Remember When...

Remember when Caleb opened his eyes for the first time at seven days old?

When Caleb was born, his eyes were still fused shut, like a brand new kitten's.  The doctors told us that 99 percent of 27-weekers are born with their eyes open, so maybe Caleb was actually earlier than 27 weeks.  But I had had an ultrasound at 8 weeks 4 days that determined my exact due date, so I knew he was exactly 27 weeks and 1 day when he was born.  He was also a good size for a 27-weeker.  I grow 'em big.  ;)  I guess he was just in the 1% that have their eyes closed.  Just like Caleb!  Defying the [bad] odds!

From the beginning, Caleb would try and try to open his eyes.  The nurses would put saline drops on his eyelids to keep them moist and hope that it would help them come apart.

He tried!

And tried!

And tried!

I would hover over him for hours (when I knew that he was awake), just hoping that he would open those eyes!

When Caleb was exactly one week old, the neonatologist was by his bedside doing his daily rounds.  He looked down at him and said to the nurse, "Are his eyes still closed?!"  The nurse said, "Yes, he's been trying and trying to open them, but just can't!"  As the nurse looked away for a moment, the doctor bent down close to Caleb.  When the nurse looked back, the doctor said, "LOOK!  They're open!"

[The very first picture of his open eyes, just moments after they opened!]

Sometimes Caleb just needs a little bit of [unofficial] help.

I made it to the NICU about ten minutes after he opened his eyes.  I had really been hoping that I could be there the moment they opened.  How wonderful would it have been if I had been the first thing he saw?

 It took a long time to be able to figure out this open-eyes thing.

 He wasn't coordinated, but that's ok!  He had plenty of time to practice.

Of course he figured it out and now I get to look into his big, beautiful eyes every day!

We've Still Got It!

 We showed.  We won.  Not bad for an old couple!  (Hank is 23 and I feel old having just had a baby 4 months ago!)  It's been about five years (maybe more) since showing.  I was disappointed in Hank's performance in a few of the events (ummm...hello...it's totally basic to be able to trot without dropping down into a walk.  Lazy horse) but there were a few events where he was PERFECT!  I couldn't have asked for more.

 [Baby pudge.  Ugh.  At least my old show clothes all still fit!]

[Hank was a good sport, putting up with our silly shenanigans.]

[High point!]

It was good practice.  The competition wasn't too fantastic, so next time I expect to do better.  I'm excited to be showing again (and I'm not talkin' about a prego belly)!

Disney World Vacation!: Day 3

Wedding rehearsal!  I finally got to meet my new sister-in-law!  She's probably the sweetest person I've ever met.  Caleb was a ring bearer in the wedding, so he got to practice walking down the aisle holding Olivia's (the flower girl) hand.  Olivia was probably the sweetest little girl I've ever met.  I hope I can raise my children to be as respectful and thoughtful as her.  My nephew, Danny, was the other ring bearer, so the three of them practiced walking down the aisle together, and they did such a great job!

After the rehearsal we got ready for the rehearsal dinner at my brother's house.  It was the first time in eight years that all of my siblings were together, so we had family pictures taken!  Since the last time we were together, there have been four spouses added to the family and four nephews born!  Crazy, huh?

Look at this big wonderful family!  (Don't pay attention to how Russell is the only one who isn't matching.  He had little diaper incident just before this.  Well...a big diaper incident.  A really big diaper incident.)

After the pictures we had the dinner.  I didn't eat.  I spent the whole time in the back bedroom trying, with my mom, to assemble a vest and bow tie for Caleb.  It turns out Men's Warehouse doesn't have tuxedo rentals smaller than size 3T.  Caleb wears size 18 months.  But they do SELL tuxedos that are size 2T, and they cost $20 less than a rental!  But it only comes with a black vest and tie.  So we had to make a vest and tie in the right color.  It would have been a simple task if we hadn't had problems with the fabric fraying...and the thread breaking...and the sewing machine tension going all weird....  So it was quite the ordeal.  But I'm happy to say that we ended up making a PERFECT vest and bow tie!  Well...perfect if you don't look too close.  But as long as Caleb had his tuxedo coat on no one could tell!  It worked out quite well.  :)

And if you ever want to rent a 2T tuxedo, I've got one!  I'll rent it out for $5, if you dry clean it afterwards!  ;)

