Pregnancy.....take four!

Wow! So here we go again. PR is turning 40 this summer. We are moving from California in 10 months. I am almost at that age that is considered "high risk." And a baby has been on my mind...how much I would love Caroline to have a sister. It doesn't help that Hudson has been so adorable lately. Or that half of the neighborhood is pregnant. I'm finally getting a handle on the housework, the laundry, the shuffling...maybe not quite the disciplining, but I'm working on it. I guess after being an only child and always wanting siblings, I would like to give my children the experience. Can we juggle four? I'm not a fan of chaos, but I do love the idea of a big family...so it seems that chaos is inevitable. Maybe I'll shoot for organized chaos!

We told the kids there would be a new baby coming and they were excited...Caroline insists we have a girl. I think it would be wonderful if Caroline could have a sister...I know so many who are close to their sisters and I'd love that for her. I actually found a website, "Pink or Blue" that offers an early gender test at 10 weeks and boasts 96% effectiveness. Should I spring for the $179 for the test? Hmmmm. 10 Weeks earlier than the ultrasound would be nice...but I"m guessing if we find out it's a girl and I have an extra 10 weeks to shop for adorable little girl clothes, PR will never let me live down that $179.

So, we're at 7 weeks. My first official appointment is next week. As of now, my due date is January 16. I can't believe how accurate those due dates are- so far, all three of mine have been within 2 days of the actual delivery. Impressive! Seven weeks....what is that little peanut up to? I read the baby is the length of a tic tac and weighs as much as an eye lash (how can that even be weighed??!) Doesn't sound like much, but she (I'm willing her to be a she) has already grown 10,000 times her initial size. Busy girl!! I'm feeling pretty good, already noticing my need for constant snacking so that I don't feel ill.

Milestones

Time for updates. Hudson is 10 mos, Caroline is nearly 3 and Owen is 5. No big changes, but some notables:

Hudson

• At 9 mos his 2 bottom teeth arrived, and now 2 on top that are threatening to break through any day...still no hair other than peach fuzz.
• He is crawling ALL over the place, exploring and enjoying his mobility. He's not at all bothered when I scoop him up (miliseconds) before reaching his destination (current favorite play place is the toilet- ick!) and transplant him in some other "Hudson friendly" location.
• Other favorite pass times include Caroline's play kitchen (where he happily opens and closes the doors), the lazy susan cabinet in the kitchen (oooooo look at all the plastic ware!!!), open dishwasher, and open fridge.
• He still has a bit of a "growl" to his whining cry...which is actually adorable.
• Loves being tickled and has a great giggle
• Does most of his "talking" at night before bed
• Favorite foods- bananas, applesauce, & yogurt
• Favorite toys- anything he can put in his mouth
• Favorite item- this is a tie between his binkie and his mommy
• Favorite game-"If you're happy and you know it" song/clapping
• Party tricks- waving, clapping, high fives as before, and now recently dancing with his arms up
• Sleeping habits- 2 naps, 10:30ish-12 and 3ish to 4:30ish. At night, 7pm to 6:30am.

Caroline, almost 3

• Everything is better in "princess" form
• She sneaks upstairs and changes into her tutu after breakfast (and after she's completely dressed for the day)
• She changes herself into her pjs for nap time
• Talking more with her hands and is more expressive- or should I say dramatic?
• Finally, the girl can sit through long story time and listen to chapter books.
• Still a whiner/squealer and sometimes a biter to get her way
• Totally plays the "cute" card
• Favorite foods: cheesy eggs, juice, anything I'm making or that is put away in the pantry (think uncooked pasta, raw chicken, flour, raw oats, peanut butter out of the jar, etc.)
• Favorite toy: which ever toy is in Owen or Hudson's possession
• Favorite item: toss up between blankies (bunny and ABC blankies) and her tutu (see picture)
• Favorite game/pass time: getting into trouble, sneaking out of bed, Hullaballo, musical parade
• Party tricks: Shaking her "booty" (dancing in her tutu singing the "Shake your Booty" song)
• Sleeping habits:Wakes to wave to Owen as he boards the bus, ready for a morning nap sometimes (8-10) afternoon nap 3ish to 5ish and sleeps 7 to 7 in a pitch black room.

Owen, 5 yrs

• Very very bossy when it comes to Caroline. In fact, he has recently started "counting down" for Caroline to obey him. I've recently adopted this method, even though I completely disagree with it..."okay, you can disobey until I get to 1: 5, 4, ....." but it was working!!
• Very concerned with germs, which is nice with the hand washing thing but a pain with most everything else.
• Learning how to read, tell time, count into the hundreds (and by tens), counting money, simple addition, and mastering the blame game..."Caroline did it!!!!"
• Taking guitar lessons and learning to read music. Current songs are "Yankee Doodle" and "Mary had a Little Lamb." Enjoying but also disliking the mandatory practice policy I have. (If he practices for 10 minutes he can watch a Veggie Tales. Total bribery or positive reinforcement???)
• Favorite foods: still Mac n Cheese (the fake orange stuff, which he only gets at restaurants), pizza, mandarin oranges, pineapple, and broccoli cheddar soup
• Favorite toy: Leggos, trains (mostly putting together intricate tracks on the floor which I then trip and fall on)
• Favorite item: anything he can use to torture his sister and make gun noises....ug
• Favorite game:Hullaballo, playing in the snow, and "Putting off bedtime"
• Party tricks: He's too shy for party tricks. In fact, he spends the first half of a party attached to my leg or in a corner playing quietly.

