2 months update!

Yesterday the boys turned two months old! They are constantly changing …

Size

At one month, Riley was  7lbs 14 oz  according to our scale at home. He is now 9 lbs 14 oz, which is double his birth weight! He has grown out of the newborn clothes for the most part (some things run large) and is even starting to grow out of the smaller 0-3 sleep’n’plays and the Gerber onesies. Pants are still ridiculous on him – he will be in newborn pants for a while. He will also be in 0-3 Carters onesies for quite some time.

Logan is long out of the 0-3 Gerber onesies. Some brands fit him perfectly, but carters is still a bit big. He is growing out of some of the 0-3 sleep’n’plays too. He has a very long torso, so he is too small for 0-3 pants, but they don’t go up to his nipples like they do on Riley! According to our scale at home, he is was 8lbs 8 oz at one month, and is currently 10 lbs 8 oz.

They both gained exactly 2 lbs this month!

Fussiness

The formula switch has helped, and while they still fart, it’s a more normal amount. Logan is back to being the easy going one, but he has his fair share of cranky days too. They are not overly fussy, but they can be a pain in the butt to feed. I had never seen a kid screaming crying WHILE they are being fed before. Riley does this at least once a day. They eat about 3-4 oz at a time every 3-4 hours (occasionally longer at night). Sometimes it takes 40 minutes to feed Riley 3 oz. He bats the bottle away, moves his head, and cries, whether we are feeding him, not feeding him, or burping him! Logan did that once, but thankfully that hasn’t become a pattern. We tried calling the doctor, and he recommended a certain bottle, but it hasn’t helped.

We gave them pacifiers for the first time around March 24^th. We could not calm Logan down one night and gave in. Pacifiers are a godsend and a curse. On the one hand, it keeps them calm, on the other, they cry when they drop them, which is ALL THE TIME! When we put them to bed at night, we have to go back in several times for dropped pacifiers before they fall asleep. This is a pain because they are sleeping in their cribs now. They are still usually waking up about every 3 hours, but they often have one longer stretch during the night and have gone up to 7 hours between feeds. If only that was consistent! The longer stretch is usually 4 – 4.5 hours.

Appearance/ personality

Both Riley and Logan are growing hair like crazy. It’s dark on both of them and looks a bit funny because it’s longer in the back. (They are working on their first mullets!) Mommy loves their soft baby hair and is amazed how quickly it’s coming in. Logan has a bit of a flat spot on the back of his head. It’s not for lack of us alternating how we hold him or lay him down. He prefers looking to the right and will opt to look at a wall rather than a room of people!

Both boys started making cooing noises about two weeks ago. They smile a lot, but we don’t think it’s intentional yet. Every once in a while I’m not so sure. I can’t wait until they are on purpose! As it is, I call them Riley pants and Smiley pants because Logan is constantly smiling. I got really excited when we took their 2 month pictures yesterday because for the first time Riley turned and looked at me when I called his name! They also started noticing the toys on the activity gym about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Riley started it first and Logan wasn't far behind. They love to swat at and kick the toys and just kick their feet.

Likes:

Riley: His chair, his pacifier, hitting or kicking toys in the activity gym (especially the chimes), being swaddled, laying on someone’s chest (especially mommy), being held, laying on his side, being talked or sung to, and sleeping with his arms straight up.

Logan: Eating, his pacifier, sleeping with his arms spread out, laying on his side, being held on his side, his chair, being talked or sung to, being carried around (he is curious and likes to look around), and being swaddled.

Dislikes:

Riley: Waiting for food, having gas, eating (sometimes), tummy time and not having his pacifier

Logan: Waiting for food, not having his pacifier, tummy time

2 months!

Riley and Logan are two months old today!

 2 month update to come! In the mean time:

 cute outfits from Jenn!

Plus, here is an update from Mother's Day weekend. It was a weekend to celebrate!

On May 12^th, the boys took their second long car ride (the first was to Steve’s department picnic in Wilkes-Barre) as we went up to East Stroudsburg to see their Uncle Chris graduate college! 

 Here is Logan with his ticket to go in.

The boys were very well behaved and did not cry during the whole ceremony! It was very tricky to feed them because it was quite warm in the gym where the graduation was held, which was putting the boys to sleep.  

Uncle Chris graduates!

After the graduation, we took pictures outside. When Chris took pictures with the boys, he clued us in that he really just took a while to graduate because he was waiting until the boys could be there. :) It was definitely a day to celebrate and eat too much food. We are all so proud of Uncle Chris!

On Mother’s Day, Steve, Logan, and Riley let mommy sleep in, which was much appreciated. (My mom gave Steve and I the gift of 8 ½ hours sleep on Thursday night which was a fantastic Mother’s Day present). Steve and the boys bought me a ring that has two aquamarine stones (the boys’ birthstones). It is so pretty and is the perfect 1^st mother’s day gift.  I had a very nice first mother’s day – we got a visit from Steve’s parents, Mammy, Lynda, and Alex and that evening we took a walk and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

One month Dr. Appt (a little late!)

