Weights, Royals, and Scratches

Max and Harper are 15 months old! We are close to saying they are 1 and a half. A HALF! They turned 15 months on the 11th but for some reason their age sinks in when we make a visit to the doctor. We had their 15 month appointment today. They only got one shot this time. Woo-hoo!


Dr. C was impressed by them. They are meeting their milestones way ahead of schedule and are growing right on pace with what they expect. They are just normal toddlers. We are even experiencing temper tantrums. Bad! Max throws himself on the ground and kicks, thrashes, and rolls around on the ground all while screaming in this ear-shattering high pitch squeal. It. Is. Awful. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh. He just looks so pathetic. It is mostly caused by not getting what he wants when he wants it. (He has a really tough life.) For now, we are just ignoring the tantrums in hopes they go away. After a few minutes, he will pick himself up and then act like nothing has happened. He will go back to playing, talking, and smiling. Such a little weirdo.


Max weighed 22.25 pounds and was 30.5 inches long. It put him in the 30% range. His head circumference was, of course, in the 78%! Harper weighed 21.81 pounds and was 29.25 inches. It puts her in the 24% range. Her head was in the 50%.


They really are changing so much. They are losing baby weight and looking like kids.


We live in Kansas City and it is such an exciting time for our city. My husband and I have been huge Royals fans for our entire lives. When we met, we instantly bonded over our love for our Kansas City sports teams. We have been to many games and are so excited to FINALLY see our team in the World Series. I was 2 the last time they won the World Series! Max and Harper are destined to be Royals fans (and Chiefs fans). They don't have a choice.

Also, remember me telling about Harper's scratch she got at daycare? (HERE) Well, the doctor thinks that this is going to be a permanent scar for Harps. I am so sad for her. It is on her face. I understand that a scar on her knee from falling or a scar on her finger. But her face! He said it will lighten and fade some but it looks like she will always have it. We are using Mederma for kids. Any other ideas of what we can use? She is still as cute as can be. I know it could have been worse, but it just makes me so angry that she will always have this. I hate to blame our daycare or the daycare worker. But I find myself doing just that. I think it makes me feel guilty that it could have been prevented if I didn't work...they wouldn't be at daycare. I know I need to let it go but it makes me feel so bad.

You can see the scratch of her right cheek in the above Royals photos and here is a closer one from last weekend.

More "non-update-like" posts are floating in my mind. Still just clearing it out so I can really focus on writing again.

-Lisa-

Where Has the Time Gone? And other updates

Max and Harper have been growing, changing, and learning so quickly! They are over 14 months old. Seriously. It seems like they should still be like this...

But, really they are toddlers like this...

So, our house is a lot louder. It is filled with giggles. Blocks banging. Screaming from fighting over toys. Furniture being moved. Doors of our TV stand being ripped by the hinges. But gosh, it is so great!

Our house is also a disaster area. We now need new floors and refuse to have people over until it is done. (We needed new floors B.B.-before babies-but now we really need them!)

When can they start helping clean up??

They are learning machines, I tell ya! They literally can repeat anything we say. I told them "dangerous" when trying to rip the safety outlets out for the 100th time. Pretty soon, anytime they go near the outlets and we say "no", they say "dangerous". It's adorable. They talk all the time. We don't always understand their babbles but for the most part we can communicate pretty well. They sign "more" but also say "more" now when they sign. They say and sign "all done" and "milk". They say "uh-oh" for everything. Here is another list of their words: night-night, bye-bye, hello, hey, ball, dog, momma, dada, no, thank you, diaper, toothbrush, Bella, Grampa.

Many other words they can repeat but they don't really use when they are talking to us regularly.

They are not only walking, but running. So that's fun!

They climb like champs. On furniture. On us. On each other. In fact, Max has now started this aggressive hugging. I know that seems like an oxymoron but seriously, he starts hugging Harper sweetly and then winds up tackling her to the ground where he holds her down. All while appearing to be a loving brother. Poor Harps! She also gets the brunt of his biting. Although, I think he is getting better with this the more he learns to communicate.

We started a Timeout Corner. At first, I thought they were too young for this. However, daycare is teaching us a lot about what they can do! They sit at a big kid table, sleep on cots (not cribs!), and play on playground equipment.

The daycare teacher sent us proof that they sleep on cots when I didn't believe her.

Grandparent's Day at their school (All four of their grandparents were there!)

Big kid activities mean they get in big kid trouble too. Harper nearly fell off the slide on the playground and a teacher had to try and catch her and wound up scratching her cheek. Poor girl got a nasty scratch but I will take that over a head injury any day!

Harper's scratch

Max impresses us with his engineer mind. He inspects everything to figure out how it works. Then, this happened!

How the heck does a 14 month old make block towers?! That just seems crazy to me. Such a smarty pants! He thinks everything through...you can see the wheels turning. Usually, he is plotting his next move to get around the barriers we have in place or to do something he is not supposed to do. But he is such a lover. He gives the best smooches and hugs. But he also has a cry that breaks your heart. (Along with an ugly cry face to boot!)

