7 months old-December 8

Luke loves to smile and will smile at anyone, as long as mom is holding him.  He is still sleeping well.  His naps are few and short, and he is often up at night.

He made his first long distance car ride to Vegas for Thanksgiving.  He did okay in the car, but not great and while he had a really good time, not sleeping at home really threw him off.

He loves to eat and will eat almost anything.  He likes baby food less and people food more.  Who can blame him.

And who doesn't love a bath.  He loves being able to join a brother in the tub and I'm glad he's not in the baby bath anymore.  One more things I can get rid of.

Jack has his tonsils out

In September, we moved Jack out of his crib and into a toddler bed. That's always a rough transition and I was prepared for some interrupted sleep while we made the adjustment. Jack had always been a light sleeper and would often wake up in the night, but he just turned on his mobile and went back to sleep. I didn't realize just how often he was waking up until he could get out of bed and come get me every time. He got up every two hours. Week after week went by, and Luke had stopped sleeping well too, so I was getting maybe 5 hours (if I was lucky) of interrupted sleep night after night. I was at my wits end and did not know what to do. We tried everything we could think of to get him to sleep short of drugging him. Then one day it hit me. He needs his tonsils out. I really didn't want to do that now, because he is so young, so I tried to put it out of my mind, but I couldn't, and then, after one particularly bad night, I knew this was the answer to his sleeping problems. So I made an appointment with the ENT and they got us in the next day. Jack's tonsils were a 3 1/2 out of 4, meaning almost touching. They definitely needed to come out. Because he was so young, we would have the surgery at the hospital and Jack and I, and Luke, would need to stay overnight.

We got up early the morning of the surgery. Jeremiah stayed home with the two older boys to get them ready for and off to school. Jack was so good until it came time to change into the gown. I don't know if it was because he could sense something was wrong or because he hates changing clothes. The nurse said I could walk with him up to a certain spot, so I carried him there, the whole time he kept looking at me saying, "okay, okay." Then we arrived at the spot and I handed him over to the nurse, he started crying and my heart broke. I stood and watched him go, then turned around and cried all the way back to the room I would wait in. It's a hard thing to know that this is what's best for him, but be unable to communicate that to him. It was a good thing Luke came too because I could redirect my attention to him while we waited. Eventually Luke fell asleep.

When he woke up,  they came to get me.  I could hear him screaming.  He nearly jumped out of his surgery bed and into my arms.  He screamed and screamed and I just held him.  Eventually Luke started crying too, and Luke does NOT like other people to hold him, so I had the nurse give him to me too and so I just sat with two crying boys in my arms while the nurses tried to do everything they could to help.  We were quite the freak show.  One of the nurses asked me if I had any help (in kind of a "where's your lousy husband" tone).  I kindly explained that yes, I did have a husband who was quite helpful, but we also had two other young children who needed help and so we had to divide and conquer.    Eventually Jack calmed down and we were able to move up to the Pediatric ward to recover.  There they showed me Jack's adenoids.  They were huge, the size of cherry tomatoes and for a kid that little, it's no wonder he couldn't sleep.  He couldn't breathe. It was good thing we were planning on staying because he had some air way blockage and they would have kept us for observation anyway.  This way were prepared for the stay.  As we were getting settled in Pediatrics, Jack caught a second wind and started trying to rip his IV out.  So they gave him some Morphine, put a lock on it and wrapped his hand.  He was oh, so thrilled with that.  Eventually both boys fell asleep and so we rested, all three of us in the hospital bed.  That's how I would spend most of the next 24 hours.

Jack would occasionally wake up from his morphine stupor and watch a little PBS kids.  Ryan came to visit and thought it was all so cool.  The nurse gave him Jello and he ate most of my hospital lunch.  I had ordered corn just for him.  He decided he wanted his tonsils out too.

At one point Jack woke up and we gave him a popsicle, but he was so tired that he lay back down.  He would not however, let go of the popsicle and every time I tried to take it, he would scream.  So I just put a town under his arm and popsicle dripped everywhere and made a huge mess.

