Penn's 1 Month Appointment

This morning was Penn's 1 month appointment!  I can't believe how quickly the days go, but then looking back over all the feeding sessions, dirty diapers and snuggle-fests I can see how these weeks have transpired.  Penn had a fabulous appointment.  Last time we were at the doctor's he was about up to his birth weight and was in the 25th percentile.  Today he was 10 lbs. and 4 oz. and in the 50th percentile!!  Good job, Penn (and a little pat on the back for me)!  As for his height...he was born at 20 and 1/2 inches and is now 23 inches long, that's the 85th percentile.  It's amazing how much these little new ones can grow in their early days and weeks and I'm just praising the Lord for his health and growth.  Here are some pictures I took of him at the doctor's office...

While we were at the doctor's office we had left Aunt Abbie with the two big brothers at a nearby playground.  They had a blast and both boys behaved very well (Koen's been giving us a run for our money most days!).  When I got to the playground the boys were on opposite swing sets.  Koen on the normal swings and Tavin in the baby swings.  Abbie was running in between the swing sets to push them.  It was hilarious!  Talk about a great aunt!!  She was having a blast with them.  Tavin was all proud of himself being brave in the swing for Abbie and Koen was just happy to have someone dedicated to pushing him.   

Abbie and I decided to take the boys out to lunch today, so that was a new adventure.  A tight restaurant with 3 boys and lots of gear, but it worked out very well and was fun not to pack lunch or prepare it at home and have to clean up.  We rushed home to get me home in time to feed Penn and the boys hung out with Abbie.  Then I laid all the boys down for a nap and I've been blessed with quite a bit of down time with no boys awake this afternoon (got a lot of tidying up, laundry folding, a brief bit of Pilates and now some blogging done...feels so good to accomplish something with my hands free!).  Now heading to feed my little Penn and wake up Koen so he will sleep tonight (Abbie wore him out so well he wanted to sleep today!).

5 Week Comparison

It is a lot of fun shuffling through my computer files finding comparison photos, but man it takes up a lot of my limited down time!!  I found a great comparison shot of Tavin versus Penn, but the one for Koen versus Penn isn't as good.  After I flipped through so many photos it is definitely very obvious to me that all 3 boys do look quite a bit alike in these early days (which makes posting these comparisons a lot of fun!).


Here's Tavin and Penn.  You decide who is who...

Here's Koen & Penn.  You decide who is who...

Ok, so it's pretty obvious if you pay attention to the blog or know family photos, but still, it's fun!  The compare of Penn and Koen is probably more like around 4 weeks.  But Tavin and Penn's comparison is pretty close to day-to-day match.

Abbie Visit & Weekend Catchup

It's been a busy weekend for Doug, but he managed to cram in a lot of time with Koen and Tavin in the mornings on Friday and Saturday.  He loves being with them, but I know he's also doing this to help me out so the house can be a little more calm and Penn and I can continue getting to know each other and I can get a few things done.  On Friday morning they ran few errands and went to the library and to the playground.  It sounded like they had a blast there.  Here's a picture of snacktime in the shade...

The boys spent much of their time playing hide and seek.  Here's Tavin in his favorite tricky spot!

Apparently, right after this photo, Tavin ran out to be found (he doesn't quite get the game) and when he did he slipped in a huge mud puddle and was covered in mud.  I saw him when he got home a few hours later and it was a significant amount of mud.  Doug said he was very sad about getting so messy, so I didn't make a big deal about it when he arrived.  He was quite a sloppy mess though!  After the park they went to Whole Foods for lunch (Tavin must have been a sight to see!).  At that time I was actually at a quick hair appointment.  It happened to be right over a time when Penn needed to eat, so for the first time he tried the bottle.  Aunt Abbie must be a pro because he loved it and drank 3.5oz out of the 4oz I had left.  I was thrilled!  Both Koen and Tavin did not care for bottles much at all.  Maybe Penn will be different and I can be a little more flexible.  Thanks for at least a positive first experience, Ab.  Here's Ab snuggling with Penn later that day.  They are already sweet buddies.

I've lost track of which day this was, but here are some cute pictures of Penn, Koen and Tavin that I forgot to upload earlier and I figured I could sneak them in here since I'm talking about awesome Aunt Abbie snuggling with Penn.

