Dear Mom, Dear Sev

Dear Mom,

     I was just reading through the posts that you did back in 2007 through 2010 and I noticed that there were a LOT of posts about HG and Blaine.  In fact, I noticed that you did monthly posts for them and the last monthly post you did for me was on my 6-month birthday and here I am 8 months old and, well, there is nothing about me.  I demand an explanation.

Love, Severan

P.S. I love you, Mom!

Dear Severan,

     My sweet, handsome boy.  I may not be spending the time here noting your every move but I am spending a significant amount of time WITH you - playing, holding, and loving on you.  When your older brother was born I spent a lot of time figuring out what the he!! I was supposed to be doing with a baby, working, and vacuuming (yes, vacuuming.)

     You have grown a lot in the last three months since my last post.  In fact, you turned 8 months old yesterday and you are crawling around like a BOSS!

     You came out of your Craniosynostosis repair surgery like a champ and have brought nothing but joy into our home (well, except for your sleeping habits - those aren't quite as joyful as your smile.) Several weeks ago we saw your Neurosurgeon and Plastic surgeon and they both agreed that your skull could use a little more support so we had you fitted for a molding helmet which you will wear for 23 hours a day for 6 months (and we hope not a day longer!)  You've been a good sport though getting it on is not a fun task and you have shed some tears in the process.  We can't believe how strong and resilient and amazing you are already.

      We had some family pictures taken just after your 6 month birthday.  Your older siblings actually look like they like each other.  (But you know the truth!)

     I love you sweet one.  I love your chunky legs, your precious smile, your perfect head, your funny laugh, your determined crawl, your big beautiful blue eyes, your tiny hands, your first two bottom teeth, and the way you light up the room when you see someone you love.

     You are loved and treasured and I thank God for you every day.

Love, Mom

Severan is 6+ months old

Here we are 1 month post-op.  Sev turned 6 months old and made it through the transition to home from the hospital.

Still in the hospital - swelling begins.

But, still happy!

We went home on Saturday evening - 2 full days after his surgery.

At home.  "You should have seen the other guy."

The scar.

Happy!

Here he is at his one week post-op appointment.

3 weeks post-op.

4th of July fun with the family.

As you can tell, we have a very happy baby!

Before and After surgery.

First time on a swing!

6 months old

Siblings July 2014

We haven't had Sev's 6-month appointment yet - mainly because I called too late and they are really backed up at the office.  I'm guessing that he weighs roughly 19+ pounds right now.  He's a BRUT.  Bigger than some 11-month old babies we know.

He's not sitting up or crawling yet but he can scoot and get around by acting like an inchworm! :)  I think it's time to get the gates out nevertheless.

Getting Severan back into a good sleep routine has been kind of rough.  He was sleeping through the night before he went into the hospital but afterwards he was up every 2-3 hours all day and night long.  I think (hope/pray) that maybe he's getting back into the swing of things over the last few days because he's slept at least 7 hours these nights.

He really is the best baby - always smiling and snuggling and being content with what's going on.  He loves watching his older brother and sister and his favorite thing to do is scream.  Yes, the kid screams all the time, but not a sad or angry scream.  It's high-pitched and funny and he thinks it's awesome because he smiles the whole time.

We've started him on solids but we're not feeding him with pureed baby food like we did with the other kids.  We're just giving him regular food - pear, peach, and banana slices, sausage, chicken, and toast - you name it, he's eating it. (Well, gnawing and sucking on it right now:)  The program is called Baby Led Weaning - it's pretty interesting: http://www.babyledweaning.com/

Not much else to report except that the exhaustion level of parenting three kids is over-the-top.  But Sev is totally worth it so I won't complain... too much:)

Hannah, I mean Princess, is 4

We celebrated Hannah's 4th birthday last weekend.  I tried to stunt her growth over the last year but it didn't seem to work.  She's such a big girl now.  Fortunately her voice is still the sweetest thing I've ever heard.  She talks big, but in a small voice and sometimes I just listen to her talk but don't pay attention to her words and then she gets really mad at me.  "Mama, did you hear what I said!?"  And her conversations with us are so advanced sometimes we forget she's three... oh wait, I mean four!

She's still funny.  We even considered starting a Twitter account where we could post all the funny things she says.  She likes to give me "Ugamunga kisses" (Eskimo kisses.)  I corrected her and she said, "No, I like Ugamunga better."  There was a fly in the house today and she was trying to figure out how she could kill it. Then she said, "Daddy has the best eyescopes ever! He will get that fly!"  Oh, Hanny.

Hanny loves princesses, pink, jewelry, dressing up (in princess outfits), painting her nails, makeup, and playing with her daddy.    Oh, and she loves Elsa and Anna from the movie 'Frozen.' - that's a pretty important part of her life right now!  And if I hear "Let it Go" one more time, I might... :)

Oh, but there's a dark side...  We have a sassy one on our hands, folks.  Look at her:

 
She looks 100% sweet, doesn't she?  Her blonde curly hair, blue eyes, sweet smile, and infectious laugh fool the masses.

The truth: Girlfriend pushes the limits ALL. THE. TIME.

It's not a totally bad thing: she is unique and independent and sure of herself.  She knows what she wants and pushes hard to get it.  She is smart, quick, decisive, and this little girl is a gift to me.

I love you Hannah Grace.  Happy 4th Birthday.

 

Update

Our baby boy is 4 months old.

We had his appointment last week with Dr. Miller.  He's a BIG boy :)

Weight: 15 pounds 6 ounces 50th percentile
Length: 25.5 inches 75th percentile
Head: 16.75 75th percentile

Severan is the sweetest, most lovable, happiest, most cuddly, amazing baby!  He is joy and laughter and goodness wrapped up in pure adorableness :)  And he is on track with everything developmentally

He is rolling over - back to front and front to back.
He is grabbing for toys and shaking them, quite violently I might add :)
He is laughing, a lot!  And of course still smiling a lot.
He listens to us and 'talks' back.
He is extremely vocal in the morning when he first wakes up.
He loves watching his brother and sister talk to him and do their thing.
He looks for us when we talk to him.
He is sleeping 8-9 hours at night and is on a pretty regular eat/sleep schedule during the day.
He loves his Mama :)

We have a good time together during the day.  I usually sit by him on the floor while I work on my computer and we both love the time together.  He talks and rolls over, talks and rolls over and makes me smile.  Love this little dude!

My big sweethearts are growing up too.  This is Blaine's last week of Kindergarten which we are all in denial about - even Blaine - because we love his teacher so much.  He gets teary eyed when he talks about leaving Mrs. Vogt and not having her as a teacher next year.  Sigh :(  What an amazing year our Mister has had though!  He has grown leaps and bounds and we're so proud of him.

Isn't he beautiful?  After an entire year of not missing a
day of school, poor guy had to miss two due to
a nasty virus he and his sister got. :(  Here he is sleeping
in the middle of the day!

Field Day 2014!

Dear Blaine's Future Wife: I'm doing my best to
raise him right.  Here he is cleaning!

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  I think we've found a winner people! :)

And then who do we have here?  The independent, fiesty, beautiful, funny one.

At swim lessons.

About to eat at Cracker Barrel.

Annie Oakley meets Beauty Queen.

Hannah has developed quite the attitude in the last 4 months.  I don't know where it came from but it has hit us like a freight train.  Girlfriend still loves pink, pink, dresses, and pink!

Severan's surgery is just about 5 weeks away.  I'm looking forward to getting on the other side of that surgery ASAP.

I can barely keep my eyes open (a common theme around here now) so I'd better get to bed.  G/night!