Owen & Anson at 2 months

I know, I know, I said I would split these two little cowboys up for their monthly posts but I changed my mind.  It seems the two of them do all things together right now so I will share a bit about the similarities & differences between my two favorite boys & split to two posts when I deem appropriate. 

TWO months, where has the time gone? In some ways it feels like they came home from the NICU last week but more so it feels like we have had all night parties in our bedroom for much longer than two months.  Owen & Anson are more precious than words can express but I will make every attempt to prove otherwise. 

Here they are at 2 months old....

Anson & Owen

OWEN

Stats:

7 pounds 5.5 ounces

19 3/4 inches long

Newborn diapers & clothes

*Compared to full term 2 month old babies, he is around the 3-5%*

*With the 5 weeks premature delivery taken into consideration, he is around 10-12%*

Owee-O is so very sweet & small but he is one tough little guy!  One of his NICU nurses called him "Mighty O" when she commented on a picture last week. We love that nickname & he has been going by it ever since. Thanks Denise! It definitely sounds tougher than "Little O" & I'm sure that Owen will like sounding as tough as Big A when they get a little older ; ) 

Mighty O is content for about 3.5 minutes after eating & then is ready to go back to sleep.  He is not like this constantly but many times he gets fussy, we lay him down & he falls asleep with no crying in about 2 minutes.  Sometimes he likes to look around for longer but mostly if he is being held with mommy or daddy in view (ie no big sissies around).  In the last few days he has been tracking with his eyes as we move in front of him or hold a toy.  He is getting better at holding his head up every day but still does plenty of wobbling that makes us laugh. He absolutely hates riding in the stroller so on walks, he usually gets moved to the sling on me when it is time for Eloise to be restrained. 

Owen sat in his Bumbo chair last week for the first time just long enough to snap a picture before spitting up ALL over himself...guess he is not quite ready to be that upright! He rolls from his tummy to his back very easily.  He is smiling at us & has made cooing sounds just a couple of times along with that precious grin. We know that 7 pounds is still small but he has almost doubled his birth weight which makes him seem SO big to us! I also like to call him "Growin' Owen" when I'm giving him a pep talk about packing on the pounds. We swear Mighty O has some muscles he likes to show off on his upper arms. He flexes them when he grabs the bull by its horns (the bull wubbanub paci that is).  I can't get enough cuddles from this sweet boy! 

ANSON

Stats:

9 pounds 14.5 ounces

21 inches long

Size 1 diapers & mostly 0-3 clothes with a few newborn ones that I squeeze him into so they can match ; ) 

*Compared to full term 2 month old babies, he is around the 12-14%*

*With the 5 weeks premature delivery taken into consideration, he is around 40% for weight*

Big A, oh how we love his chubbiness & his extra chin.  He is definitely a bit easier to hold as he is seemingly sturdier than his older yet littler brother.  He is a bruiser for sure & can withstand a lot of man handling by his older sisters. In fact, our pediatrician commented on how much stronger the boys were than typical preemies at this age.  I laughed out loud & said that it was probably because we let a 3 year old & an almost 2 year old hold them multiple times every day. It's like strength training for their little necks.  Please note that they are always supervised but there is only so much you can do to prevent those quick movements ; ) He also rolls himself from tummy to back with little effort. He does this so well that he even showed off his skills & rolled himself right over the side of the Boppy pillow off of the couch & onto the floor in a dead sleep last night! When Robby picked him up Anson let out a huge burp. Haha! Glad he was okay!

One nickname for this kiddo is Antsy Pants which sometimes gets switched to Fancy Pants which I know he would hate when he is old enough to realize it but if we are being honest here, this boy is pretty needy. 9 times out of 10 when you hear crying from the crib, it is Anson who is requesting in his own little way to be put in the sling or Ergo on mommy.  It makes me grin just thinking about his fussiness & how calm he gets when close to me. I LOVE IT! So, he is usually my buddy while I am doing housework or cooking.  He really enjoys a ride in the stroller & unlike his brother, he can stay awake for a good 30 minutes after a feeding. He likes to lay on the play mat while Charlotte "reads" to him. He doesn't even mind if Eloise holds him. Anson gives some huge grins & is cooing often. He watches us closely when we are within view. He shows of a mad skydiving pose when held up in the air by his Daddy. 