I have been awful about keeping this blog updated… but on April 27^th the boys had their one month check up and got their 1^st vaccines. I was surprised how little they cried! They both started shrieking, but Riley stopped in 1-2 minutes, and Logan in 2-3! They were not irritable at all that day either! Here’s to hoping they all go that well! The boys are doing very well and the doctor was very pleased. We talked a lot about their incessant gas. When they started drinking mostly formula, they got crazy gas that would wake them from sleeping. They were so miserable and we felt completely horrible for them! We tried gas drops, but they had no effect. We switched them to the fussiness and gas formula and things got a lot better. When we told the doctor that with the switch they seemed a lot less upset but were still farting quite a bit, he told us to try the soy formula and gave us some sample container. Not only did it not make them fart less, but it made their farts smell AWFUL! Like sulfur! Anywho, at the doctor’s appointment, Logan weighed 8lbs 15oz and Riley weighed 8lbs 9 oz. They have grown like weeds that day – when Steve weighed them the other day Logan was up to 10lbs and Riley was 9lbs 5 oz! PS  Logan’s fussiness was very short – we gave in to the pacifier and he reverted back to his easy going self. Riley on the other hand, is back to being fussy. He’s not too bad except when we are trying to feed him. He is the only baby I’ve ever seen who will scream while being fed!

Pictures!

On April 25^th, our wedding photographers, Pravada Photography, came to our house to take pictures of the boys. We have wedding photos all over our house, so it was pretty amusing to watch them stop at each photo to admire them. We were very nervous about having both boys awake to the photo shoot. Whenever we try to take pictures, one is always awake and the other asleep. Logan was awake from 10am on that morning, so we were positive that by 3 he would crash. As expected, he started to nod off at 2:50. Thankfully, he woke back up and stayed awake for most of the shoot. Here are some of our favorite shots. We thoroughly recommend Pravada to anyone who needs a photographer!

Riley and Logan

Riley and Logan

Riley

Riley

Logan

Mommy's favorite picture of Logan

Logan

Riley

Riley and Logan

Mommy's favorite picture of her 3 wonderful boys

One Month Old!

Well, the boys turned one month old yesterday! They have changed an incredible amount since they were born. Not just in size (although Riley has caught up quick!) but in personality.

Logan had a cute plaid shirt too, but he peed in it :(

This is after Riley peed in his too...

Size

When Riley came home, my mom had to run out and get him some preemie clothes, since he only fit into about 4long sleeve shirts that we had. He grew out of the preemie stuff in a week/ week and a half. He is now getting to the point where he will soon grow out of a few of the smaller newborn sleep’n’plays since his feet are right at the bottom. According to our scale at home, he is currently 7lbs 14 oz. That means in one month, he gained nearly 3 lbs!

When Logan came home, he fit into the smaller size newborn clothes. I have learned that Gerber runs small, and while he fit in their newborn onesies, their sleep’n’plays were more like sleep sacks. At this point, he is a tricky size. He has moved on to 0-3 Gerber onesies, but is too small for any other brand. He still fits in a few newborn outfits, but has grown out of most things.  It is only because of his length though – some clothes never fit right because they were too wide. According to our scale at home, he is currently 8lbs 8 oz. In one month, he gained 2 lbs, 5 oz. Steve likes to point out that Logan and Riley are still both smaller than he was when he was first born.

Fussiness

The first few days in the hospital, Riley didn’t cry at all. That all changed when he got home – he quickly became the screamer. He constantly wants to be held and cuddled. At least he usually stops crying as soon as he is picked up. Within the last few days, he has started learning to be more patient, especially when waiting for food, which he HATES doing. I feel as though we are starting to come to an understanding, Riley and mommy. I can usually calm him down pretty quick. He has been pretty easy going lately.

Logan, on the other hand, was the screamer of the two while in the hospital. That continued a few more days when he got home, but then he got really chill. He was really easy going for about 2 ½ or 3 weeks. As though on cue, when Riley started to calm down, Logan took over as the cranky baby. He has started to want to be held more frequently, lost all previous patience in regard to waiting for food, and has gotten a bit colicky. Sometimes he screams his face off for no reason at all and its incredibly hard to console him. (And we try all the happiest baby techniques!). Luckily so far that has only happened when Steve was home, because he has much more luck than I!

Neither are overly fussy, except that both Logan and Riley have been having major problems with gas. They are like constant adult farts. This started the day they turned 3 weeks, and at first they were not bothered by it, but then they were extremely bothered by it. I mean very interrupted sleep because I’m so upset by my gas bothered by it. Gas drops did NOTHING so we recently tried switching to the lactose free formula. They are still farting up a storm and are still upset from time to time, but they are not waking up from it.