Harper is the sweet, cuddly girl. She melts your heart with one glance. Her eyes smile from deep inside her soul. She is such a Momma's girl too! I love that. When she is sick or tired, only Momma can make it better.

Loves Momma and Me Selfies

They love this tub! No idea!

Both have been cutting multiple molar teeth. How awful for them?! They are handling it like pros. Harper still only has two top front teeth, three bottom front teeth, and now FOUR molars! Max has four top front teeth, four bottom front teeth, and now TWO molars! They are both working on more too. Thank goodness for teething tablets. They have made all of our lives better.


I have no idea how much they weigh or their height. We go to the doctor in October for their 15 month checkup. I would guess around 21-22 pounds. They wear size 4 diapers now and 12-18 month clothing. They are short so we usually have to roll their pants so they fit them. My shorties!


The twins have had their ear tubes in their ears for a couple months nearly...but we see their doctor that did the surgery this week. Max has an ear infection now but the tubes just let the infection drain out. It is gross! We put in ear drops a few times a day and wait to see the doctor. Hopefully, that will make it all better.

They eat everything in sight. Heck, they ate chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant last week! They are going to eat us out of house and home. And our dog is loving cleaning up the food they purposely throw on the floor.

No more ravioli in the middle of the day!

They sleep really well. There was one night last week that Max woke up at 2am. He didn't ever go back to sleep. He didn't cry, just thought it was play time. He didn't nap until 12:30!!! It was insane. And Jeremy and I were exhausted too! But normally, sleep is great. Although, I miss the rocking and soothing a bit...we just lay them in their cribs. They go to sleep on their own and self-soothe for the most part. Max still MUST have a pacifier to sleep. But he is pretty good about finding it in his crib in the middle of the night in case it falls out of his mouth.


Our lives are so busy. Between my two jobs, Jeremy's job, my parents' anniversary party, Halloween costumes, organizing closets, Zumba classes and trying to keep an organized chaos with the rest of the house...I am exhausted! But it is so much fun!

New Classroom before school started

Now some other random pics of the last two months. I have not been great with taking too many pictures so I am sorry!

They love bath time and splashing us. 

Max is now obsessed with his Tickle Monster hands

Pigtails!!!!!!!!!

Watching Dada mow

Dinos

See you soon!
-Lisa-

DOUBLE DIGITS!

It's that time of the month that I absolutely cannot believe that they are another month older. So I will skip over that and get straight into the month update.

Each month is met with more and more unique milestones and events. Max is walking all around the house as long as he can hold onto something. He may push the activity table as if it were a walker (sometimes with his poor little sister holding on for dear life!), he uses the laundry basket, coffee table, couch, and even us. Harper is more content standing and isn't really interested in walking but she is a crawling pro. No more wounded animal for that gal! She is having no problem keeping up with her brother.

Other milestones:

• Max picks up the phone and talks jibberish. He holds it like we do. Cutest thing. Check out the video I posted yesterday here. 

• Harper can wave hello and goodbye. I posted video on same post as above. She sometimes will say "Hi, Mama" or "Hi, Dada" or something that resembles that. 

• They are both clapping their hands. Max will say "Yay" as he does it sometimes. Harper has such an enthusiastic clap that sometimes she misses her hands but it is still downright adorable. 
•  They are only eating purees a couple times a week when daycare's menu items are too difficult for them. But for the most part, they are just eating what we eat. It is so great! However, I absolutely HATE cleaning the highchair. It is by far the most disgusting things ever. 
• They have a new found love for the dog's water and food dishes. So lovely for them to discover this! I haven't found them eating the food yet...I hope that never happens...but it will. And they will live.

• They love to wrestle before bedtime. It is our new ritual after story time. I just love seeing the excitement they have playing with each other and they also love each other so much.                                          

Max
He is about 19 pounds now. He wears some 6 month clothing (especially pants) but majority he is in 6-9 month and some 9 month. He wears size 3 diapers. He only has the same 4 teeth. He is a much better sleeper than he ever has been. He goes down quickly and sleeps even through some of Harper's middle of the night nightmares (yeah, she gets those).

Harper
She is around 20 pounds...at least by our scales here at home. She wears 6-9 month and 9 month clothing. She has very chunky legs so sweet girl's thighs eat her pants! She also wears size 3 diapers. She only has 2 teeth through but judging by her fussiness lately...she must finally be breaking those top two in. At least that is what I hope!

They are growing and changing everyday. Here are some pictures of my sweet babies.

Finding his first egg!

He loved those things!

Harper getting help from Daddy

My sweet egg hunters

And egg eaters

Most of my parent's grandkids

Max wasn't super happy during this photo shoot!

They look so old here! Sigh. In their Easter outfits

Harper's Selfie

Shopping with Mommy and Daddy

What is with Harper's expression here?

Love this

Seriously messy

Love their food!

Hi, Mom!

WE love our Nonnie

We love our Grampa

Trying cheesecake with our Uncle Curt and Aunt Carrie

Aunt Carrie is a big fan of ours!

First Mother's Day pictures

Sweet boy

Beautiful girl

Harper's evil eye to having Max's naked butt in her face. Priceless!



The 10 month outtakes...

