 6 months without having to buy formula.

It's a big goal!!

Jesse is still trying to find a routine. He mixes it up between taking several short naps or one long one. He and Josh have become pals though and Josh found that swaddling him up in his swing or bouncy seat with a binky and the sleep sheep (a stuffed animal with a few white noise choices) seems to induce sleep.

Jesse has about 30 minutes of crying cranky time each day but they both get through it, so that's good. Everyone seems happy to see me when I get home and Jocelyn has made a habit of running across the house squealing "Mommy mommy mommy mommy mommy!" and jumping into my arms. I tell ya - it's worth leaving the house to come home to that!

Oh, and Jesse laughed for the first time Wednesday night! It was at me (or with me - who knows) - yay! I haven't been able to get a repeat performance. Why is it that babies all laugh like Uncle Ronnie?

It was also a good poop week for Jesse. Normally he's an every 3 or 4 day pooper but this week it was every day and then 4 times on Thursday (does that count as baby diarrhea??) but back to once Friday and Saturday. If my home scale is any good he had good gain this week and I'm hoping we're getting the hang of this. He has a little catch-up from slow gain in the last month if we're going to make a 2 Ib gain by his 4 month appt on 3/9. Grow baby grow.

I think I already told everyone that Morgan threw up at school on Monday so got sent home even though he was pretty much fine and had to stay home Tuesday because of the 24 hour rule, even though he was really fine! So he missed 2 weeks of school. Anyway, he finally went back on Wednesday and by Friday was back in the swing of things, so that's good. His teacher reports that he loves math - wonder where he got that?? He's also working on a program to teach him to type.

Timothy's class is doing the play High School Musical and he gets to be Troy. I have no idea what that means or who Troy is, but I guess I'll find out! Not sure when the play is.

Jocelyn has Morgan's affinity for juice boxes, but even cuter, whenever she gets one she asks if Morgan can have one too. She's at that weird stage where she doesn't really need a nap but then if she doesn't get one she's a crank by 6pm but if she does get one she's up (in her room) until 10. She's still dragging around the much deflated balloons from her birthday.

Well Jesse's just fallen asleep so I guess I'll wrap this up. I continue to be amazed at how much I can love all these kids. I just like looking at them, hugging them, smelling them (well, most of the time). We're so blessed. 

Monday, February 5, 2007

Well today went quickly for me. It was actually kind of nice to be back at work. Everyone stopped by to say hi and such.

Josh's day got off to a bit of a bumpy start when Morgan's school called at 9:30 to say Morgan threw up. Ugh. He explained to the nurse that he'd try to get there fast but I was back at work so he had to get the kids into the car (Jesse was asleep and Jocelyn was in PJs but that was ok). So they were nice enough to pack Morgan up and have him waiting out front with his para so that Josh didn't have to get out of the car.

Morgan is actually fine so we don't know what the deal is but he can't go back to school tomorrow because he threw up.

Besides that the day went smoothly and Josh said only one 30-min period was a little hairy and then Jesse finally fell asleep. He ended up sleeping for 3.5 hours (no wonder he was tired - he was up at 2:30, 4, 5:30 and then 6 when my alarm went off). Because he slept so long, he only took 2 bottles (I got home right before he woke up) and I was able to pump 4oz more than he ate so I added that to the freezer - yay! I am hoping he'll eat just a little more usually (Josh said it was not for lack of trying, he just didn't want any more). He should be taking about 10oz while I'm gone, and today was only 7. 

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Jocelyn is wearing her dress up barbie bride dress with a plastic tiara and earrings, a plastic sapphire ring, 2 flat balloons (“blooms”) from yesterday and 3 new balloons from today. She's one happy birthday girl!

We had a mother daughter bubble bath today - I figured it was appropriate for us to both be nekkid together once again, since we were 2 years ago too.

Saturday, February 3, 2007

Ahhhh leaving the house with 4 kids, especially our 4 kids, is not a job for the weary (or the perfectionist). Our goal this morning was to leave the house at 8am (we had said we'd be there at 10:30, and in the Lessard family that means between 9:30 and 10). My alarm went off at 6 and I swatted it and woke Jesse up to eat. He got four 7- minute snoozes and then Josh took him downstairs while I showered.

So far so good. After I got dressed I grabbed clothes for Jesse and Jocelyn and headed downstairs.

