With the Texas summer ablaze and the babies down with another cold, we are left indoors to find new things to get into. This has put us in a bit of a rut and are trying to break out of it.
One way to get 1000 calories
Causing some of the stress is Noah's weight gain issues. He gains weight just very s-l-o-w-l-y. So, now Mari is measuring all his food and charting his daily caloric intake; his goal is 1000 calories per day! So, every time he doesn't make his goal, we feel defeated. Thankfully, he is tolerating everything we throw at him.
Sophia says, "Finn, get your own."
The boys really like to take out Sophia's hair clips so I figured they just wanted one. Funny thing, once they had one in their hair they didn't mess with hers. Not a good solution, but something to brighten the spirits if only for a few minutes.
Sorry Boys, I was bored
We received a special package yesterday - the babies' 1st birthday present! We plan to transition to a convertible car seat so they can face forward soon. We searched high and low for a car seat that would fit in the Suburban and not take up the entire 3rd row. Finally, we found the Sunshine Kids Radian car seats which are the narrowest on the market. A wonderful company in Massachusetts, Magic Beans, was so awesome during the ordering process. They have such cool toys and gifts for new babies. They extended us a special multiples offer and since they are out of state we didn't have to pay any state tax...great savings all the way around. Thanks for your help with this, Sarah!
Yea! New Car Seats...and the Boxes Double as Toys
Also, it has been 11 months in the making but Mari got the gift she has been waiting for - "Mama-mama!" What a sweet sound it is to hear that little word come out of that little mouth - it has never meant so much to hear that word.
P.S. Drew, Sav, Ben & Ethan: Happy 1st birthday!!! And congrats to momma Suz and dada Joe on reaching the one-year mark so gracefully!
12 comments:
The dairy council might be interested in that first picture.
Love the title of this one! And those hair clips...I have no words. :)
I just looked at the clock and realized I need to stop playing with photos on the computer, and get to bed for work in the morning-but so glad I tuned in here first! All so adorable and amazing as usual. Noah-try sneaking some chocolate dessert, plenty of calories there. Growing up so fast-saying new words and getting big kid carseats. Miss you. Much love! (and maybe I will have to finish just a few more photos for my blog) "May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice!" Proverbs 23:25
good morning "mamma" - I can't believe the kids are almost 1-year old........too cute for words. I loved all the kids in the hairclips. How young kids start with "so and so has something I don't!!". My brother was born (years ago) without an esophagus. After the situation was fixed his doctor told us that he would never be a heavier person because of it - just a thought. happy days to you all - Debbie
I love the update! I will have to investigate those car seats, we have a Suburban too! Although, I think it will be quite some time before our little ones get to turn around. Cullen is our heavyweight at 18 lbs and Tyger is brining up the rear at 15.
We are heading to the beach this weekend. I am packing and it is going to take the Suburban pulling an enclosed trailer (not kidding) to get us there...pray for my sanity please! Sorry to type an epistle on your comments!
Love yall,
Jac
Magic Beans ROCKS!!! I've been visiting them with various sets of twins for years - in store they have a nice little playspace. Glad they were just as helpful outside of real life!!
The family I work for now is having similar troubles with weight gain for on of the twins. We started using Duocal about a month ago per the suggestion of a nutritionist and pediatric GI specialist. It is outrageously expensive but we just mix it in any purees or milk and it increases the calorie intake. Supposedly flavorless but I've noticed it thins the food a little, like breastmilk can.
I found it here, http://www.allegromedical.com/dietary-supplements-c522/duocal-powder-p190357.html
But I'd suggest talking to your doctor or visiting a nutritionist. If they think it might be helpful they are likely to give you a can or two for free to get you started.
Good luck - I know the calorie counting and worrying can be so exhausting - I feel it but mostly I see it with the kiddos parents. I think it's tougher on you guys (the parents) than on the kiddies. Good Luck!
Oh, and one last thought. Here we work on the most bang for our buck. The Duocal can be very loosening (thin poops) and we eat a lot of bananas - they are high in calories and helpful for tightening things up, my suggestion though is Bananacado, bananas pureed with avocado. I know it sounds odd but the kids LOVE IT!!! Full of fat and calories - the good kind - and for variety you can mix in plain yogurt, chevre or cottage cheese that they won't even notice.
I'm finally getting over here to visit your blog... your babes are ADORABLE! I love their names. I am amazed at 2... I can not even imagine how in awe i would be at 4. Wow!
have a great day!
brittany
I love the update. We have the same carseats and they are great! VERY happy with them! I have a peanut too and watch how much she eats. She loves cheese which is great.
