Table for 5

We went out to dinner tonight as a family of 5 for the first time and it wasn't THAT bad. Definitely won't be making it a regular occurance for a while, but we got through it. The day care was doing a fundraiser at a local restaurant, which is why we went. Although Brynn had to be held the whole time, she didn't fuss too much. And Blythe and Ethan had decent behavior.

Brynn also had her first out of town trip. She and I drove Laura to my brother's house in Durham, which is 3 hours away. She was perfect in the car both ways, sleeping the whole time. Nice! In a few weeks, I'll be making another 3 hour car trip to my parents house with all 3 kids by myself. That one should be interesting.

So anyway, while there are still LOTS of chaotic moments (like last weekend when I had all 3 kids crying at the same time), we are having some moments when things are relatively smoothe. Or at least that's what I keep trying to convince myself of.

Ethan found a new sport

1 month old!

Can you believe Brynn is already a month old??? Where did the time go? She'll be 3 months old and my maternity leave will be over before I know it!

Anyway, she's doing great! She went to the doctor for her 1 month check up today and here are her stats:

• 10 lbs 15 oz - 90th percentile - looks like somebody loves her some milk
• 22 inches long - about 80th percentile - yes, she was 22 inches when she was born, but at birth they measure using a tape measure and so they usually measure about 2 inches longer than they actually are. Bottom line, she's grown about 2 inches in the last month.
• 15 inch head circumference - about 75th percentile

Other notables for this month:

• Sleeping about 7-8 hours (7:45 to 3:15ish) then about 4 after that (usually wakes around 7:00)
• Takes 3 naps a day. Sometimes it's hard to tell as one basically runs right into the next with a feeding in between. No crib naps yet. Usually 1 or 2 of them are in her car seat (aka her second home) and the other she is usually held or is in her swing. Will attempt the crib nap in another week or so.
• She makes an excellent walking buddy and pool buddy. She just sleeps in her car seat and hardly ever makes a peep.
• She's starting to pay a little bit of attention to her siblings. Blythe rarely leaves her alone and I think she's already starting to get a little annoyed. She does not like it when Ethan tries to give her a bath. Probably has something to do with the water guns. Or the water dripping into her eyes.
• Loud noises don't bother her a bit. As a 3rd child, this is a good thing. I remember when Blythe was a baby and people said to make noise and get her used to sleeping in noise. It would never have been possible to make as much noise as Blythe and Ethan together can make.
• She smiles a lot, but no "real" smiles yet. Just lots of gassy ones and it appears she has very happy dreams. And there must be something funny happenning in her dreams as she laughs a lot while dreaming too.

Brynn pics

The birth announcements have been sent out, so now I can post some of the pics that Lynette took of Brynn during their visit here. This was a couple of weeks ago, so obviously she has changed a lot since these, but wanted to post some of my favorites. Thanks Lynette!

Sleep update

Okay, so I probably shouldn't blog about this because my luck may change, but I'm going to anyway. I only had to get up once last night to feed Brynn! On Friday night I fed her before bed at 7:45 and then she didn't eat again until 3:15 (7.5 hours later). Of course, it took me over an hour to get her down after she nursed on both sides TWICE. Tired of being the human pacifier, I finally put her down and she cried off and on for another hour and a half. So really it wasn't like she actually slept that long. After 3:15, I thought for sure that would be the night I only had to get up once. But she got up at 6:00 and wanted to eat.

Saturday night I fed her at 7:45, but this time she was down by 8:15 and didn't get up again until 3:15. Again, I thought for sure she won't wake up again until at least 7:00, but alas it was 6:00 again.

But last night I fed her at 7:45 and she didn't get up until 3:45 (8 hours!). Then she didn't get up again until 7:15 this morning. Woot woot! So she is doing great. Falling in the footsteps of her older sister (who slept 9 hours at 1 month).