Now started the debates. We woke up to several inches of snow - should Josh plow now or when we get home? Let's do it later. Morgan spent the night coughing and is now on the couch - should I go ahead with the other 3 kids and leave Josh and Morgan home? But what if Jesse screams the whole way home? If I pump on the way up I can give him a bottle on the way home, but can't do that while I drive. ok, so everyone is going - drug Morgan and wet down his hair, send Timothy back to change his shirt for the 4th time because he can't pick something reasonable (he finally does but then his arms grow an inch on the car ride up and by the time we get to MA it's too small). Feed the baby, brush Jocelyn's hair and try to get her to keep her headband in (surprisingly, she did). Pack up the car.

Now comes the delicate parade into the car. First Josh takes the older kids and I put Jesse in his seat. Then Josh pulls up and I get Jesse in the car and jump in myself. Drive! I say. It's 8:22 - not perfect but not shameful. As we're driving down the street, Josh glances back and sees the garage door open so we have to turn around. Jesse starts to cry - DARN! SO CLOSE! A shovel seems to have fallen over and is blocking the garage door - Josh jumps out to fix it and then we're off again. By now Jesse is screaming. We need gas.

We get to Mobil, I get out and get Jesse and nurse him in the front seat while Josh pumps gas. Josh finishes first so he pulls us back into a space and Jesse finishes. Now somehow Jesse has grown since we left the house and I can't get him into his car seat so I have to figure out how to get myself more slack. Stupid Graco, I finally find it. By now it's been so long since we left the house that I have to pee. We stop at McDonald's and Jocelyn wants fries. Josh says he'll go through the drive thru and get everyone pancakes except whoops, he forgot his wallet. I grab for mine and it isn't there. Where did I leave it?? Oh yeah, it's tucked in the baby seat. So I go in to pee and Josh goes through the drive thru and I meet him out the other side. Then he drives while I divide up the pancakes, which are BURNING HOT. So I turn the air on to cool them while 3 kids whine from the back seat. Finally I throw each kid their pancakes only Jocelyn wanted fries so she throws hers back at me. Morgan puts his down beside himself (he hasn't eaten in about 10 days so this wasn't surprising) and basically Timothy eats his and Morgan's and I save Jocelyn's for later. No matter - Jesse is asleep, Morgan's drugs have kicked in, we're all in the car, on the highway, and it's not even 9am. Of course, by now I need a nap!!

Anyway, we had a very nice princess birthday party in MA. Everyone got great pictures so I'll put up a new web page later. Jocelyn got some super cute presents, though she wasn't quite into it (wanted to play pool instead on the mini pool table at BCC). My parents managed to get a half decent picture of them with all the grandkids, so that was nice. Jocelyn made a pretty good attempt at blowing out the candles on her cake, which was super cute. I completely forgot to wish Jeff a happy birthday! D'OH! ah well.

The way home was mostly uneventful except that Jocelyn kept letting go of her balloon on purpose and then trying to get it back and shrieking if she didn't. At one point Morgan said "help", which doesn't sound like a big deal but let me give you a typical example of a "help" conversation with Morgan:

Morgan: "help?"

Me: "help with what?"

Morgan "help please"

Me: "Morgan, what do you want help with'?"

Morgan: "help?"

Me: "help WHAT?"

Morgan: "help PLEASE"

Me: "help computer? help sandwich? help games?"

Morgan: "yes"

Me: "yes WHAT?"

Morgan: "yes PLEASE"

Me: "show me"

Morgan: "show me"

argh

etc etc etc - basically you have to start guessing one thing at a time (and I know some of you will say just ignore him and he'll try again - but we've tried that and what he does is say help incessantly for hours - the child does NOT wear out!)

So Morgan says help from the back seat and I go through the usual conversation and finally Josh remembers that he gave him a juice box so we get Timothy to open the juice box and that finally puts and end to that. Jocelyn played with her balloon all the way home until we got off the exit when she started crying for no apparent reason. We came home, gave her a drink, and put her to bed. Josh went outside to snow blow the driveway and says he might do the whole neighborhood.

Morgan never made it to school this week. Poor kid. He keeps seeming to get better and then not, then better, then not. He did at least finally get out of bed on Tuesday so have been at least a little better. Now it's down to just a nagging cough or so it seems. But really he's barely eating, though he's drinking plenty. On the way home today he ate Jocelyn's leftover pancakes and a peanutbutter sandwich, so that was good.

Timothy's class got recorders this week! AHHHHHH - the HORROR! I'm already sick of it and it's only been 24 hours since it's been in the house. Every time we tell him to take it to his room he says "that's ok" and just stops playing it. It's going to be a long spring.