Appearance/ personality

Recently, Riley lost the hair on the top of his head except for a little patch in the front. So male pattern baldness! His head is now bigger than Logan’s but he has smaller features. Logan has bigger eyes, nose and lips. Both like to wrinkle their foreheads and purse their lips. I call it their Zoolander pose. I haven’t captured it on film yet, which is disappointing, because they do it constantly.  Logan likes to put his hands underneath his chin when he does it, like he’s posing for the camera, which is too cute. Logan is a finger sucker. He will suck on his pointer finger, like I did as a child, or his thumb. He also sticks out his tongue all the time, which is a Sasso family male trait (anyone who has seen Anthony dance can attest to this). Riley is definitely not a finger sucker at all…. unless you put your finger in his mouth! Riley is very photogenic (Logan not so much) and gets crazy wide open eyes.  Both babies have excellent neck control and we are liking not having to hold their head so much when we pick them up!

Likes:

Riley: Eating from a bottle, his chair, sleeping with his arms and legs spread out, being swaddled, laying on someone’s chest (especially mommy), being held, Mema’s “gingerbread man” song, being talked or sung to.

Logan: Eating, sleeping with his arms spread out, Mema’s “gingerbread man” song, laying on his side, being held on his side, his chair, being talked or sung.

Dislikes:

Riley: Waiting for food, lying flat on his back, breastfeeding, not being held

Logan: Waiting for food, being swaddled

Other cute recent photos...

3 week photos (a little late!)

These last few weeks these boys have been keeping me plenty busy, so updating has been hard! Here are the boys at 3 weeks. 

Days 2-4

I knew I would get to it eventually! Here are some pics from the rest of the time we spent in the hospital after the boys were born:

Day 2

So our first night was a definite challenge between the nurses, techs, and doctors checking on me, checking on Riley, and checking on Logan, it was pretty hard to sleep. When you factor in having to feed Logan every few hours and that every noise either of them made sent a jolt through my body, you end up with me getting only one hour of sleep.

At least I wasn’t too grumpy for our visitors! On Thursday, first Steve’s sister Lynda and nephew Alex came to visit. Alex was too cute holding the boys. He had his elbow up so high trying to support them that we told him his arm was going to fall off.

 Later on, Uncle Chris came to see us, as did 3 of the lovely ladies of the Price family (Rosanne, Melissa, and Kimmy). The Price ladies brought flowers, flowers, flowers!

Uncle Anthony got there before the price ladies left

After the Price family left, we got a visit from the Hood family! Mikey and Sean were a little weary about holding the boys. In fact, I’m not sure Mikey even breathed when he was holding a baby.  I love that we eventually got Sean to hold the boys, because now whenever someone is feeling too nervous to hold one of them, I say come on, my 10 year old cousin held them! Ryan, on the other hand, was all about holding the boys! He had one in his arms at all times! We had to take pictures of him doing so on his phone so he could show the ladies. Apparently they were very impressed when he said he was going to see his newborn cousins!

Sean

Mikey

Ryan

Day 3

Friday was the first day I really spent a lot of time out of bed. I felt so much more human sitting in a chair. Steve, the boys, and I spent most of the day with my dad.

The photographer came (no good photos though) and the boys wore real clothes (not a grossly oversized shirt) for the first time. This is when my favorite "Logan eating Riley" picture was taken. Here is one where they are not cannibals.

Then that night, my grandparents came to see the boys for the first time!

My grandfather commented that Logan and Riley were not only the smallest, but the youngest babies he had ever held. Of course we had to question him on that one – what about my dad and my uncle? He said that times were different back then – babies were whisked off to the nursery right away, and you looked at your baby through the nursery window. Crazy! My grandparents were so excited to hold the boys – it was the cutest thing ever. My grandma was ecstatic because the babies’ eyes weren’t brown… yet. (My grandmother is obsessed with blue eyes. She was upset that my dad and uncle have brown eyes, even though she and my grandfather do too).

That night we also got a visit from Sarah!

Day 4

Logan had gotten circumcised on Thursday, but Riley didn’t because of all his blood sugar issues. Then he was supposed to on Friday, but when the pediatrician stopped by, it was time for him to eat. Getting him to eat was a massive struggle, so it was postponed yet again until the next day.  Given the option of going home on Saturday or Sunday, we chose Saturday, so Riley got his circumcision as his send off. We told the nurses we wanted to leave that day… but no one seemed to tell us if we were allowed to. They wanted to keep an eye on Riley for a bit, and apparently my hemoglobin dropped, so they needed orders from the doc to give me a transfusion or release me. It was HOURS before they gave us a decision. Ultimately they said we could go, but the discharge paperwork took forever. My parents, grandfather, and Steve packed up the room and the boys and when the wheelchair finally came for me, we headed home!

We were welcomed home by my brothers and grandma. That evening we got a visit from Jenn, Michelle, and Lisa! Jenn started crying the moment she saw the boys. It was pretty adorable. Michelle and Lisa were a little more hesitant to hold them (they were tiny!) but warmed up to the idea pretty quick!