All About Blade {15 Months}

Our “Sweet Number 5” is fifteen months old now and growing like a weed! His personality is shining more and more as he grows and he’s a little fireball that keeps us on our toes at ALL times! He currently has 8 teeth (just cut a molar – ouch!), wears a size 3 shoe, size 18month clothing and is still rocking his blonde hair. Love this cheesy grin while sportin’ his nerdy glasses while waiting for the quads to get out of pre-k…

As time goes on he gets closer and closer to his siblings. Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin all do really well at playing with him and including him in their activities. Sometimes that means Blade ends up in a tutu and a princess hat drinking pretend tea from a Minnie Mouse cup, but for now, he’s totally fine with that!

 

There is a gate blocking off the quads’ rooms from the rest of the house to keep little mister from getting a hold of all those little choking hazards. Bouncy balls, plastic rings, little trinkets… if it will fit in his mouth he will gladly give it at taste. I swear Blade was built with radar able to detect when the gate or ANY door is left opened. In a house of four year olds (with major selective hearing) doors are left open all.the.time. Baxlyn has always been a huge helper with Blade, especially in this area. She’s always been the one who was able to gently lift and slide him out and away from whatever he was getting into. These days, I’ve caught her several times attempting to beat Blade to a door or other “nono” only to see her be taken down by him in a matter of seconds. She still outweighs him by a few pounds but the dude is strong and can put up a fight for sure!

His favorite thing to get into, I think I mentioned it before, the TOILET. Just the other week he had been missing all of about 41 seconds so I went looking for him. The guest bathroom door was shut, as it should be, so I passed by it knowing he wasn’t in there. I checked the boys room, no Blade. Checked the girls room, no Blade.  Playroom, nope. Kitchen, not there either. A little confused I went back to the closed bathroom door and opened it to find this…

 The quads’ had plenty of bathroom invasions when they were this age (their first act of teamwork seen here) but somehow between the four of them, they always avoided the toilet.. perhaps that’s because there wasn’t a herd of four year olds around to leave the doors open and toilet lids up! Blade is making up for all of that, completely! Here he is, again, caught red-handed…

 Our big man still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps 12+ hours each night. Like the quads were as babies/toddlers he is on a pretty strict, predictable schedule. One thing has always been sure for my kids is that they NEED their sleep. When it’s time to sleep it is time to sleep and he must have his bed, pronto! When it’s time for nap, Blade gladly takes one of his 24 little blankets and heads to his room. We’ve always laid him down awake which has TRULY paid off. We love being able to kiss him goodnight and have him go down (most nights) with a smile as he puts himself to sleep. He still eats just about anything and has a great appetite, too. I  have always been a MAJORLY picky eater myself so it’s crazy to see my kids chow down on things that I wouldn’t even dream of eating. When we order pizza, its the kids who eat the supreme while Mama enjoys the traditional cheese or pepperoni! That being said I’m glad they eat a healthy variety and a lot of it, even if it means our grocery bill is hard to look at.

 

 

 

Blade doesn’t have much of a vocabulary yet, which I’m totally fine with – no rush, buddy! His first word and favorite word to say is “Uh-Oh” but he pronounces it “Ahhh-oooo" and he says it over and over really fast. He will walk around the house “Ah-ooo-Ah-ooo-Ah-ooo-Ah-oo” SO FRIGGIN CUTE! While sometimes he says it just to talk he uses the phrase appropriately when he drops his food, purposefully of course,  onto the floor at dinner time. The only other thing he says (that has meaning) is “Da'”. He LOVES his Daddy… almost too much lol. I love watching Bret come home from work and then watching Blade as he unexpectedly lays eyes on him. He starts with a huge smile and a fast waddle towards Bret, says “Da! Da! Daaa!” and then proceeds to BAWL as if he’s been reunited with the love of his life after being apart for years. Quite the emotional thing, I tell ya, and repeats itself every single day. We signed quite a bit when the quads' were babies. Although I haven’t been as adamant with the signing with Blade, I have introduced a few to him. The one he has picked up on and uses on a regular basis is “more”. Obviously a good one for use at meal times ;) Below is a picture I snapped at Target last week. He saw a tall, bald man from a distance and just KNEW it was Bret. Poor buddy yelled “Da… Daaa!” over and over only to have the man completely ignore him and leave the store. If only we could know what he was thinking at that moment!