Disney World Vacation!: Day 2

Day 2:  We went to the beach!  I think the boys were tired of sitting in the car (it took about an hour to get there).  This is what was going on by the end of the drive there:

We had one very tired, cranky, hungry infant and one very sensitive, tired toddler who had a lot of sympathy for the infant.  Every time Russell would start crying, Caleb would, too, and every time Russell would stop crying, so would Caleb.  Russell would cry unless we were speeding up or slowing down for traffic lights.  If we were stopped too long, or cruising too long, he would wail.  There was nothing we could do to make him happy, so we just had to laugh at the situation!  Nate suggested rolling down the windows so all of the other drivers would think we were an emergency vehicle with a siren so they would pull over for us.  We should have tried it.  I bet it would have worked!

Once we got to the beach and fed B. Russ, everything was fine.  :)

Caleb enjoyed having his feet buried in the sand and then wiggling his toes.  He also enjoyed looking for sea shells (there were lots!), watching the sea gulls (there were lots!) and letting the waves splash on his legs.  He didn't like it when the water receded and took the sand out from under his feet, so he would run back up on the beach after the waves came in and were about to go back out.

That evening we went out to dinner with my dad.  We haven't taken Caleb to a restaurant since starting the elimination diet because it just seems cruel to make a 2-year-old sit still and try to behave for an extended period of time while we're eating food that he sometimes wants but can't have.  But we were on vacation and we had no choice.  So we brought lots of his "safe" foods for him to eat in hopes that everything would be fine.  He was so well-behaved!  I was very proud.  But then the saddest thing happened.  The waitress brought us our food and she asked, "Can I get you anything else?"  And Caleb said, clear as day, "I want green beans!"  She looked at us and said, "I can bring him a side of green beans.  It's no problem."  And we had to say, "He's allergic.  He can't."  I wanted to cry.  We trialed green beans before leaving on our trip, but his vomiting increased, so even though he really enjoyed eating them, we had to count them as a "fail" and stop giving them to him.  I hate EE.  :(

Disney World Vacation!: Day 1

Day 1:  We spent all day on airplanes.  The boys were GREAT!  Since Caleb is 2 now, we had to purchase him his own seat.  So we lugged his convertible car seat throughout the airports with us, and it was 100% worth it!  When he's confined in a car seat, stroller, or high chair, he's able to stay calm, which doesn't happen otherwise.  Nate and I figured out a system to getting on the plane: I would go first with Caleb's car seat so I could install it first thing, Caleb would follow after me on foot, and Nate would bring up the rear with Russell in arm.  Caleb wore his backpack with his feeding supplies and carried his beloved little stuffed doggie.  As we were getting on the first plane, a man in first class said, "That's the best behaved kid I've ever seen."  Yeah, he was pretty cute.

Once we were on the plane that beeping sound kept going off.  Nate told Caleb that it meant that the flight attendants were going to talk to us, so he needed to listen and be quite.  Well, Nate was wrong.  It was actually the seat belt sign going off and on.  So, all throughout our turbulent flight, Caleb would hear the beeping sound and say, "Hello?  HELLO?  HELLO?"  It was SO FUNNY!

They were also having some problems getting the baggage doors to function properly, so we heard a lot of that mechanical sound, like they're screwing a door shut.  To Caleb it sounded like a dog barking, so he kept saying, "I hear a doggie!  I hear a doggie!"  The other passengers heard him and he got a lot of chuckles.  Next time you're on a flight, listen for it!  It really does sound like a dog!

Our second flight started right after nap time, so we were counting on Caleb sleeping for a bit.  But he didn't.  Not one wink.  But he was still very well-behaved.  And he discovered the joy of eating ice.

Russell was rather well-behaved, other than wanting to eat three times during our 4-hour flight.  It may have been the only day during our whole trip where he didn't have a blow-out diaper!  Yay!

We got to Florida very late.  Nana, Great Grandma, and Uncle Colin met us at the hotel for a quick hello before heading off to bed.  It was Nana's and Great Grandma's first time meeting Russell and Uncle Colin's first time meeting either of the boys!

It's like Christmas in May!

"Hip Hip Hooray!  We got a blender today!"

Our first blend:  Apple juice, rice milk, and frozen peaches.  Yum!

