Six Month Well Check

On Wednesday Caden and Colton had their six month well check. I was so excited for this appointment with their pediatrician because I had a ton of questions to ask him about feeding the boys solid foods. I forgot a lot of what I did with Logan in the past five years so it was a good time for a reminder on when to start certain things. They have both been eating solids for over a month, but I forgot when to introduce biter biscuts and other "chewable" foods. Our pediatrician would like us to feed the boys solids 3x/day, which we are currently doing 2x/day. He said that we can also introduce sippy cups to them, although they will take a while to get the hang of them. He also said that once they got the hang of eating biter biscuits without choking on them, that we could start to give them other soft table foods. The fun begins!

Since Wednesday we have tried a biter biscuit and have let them suck on some cantaloupe and watermelon. Colton dug right into the watermelon and was useing his gums to bite off chunks. He ate almost a whole 1"x1" square of watermelon! Caden ended up choking on his a bit and spit it out. He also made the funniest faces when I was letting him suck on the cantaloupe. I don't think he could figure out if he liked it or not.

They have also been experimenting with their sippy cups. I have been putting water and some ice cubes in them so at least if they can't quite get it to their mouths to drink that they get some amusement from the ice cubes hitting the sippy cup. Colton is better at holding his sippy cup and his bottle and Caden is trying here and there, but really has no interest in holding his bottle. He seems to have an easier time with his sippy.

I love this stage! As soon as I started playing around with different things this week I remembered doing all of this with Logan around the same age. It is so fun to see the expressions on their faces when they try something new or the look of concentration on their face as they try so hard to hold their bottles and sippy cups. I can't wait until we can pull out the cheerios to see how much they have to concentrate on picking them up and getting them into their little mouths.

And here are the stats for my Chunky Monkeys:

Caden
Length: 27", 72nd percentile
Weight: 19.0 lbs., 77th percentile
Head Circumference: 17", 35th percentile

Colton
Length: 27", 72nd percentile
Weight: 20.0 lbs, 89th percentile
Head Circumference: 17", 35th percentile

In short, the are the same length and have the same head circumference, but Colton weighs exactly one pound more than Caden. This explains Colton's rock solid torso and Cadens squishy one:):) My boys are continuing to grow so well and I love every pinchable inch of them!!

Recounting the Journey

Yesterday I was telling Miss M, our nanny, the story of how Caden and Colton were conceived. She got all of the details and it was probably more than she bargained for when she innocently asked, "when you had Caden and Colton was there a chance that you could have had more babies?'

As I recounted the story of our many failed IVF cycles and the one successful cycle that brought me my Little Monkeys I was moved to tears. It was so bittersweet to go back and recount some of the most painful moments of my life and then in the next breath to recount some of the most happy moments. When I told her how I received the call from the clinic that I finally was pregnant and had an HCG level I was moved to tears just reliving that moment and she was too. What a journey! It still takes my breath away.

After I was done telling her the story she said that it was amazing that DH and I are still happily married because she knows that IF can tear a marriage apart. I completely agree! I explained to her that when I married my husband I knew that I loved him, but I didn't know how much I loved him until we experienced IF. I told her that each day I tell all of my boys how much I love them and I try to live each day as one filled with joy and thankfulness and not as a "to do" list. Yes, there are many things to do each day and my days are filled, sometimes too much, but my biggest project is to love my four boys to pieces. And, the smallest things that my DH does for me give me the greatest amount of happiness.

Not only was it good to relive our IF journey and share our story with Miss M, she, a fertile gal as far as I know, "got it". She shared tears and laughter with me and an amazing amount of support for the IF journey we had, which is downright PRICELESS! It was so fun to tell our story to someone who "got it". Did I mention that she "got it"? WOOHOO!!