Our Kids

Hi!

We’re still around, just been busy watching the girls grow up, that’s all. Lela’s getting much better and standing and, like her sister, really seems to get a kick out of the fact that she can stand at all. Her big ol’ grin is plastered on her face whenever she’s standing up tall. It’s fun to watch.

Yesterday after getting home from work Mystique showed me Piper’s latest trick: rolling on to her tummy! Sometimes she needs a little help, but she can roll from her back to her side to her tummy. The fun part is watching her extract her arm from under her tummy… it takes a bit of work, but she gets it! Then, of course, she hates tummy-time, so she “swims” for a bit then lets us know she’s ready to be rescued.

Our next doctor’s appointment is next week… that should be fun because I’m betting we’ll have a little more difference in size than we’ve had before. It also should be not fun since they get more vaccinations… they don’t like ‘em and they sure let us know that they don’t appreciate the needles.

More soon!

Alas all we can report is that everyone is doing great. The girls continue to change everyday and we are always reminded how lucky we are to have them in our lives. They are really good babies, I don’t know if all parents think that but they truly are. The other day I went for a hike with my good friend Rebecca and we hiked and yaked for about two hours, the time just flew by and not a peep from the girls the entire time. If they were not quietly napping they were enjoying the fresh air and pretty wildflowers. It was so much fun for all of us. You would think after an outing like that they might be overtired or cranky but they were not, they just slipped right back into their normal routine.

Lela has gone to going to bed at around 6:30 PM and then sleeping until 6:00AM with one feeding in the night. Piper goes to bed a little later but still earlier than 8:00PM and then sleeps until 6:00AM with one feeding in the night. Both are great sleepers and easy to put to bed, basically they show signs of being tired and up they go.

So see, I am not exaggerating, they really are good girls.

Well the girls are 6 months old today:0) Wish I could report on weight and such but we don’t see the doctor until July so you will all have to wait. You can see from the photos though that they are doing really well. Lela is starting to stand more and now I am thinking she is going to be the busy one. Piper loves to stand but she is content just standing, when Lela gets it in her head to stand she seems like she wants to just go:) I think for my birthday we might start baby proofing the house! LOL!

Anyway, all is well here. We could not be happier.

Yesterday we celebrated my first father’s day which was pretty cool… it started out with a tasty ham and cheese omelette plus a pancake (I splurged) and our favorite breakfast joint, followed up by a nice walk down Bozeman’s main street. We got home and the girls surprised me with some gifts: a great picture + frame of my dad and me, a card with pics of the girls and Mystique, and a canopy for our mower so my poor, unprotected head doesn’t get sunburn. I also got a cool mug with the girls’ picture on it earlier in the week, so I made out pretty nicely. The rest of the day was just as great, so thanks to everyone!

It’s a monday so I’m just hanging out with the girls… been a nice morning so far, no big complaints yet from the girls, but that’s par for the course. We went for a walk today in the beautiful Bozeman weather and managed to get about half-way through the walk before Lela decided that she was hungry and started a bit of squawking to let me know. I got home just in time to fix her a bottle before she really let loose, so it turned out to be a great walk (although I did have to do a bit of jogging at the end but that didn’t kill me despite how I felt when I got home).

Tomorrow (the 21st) will be the girls’ six-month birthday. Pretty darn amazing… last week Mystique and I went through the emotional roller-coaster of watching some of the original videos of the girls. I still can’t believe everything that they went through and it’s just so great to see them doing so well. Every day brings something different and it’s just a joy to be a part of it.

I’m gonna go before I start talking about my feelings and turn into that sap we all know I am

I think Lela must be reading this site… she likes to stand now! Not all that often, of course, but she’s doing it. And, like Piper, she’ll get a big ol’ grin on her face when she’s up standing tall. Pretty fun to be a part of, that’s for sure.

The girls seem to be getting back to a schedule… I think Piper slept through the night last night while Lela got up just once. They’re definitely in the early-riser club, though… Lela was up at 5am this morning and didn’t want to go back to sleep. Luckily Piper slept until 7am so no double-teaming that early.

Well, I just heard that Mystique wrote an update as I’m writing this, so I’m gonna quit and see what she wrote!

