Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

Claire is 11 weeks today.

Back in November, I decided to not register the girls for any programs for the January/February session. I thought it would be best if I kept them away from other children and all their germs seeing as we would have a newborn who I didn’t want to get sick. Thankfully it worked - we’ve had 10 weeks of good health.

Their isolation period ended with a class at the Early Years on Friday and Ronan’s 2nd Birthday party on Saturday. Today Leah and Emma woke up with a runny nose. By lunch they had snot bombs and now they are congested and miserable. Claire is sneezing her head off but not congested…yet. What a great way to start off a week - especially one when John starts a new job!

So the class the girls went to last Friday is called Twist and Shout. It’s an hour of singing and music with a bunch of other toddlers and their mother/caregiver. Yes, unfortunately I have to go with them while Claire goes into the nursery room. Call me a bad mother but I don’t get all excited about having to keep two toddlers in check with a bunch of other kids that aren’t used to taking turns and sharing. And I’m not saying the other kids are out of control - it’s just that for the most part the girls have accepted that they have to take turns and what do I say when little Timmy or whatever ignores them when they ask politely if they can have a turn without little Timmy’s mother thinking I am a complete..well you know. One day I know “Hey Emma, I guess little Timmy is deaf. Suzie’s body slamming technique looked pretty effective - maybe you should try that.” is going to fly out of my mouth.

The girls had a lot of fun at Ronan’s birthday party. I didn’t bring our camera but there were a ton of pictures taken and maybe Carrie will post some. At one point the girls were all cuddled up with Ronan and Owen watching Wonderpets.

John finished putting together the treadmill last night. I used it today while the snotty ones and Claire were napping. Oh boy was I tired.

Last night John was downstairs watching Little Bear with the girls and I was up on the computer. I had left Claire with John but he ran out of lap real estate so I brought her up and put her in her crib and let her watch her mobile. The sun was setting so it was still pretty light in her room.

Thirty minutes later the girls and John came banging up the stairs on their way to bed. All of a sudden we heard this howling from Claire’s room. She had fallen asleep watching her mobile and woken up to a pitch black room. She was pretty scared.

She cried for about 30 seconds after I picked her up. Real sobbing. John came rushing in to see if she was ok because she has really never cried like that or for that long. Both her big sisters gave her a kiss and told her that the dark wasn’t scary (they love playing in the dark). 

While I was on the computer last night I looked at some pictures of the girls when they were babies. Claire definitely looks more like Leah - the resemblance is very strong in some of the pictures. I really need to get all the old stuff over on wordpress and fix all the old photo links - I would be very sad if I lost any of it. I also need to get all the old pics up on Flickr. 

The treadmill arrived yesterday. We started putting it together but it’s more complicated than we thought and it might take a few days. Maybe I’ll take the girls out for fries today…the farewell yummy food tour has been extended :) 

Things have been busy around here. My cousin Kathleen and her boyfriend Mark came up last Sunday. Mark went home Monday night but Kathleen stayed til Friday morning. It was very nice to have her for the week and the girls really enjoyed the visit.

I took advantage of having her here and got out and did some shopping. We bought a treadmill which will be delivered on Tuesday (no excuses now) and I looked at running shoes. I even picked up the negatives for our wedding photos. We are finally 100% done with our wedding photographer! Wednesday night John and I decided to cash in on babysitting and went out for a nice meal. Claire came with us but didn’t make a peep even though she was well overdue for a feed. She is still taking bottles no problem but I am hesitant to leave all three of them with anybody on their own because I know they can be overwhelming - especially over bedtime.

Leah is not doing so great on the poop front again. I’ve been noting her progress for weeks now and looking back it seems that she always regresses when we have visitors. I know in the summer we had issue at the cottage with Emma not wanting to go with an audience so it could be the reason. We are all alone til Easter so we’ll see how it goes…who would have thought that I’d be happy to be all alone for a bit. She cleared herself all out tonight so fingers crossed it will get back to going well.

Claire continues to do well. She is now 12lbs. She had her shot on Monday and cried for all of 4 seconds. She really never cries for more than a few seconds at a time. She is so easy going. She has taken to her soother more these days which doesn’t bother me too much since she was sucking her fingers. I just hope she’s like Emma and gives it up easily - but even if she doesn’t at least she’s taking the orthodontic ones.

In other news John is changing jobs. He’s actually going back to Deloitte which I never thought would happen. It was a very hard decision but in the end he decided to make the change. His new job has a few things going for it which include…it is not consulting so he will always be downtown and he can take the train (so I can always know I can have the car), he gets 5 weeks vacation and he can work from home. From my selfish perspective even if the job sucks it will be better for our family but I’m hoping he will also like his new job He starts next Monday and his 3 hour daily commute will be cut to just over 1 hour!

Ah…the usual…time is going by too quickly, she is growing up too fast blah blah blah. John hears it pretty much everyday…I won’t bore everybody else.

Hair/Eyes:
Her hair is thinning out a bit. It’s still brown with lots of red in it. It’s lighter than Leah’s but darker than Emma’s. You can see bits of fair when the sun hits it. Her eyes are still blue. I keep on thinking they’ll go brown but nothing happening on that front. If anything they are getting lighter.