Speaking of Blythe, she has finally starting drawing family "portraits" that include Brynn. She has drawn lots of family portraits since Brynn was born and they always included only 4 people. Yesterday she drew lots of family pics and would cut out the people and then she wanted to put them on our beds. There were about 7 "people" laying on Braden and my pillows. She put 3 or 4 in Brynn's crib. A few in her own bed. And even though she told Braden and I that she was "going upstairs and would be very quiet and not wake Ethan", that actually meant, "when I go into his room to put the people on his bed, I'll try not to wake him up". Which she was unsuccessful at.

So shortly after Braden left yesterday to go work at swim camp, Ethan woke from his nap. Which meant I had all 3 kids. Awake. By myself. What to do?

Well, I took them all to the pool. I asked one of the regular "pool rats" in the shade to watch Brynn while I swam with the other 2. Brynn just slept the whole time. Anyway, we had a good time and it wasn't too chaotic. I'm starting to get a little bit in a groove of being a mom to 3 kids. Braden has started back with morning practices, so I'm able to get all 3 kids up and dressed and fed and get Blythe and Ethan to school without too much stress involved.

Meet the newest addition to our family

His name is "The Fish". As in "Did you feed The Fish?" or "I think The Fish pooped", and "How are we going to change the water for The Fish?"

He's a Beta fish that Blythe got at Vacation Bible School this week. They were very clear that you must have parent permission in order to bring one home. Neither Braden or I were there, but somehow Blythe still ended up with one. And she got food for it too, so it's not like she just picked one up and walked out of there with it.

She had Vacation Bible School at church Sunday through Wednesday evening this week. Being busy with Brynn, I only managed to make it out there for the dinner portion on Wednesday. Ethan also went on some of the days. On Sunday and Tuesday he went and had dinner, then watched the skit they put on each day, sang the songs, then went to the nursery to play with his friend Soren. On Wednesday Soren was sick, so instead of going to the nursery, he went with Blythe's preschool group to the various activities and boy did he love that!

Since I went to dinner on Wednesday, I also stayed to watch the skit and the songs. Blythe and Ethan were so cute sitting together and singing. There was one song where you are supposed to clap hands with the person next to you on a certain part of the song and they would clap hands with each other on completely the wrong part of the song, but it was neat to watch them getting along so well.

On Monday Blythe got to be in the skit with her friend Ginsey.

So anyway, Blythe and Ethan both had a great time, but I really missed them those days! They would pretty much go straight from day care to church and come home just in time for bed.

Baby food

They've kind of gotten over it now, but when I first brought Brynn home, both of my kids were very interested in how Brynn eats. Those of you who have read my blog from the beginning will remember one of my first posts about "babies eating boobies". When Blythe was 2 and I was nursing Ethan, Blythe would sit next to me with one of her baby dolls and lift up her shirt and say that her baby was "eating her boobies".

Now that Blythe is 4, she's way more grown up. Now she asks me, "is the baby suckin on your boobie?" With an emphasis on "suckin". Makes is sound like such an intimate, bonding experience between mother and child, doesn't it?

Ethan didn't really ask any questions about it, he just wanted to see what the baby was doing. Really up close and personal. He tried to move Brynn's head out of the way, because it was blocking his view.

I explained to both of them that babies only drink milk and it's special baby milk that they get from Mommy. That seemed like a good explanation to them because they really didn't ask much about it since.

I have had to tell Ethan many times that Brynn can't eat anything else because she has no teeth. So now he says all the time "baby have no teeth". Hopefully that prevents him from feeding her things she could choke on when I'm not looking.

The gown

My grandmother made a baby gown long, long ago and she brought all 12 of her babies home in that gown. Then most of her children brought their children home in that gown. My mom brought me and my siblings all home in that gown. It's now being passed down to the great-grandchildren. Brynn is my grandmother's 17th great-grandchild (my cousin Sarah had the 18th great-grandchild a week after Brynn was born).