At about 6:30 p.m. the morphine had pretty much worn off and he finally sat up.  It took a little coaxing and some help from Thomas the train but we finally got him to eat some ice cream.  That was all he ate the whole time we were there.  And since he had slept most of the day, he was up until 11:30 that night.

And this humongous contraption is where Luke slept (when he slept).  They asked me if I would like a crib brought in and thought, sure that would be great, I was just planning on letting him sleep on me, so a crib would be awesome and then they wheeled this thing in.  It was bigger than the hospital bed. The label on the side said weight not to exceed 250 pounds.  WHAT!! No baby will ever weigh that much.  I'm sure parents get in with their babies and all that, but it just struck me as so funny.  The lights from all the machines were so bright I had to get extra blankets to go over the side and top of the crib so Luke wouldn't get distracted.

 

Jack was so happy to be go home.  He was not however excited about all the medicine he had to take or the fact that he could not drink his milk out of his sippy cup.  He pretty much stopped eating all together and if it weren't for soda, he would not have had anything to drink either.  This is where his sensory issues really caused problems.  Not only is he young and his throat hurts, but he doesn't understand why and is super sensitive to anything that goes in his mouth in the first place.  He doesn't like the way liquid feels in open cups, which is why he drinks from sippys and straws, but all of a sudden he can't do that.  Jello and yogurt feel icky, so we were left with ice cream and popsicles.  He ate a lot of ice cream and popsicles.  It was a completely miserable two weeks.  It has taken a long time to reintroduce foods back into his diet and we are still working on it.  Not because his throat is still bothering him, but because now he has bad associations with those foods.

On the positive side, now, three months later (because I'm writing this in January despite the time stamp being November), he is FINALLY sleeping through the night most nights.  It was horrible and I am so glad it's over, but it was the right thing to do and I'm glad we did it.

SPD

Jack has always been my easy going, take everything in, kind of kid.  He's never been a big talker, but with two older very talkative brothers, it was okay with me that he was a little quieter.  At his 18 month check up, he still wasn't talking.  Not even a momma or dad.  The doctor gave me a checklist of early warning signs for autism.  I was 99% sure he wasn't autistic but I didn't want to be the mom who refuses to see the problem when it is blatantly obvious to everyone else.  So Jeremiah and I spent the next six months observing and discussing and really the only two symptoms he has are delayed speech and a large head (but he's a Seaver, so that's not really a symptom).  He is very personable and is happy and friendly in social situations.  He is not phased by changes in his routine and he is cognizant of an objects permanency, even in the absence of the object. 

So at his two year check up in June, when he still wasn't talking (he said "go" and you could tell by his intonation that he was counting, but that's it) our doctor referred us to the local early intervention program, Kids on the Move (KOTM).  They came out and did their assessment.  Jack was in the 1% in expressive language (communicating to others) and in the 2% in receptive language (understanding others), but not autistic.  So we started with a developmental specialist and a speech therapist.  In our second visit with the DS she noticed that when Jack got excited he started running around our couch.  She asked me about it.  I told her all our kids did it.  She played with him a little more, and decided an occupational therapist needed to come evaluate Jack, that there was something more than just delayed speech.

So the OT came out and did his evaluation and Jack was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder or SPD.  You can go out to the internet and learn lots more if you're interested, but essentially, your nerves can send too many signals, not enough, or the wrong signals to your brain.  This is a relatively newly diagnosed disorder for several reasons.  One, autistic kids often have it, and it was thought to be part of autism, not a separate disorder.  It can also incorrectly be diagnosed as ADD or ADHD, or several other disorders.  For Jack, he is a sensory seeker, he is under-sensitized so he is constantly trying to meet his sensory needs.  Because his brain is constantly seeking stimulation, it hasn't focused on language learning, hence Jack's delayed speech.  He is however overstimulated in his mouth, which is partly why he's a picky eater and on his skin, so he doesn't like long sleeves, jackets, hats, bibs, having his sleeves rolled up or clothes that don't fit just right. 