10 month pictures

-Lisa-

Doctor Appointment(s)

In celebration of Good Friday...we all had doctor's appointments.

The babies had their nine month appointment. No shots! Best appointment ever! We got to see Dr. Cattaneo and love him! On a side note: he had on Sock 101 socks. Jeremy's new job is the sales manager for Sock 101. So funny. So, Jeremy is trying to sell him more socks now! Ha!

Max weighed 17lb 15 oz and it put him in the 21%. He has kind of leveled off which apparently is normal since he is pulling up, crawling, and cruising...and burning calories. His height is what I was excited about! He was in the 7% at 7 months. He is now 27.5 inches. This has him in 18%. Still not raising a basketball star, but I was glad that he wasn't too shrimpy. His head circumference was 18 inches which was 68%. He is a growing boy. We are going to have watch his gagging reflex closely in the next month when we check with the doctor again. Max has struggled with the more solid, chunkier foods. He gags at Stage 3 foods that have chunks. Also he sometimes chokes on puffs, veggies, MumMums, etc. Hopefully he does better in the next month because otherwise he will have to see a OP and a possible swallow test.

Harper weighed 19lb 4oz and she is in the 67%. Our chunky girl! Her heights was 27.25 inches, just a tad shy of Max, which was 11%. She fell off the curve a bit but he is not concerned here. Her head circumference was 17.75 inches, which was 83%. We were concerned about Harper's circulation. When she stands, her feet turn red and sometimes bluish. Of course, this didn't happen at the office today. But he checked her circulation and feels comfortable saying she is perfectly fine. Her legs are super plump (and adorable) so that could be reason why...nothing to worry about though.

They are just growing like crazy. I can't believe we set up their one year appointment today. The best 9 months of my life!


On the ME front...I also had my thyroid doctor's appointment today. My bloodwork came back normal. My TSH levels are in the normal range which is showing that the Synthroid dosage is right on. He said by me not feeling any different than before the Synthroid, it tells him that I am a healthy person. So, I guess that is good. I have only lost 3 pounds since my last visit with him. He would like to see me lose 20 pounds by my next visit in August. I would like to lose more like 45 pounds but I know it is not happening in that short amount of time. He doesn't suggest me doing any supplements or medicated weight loss options. Instead, I need to limit my calories to 1000 calories or less a day. Ugh! I know it is necessary but the thought of "dieting" makes me cringe. All of a sudden, I need a cake batter Blizzard from DQ...in a waffle cone.


-Lisa-

Seven Months!!

 I know that I say this nearly every month...but holy cow, how are Max and Harper 7 months old?!!

We just had their six month check-up last Monday. Max has been battling a couple of ear infections and then we had scheduling issues so their appointment was a little late. They took their shots like champs. I did better too. After the third trip to the doctor for vaccinations, I am getting used to the traumatizing event.

Harper has officially passed Max on the weight scale! She loves to eat! She loves her some baby food and can eat Max under the table. I don't think that we have found a food that she doesn't like. She takes a "beating" from her brother too. Max loves to pat her face and pull her fuzz ball hair. Harper hasn't mastered the crawl but she gets where she wants and quickly. She can angle her body and roll anywhere she wants to go. That and her backwards scoot and she is a mover. She also loves to sit and play for long periods. She gets so excited and it cracks us up. Love that girl! She says Ma-ma-ma-ma especially when she is tired and needs to be rocked. She also says Da-da but she said Mama first. Woo-hoo!!!

Harper weighed 17 pounds and in the 66 percentile, 25.5 inches and in the 9 percentile, and her head was 17.5 inches and in 61 percentile. So...she is a thick, short girl with a big ole head! Ha!

Harper wears size 3 diapers and 6-9 month or 9 month clothing. She still can wear some of her 6 month clothing too.

A common surprise expression

Here is a sweet video of Harper giggling uncontrollably. She sure loves her brother and thinks he is hilarious!

Max is a crazy, ornery boy! Love him! He is on the move. He crawls using a wounded animal scoot. But he is fast! We turn our back and he is into something else. We have started baby proofing the living room where he spends most of his time but we have more to still do. He is a pickier eater. He really loves pears and green beans but other foods he could take or leave. He giggles a lot. His smile brightens the room. He has TWO tooth! They just popped up overnight. Craziness! He says Da-da-da but no sign of Mama yet. Punk!

Max weighed 16 pounds, 12 ounces and in 35 percentile, 25.5 inches and in 9 percentile, and his head was 17.5 inches and in 61 percentile. So he is on the tinier side except for his big noggin!

Max wears size 3 diapers and is in 6-9 month or 9 month clothing. He still fits into most of his 6 month clothing too.

Here is a video of Max showing off his wounded animal crawling abilities.

My babies are growing like crazy and each milestone is bittersweet. I love to see them learning but it breaks my heart that my sweet babies aren't tiny babies anymore. Sigh! Heck, they have almost been out of my womb longer than they were in!

Watching the snow fall.

Sweet baby girl

What are we watching, sister?

This is the best it gets with impatient, on the move 7 month olds!

Out-takes! 

-Lisa-