Koen actually took the pictures that are closeup of Penn.  It was amazing he caught a yawn!

So, back to chronological order.  On to Saturday...Doug took Koen to a work day at what will be Koen's school (Koen was so excited and into it!), that left Abbie and I home with Tavin and Penn.  Lots of fun!  We spent much of the morning outside as the temperature had dropped in the night (although still quite sticky).  Here are a few pictures from our time on the porch...

Later in the day Tavin got to "kiki" (carry/hold) Penn upon request.   Here's how it went...started out pretty well...

Then it got a little hairy...

Oh dear, it's falling apart.  Look at Tavin concentrating so hard he has his tongue sticking out and Penn looks like he's trying to get out.  Precious.

Still later in the day (the cycle of eat/wake/sleep just keeps this day rolling!), Penn had some tummy time.  He's probably the most agreeable tummy-timer I've had yet, but I still don't think he's crazy about it.  

Now, on to Sunday.  We got the 3 boys off to church on time again.  Three weeks in a row!  It's great that Ab was here, but I have to say I really handle myself and the boys alone and it's great to know that I will be able to do it all on my own.  We had a nice time at church as usual with worship, teaching and our great community there.  Then Abbie and I took the boys to the playground to run out their energy.  We got some cute photo opps and a funny video of Tavin dancing to his own humming.  Enjoy!

That's all for now.  It's been a great weekend, but not a lot of time to blog about every detail. The days just fly with all 3 boys!

Aunt Abbie is Here!!

My sister has been itching to get to the Burgh to meet her newest nephew since he arrived on June 26th.  Thankfully she didn't have to wait too long as she already had plans to come North from Texas for a friend's wedding in Princeton, NJ last weekend.  From there she visited friends in NYC and then took a bus to get here to Pittsburgh to be with us (and we get her for a whole week and a day!).  Koen and Tavin have been anticipating her arrival basically since we returned from our Florida trip in March.  It was no let down when she arrived yesterday morning (she actually got here before they woke up, so it was really fun to have them wake up and say that Aunt Abbie was waiting downstairs!).  The boys haven't wanted to part with her since she got here.  Koen had a super fun-filled day with her yesterday.  After some playtime in the morning post-breakfast, he headed out on his scooter with Ab on foot and they went to his hair cut appointment.  

I've been needing to get him a trim for a month or more.  It was great to finally get it done!  Poor guy was looking quite straggly.  Thanks for taking him, Ab!  

Next they headed to the library to wait for Doug.  Why?  Because Doug had tickets to the 12:30pm Pirates game for all of them!  Koen is becoming quite a Pirates fan and is learning the game and getting more intrigued by it every time.  The seats they had yesterday were amazing.  

After all that excitement we had a nice low key evening just enjoying all being together.  Abbie is like a special extension of our immediate family.  The boys adore her, she's one of my best friends and she and Doug have a great relationship.  A real blessing.  Today was much more chill than yesterday.  We just stayed around the house and backyard.  Here's a picture from this morning.  The boys were so happy to have Abbie around they agreed to do a nice picture (as long as they could do a silly one too).

Stay tuned for more posts on lots of fun with Abbie!

Post-Bath Pics of Penn

These pictures aren't the best quailty, but I did catch a yawn and some smiles and I just love his sweet face, so here you are getting inundated with it. =)

First Day On Our Own

Well, I don't have any pictures to prove it, but we made it through our first day without Gramma here and it thankfully was very encouraging and quite a success.  A quick synopsis...


Penn did an awesome job sleeping in the night again.  He only wakes up once between the 10pm and 7am feedings (actually I had to wake him up at 4am, I'm thinking I might stop doing that though since it happens every few nights, I'm interested to know how long he would go if I didn't).  I'm not sure how long this great nighttime sleeping will go, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!


At 7am I woke Penn up again to eat and then even managed to get through the shower and prep the boys' breakfasts before their wake-up time of 8am.  


Penn laid down for his first nap around 8:45am and the boys played while I packed up lunch for later.  


