The Sheehans came over afterward:
Auntie Jenny and Anders
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Jump Up, Jump Up and Jump Down!
I just fully outed myself as a '90s kid, right? So Finn's fourth birthday party was at Jump Around, and it was a blast. Here are some prize photos. Okay, there are actually about a million:
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Finn's Fourth!
This fine fellow turned four this month!
Favorite sports: Soccer, basketball, hockey, football, running around like a hooligan
Favorite TV: Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Scout & Friends
Favorite movies: The Lion King, Ice Age, Madagascar, Tangled!
Favorite foods: Pizza, "bunny carrots" (whole ones that look like they just came out of the ground), pears, peanut butter and jelly, and the Trader Joe's version of pirate's booty
("Because it's made out of BOOTIES!" he told me yesterday, hysterically laughing.)
Favorite teams: The Boston Bruins, the Denver Broncos (sighhhhh), the New England Patriots, the BC Eagles, the New York Rangers (???)
Favorite books: Anything related to Star Wars, Australian animals or knights (he has eclectic tastes)
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Five, Four, Almost Two, and 2 x Two Months (Whew)
The twins had their two-month appointment today and shared their time slot with Finn's four-year-old checkup. LOTS of stats here. For the babies:
Anders was 13 lbs., 13 oz. and 24 inches long, huge head (80th/85th/99th%iles)
Hadley was 13 lbs., 7 oz. and 23.5 inches long, big head (75th/80th/95th%iles)
The mousies ("Mousie" and "Other Mousie" as they're known here) are smaller
but not as fun to play with
Finn was 40.5 inches tall and 42 lbs. (60th/90th %iles).
He passed his vision test (his self-proclaimed favorite part of the exam) handily
and "didn't even cry!" when he got his shot. Ten points for bravery!
The twins marked their almost-ten-week birthday (that would be tomorrow) by sleeping from 7:30 p.m. to 4 a.m. (we woke Hadley up to eat at that point) and 4:45 (we woke Anders up fearing otherwise he'd wake up for the day at 5:30 otherwise). We then had to wake them again at 7 to start feeding them before the rest of our brood awoke and got the party started.
Ten points for generosity as measured by hours you let your parents sleep!
Will is as chatty and curious as ever. When reading a book about sharks recently, we got to the part about finding crates and other ostensibly inedible items in a shark's belly.
"That shark must have a cast-iron stomach!" Will declared, chuckling like the old soul he sometimes is.
Finny is still as imaginative and caring as ever. He is constantly rushing to the side of Bridget or a baby in distress. Bridget often fake cries to elicit his attention. The babies grin and bat their lashes at him adoringly.
And Bridget remains the Queen B(ee), an inherent mischief-maker, a girl who knows her own mind at the ripe old age of 22 months, and the literal and figurative bridge between the oldest and youngest pair of Noon children.
(Oh, and of course they all like to eat.)
Friday, January 10, 2014
Anderson Wesley and Hadley Jane
Last time indeed!
Beautiful sunrise the day before they were born (it was a looooong labor)
Fifteen pounds, ten ounces of baby in my arms!
Anderson Wesley
8 lbs. even, 20.5 inches
Hadley Jane
7 lbs., 10 oz., 19.5 inches
Monday, January 6, 2014
LAST TIME LAST TIME LAST TIME
This morning Dave had to leave for work early (for him). Our general plan for the young-twin-infants stage is that he will take the boy(s) to school in the morning and stay later at work if necessary to make up the time. While the end of the day is certainly tough, I have to give mornings their due for being the absolute hardest time of day for our family at this spot on the timeline. And at the end of the day, I feel okay about a couple of Curious George episodes since they've been exercising their little brains and bodies nonstop since seven a.m.
