Kids Update

So it's been a while since I've posted and an even longer while since I've posted about the kids. So I'll catch up on the kids first and then later I'll show you the new house.

First off, Hadley. He is ten months old now and would rather starve than take a bottle of formula... which is about what he was doing for a while there. When we went in for his 6 month appointment, he weighed around 17 1/2 pounds and they said he was on track to weigh over 20 at his 9 month appointment. At that time he was getting up about once a night to eat (he's always been a very hungry little boy). About a month later he started getting up 3 and 4 times every night to eat. I increased his solid food during the day but it didn't help much. By the time we went in for his 9 month appointment he was barely over 18 pounds. The doctor said if he didn't start gaining more weight soon, it'd stunt his growth later in life too. (just what we need, since both Curtis and I are short, now he has the possibility of being even shorter than he would be anyway) So I tried to start feeding him bottles of formula to supplement my milk (I ran out around this time with Adelyn) but he wouldn't have it.

Soon he started getting up 5 to 6 times every night (my milk was going away even more and I think he was trying to have a growth spurt as well). I was feeding him as much solid food as he would take during the day, but it wasn't enough. We tried putting strawberry and chocolate Quik (not at the same time) in his formula; that didn't work. We even tried some whole milk too, but it must still be too early for him because it gave him a rash. Then one night I had a meltdown. It was the second night in a row of him getting up hourly to eat (and not even going back to sleep in between two sets of feedings because he was still hungry) and I would have done anything to get some sleep. Finally I found something that has upped my milk and he's doing much better now. He only gets up 2 times every night now...

What I wouldn't give for a baby that started sleeping through the night (only waking for a couple minutes of comfort or to get their binky back) around 3-8 months old, like they are supposed to. Anyway, about the rest of his life...

He loves to help, especially if his "help" isn't helpful.

He loves Oreos... and cameras.

And he doesn't usually like to have his arms wrapped up tight anymore when he sleeps, so we frequently find him like this:

He stands on his own now. He's working on standing up in the middle of the room, but I think it'll still be a few weeks for that. He loves holding on to your finger, or anything with wheels, and walking around. He is the fastest crawler I've ever seen. He never stops jabbering. He loves feeding the dog (and the dog loves that too). He loves climbing over anything he can find, especially the dog. He dances whenever he hears music, and sometimes even when he doesn't (there must be music in his head). He has no teeth yet... what a shock. :) He is becoming a picky eater (I was hoping that would never happen). And he is starting hit Adelyn and pull her hair when she takes toys away from him. Dang.

Next is Adelyn. She is a few months away from turning 3. She loves it when daddy comes home and now knows how to open doors. (Koda had a small lump removed from his head and had to wear a cone for a while -- fun stuff)

She loves attention. I was playing my flute on Christmas Eve and so she decided she needed to as well.

She loves baking. She likes to help mix cake or brownie mixes or cookie dough. She loves using cookie cutters and decorating things with sprinkles.

If we are showering praise on Hadley to try to convince him to try walking again or for standing up for a long time or for not falling when he loses his balance or something, Adelyn will do whatever Hadley is doing too, so we'll pay attention to her too. But it seems silly from her because standing is no big feat for her anymore! She's getting really good at jumping off things and can skip, gallop and run backwards. She loves playing with other kids, but hates to share (just like every other kid I know). She isn't potty trained yet, and isn't really interested... maybe some day. (one can only hope) And she loves animals and is constantly bugging Koda, trying to look at his teeth (pulling at his lips to do so), grabbing his tail, teasing him with toys, and hiding his chew toys where he can see them, but not get them.

Koda, for all the bad attention the kids give him, is extremely patient. When he finally does get tired of the kids pinching him and pulling his ears and lips and tail he just licks them 'till they quit. It's quite effective. He is almost full-grown now and can look quite menacing when he growls. But the only time I've ever seen him growl is when he's playing tug-of-war with me. He loves everybody and is very gentle, although he is also very hyper. So, sadly, many of the kids' toys have been chewed beyond recognition when we forget to pay attention. And his tail has taken on whip-like qualities and we're considering docking it -- it is at the perfect level to give the kids welts on their faces when he passes by them in a really good mood (the better his mood, the faster his tail whips).

I think that's it for now.