I emailed Blendtec last week and asked if they give discounts or a refurbished blender to people who need a blender for medical reasons.  Caleb still seems to cycle between vomit-free phases and vomit-full phases, and I'm still hopeful that giving him "real" food will help with that, especially now that rice milk is on his "approved" list of foods!  Well, on Friday I got a phone call saying that they would like to donate one to us!  For FREE!  Since their offices are in Orem, I picked it up today!  Let me tell you, it was a long weekend waiting for it!

I'm excited to be able to save money by not throwing away the food that Caleb doesn't eat.  I can just pop it in the blender, press a button, and put the liquefied food through his tube!  And it's really nice that we could save the $450 that it would have cost to buy a brand new Blendtec blender.  Maybe we can put it towards refinishing the floors...or new windows....

I'm also excited to use it for soups and smoothies.  Our second blend was this:  frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries, frozen peaches, honey, chia seeds, spinach, kale, apple juice, and ice.  It was yummier (and healthier!) than anything I've ever had at Jamba Juice!

So, who wants to come over for some smoothies?  Let's have a party!  (I promise I won't make you drink what we'll usually blend for Caleb: tuna fish, chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, apples, peaches, pears, rice milk, and canola oil.)  :)

My 4-Month-Old!

At 4 months old, Russell:

• Wears size 1-2 diapers and size 0-3 month clothes
• Weighs 12 lbs 2 oz (in the 6th percentile)
• Measures 24.75 inches (in the 48th percentile)
• Has a head circumference in the 37th percentile
• Can roll from tummy to back, and is very, very close to rolling from back to tummy (he's done it once...).  He also rolls to his sides very well, especially when I bring him in bed to nurse
• Has discovered his feet and LOVES to play with them.  They make the best teethers
• Has babbled with consonances once...he said, "mmmmmmOM!"
• Is very ticklish and will pretty easily giggle if we tickle his neck, cheeks, or armpits.  He also loves to giggle when you touch your nose to his nose repeatedly or when you pretend to eat his hands
• Has a TOOTH!  It broke through when he was 4 months and 3 days old.  The night before it came through was probably the worst of my life, and he's still got a whole mouthful to go and tylenol does nothing to help his mood.  Heaven help me.  His new tooth is on the bottom right
• Is very good at reaching for things that he wants, but sometimes has a hard time getting his hands to open enough to effectively grab whatever it is that he wants
• Shows a lot of interest in toys, holding them and waving them and bringing them to his mouth, but he gets bored with them easily
• Is very good at sitting up when we give him a little support, but if we prop him with anything else (like the boppy pillow) he falls immediately.  He's completely unwilling to even attempt to support himself sitting with his arms.  But that's ok.  He's still young
• Has really regressed with his sleeping.  I blame it on our vacation.  Or a growth spurt.  Or teething.  Or maybe he just hates me and wants to make my life miserable.  That's a joke.  Sort of.  He usually wakes up 5-7 times a night and the only thing that gives him comfort, day or night, is nursing
• Has no self-soothing abilities whatsoever.  He absolutely refuses the binky now--it makes him extremely mad when we try to give it to him.  He sucks his right thumb, which calms him down, but he always takes it out of his mouth to cry again after about 30 seconds.  Like Caleb, and my twin sister when she was younger, he likes to suck his thumb when he feels a soft blanket, which I think is adorable and can be very convenient
• Has been showing more interest in Caleb, reaching for his hair and whatever toy he might have that is within reach
• Loves to pull and chew on my hair
• Is willing to smile and "talk" to anyone who talks to him, but he shows a definite preference for the people he knows the best--Mommy, Daddy, Caleb, Auntie Jenna, etc.
• Loves to stick his tongue out as far as possible, especially when smiling
• Screams like a newborn still
• No longer appears to be dairy sensitive.  I went back on dairy and didn't notice a difference in his mood until a week later when his tooth came in
• Has horrible eczema that comes and goes.  It freaks me out because Caleb was covered in eczema within a few weeks of starting solid foods.  Other than a refusal to eat, it was the first symptom of Caleb's that made us think that something was wrong.  The pediatrician said he won't be concerned about allergies until Russell's weight becomes a problem (for some reason he doesn't think that going from the 20th percentile to the 6th percentile in two months is a problem...).  But since the GI doctor's waiting list is about two months long, I plan on making an appointment this week and if Russell's weight is fine at his 6-month appointment then I'll cancel the appointment with GI.  I just can't stop thinking that if he has an eosinophilic disorder then I want it diagnosed before he starts solid foods so we don't have to take any steps back
• Has the most beautiful shade of blue eyes!