This may be a bit much but I have to include this lovely story.  Today Robby & I dropped the girls off with a friend before taking the boys to their check up.  Anson was screaming the whole way while Owen was asleep...imagine that ; ) When we got there Rob asked me which baby I wanted to grab & I said Anson so I hopped into the backseat, unbuckled him & held him up to my chest. I immediately felt something wet on my arm & pulled him away to see poop smeared across my arm & shirt. I walked around to the back of the car & Rob said "oh no, there is poop everywhere!" Boy was he right! We had to do a wipee bath in the backseat for the both of us. I was smart enough to keep a change of clothes for the boys in the diaper bag but didn't think I needed one for myself. I will surely take care of that for the future. We smelled like poop for the entire appointment...gross! So all that to say, Anson is a once a week pooper & believes in the motto "go big or go home!" 

Another boy who I love cuddling.....

Eating: Breastfeeding has really taken off with these two hungry boys! I was so frustrated in the NICU as they struggled to latch on & take a full feeding from me. We came home following up every breastfeeding session with a bottle of 2oz of breast milk fortified with a formula for preemies to increase the calorie count. The process for the first month home was nurse, nurse, bottle, bottle & pump totaling 1 hour & 10 minutes with an assistant or about an hour & a half when alone. When you take into consideration that they go somewhere between 2.5-3 hours between feedings, that feeding plan did not leave much time for anything else. It became my ultimate goal to be DONE with following up every feeding with a bottle ASAP! Once the boys were over 6 pounds, we stopped fortifying the breast milk so that was one step closer. I started to decrease the amount in the bottles & then about a week ago, I stopped cold turkey.  They nursed more frequently for a couple days then settled back into the usual routine of about every 3 hours. I borrowed a scale from a friend that is a doula & lactation consultant & found that each baby was capable of taking 3oz from me in a very short period of time so I knew they could do it. Our great routine that I loved was starting the morning at 6:30. They ate around 6:30, 9:30,12:30,3:30,6:30,9:30, 1:30 & 4. They were super consistent with this schedule until last Saturday when they decided to have a 24 hour feeding frenzy with lots of screaming in between. That day wiped me out &I was so exhausted! Since then, they have added in a extra feeding in the evening pushing the last couple feeds before bed to 2 hours apart then they go a 4 hour stretch from about 8 to midnight.  I pump, go to bed around 9:30 or 10 & Robby feeds them bottles at 12. We try to each get that 4-5 stretch of sleep in....just to survive! In the past week we have mostly mastered tandem feeding with LOTS of work & LOTS of frustration for me & the boys.  I really feel like it is the only way that I can continue breastfeeding.  It takes 20-30 minutes & they are both done. The only problem is that I am pretty tied up & can't block Char & Elo from jumping onto me ; ) I do believe I am past the really hard part of establishing a good milk supply to feed these buckaroos & I am thankful & excited to be at that point.

Sleeping: There is not a lot to say here other than they sleep a lot most of the time & scream a lot the rest of the time. They sleep between every feeding, sometimes they go down without a fight & other times I find myself letting them scream until I can get back in there to assess the situation. At that point, I attempt to calm them down one more time. If they are still screaming after that, someone goes in the swing or Ergo & we keep moving. Last night was the first time that they were both screaming bloody murder whether I was holding them or letting them lay in the crib.  I ended up walking out of the room & they screamed for 10 minutes then fell asleep.  I have lots of thoughts on baby sleep/routines & am finding that I combine books & advice to get these two and us four sleeping well.  We are FAR away from having great sleepers but when you consider that they are only 3-4 weeks past their due date...what do you expect? We are definitely exhausted but finding that we can survive on less sleep than we have ever had before!

One thing that we have found works for O & A is putting them on their tummies....

Owen

Anson

Hanging out on the playmat....

Spending time with these two uninterrupted is rare & SO very sweet. We had about 20 minutes one afternoon where I put them on their Boppy pillows so they could look outside. I just sat and sang & talked to them which is what I remember doing ALL the time when I had just Charlotte. They were content as they smiled & cooed at me.  I love watching their little arms move erratically....

At some moments, they look very different & at others, they look just the same minus a little chub!

Two months down & Lord willing MANY MORE to go. We love you O & A! Thanks for keeping us on our toes ; )