Tomorrow we'll give Jocelyn more presents and finish off the cake (btw - congrats to Peter and Jeana - Aidan's will at least be an easy birthday for me to remember!).

She's 2 already! Where does the time go? 2 years ago right now Josh was getting back from dropping the boys off at a McDonald's on Route 20 where my parents met up with him (and my dad learned that you have to hold juice boxes very gently when you open them).

Monday I'm back to work - I'm working 3 3-day weeks and then I'll be back full time the last week in Feb. The fun had to come to an end eventually!

Well Jesse is almost done with his snack here so I'll go download my camera and get a picture page started. Mom and Mandy also sent pictures so it's bound to be a good page! 

January 31, 2007

I took Jesse in to Timothy's classroom today for show and tell. I don't think anything can really prepare you for the noise of 23 8- year olds. They were all VERY excited to meet the baby and basically rushed me. I sat on a chair holding Jesse and they all tried to see how close they could get to me. I was swatting hands away and couldn't even tell which kids they were from. Jesse was lovin' it though - they were all making goo goo faces at him and he was smiling away. The teacher finally got them to sit and they sang 2 songs which Jesse also loved. Timothy answered some questions, and I use that term liberally (for example, Caitlin's question was that when she was a baby her brother wanted to name her Cindy but she cried when she heard that name).

Then the teacher told the kids to get their stuff together while she held the baby for a bit - but what really happened is they all decided to tell me their life stories. I learned that Gabe’s house is under construction so his morn makes him do his own laundry but his brother does the ironing. Caitlin told me that she forgot to say that when she heard the name Caitlin she smiled so that's why they named her that. Gabe said when he was born he was 6 inches and 6 pounds, which was huge. Rhea has a new baby at her house too but he cries all night. I could go on and on.

A couple other funny stories. Josh went up and let Jocelyn out from her nap the other day and asked her if she wanted french fries. She went running into Morgan's room - "Morgan! French fries! Let's go!" and motioned for him to follow her. She also found a juice box and brought it to him while he was sick on the couch. He thanked her and handed her his cookie. She thanked him and the transaction was complete. And finally - we had been giving Jocelyn TV in bed when she was sick, a bad habit I know (we finally cut her off tonight). I went upstairs last night and turned off Dora because it was 10pm and she was still up. She asked me for Sponge Bob and I said no, it's bed time. So she goes running to the door "DADDY! SPONGE BOB!" 

January 13, 2007

Well it seems that I've given up my remote privileges for football, so I might as well get my update written.

Jesse napped each day except Friday, so that was nice. And he's taken to having a little nap in the evenings before bedtime, well, sometimes. We're getting there! If he sleeps in bed with me he regularly sleeps 5 hours, maybe a tad more. If I put him in his bassinet he sleeps anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours - a bit of a craps shoot. He's going a bit longer between feedings and is often content to sit in his bouncy seat as long as he's in the middle of the action, which is nice during dinner where we just put him right up on the counter. Other times he is NOT content to just sit and wants to be held - but that's ok too. I'm going to take him to Morgan's class on Wednesday for "sharing" (show and tell).

Jocelyn was too funny today. We had a co-worker of mine over (and her husband and almost 5 month old) and Jocelyn had been napping most of the time and came downstairs as they were packing up to leave. Well I guess she felt that she was not the center of attention and decided to work to change that - putting herself in the middle of everyone and doing some very fancy dancing. Such a ham! She's gotten marginally more tolerant at letting me comb her hair. She LOVES to read books and brings them to me often. On nights when Jesse is snoozing before she goes to bed, I get her in her pajamas and we read a big stack of books before bedtime. She likes to point to stuff - haha. Today she wanted a sip of Josh's beer so he gave her one. She made a face and then said "BLECH!" He asked her if she wanted more, but she said no. Thursday she was watching me swaddle Jesse up so I called Josh in to wrap her up the same way. She LOVED it - especially because then Josh carried her around like a baby. Then she went and got her bear and we swaddled him up and she carried him around that way.

I guess not much new with Timothy and Morgan this week. Both are off on Monday so we'll have to think of something to keep us all entertained. Maybe one of the bazillion toys we have ...