Anyway, this morning had to leave earlier than usual, so he did some twin-feeding and even got Bridget dressed but then he had to go. Various small events happened--the boys had to put on their socks but kept getting caught up with Legos in their room; Bridget was DONE with being buckled "Unbuckah-me-nooooowwww!" but I was feeding the twins in their bouncy seats. All was resolved, though, and we were still on time. Then I noticed that since we hadn't taken the babies in the car since Anders left the hospital (December 21), their shoulder straps needed to be moved up an entire slot! Hooray for the end of newborn stage (sorry, newborn-lovers)! Boo for the soul-sucking project of navigating adult fingers into those little slots TWICE (TWINS)!
Then everyone marched downstairs for boots, coats, hats, mittens while Hadley screamed because...well, it's anybody's guess. Once all three big kids got out of the rain and into the van, I realized that it had been remarkably easy to climb in and adjust Finn's straps and snap Bridget in--what had I been complaining about these seven weeks? Then I realized that one of the captain's chairs was flipped up still (since December 21, probably) and the carseat base had to be reinstalled. Hence the extra room to maneuver.
Upstairs: Hadley still screaming, spitting out pacifier in order to scream. Anders starting to get unsettled in his own seat.
Downstairs: I'm sweatily jamming the base into the seat and trying not to swear out loud.
Finally, all five are loaded in (Hadley still at volume setting 8 out of 10) and we're gonna make it! 8:45 it is! My friend (promoted today to Patroness Saint of Mothers of Five) Cristina popped over to ask what she could do for me in the parking lot, and I promptly unloaded my two oldest children on her and said thank you as I jiggled the pacifier in Hadley's mouth to no avail.
As soon as we got home, I fed the twins a bit more as they stayed in their carseats, then ran upstairs to open the door for the carpet guy who was coming to measure our stairs, and finally threw Hadley in the Ergo and Anders in his Rock 'n' Play. (Meanwhile Bridget kept singing "Baby cryyyyy. Baby cryyyyy," just in case I didn't have a grasp of the situation.)
And the only mantra that works in moments like these is "LAST TIME," whispered to myself again and again. No more babies. When these two are on a schedule, ALL my kids FOREVER will have schedules. When these two sleep through the night, ALL my kids (mostly) FOREVER will be sleeping through the night. When these two are done with bottles, NO MORE BOTTLES!!! (There aren't enough exclamation points for that last one.)
Last time. No matter how cute they are when they're quiet.
Anyway, this morning had to leave earlier than usual, so he did some twin-feeding and even got Bridget dressed but then he had to go. Various small events happened--the boys had to put on their socks but kept getting caught up with Legos in their room; Bridget was DONE with being buckled "Unbuckah-me-nooooowwww!" but I was feeding the twins in their bouncy seats. All was resolved, though, and we were still on time. Then I noticed that since we hadn't taken the babies in the car since Anders left the hospital (December 21), their shoulder straps needed to be moved up an entire slot! Hooray for the end of newborn stage (sorry, newborn-lovers)! Boo for the soul-sucking project of navigating adult fingers into those little slots TWICE (TWINS)!
Then everyone marched downstairs for boots, coats, hats, mittens while Hadley screamed because...well, it's anybody's guess. Once all three big kids got out of the rain and into the van, I realized that it had been remarkably easy to climb in and adjust Finn's straps and snap Bridget in--what had I been complaining about these seven weeks? Then I realized that one of the captain's chairs was flipped up still (since December 21, probably) and the carseat base had to be reinstalled. Hence the extra room to maneuver.
Upstairs: Hadley still screaming, spitting out pacifier in order to scream. Anders starting to get unsettled in his own seat.
Downstairs: I'm sweatily jamming the base into the seat and trying not to swear out loud.
Finally, all five are loaded in (Hadley still at volume setting 8 out of 10) and we're gonna make it! 8:45 it is! My friend (promoted today to Patroness Saint of Mothers of Five) Cristina popped over to ask what she could do for me in the parking lot, and I promptly unloaded my two oldest children on her and said thank you as I jiggled the pacifier in Hadley's mouth to no avail.
