Will & Ady

Today, I laid Ady down on the couch to fix her spit rag on my shoulder. Will crawled up on the couch and laid down next to her. He just giggled and was so excited. He sat up and we put Ady in his lap and he was such a proud big brother. He kept giving her kisses and putting his finger in her mouth. She was in a good mood too and she was cooing and smiling the entire time. We did get a couple of pictures, so that is good!!

I picked her up to go in the other room, and Will started fussing and was patting the couch saying "sissy, sissy!!" He was sad that I took her away and wanted to keep her in his lap. It was so cute!!

Ady's Acid Reflux

We took Ady to the doctor on Saturday morning (our clinic sees patients on Sat and Sun, which is awesome!!) as her fussiness with eating did not subside with the elimination of dairy in my diet. They put her on medication and also told us that we need to use Nutramigin formula (which is a hypoallergenic formula costing $25 for a small can!!) for her supplemental bottles. She seems to be doing better, but the medication wears off before she is due to have more. They said if it didn't work for the next week, that they will prescribe a stronger medication, which we are going to call and have them do.

We are working on getting her on more of a schedule with eating and sleeping. Up to this point, it has been hit and miss with both. She likes to just graze all day and night only taking 1 or 1.5 ounces at a time and taking short cap naps every time she eats. She has been waking up every 2 hours at night to eat, which is exhausting! I have started using the pacifier more and increasing the time in between her feedings. She did finally take 4 ozs today at one time, which is the first time.

She has definitely been a challenge for me and this family. I thank God for my mom (who left us on Monday) because I don't think I would have made it through Ady's first 6 weeks without her!

A Whale of a Time

Will's Uncle Casey, Aunt April and cousin Aleia brought him a new pool when Ady was born. We got it out last week and he absolutely loved it. It is a whale that is a slide that goes down into the pool. We had such a blast watching him play. We invited the neighbor girls and Will's cousins over for a pool party. It was kind of cool outside, but Will didn't care. His lips were turning purple/blue he was so cold, and still didn't want to come inside. He was so tired after playing all day, that he was doing the head nod thing in his high chair. It was hilarious!

We also discovered on Sunday that Will had such a great time that he ended up with a black eye and we don't know how or when it happened!

Thanks for such a great gift Casey, April and Aleia!!

Adalynn's Doctor Appointment

We decided to take Ady (Brad and I decided to shorten her nickname to Ady instead of Addie) to the doctor today to check her weight as she isn't nursing very well (for only two or three minutes, every 1.5 to 2 hours) and has been really fussy with all out screaming fits for hours at a time. We were concerned that she has allergies or some issue with her sinuses (she is wheezing, snoring and just congested all of the time). We found out that her weight is okay, she is up to 8 lbs 12 ozs. The doctor said that she is sort of a grazer and there is nothing we can do about it, but just feed her on demand. He obviously doesn't know what it is like to have a 17 month old at home and a screaming infant and trying to breastfeed every five minutes while she is screaming her head off. I have started pumping and supplementing with formula just to keep up with her and to save time.

Also, we found out that her screaming may be due to acid reflux. He wanted me to eliminate all dairy for 5-7 days to see if helps her. If she is still fussy, then we are to start putting a little rice cereal in her bottle to help keep the milk down in her tummy. If that doesn't work, then she will go on medication. So we are hoping that we don't have to do medication, but anything to help her stop screaming, we are willing to do anything.

My mom is still here (thank goodness) and is planning to stay through this week and is planning on leaving next Monday (depending on if we can get Ady a little happier!). Also, we have decided to postpone potty training for Will as he is regressing with the baby. He takes her bottles and wants to drink out of them and always wants her pacifier. He has been having meltdowns when I am feeding Ady or tending to her. We are working on getting him in a more of a routine and helping more with Ady insteading of feeling left out and meeting all of his needs. It is a tough balancing act.

Minnesota Children's Museum

We tried to take Will to the Zoo on Sunday for father's day. However, when we got there, it was a nightmare! There were so many people, we couldn't even find a parking place that was relatively close to the zoo enterance. We sat in a line of cars for about an hour just getting through the streets to get out of there. We then decided that we would go to MCM.

Will had a blast!! He was almost overwhelmed at all of the things to do. He got to play with bubbles, put on a puppet show, climb through a beaver's log, explore "Earth World," climb an ant hill, just to name a few. He was a little young for some of the stuff, but he still had a great time...so much so that he crashed before we even got on the interstate on the way home.

We are so excited to take him back again!!

Fish & Sponge Bob

We took Will to the Mall of America today to the Underwater Adventure Aquarium. He was so excited and just kept saying "fish" the entire time we were in there. We all had a great time.

As we were walking through the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park, they had Sponge Bob and Patrick there for photographs. However, just as we were getting Will out of the stroller to go see them, they went on there break. We were so bummed out, but Will still got to see them from the fence.

We try to take him to MOA every once in a while. He loves to run and loves to people watch. Also, his new favorite thing is riding the escalators. Today when going down, he actually sat down on the step and was taking a ride....it was pretty funny!

First Smile

Adalynn gave us her first real smile this morning! She has been smiling a lot because she is really gassy, but this morning she was in her bouncy seat and grandma was talking to her and she was smiling huge and cooing. She has a great smile...her entire face and eyes light up!!

Potty Training

Well, we have started potty training Will this week. He has been taking off his diaper, so we decided that it is time. We bought a little potty for him and he is really excited about it. He is not scared of it (which he is of the big toilet, I tried that first before we bought the little one) and is willing to go every time I ask. He hasn't gone potty on it yet, but he sits on it for a couple of minutes about every hour. I know it is going to be time consuming, but once he is trained, it will be so nice to not have two babies in diapers! We are starting with pull-ups right now and then will go to underware when he gets the hang of the potty. I just can't believe that my baby is getting to be such a big boy!!!

Addie is growing and gaining weight everyday. She was pretty easy in the beginning, but has now gotten really gassy and fussy. She has about three or four hours a day of just crying and then usually in the middle of the night around 3:00 am, she gets really fussy for about 2-3 hours. It is pretty exhuasting, but I know that it won't last forever (thank goodness!!). We were really spoiled with Will as he was such an easy baby, so she is throwing us for a loop!