Zoom in on Zayne- 8 months

8 months was a busy month! It started out pretty uneventful, but the last week you were on fire! Lol. You haven't been super active like your sister and brother. Well, maybe thats not the correct way to describe it. But Raya and Kallen were pretty mobile by 8months and you were pretty content with watching the world around you. The weekend before we left for our Beach Week you were stationary for the most part. You did the whole get on your hands and knees thing, but were no where near crawling. In the week we were at the beach you totally started crawling and 7 days later were a professional crawler and pulling yourself up on all kinds of things! It was just like you made up your mind and that was that! In fact the weekend we got home I could stand you against the wall and you would stand up without holding onto anything for a few seconds. Crazy how that happens!

You also got your very first tooth! Your bottom left front tooth. And the right tooth was pretty close behind, but the 2nd one didn't break through until a week or 2 after you turned 9months. You had an easy time with your first tooth, however you stopped nursing this month and I feel like a little bit of that was tied to your tooth coming you.

I started you on formula this month and you're totally cool with it! In fact I think you might be a little extra happy cause you get a full 8oz. The first few bottles you chugged. OMG! Was I starving you?! If I was I couldn't tell by your moods, but you either loved the formula or were hungry. Lol!! I also uped your meals, so you're eating quite a lot now. 2-3 full meals with snacks and bottles in between. You can really eat for a little guy!

You're still sleeping great. I think about 50% or maybe 75% of the time you wake up around 4-6am for a bottle. You've been waking up at 6am on the dot every morning, so thats rough on me ;) But I feel like the other 2 did that every few months or so and then settled into a later wakeup time when they realized what they were missing out on (sleeping in!) So hopefully you'll do that too! You take 3 naps a day: morning, noon and early evening. And generally go to bed by 8pm.

Size wise you're in 6-9month clothes. A size 2-3shoe. Size 4 diapers. I think you probably weight 18 or 19 lbs. I have no idea how long you are.

You had your first audition this month! It was for an Avril Lavigne music video. It actually ended up being an audition for me. Hahahahah. It was hilarious. I'll copy and paste my Facebook status to explain. But it was definitely an experience and makes for a pretty funny "first audition" story! Hopefully you'll get more auditions this fall!

You still continue to be an even tempered, happy go lucky, roll with the punches, kinda baby! I soooooo enjoy my days with you. You bring so much light and love to my life. I got lucky with you kiddo!!! I love you so much!

xoxo,
Mom

21 week Bumpdate!

Had the Big Ultrasound yesterday. Everything looked great. And HE is DEFINITELY a He :) He's just under a pound and about the length of a carrot (according to my BabyCenter updates). Initially the whole family was going to the ultrasound, but neither kid took a nap before it was my appt time, and the thought of being confined to a small room with them while trying to pay attention to the ultrasound sounded like Hell....so Gentry stayed home with them and I had a nice little break. I LOVE ultrasounds!!! I could watch them all day long. He totally looks like a baby now too, so its adorable seeing him. The tech got really great profile shots of him. He had his hands up a lot. Half the time one hand was up on his forehead. I saw him open and close his mouth, put his hands up to his mouth, do a lot of kicking and squirming. Too cute!! There's something about his profile that makes me think he'll look like Raya. I feel like he has Raya's nose. I know, what can you really tell from an ultrasound picture? Not much, but there's something that reminds me of Raya...

Hand up on his face. Look at those arm muscles! 

 Feet

 Thats his thumb right by his mouth. Attempting to put it in his mouth?

DEFINITELY a BOY (arrow pointing at boy parts)

 His mouth is open in this one. Look at those little lips! I love how well you can see his mouth and chin and nose. So cute

He's measuring just a bit over his "Due Date Size" so I'm pretty sure my Doc will adjust my weeks, which is great! I've been so confused with my due date being the 10th and my weeks not matching. Anyways, I'm all on track now. So as of yesterday I'm 21 weeks~ and the Due Date is 11.10.12. I feel him move a little more now. When I sit down to take a break I'll feel a couple kicks or body rolls. When the tech was doing the ultrasound she had the wand thing way up on my belly. I had no idea he was so high up already. Every once in awhile I'd feel what felt like a kick, but I thought it was too high up to be him. I was wrong. When he stretches out he's all over.