As soon as we got home, I fed the twins a bit more as they stayed in their carseats, then ran upstairs to open the door for the carpet guy who was coming to measure our stairs, and finally threw Hadley in the Ergo and Anders in his Rock 'n' Play. (Meanwhile Bridget kept singing "Baby cryyyyy. Baby cryyyyy," just in case I didn't have a grasp of the situation.)
And the only mantra that works in moments like these is "LAST TIME," whispered to myself again and again. No more babies. When these two are on a schedule, ALL my kids FOREVER will have schedules. When these two sleep through the night, ALL my kids (mostly) FOREVER will be sleeping through the night. When these two are done with bottles, NO MORE BOTTLES!!! (There aren't enough exclamation points for that last one.)
Last time. No matter how cute they are when they're quiet.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
LeapPad Reminder
I still haven't recorded Bridget's birth story here, much less the TWINS' from over seven weeks ago, nor have I found the time to put anything about Christmas up here.
Instead I need to post information that might be useful down the line for excitable, optimistic Future Me, who might forget what happened with the LeapPad, which was: Will asked for and received a LeapPad from my parents last Christmas (2012) (Thanks, Mom and Dad!). He enjoyed it the appropriate amount (not addicted, not indifferent), but I kept having to find the cord to hook it up to the computer to download apps and games and books--and meanwhile I'd have to research said apps/games/books to make sure they were educational or at least not coma-inducing--which parental involvement defeated one of the primary purposes of Will owning a LeapPad in the first place. Months later and he was still moderately entertained, but most of what he (and Finn, when allowed to partake) enjoyed about it was its built-in camera. As compared to a camera, however, the LeapPad is bulky, and it's extremely easy for your younger siblings to "accidentally" delete your pictures. I wouldn't have requested/allowed it to be requested if I'd known it would be used mostly as a camera, is my point. But I also wasn't willing to do the whole research-purchase-download cycle for each new app (life cycle of app: one week, tops).
A few months ago, the screen cracked, and being a not-incredibly-sensitive touchscreen, that meant the LeapPad was broken. We threw it out. (Sorry, Mom and Dad.) And now we've learned our lesson, which is not to buy/request/allow to be requested any "smart" preschool/early elementary electronica. Because I thoroughly distrust my ability to remember ANYTHING I learned between Nine Months B.T. (Before Twins) and sometime when I've regained my memory, maybe Twelve-Fifteen Months A.T., I'm logging it here for safekeeping.
Instead I need to post information that might be useful down the line for excitable, optimistic Future Me, who might forget what happened with the LeapPad, which was: Will asked for and received a LeapPad from my parents last Christmas (2012) (Thanks, Mom and Dad!). He enjoyed it the appropriate amount (not addicted, not indifferent), but I kept having to find the cord to hook it up to the computer to download apps and games and books--and meanwhile I'd have to research said apps/games/books to make sure they were educational or at least not coma-inducing--which parental involvement defeated one of the primary purposes of Will owning a LeapPad in the first place. Months later and he was still moderately entertained, but most of what he (and Finn, when allowed to partake) enjoyed about it was its built-in camera. As compared to a camera, however, the LeapPad is bulky, and it's extremely easy for your younger siblings to "accidentally" delete your pictures. I wouldn't have requested/allowed it to be requested if I'd known it would be used mostly as a camera, is my point. But I also wasn't willing to do the whole research-purchase-download cycle for each new app (life cycle of app: one week, tops).
A few months ago, the screen cracked, and being a not-incredibly-sensitive touchscreen, that meant the LeapPad was broken. We threw it out. (Sorry, Mom and Dad.) And now we've learned our lesson, which is not to buy/request/allow to be requested any "smart" preschool/early elementary electronica. Because I thoroughly distrust my ability to remember ANYTHING I learned between Nine Months B.T. (Before Twins) and sometime when I've regained my memory, maybe Twelve-Fifteen Months A.T., I'm logging it here for safekeeping.
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