I had my belated 6 week check up and that was fine (except my weight, which I don't want to talk about - ugh). I guess there's this new permanent birth control option called Essure where they jam little rods up your tubes and wait a few months for scar tissue to form and then you're good to go. Just as effective as having your tubes tied and you have it done in the doctor's office with local anesthetic instead of the hospital with general, but then you have to have an HSG at 3 months to make sure the tubes are closed. I'll have to think about it. My doctor suggested an IUD (mostly because I can change my mind with that option) but I definitely don't want the hormone one and I've heard nightmare stories about them escaping through the uterus and such. I'm sure there's a nightmare story about everything though. Guess I have to think on it.

Oh - as of today I'm up to 110 oz of breast milk in my freezer stash! It's really taking over the freezer. We need a new fridge and are looking to get one soon and move our current fridge into the garage and still use it for additional storage, including storing my freezer stash. After examining the dimensions of our current fridge, we have surprisingly few choices. Our current fridge is only 21.1 cu ftf and I think the biggest we can get that will still fit in the space is 22.6 (in a side by side because I miss having a side by side - right now ours is freezer on the bottom, which sounds like a good idea but I find annoying).

No news with Josh either. The ionizer air purifier thing that my parents got him for Christmas has markedly improved his snoring such that I can fall asleep with him in the room, so that's good! He finds he can breathe through his nose again, also good.

Well time to pump and then go to bed - hope everyone enjoys their weekend! 

January 10, 2007

Jesse has his 2 month appt this morning. Goal weight for the day was 8 Ibs 13 oz. Actual weight was 8 Ibs 12.5 oz. Dr says close enough! He actually wasn't done with breakfast when he had to get weighed, so I think we could have made it if it were 10 minutes later. His weight puts him in the 5th percentile (I was so scared we wouldn't make the 0th) and he's 22 inches which is about the 25th percentile. He's a peanut but hit all his milestones and Dr. was happy with him. He was happy with the doctor too and gave him big smiles - the nurse was another issue though since she was the one with the shots! He got 3 (one was the whopper - the DTap has Hep B in it now too? Something like that - they gave me the paperwork to read up on it but I just shoved it in my bag like usual). 

January 7, 2007

I only made it on to the treadmill once this week, but after the cruddy time I had trying to find something that would fit that I could wear to Elisabeth's shower (and having to resort to my fat pants), I'm going to have to change that quick!!

Jesse and I went to Elisabeth's shower yesterday. We managed to leave the house by 8am and he slept all the way to Boxboro. Then he ate for a while and did well getting to Lowell as well. He did well at the shower, which was very nice (especially the food) and Elisabeth did well in the gift dept! Then he fidgeted on the way back to Boxboro but not bad, ate for a while, and then screamed all the way home to CT. Ahhhh well. I considered pulling over multiple times but didn't want to drag it out any longer than necessary.

Once home he ate and passed out, must have been exhausted from the screaming, but that threw our nighttime schedule off. He had been developing a pattern - be awake and eating on and off from 6-11: 30 or 12, then sleep about 5 hours, then eat for 90 minutes and sleep for another couple hours. Not a bad pattern. Last night he napped from 8-9:30 and then went back down 10:30-2:30 and then was up every couple hours thereafter but we stayed in bed until 9, so not that bad really.

Jocelyn continues to be breathtakingly cute. She has been Morgan's shadow this week, copying everything he does. The cutest is when I ask him to give her a hug and she holds her arms out for him and REALLY hugs him tight. So sweet!! I think he's enjoying the attention, though he'd never admit it!

She's also been doing a lot of playing in her play kitchen and with her new face blocks (each block has a funny face on it). She figured out how to get into the baby swing this week and had some fun with that.

Morgan had sharing on Wednesday (like show and tell) and brought his Jack's Big Music Show CD. They played his favorite (Bugs are Really Swell) for the class and he started dancing and then pretty soon the whole class was dancing. The teacher said it was hysterical and he was a big hit.

I haven't seen Timothy lately - he's pretty obsessed with the PS2 he got for Christmas. I'm pretty sure he still lives here, but I wouldn't put any money on it.

Jesse has his 2-month check up on Wednesday and then I've got my belated 6-week check up on Friday. Fun week!

I've managed to get my pumping output up to 4oz a day, though I didn't pump yesterday so today could be a challenge. I went through the freezer and bagged up the first half of December vs. the 2nd half and will eventually do the same for January (I only have 2oz left from November and will probably use it this month at some point - we're still giving him a couple bottles a week just to keep him used to them). I think as of this morning I'm up to 74oz frozen - my goal being 120 before I go back in February. I bought the new Dr. Brown's manual breastpump this week because it was hyped as revolutionary. I found it far from revolutionary and in fact hate it!