21 Weeks!! 

Kisses <3

I was talking with my friend Stephanie yesterday who's also pregnant. She's due Aug 15th with a baby girl! I mentioned feeling so tired already. I really feel like I'm 31 weeks, not 21 weeks, and she said between the heat and being 33 weeks she's exhausted. The heat! Duh! I hadn't even factored that in. I feel a little bit better about wearing out so easily. I definitely have to factor in lots of breaks throughout the day. Its a bit frustrating because Kallen and Raya were just getting to the point where I could actually get a few big things done a day and now I'm back to square one. Whateves. Sometimes it drives me crazy having all these uncompleted projects around, but most of the time I'm like "Whatever, come in my home, there's piles everywhere, I don't care." LOL. So if you come to my house know that I have piles of papers waiting to be filed, or piles of clothes to go through and give away, etc. Deal with it ;) Steph, I can't believe the things you get done at your house! You're amazing :) And I can't believe its practically July! One more month and then its Addison's month!! Omg.

Newest Member to be added to the fridge magnets

Ps- Blog friends, are you having issues with the spell check? When I'm done writing I always hit the little ABC button with the green check and it highlights all the misspelled words and lets me click on them and get the correct spelling, but it doesn't highlight anymore. Anyone else having this problem?? So once again, I apologize for the misspellings :)

Summer School

Last Tuesday was Raya's first day of Summer School! It was her first day of any kind of school. She'll start Preschool in the fall at an elementary school down by the beach and I'm so glad we got her into this summer program before hand! Its through the Huntington Beach Rec Program and the teachers are very sweet. Ms. Raya LOVES it. She's been asking for months to go to school so when the day finally came she was pumped! School is on Tuesdays and Thursdays form 9-12. From the schedule they gave me the first hour is free play, the 2nd hour is sit-down time, story/song time and snack time and the last hour is outside play.

When I picked her up the first thing out of her mouth was "Wow Mama, that was fun! Can I do it again?" When I was signing her out one of her teachers told me Raya got 2 stickers because "she really turned things around." Hmmmm. I didn't ask questions (I was in line to sign Raya out and there were lots of parents waiting to talk to her) And she also didn't feel the need to explain anymore, so I chalked it up to being an "adjusting to school" thing. Day 2 when I picked her up she was crying because she didn't get a sticker...and this time the teacher had a chat with me :) Let me start by saying Raya is doing great. She's loving every minute of her time at school and always asks to go back. She's also never done anything like this, i.e.: school, having a teacher, transitioning to new activities when the teacher tells her to, etc. Ms. Monica explained that Raya was having a tough time with "sit-down time" and when they were sitting down reading Raya was up dancing and rolling around and then when it was "dance time" Raya was off at the other end of the room doing her own thing, hence the "didn't get a sticker" part. Her teacher wasn't concerned, just wanted me to know this was why Raya was upset. And it all made complete sense to me. Raya is incredibly active and is in a room with a TON of different toys, games, craft tables, etc. I totally get why she has a hard time sitting down for story time. We are also working on listening on a daily basis (or hourly ;) Everything I've read says the whole listening thing is part of being 3years old. And my 3year old parent group on BabyCenter is loaded with posts about other parents struggling with the same thing. I don't think Raya is a bad listener at all. She's made a ton of progress since she first starting "doing her own thing" (not listening ;) Its on-going with her. Some days are AMAZING. And some days she's lucky I don't beat kids. I kid ;) But seriously, she has tough days and it makes it even tougher that I'm pregnant and can't drink. HAHAHA!  3 is wayyyyy harder than 2. LOL!!! I wasn't at all scarred by the Terrible Twos. Raya never really went through that. But 3 is another story. I remember a few other Moms mentioning 3 is so much harder than 2, and I'm officially on that team. So needless to say, her teachers have joined in on the "fun" and hopefully by the time preschool starts in the Fall we'll have made some progress.

Day 2

Day3

When I picked her up today (Day 3) she was crying again about not getting a sticker. All weekend I talked to her about listening to her teachers, sitting down for story time, doing what the other kids were doing, etc. And every time she told me "Ok." or "Right, Mama." She understood what I was saying and I really thought today would be a bit different, but it wasn't :) She did do a teeny bit better. Her teacher felt so bad that she couldn't give her a sticker, but I totally understand and really appreciate her patience. Today she told me Raya would run from her. That's annoying. I know she's testing her teacher....but its still a bit frustrating. She never runs from me, but I'm also working with her constantly and she knows better at this point. She definitely ran from me a few months ago, so it took me working with her (and taking things away, or timeout, etc) I just hope its not like this the whole summer! Its only Day 3, so I'm very hopeful. But I'm not gonna lie, I've already started brainstorming the "Thank-you"presents I'm going to give her teachers on the last day. LOL!! And even while crying and walking back to the car, without a sticker, she still asked to go back "tomorrow." That's all the matters to me :)


She also started swim lessons this week. They're every night for 2 weeks. They're with an actual instructor this year (meaning I don't have to get in!). Her instructor, James, is great. She loves being in the pool and cried when class was over. She did spend a lot of her waiting time letting go of the edge and tippy-toeing around the edge. This was not what she was suppose to be a doing, but she got a kick out of the fact that she could touch the bottom. She also likes to go underwater. She actually thinks its pretty hilarious. The lifeguard does not think its funny. At all. Lol. She was very sweet with Raya and incredibly patient. But she too worked hard for her money last night. I feel like all the teachers Raya will have this year will need a Thank You gift ;) There are only 3 kids in her class. Well actually 4, but girl #4 refused to get in the water. So its almost like private lesson. And one of the other Moms is super fun to sit with, so its a win-win! The main concern is keeping Raya holding onto the edge when James is helping another kid. Ohhhh, my sweet little 3yr old!

