Lily stopped nursing now too. She nursed only a couple of days after Juliette stopped and then she was done so it's been about 6 days now. The positives though are that they're sleeping better and both waking up 0-1 times at night but I have a harder time calming them down. Ben is magic. He can calm them within a couple of minutes and I'm up there for an hour at a time. I keep trying though because he has to work in the mornings and because I need to be able to do it as well, especially when he's not there. I don't know if they just prefer daddy at night now or if they still smell my milk but it's really frustrating and upsetting to me when I try and try for an hour and then he comes in and gets them calm in minutes.
Ben's mom just left after a week's visit. We had a good time and it was nice of her to come out for Maia's birthday! Maia loved her princess cake and I think it turned out really great too. It took two nights to make but it was worth it and I actually had a lot of fun doing it. Her party was a lot of fun. We had some friends and family come to celebrate and I think everyone had a good time. Maia loved all of her gifts and it's still amazing to me that she's 3 now (exactly twice the age that she was when Lily and Juliette were born)!
I'm signing up for my first 5K this week. It's the Historic Riverfront 5K Run/Walk and I'm doing it with my friends Patrick and Kari who also did the C25K program. I haven't run in a week because my leg/ankle had been bugging me but I'm starting again tomorrow so hopefully I can get back on track to be ready for this run.
The girls had their 18 month appointment today. Juliette was exactly 20 lbs and Lily was 16 lbs, 12 oz. Juliette is in the 3rd percentile for weight and obviously Lily is way less but at least she's staying on her growth curve. The doctor thinks maybe she's having some reflux problems which might be contributing to the slow weight gain and seemingly uncomfortableness after meals. We'll try the Prevacid again and hopefully it makes a difference! Juliette is 30" and Lily is 29 3/4" so they're both 10% for height. Poor babies got 4 shots each today so hopefully they recover quickly from those.
Apparently now that I have my USB cable back, my blog program is not letting me upload photos. So yet another thing to figure out!
This past week has been tough for me because Juliette stopped nursing a week ago Sunday. She was doing fine with her cold but then one day she just refused and hasn't wanted anything to do with nursing since. This is bittersweet because I love nursing and know that I probably won't have another baby to share that with but at the same time it's lovely because she's now sleeping better than she ever has. Lily stopped nursing for a few days when she first got sick but now she has tentatively started up again. Honestly though, I don't think it will last long - it takes a lot of convincing to get her to do it.
Juliette has slept through the night a few times this week with other times only waking once. It's been such a change though and it's much more difficult for me to get her to fall back asleep now. Ben seems to have the magic touch with her - she'll lay right down for him but she'll scream for me if I leave while she's still awake. Lily is still waking a couple of times at night. I've been sucking their noses since they're still snotty but I also think she's teething. Bad combination!
Ben's mom arrives tomorrow to spend the week since Thursday is Maia's 3rd birthday. We're having her party on Saturday and I'm hopeful that her cake will turn out. We'll see how it goes!
I finished my 9 week running program (C25K) on Sunday so I'm pretty proud of myself that I can now run 30 minutes straight. I'll be signing up for a 5k here sometime soon with my friends Patrick and Kari (who are almost done with the same program) so I'm excited about that.
I can't find my USB cable to download my recent photos but I'm looking.
The girls caught a nasty cold this week so we've been dealing with that for the last few days. They don't handle being sick that well and they sure hate the nose sucker (aka NoseFrieda) but I'm just not one of those moms that can handle seeing any boogers dripping from my kids' noses! Luckily Maia, Ben and I haven't caught it but it's making us all somewhat miserable.
As soon as Lily started being snotty, she stopped nursing. She hates to breathe through her nose when she's got boogers and this is a problem since she's a thumb sucker. It is much tougher to calm her down at night when she won't nurse! Water from a sippy seems to help but otherwise we have to hold her until she's really asleep (when normally we can just lay her down). She's starting to feel better now though and after two days of not nursing she started to do it again this morning. I'm really happy because I'm not ready to give it up and I think she can use all the extra growing help we can give her!
Juliette on the other hand nursed just fine through the first couple days of snottiness until all of a sudden she started refusing as of Sunday. Not just refusing but throwing a fit if I even attempt to get her to try. I don't know if it's just because of her nose or if she's telling me that she's done altogether but either way it's tough. She is terrible at going to sleep by herself. The other night I exhausted my options with her and let her cry for a little bit and she started hyperventilating. Poor baby! She's always nursed to sleep. It is bittersweet because I love nursing and the time I get to spend individually with each baby and it's sad to think that this might be the last time I'll nurse a child.
Aside from being sick, we're doing well. We actually ventured out to Como Park on Sunday and had an awesome time looking at the animals. It was such perfect weather and the kids were happy to be out of the house!
Lily and Juliette had a follow-up eye exam last week too which went great. Their vision is fine right now and won't have to get checked again until their 3 year well baby visit. It's hard for me to imagine them being three! Their 18 month well baby visit is in a couple of weeks so I'm excited about that.
I'm starting to get ready for Maia's 3rd birthday party. Invitations have been sent and I'm trying to prepare for the crazy cake I'm making but I'm really excited to try. She's really into the show "Super Why" right now so I'm looking for a fun gift along those lines!
I am working on photos...can't find my camera USB cable but I'll get it going (Heather!) shortly!
Yesterday was a fun and busy day. We had our friends the Solts spend the night on Saturday (they just got into town from Florida) and then we all packed up and went to the State Fair on Sunday. Ben and I were excited since we didn't get to go last year (because of the twins) so this year we've been looking forward to it!
All three girls did great. There was so much to see and while I think that Maia had the most fun, Lily and Juliette didn't know where to look next since they've never experienced anything quite like the fair before.
Maia got to work on a farm (she planted some seeds, fed the cows, collected an egg from the chickens, ride a tractor, etc.) and then she got to sell her goods to the grocery store and buy something with the money she earned. She got to pet some baby animals (a lamb, calf and a day-old chick) and her and daddy got to go down the Giant Slide together. We looked at the horses and cows, ate a lot, walked a lot and just had a good time.
Not much else is new. Juliette is talking a lot - she can repeat things you say fairly well (the first syllable anyway) and is starting to communicate more non-verbally too. She likes to point and shake her head when you hand her something she didn't want.
Lily is close to walking but not there yet. She can take a few steps by herself and I can hold onto one of her hands and she'll walk that way so I think we're not far now.
Maia turns 3 in a few weeks so I'm trying to figure out her birthday party - I think we're finally going to give her a "big girl bed" since she's still in her crib! She has never tried to climb out so I think it'll be a good transition time for her.
I will post some recent photos soon. Everyone is doing well! Our Early Intervention teacher comes over tomorrow so it'll be great to see her. We took the summer off.