I guess that's it for news - not a real entertaining week. 

December 31, 2006

My New Year's Resolutions

I resolve to use my video camera more.

The issue is that I did not follow through on last year's resolution to slow down time, to keep these kids from growing up so fast. So this year I'm trying to be more realistic and just use the video camera to capture more and then watch it later and transport back.

I can't believe another year is ending.

I can't believe Timothy is four and a half feet tall and upwards of 70lbs. I can't believe he asked me what an orgy was the other day. I can't believe little girls send him notes to meet at the swing set at recess. I can't believe that he's in the 3rd grade learning cursive. Where did my baby go? Where is my toddler that learned to order from the McDonald's drive thru before he could actually talk? Where's the little boy who needed 3 binkies to go to bed, the little boy I rocked to sleep, the little boy I comforted when he woke up from nightmares. Where is my kindergartner with his clothes on backwards? Now he towers over his sister and cousins and before long will tower over me. Now he gets up in the middle of the night to be sick and doesn't bother waking us. Now he corrects my grammar and time telling abilities. So for Timothy I resolve to remember that he's still my baby and still needs to be hugged and held each day. He still needs my patience and encouragement. With any luck for a while longer anyway, he still needs me.

With Morgan it's a little different. I sometimes equate raising an autistic child to parenting in slow motion. Accomplishments are sometimes harder to see, but easier to appreciate. Still, I can't believe that just a short time ago he wasn't speaking. He wouldn't walk down the hallway at school on his own. He couldn't go to a store without us singing Old MacDonald over and over again to calm him. He screamed every time the car came to a stop. Now he can work a computer, the internet, the game systems, and the dvd player. He can count and spell and is starting to read. He is my gentle giant most times, and my not-so-gentle giant at other times. So for Morgan I resolve to remember that he's still my baby and still needs to be hugged and held each day. He still needs my patience and encouragement. With any luck for a while longer anyway, he still needs me.

Jocelyn is still adjusting to not being the baby. I was looking through pictures from the beginning of the year and forgot that she had no hair. She wasn't walking, she wasn't talking, and in fact I was worried about her lack of talking. She wasn't sleeping through the night. Now she runs around the house yelling her brothers' names. She puts her doll in her little tikes shopping cart and walks around the house. She tickles the doll and laughs and hugs it. She pretends to serve me tea. She points out every baby she sees. So for Jocelyn I resolve to remember that she's still my baby and still needs to be hugged and held each day. She still needs my patience and encouragement. With any luck for a while longer anyway, she still needs me.

And then of course there's Jesse. He IS the baby. A year ago he wasn't even conceived. What an amazing transformation he's made this year! From a handful of cells to a full term baby with his father's good looks. He needs more of me than the others this coming year, as he did in the last. But then I know he'll grow big like the others and while I won't miss the sleep deprivation, I'll miss smelling his warm head and tickling his toes to keep him awake while he eats. So for Jesse I resolve to remember that he's still my baby and still needs to be hugged and held each day. He still needs my patience and encouragement. With any luck for a while longer anyway, he still needs me.

But for me I resolve to try once again to slow down time. To smell all their heads and hold them tight. To tickle them daily and kiss them goodnight. To watch them with wonder, to listen to them play. To appreciate each of them for exactly what they are - my sole reason for being.

And just in case that doesn't work as well as I'd hope, I resolve to use my video camera more. 

December 30, 2006

Hellloooooo everyone!

Jocelyn has been so clinging and whiny this week. I realize this whole new baby thing is difficult, but it was getting ridiculous. I'd finally had enough and set her in her booster seat on the floor in the dining room and told her that when she finished crying she could get up. I started to walk away and she stood up to follow me. I turned around. She hit the floor like the security guards in Tommy Boy. It was hysterical! Trying very hard not to break out into giggles, I put her back in the seat and told her she could get up when she was done crying. I left the room, without being followed this time, and stood outside the door to make sure she stayed. She did.

The baby cried so I went to get him and sat outside the door feeding him while she continued to cry and scream. And then, all at once, she stopped crying and stood up, came to find me, and sat in my lap hugging me while I fed the baby (making sure none of her body actually came into contact with him). It was pretty cute. It was a few days before she had to be put back there again, but this time the routine was much faster and she stopped crying pretty quickly and got up and went on about her day.

Jesse seems to have made up some weight this week. I've been able to pump 2oz each day in addition to feeding him, but need to kick that up to 4oz, so that's my goal for Jan. I figure I won't be able to pump as much as he eats once I got back to work, so want to have a good freezer stash.

