Post appointment...

Xander had his 5 year well child visit the other day and got 3 vaccinations while we were there- Dtap and polio in the left arm and MMR in the right.  While giving my child vaccines is no picnic in general, he pretty much flipped his lid during the shots. It is absolutely no fun to hold your child down while they are screaming and crying and begging you not to hurt them anymore.  I was feeling pretty traumatized afterwards but Xander was quite easily pacified with hugs and stickers. Friday morning he had a fever, easily treated with Motrin, but Friday evening his poor left arm looked like this.  I though it seemed a tad excessive so we took him to the Dr again this morning and apparently this is within the scope of a "normal" reaction.  I'd hate to see what an abnormal reaction would look like! Now the trick is to keep him from itching it and getting it infected. I really struggle sometimes with the vaccine debate but I guess a nasty, sore arm is better dying from tetanus or whooping cough, both of which are pretty readily found around here.  Still this is one part of parenting I could do without...

Xander's five year appointment

It's hard to believe my little man is going to be 5 years old in a few short weeks. My sweet baby boy is turning in to a real little person these days.  He's still my little man of course weighing in at only 36.5 lbs and measuring 40.1 in tall.  Height it appears is not going to be his strong suit.  Heck I only just pulled out all the size 4 pants! He is a busy, busy guy though.  Always on the move... He can be a little moody at times but then again who isn't! He's meeting all his developmental milestones and his speech and hearing seem to be within normal range even with tubes out so that is a huge relief.  He does not appear to be color blind unlike every other male in my family! His vision tested out at 20/30 in both eyes but at some point here soon I should probably take him to the eye doctor to have his eyes thoroughly checked- he is my son after all! So that is this year's health update.

Maggie is 33 weeks old!

Maggie is 33 weeks old today!  She is sitting up beautifully by herself and has even started to pull herself into a sitting position, provided she has a little tilt to start with. She still has only 2 teeth but I think she is working on some more given how fiercely she has been chewing on everything in site.  She finally figured out the food thing and, while she still tends to get her hands in the way, will now open her mouth for bites of food rather then sticking her tongue out to lick it. She could use a little help in the sleep department seeing as when I am home she seems to want to nurse all night long.  Someday I would like to reclaim my bed for my own!

Our newest additions

Lillian is the proud new mama of 12 piglets today.  They are so cute- especially when you consider what they grow up into!  There is a wide range of colors and patterns to choose from and I now truly understand where the term "pig pile" come from.  Welcome littles...

Maggie is 32 weeks old!

 I couldn't decide which picture I liked the best so you got all three!  Isn't she so precious?  She definitely had a six month growth spurt (maybe a little late) but she hasn't been sleeping quite as well as she had been.  This too shall pass... But even with the lack of sleep she is still a pretty happy girl.  She loves kicking her feet!

Maggie is 31 weeks old!

I could just eat her- 'nuff said!

Maggie is 7 months old and she has teeth!

Can you believe she is 7 months old already?!?!?!? Because I am having a hard time with it. She is sitting up beautifully by herself, although still not really rolling over yet. I think soon she will be able to pull herself into a sitting position.  She certainly doesn't like to miss anything going around her. She has started to eat some solids. She really likes Gerber teething biscuits and anything she can hold onto herself.  She is not yet a huge fan of anything you try to feed her, although bananas do seem to be most favored. Today we are at CocoKeys in Fitchburg Ma.  It is an indoor waterpark and the boys are having a blast while Maggie chills with Nanny.

I must apologize about all the crummy iPhone pics but they are certainly convenient! Maggie enjoyed sitting on the table at Buffalo Wild Wings- salt and vinegar wings yum! In the big news of the week she cut her first tooth yesterday and her second tooth today so my big girl now has her front two bottom teeth!

Maggie is 30 weeks old!

This photo is wicked blurry!  I want to upload a video but am having trouble with it... I'll keep working on it!

Maggie is 29 weeks old!