Hudson enjoys his first taste of turkey

What a guy. I've been trying the standard repertoire of introductory foods...rice cereal, stage one orange and yellow veggies, you name it. But he had absolutely no interest. He wouldn't open his mouth, and when I tried to squish a bit through those stubbornly pursed lips, Hudson would give me a look that would make you think he was being force fed onions and lemon rinds.
Two weeks ago, I made a small crack in his diet code...soup! The kid slurped down pumpkin stew (heavily seasoned with ginger, go figure), chili, and broccoli cheddar (um, I know...he's not really supposed to be eating dairy- but it's probably fake cheese product anyway.) I felt a small victory had been made, but I was hoping to create an easy going (read NON PICKY) eater. So, I continued experimenting.
Thanksgiving was the perfect opportunity. Tons of different dishes, most of which I didn't have to lift a finger to create. I loaded the plate with a teaspoon of anything that looked mushy enough, nut free, and or something I might finish off if he rejected. My plate looked like an artist's palette- colorful dobs of this and that of varying texture.
The outcome: mashed potatoes, YES; corn casserole, YES; sweet potato casserole, YES; cranberry sauce, YES; parkerhouse rolls, YES (who doesn't like a roll made mostly of butter??!); and...turkey, YES!!!!! I've created an eating machine! Now he's happily gobbling up pretty much anything I cut into small enough pieces. He's still not crazy about baby food, but if I slip it in after the first course, I can get a few bites in before he realizes he's been duped.
Go me!
Also of note, at 7 (almost 8) months, he's doing the backward crawl, transferring objects quite dextrously, and successfully grabbing chunks of food from the table and shoving them clumsily into his mouth. He also tried to pull himself to stand yesterday on Owen's bedrail. Unfortunately, it ended with him toppling over like a tower of blocks that Caroline has discovered....
T-I-M-B-E-R!!!!

The first month flies by...and I've forgotten everything!

I can hardly believe my little Hudson is more than a month old! I must say that when there are two others in the house, I get less time to relish in the moment...less time to write down the memories in his baby book...and less time to just sit and stare. I broke out the baby pictures of Owen and Caroline at this age and have decided he looks more like Caroline than Owen.

As of 7 weeks, Hudson's eyes are now a deep blue...he has very blond eyelashes and the peach fuzz on the top of his head is also blond. However, the "friars" cut around the back of his head is darker. He's wanting to stand up all the time and he's doing a much better job of holding his head steady. The poor guy still sleeps most of the day...and I'm thankful to report that he's sleeping much better at night. I've started the "Babywise" method this week, so when he wakes up at night crying (he wakes once after the last feeding at 10ish) we change him, swaddle him, bounce him, and put him back down without a "top off" as my husband calls it. So far, so good!

His 1 month check up was last week- Hudson weighed in at 10.4 lbs and I think 22.5 inches...I do remember the Pediatrician saying he was in the 75% for height and weight- woo hoo!

Other notes from the last two weeks:

• Caroline found my mascara and decorated herself and poor sweet Hudson. Thankfully, it was the "conditioner side" which is clear/whitish and she didn't actually put any near his or her eyes.
• I only got peed on 3 times in the last two weeks.
• Hudson still isn't too keen on baths, but he does okay in the shower
• He's grown out of "newborn" size clothes
• I think he has long arms
• He really enjoys checking out the ceiling fans
• He's recently noticed the windows, art on the walls, etc and gazes at them wide eyed.
• He's cooing more and more- soo sweet!

Week 4 and still sleep deprived

First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all! I had a fabulous day, PR cleaned the house from top to bottom (well, he made a HUGE dent in the craziness that is our house, anyway.) I am very impressed. The little stuff that OCD people worry about like dusting the blinds and the baseboards and cleaning the clutter from the laundry room still needs to be done, but the counters are all clean and visible, the floors are lint free, and toys and children's accessories are put away. Ahhhhh. My second best gift was from Hudson- he smiled at me first thing this morning! It was so very sweet.

Week 4 events:

• Hudson's bruise on his eye clears (I was a bit worried it was a birthmark and we were going to have to nickname him "bruiser")
• Putting him down for naps is going much better, he's starting to settle himself to sleep
• His skin is still peeling on his scalp, ankles, and face
• Hudson bats at the little dangly toys on his play mat- what a genius!!
• Caroline drops Hudson off the couch while trying to pick him up- eeek. I seriously need to get a leash for the girl, how does she get downstairs so fast???!
• He's still trying to jam his entire fist in his mouth to soothe himself...poor kid. When will he find his thumb??!!
• He's finally surpassed his birthweight of 8 10.25- he's 9.6 lbs. I'm just waiting for him to hit 13lbs, that seemed to be the magical number for Caroline & Owen to sleep through the night.

