4 year old stats

The cubs had their 4 year old check-ups on June 1st. I can't believe they are already four years old. Every night while they are sleeping, Steve and I just look at them in amazement. When we first brought them home, they slept side by side in one crib. Now they are both sprawled out in their very own twin sized big kid beds. They are growing so big...and way too fast!

Emily's stats:

37.2 lbs (65th percentile)
41.5" tall (82nd percentile)

Zach's stats:
31.4 lbs (11th percentile - he FINALLY made the double digits!!)
39.5" tall (33rd percentile)

Random happenings around the Swine Flu

Emily and Zach had their two year check-ups on April 29th. We got out of there with only one shot each, however I think they managed to pick up a cold while we were there too. BOO HISS! I originally thought that they were suffering from allergies due to this crazy weather, but then it developed into a crummy cold. Commence nose mopping. UGH.

Stats:
Emily weighs a whopping 28 lbs. which puts her in the 68%tile for weight. A few weeks earlier she weighed 29 lbs., so she actually has thinned down a bit. I guess all of the running in, out and around the house has really melted away her baby fat. She is 36" tall which puts her in the 95%tile. That means that 95% of children her age are shorter than her. YIKES. She's going to be a tall girl.

Zach weighs 23.4 lbs. which finally puts him on the growth chart at a stunning 5%tile. That means 95% of children his age weigh more than he does. Big surprise. He's going to be tall and skinny. I'm ok with that. He is 34" tall which is the 40%tile. That's pretty close to average. Good enough for Mommy. He isn't throwing up anymore and for that I am so thankful.

That night I celebrated with another one of those tasty raspberry margaritas with my "scrapbooking" girls. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Thanks to the Swine Flu we didn't even attempt to go to Paradise Pond. Or anywhere else for that matter. Most of the school districts were closed here, so the Pond was probably closed anyway. We've been staying at home and playing outside when the weather cooperates.

On Saturday (May 2) Steve treated me to a day away. He took care of the cubs while I had a spa treatment (if I had money to waste I'd have one of these every day) and then lunch with my fellow moms at Brios. What a great day. Except for the weather -- it was pretty crummy. That afternoon a storm collapsed the roof of the Cowboys' training facility. We were fortunate and didn't receive any damage but sadly others weren't as lucky. Mother Nature can be very ugly.

Tuesday night was another GNO with my friends. I love that Steve is willing to put the cubs to bed so I can enjoy dinner with friends. We went to Cheddars, where I of course indulged myself in the onion rings (yum) and a Cookie Monster (more yummy)...and a raspberry something or other. This has become such a frequent order that Steve actually bought me my own bottle of Raspberry mix so I can make my own at home. I hope he doesn't think that this means I'll stop going to GNO. Hee hee.

Yesterday was Emily and Zach's ECI evaluation. Emily qualifies for speech therapy and I'm excited to get started with that. She speaks in her own little language. She changes her tone and uses facial expressions and hand gestures as if she's telling a whole story. Unfortunately I can't understand a single word. I do think that once she starts talking, she'll really take off. Zach also qualifies for speech therapy and occupational therapy to help with his eating aversions. No surprise there. That is the reason I called them. Zach has come a long way but he still has a way to go. We know he'll get there!

The cubs are 18 months old today!

It is hard to believe that the cubs are 18 months old today. Unfortunately that also means 18 month check-up and immunizations. What a way to celebrate.

Here are the stats:
Emily now weighs a whopping 25 lbs 13 oz. She is one heavy cub. She also tops the height chart at 34".

Zach now weighs 20 lbs 12 oz and is 32 3/4" tall.

Discipline is becoming a fun topic. Zach had his first taste of time out. He threw a bit of a fit until his big sister came over and sat with him. Thanks Emily. Is it really punishment when you have someone to hang out with? I guess she is already a bit overprotective. It's so hard to be serious when you're laughing on the inside. They are so stinking cute sometimes!

