David - "The Godfather"

Finally, he will stand being on his stomach if he's propped up on the boppy. 

So I am sure you are wondering why we titled a post about our youngest after a mobster movie. Well, I was listening to David coo and babble as he does quite often, especially when he's tired, and it dawned on me that he has the voice of the "Godfather" except with a slightly higher pitch. Really, it's kind of low in the back of the throat and very breathy and not really loud at all. Just imagine the "Godfather" trying to sound like a 5 month old and that is what David sounds like!

David is a very laid back little guy. He goes with the flow and just generally hangs out with us if he's not sleeping, which he does still more than most babies I know his age. He takes 3 solid naps and sometimes a 4th cat nap in the late afternoon, usually on the deck in the bouncy seat if it's not 100 degrees or more outside. He usually dozes off in the stroller too. He sleeps from about 7:00pm to 6:30am with no interruption. It is very easy to tell when he gets tired. He just starts his little Godfather coos, gets a little louder until finally he's screeching. But if you get him to bed before the screeching he just goes right to sleep. He loves his crib too. He just smiles when I put him in it. And he's so happy when I go in to get him up. He smiles with his tongue sticking out and kind of acts bashful but has bright, happy blue eyes and looks at me with such delight.

For activity, I guess he does what most babies do. He kicks his legs a lot when he's in the bouncy seat, but this is usually when he's getting tired too. He loves looking at the trees outside and loves looking out windows. He's starting to enjoy being on his stomach a little more, but only if you prop him up on the boppy. I'd say his favorite toy still is his mobile. He also loves his little baby keys that he gets a little crazy with.

Any ideas who he looks like???

He really is pretty content doing just about anything, just about anywhere with or without toys. If he has no toys he enthralls himself with his fingers and thumbs and fist, looking at them closely or sucking and gnawing on them. He's becoming pretty adept at finding and sucking his thumb. He blows tons of bubbles and makes tons of raspberries and experiments with his voice and other sounds. It is so fun to listen to him. He also really likes to be sung too. He looks at you with delight and sometimes tries to sing along too. He's got such a funny little laugh. He goes, "huh, huh."

Sucking his thumb while watching his mobile.

He's a drool monster but there are no signs of teeth. He has rolled over a few times but he's just not into  it that much. In sits in the Bumbo a lot and can pull himself up to sitting in the Bumbo but outside of it, he's a limp rag. He just falls right over if you try to sit him up with nothing around him. Like I said, he's super laid back! I thought Wes was, but definitely not like this! Wes was much more active and spirited. David does like to sit up and see what is going on, just to be an onlooker. It takes things in but doesn't have that intense look of curiosity like Wes had. It just amazes me how you can tell differences in personalities in babies at such a young age. Of course, I'm not expecting them to have the same personality even if they were biological brothers, but I just find it fascinating how even though David is so young I can already see some personality. I think he gets it much more from Eric than from me!

Sitting in the Bumbo in the late afternoon. This is his tired look. 

I've started feeding him some baby food too, just a week or two ago. So far he's only had pears and squash. He makes the most awful face every time I feed him the first spoonful. After a few spoonfuls, he realizes how much he likes it and starts opening up his mouth like a little bird. He does pretty well with it, not too messy. He only eats a little though. He's not such a big eater. He does let  you know eventually when he's hungry and he's gotten on a good schedule (after mamma got a little lax with it for a while). He doesn't really eat a whole lot, on the low end of what most babies his age eat (Wes was always at the top end, which can be typical for a preemie once they figure out how to eat well - trying desperately to catch up) and he guzzles it up really fast. This is such a huge improvement from 2 or 3 months ago when it was taking us at least an hour to feed him!

A funny face after a taste of pears. He likes squash a lot better!

However, you would not know that he is a light eater! He's HUGE! He's wearing 9 month clothes most of the time. They are a little roomy in the girth but not in the length in the footie pajamas. His toes are at the end! I thought he and Wes would be able to wear the same clothes but David is at the end of what Wes wore during summer and we still have a few more months of warmth. All of Wes's 12 month stuff is for the dead of winter - thick, warm clothes and pajamas. But even though he looks beefy and long, it is quite deceptive. He's really pretty light when you pick him up. At his 4 month appointment he weighed almost 14 lbs (25th percentile) and was almost 26 inches long (84th percentile).

Look how big I am!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Boy! 

A swim with Papa.

He smiles with his eyes! 

David's 4 Months Old!

It is amazing how quickly David is developing and growing!

David still spends most of his time sleeping so there is not a ton to write about but he has definitely woken up to the world compared to the last time I wrote. 