Slowly but surely Blade is starting to take after his siblings. He’s starting to help pick up toys and put things “in” when asked. Sure, he dumps everything out after completing the task, but he’s learning :) He has also started throwing away his diapers. He loves to pick up the old diap, march to the laundry room and put it in the trash can. That being said, we’ve found many other non-trash items in the trash can as well but that’s ok! Blade also recently learned to use the stick vacuum that the quads use on a daily basis (speaking of it, thanks Hoover, for sending me the ‘thank you’ package I received in the mail last week!). He’s not the most efficient but you’ve gotta’ start somewhere! At almost five years old, the quads are just starting to realize that vacuuming is work. While they usually don’t mind, I am starting to get the occasional eye roll when I ask one to vacuum and rarely do they fight like they used to on who “gets” to vacuum. Those sweet days of thinking chores are privileges  are coming to an end. Luckily Mr. Blade is following right behind them and can live it up when asked to vacuum ;)

My sweet boy and I got our very own date just the other day to visit Dr. Reyes for his 15 month check up. Here he is enjoying the van ALL to himself as he waves to me from the back seat. Hellloooooo back there, Bubby!

 Rockin’ back and forth on the little horsey in the waiting room. The germaphobe in me cringes to think about how many (some sick) kids touch that thing each day. I’m realllly hoping it’s wiped down multiple times a day...eww.

 I love this one of him standing on the big boy scale for the first time so proud of himself…

 In the short amount of time we waited for Dr. Reyes to come, Blade managed to make it look like a tornado had hit the place. He nearly emptied his diaper bag, climbed up & down off of the exam table a few dozen times and shredded the white paper that was tightly stretched over the table.

He showed off his baseball skills as he played a little ball with Dr. Reyes before starting his check up – so sweet :)

Blade’s 15 month stats:

Weight: 27lbs (80%tile)

Height: 32 1/2in (86%tile)

Head Circ: 18 1/2 (45%tile)

Overall a very happy, very healthy baby growing right on track and hitting his milestones within average time frames! We are so thankful to be blessed with such an incredible little dude <3

 

6 Month Old Blade & Botox Round 2

Blog slacker – right here, I know! Kylee & Brody had their second round of Botox this week. We were up at a verrrryyyyy early 3am in order to get to Cook Children’s in Fort Worth by 5:30 but these two were troopers. It’s amazing how a certain little boy can talk non-stop even when being woken up so early ;)

Our two little {trying to be} brave hearts before beginning. Brody rocks the fake smiles now days…gah

Brody & his thumbs up ready to go!

Some of you were lucky enough to catch the video of Kylee singing Pontoon by Little Big Town while she was high on happy juice during their last procedures. Unfortunately the happy juice didn’t have the same effect this time. She hated the taste and it made her nauseous. Her main concern while being there was getting the “IB” (IV). She is NOT a fan about IVs at all. Luckily we got a few smiles out of her before she went back and lost it before being put under…

They had injections to the same spots as the first round, minus Kylee’s left hand. Brody came out first and met us in recovery awake and happy. It wasn’t long after that that we could hear Kylee down the hall SCREAMING at the top of her lungs as they woke her and tried to get X-rays of her hips. Brody heard her and immediately worried “I need to go see Kylee, what are they doin’ to Kylee? I need to see what’s happenin’…” poor guy. Makes me happy but breaks my heart at the same time when I see them worry about each other. He wasn’t content until they rolled her bed up next to his, in which he INSISTED on jumping into with her…that, by the way, lasted all of 35 seconds until she kicked him out! She was easy going once she got her popsicle that is until she realized she had the IV…holy moly. All in all everything went great and we’re hoping the second round will help their spasticity even more. We’ll follow up with the neurologist in  a couple of months to determine whether or not they will benefit from additional rounds in the future. Thanks to all of you who said prayers for our two and a special thanks to my mom & sister for watching the others!