Catching up on Cub Central news

It's been a week since I've posted a detailed cub update, and people are letting me hear about it, so here you go:

We'll start with the bad. Zach has been throwing up at least once per day since last Monday, so Steve and I have decided to restart his Prevacid on Tuesday to see if that might help. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Emily has found a new way to let Mom and Dad know that she is finished eating. Instead of turning her head or pushing the food away, she has decided that spitting it out is her preferred way of expressing herself. She slowly oozes it through her teeth. YUCK! Mom is not very impressed. I'd prefer a head turn or a push away. This is a real adjustment because Emily used to always eat everything, so it was quite a shock for her to refuse food. I guess she's in that stage.

Emily and Zach have both managed to take head-first tumbles off of the couch. The couch is for sitting...it is NOT a trampoline. Try telling that to two 16-month-olds. Sorry Mom, it's a trampoline! Thus, some falls, some bruises, and some heart attacks. I'm sure there will be many more for years to come.

Now some good news. Zach had a nutrition visit on Monday. Considering that he has been throwing up more than usual lately, plus he has been sick twice since the Nutritionist's last visit on July 10, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. He is now 30 1/4" tall (previously 29") and he now weighs 20 lbs 14.3 oz (up from 19 lbs 1.5 oz on 07/10/08.) Whoo hoo. Mom is doing the happy dance. We are so proud of our little man. Keep it up Zach! So these latest stats put him at the 8.58 percentile for weight (previously 3.93), and 28.68 percentile for height (previously 18.31). PROGRESS!

On Tuesday, I escaped Cub Central for a few hours to attend a going away dinner for Sally at Uncle Julios. I met Sally through my LCMOM group. She and her family are moving to Japan, so I'm glad I was able to see her before she left. Steve didn't mind even though it was our eight year wedding anniversary. He was fine with it since we had our big family day planned for Saturday, which has now been cancelled thanks to Hurricane Ike. I guess we'll have to plan our anniversary/family fun date for another weekend....minus any hurricanes.

Emily and Zach both have started twirling to music. Very cute, except it knocks their equilibrium off balance, and therefore creates more bruises for them and more skipped heartbeats for mom. But it's still very cute.

Our friend Donna's dad passed away this week, so our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.

That sums up this week at Cub Central. Now we're just awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Ike. I'm getting ready to claim my all expense paid trip to the coast, courtesy of my favorite bear. Yeah, right!!! I feel the love!

Moody Monday and Temper-Tantrum Tuesday

On Monday the cubs had their 15 month check-up and along with it was an MMR vaccination. It made for a very moody Monday. Emily scream-cried all the way home. I think it was a mean combination of being hot, hungry, tired, and poked by that nasty needle. She was NOT a happy cub. Zach did a little better, but it sure took a lot out of everyone.

We did receive an A+ from our pediatrician so that was good news. He always tells us that Zach is not a heavy-weight, but other than his slow weight gain he seems to be doing pretty well. He weighed in at 19 lbs 7 oz, and 30 1/4" long. Our Emily Bear weighed in at 23 lbs 10 oz and 33 1/2" long. Now she's a heavy-weight!

After our "moody Monday" I went out to dinner with some girlfriends and treated myself to a much needed raspberry daiquiri.

Unfortunately Tuesday was not much better. I'd like to attribute it to the immunizations from the day before, but my mother kindly pointed out to me this morning that yesterday was Tuesday. Of course, it was Temper-Tantrum Tuesday, it makes total sense to me now. This was our third bad Tuesday in a row. I am considering looking into a "Mother's Day Out" program...and I am pretty sure that I need one for Tuesdays. I also need another daiquiri.

I have decided to try making my own baby food. This should be interesting! We've decided to start with the basic vegetables, so last night I blended up some carrots, green beans, and peas. The recommended way is to freeze the food in covered ice-cube trays and then thaw out cubes as needed. So I bought special little trays, and am currently thawing some out for dinner. We'll see how well they like it. I'm hoping that it will be more flavorful than the jarred stuff, and maybe Zach will like it a little better and start eating some with thicker and chunkier textures. Keep your fingers crossed!

