I feel so guilty that I haven’t kept up with Adam’s milestones on here. Sweetie, if you’re ever looking back at this some day and feeling neglected, please know that mommy and daddy cherished all your firsts as much as we did the twins’. We may not write them down and know exact dates, but we do see you growing and changing and learning new things every day!

Adam is picking up words now, which is adorable. As with crawling and walking, it seems like he’s far earlier than his brother and sister were for this milestone too. He’s had “mama” and “dada” for a long time. Around his birthday, we started hearing “dat, dat, dat” combined with a pointed finger or hand to indicate what he wanted. Usually it’s something he’s not supposed to have, and the more you say no, the more adamant his “dat dat dat”s become. At the same time, he started standing at the door and saying “out, out” because he loves playing outside. He’s also added “dis” to his repertoire as a compliment to “dat.” He has a super cute bounce with a grunt that he does when you ask him something and he tries to give an affirmative answer. It’s like he’s so excited that you get it, that his whole body can’t help but answer. Don thought he heard him say “yes” (sounded more like “ess”) today, and I think I heard it tonight. And as I was nursing him before bed tonight, he unlatched long enough to bark when Colby was heard barking his fool head off at something in the yard. His other favorite word seems to be “urse,” which is his word for “nurse.” Generally, he uses it while madly making the sign for milk and lunging at my chest. Guess we won’t be weaning anytime soon.

It’s amazing to see how much he understands now, and how much better he’s gotten at communicating his needs. He can find his ears and toes, can follow directions well enough to take an item to a designated person, and will give the yes bounce if he’s tired and you ask if he’s ready for his nap or for bed. He loves to kiss Alex, especially by climbing into his bed at naptime and crawling on top of him, smacking his lips to make a smooching sound over and over. Sooo cute! He thinks “No!” is the funniest word in the world and will purposefully grab something and take off in the hopes that you’ll chase him until he collapses in a fit of giggles.

At the same time he’s so sweet and funny, he’s also a headstrong little guy who doesn’t like it when things don’t go his way. He’s getting very good at puckering out the bottom lip and pitching a fit if his demands aren’t met right way. If I am snuggling Alex or Avery on my lap, he often comes over and pushes them away as if he were my only baby. That, of course, doesn’t go over too well with them. I wish I had the time and energy to give them all the individual attention they deserve!

Dear Mom,

I just wanted to write a quick note to say Happy Birthday!  Bob sent a text message this morning to let me know that he had put something in the Metro section of the Washington Post this morning.

I thought that was very nice and very thoughtful of him.  If you only knew how much he missed you!!

I too miss you more than you could imagine.  I think about each and every day and don’t miss a chance to tell you about something funny that the kids have done, or something that you would be proud of them for.

Speaking of the kids, they’re doing great!  Adam’s first birthday party was fun and he seems so bright and “ahead of the curve” on so many things.  He’s a master at walking and runs all over the place.  He idolizes Alex and Avery and studies their every move.  He just wants to be one of the “big kids” and gets frustrated if he can’t always do what they do.

Avery and Alex are both doing fine too.  They are enjoying preschool and show how much they’re leaning on a daily basis.  It’s so cool to see them use their imaginations more and more and to just sit back and see the games they come up with.

Alex loves being a big brother and has fun playing with Adam all of the time.  Avery’s still as smart as a whip and is getting into dolls and dressing up her beary bear.  She’s a girl without a doubt!

We all miss you dearly and love you very much.  Happy Birthday!

Love,

Donald

We finally put some recent pictures online.  Here are some from April so far.  This week we will also get up March, February and January.  Following that we have a TON of good videos to put online.

Stay tuned!

It’s been a rough few weeks since Adam’s birthday, healthwise. We’ve been to the pediatrician at least 5 times in the last 3 weeks for fun things like pinkeye and ear infections. It started with Avery waking up from a nap with her eye glued shut and looking like she’d been through a tornado on the Thursday after Adam’s party. Dr. C took one look at her and gave her eyedrops and an oral antibiotic for the upper respiratory part of her cold. She got better very quickly after that. A few days later, the boys were cranky and miserable and not sleeping at night, so we were back in the office suspicious that they had ear infections to go with their coughs and runny noses. Alex had a horrible cough and it was preventing him from sleeping. Adam’s nose was a little snot faucet – so gross. Their ears were clear, but Adam had a questionable cough and was given a 5 day antibiotic. He threw up every dose, and spent Easter Sunday glued to me, whining and not eating other than to nurse every hour or two around the clock. That Monday he was found to have an ear infection and got good old amoxicillin, and I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and got the same medicine. I’ve never had a sinus infection before – wow are they painful. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like every tooth on the top left side was going to fall out of my head. Slowly but surely, we all recovered.

Everyone seemed relatively healthy over this past weekend and we were all able to enjoy the weather as Don and Uncle Bill built the new playground – more on that to come soon. But over the last week, I’d also noticed that Alex seemed to be having trouble hearing. Don noticed it too on Friday – half the time we’d tell him something, Alex would either ignore it or look at us and ask, “What you said?” or “You said yes or no?” when we’d answer a question of his. We called the doctor and had yet another appointment this morning. I was really worried that he was losing his hearing somehow. When I got to the office, the receptionist fell all over herself apologizing because she’d scheduled me not realizing that they don’t do hearing assessments in that office for kids under 4 years old. I asked her to keep the appointment anyway in the hopes that maybe he just had a lot of wax buildup or something. Turns out, his ears are a hot mess. Both of them are infected and filled with fluid, and the left one (the one Alex said he couldn’t hear out of) is draining. Yuck. Somehow I missed that in my home inspections. But he swears his ears don’t hurt, and the nurse, doctor, and I are amazed at that. He’s really been acting fine, so maybe he has some superhuman pain tolerance. Who knows. At any rate, he’s on a megadose of antibiotics now and we have to go back in 2 weeks to see if the fluid is gone from his middle ear.

And just when we thought we were safe, Avery has developed a nasty, itchy red rash on her neck and arms. I think it’s a sensitivity to the adult sunscreen she wore Sunday and Monday, but I’m not sure since it seems to be getting worse and she had baths both nights, so it shouldn’t still be on her skin. We gave her benedryl and some hydrocortisone tonight, but if it looks bad in the morning, we’ll be back at the doctor again. Ugh. I like the doctors and staff, but seeing them this often is not fun!