Ps- my spell check was not working so sorry about the misspelled words :)

Sibling Love--Sept 2011

The older Kallen gets the more fun Raya has playing with him. They're pretty hilarious together. Kallen's favorite thing is trying to grab Raya's pacifier outta her mouth. They both laugh so hard when he tries to get it. 

Raya LOVES to hold his hands and dance with him. She use to do the same thing to our dog :) Every time a song comes on she grabs Kallen's hands and tries to get him to stand up and "dance" with her. 

 A little WWF

When Kallen cries Raya tells me "The baby's sad" or "Kallen's sad" and grabs my hand to take me to him. Its so cute how caring she is towards him. They really are buddies. They are so much like how my brother and I are. Its very sweet to watch them together. 

 I have the CUTEST video of them giving kisses to each other. The lighting is bad so you can't see it too clearly, but Kallen's faces were priceless. It was one of the best things I've ever seen them do. Like "Melt your Heart" cute! For some reason I couldn't upload it here so heres the Youtube link if you're interested :) It gets good about a minute into it.
Video: Kallen giving Raya kisses back

So I remember when I was pregnant and went to Costco I got so excited thinking about having TWO kids to sit in each side of the double seated Costco cart :) So during out last trip the moment I'd waited forever for happened! LOL. Its the little things ;)

And they take really great group shots ;) I love my babies!!! 

Kallen's Surgery :(

So he has a hernia. I noticed it about 2 weeks ago. I took him in the afternoon that I first notice it- his groin looked SUPER swollen and I could tell he was uncomfortable. I googled his symptoms :) and determined it was a Hernia (who needs to go to school when you have google) and called his pediatrician who saw him that afternoon and confirmed it. This morning was our appointment with the surgeon and she also confirmed it was a hernia and he'd need surgery to fix it. From all that I've read and after talking to the doctor today it seems to be a very simple, almost routine procedure. Its an outpatient procedure, so we'll take him in in the early morning and as long as everything goes smoothly we should be out before lunch time.

The afternoon I took him in seems like the only day its really bugged him. Some days its much more swollen than others. A hernia is when intestine slips through holes in the muscle wall and with his hernia the intestines slip in and out making it swollen some days and fine other days. What makes it herniate is straining or working hard- which Kallen does alot. Hes perfecting crawling and pulling himself up, so he's exerting himself daily. With that said, he's not in pain. He doesn't seem uncomfortable and, except for maybe an hour here and there, it doesn't bug him.

This type of hernia is pretty common in preemie babies. Especially in boys. He definitely wasn't a preemie, but he was a week early...so that could've added to his chances of getting a hernia. The Dr said he's probably had the hernia since birth but we didn't begin to notice it until he became active- which is the straining that causes the intestines to herniate. I always knew something was up. I'd ask Gentry every so often if it looked swollen to him, but it wasn't super swollen so it was easy to pass it off as part of my chubby boy's rolls :)

So I've done a ton of reading on it: What it is, What happens in surgery, Whats recovery like. Everything I've read has been very helpful and put me at ease. If I think about it I get anxious, but if I read about it I calm down. I'm sure as it gets closer my nerves will be a little crazy. I think the hardest 2 parts are having to have him under anesthesia (not gonna lie, FREAKS me out) and knowing my perfect little boy's skin is going to be cut :( But it has to be done, and the recovery seems pretty easy. They say babies are especially fast healers and the other moms I talked to who've had babies go through the same surgery say its a relatively easy recovery.

Soooo, they will call me with the surgery date after all the paper work gets filed. I will definitely let you all know the date. Any and all good vibes, happy thoughts and prayers will be gladly accepted :) I really liked the doctor, she's very nice and knows her shit. Its being done at the Children's Hospital in Orange, which is a great hospital, about 20 minutes from us. All in all, its not what I'd pick for my baby boy, but if I HAD to pick a surgery this would probably be at the top of "Best Choices of Surgery for a 7month Old If You HAD to Pick One."

I will keep you posted! The pictures are simply for your viewing enjoyment :) He just gets cuter by the hour. Its ridiculous.


(Hernia in baby, Inguinal hernia in 7 month old, Hernia in 8 month old)