Thunder (and Zach) woke me up early this morning. We need rain so desperately, but it was just a tease. We didn't receive enough to wet the concrete. What a let down!

I've been tracking our stroller online...(it's pretty cool how you can see where it has arrived and departed from - American Airlines could certainly take some lessons on how to do this)...it has left New Jersey and the estimated delivery date is tomorrow. Thursdays are generally pretty good days around Cub Central.

Playing catch-up

It's Thursday evening and I'm desperately trying to catch-up on my blog. My mom (Grandma Bear) has been here this week and has been a big help to me. I am so excited to be off of diaper-duty for a while. I haven't had to put my HazMat suit on once since she arrived. Awesome!

On Wednesday, Kelli came over with her 6-month old twin girls for a short visit. It was nice to have little babies in the house again. It really makes me realize how much the cubs have changed in such a short time. Kelli's girls are just now starting to roll over. I miss those days where you could put the cubs down and they would stay right where you put them. Now, the cubs won't stay still for 5 seconds. Both cubs are walking everywhere. They have figured out how to open doors, they won't leave the curtains alone, and they are always trying to test the waters with me. I told Zach "NO" today and he looked at me and laughed. This is NOT good! We are also having sharing issues. Emily wants what Zach has, even if she already has the exact same thing. If it's in Zach's paws, she wants it, and she wants it now. UGH. Being the referee is just exhausting. I still get the "make-up hug", which I still love. I'll take any hug from the cubs, because I know one day they'll be too busy to give Mom hugs. They just grow up so fast!

Today was Zach's nutrition visit. I was a little concerned because the Nutritionist told me that when they start walking that it is not unusual for them to lose weight, but today his numbers looked pretty good. He actually gained weight since his last visit. I guess keeping your food down helps with that. We are now at a record breaking 27 days without a Mt. Vesuvius-type spit up. He's had two small ones, but I don't even count them. It's nothing compared to what they were! He now weighs 19 lbs 1.5 oz (up from 18 lbs 9.8 oz on 06/24) and is 29" long (up from 28 3/4 on 06/24). He is now in the 3.93 percentile (up from 3.16 on 6/24) for weight and 18.31 percentile (up from 17.35 on 6/24) for height. Way to go Little Man! Mom and Dad are very proud of you!

Zach's eating has been going pretty well. He's getting two bottles of half milk/half formula, and one bottle of Pediasure, as well as his three solids per day. He still doesn't like the sippy cup, but he'll take sips from a big person cup (go figure!). He still doesn't tolerate any chunky foods or table foods, but we're continuing to work on that.

We still have an occasional teething episode. Zach's been waking up at 4am, much to my dismay. At last check, Emily still has 4 teeth coming in on top, and Zach now has three. With all this teething, there is definitely some irritability issues, but that's to be expected. Poor little guys, it's tough being a growing cub.

Zach's latest appointment

Zach saw the Nutritionist today and I am excited to report good results. He now weighs a respectable 18 lbs 9.8 oz (he gained 8.5 oz in 11 days). This puts him in the 3.16 percentile. His height did not change (28 3/4"), so he is now in the 17.35 percentile. She did give us some Duocal to put in his food if I think he can tolerate it. Right now I don't want to mess with anything because he's doing pretty well. We've gone 10 days so far without any "eruptions". I am still continuing with the half and half (half formula/half Vitamin D milk). She did warn me that he may not show any weight gain at his next visit since he is starting to walk. He'll burn more calories, so it is not unusual to even have a slight loss. I am hoping that he'll prove her wrong! Today little man gets a big thumbs up!

It's official

Emily Grace has taken her first official documented steps. Mom managed to get two separate "runs" on video, the second one lasting an impressive 15 steps. So now we give the challenge back to Zach. It's his turn now.