Now the gown is so fragile that I'm kind of afraid for my kids to wear it longer than a few minutes. Blythe did come home in the gown, but Ethan wore it just for some pictures a week or 2 after he was born. Sarah was due with her baby 6 days before I was due, so she had the gown. I told her just to send it when she was done with it and we'd get some pics of Brynn in the gown. So, Sarah's son, Grant, was the 46th baby to wear that gown and Brynn was the 47th baby. I will now pass it down to my brother as he and his wife are expecting the next baby in the family (due in December).

Brynn's giving the gown a "thumbs up" in this one:

A visit to the zoo

Today we decided to head to Natural Bridge Zoo and bring Luke, Ashley, and Amy along. So, of course, you're wondering, "Do 5 car seats and 3 adults fit in a Honda Odyssey?" The answer...yes, but only if you shove Braden in the back seat between 2 car seats so that he's a little uncomfortable (at best).

So anyway, we got there no problem but it was a hot and humid day. The zoo is a mix of a "regular" zoo and a petting zoo, so we bought ourselves a couple of bags of feed and fortunately convinced Blythe, Ashley, and eventually Luke that it was okay to feed the animals. Ethan was never convinced. He did touch a deer one time with one finger, but that was it. Oh, and he also touched a baby ostrich. It bit him and he cried. Maybe that's why he didn't want to touch any more animals. He was much more interested in the various tractors there and asked me, "can I go touch a wheel?"

Blythe loved feeding the animals. She fed camels, deer, llamas, goats, and probably some others.

We brought a picnic lunch and ate it there in the hot and humid temps. I needed to feed Brynn, plus she was sweating like crazy, so I took her inside in the gift shop area where it was air conditioned. While I did that, Amy and Braden took the kids to see the bears and tigers (and a few others) and feed the goats. All the kids were red in the face with heat and sweating profusely so once they were done Amy and Braden told them it was time to go and they all asked, "WHY?" Ha!

They don't look hot at all, do they?

It poured down rain on the way home and rained the rest of the day, so I guess hot and humid is better that stuck-in-the-pouring-down-rain.

Fun at the pool

We've gotten to spend some quality time at the pool lately. Last weekend, Doug, Lynette, and Ada came to visit and we headed to the pool to cool off after spending some time in the hot sun at Blythe's t-ball picnic. They have a really cool underwater camera so Lynette was able to get a few shots. Ethan wouldn't stay under water long enough so there are none of him.

Then on Monday, my mom came back for a visit and we went back to the pool after the kids got out of school. Ethan had fun jumping in off the side. Actually, I think he had more fun watching the videos of himself jumping in off the side.

So this year is all about having fun in the pool. Next year Blythe can probably start summer league swim team if she wants to.

Brynn's really great at the pool. She pretty much just sleeps the whole time. Yesterday my mom and I walked to the pool and laid in the sun for a while and read books. Brynn slept the whole time. Such a perfect time to do stuff like that! I don't have to bring toys to entertain her or anything. And speaking of Brynn, she changes pretty much daily, so I'm sure you'd like to see an updated pic. Fortunately my mom took LOTS while she was here and I was smart enough to download them before she left :)

Possibly the worst night ever

Last night was one of the worst sleep nights ever in the Holloway household. Let me do a little recap of it for you...

Just about every night when I put Brynn down, she wakes up about an hour later. So I waited for that, but she kept on sleeping. So I went to bed around 10:15 last night. She woke at about 11:30 to eat. About midnight I went back to bed. Sometime after that, I'm not sure what time, Ethan came to our room. So Braden got up and took him back. At about 2:00-ish, we heard Ethan screaming (like REALLY screaming) in the bathroom. So Braden jumped out of bed to see what was up. Apparently he had thrown up ALL over his bed (there was nothing on his bed that didn't have throw up on it) and then went to the bathroom to clean himself up. He fell off the stool in the bathroom, which is what made him scream out. So Braden got Ethan cleaned up and brought him to me in our bed while he changed out everything on Ethan's bed and started a load of laundry. This took quite some time, but he finished and came to our bed to get Ethan. At which time Ethan threw up in our bed.