He is such a happy little guy. I call him "happy, smiley." He is very content unless he gets super tired or super hungry. Even then he's still pretty laid back. He responds to any attention with big gummy, tongue-y grins and happy, bright eyes. He likes to smile at big brother and watch him, too.

He loves to coo. He's makes the sweetest cooing sounds and does it for quite a long time. I thought Wesley was very vocal but David just might have him beat! David is much quieter about his vocalizations though. 

David is quite good at soothing himself. He still enjoys a pacifier from time to time but is pretty happy sucking on any finger and sometimes all fingers at once! I've seen him try to cram both of his fists in his mouth at once! He generally likes two fingers (not a specific two just whichever ones make it in) or his thumb. And when he's sucking he makes the loudest slurping sounds. You can hear him across the house! He thoroughly enjoys it. 

Like his older brother Wes, he is totally enamored with his mobile. He just cackles when it is going and it is the ultimate soother. There has only been one time when the mobile wasn't sufficient to calm him if he was overtired or when we couldn't quite feed him yet because Wes needed tending to. 

He also likes a colorful caterpillar rattle, his toy keys and a set of three plastic, textured rings. A little gray bunny I made for Wes is becoming a favorite too. He also loves stroller rides. He almost always falls asleep. In fact he can sleep almost anywhere! He sleeps in the bouncy seat a lot in the late afternoon while we are all outside and sometimes on Mommy and Daddy's bed - not when they are in it though. 

He is such a sweetheart and an easy baby. He gives obvious cues for sleeping and eating and he just kind of goes along with whatever is going on here. Once he's asleep, he's pretty well out. The other day Wes became very quiet and so I wondered what he was up to. He'd climbed into David's crib and had snuggled up next to him. David didn't budge. In fact, he was so still even through the process of me getting Wes out of the crib that I had to make sure he as still breathing! 

Lastly, David is not so tiny anymore. I think he's still a light-weight for his age but he is long! He is outgrowing his clothes so quickly. I put an outfit on him the other day that Wesley wore loosely at 6 months. It fit David perfect. Not because he fills it out but because his body is so long. I an anxious to see how long he is at his appointment this Friday. He's gotten big and strong enough to sit in his Bumbo seat too. 

So that is about it for now. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. 

The French Chef: Getting The Onion Out

I have stumbled upon a great treasure. We subscribe to Amazon Prime and one of the perks is the ability to view many old movies and tv shows. I've been able to watch Downton Abbey, All Creatures Great and Small, Antiques Road Show, Star Trek: The Next Generation (did I really just sdmit that?) and Thomas the Train for Wesley. And to my great delight I've found The French Chef, Julia Child's cooking show! Ive kearned so much from her just by watching 3 episodes! So I thought I'd share some tidbits that I learn from her from time to time. Here's the first.

Julia says that after chopping onions, rubbing your hands with salt and then washing them makes the onion smell go away.

So, I tried it and it worked! It only takes a little salt, maybe half a teaspoon or less. I didn't measure; I just sprinkled some in the palm of my hand, spread it around, especially at the finger tips where the pungency seems to be the worst. Then I gave my hands a rinse. There was no lingering onion odor. Hurray!

I can't wait to see what else I learn.

Our Dear Wesley

Finally, I have a bit of time to devote to a blog entry about Wes. I am going to start posting on this site as well - the same thing on his blog.  

Wes is growing in to quite the cute little boy. He’s already 2 yrs and 3 months old! He is still very talkative and more and more we can actually understand what he’s saying! It is so, so fun to actually be able to communicate with him now. 

Enjoying a bit of Nutella, an occasional special treat. :)

He has such a cute personality. He has a playful personality and laughs a lot. He can also be quite serious and very curious. He’s always asking, “What’s that?” He loves going on walks and adores playing outside. While outside he helps Mamma water plants and pull weeds. He also loves to pull his wagon around the neighborhood and ride his big wheel on the deck. A new thing that he enjoys is playing with a tub of water and the hose - pouring water from different sized cups to others and playing with some of his bath toys. (He loves doing this inside at the kitchen sink as well, making for up to an hour of entertainment and a big mess!)I can’t wait till it warms up a bit more so he can play in his little swimming pool. He also just enjoys watching the birds at the bird feeder, listening for the different kinds of birds, digging for worms and chasing ants. Of course, if the neighbors are out he MUST say hi to them. Wes also loves trying to find the helicopters and airplanes when he hears them flying overhead. 

Pulling his wagon around the neighborhood

We keep this little riding toy inside most of the time so that he can have something to scoot around on inside. 