Today was Zach's nutrition appointment. How fitting that it fell on Friday the 13th. Here are his latest stats: Weight: 18 lbs 1.3 oz, and length: 28 3/4". He is in the 2.13 percentile for weight and the 15.63 percentile for height. So for those that have been keeping up, he has managed to gain some weight, but he has fallen some percentile points for both weight and length. ***SIGH*** So depressing considering that he went 20 puke-free days. But I guess any ground that we managed to gain then was lost in the last two weeks where he managed to spit-up 8 of the past 12 days. It's hard to narrow down what caused the spitting up to restart. He really seemed to like the Pediasure but he started spitting up after three days of it and has basically not stopped since. We're not sure if the Pediasure is the reason or not. It does have a higher calorie content than he is used to, and maybe his system just isn't ready to handle it yet. The Nutritionist gave us some new stuff to try. It's called Vital Jr. It costs on average $1800/month. You must be kidding me. I'm secretly hoping he hates the stuff. We are also going to try whole milk supplemented with Carnation Instant Breakfast for extra calories. A way cheaper alternative. Keep your fingers crossed!

Zach's latest appointment

We have been struggling with Zach's eating issues for several months now. He had an appointment with his Nutritionist yesterday, and much to my disappointment he only gained less than one ounce since his last appointment on April 18. I should be happy that he hasn't lost any weight, but to hear that he hardly gained any is really discouraging. He is now in the 3.39 percentile for weight, and at 28 1/2 inches, he is in the 28.72 percentile for length. He is going to be a tall and skinny basketball player. I am very proud of him and his eating over the past week. He was previously taking 5 bottles per day, but then out of the blue started refusing all of his solids. He would take one bite, and clamp his little mouth shut. Needless to say, feeding time has NOT been fun. So after much thought, we decided to drop a bottle, and little man has started eating solids again. Thank goodness. I am also very proud to say that he has kept everything down for nine whole days. This is MAJOR good news. And since we dropped that bottle, he is actually taking a little more in his remaining bottles, which is quite a pleasant surprise. The Nutritionist gave us some Pediasure to try. It is 30 cal, vanilla flavored. Things are going so well right now, I'm a little afraid to "rock the boat". I am not too optimistic about giving him something new, because nothing has worked out so far. He hasn't been able to keep down anything with the higher calorie content and believe me, we've tried everything...thickeners, Neocate (this stuff must be made of gold, I'm a little relieved he didn't like this one, who can afford it at $40 per can???), Alimentum (UGH...who can blame him for not liking this one??? It smells like something you'd feed a farm animal.), Benecalorie, and a list of other formulas too numerous to mention....

We have really been trying to eat dinner at the dinner table. Since it has been just the two of us for so long, we have really become accustomed to eating out or eating in front of the TV. Now that we are a family, I want to have family meals, plus it's a good way for the cubs to start experiencing new foods. Zach has no interest in this at all. He generally gets a tad fussy during dinner, but I'm determined to stick it out. Emily on the other hand, is quite a little sneak. We were enjoying a fabulous meal of grilled cheese and tater tots (quick and easy for hockey night --- GO STARS), and that little girl reached over and stole a tater tot right off my plate. I retrieved it from her, broke it open and gave her some of the inside potato. My chunky monkey certainly did not need the fried part of the potato. She is definitely my little girl, she LOVES potatoes.

Little Emily bear is now down to one bottle a day. Of course, it's the night-time bottle and I just don't know how we'll be able to live without it. Otherwise, she's been doing great. She now enjoys her milk from her sippy cup and has been trying some more new foods. Recently she has been gobbling down cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is one of those foods that is thick enough for Emily to try spoon feeding herself, and she does a really good job. I did notice yesterday that she spoon feeds herself with her left hand. That may be my doing, since that is the hand I put the spoon in, so today I'm planning on making an effort to let her choose which hand to use.