So we have the developmental specialist come twice a month, the speech therapist come twice a month and the occupational therapist come once a month.  As if I wasn't busy enough.  But I'm happy to have an action plan and hopefully we will improvement.

Ryan turns 4

In October, Ryan turned 4.  This was a big year and he had been looking forward to being 4 for a long time.  When you are 4, you get to go to school and play soccer.  This boy could not have been more excited.

He got a new, big boy scooter and a beyblade and Angry Birds Star Wars telepods.

Angry Birds are big at our house and so we needed an Angry Birds cake.  I loved how easy it was to make.

Here are some things Ryan loves at 4
Favorite color: Purple (although it occasionally changes)
Favorite food: Fondue (he doesn't actually dip things in the cheese, he just likes skewering things on the sticks and eating them)
Favorite Movie: Frozen
Favorite Candy: All of them :)
Favorite Book: Once Upon a Royal Superbaby
Favorite App: Angry Birds and Cut the Rope 2

Ryan LOVES preschool.  He would go everyday if he could.  On days when he doesn't have school, there are usually lots of tears and asking WHY???  His teacher says he has great manners and is so helpful at school.  When she asks him to do something he often responds with "yes, of course, I'd love to."  When Jeremiah sits down to do his homework, Ryan generally needs some "homework" to do too.

Ryan is always full of energy and always on the go.  He loves to play and would play with every toy we own everyday if there were enough hours in the day and I wasn't so exhausted all the time.

Ryan loves to help in the kitchen and always asks if he can help make dinner.  He's learning to measure and stir and can't wait until he is old enough to use knifes and crack the eggs.

Ryan loves to help out in Primary and is always the first to volunteer to say the prayer, read the scripture, or bear his testimony if someone is absent.  He also always wants to say the prayer at home and have Family Home Evening, where he likes to conduct and lead the music.  He is good at reminding us and sets a good example.

Ryan loves people.  He says hi to pretty much everyone he sees, amusing the strangers at the grocery store.  He is not shy about sharing whatever is on his mind to whoever is closest.

We love Ryan.

6 months old- November 8

 6 month stats: 18 1/2 pounds and 28 1/2 inches.  No wonder my back hurts.  He sprouted his first tooth on October 25 and the second followed a few days later.  He keeps working on his rolling from his back to front and getting better and faster.

 Don't let him fool you, he rarely sleeps and when he does, it's not for long.

He also celebrated his first Halloween.  No costume.  It just wasn't worth it.

5 months old- October 8

Happy, happy, happy.  Does it get any cuter. 

The day before he turned 5 months old (Oct 7) he rolled over.

He's begun eating baby food and he loves it.  I cannot shovel it in fast enough.  If I get distracted and miss a beat he starts shaking and reaching frantically for the spoon.  It's nice to have a kid who actually wants to eat. 

On the other hand, he's not the great sleeper he used to be.  In fact, I think he's worse at 5 months than he was as a newborn.  Up all the time.  Between Luke and Jack (more on Jack later), I don't get more than 4 or 5 interrupted hours a night.  Hopefully, this will change soon.

But he's super snuggly and just plain cute.

4 months old- Just call me Jack, er, I mean...Luke

This child more than any other gets called the wrong name.  Mostly Jack.  Jer and I will have whole conversations about Luke, call him Jack, and then at the end of the conversation, realize our mistake.  Poor kid.  

He is just growing like a weed.  He has a fantastic smile and infectious laughter.  Look at those chubby, rolly poly legs.

He loves sitting in his Bumbo, which is good because he hates the swing and the floor at only entertains him for so long.  He sits at the counter while I make the meal, perfectly content as long as I am nearby.

At his 4 month check up he weighed 17.3 lbs. and was 27 in.  No wonder my back hurts all the time.