On the road again

Well, it looks like Dan's travel schedule is ramping back up again. He is off to Philadelphia next week for a few days and then the inevitable...back to Japan. He is going to do a 2 week gone, 4 week home rotation indefinitely, but probably for at least 6 months. The good news is the weather is getting warmer so Luke, Olivia and I can venture outdoors more often. It is also easier (in certain ways!) now that they are walking. But we'll still miss him lots. We will be sure to make the most of our family time when he is home, especially on the weekends. Now, time to plan some fun things for the spring/summer...

Just a cute pic

I didn't really get a good pic of Luke and Olivia on their first birthday together, so I put them in their shirts again for Take 2 and presto:

A cute pic of them.
Together.
Smiling.
Standing still.
Cue applause for success!!!

15 Mth update

Luke and Olivia are 15 months old today. I know I say this a lot, but I just can't believe it. Now that they are walking 100% of the time now, they love to play at the park and at Discovery Place Kids. They color pictures (with washable crayons, of course!), build things with blocks, give hugs when asked, point to body parts (belly buttons are their favorite), imitate us and most of all, laugh a lot =). They are just so funny, and I love watching their facial expressions. The world is still so new to them, but they are figuring out more and more about it everyday.

We had their 15 mth appointment and shots today. Luckily they only had to get 1 shot each. Olivia didn't cry a bit and Luke only cried for a few seconds. We found out Luke has an ear infection and is cutting all 4 molars. Poor fella! He has also had some dry patches on his skin so we are going to try some prescription lotion and see if it helps. Olivia is also cutting teeth but not molars quite yet. I think babies should be born with teeth because it hurts so much. Otherwise, they are healthy and right on track. Here are their measurements from today:

Luke
23.4 pounds; 35%
30.75" long; 46%
Head circumference: 47.25cm 56%

Olivia
18.4 pounds; 2%
29.75" long; 25%
Head circumference: 44cm 8%

Biltmore House

Dan and I got 1 year passes to the Biltmore House in Asheville, so this past weekend we decided to check it out. We also got some free passes so our friends joined us along with their 9 mth old son, Grant. Dan's folks (Maumaw and Paupaw) cames as well. Even though it was really crowded (over 7,000 people) and really windy, we had a wonderful day.

We left around 10am in the hopes that Luke and Olivia would take a nap in the car. Olivia got the memo and fell fast asleep. However, Luke stayed awake until almost 11:30am. We got to Asheville around noon, so Luke got a solid 30 minute nap. We were worried he would be really cranky during the day, but both babies were troopers all day. After a quick lunch, we were off for our 1:30pm appointment time to tour the house. We spent about 2 hours in the house and then headed off to the courtyard for some snacks and shopping. Since Luke and Olivia had been in the car for 2 hours and in the strollers for another 2 hours, they were MORE than ready to run around for a little bit. Our friends left for an early dinner, and we went to the winery with Maumaw and Paupaw. There weren't any tour times left, so we wandered around for a bit before heading off to dinner ourselves.

We ate at a southern cooking restaurant, and not long after we got there a bus full of teenagers showed up. A group of 6 girls sat at a table next to us, and Luke really showed off for them. It was adorable! I wish we could have gotten a picture of our little man flirting with the girls. Our little ladies man =) After we were done with dinner, we changed Luke and Olivia into their pj's and headed for home. Luke passed out almost immediately and Olivia dozed off not long after we were on the road.

We are going to try to go again in April/May during the festival of flowers and spend the night next time. We still want to check out the petting zoo and garden area. It was a very full day to say the least, but we had a great time and look forward to our next visit.

Fun with Food

Now that Luke and Olivia are pretty much eating what we eat, mealtime has become a messy adventure. We are teaching them to eat with utensils, but until they master using them their fingers and hands are the next best thing. Spaghetti is particularly messy, but they absolutely love it. And they would much rather feed themselves than have us feed them. Independence starts so early, doesn't it?

Luke's first haircut...and Happy Valentine's Day!

The day has come for Luke's first haircut. He needed a really good trim around his ears and in the back, and the front was getting a little long as well. I wasn't brave enough to attempt a full haircut at home, so off to Snipits we went. I had already researched some "kid friendly" salons and Snipits got good reviews and was pretty close to home. Also, we knew there was a Coldstone Creamery right around the corner for their Valentine's Day/first haircut treat.

Let's just say Luke did not like his first haircut experience AT ALL! The lady that cut his hair was very fast and patient, and said little ones tend to cry because it can be a scary experience. Snipits is so cutely decorated, complete with bubbles, bright colors and a TV with cartoons. None of that helped ease poor Luke's fears, though, and he cried the entire time. Even cheerios or Daddy's cell phone couldn't help his worries. The haircut lasted less than 5 minutes, and once we scooped Luke up out of the chair he was a happy little camper once again. We saved some of his hair for his baby book and scrapbook and he also got a certificate of bravery. So cute! Then it was off for some yummy strawberry ice cream and lots of kisses from mom and dad.