Josh was called for jury duty for Tuesday but thank goodness we found out when we called in yesterday that he was one of the lucky ones to get canceled. I would have had to do the whole morning routine by myself! eeeek!

Timothy and I cleaned out his room and organized all his new toys and also went through all his clothes to hand down whatever doesn't fit to Morgan. Now everything has a home and all his clothes fit in his drawers - yay!

Jocelyn and I went to Target this week to spend the gift cards that the kids had gotten from Elisabeth & Rob. Jocelyn got barbie play jewelry, play make-up, and tea set. Jesse got a frog humidifier. Morgan got a boom box CD player for his room. Josh took Timothy separately and got a video game.

Morgan asked me for number 8 the other day. I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked Josh what on earth number 8 was. Turns out that track 8 of his new CD is the bugs are really swell song that he's so fond of. Silly me!

As for me, the scale is starting to creep up on me. Ugh. I need to get back on the treadmill and cut out all the holiday sweets! It's hard to figure out when Jesse is really going to sleep for a while and when it's just a 15 minute nap, but I need to figure something out. I'll probably take the rest of the weekend off but get started on Tuesday. I better, or none of my clothes are going to fit when I go back to work!! 

December 26, 2006

So usually at night I feed Jesse and then put him in his bassinet next to the bed for his first sleeping stint. However, last night I was so tired that I must have fallen asleep while I was still feeding him. I'm not sure when, guessing around 10. When I woke up at 2:30 I was very confused and my glasses had fallen off and were lying on him. We both woke up with stuffy noses - big bummer! He seems to be handling it well so far.

We had a great holiday. Saturday Jesse didn't nap at all, which made cleaning a challenge, but somehow we managed. Sunday morning I managed to get all the beds made and even shower. Everyone was here by about 12 :45 and I managed to hussle everyone into the dining room for a group picture before the football game started. Not everyone is looking at the camera, but no one is crying, so that's something!

Then the men, except Josh, retired to the living room for football. Josh was busy cooking dinner which was ready just at half time - perfect! Meanwhile the kids played and mom had some games for them which of course they enjoyed immensely. Adult games were after dinner and we all stayed pretty occupied until 6:30 and then just sat around chatting. Jesse took a loooooong nap, from about 2 -6, very unlike him but gave me a chance to eat with both hands and play the games. I normally wouldn't let him go that long without eating, but one day won't hurt him.

The kids got new pjs. In the grand Lessard tradition - pjs were bought to be big. However, Morgan barely crammed into his 7s and Timothy's 10s certainly didn't leave much extra room. Everyone else, however, was pretty much swimming in theirs, especially Jesse! Pretty funny.

The kids went up to bed around 7:30 and we played another game and then filled the stockings and set them out and we all went in to open adult gifts. I got a chain saw - look out world!! After presents we sat around snacking and then finally went to bed about 11: 30. Jesse slept until 2: 30 and then until 4: 30. He finished eating at 5: 30 and I decided to just get up so as not to wake Jocelyn and Timothy. Jocelyn had missed her nap since everyone was here and ended up in a pretty foul mood because of it, so she needed to catch up on a little sleep. Morgan was already awake so he and I and Jesse went downstairs and made coffee. Grandpa joined us around 6 and then by 6: 30 everyone but Jocelyn was up and we did stockings and had breakfast and then started the tree. Jocelyn joined in a bit later.

Since Jesse was now sleeping again, I sat by the tree and played Santa, though Ruby was my main helper and handed out most of the gifts. The kids all do such a great job waiting for their turns. Sage got so many babies that she didn't have any hands left and at one point asked Ruby to open her next present for her - too funny! Jocelyn got into it, though wouldn't part with her binky, and even Morgan stayed with us the whole time (though Uncles Rob and Jeff took a beating for a while there as he was kicking and hitting them both - for play, but still, that's 65 lbs of Morgan comin' at ya - we coaxed him onto a different couch). He did open a couple presents. That's progress for him from previous years when he didn't last quite as long or really show any interest in the presents at all.

The kids all made out like bandits of course. Too many gifts to list - but among the favorites - Timothy got a remote control fart machine (don't tell Uncle Joey - there's a whole plan for his next visit) so there were a lot of fart noises going on yesterday. Jocelyn got a bunch of stuff for her kitchen.

Jesse got a new exersaucer (the kind where the baby walks circles around the middle stationary part) and Morgan got a sponge bob portable dvd player.

