Big Milestones Monday

What a day!  Well, the cold is still going strong, so I finally got a doctor's appointment.  And yep, as usual, inconclusive except that yes, I have a really disgusting cold.  I came home with a prescription that they said I could use while nursing if the cold doesn't get better.  I guess the lingering symptoms and the nastiness suggest that it could be a bacteria and not just a virus.  Whatever it is, it is ugly and I can't wait to be rid of it.  I'm still holding out that it will go away on it's own and the prescription won't be necessary!

Ok, so next on the docket.  Penn Rye.  My adorable, sweet babe has produced his first tooth! Yes, that's right, at 4 and 1/2 months, this little guy has a tooth coming through the gum.  Koen and Tavin both got teeth early getting most of their first 8 front baby teeth between 6 and 7 months.  But 4 and 1/2 months is a new family record!  Here's my attempt to get the tooth in a picture, I think I actually did succeed in the second one.

Although he looks pretty happy in the pictures above, he was quite cranky today.  That's what led me to the tooth discovery in the first place.  Here's a shot of a sweet snuggle after I fed him this evening.  I have to cherish these precious moments!

Well, besides growing teeth.  We Melders are also on another new adventure...the big boys are now sharing a room!  Well, maybe we will bail on the effort if there are too many more evenings like this one.  It hasn't exactly been a smooth start.  Let me catch you up on our thinking.  Obviously we now have another little guy, so it was always understood that it would make sense to put Koen and Tavin together.  Thankfully we have the room to take time with that process though and it was more about the when and not the if.  With company coming in a few weeks (Kassi and baby Lincoln), we figured it would be wise to get the big boys in one room to free up room for guests this holiday season.  And we knew it would be best to start this process a little while before our first guest's arrival.  With Doug having some time off later this week and Koen the same, we figured this week would be a good one to go for it and if we are all a little more sleep deprived we could handle it.  Little did I remember that Doug is actually out tonight and tomorrow night, but oh well, we went ahead with the plan anyways.  Thankfully for tonight Doug was going to be around for the evening and didn't have to go out until 8pm, so he was able to help with lay down and stern instructions.  He also was around in the afternoon to help with setup.  Here he is with Tavin and Koen moving furniture.

Here's a peek at the new look of the room.  There are some final touches I have yet to do (so of course later in the week I'll be sure to post a finished product picture).

In honor of the first night in their rooms together (and my solo trip to Target this afternoon), the boys got matching cozy pajamas.  

Well, the boys were super silly leading up to bathtime, but the bath and Douglas' crafty ways subdued them and we had a lovely lay down time as usual.  I read to Tavin and tucked him in and Doug read to Koen and tucked him in about 15 minutes after Tavin.  It all seemed pretty peaceful for about 3 minutes.  Tavin was chatty, which is quite normal for him.  He often talks to himself for 15 minutes or more before falling asleep.  Koen was not used to this habit and made a few visits to me downstairs to let me know about it (does he not know I can hear every peep on the monitor after 5 years?).  Koen did really, really well trying to ignore Tavin for the first 30 minutes and then the poor guy just gave in.  After that it was a lot of up and down the three stories for me.  First a reprimand, then I started taking away Tavin's loveys.  I don't think he completely got the whole thing.  He was sad when I would go in and talk to him, but then as soon as I left the room he was chatting again.  Here's an example of the sillyness I was hearing on the monitor...

After a few chats with Tavin I had confiscated Barkers and Kangaroo.

Then Koen started instigating and getting quite into the act, so I took away Teddy from him.

Perhaps I was naive to think that these consequences would make a difference, because unfortunately I didn't make any headway.  Next I gave Koen a 10 minute time-out in another room which he definitely was not happy with, but still it made no impact.  Ugh!  At last at 9pm I pleaded with them firmly and authoritatively and also let them know the consequence that would happen next.  I think at that point they were too tired to try any harder.  So, it's now 9:30pm and all is quiet and I'm hoping and praying it stays that way.  I've already warned Doug that he is on morning duty and I'm praying that Koen sleeps long and hard in the morning.  Here's hoping!  All in all, I had prepared myself that this wasn't going to be smooth and I was right, but I'm not yet discouraged about the new life for the boys.  I'm sure it'll sink in eventually, the newness will wear off and we'll all just be too tired for the shenanigans.  Koen, Tavin and Penn, I love you guys.  Please sleep well!