My Baby's Birthday!

Roland is six months old today! I can hardly believe it's been half a year, but considering the first three months were kind of a blur I guess I shouldn't be suprised. He is a happy baby most of the time and is reaching a lot of milestones. He is pushing up onto his hands and knees all the time and rocking back and forth. Crawling could be coming soon. He sits up pretty well, but still needs some help. He doesn't like to bend his legs and usually just flexes and falls over backwards. He loves to play with toys and can scoot around in a circle during tummy time to find toys or his brothers.


We started him on solid foods about two weeks ago and he loves it. I'm still not sure how much is actually getting to his tummy since most of it seems to end up on his hands/bib/shirt/hair/table. He sticks his thumb in his mouth after every bite. Maybe it helps him slurp it down. We've just done cereal so far but I might try some peas or something this afternoon. He loves the flavored puffs and cheerios though. I have some books on hold at the library about making you own babyfood and hopefully we can get through this stage without bankrupting us. Aaron and I were just saying that in five years or so our grocery bill will probably be astronomical! Three boys eating us out of house and home.


Roley takes a bottle well and doesn't seem to care if it's formula or breast milk, or what kind of formula. He even holds his own bottle on the floor which is nice while I'm making dinner. He still nurses at night and a tiny bit during the day and I try to pump but am not diligent enough about it. I average once a day. But he seems to be gaining weight and I doubt he will starve.



Alden and Emmett love our Ro-Ro and give him more than enough love and attention. Aaron & I are equally grateful for our sweet boy - Happy Birthday Roley!

Sorry, I Got Distracted

I've been spending my blogging time over at The Well-Rounded Woman and need to catch up a little here. Life with three boys is never boring!

The boys love to play at the computer. Alden sometimes even lets Emmett sit with him. This is Alden's tv-watching chair and again, he occassionally lets Emmett sit with him. Doesn't Emmett seriously look like a monkey face? Below you see Emmett blowing raspberries on Roland's tummy - he could do this all day long. And here is Alden's gansta impression. I especially love the crotch-grab.


We visited the zoo on "Winter in July" day where they bring in tons of snow for the animals and kids to play with. Separately. Our boys weren't too interested, it was too cold for them, but they loved checking out the fire truck there with the Tolleson Fire Department. Here's the picture Alden took of Aaron & I - it was crazy hot and humid and I was wearing a huge hat most of the time so my hair here is a little wild.


Alden and his cousins, Gabe & Corinne, are taking swimming lessons while Missy & I take turns driving and staying home with babies. We love spending so much time with them. Roland and Amelia are getting to know each other better - he actually looks like a bit of a chunk here. Last week we had lunch and played for several hours after lessons - good times!

Here is a video of Alden & Emmett doing their version of So You Think You Can Dance - a favorite show of mine and something clean enough that I can watch with them. Although sometimes the costumes bring a few questions. "Mom, did that girl forget to put her shirt on"? And lately the choreography is getting pretty adult. Luckily the boys are too young to catch on to that. The video of my boys dancing together is about 30 sec. long. And I swear sometimes they wear clothes.

Emmett Hugs

Emmett loves to give hugs and kisses, but you have to be careful!

Hall of Flame Museum

If you live in the Phoenix area you should check out the Generation Eight family activities, which are sponsored by ASU and are in conjuction with PBS. They host free family events about six times a year. We went to the Mesa Youth Museum last time and had lots of fun. This month we headed out to the Hall of Flame Museum in Phoenix to check out the fire trucks and meet Curious George.



I was disappointed to find my camera batteries were dead but I managed to snap this one picture before losing power.






Roland spent the entire activity in the baby Bjorn, but we did get this shot of him later.

At Least He's Happy

Remember how I posted about Roland dropping to the 25th percentile for weight at his four month well-visit? I've been a bit paranoid since then because it just doesn't seem like he eats very much. And he's sooo skinny! I never know if I'm not making enough milk, or if he doesn't like my milk, or if he just doesn't like nursing and would rather drink from a bottle. I finally decided to get my hands on a pump to help out (thanks, Missy!) and found a baby scale to weigh Roland again now that he's five months old.

When I discovered he had only gained 12 ounces I was quite worried and called our pediatrician. He had us go in the same day (Wed) to check Roley out. Worse than I thought, he had only gained nine ounces in 32 days, which only far below the 1/2 ounce a day MINIMUM the doctor said is necessary. It's barely half. Good thing I got that pump, because I'm going to be using it, in addition to supplementing with formula. Also good that Aaron took Alden & Emmett out of town this weekend, because it's been pretty crazy trying to figure out how to nurse, supplement, pump, etc. It will be even more fun with everyone back tomorrow. Heaven help us! I just hope something works and when we go back for the six month check up Roley will have bulked up and made it to 15 pounds.

Other than being too skinny, our sweet Ro-Ro is happy & healthy. He scoots all over the house in his walker, loves playing with toys or his own toes, and has certainly found his voice. He goes to bed at 5:30 or 6pm and sleeps until 7:30 in the morning (minus 2-4 feedings during that time). He even takes two naps a day, which are getting pretty regular. It's much easier to plan our day now. He can almost sit up by himself and seems to have a pretty strong trunk. I put him in the front of the grocery cart yesterday for the first time (will take a picture soon), which was fun but will be a rare treat because that is definitely Emmett's spot. Emmy always has to be strapped in the stroller/cart or he gets into too much trouble. And Roley ends up crying and wanting to be held anyway, so I usually just keep him in the Baby Bjorn. Such is life with three little ones. But we try to enjoy it.