Olivia did great sitting in the stroller and just taking it all in. Her first haircut is coming, but it will probably be awhile before we traumatize her as well. We actually had to go back once Luke's hair dried so she could take a little bit more off of the top. Luke stayed in the stroller this time but he still wasn't happy. He looks like such a little man now and I'm proud of him for being so brave.

Here are some pics from Luke's first haircut:


A "before" pic with mommy

A "before" pic with daddy

Oh, the trauma!

Even cheerios didn't help

An "after" pic but before Luke's final trim on top

Today is also Valentine's Day. Typically Dan and I don't do much for the day, but we wanted to do a little something for Luke and Olivia. We got them little miniature sock monkeys to match the ones in their cribs and they had a special spaghetti dinner (it had to be red, of course!). They also got lots of cards and little presents from MauMaw, PauPaw and Grandma. There's a lot of love in the Bartlett house!

Another first

Well, another first for the Bartlett house-an ear infection for Olivia. She wasn't getting better during the week, so I decided to take her to the doctor today so we didn't end up in the ER again, especially with the weekend coming up. Dr. Colyer took one look into her right ear and said yes, it's an ear infection. After waiting almost 2 hours to get a prescription filled (the office calling it into the right pharmacy would have helped!), we are home with our first round of antibiotics. Here's hoping for a restful night of sleep all around.

Middle of the night trip to the ER

It was bound to happen; a middle of the night trip to the ER. Once we got home from Atlanta, Luke and Olivia seemed like they were getting a little bit of a cold. We pretty much expected that would happen, especially after being around so many people and babies. The last time we went to Atlanta we all came home with a stomach bug so a cold is a step up, right?

Wrong.

Monday night neither Luke nor Olivia were feeling great, so we gave them a bath and tried to put them in bed a little early. Luke went to sleep pretty easily but Olivia was fighting it until after 9pm or so. Once she fell asleep, Dan and I thought they were tucked in for the night. But around 10:30pm, Luke woke up with a terrible, barking sounding cough. We got him out of bed, settled his cough, and put him back in bed. A few minutes later it started again. We decided to bring him into our room so we could keep an eye on him. He would settle for a few minutes, but then his nasty cough would start again. About midnight, I took Luke downstairs to the recliner thinking that sitting him upright would help. About 12:30, his coughing got MUCH worse and he had lots of trouble breathing. I was halfway upstairs to get Dan and he was already getting dressed for us to go to the hospital. So we got Olivia up (she was so confused) and put them both in the carseats. Off we went...

We got to the hospital about 1:15am and they got us admitted fairly quickly. Thankfully Olivia was sleeping at this point so we could both focus on Luke. They got his oxgygen levels and had us wait for a doctor to come to our room. After about 45 minutes, the doctor came in, listened to his lungs, checked his ears and sent us for an x-ray and RSV test. She was pretty sure Luke had croup and the x-rays were just precautionary. The RSV test came back negative (whoo hoo!), and she gave Luke a steriod and breathing treatment to help his symptoms. Apparently croup is very common and the cough is what scares parent to death. Croup causes an inflammed trachea, hence the reason for the barking cough. It is completely viral, highly contageous, and there isn't much we can do other than the standard humidifier, tylenol and liquid steroid. We left the hospital about 4am, which by this point Luke was fast asleep and Olivia was up and ready to party. Once we got home, neither baby settled down very well, leaving Dan and I to make some VERY strong coffee Tuesday morning! We are so happy it wasn't anything more serious, and after several late nights in Atlanta and several late nights in our future, we are two tired but thankful parents.

Here is a pic from the hospital at about 3:30am. Notice Olivia is now wide awake and Luke is fast asleep!

Heading South

This past weekend we headed south to have a belated Christmas with my grandma in Gainesville, GA and then continued on to Atlanta for the remainder of the weekend. It was a whirlwind weekend but we had a wonderful time seeing everyone.

We haven't travled since the babies have been off of bottles, and we weren't sure how they would be in the car once they woke up from their nap, ate lunch, and had to go back into their carseats for another hour or so. Luckily they did great and were very entertained with their toys. We got to Grandma's mid Friday afternoon and Olivia ran right to her. It took Luke about 10 minutes to warm up, and then they were off exploring her house, pulling books off of shelves and finding new tupperware to play with. We opened presents before dinner, and once the babies were in bed we stayed up chatting until almost midnight. Luke and Olivia did great sleeping in their pack n plays and we had a nice breakfast the next morning. Granny (Grandma's name for Luke and Olivia) really enjoyed seeing the babies walking and "talking" and hated to see us leave, as we hated to leave as well. It was a great visit.

