Peter: 5 years

Height: 3 ft. 6 in. (26%)

Weight: 44 lbs. (69%)

Clothing Size: 5T

Sleep Schedule: 8:00 p.m. - 7:00 a.m.

What is your favorite animal? Spinosaurus
What is your favorite movie? Lion King
What is your favorite TV show? Paw Patrol
What is your favorite food? Pizza
What is your favorite thing to do outside? Dig in the dirt
What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks

What is your favorite drink? Apple Cider
What is your favorite color? Orange
What is your favorite song? My Love is Greater Than Your Power (A Peter original worship song)
Who is your best friend? Kadon
What is your favorite game? Tag
What is your favorite toy? Blocks (Duplos)
What is your favorite book? Giant Dinosaurs
What is your favorite meal that Mommy makes? Quesadillas

What is your favorite outfit? Fuzzy pants, this shirt
What do you want to be when you grow up? Fireman
Where is your favorite place to go? The Bowling Area
What did you get for your birthday? Dinosaur Book, Spider-Man stickers, Crayons, Punch Balloons, Pokemon Book, Cowboys shirt, Bike Bell, Puzzle and more stuff I can't say cuz I'm too tired
What did we do for your birthday? Eat Dominos and have cake
What do you love about Luke? Playing Baby Lion with him
What do you love about Miles? How cute he is
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? School
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Go watch movies at the movie theater

I was reading through his 4 year old blog, and remembered looking forward to seeing Peter as a big brother again. I was right that he would be a capable and willing helper, but I had no idea how much I'd rely on him as I adjusted to life with 3 boys age 4 and under. Peter absolutely loves helping with Miles, washing dishes, putting away the groceries, setting the table, and so much more.

Five years old seems like a big milestone, mainly because it means he's old enough to start school. I am grateful we have almost a whole year before that happens, though, because I am not ready for it! He definitely has left the toddler stage and is a kid now. This past year was a big one in terms of him gaining more independence and becoming very helpful/capable.

Peter is extremely caring. He likes to follow the rules and wants everyone else to do the same. He has a very tender heart, especially towards his baby brother.
He doesn't want to be held or cuddled much anymore but wants to hold Miles any moment he's awake. He plays with Duplos, Paw Patrol, and Hot Wheels every single day. He loves to color, draw, and do craft projects (but he's a bit of a perfectionist like his mother). He also loves to ride his bike, especially if he gets to do longer rides with Daddy. Every game he plays somehow involves a bad guy.

Peter loves going to Awana and is a rockstar at learning memory verses. He was so excited to move up to the 5-year-old class at church so that Daddy could be his teacher. Peter is naturally a little bit shy, but really does have a heart of compassion. He's the best and we're so glad he's ours!

Quotable: Peter is 5!

"Why are you curling your hair like that? Is it because you want people to think you're a noodle?"

King DVD (King Dedede)

Outer Space (Heaven)

Swipers (Windshield Wipers)

When we can't understand what Luke is saying to us, Peter replies:
“Oh! I speak brudder really well. Let me tell you what he said.”

"Where did we get Miles? Oh yeah, I remember. DiggityMiles.com"

Miles was crying because he got left alone in the bedroom. Peter said Miles probably thought we left him. I told Miles that we would never leave him and it was ok. Peter replied, "Yeah, Miles, we would never leave you because we don't want to go to jail."

I agreed but said the real reason was because we love him and want to take care of him. 

"Well...yeah, but really we don't think jail would be fun and I don't think they have toys there."

"Can you see on your phone when we're gonna die? I'm guessing it's 289 months from today."

"Mommy, this food is really...um...well...good. It tastes kinda differenter."

"Well, today we can't pick peaches cuz it's cloud cloud cloud."

Luke calls everyone a baby so I introduced the boys to Justin Beiber's "Baby" which they both thought was hilarious. Peter will sometimes request we listen to "Baby Baby Baby Oats" 

Speaking of baby... :) 

On Halloween night, Peter and I were going door-to-door after Kory brought the little boys home to go to bed. At one house, a man left right as we arrived. He kissed the woman goodbye, and said "goodnight, baby." Peter was asking why he was leaving his own house and I told him it was probably his girlfriend's house and he was probably going home to his own house. 

"But he called her baby. You have to live with your baby!"

Miles: 1 Month

(I started this post back in March but never finished it until now.)

I know it's very cliche to say it, but the month went by SO fast! There was a lot that happened in those four weeks. We got to leave the hospital on Monday afternoon after he was born on Sunday; mostly because we really wanted to get home and see our older two boys and my parents. Peter and Luke weren't allowed to be at the hospital due to the measles outbreak and flu season, so they got to meet Miles for the first time when we brought him home. They were SO excited! It was so wonderful to have our family of 5 together for the first time.

When we returned to the hospital for a check-up on Wednesday, Miles had lost almost a full pound and was pretty severely jaundiced. He had to be re-admitted to the hospital and we were really discouraged to be away from family again. Thankfully, I had several friends come to see us at the hospital and my parents were still in town to care for the older two boys. 

We got to come home for good on Thursday and had several days with my parents.

My parents left Sunday morning and the biggest snowstorm Roseburg has seen in decades hit Sunday afternoon. We lost power in the early hours of Monday morning. It was quite a challenge to keep everyone warm, but Miles was probably the warmest of us all since he got to be swaddled in front of the fireplace all day.

He took his first bottle like a champ and went back and forth between nursing and bottle with ease. I was so excited because Luke refused a bottle and it was really hard to never get a break from feeding him.