Well as you all know Piper started standing a few weeks ago and just can’t get enough of it. So far Lela has not been too interested in the fact that her sister can stand and we have not been pressuring her. But yesterday I was at my friend Erika’s house and she has a beautiful and strong 4 month old little boy. So I was sitting with him on the floor and he was standing and Lela was sitting on Erika’s leg right across from us. Once she saw Kevin standing she thrust out her little legs and stood for the longest time. I think she somehow knew he was a little boy and she was determined not to let him out stand her. It was quite funny and cool.

So now she is on to the standing gig which is cool. She is also into this thing where she sucks in her bottom lip and then spits it out all the while saying phtttt sounds and lots of bubbles. She is quite proud of herself and I can’t help but laugh as the drool runs down her chin and into my hand:)

So we have been updating the picture site like crazy because you can click click click and then walk away. Finding time to post on the site is becoming a little more challenging but we are up for it.

For those just tuning in here is the skinny on the girls:
Piper loves to stand she now has two positions, laying on her back and standing, no sitting, I don’t think she even bends anymore
She is eating a little bit of cereal every day, doesn’t seem like she digs it but we are trying
She is catnapping, her longest daytime naps run about 40 min
She loves to smile, and has started furrowing her brow when she is trying to figure something out (which is all the time)
She notices Lela and will stare at her
She is probably teething, she can drool you into a life vest and canoe

Lela is still giving Lance a run for his money
She has started to love her baths, loves to swim:)
She is starting to put pressure on her feet, with her shoes on only (soft feet like Poppy)
She is all giggles, grins and smiles
She can make smacking noises
Loves to stick out her tongue, especially when she is eating (nifty)
She is napping a bit longer than Piper but not much
Loves Baby Einstein DVDs

Last night we had 5 feedings from 10PM to 5AM so we are NOT sleeping through the night. Lucky me, Jason had three of them:)

Both the girls love to go for walks and it is a nice time for me to chill out and remember why we live here. The view from our neighborhood is beautiful because we are surrounded by mountains. I think that gets you about up to speed. Rest assured all is well, everyone is happy, the girls are gaining weight, I am losing weight and Jason is great:)

The girls were beat last night so were primed for giving their parents a good night’s sleep… Lela slept from 9pm to 2am to 7am and Piper pulled a 9pm to 4am to 7am sleep. Ahh… the more hours in a row the better!

Mystique took Lela’s 2am feeding (I make snoring sounds to pretend I’m asleep) and I took Piper’s 4am feeding. I thought I was all set, though… Piper was barely making a peep when I got in there so I thought I could afford the luxury of changing her while her meal heated up.

That plan was going great until I sat her down to start feeding. She would not eat at all… she take the nipple for just a few slurps, and start crying. I thought I had messed up the heating (Piper’s a bit picky with the temperature of her meal), so I popped a pacifier in and heated her milk up a bit more.

Didn’t help one bit. She tried a couple sucks, then started crying. Remember that it’s 4am so my mind isn’t clicking on all cylinders (a beer short of a six-pack, elevator not going to the top of the building, a few clowns short of a circus, etc…). So I heated up the bottle some more, all the while “shh-shh-sh’ing” and dancing with her so she wouldn’t wake up Lela.

No help there. I couldn’t figure out what was going on… Piper’s never this picky. By now she was getting pretty ticked off… I was also secretly hoping Mystique was curious about what the heck was going on and would come in and bail me out. But alas, I think she did that once when I was changing Piper at 3am a while ago and I either gave her a dirty look or said something stupid (but sounded funny at 3am) and she’s stopped checking in on me. Serves me right!

I finally decided to try the other bottle we had upstairs for Piper, but on a whim I figured I’d swap out nipples. Once I did that I think I actually heard Piper say “Oh my gosh, FINALLY” and she proceeded to chow down on a delicious meal of milk. When she was done I went downstairs to get a replacement nipple (after almost killing myself by tripping on a box someone had put on the stairs) and I noticed that the nipple was actually clogged… nothing would come out. Well no wonder Piper was getting mad.

Moral of the story… check the nip and trust your daughter… she knows what’s going on.

In other news… my parents are in town and tomorrow my aunt and cousin will be in town visiting us. I’m pretty jazzed about that… I haven’t seen them in years and it’s just great that they can come out and meet the girls and Mystique. All is well in Bozeman.

And finally… my brother was at work talking to a customer who was driving him nuts. A friend of his sent him this picture which immediately made him laugh and smile. Look at that — the girls are already helping out and they’re barely five months old.