So Braden grabbed him and ran to the bathroom, where Ethan threw up more in the bathtub. While Braden got him cleaned up, I changed out the sheets on our bed. Then I got Ethan some Children's Pepto Bismol, and Braden took him back to his room where he fell back asleep and didn't throw up any more the rest of the night.

Brynn somehow slept through all that, but then woke at 2:45. I let her cry it out for 15 minutes, but she kept going, so I got up and fed her. She then woke again at 5:30 and again I let her cry it out (really she shouldn't need to eat AGAIN after less than 3 hours!). But she kept going, so I got up to feed her again at 5:45.

You would have thought after Ethan's ordeal that he might sleep in this morning. But instead I woke to the sound of Brynn's mobile, which I registered very quickly that she could not turn on by herself. In checking the monitor, I could see that Ethan had turned on the lights in her room and climbed into her crib where he was standing about an inch from her head playing with her mobile. Braden quickly went and got him and brought him to our room, where he of course never went back to sleep. Brynn actually slept through that ordeal, but woke up about 30 minutes later.

After I went in to get Brynn, I fed her and Ethan came in so I could read him a book while I fed Brynn. He managed somehow to sit kind of on my lap while I read and when he jumped down, I realized he had peed his underpants and therefore made a nice wet spot on my pajama pants. Lovely.

Name's Bwynn

That's what Ethan tells everyone, which in his mind is short for "His name is Bwynn". Maybe he's in denial that it's a girl.

Although I think he likes the new baby, he has regressed some. He is having more potty accidents, especially at school where he was having almost none before she was born. And he's still getting up in the night sometimes (or 3 times like last night). One of the times last night was actually to go pee in the potty, which was an improvement and his pull-up was dry this morning.

What's most frustrating for me with Ethan is that I cannot put him to bed for nap or bedtime. Braden can just fine, but he is terrible for me. Everything goes fine...I read him a book, sing him a song. Then I try to give him a kiss goodnight and he suddenly says he has to go potty. He will immediately drop his pants and pull-up and wiggle to the bathroom like that and then of course barely go. But after that, he goes into his room and wants to turn on the lights and play with cars. If I try to turn the light off, he screams. If I try to put him back in bed, he screams. If I try to leave, he screams. So eventually I leave and then he screams and I have to hold the door shut while he cries with the lights on. And I feel terrible leaving him like that, but I have no choice. So basically, I'm done with that. Braden will take over that duty every night until hopefully he grows out of this phase.

Brynn regressed a little last night. She had about 3 nights in a row where she would go 4.5-5 hour stretches. Then last night it was back to 3 hours at a time. Ah well....I don't feel that tired, so maybe it just hasn't caught up to me yet.

Bye bye stump

Brynn lost her umbilical cord stump today. I think she has a cute, little swirly belly button. The nice thing about this is that she can now take a "real" bath instead of the sponge bath she doesn't like so much. Well, turns out she doesn't like real baths very much either. Or maybe she just doesn't like it when Ethan bathes her (cute that he wanted to though).

Actually, I think she just got cold as the bath progressed. And then she was really cold and really ticked off when she got out. Hopefully she will learn (quickly) to love her bath time.

Otherwise, Brynn is going great! She went for a weight check this morning and was at 8 pounds, 9 ounces. Her discharge weight from the hospital was 8 pounds 3 ounces, so she is well on her way to getting back up to her birth weight.

She was a little jaundice when we left the hospital, so the last couple of days have been sunny in the afternoon and we've had some sunlight shining in which meant I could strip her down and lay her in the sunlight. This she really likes and just chills in the sun (I know, such a shocker that my daughter likes to sun bathe...where does she get that???). Managed to get a few pics yesterday of her relaxing.

In the sleep department, things are going pretty well. A few nights ago she went a 5 and a half hour stretch (actually I woke her up after 5 and a half hours at 8:15 in the morning). Then last night she went for about a 5 hour stretch twice in a row. She seemed really tired when she went to bed tonight, so hopefully she'll keep at it and not fall back to 2 or 3 hour stretches.