Gigi's Stats

Ok, to answer the previous question regarding smell - perhaps?

She slept till 5AM today which is great, though of course not nearly as dreamy as her performance for dad. Sigh.

We will get there, in time. Last night marked her first night down in the nursery for the full night. Relatively painless for all. I actually can't believe how long I allowed her to stay with us...or that I'm admitting it here.

I was crazy with Ben (let me count the ways), kicking him out at 8 weeks. I think I was afraid I'd become a co-sleeper. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just know myself and once he was in our bed, soft and snuggly, I know I wouldn't let him leave until he was 20.

In retrospect there was really no logic to getting him out so soon since he was still feeding at night. And as mentioned, I was CRAZY. I vividly recall moving myself (and hubby, and Stella) downstairs into our spare bedroom at the time, "sleeping" with the monitor on my pillow, which really meant staring at that stupid screen ALL. NIGHT. LONG. making sure he was still breathing.

For a month. And after two days I was alone.

Thank God I'm more relaxed this time around. Seriously. I couldn't handle that level of insanity another six months. I was out of my mind.

Anyway, back to Gigi. We had her 4 month appointment today, here are her stats:

- weight - 14lbs, 13oz (75%)
- length - 25.5 inches (90%)
- head circumference 16 (75-90%)

No sign of the VSD!

At the risk of going on a boring diatribe, who the hell cares about head circumference? I don't. Nor have I yet figured out why it matters. I guess if they had a flat head? Otherwise, seriously, what does head size have to do with anything?

But I am thrilled that she is already proving to be very tall. Thank goodness for our collective genes on that one. Being tall means only one thing to me - being able to eat more. Seriously. More room to spread out those calories.

I guess we can staring dreaming about basketball scholorships too, but I'm a foodie at heart and feel comforted in the fact that she's off to a good start :)

hand foot and mouth virus

Ben caught the hand foot and mouth virus last week. I share with you b/c I had never heard of it, yet when I described Ben's symptoms to three different moms they all immediately offered it as the cause.

And his symptoms played out exactly as outlined below (I pulled from a medical site but since can't recall which...).

In spite of what both the pedetrician and my OBGYN said about it being extremely rare in adults, I'm positive I caught it from him (test results anticipated back next week). Doesn't sound like anything harmful happens to babes #2. Here's the scoop:

Hand-foot-mouth disease (coxsackie)
This common, contagious childhood illness starts with a fever, then painful mouth sores and a non-itchy rash with blisters on hands, feet, and sometimes buttocks and legs follow. It spreads through coughing, sneezing, and used diapers, so wash hands often when dealing with coxsackie. Home treatment includes ibuprofen or acetaminophen (do not give aspirin) and lots of fluids. Not serious, coxsackie usually goes away on its own in about a week.


Ben also had his 15 month appointment on Friday, his stats below:
- 24.8lbs (50%); 32 inches long (75%), head circumference 19.25 (90%)
so he continues to be long, lean and big headed :)

Ben's Stats

Big weekend ahead of us - my sis is coming into town to visit the little guy which will be great fun. We'll also do some early celebrating of my b-day which is on Monday.

Before the week gets away from us I wanted to share Big Ben's digits from his two-month peds appointment, which was on Monday.

He is now 13.4 lbs (up from 10.2) which means he is putting on weight very nicely. He is 23 7/8 inches long, with a head circumference of 16 inches (I'm still unclear why this one matters). For those into percentages, he is 75th percentile for weight/length and 50th for head. All percentages are higher from last appointment.

Overall he is progressing perfectly (I think the doctor's word was actually "normally" but I heard perfectly).

He got his big round of shots and took them like a champ.

Seen here modeling his first shorts-set (thanks Rachel!), resting up for the party ahead.

Have a great weekend!

Happy 2-week Birthday Ben!

We marked the day with a trip to the pediatrician to see how we're growing. Good news - he has gained almost a pound, up to 8.1 lbs from his discharge weight of 7.4. And he has grown 1.5 inches in length! All normal and good. And the weight gain means the breastfeeding is going as nature intended.

I found pictures tonight of hubby as a baby, they are twins.