I Haven't Completely Abandoned My Big Boys

We've been a little preoccupied with the mini man, but luckily my biggies are so patient and such good sports about all this craziness. Our biggest problem is getting them to leave Rand alone when he's sleeping, and to make sure he's actually waking up before they sprint into his room to say hi. Every time Caulder hears even a tiny peep or groan on the monitor he runs in to pick Rand up. 

But we didn't forget about Easter. 

And we didn't even have any egg dye disasters this year. I guess Tukk really is growing up. Sniff.

Caulder made his look like his favorite cartoons from Homestar Runner.

Despite rumors of sleep deprivation and overwhelming exhaustion, the Easter Bunny even managed to remember to hide the dyed eggs this year. I'm pretty sure that's a first.

The loot:

After Easter the boys had spring break, so we ditched the bambino on Daddy and had some fun at the Provo rec center swimming and rock climbing.

Later that week we saw Home with our very own alien child.

After that we headed to Hu Hot for some Mongolian food. The boys LOVED it. They ate two giant platefuls of sausage and noodles.

Try something new when there's a giant bin of sausage available? Well that's just crazy talk.

The Baby Overachiever

Guess who's off oxygen... again?!! After a mere month on it at home, the little dude is cord free. Except for his apnea monitor, which we're hoping to keep until he goes to college. It's our security blanket. When we check on him when he's sleeping we don't even go look at him - we just watch the blinky lights on his monitor and know he's still breathing. I'm sure that's totally normal.

The little man had his 2-month checkup on Monday and he's doing great. He weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces and is 22 inches long. I think. Or maybe 20 inches. The sleep deprivation is kicking in. My brain is a little faulty. Either way he's growing AND gaining weight. The Tukk has never been able to do both, so it's exciting to see Rander growing so easily.

He's starting to be awake more, but he's also getting fussier. His reflux is kicking his butt. And ours. His pediatrician gave us some ideas to help him, but if those don't work we'll have to put him on medication. His reflux isn't bad enough to affect his weight gain, but it's painful for him and is affecting his sleep. Every time we lay him down he spits up, and if it's been a while since he ate it's pure stomach acid, so it burns him and he wakes up shrieking. Poor baby.

Otherwise he's doing so well. Look at that tube-free face. It's completely smoochable.

I Didn't Want to Get Germs on the Baby

So when a sneeze came out of nowhere I closed my mouth and plugged my nose. All that force had to go somewhere. That somewhere was to my bladder. I peed my pants. With gusto.

I really should have seen that coming.

I think my sister-in-law is right. After baby number 3 your body throws its hands up in chubby surrender, and bladder control is the first to go.

I hope this shady character appreciates my sacrifice. He just peed through his diaper all over my lap. I'm pretty sure it was a sign of solidarity.

I feel you, holmes.

The Smooch

Rander had his first visit with the pediatrician not long after he came home from the NICU. I now have a list of things we need to worry about with him:

1. Possible water on his left ear.

2. Not eating quite as much as the doc would like him to. 

3. Needs oxygen when he eats.

4. Reflux is getting worse. 

5. Has super ridiculously stinky farts.

Solutions? 

Follow up with audiology about the ear. 

Take him in for weight checks to make sure he's eating enough.

Do a trial on Monday to see if we can ditch the oxygen. In the meantime, figure out how to keep him from yanking the cannula off his face. Every day. All day long. One day he started screaming, so I went in the nursery to check on him. Rand had the oxygen tube ripped completely off his face and was gripping the sticker from his cheek in his fist. His cheek had a gnarly red circle on it. No wonder he was screaming. 

Try gripe water and some fancy really expensive formula mixed with his milk to see if that helps the furious barfing. 

As for the stinky farts? Unfortunately, those seem to be incurable. Judging by his big brothers, stinky farts are a lifelong condition he's just going to have to learn to live with. There's nothing we can do. Sniff.

After the pediatrician examined him during his appointment he said, "Bring him in for weight checks if you're worried about his eating. Otherwise just bring him back for a 2-month checkup."

I said, "Wait, that's it?"

Dr. Knochel smiled and said, "Yep. This baby is going to be much different than Tukker was. Just keep him away from people for 4 months, and then you can treat him like a normal baby."

Did you read that? LIKE A NORMAL BABY, PEOPLE. 

I don't even know what that's like. But I'm really excited to find out. 

The Benefits of Fitness

I was really careful throughout my pregnancy with Rander, so I basically just walked for exercise until 24 weeks, when the docs restricted my activity and I had to quit altogether. That was in December, so I've just been eating everything in sight and not exercising. For over 3 months. And doing nothing more cardiovascular than walking (besides all the eating, which can really be a good workout if you're doing it right) for about 9 months. There's some serious wiggle in my walk.

Because of this, Monday I started working out again. It was a gorgeous morning*, so I got outside and went for a hike on the trail behind my house. I enjoyed the blood-pumping invigoration of the uphill climbs, stopping just a few times to enjoy the view.** Then I did some slow jogging on the downhills and it made me so excited to get back into running again after such a long break from it.***

I felt so good after that workout that Tuesday I decided to try something a little more challenging. I did a P90X workout, and it got my blood pumping enough that I knew I needed to hydrate after.****

Wednesday I went for another hike, and then Thursday I did an entire Jillian Michaels workout, complete with burpees and pike crunches.***** I could definitely tell my abs are a little lacking, but overall I felt great.******

This past week I've really felt the power of exercise to invigorate your body and mind. I'm definitely looking forward to continuing down the path to better fitness.*******



I'm required by the strict "100% Honesty and TMI" policies of The Bott Blog to disclose the following:

*It wasn't morning. It was more like 1 pm, because being up all night with a baby is kicking my trash, and I can barely drag myself out of bed at 8 to get Caulder ready for school. This is why people in my grandma's day were smart and had kids when they were 18. 
**I didn't even notice the view. I was too busy bending over, hands on my knees, gasping for breath and praying for death.
***There was no actual jogging on this hike. Zero. And yet I still got a side ache. FROM WALKING DOWNHILL. My desire to get back into running has never been lower.
****I knew I needed to hydrate not because I was getting such a good workout, but because the jumping jacks made me pee my pants.
*****My version of the burpees included me lying on my face on the floor, wishing my heart would actually explode so I could stop working out. My version of the pike crunches included mustering the energy to roll from my face to my back and then watching Tukker - with his ridiculously shredded 6-pack - doing pike crunch after pike crunch and saying, "These are easy Mom!" It's the first time I've ever had the urge to punch a 6 year old.
******I didn't feel great. I legitimately felt bile rise in my throat at one point. And my abs aren't just a little lacking - I'm pretty sure my fat ate my muscle cells and the only thing left is lard.
*******Exercise sucks. I say we all just give up and embrace the obesity epidemic. 78.6 million Americans can't be wrong.

Tukk's Female Fwend

I told the boys they could ditch school the first Monday after Rander came home to spend some time with him. Caulder was all over this offer, but Tukker said he'd rather go to school. Why? Because he wanted to see his "female fwend Maddie." Not his GIRL friend, mind you. His female fwend.

A couple of days later he made this and said, "I'm going to give this to my female fwend Maddie at school tomorrow." 

He made Yaya write down his phone number and address so he could give it to his female fwend Maddie because he wants her to come play. 

And when he got sick last week he begged me to let him go to school every day... so he could play with his female fwend Maddie. 

I think the Tukker man is experiencing his first crush, and it's so adorable it's killing me. This Maddie is one lucky girl.