Miles had his circumcision once the doctor's offices could open back up after the snowstorm. The snow finally started melting on Thursday and Kory's parents arrived Thursday evening. We couldn't believe our parents had just missed the snowstorm on both ends of it--thanks God!

Just when we got warmed up from the power outage and snowstorm, our heater broke and we were back without any heat. Miles' first month of life was certainly one to remember! 

We discovered he had a tongue and lip tie and drove to Eugene to have Dr. Sutter revise both of them. It was a very quick laser procedure and made an immediate difference in Miles' ability to nurse well. 

The first month flew by and we were just SO happy to have added Miles to the family. He was already my best sleeper and was doing 4-5 hour stretches by the time he was a month old. He also put himself to sleep most nights. At 4 weeks, he was still sleeping in the pack-and-play in our bedroom. He was nursing well and growing at just about the same rate as his two older brothers.

Weight: 9 lbs 5 oz (34%)
Length: 22.25 in. (72%)

Teeth: 0
Clothing: Newborn, 0-3 months
Diapers: Newborn

Miles: 7 Months

Weight: 13 lbs. 11 oz. (0%)

Height: 25.25" (3%)

Teeth: 0

Clothing: 6 months

Diapers: Size 1

We met with Early Intervention this month for an assessment and they very quickly determined that Miles had reflux. The pediatrician called in a prescription for him right away and we noticed almost immediate improvements! Miles had never sat up before, likely because it was a painful position, and after two days of medication, he began sitting up completely independently. He also began using both arms/legs equally, drank much better from the bottle and started finally having an interest in solids. I truly can't believe what a positive difference the medicine has made for him. 

Miles began speech and occupational therapy this month through EI and will start physical therapy next month. He needs a bit of extra work to focus on muscle strength and flexibility, particularly in his mouth and jaw. The therapists come to our home and teach me how to do the therapy...and I'll try to do a better job implementing it than I've done these past few weeks. Oops.   

I stopped pumping/nursing completely this month when it became clear that it wasn't working for our family. I was spending over 2 hours every day pumping and it was only enough for 1.5-2 bottles. Miles drinks 6 bottles a day, so that was just not worth the time and effort required. When we switched to formula-only, Miles became very constipated and had several days of really bad tummy issues, so he's now on a daily probiotic that seems to be helping. He's also drinking a couple bottles of donor milk each day and eating solids once a day.

In spite of all this good news and progress, he's still not growing or gaining weight. It's a frustrating mystery that we can't seem to solve. We're continuing to work with the lactation consultant/massage therapist, pediatrician, and Early Intervention therapists and hopefully, we'll be able to figure this out soon...or maybe he'll just start growing and we won't ever really have answers? Time will tell. Maybe this is the month he finally breaks the elusive 14 lb mark!  

Miles has become much more verbal since he began taking the reflux medication, which is fun and also painful. He's got a good scream!

He typically sleeps from 8:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. and will occasionally wake up once around 4:00 a.m. for a bottle. I feed him anytime he wakes up so he can have the extra calories, but don't ever wake him up to eat as we have found he eats really poorly when it wasn't his idea in the first place. He's transitioning away from the 3rd nap in the last week or so, which means he's going down for the night at closer to 7:00. 

I have really enjoyed Miles this past month in a way I haven't been able to since he was a newborn. I love this stage when they're so interactive and fun. I'm also hoping he takes his time learning to crawl; it's nice not having to baby-proof and chase him around when he's getting into everything. I'll enjoy it while it lasts! 

Quotable #15

Peter Bread (pita bread)

Dougly Countas Fair (Douglas County Fair)

Me-rote (remote)

Sushi (Yoshi)

He uses the word confused when he means distracted. 

Tisaster (disaster)

"Mommy, I think my brains and legs want to watch a show so can you turn one on for me please?"

We were having Frito Pie for lunch one day and Luke spilled some of his on the floor. Peter was helping him clean it up and said, "Hey Mommy! It used to be Frito Pie but now it's Floor-o Pie!" 1s

Peter knows all his letters but doesn't know how to spell much besides his name and his brothers' names. He does love to try to spell words, though. 

"This is my tiger. His name is Jeembo. You spell Jeembo “S-A-T-L-E-A”.

Peter was swatting at the air one day and I asked what he was doing.

"These pieces of skin that fall off me are so clever! I try to hit them in the air and they just fly upwards or downwards or sidewards. They're just too clever for me."

Luke: *something I can't understand*

Me: “You want to eat some shoes?”

L: No, tats tan eat shoes. (cats can)

M: “No they can’t. That’s silly.”

L: Yep, dey tan. 

M: “Where did you get that idea?”

L: From Tosto (Costco)

You tant tatch me. I’m da ginger boy!

 Mash Boes (Super Smash Bros)

Ready, set, get ready. And go! And now get ready. Set ready. Go!

 If you're on the ground, he's sure to climb on your back and yell, 

"Hee-yaw! Piggy up horsey!"

We recently got an Amazon Echo in our kitchen. We mainly use it for playing music, setting timers and asking her for kid jokes. It's not hooked up to any TV's or other devices so it's just a speaker. Luke is pretty convinced it can do anything and I've heard him in the kitchen talking to Alexa several times:

"Yexa! Play Paw Trol."

"Yexa, I want a snack. Nola bar please."

"Yexa, set a timer for 2 minutes." (He thinks this means 

he gets to put Peter in a time-out.) 

I told the boys to get their pajamas on several times so I warned them there would be consequences if I had to ask them again. 

Luke replied excitedly,

"Consekenses?? I yooooove consekenses!!" 

"Oh my doodness! Yook at this room. What a mess! Who did dis?"

Spoiler alert: it was his own room and his own mess. I think he thought he could convince me he was innocent with this declaration.