Our Chunky Monkey is now 6 months old (seriously, how does this happen?). He is without a doubt THE most precious thing on this planet. His little personality continues to shine through and he continues to amaze me as well as others with how super easy going he is. He’s still a rock hard sleeper and gets a good 10-12hours in each night & wakes happy and content. I seriously couldn’t ask for a better baby!

At 6 months our sweet number 5 weighed in at 20lbs8oz which landed him in the 90th percentile. He fell in the 95th percentile for height at 28 1/4in!

Brody & Kylee were at school and missed Blade’s appointment. When I told Brody that Blade got two shots, the look on his face was priceless. He immediately wanted to hold him, kiss him and make sure he was ok. The love his has for his little brother never ends, ugh so sweet!

Stayed tuned, lots coming up

4 4 Year Olds & 1 4 Month Old!

We’ve been a busy crew lately with lots going on, I apologize for my lack of blogging over the past week but I assure you, good things are to come :) Our sweet Blade is FOUR months old now, just crazy! He’s officially passed that life-must-be-pretty-boring phase and is laughing all the time, reaching for toys, starting the transition into solid foods…etc. Busy baby for sure!

Blade with his number one playmate, Brody!

I mentioned to a friend of Facebook today that Blade was soooo close to rolling over. He must have heard me because just a few hours later, there he went from his tummy to his back. I, of course, ran to get the camera…

At 4 months he weighs 16lbs 9.5oz (83rd percentile) and is 25 3/4 long (80th percentile). Dr. Reyes is confident he will be our biggest kid when all is said and done ;) Poor buddy got 2 shots this visit just like his brothers and sisters 10 shots total… can you say FUN?!

His biggest accomplishment thus far is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! It’s been about a month now that he’s been sleeping a solid 11-12 hours straight. We took the same approach with him as we did the quads (dream feeding, adding volume to day bottles as we took out the night…etc.) and it paid off….again, thank goodness! 5 for 5, I firmly believe this is the way to do it!

Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin were all there to help introduce their little bro to his first taste of “real” food. Blade gagged as each of them offered him a small unwanted bite.

This is proof that opening your own mouth when feeding a baby is natural LOL!

Although he did much better during his second try, he was less than impressed the first food trial…

Another first for Blade – Sunday School! We helped start a new church just over a year ago so our congregation is still small. Blade’s been enjoying the services with his Daddy & I but is starting to be the cute baby who makes noises making others turn, look and smile…quite the distraction, a cute one, but a distraction nonetheless! I escorted him out this past Sunday and let him join the nursery. He still doesn’t sit on his own, but did well propped up in the highchair for 5 minutes or so. Here’s my little big man studying “Mr. Turtle”.

Now our little quaddies…. FOUR years old, SO hard to believe! L-R (happens to be in birth order) Brody, Baxlyn, Kylee & Korbin. Silly Babes :)

Broman now weighs 34lbs 2oz (32nd percentile) & is 3ft 3in tall (32nd percentile). We’re so thankful to have gone (almost) four years now with no shunt malfunction with this little guy. Hoping he can be one of the few who never ever have revisions!

Korbin is just a tad behind Brody weighing in at 33lbs 6oz (25th percentile) & 3ft 4in tall (52nd percentile)!

Our itsy bitsy Baxlyn is still the smallest at 31lbs (15th percentile)! I didn’t think she would EVER break 30lbs and here she is at 31! She is 3ft 4in tall putting her in the 57th percentile for height.

Kylee Mae who is usually neck and neck with Korbin is now giving Brody a run for his money. She matched him at 34lbs 2 oz (41st percentile) and is 3ft 4 1/4in tall (60th percentile)

So so thankful for these 5 little peeps!

