Getting Bigger!

When there was just one mouth to feed, one diaper to change, etc it was a little easier to come update the blog.  Even when things aren’t hectic, they are still hectic!  The new house has been put to use quite a bit in the last month.  We’ve had multiple family gatherings, grandma’s and grandpa’s have been in town, and just all the space has made life so much easier. 

Trey is growing quite fast.  Chloe grew quick also but she started off at 5lbs 5oz so it seems like Trey is growing quicker but he’s really growing close to the same rate as she did.  We went to the doctor last week with Trey because he started to have some spit up and was very fussy so we figured he was starting to have some reflux.  After starting the medicine, he’s been doing better.  To compare how much better he responded that Chloe did, it took 4 different medication regimens for Chloe and she still wasn’t a 100% controlled.  At the doctor’s office he was 9lb 15.5oz so that rounds up to 10lbs!!!  He is noticeably bigger also.  He outgrew his newborn clothes is less than a month so it was nice that we didn’t buy much of them.  He is not sleeping through the night but we’ve been able to feed him between 10pm and midnight followed by a feeding about 4 hours later so we really have only been needing to get up once in the middle of the night to feed him.  With that said, we are eager for him to sleep through the night.  There is actually some decent data that says kids at 14lbs sleep through the night so at his rate of growth we have about another 4-6wks of getting up to feed him.  Trey definitely needs to be held quite a bit and he knows his mommy.

Chloe is expanding her vocabulary.  The 17-19 month range is when kids tend to explode with new words and she’s definitely following that path.  Previously there was tons of ‘dada’ and now it’s ‘Mike’ and ‘mama’…and ‘Maddie’ too!  We are very lucky that with as often as we have people over to the house that Chloe is so comfortable around others and has no problem letting others hold her and play with her.

We’ve definitely started to have two sets of neighbors that we have got to know better than the others.  However, this week we had someone ring the doorbell in the evening.  When I opened the door, there was a family of three with the mom being pregnant.  The ironic thing is the guy was in my fraternity at KU and a year older.  We knew each other fairly well though because we were on the same intramural soccer (KU champs!), floor hockey (KU champs!), football, and basketball (the good ol’ A-4 bombers) teams.  He and his wife have a 21 month old daughter and she’s due in November.  They live 4 houses to the north of us on the same side of the street.  Tim’s wife is the treasurer for the homeowner’s association so she saw my name and they figured it was us so they showed up with cookies to say welcome to the neighborhood.  Now Chloe can have a friend that is close to her age, and I can have someone to sneak into the basement with to drink beer and watch sports. :)

Kelly is half way done with her maternity leave, which is kind of hard to think Trey’s over 6 weeks old.  Next week, Jarrod and Julie are coming up to KC to stay at the indoor water park and coming over Saturday night.  The following week, we have a large get together of Kelly’s family since a relative is coming into town from California for work but has some free time.  In other words, things aren’t slowing down anytime soon but we like it that way. 

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Grandpa meets Trey!

Grandpa and Grandma Karen came over for dinner today.  It was the first time Grandpa has been able to come over and see Trey since he’s had eye surgery.  Before meeting Trey though, Chloe of course had to be the center of attention and got Grandpa to dance with her!  At the end of the night, she then had Grandpa wrapped around her finger as she got him to rub her back while she watched TV.

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The Lewis’ upgraded to a double wide!

There are hundreds of strollers that are made for two kids, but not many are made for the car seat we have…and of those, there aren’t many that Kelly can get lifted into the back of the car except this one.  I can say/type with a straight face that I never thought I’d be so happy and proud with owning a double wide.

Things are going well.  Last weekend we had people over to say good bye to Scott, hello to Trey, and celebrate the good news regarding Mike Dunaway (it’s not cancer!!!).  The Dunaway’s came up from Wichita and most of the KC Kilgore crew came over…even Billy! 

We think Chloe might have been influenced the most by this, although getting up in the middle of the night is a lingering thought of ours.   Kelly hasn’t been able to be around Chloe as much because Chloe has a cold so we are trying to keep Chloe away from Trey and not let get Kelly sick either so she doesn’t pass it on to Trey.  Babies less than 2 months old with a fever have to stay in the hospital for at least 2 days for IV antibiotics and they get a spinal tap to make sure they don’t have meningitis.  Maybe it’s just the paranoia of daddy the pediatrician, but we are persevering.  Chloe’s starting to keep herself more occupied though with her new kitchen set (pics below) and her new found love…blowing bubbles on the back patio. 

It has truly been a whirlwind of things with me going back to work the same week he was born and being on call that night, my mom here, the Dunaway’s coming up for a night, and us just adjusting to having 2 rear ends with diapers!  We obviously don’t have any reference, but things are going well.  Thankfully, Trey isn’t as high maintenance as big sister when she was his age.  Chloe was always crying from the reflux pain and needed to be held upright for at least 30 minutes after feeding along with needing changed almost every 2 hours because she would drench her clothes in spit up.  Trey might have a small spit up occasionally and only cries when he has his diaper changed.  He has displayed some impressive range with his urine while getting his diaper changed so that’s probably the biggest thing that we’ve had to deal with that we didn’t with Chloe.  His umbilical cord came off yesterday so diaper changes became much easier too. 

Well Chloe just woke up and is chattering away telling her stuffed dog ‘no’ and Trey has a poopy so gotta go.  Happy 4th to everyone!

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Chloe and Trey

We’re Home!!!

Initially we thought we wanted to go home yesterday, but the lack of poop and so-so eating after a circumcision kept us in the hospital another night. This morning, Trey tipped the scales at 6lbs 14oz so he’s only lost about 5% of his birth weight (less than 10% in the first week is expected) and his jaundice level was acceptable so we came home. It was a very surreal experience this trip home with a new baby. We felt so much more prepared as we had everything in place and didn’t have the anxiety of a premature baby that needed so much attention because every little thing would make her cold, not eat, etc.

Chloe has been getting a crash course lately on how to ‘love a baby.’ She passed her test today as she went up to Trey and gave him a hug…her version at least! Here’s a video of their first encounter! I have a feeling there will be some that aren’t as friendly as this one in the coming years.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and offering to help! We’ll have more pictures up soon.

Lewis…Party of Four Now!

Kelly gave me a tap on the shoulder not much after 3:00am today.  Soon after, we were racing to the hospital as soon as Grandma Karen got there for Chloe.  Kelly was smiling and giggling the whole time and then the nurse told us Kelly was 7cm dilated and the bag of fluids was almost ready to pop.  She kept dilating and started pushing.  Her regular OB was not on call so she found out at about 7am that Kelly was in the hospital.  Dr Carriker called and told them to have her stop pushing because she wanted to deliver the baby.  It only took a few more pushes when Dr Carriker arrived and we became a of family four! 

He weighs 7lbs 4oz, is 18.5 inches long, and he has strawberry blonde hair.  If everything goes perfect, there is a chance we go home tomorrow although Wednesday morning is when we will likely come home.  Both, mom and Trey, are doing well. 

Trey is already a joker, he stuck his tongue out at me after his bath this morning.

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Baby Update

Well, there is now less than 10 days before Trey is here.  Kelly had her last appointment today and the plan is to hopefully admit Kelly next Monday night or Tuesday morning depending on if there are any openings for scheduled inductions open up before then.  This is all of course contingent on Trey not showing up sooner than that.  The doctor also had Kelly get another sonogram today because she was possibly going to induce her sooner since she thought Trey was so big.  He was only 7lbs 2oz though so she decided to hold off on the induction until next week.