He is more social than ever, never meeting a stranger, especially if he initiates the greeting. He loves to be read to and enjoys picking out the books for us to read. He likes Mamma to sing to him when he goes “night-night”. He likes to sing and pray at breakfast time too and frequently reminds us when we forget. He loves listening to music, especially classical and bluegrass. Also, though we try to limit how much tv he watches, we do let him watch a little bit most days. He loves to watch Thomas the Train, his favorite and ours (because it is so simple and slow-paced), as well as Curious George, and Bob the Builder. When he wants to watch something he points to the tv and asks, “Trains?” or “Girge? or “Bob?” 

He’s been asking to sit on the potty and will read books for quite a while on the potty. Occasionally he goes on the potty. He definitely doesn’t like wearing a diaper though. 

Just recently we purchased a zoo pass. He loved watching the gorilla, elephants and polar bear. He also loves to swing and slide. We go to a “toddle time” at the community center every now and then so he gets to ride around on a bunch of different riding toys and interact with other little people. Coloring is a new interest although he still thinks it is more fun to eat and break the crayons than to actually color with them. He’s recently acquired some train track for all of his trains and he has a great time playing with those in his room. He’s also gotten really good at building things with his blocks, especially cars. 

This is something he gets to play with from time to time. It is a mix of  dried pasta, lentils and chick peas with various kitchen utensils. I loves it but it makes a big mess! We save it for rainy days.

He is doing okay with his new little brother David. He can be so sweet with him, telling me when he’s crying, giving him kisses, but then he’ll just whack him with something out of the blue just to see what happens. He is quite concerned for him as well though. He tells us that he’s hungry or sleepy and makes sure that we don’t leave him when we go somewhere. Once we were all out for a walk with his wagon. I had David in a sling but I don’t think Wes could see him. About 3/4 of the way through the walk, Wes shouted, “Beeby?! Beeby?1” as if to say, “Wait, where is the baby? Did we leave him? We must find him!” I had to show him David and then he was okay. 

Yay! I was finally able to grab a picture with the two of them together. 

We’ve enjoyed a couple of visits from Grandpa and Grandma Taylor and from Aunt Elizabeth. He even got to stay with Grandpa and Grandpa by himself for several days. He had a blast riding on a four wheeler, going to the park and Grandpa’s building and just playing with his grandparents. 

This was taken at Grandpa and Grandmas but just not with them. :(

Though he definitely has the traits of a two year old - testing all boundaries and desperately wanting independence, he is an absolute delight! We have so much fun with him!

Popcorn has become a new favorite snack. He asked for it frequently after his nap.

He loves helping Mamma cook, especially cookies.

What I'm Reading

I always like to know what books other people are reading. I enjoy asking friends and family what they are reading and I love to spy what bloggers I follow are reading. It spurs me on to read and learn more and get ideas for more reading material (as if I really needed it!). So I thought I would share with you what I am reading now. Most of these are sitting on my nightstand. It is a bit cluttered. :) I pick one up and read it a while and then read another for a while and so on. Sometimes I read two or three different ones in a day. It's so fun!

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery. This is the 3rd book in the Anne of Green Gables series.

Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney.

The Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot

Why We Love the Church by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck

Don Quixote by Cervantes. (This is for a Facebook sort of book club thingy. Unfortunately, I'm cheating and reading a super abridged version.)

Making the Terrible Twos Terrific by John Rosemond - a frequent reference! (A must for anyone with a child between 18 and 48 months!)

So I'd love to know what you are reading.

Link to picture of girl reading

Welcome Our Sweet Man!

Well, finally I am able to take a few minutes (or hours) to write another blog entry! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. We found out we were pregnant in June! Things went really smoothly for quite a while, hardly sick at all, just tired. We even took a trip to Colorado Springs in September and did some sight-seeing and hiking. However, in October I was told to limit my activity due to an "irritable" uterus - I had 15-30 painless but really annoying contractions an hour! This continued for the entirety of the pregnancy. I was placed on bedrest for 12 weeks beginning in Nov. At 36 weeks I was able to resume more activity thinking the little guy would come super fast but not so. He was so comfy cozy that he had to be induced at 39 weeks and I labored for 18 hours, almost two of which were me trying to push the little booger out!

Just born!

So David Elliot Taylor arrived at 6:39am, Wednesday, February 8, 2012. He weighed 6 lbs. 11 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long. Now he is about 10 lbs and 23 inches and he coos and smiles. He has the happiest little smile and the sweetest, quietest coos. He has the sweetest cry, though he rarely cries except when he's hungry (but not frantically unless you wait too long) or if he's really tired. When he starts getting hungry or tired he just gives out a few quiet, sounds like happy coos that eventually progress to an all out cry if you don't respond to him after a while. And usually when you pick him up he gets quiet and waits patiently. However, again, if you wait too long he just gets mad at that point. Enough is enough!