Yesterday I took Maggie to Nashua and we had her 6 month photos done- they are totally gorgeous.  I'll have to post some of my favorites here. It was a long, long day but she did great! Nan and I had a wonderful time. I'm planning on doing it again with Xander for his fifth birthday next month- a mommy/nanny day.  Hopefully he will enjoy it.

trying to get a picture of all three is a little but like herding cats!

Maggie is 28 weeks old!

I had to go up to a conference in Littleton, NH this week so the boys and Maggie came with me and they crashed in the hotel room with Nan supervising while I went and learned all about the fetal heart transitioning to the neonatal heart- fascinating!  Life is real miracle- it's a wonder any of us survive! Anyway the boys were pretty fascinated by the TV and the hotel pool but Maggie was flirting with me.

Maggie is 27 weeks old!

We had a wonderful Easter with Nan, Uncle Robert, Aunt Mugino, George and May coming to visit us. The adults had a lovely sit down dinner and banished the kids to a kid's table at our kitchen island and a good time was had by all! Maggie is thoroughly enjoying swim classes with mommy. She loves to kick her legs in the water.

Maggie is 26 weeks old!

This week Easter is coming and things have started to get rather crazy and busy around the Linnenbringer household! We took the kids to the Governor's Mansion for an Easter Egg hunt and to meet Governor Maggie Hassan.

Maggie is six months old!

So ye who follow my blog be prepared for a slew of posts.  I've been totally MIA and I apologize but in an effort to make Maggie feel as important as her brothers I am going to update the blog baby book style.  You'll get the nitty gritty and pics from the last month and I'll do better in the weeks to come!

Our gorgeous girl is 6 months old today! 

Maggie is 25 weeks old!

I can sit up by myself and I love to shake my head "no"! I must be growing like a weed because all I want to do is eat!!!!

Maggie is 24 weeks old!

Maggie is 23 weeks old!

Miss Maggie is 23 weeks old! She is doing pretty well.  She somewhat miraculously, overnight recovered from her conjunctivitis which was nice but she still has a bit of a persistent cough that I would like to see her get rid of. Of course we ended up taking her to the doctor probably unnecessarily because up until the morning of her appointment she had all kinds of goobery eyes!  Silly goose couldn't have cleared up a day earlier so I didn't waste a trip to the doctor!!!! Oh well she is up to 16 lbs now so little tank is still tanking up. She's been fussy with her cough and not sleeping well so I've not been sleeping well...so there has been some crabbiness at home recently. I see some much needed sleep in my future (please....) She is trying so hard to sit up but she keeps face planting. I guess she will have to work on her core strength some more! She has found her hands really well and now refuses to have her pacifier put into her mouth but insists on doing it herself.  I was having such fun watching her do it that I think I created a bit of a monster.... This is such a fun age because they are so interactive and yet not so mobile they get themselves into too much trouble. I'm not really looking forward to chasing a crawler around...

On the crafting front I made good progress on Xander's Wonderful Wallaby.  I haven't quite finished the doggy yet because I haven't been able to work on it in front of the boys since I want it to be a surprise for Easter, but I am almost there. The wallaby is going to be a lovely sweater although the yarn is pooling in rather interesting ways. Hopefully it will all come together in the end but it might end up being kind of a wild hodge podge; seeing as the body is pooling totally differently than the sleeves and I haven't even gotten to the hood yet.

Come yarn along with us at Ginny's Place.

Maggie is 22 weeks old!

Miss Maggie is 22 weeks old today.  She seems to be doing a little better with the sleeping this week than last week so maybe that was just a blip. Poor little bug has conjuctivitis this week and her eyes have been seriously goobery- the joys of big brothers! She should have a wonderfully robust immune system by the time she is school age becasue I swear she has caught every litte bug that the boys have brought home from school.  Apparently this round of conjuctivitis is viral so there is not much to do except wait it out.  So we are waiting it out and doing routine eye swabbing and hand washing.  It doesn't really seem to be bothering her except for some restless nights but who knows whether her eyes are bothering her or she is just having some restess nights! She is still my happy girl for the most part. She smiles every time she sees me, even through her goobery eyes, and it just melts my heart everytime!




