The babies are officially growing, and all kinds of new fun and exciting things are happening in the Niemeyer household these days! At the babies' 6 month doctor appointment, I was thrilled to see that 3 out of four of them are now on the "normal" 6 month growth chart! Although Tyler is still a peanut, the doctor was very happy to see all of them growing like they should and had no concerns. Here are the stats from the appointment last week:
Tyler: 12#, 23" long (not on charts... yet!)
Tanner: 13.5#, 24 1/4" long (1%)
Lauren: 14# (15%), 24 3/4" long (10%)
Hannah: 14.1# (15%), 24" long (2%)
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| Tyler, Lauren, Tanner & Hannah at the doctor. My mom was my helper that day! |
One of the most exciting tidbits of information this week is that we dropped another bottle! So, WE ARE DOWN TO (only) 16 BOTTLES A DAY! The transition has been awesome and they have transitioned to the new schedule amazingly well. As always with 5 kids, everything is give or take an hour. We are still figuring it out, but this is pretty much our new and improved schedule:
8/8:30- Babies wake & bottle feed; Followed by play
10/10:30- Naptime
11:30/12- Bottle feed, followed by cereal feed & play
1:30-2- Naptime
3:30/4- Bottle feed, followed by play
5:30/6- Naptime
7:30/8- Bottle feed & time for bed. Everyone sleeps a solid 11+ hours of sleep each night!!!
Can I just say
this is amazing. While I probably only have an "extra" 2 hours a day now, it's amazing how free my schedule feels now. For example, the other night I actually made dinner, ate dinner (at a normal pace), cleaned up after dinner, and played with Jenna before her 7:30 bedtime. This was in lieu of rushing through dinner to feed 4 crying babies. IT IS AMAZING!!!!
Yeah... I realize how ridiculous I sound. It's the little things, people.
Also, did you catch that new thing in the schedule? Yes,
a cereal feed!!! That's another fun thing we started this week. On Monday we started with rice cereal, and I introduced applesauce a few days ago. The crew is not sure what they think of food via a spoon, but it's fun to watch them explore and try it!
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| It's nothing fancy, but right now I found the best set-up is to sit the babies in a semi-circle of bumbo's around me on the floor. I whip up one large batch of food & use one spoon (figuring they all share germs anyways and there is NO way I would be able to keep track or juggle 4 spoons.) I go down the row mouth to mouth to mouth. I am done, fairly mess-free, in 10 minutes or so. When they get bigger we will go to high chairs... someday! |
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| Hannah is undecided whether she likes rice cereal or not. |
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| Tyler loved it when I added applesauce yesterday! |
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| Lauren is undecided too, but I think she likes it. |
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| It's official: Tanner hates cereal. |
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| "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU FEEDING ME???" |
These days I also am noticing the babies are so curious and love exploring and seeking out toys! The favorite right now is the Jumparoo. Tanner is always reaching & seeking out toys. He also is the crazy jumper. That boy would jump for 10 hours straight if we let him! Lauren would rather sleep in one, and Tyler & Hannah love it but are done after a while, too. So different their personalities are!
So in my little world right now, we are loving the new changes! And for big sister? She has solidified her status as the
Best Big Sister Ever. She is not only a huge help, but she is very loving, kind, and sweet to the babies. Today she was entertaining the babies with her (quite amazing!) hula hooping skills.
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| Jenna likes to help dress the girls, bows and all. |
Some days I still can't believe we have 5 kids, but I am so glad we do. And I feel amazingly blessed that all are healthy, seem developmentally on track, and doing so good!
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| naked babies in the morning... |
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| and all dressed for the day! |
To finish, some candid snapshots of our life!
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| Daddy & Tyler watching TV. Comatose, I think. |
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| Our happy man Tanner. Love him! |
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| Da boyz. They might be identical, but in my opinion they don't look a bit alike! |
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| Smiley Hannah! |
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| Sweet girl Lauren in her cupcake jammies |
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| Mr. Tyler, my snuggabug |
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| Daddy snuggling with a sleepy Lauren |
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| Feet on the head? Totally normal here. |
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| A challenging game of 4-Square: Baby-style. |
Hugs!
Becky
Isn't it great having babies on the charts now? Sydney is 12.5 and on the chart, but for a girl. Boys have to pack on more pounds to do it. I Love seeng how they react to new foods. In the past week, we progressed and now open mouths in anticipation!
ReplyDeleteJenna is precious and the best big sis for sure!
Isn't Harper on the charts yet?!? Regarding feeds, mine still gag a bit when eating but at least they kind of smile through it now! Hopefully in the next week or so they start opening in anticipation! It is fun but all kinds of new messiness :-)
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