I also had one that refused to say mama. She would look at me and say dada and then LAUGH!!!!!! Needless to say she has her daddy totally wrapped around her finger.
ah, you got the radians! yay! we like ours. our kids run a bit big so we went with the 80s. big brother jared has been in his for a while now and it works great. i will say they are a bugger to install! a bugger! but after that, they are wonderful :)
what joy to finally hear "mama!" it melts your heart!
-fellow quad mom of GGGG and a 4yo boy
So Morgan, my boy, pulls Trinity's hair clips/bows/band out of her hair too and I haven't figured a way to stop him...other than putting one in his hair. If you come across another solution too, please let me know :-)
You don't know me, I have been coming to your blog for a month or 2 now, but when I saw this post I had to comment. Feel free to disregard, but I would be wrong NOT to share the info b/c it is surprising to so many. Please consider keeping your kids rear facing longer. Here is the info. I just wanted to share. Please don't be offended.
Rear Facing is the Safest Way to Travel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmUWg7QrC8
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible (to the limits of a convertible seat) for the best protection, which would be to 30-35 lbs. OR when the head is 1-inch from the top of the carseat.
http://babyproducts.about.com/od/carseats/qt/rear_facing.htm
According to NHTSA, a rear-facing car seat is 71 percent safer than no restraint at all, and a forward-facing car seat is 54 percent safer than no restraint at all.
When a child is forward-facing, there is a lot of stress put on his/her neck in a crash. The weight of a child's head in a crash causes the spinal column to stretch...the spinal cord, however, is NOT meant to stretch! This can cause a tear...which means paralysis or even death. This is referred to as "internal decapitation"...the child's head would be slumped forward and it would look as though he/she was sleeping. It doesn't matter if the child has great head control...that means nothing. New data is showing that a forward-facing child is 4 times more likely to be seriously injured or killed than a rear-facing child of the same age.
(note: having a carseat that allows tethering RFing reduces this risk (only two brands on the market currently allow this feature, Britax and Sunshine kids). New carseats can almost always can be tethered FFing which reduces head excursion in an accident. Even older cars can be retrofitted to add Top Tether Anchors)
Rear-facing seats do such a great job of protecting children because the back of the carseat absorbs the crash forces. The child's head, neck, and spine are kept in alignment, allowing the carseat to absorb the forces. The child's head is also kept contained in the carseat, decreasing the risk of coming into contact with projectiles.
More RF info:
1) rear-end collisions are less frequent than front-end collisions
2) rear-end collisions statistically occur at much lower impact speeds than front-end collisions
3) side impact collisions are less dangerous when RFing because of the way the carseat rotates in a side-impact collision.
4.) A forward-facing child under 2 years old is 4 times MORE likely to be killed or seriously injured in a crash and that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for as long as possible for the best protection and that there has never been a single reported case of hip/leg/foot injury from rear-facing.
5.)What about big babies? A 95th percentile baby may look stronger than his 5th percentile friend, but in a crash the bigger baby is likely MORE at risk if he's riding forward-facing. The rigidity of bones and the strength of ligaments in the spine is likely the same in children of the same age, no matter their size. And a 95th percentile baby likely has a much larger, heavier head, which will pull forward which much more force than that of a 5th percentile child.
6.) Many parents in the US think it's "weird" to have a 2 year old rear-facing--most children are switched to forward-facing around their first birthday. But if you lived in Sweden, the idea of a 2 year old FORWARD-facing would be "weird," as they keep kids rear-facing until the ages of 3 or 5. In Sweden, children go straight from rear-facing seats to booster seats! Because kids sit rear-facing for so long, fewer than 1 child a year dies in a rear-facing car seat in Sweden. If we also kept more kids rear-facing, we would not only see fewer deaths, but also fewer injuries--especially the really hard to fix ones like those to the spinal cord and head.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9916868/
http://www.thecarseatlady.com/car_seats/rear-facing_seats.html
Hi, you don't know me, but I have been lurking here a few months now. Your babies are adorable, btw. I felt the need to speak up just to let you know...and give you a bit of information. I will let you do your own research, but, I saw you got new carseats. Please think about keeping your babies rear facing longer than 1 year. It is SO much safer...actually a child is 4 times more likely to be killed in a crash forward facing than rear facing. Just google extended rear facing and take a look. I will leave it at that, each parent's situation is different, but I know that I was so shocked to learn this a few years ago.
ok, well the stuff I posted yesterday showed up when I posted the second comment when I thought the first never posted. Please don't think I am berating you. I just thought my first post never posted. Oh well. Please feel free to share the info.
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