Size:
She goes for her 2 month appt (and shots) next Monday. I’ll update with specifics then. I think she is around 12lbs. She seems so big compared to the girls and she is growing so quickly. She is still in the 0-3mth sleepers but I think I’m pushing the limits on a couple of them. She has chubby little cheeks and rolls on her legs. I call her my little porkchop. She is very strong and is more like Emma in that she will stand up and take her weight. Her neck is pretty strong too. She outgrew the rubbermaid we were bathing her in and she now has baths in the baby tub. She loves having a bath.

Sleep:
Since we are co-sleeping sleep isn’t really an issue at all. She was eating probably twice a night at the start of month two, but now it’s usually only once and it’s creeping later and later. Last night she fed at 10:30pm and then didn’t wake up until 6:15am. She naps throughout the day whenever she feels like it. I keep her downstairs with us so she usually naps in her bouncer chair or in the bassinet of the playpen. Her alert time is definitely in the evenings. She’s pretty relaxed all day but she gets fidgety just right about when the girls go to bed at 8pm. I sometimes have a hard time settling her into sleep but once she goes she doesn’t wake up. She’s not overly interested in the soother during the day but it works wonders to keep her happy when she’s all wound up and not hungry at night.

Eating:
She is still eating strictly on demand. She was going pretty much every two hours during the day but in the last week she is going longer. If we’re out in the car and shopping she can go a long time. She’s a pretty efficient eater and is still open to taking bottles. I’m not all that into pumping so she gets a bottle about once or twice a week. She’s still puking but it’s nowhere near as much. I am really happy with breastfeeding. I think it is a really good deal once you get over the first few weeks. Nights are a breeze and going out involves little preparation because I really don’t care where I feed her. She is also going longer between dirty diapers and only goes every couple of days.

Personality:
Claire started smiling this month. She smiles at the girls the most. I’m not sure if it’s their little cartoon like voices or the way they stick their face right up close. She’s also started cooing in the past couple of days. She likes to lay on her playmat and smile and make noises at her reflection. She is tracking things well and can see across the room. She really enjoys her mobile and will lay in her crib (yes, she does get in her crib sometimes!) and watch it intently. She is a pretty relaxed baby. Loud noises don’t bother her and she doesn’t seem to get anxious about anything. She is pretty independent through the day and is content to be held only when she’s eating. At night she gets a bit needier and once the girls are in bed she is held pretty much until we go to bed. She isn’t particular about who holds her unless she is hungry. I don’t see that she is overly attached to me but that will come I’m sure. She has found her fingers and likes to suck them.

I am still shocked at how well we have all adjusted to having her around. I had myself prepared for a very rough time. I’m not sure if it’s because we had twins first or because we haven’t given up our swinging single life, but it’s really been easy. Claire just fits in fine and we are happy to have her. I’m sure the fun will start once she can move…and talk…and whine… I love infants

Claire - 2 months

Way back when Leah’s issues started a friend recommended I try Senekot (a laxative). This was back when I was still useless because of the section so I sent my mom to the drugstore to ask about it. She talked to the pharmacist who recommended we talk to our doctor first. I had an appt for Leah booked so we decided to wait.

Well apparently I could have saved Leah 6 weeks of poop issues. Last Friday I was over at Tara’s and Leah was in a horrid mood because she hadn’t pooped in two days. Tara mentioned the Senekot again and showed me the bottle where it had dosage for 2 year olds. When I got home I called John and told him to pick some up on the way home. That night I took her off everything the doctor has her on (colace and lansoyl) and gave her the Senekot. 

I wouldn’t say she’s cured but she has made enormous progress over the past 3 days. She is asking to go on the potty again and is pooping in the potty. After 8 weeks of hysterical screaming at even the mention of the potty this is progress. She’s not crying when she goes either - probably because it is not something you would think impossible coming from a 2 year old.

For the first time in 2 months I can see this resolving. This has been by far the most stressful thing John and I have ever dealt with as parents and there were days when I thought she might never get over it. We have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to get her fixed only to see very little progress at all. Hopefully she’ll stop holding it.

In other news… 

Claire is 8 weeks old today. Time flies. I’ll do her 2 month update later on this week.

We had a very relaxing weekend. We didn’t do much except our usual trip to Costco and the grocery store. Everything was going smoothly until yesterday. I was in the kitchen making dinner when all of a sudden I heard a loud crash followed by lots of banging and then two screaming girls. I thought for sure they’d both fallen down the stairs but luckily it was John who had fallen  with them both in his arms. He bruised his back and elbows pretty badly trying to shield them from the fall.  All three of them were pretty shaken up but Leah was fine. Emma hurt her left foot and we are still trying to see how bad it is. She woke up twice crying last night but by this morning she only mentioned it in passing. She is walking with a bit of a limp. Leah has an appt on Wednesday morning and I will ask him to look at Emma’s foot. One positive is they now understand why I’m always on them not to fool around on the stairs.

Napping is still hit or miss with the girls. I had to clear out the bottom of their closet last week after they emptied the rubbermaid full of clothes while on one of their adventures. They had such a good time that they fell asleep in the middle of their mess. Here’s the picture of them both passed out…