At 10am I fed Penn again and let the big boys watch an episode of Chuggington.  Then I managed to get all 3 boys out of the house by 11am.  We met some friends at Highland Park for some outdoor fun on the wooden playground.  We ate our packed lunch there and had such a nice time enjoying friends and getting fresh air, and well, just feeling like our normal little unit (felt like pre-Penn except I was no longer uncomfortable and pregnant and had adorable Penn with us!).


We got home a few minutes before 1pm to feed Penn again.  The boys were great and kept themselves entertained in the playroom while I fed Penn in Koen's room.  Then I laid Tavin down for his nap and then read to Koen before his rest time.  Then Penn and I got some nice one-on-one time before his nap.  He fell asleep later than usual, but by 3pm it was just me for an hour before his 4pm feeding (and I got dinner all prepped!).  Koen actually got picked up by a friend's mom for a special big boy play date from 3pm to 5:30pm, which was nice for me so that at the 4pm feeding Tav was still up in his room and it was just Penn and I again.  After that feeding I gave Penn a bath (pictures in next post) and then he and I got Tavin up from his nap at 5pm.    We played in the playroom for a little while and when Doug got home we played in the backyard until Koen got home and then we had a nice family dinner.


Bedtime with the big boys went pretty smoothly with Penn waking on and off from his little catnap, but pretty happy with the pacifier and Tavin was silly and fun in the bath and then at bedtime.  Doug handled Koen and got him down by 7:10pm due to his really busy day.  I fed Penn at 7pm and Doug, Penn and I have been hanging out ever since.  This time of night is usually quite a wake time/fussy time for Penn and tonight is no exception, but Doug and I are handing Penn back and forth and watching a movie in the background.


I'm really proud of us and so thankful to the Lord for a graciously good day.

Quick Catchup

It's been a lot of the same here.  Lots of time at home.  Gramma is amazing playing with the boys in the playroom (she and Koen have done hours and hours of puzzles and board games these last few weeks).  Doug continues to get the boys out when he can around his work schedule.  I keep trying to keep our days somewhat interesting when it's just me and Gramma on duty with the boys.  Here's a quick catchup via photos I've grabbed during the highlights of our last few days...


One evening after the boys' naps, Koen and Tavin "helped" me give Penn a sponge bath.  They were so interested.  Koen was really sweet, he held Penn's hand the whole time (well, he was sort of squeezing it, so I had to keep asking him to loosen it up!).

Yesterday Koen had some really special time with Penn before dinner.  It was precious.  Penn was so comfortable in his biggest brother's arms and Koen was so proud to be taking care of his littlest brother.  Gramma was on duty to keep an eye on things to make sure Penn was safe. =)

Last night the boys got to open presents that Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan (super thoughtful godparents) had dropped off.  Koen was so patient to wait for Daddy to get home so that we could have present-opening-time all together.  Koen and Tavin got hilarious Mo Willems books and Penn got "You are My Sunshine."  Thanks Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan!

  

Koen helped Penn open his present.  Don't worry, Penn isn't being picky about the present or ungrateful, he was mad before we started opening presents.  Koen was a trooper to sit next to him amidst the scream-fest!

This morning in between Penn's feedings I took the boys out for a few errands and then a nice chunk of time to run off some energy at Mellon Park.  They spent a lot of time playing on the merry-go-round playing with other kids and with each other.  Tavin eventually got adventurous enough to try the merry-go-round and he really enjoyed it.

Well, today was Gramma's last morning with us before flying home to NH.  I dropped her off at the airport this afternoon.  The goodbyes are always hard as Mom is one of my best friends and she has also been such a help in this transition from a family of 4 to a family of 5.  We are so grateful for all her hard work, basically handling laundry, dishes and much of the cleaning, not to mention all the Penn-holding and entertaining Koen and Tavin too.  I can't say enough how blessed we were by her being here to support us in all these practical ways (and she is such an emotional support to me as well as I walk into this new season of life as a mom of 3).  This evening went really smoothly, but I thought this picture was funny as I was trying to get a cute picture of Penn with his "bananas over mommy" shirt on, but it seems that he was pretty bummed about Gramma not being around to hold him while I was prepping dinner, so it doesn't really look like he's too crazy about me.  We miss you already Gramma!  So thankful we will be seeing you in a few weeks in NH!