Week 3: Ready for sleep!

Big events during the third week:

• Hudson looks at me and smiles (or is it gas?)
• TWO nights of sleeping 5 hours (HORRAY!!!)
• I take all three children grocery shopping- and don't run out of the store screaming!
• Caroline enters the room holding Hudson by the HEAD (EEEEEEK) (I'm still recovering from this incident, however Hudson slept through the whole thing.)
• I survive three full days and nights while PR is on travel.
• Hudson bathes with the kids, wailing the entire time
• I discover Hudson prefers sleeping on his tummy- ug!
• Hudson discovers the mystical ceiling fan and is completely enamored
• Hudson and I dance to Nora Jones while the kids play with playdough (I think he remembers the music from when we played it in the hospital)
• Hudson has still not gained his birth weight, though it seems as if he's nursing 18 hours a day (okay, I'm exaggerating...I don't feed him more often than every 2 1/2 hours...but I still feel like he's permanently attached to me!)
• I still have 8 pounds to go but would really rather sleep than exercise
• I cleaned the floors AND did 6 loads of laundry- woo hoo!!!
• I lust for a magical fairy or elf to clean my bathrooms every week.
• Hudson made some sort of cute cooing sound today (different from his sighs and grunts) that made it all worth it.

Hudson's first 2 weeks

Oh, I had forgotten how tiny and cuddly and adorable this newborn stage is! Hudson nuzzles in my chest (and on PR's) just as Owen and Caroline did...and sleeps SOOOO soundly this way. And just as before, when I wake him and pick him up he arches his back and sticks out his rear and raises his eyebrows (well, if he had visible eyebrows) and wrinkles his forehead as if he's thinking of something...it's just so sweet. I think it's hilarious when he's ready to nurse and he pokes his head and nose like a little bird, searching for the milk source. And his little mouth looks just like a little guppie, ready to drink. When he's done nursing, he smacks his lips loudly as if he's a horse.

I've been busy practicing my swaddling, oh what a miraculous trick! The burrito wrap instantly calms him, and how frickin' cute to babies look when just their little head is poking out of the blanket??! Hudson's still at that newbie stage when the poor guy can't stay awake long enough to get in a full feeding, so we're using our old tactics of wet wipes, undressing, and tickling to rouse him out of his "milk coma" and get a few more gulps in before he conks out again. The nights haven't been too bad, once or twice he's given us 6 straight hours...but for the most part he wakes or I awake and try and keep the 3 hour feeding cycle. (Some say you must ALWAYS feed a newborn every three hours, some say NEVER wake a sleeping baby. I say don't say "always" and "never!!" Plus, this guy's almost 9 pounds, so I'm not too worried he's a failure to thrive kid.)

I do have to say he has his fussy times....the "witching hour" visits us a few times a day. This could be due to the fact that Hudson's 2 year old sister is precocious and outspoken and his 4 year old brother is bossy and getting into that "rowdy boy" stage. How about a little peace and quiet already???!! The only remedy is me walking and bouncing him...and on occasion the binkie. (My first two never really took to a binkie...I wasn't hot on them because I saw how demanding and picky my 3 and 4 year old nieces were about the color and condition of their binkies...I was also worried about "nipple confusion" with my first two, so they never really got a chance to get hooked.) I could tell with Hudson that he's got a mouth fixation thing, so we waited 10 days or so and then we broke out a binkie (after a nonstop crying concert from 2-5 am.) He instantly knew to draw his hand in over his mouth to keep it from falling- what a smarty pants! Owen really needed a serious bounce to settle down...I remember breaking a sweat at night while I cranked out the mini squats to calm him. Which I can't really complain about, I'm sure they helped me shed those baby pounds!

I have to say, I'll be happy once we get him into more of a routine and he starts to distinguish his days and nights...that's my challenge for next week.

Other observations
...his eyes are already turning from grey to bluish.
He still pees on us almost every time we change him, even after we try the wipee trick.
Today for the first time he had a little spit up when we burped him...oh I hope he doesn't have reflux!
He gave himself a black eye on day two...the bruise on his cheek bone is fading but the bruise on his eye lid is still there...maybe it's a birthmark?
His hair is definitely white/blond underneath...will his hair fall out? Will he get the "old man" hairstyle that Owen had, bald on the top with a ring of hair around the sides?
He seems to have long toes to me...let's hope he inherits PR's height and not mine!
Whenever we lay him on the Boppy, swaddled, he does a full inspection of the room (even if we thought he was headed for dreamland.)
He cries a lot like Owen did, where his voice will crack and get horse and shrill like a bird. It sounds so pathetic you've got to love it!
We broke out Owen and Caroline's baby books and he looks just like Caroline did at this age, with a bit more hair.
He finally fits into the newborn diapers without us having to fold them over- woo hoo!
He somehow manages to pee up the back of every outfit. We've tried Huggies and Pampers and he can conquer them both!
His skin is starting to peel a bit in the folds of his fingers, ankles, and toes.
His little circumcision has healed and PR can finally change his diaper without cringing.
He just keeps getting cuter and cuter every day!