Coming up… Blade’s first trip to the ZOO! & The Quads’ 4th Birthday PaRtY!!!!

The Best Birthday Yet: Part 1!

The quads had a GREAT birthday, seriously nothing but fun for them and us! Bret and I decided to postpone their birthday party until May hoping we will have better weather as well as lessening the chance of sickness and germs. Bret took the day off work so we could all be together on their our special day. We didn't do birthday hats, balloons or even presents. Instead we just had fun and reflected on the past two years and how thankful we are that our sweet babies are here with us today. We thought about the first sonogram when we first saw our little black blobs, our second sonogram when the doctor said the terrifying words "There might be a fifth....", the day I was admitted at 26 weeks, the moment my doctor said he would be back around 5pm to take them, and the exact moments they were born.... their b i r t h d a y .

First thing in the morning we went to see Dr. Reyes for their 2 year check up! This was the first time they could all walk into the office on their own, nobody being held, no strollers... that alone was amazing. We were greeted by all of the nurses who showed us to our room and started taking temps, measuring heights and head circumferences and taking weights!

This was also their first check up that they were able to stand on the big big/girl scale!

Dr. Reyes, being the phenomenal doc he is, even had a 3-tiered birthday cake waiting for them with "Happy Birthday" written with candles! THANKS AGAIN!!

Brody's Stats:

At birth: 3lbs At 2 years: 26lbs 8oz (30th percentile for full-term two year olds)

At birth: 15inches At 2 years: 33inches (15th percentile)

Baxlyn's Stats:

At birth: 2lbs 10oz At 2 years: 23lbs 1oz (7th percentile)

At birth: 15inches At 2 years: 33 1/4inches (33rd percentile)

Kylee's Stats:

At birth: 2lbs 7oz At 2 years: 24lbs 4oz (18th percentile)

At birth: 14 1/2inches At 2 years: 33 3/4inches (47th percentile)

*Kylee's head circumference is looking much better than before. Still not on the charts, but the docs are not as worried now!!!*

Korbin's Stats:

At birth: 2lbs 11oz At 2 years: 26lbs 4oz (27th percentile)

At birth: 14inches At 2 years: 34 3/4inches (59th percentile WOW!)

Our next rounds of tests were hearing and vision. I had a feeling we would need to check these two areas and was a little apprehensive... hearing and vision tests on 4 two year olds can't be fun, or easy. To my surprise it was a breeeeze, SO easy! The pic below shows Brody going first at the eye exams... it was like a camera that flashed a few little lights for a few seconds and that was it!

Kylee was next...Then Korbin, who immediatley flashed a smile thinking it was just another picture being taken!

Then it was Baxlyn's turn. If you know this girl, you KNOW she is different, in a good way, but different. Very independent and always does her own thing, she doesn't follow the crowd, she leads the crowd. At this point in time she was "cuh-lah cuh-lah"ing and didn't want to be disturbed. "Baxlyyyynn... look at the camera Miss Baxlyn....here Baxlyynnn..." the nurse tried and tried to get her to cooperate (and by cooperate I mean look at the camera for like THREE seconds) like the rest of them. Baxlyn would look up for .2 seconds and then go right back to coloring. After a few minutes of begging, we had to give up. This lil' girl didn't get her eye exams done.
Sooo GOOD NEWS - the eyes were easy, quick, and painless. BAD NEWS - they all failed multiple tests on their left eyes, Brody's being the worst. Nothing to be too worried about, but we will be making an appointment with Dr. Leffler in the near future... and that one, Miss B will be attending as well. After the eyes we went for the ears and again they all (even Baxlyn) cooperated and all passed with flying colors!

The Quads at their first year appointment with Dr. Reyes!
Much happier Quads at their 2nd year appointment with Dr. Reyes!

Thanks so much to Dr. Reyes and the staff at Stonebridge Pediatrics for being so good to us. We appreciate everything you have done for us over the past 2 years!

Stay tuned, readers! The Best Birthday Yet: Part 2 is next!