I have been having a little knitting ADD this week. I'm still working on the dog from Spud and Chloe but it's been slow going since I don't want to work on it while the boys are around. It's gotten to the point where it is recognizable as a toy and I want it to be a suprise. So I cast on a little newborn charity hat and a sweater for Xander. The hat is for on the go and the sweater is for knitting at home when the boys are around. Hopefully the sweater will be for Xander's birthday.  I'm making him a wonderfully wallaby with some mosaic moon yarn I got in a co-op last year.  It's the first time I've knit with the mosaic moon bfl and it is lucious.  It's a good thing I made the sweater a size up because it is going to be a warm one.  It is so nice and soft too though. I haven't really knit enough yet to see how the colors are going to be but I have a feeling they are going to come out nicely, although more stripey that I had anticipated.  Stay tuned and come yarn along with us at Ginny's place.

Maggie is 5 months old!

My princess is five months old! Her new thing this week is shaking her head. It's hilarious. You look at her and ask her questions and she just shakes her head "no"!

Maggie is 21 weeks old!

The theme of the week is sleep or rather the lack there of... Maggie is a really good baby overall but she is getting to that age where she doesn't fall asleep anywhere at the drop of the hat. Since we lead a rather busy life slechping from school to swimming to work to the gym, etc, etc poor Magster is having a bit of hard time with it all. She gets overtired and then she gets quite fussy. She can't seem to get out of her own way long enough to fall asleep, with the eye rubbing and fussing. I think it is funny that babies have to learn to fall asleep. They do it so well at the beginning and then they hit this age around 5 months where it seems like they lose that ability and have to relearn it. In Maggie's case it also seems to be linked to her need to be with someone at all times.  She is constantly aware and watching everything going on around her and she has become especially aware of being left alone.  One thing is for sure she doesn't like being alone and she particularly doesn't like it when I am not there. So last night she slept in her own room for the first time. I was trying to get her to fall asleep on her own not while nursing. I made the mistake of not encouraging this ability with James and he still has issues falling asleep on his own so I'm hoping that lots of practice with Maggie will encourage better sleep habits. It went pretty well actually.  She did seem to wake up a little more often than when she sleeps in my room but with her pacifier and her mobile going she was able to fall back asleep pretty quickly for the most part. I did nurse her one time but that is pretty normal for her anyway. So we will practice napping in her crib today and see how that goes. Hopefully she will learn some good sleep habits and be able to fall sleep on her own without quite so much fussing. 

 

Does anyone have a good remedy for baby eczema? Both the boys had it but Maggie seems to be resisting all my normal remedies. She has it really badly on her arms where the boys had it on their legs- don't know if that makes a difference?

 

On the knitting front I haven't made much more progress on my dog from last week so not much to show. I've finished the body but am still working on the rest of it. I've got all kinds of knitting plans waiting to be put in motion though so I just need to get Maggie sleeping better so I can find some additional knitting time. Come and yarn along with us over at Ginny's place.

Maggie is 20 weeks old!

 

My sweet girl is almost 5 months old! It's crazy how fast time flies. She rolled over for the first time last week. She's gotten very interested in her feet.  It is so funny to see her laying on her back examining her toes with great intent. I'm just waiting for them to end up in her mouth sooner rather than later. She's able to hold things now so she spends a lot of time holding her Sophie la Girafe teether.  It's amazing how it goes straight from hand to mouth! She is the master of putting things in her mouth that is for sure. She is also trying really hard to sit up but is little a weeble wooble when she does.  It's really funny to see her wobbling back and forth while alternating grinning and looking startled at her own self.

I started working on the dog from Spud and Chloe but I didn't get very far yet.  It's not been a good week for finding time for knitting. I've been working a lot and with the snow, I got to spend an extra special long time at work. So I'll just have to keep chugging away but now I have to go back to work...

Happy Ash Wednesday! Come and yarn along with us at Ginny's place.