Mid morning Saturday we headed to Atlanta to see some of our friends as well as Luke and Olivia's friends. We stayed with Jen and Marica and their twin boys, and it was so cool to see 4 little one year olds, two sets of twins no less, playing together. The babies have literally been friends since birth, and seeing their progression over the past year has been amazing. We took all of the babies to the park for the afternoon since it was such a pretty day, and then Dan and I went to a dinner party with some other friends while Luke and Olivia slept at our Jen and Marica's house. Another late night for us, but a great time nonetheless. The next day, Sunday, we had planned to get together with some other folks as well. So around 2pm, 2 more babies (for a total of 6 one year olds) and some friends came over for the afternoon. We went to the park again for a little bit, and it made me so happy to see all of the babies playing together. We were quite a sight for sure! We fed Luke and Olivia dinner and headed for home late Sunday evening. We got home around midnight and went right to bed. A fun, full weekend with lots of good friends. Times like those make me miss living in Atlanta, but we are thankful our family can see Luke and Olivia growing up as well.

Lots of changes

The new year has brought lots of changes to the Bartlett household. Several milestones have been achieved, and there are still lots more to come.

One of the biggest changes has been the conversion from formula/bottles to milk/sippy cups. A couple of weeks ago, we stared the transition. It took us about a week of mixing formula with whole milk, lessening the amount of fomula and increasing the amount of milk everyday, to make the complete switch to 100% whole milk. I have to admit, I thought it would be a little more difficult than it was, but our babies did wonderfully! Luke went on a bit of a milk strike for a couple of days, but by the end of the week, we had two milk converts on our hands. We were still giving them a night bottle with whole milk, and we knew that would be our next hurdle to cross.

This past weekend, we thought it was time to eliminate bottles completely. For Dan, this was a happy day as he was ready to have them on sippys only. For me, being a mom, it was a little bittersweet to think we were past the bottle phase in our parenting lives. Unless something unexpected happens, we will no longer revisit this phase ever again! Our usual routine was to feed Luke and Olivia dinner around 6:30pm, give them some playtime before bathtime and then give them their bottle around 8pm. It was rare that Olivia would fall asleep after her bottle, but more times than not Luke would pass out. We wanted to keep their routine pretty consistent. We moved their dinner time to about 6:45pm, playtime and bathtime is the same, but instead of a night bottle we now each read them a story and put them in bed around 8:15pm. All things considered, they have done great!!! The first two nights Luke woke up about an hour after being in bed but fell back asleep after abour 30 minutes. Olivia has fallen asleep on her own every night since Saturday, and they have both been sleeping pretty well and not waking up hungry. In fact, whoever gets up first has to wait on the other one to wake up so we can feed them breakfast at the same time. They are quite content to play and don't seem overly hungry, which gives us comfort in knowing they are getting enough nutrition throughout the day. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 2 snacks and drink water or milk throughout the day. We are SO lucky that they aren't very picky eaters, even eating and seeming to like broccoli and spinach.

The new year has also brought us 2 walkers. I thought they were fast crawlers, but this has brought a whole new set of challenges. Usually they find things of interest in opposite directions, and poor Piper cat just can't seem to hide from them. Olivia is a walker 100% of the time, and Luke is walking more and more everyday. He is still a little unsteady on his balance, but he is doing great and really gaining his confidence. I think in another week or two they will be walking hand in hand quietly and peacefully around the house. Hey, a mom can dream, can't she?

With their newfound independence also comes some stubborness. They sometimes test their boundaries of what they can and cannot touch, and they do not like to have toys taken from them. Usually it's Olivia who does the taking from Luke, but he is starting to take toys from her as well. They are learning about sharing, which is tough for any child to learn. Luke and Olivia point at objects they see, talk to one another in a language only they can understand, have temper tantrums when they feed the need, and give the best hugs in the world. They are typical 13 month old babies, whom I can't call babies for much longer (even though they will forever be my babies). Our next hurdle to conquer with be the pacis, but we'll save that for another day...

Snow Day

Here are some pics we took the day after Christmas in the snow. Luke and Olivia had fun touching the snow, but got too tired before we were able to build a snowman. We sure hope it snows again soon!

Happy New Year

It seems as if everyone is asking the question "what happened to 2010?" We sure are! Moving and adjusting to parenthood sure helped the year fly by even faster than usual.

We rang in the new year with our good friends Marc, Sabrina, and her family, as well as Luke and Olivia. Actually, Luke and Olivia didn't make it until midnight, but they hung in there until almost 10pm. It was so nice and relaxing to not be out on the town fighting the crowds and crazy people. Good friends, champagne, and watching the ball drop on TV...a perfect way to start a new year.

Happy 2011! And I was just getting used to writing 2010 on everything...