I've Been Neglecting You and I'm sorry

It's been almost almost two years since I've written in my blog. :-( There is so much to catch up on. Violet is already 17 months old and I have not even written her birth story. I'm looking forward to catching up with you.

Update on Corey & Tyler's Eye Surgery

I'm sorry I've neglected you so, my poor blog!

Corey met two milestones over the weekend, within three hours of each other! He took three steps completely by himself and he said, "Dada"! He's standing on his own more and more and takes a few steps a few times a day. He's a pretty cautious kid just like Tyler always has been. Corey has eight teeth and this has been the case since his 1st birthday. He is currently 14 1/2 months old.

Tyler had eye surgery today on both eyes. He did much better than I did! He did really well. He was quite upset when he woke up from the anesthesia and both eyes were bleeding a bit. Rick and I are all but amazed at how he's acting so normally! He received some pain medication after he woke up at the surgery center and we were told he'd likely need Motrin or Tylenol over the next day or so. Nope, he has not complained once that he's in any pain. We go to the eye doctor tomorrow for a follow up visit and then we go back in another month or so. The surgery has a 80-90% success rate so we're hopeful.

Corey's 9 Month Update

Corey turned 9 months old on the 12th! He's up to 20lbs. 3oz. and is in the 25-50th percentile for his weight and the 25th percentile for height. Tonight he 'pulled to stand' for the first time. He now has two teeth, his bottom middle ones. The first one came in six weeks ago and the second one came in last week. He crawled for the first time the day he turned 7 months old and he sat unassisted the day after that. Rick and I are so pleased with how he's doing.

The bad news is that Corey has only slept through the night ONCE! Once in 9 months. It was the day before Thanksgiving. We sure were thankful for that but it was short lived.

I stopped pumping on November 30th. Not too shabby; I pumped for 8 1/2 months. He's eating more solids and is eating some things with his fingers. He ate a Ritz cracker the other night at a Christmas Party. Someone gave it to him without asking me but all's well that ends well.

Tyler is a very good big brother and it thrills me and Rick to no end to see them interacting together.

Corey at 7 months

These are Corey's 6 month portraits taken in September.








It's been so long since I've blogged that I nearly forgot my password! These past months have gone by so quickly. Corey is growing like a weed and is trying to keep up with his brother. I'm already saying something that I didn't think I'd say for at least another 6 months, "Tyler, share your toys." People forewarned me that second children typically develop faster in an attempt to keep up with their older sibling. Holy cow, that's true!!!!

Tyler says something that completely cracks me and Rick up, "My baby's not sharing." What he means is, "The baby keeps trying to take my football men (like action figures) and I don't want to share them with him." This is a daily struggle because those football men are not safe for Corey to play with. Sometimes Tyler simply goes upstairs to play with them. Who can blame him? Those are his most special toys.

Corey also loves the power cord to my computer. Yikes. I have to put it away whenever I'm not using it.

At 5 1/2 months old he started to army crawl. It appeared that he'd regular crawl at any second. Funny enough, like 2 days after he turned 7 months old he started to regular crawl. And this kid is fast! I guess I'll have to mop the floor on a regular basis now. LOL. He's still receiving breast milk as I pump twice a day now. He also eats about one jar of baby food a day. The rest of his diet is formula. I feel good that he received breast milk exclusively for many months but I just couldn't keep up the several pumping sessions a day.

If he'd only sleep through the night. It would be okay if it were just one time a night but it's not uncommon for him to wake 2-3 times a night to eat. I'm doing some sleep training with him currently. There's just no reason he can't sleep through the night. He's not underweight; he doesn't need to eat so frequently. He's in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. Not too shabby for being 4 weeks early!

Grabbing Shirt

I don't expect this post to be exciting for anyone but I just wanted to jot down that Corey's latest thing is that he grabs his shirt a lot. He's also "cooing" more and makes lots of facial expressions.

Very frustrated w/ myself for not reading Baby Wise a lot sooner, like when I was pregnant. Trying to read it now but so busy. This kiddo is running me raged w/ his lack of a sleeping schedule. Not bragging but it's obvious he's in love w/ his Momma. Tyler continues to be a good big brother and Rick and I are proud of him.

Still pumping five times a day, giving him breast milk exclusively. In fact, gotta jet, it's time to pump. It's always time to pump......

Ten Weeks Old

I wish I had more time to blog because there are many things going on in my family's life that are "blogworthy". Corey is now ten weeks old! As of this past Thursday he weighted exactly 11 lbs.! He's already grown out of that newborn "blob" phase into a baby who is quite alert and physically strong! Actually, he was pretty strong right from the get go. Tyler was the same way in that they were both able to lift their heads well from the time they were born. He also has the same 'thumb tuck' that Tyler did as a baby in which they tuck their thumbs between their index and middle finger. Rick's mom said that he did that as a baby, too.

I was doing some skin-to-skin contact with Corey tonight by cuddling him close to my chest. He was in a semi-upright position and I was surprised by how well he could arch his head, neck and back. I gaze into his eyes a lot. I absolutely love doing that. He has recently started to give me half smiles or he does this thing in which he kind of sticks his tongue out when he's happy.

His eyes track me if I move away from him. That started a week or two ago. He makes me feel like the most important person in the world. I suppose I am...to him. :-) He wants to be held A LOT! Tyler was not like that. Corey is quite different from Tyler as a baby. I'm positive that is because Tyler was a long-term NICU baby and simply did not have the option of being held all the time. I was head over heals in love with Tyler's baby phase however, I was okay with not being so close in proximity to him. Again, this I attribute to the NICU experience. Corey sleeps in bed with me (or Rick, depending on who's shift it is) because he's got quite an attachment to us. Truth be told, I love sleeping with Corey.

Tyler slept in the bassinet in the family room right off the bat. Again, I was completely attached to Tyler but I didn't feel an urgency to be near him all the time like I feel with Corey. I do not mean that in an unkind way. It's just that it was not an option for me to be physically near Tyler for long periods of time until he left the NICU. And then he was a bit independent right off the bat. He and I still needed each other but in a less urgent way, if that makes any sense. We were not co-dependent on each other. I do have very fond memories of sleeping with Tyler at nap time.

What continues to blow my mind is how much I feel like a new parent. I knew tons about Tyler before I even brought him home. But I just got to take Corey home less than 48 hours of giving birth to him! Holy cow!

I love having two sons. I love observing how Tyler acts around Corey. Ty is so loving toward him and is always concerned about him. It makes my heart want to break from too much joy. I love that my sons have each other. I love that my husband has two sons. My family is complete. When I think back it took us 2 1/2 years to get Corey!

Please, God, help me imprint all of these memories into my mind in hard copy! "Mommy brain" has a tendency of making me forget things.

Silly Ty Ty

Rick and Ty are getting ready to go out on the kayak. Tyler just asked, "The cat come out on the boat?" Rick and I laughed as we imagined the cat on the kayak.