Grandma got to come for a long visit! Hurray!

Wesley came for a visit too!

Look at those grasshopper legs! :)

It was quite a rough road the first month! We came home from the hospital on a Friday. Eric turned right around and took Wesley to the doctor that day because he had been running a high fever for a few days. He had the flu! On Saturday we had to take David to Children's Mercy Urgent Care because he was a bit too yellow for my liking. They quickly wanted him in the hospital because of his bilirubin level in combination with a rapid loss of weight. Yikes! So he laid under the lights and received fluid through an IV for about 20 hours. At the hospital it was confirmed that he had a tied tongue that needed to be clipped because he was not breastfeeding well at all. On Sunday we brought him home. On Monday, we had to take David back to the doctor for a recheck and I started feeling terrible and had a fever. Then Eric had to take my mom to the doctor because she was sick. Though she wasn't tested for it, we suspect she also had the flu. My breast pump, which was vital to increasing my milk supply because David was such a poor feeder, also broke that day as well. That was a bad day! On Tuesday, I went to the doctor and tested positive for the flu! So Eric was taking care of all of us and was thoroughly exhausted. I was in a complete flu and postpartum fog for the rest of the week. I had to take David back to the doctor again on Thursday for a recheck. Wesley and I had a terrible cough that took weeks to go away!

Under the lights

He got a little crazy with his feet!

Eric called this his batman mask.

Thankfully they had a bed for the adults and meals for MOM. :)

The next Monday was my first day without help. David had his tongue clipped that day. On Tuesday, he had another recheck. On Wednesday, Wesley had his two year doctor's appt! The next Monday I had to take David again for a recheck of his tongue. That weekend, David developed a cough that sounded similar to Wesley and I. So on Monday I took him to the doctor AGAIN. The doctor said he sounded fine and had no fever. Well, that night he was roasting hot. He had a fever of 103 and not even 4 weeks old! We called the doctor and they said go to the emergency room! They took us back very quickly and started an IV and tested him for everything in the book. Poor guy has been poked and prodded quite a few times in his young little life. He tested positive for RSV and had to stay in the hospital for two nights. The little man had 3 leads that posed quite a challenge to this mommy who already had trouble trying to breastfeed him. Needless to say, after staying up all night with the little guy, I was completely exhausted and emotionally strung out! However, the RSV never really got worse. He started eating better the next day and was allowed to go home earlier than anyone expected. Hurray!

Add caption

Look at those long legs!

In the ER waiting for a room.

Finally in a room, the same room as before, just a different bed. Poor guy. It was so sad to see him hooked up to so much.

It didn't seem to bother him too much though

Since then things have been easier. It has certainly been a huge adjustment to having another little one around. Wesley was and is still not too keen on having this little thing vying for his attention. Occasionally, he finds it necessary to vent his feelings on David by conking him on the head with wooden trains, scratching his head and poking at his eyeballs. He's also conked me on the head and screeched very loudly in my ear when trying to feed David a bottle (I had to give up the breastfeeding). I've been informed though that this is perfectly normal. I've also just been trying to figure out how to get anything done. Now that David sleeps through the night, most nights, I feel so much better! I can think so much clearer and get so much more done. I am actually enjoying this new phase of life.

David seems really laid back and just goes with the flow. I was very on-schedule with Wes, feeding him every three hours on the dot, give or take 5 minutes. But if I went much past that I started to get frantic. Well, try as I may, the schedule for David is much more lax. For one thing, he just doesn't demand to be fed. I often still have to wake him to feed him and he's fairly happy for a while without being fed. Even in the hospital he was like this. So he isn't really on a three hour schedule and whereas we fed Wes at the same times each day, it changes from day to day with David. However, he is generally in the bed at night around 9 or so.

One of the unique things about David is his gift of burping! He has some really loud, deep burps that sound like an adult male's burp. However, there are a few times that he has let out these scary burpy things that could be heard across the street! The last time he did it, it was so loud that I started to tear up because it scared me so much! He did too! Then I just started laughing. How could something so, so tiny make this enormous sound that I've never even heard an adult make! So with Wesley it was projectile spit-up. With David it is scary belches!

Hi mamma!

Well, that's all for now. I will be writing more soon about Wesley and maybe adding some recipes and a snipit about my time on bedrest. Thanks for your patience!