Presents were done around 8:30 and everyone was packed and gone by 10. Josh had cleaned the kitchen while everyone was packing so we put together enough toys to keep the kids entertained and then collapsed on the couch for the rest of the day - which means we have a lot of work to do today! All these toys need a new home and I'm thinking of rearranging the dining room (really a play room) and also need to organize Timothy's room, and rotate toys in Morgan and Jocelyn's rooms. I need to get some things put up on the walls in various rooms too.

This is fun work for me but will have to be done in between feeding Jesse, who only seems to have gained 3 oz this week instead of the required 4, but as of Saturday had not gained anything so I think he's in the middle of a growth spurt and will catch up over the next few days. (In separate news, the two of us had our first bath together yesterday, which was very relaxing). He is growing though - I gave all of his preemie outfits to Elisabeth and then started another bag (which I keep next to the dresser) and have had to retire several newborn outfits (typically meant for up to 8lbs) as well. He has long limbs so outgrows the arms and legs but is still swimming in the rest if it!

A tip for baby shoppers out there - Gymboree brand clothes run small so 0-3 month will fit small babies, no need for the preemie size unless you expect a 5 pounder. Also - I love Gymboree brand, especially their blankets which are bigger and thicker than other brands and last forever - or at least longer than 8 years from what I can tell, even with frequent use. Shop the clearance racks though, they are a little pricey. I just bought Jesse a squirrel ensemble from their sale bin, with matching blanket, and it is soooooo cute! Oooh, and while I'm on the topic of shopping tips - here's another for the new moms-to-be – 1800diapers.com has free shipping on orders over $45 and prices are better than Target. An average baby will go through one case of Newborn swaddlers before moving up to a size 1 (Elisabeth - don't buy any newborn size!). Pampers swaddlers are awesome. Huggies don't work for boys, though I like and use their wipes. Pampers sensitive wipes are good for recently circumsized boys, but otherwise are useless because they have no grip. Oh, and baking soda sprinkled in the bath cures diaper rash better and faster than any cream, and is way less gross. Target brand baby shampoo in the purple bottle is only 99 cents and is awesome. Soothies brand binkies are great but need to be boiled prior to use to soften them up and make them acceptable to baby. Nipple confusion is a myth made up to torture new moms. Medela breast pumps come with *average* breast shields (also called horns) but over 70% of women need a larger size, which will costs you $10 plus shipping but be way more comfortable and increase output. Kellymom.com is a fantastic breastfeeding resource. If you plan on formula instead, ask for freebies from the hospital and also sign up on their web site and they'll send you coupons and samples (I sign up on all the sites and then trade with friends - Enfamil seems to have the best giveaways).

Alright, more tips are available upon request. 

December 19, 2006

Well our goal weight this morning was 7lbs 12.5 oz, and our actual weight was (drum roll please) 8 Ibs 1oz!! yay!! It was very exciting and we don't have to go back until his 2-month appt on the 10th. Also, this was the same weight as our home scale, so I suspect that he's actually gained an oz a day in the last week, which is quite a good amount. I think he's finally got the hang of this.

In other news he gave me his first real smile this morning - the biggest brightest 

December 17, 2006

Gooooood morning everyone! Happy Chanukah to applicable parties! Let's see let's see, what was the haps this week.

I think Jesse might finally be getting the hang of the whole weight-gain thing (knock on wood). I bought a baby scale which arrived Tuesday and according to that he was 7 Ibs 8.5 oz on Tuesday, which would mean he had gained the required 4 oz that week. I started weighing him before and after eating and before and after diaper changes to see if he was actually inputting and outputting as expected and he seems to be doing both. I had been having Josh give him a couple ounces of formula each day to fatten him up a bit. He doesn't care much for it though. When he gets a bottle of breast milk he gulps it down like ice cream, but formula he sort of makes a face for and lets dribble down his chin.

Then Friday night when Mandy and family were here I never got around to giving it to him and he slept better than he had all week and yesterday weighed in around 7lbs 14oz or so, so I'm not sure the formula was really helping him all that much. We skipped it again yesterday so we'll see what he weighs in at today. We have our official doctor weigh in on Tuesday and our goal weight for the week is 7 Ibs 12.5 oz - cross your fingers!

Friday I took Jesse out and we stopped by my work's department party. I had to actually loosen the straps in the car seat to get him in, so that's a good sign! As soon as I walked into the party, four of my coworkers went running for the ladies room to wash their hands. How nice! They were the moms of teenagers, always a good target for baby holders. So they took turns holding him (a fight almost broke out at one point with one coworker supposedly hogging him - hee hee hee). I must say he did look especially cute as I had him in an outfit from gymboree that consisted of brown corduroy pants and a squirrel sweater. It was 0-3 month size and I only had to fold the pants and arms over once. It was nice to see everyone (and I even took a break to use the bathroom BY MYSELF for the first time since my maternity leave started) - we stayed for about 45 minutes and then headed home.

Mandy and family arrived around 5:30 on Friday after getting stuck in some unfortunate traffic - big bummer. After Patience had a snack we all lit candles and had presents. Jocelyn got a bunch of play food for her kitchen and the girls all had quite a good time with that. Sage seems to have warmed up to me and even called me Auntie Rhonda to my face (i.e. without whispering in Mandy's ear instead - hahaha). After latkes and pizza I filled up the tub and Ruby, Sage, and Timothy put on bathing suits and got in. Jocelyn preferred to go au natural. Everyone is now big enough that we could fill it sufficiently to turn on the jets, so that was a big hit.

Yesterday was quite a beautiful day, especially for December. We actually all went outside. Jesse got dressed in his winnie the pooh bunting and nursed on the front steps while we watched Josh play football with the boys and Jocelyn sort of participate. The game made it to half time before getting called on account of nap time. After naps we all played dreidel with the many many pieces of gelt that Uncle Joey had brought us. I must say, it was pretty fun! Then we lit candles and had more presents. I got Josh, Timothy, Morgan and Jocelyn all matching Patriots shirts, which they all put on right away and looked simply too cute in. Then we opened the many gifts from Susan and Jonathan, which was so fun! Among other things, Jocelyn got a party dress that is significantly nicer than my wedding dress. My other favorite was a romper for Jesse with little animals on the feet - hysterically cute!

Jocelyn continues to be so cute that sometimes it's hard to breathe. Her new favorite phrase is "want some?" which she says whenever I am trying to enjoy a snack. She'll pretty much eat anything if it is something I was trying to eat alone. When we were outside yesterday she came over to point everyone out to me. She calls Morgan "Morgie" - too cute!

My 6-week dr's appt was supposed to be this week but I guess my doctor is going away for the holidays or something because I got rescheduled for Jan 12th. I decided that that was much too long to wait for a bath (she had told me no baths for 6 weeks - that's like torture!) so I took my first post-pardum bath yesterday afternoon (while Jesse was taking his 2nd nap of the day I'm hoping this whole 2-nap thing is a new pattern!). I forgot how much I love my tub! I could have stayed in it all day.

Josh had been rooming with Timothy still but since he came back to our room Friday night while the Roberges were here, he decided to make it permanent. Unfortunately, he was woken up around 1am when Timothy came in to announce that he had throw up. Since he's a boy, of course it was on the carpet. According to Josh, he threw up everything he'd eaten since birth. I guess that wasn't quite accurate since he came in again at 6:30 to announce a new spot on the carpet, and again just now when he almost made it to the toilet but not quite. Poor kid. No fever but clearly not having a fun day so far. He says he feels fine in between puking. I'm kinda hoping it was something he ate because otherwise the rest of us are in for a cruddy week (and possibly Mandy's family as well - so sorry)! Right now Timothy is quarantined to his room and only Josh is going in and out.

My old boss (Jim) is retiring from Aetna after almost 33 years. He's the Chief Actuary so each year hosts something called the Actuarial Forum (this year it was web cast so I was able to listen in for certain parts). There are annual awards in various categories and this year he added a new award just for me - the nerd award! It was for the letter I wrote in regarding my first date with math and my prize is an old framed poster that he has with a picture of an actuary and the caption "Math Nerd". It was a promotional campaign for actuaries that Aetna had done some time ago. Jim also recapped his 33 years by quoting the many actuaries he had worked with over that time, including me. He quoted me as saying "perfect is the enemy of good" (which I did say but stole from something I heard on NPR). It was certainly nice to get a mention and I will really miss him when he's gone (he doesn't plan to leave until March I believe).

I suggested to Josh that he should write up some dad-tips for Rob and put them in his stocking, but he said the only thing he can think of is to grab Rob by the shoulders, shake him a bit, and say "you have no idea". No exactly the holiday gift I was thinking of!

I guess that's about it from here. Nothing new with Morgan. He desperately needs a haircut, as does Timothy, and Josh for that matter. We'll see if I can get to that this week.