Other recent beautiful things.  After nap yesterday as she often does, she came out and gave me a HUGE cuddly hug and a kiss.  I was holding her while standing and gave her a huge hug back and told her "I am going to miss when you are too big to pick up and hug like this."  She pulled back and looked at me, gave me another kiss and said, "Me too mommy."  Ahhh, melt your heart doesn't it?

We are still in a pushing phase, but getting better maybe?  She still pushes her brother over, but then sits him back up and hugs him and tells him its ok, and gives him a kiss.  She still gets in trouble for the pushing though.  She loves her little brother so very much.  She likes to hold his hand, and when he pulls her hair she takes his hand and rubs it on her own head and says, "Soft, baby.  Gentle, baby."  But never gets mad.

Just in the past two weeks she has had a language explosion.  It has been crazy, we went from being worried that she was delayed to being blown away by the new words phrases and expressions she has been using.  It is so funny how kids do things in spurts like that.

Our biggest problem at the moment, she loves to cook.  She knows how momma cook things.  She can get the fridges open.  She can get the flour and sugar open, she knows knives cut things.  We've had a few small accidents, but I know it is only a matter of time before there is a HUGE mess in the kitchen.  I like having a sous chef though.  She helps me count ingredients, stir, break eggs, grease pans.  She thinks it is great fun, which helps, most of the time.

Quirks?  She is full of them.  Soup must be smooth, not chunky, unless it has beans in it.  The immersion blender is my friend on that one.  Sandwiches still can't be assembled, the components must be separate.  Cheese is a food group.  Beans must be whole.  She will not eat meat unless it is in tube form (sausages, hot dogs, etc) but they have to still be in the tube, no cooked sausage mince or cut into rounds, and bacon, girl loves bacon, which so does her mom.

I could go on for days about my baby girl.  She is so amazing.  Every day I see her learning, growing and growing up, my daughter, my beautiful daughter.

He is following his growth trend line beautifully, and they think he measured his head incorrectly at the last appointment as it spiked up, but it is now on the trend line again. So here are his official measurements:

Weight:  21lbs, 2oz 90th Percentile
Height:  28.875" 95th Percentile
Head:  45 cm 75th Percentile

At least he is proportionate right?  So yes, he is big, bigger than most, but not all!

One thing she noticed again was a heart murmur.  He had it at his last appointment, and she said that a lot of kiddos this age sound like they have them because of how well you can hear the heart, but since she noticed it two appointments in a row we'll be referred to a pediatric cardiologist to check out just to make sure it isn't something more serious.  We're not too worried about it at this point.

So his official off the chart measurements!
Weight:  18lbs, 5 oz – 92nd percentile
Height:  27 1/2 inches – Off the chart
Head:  44 cm – 75th percentile

We looked at his carseat and we'll have to move him into a carseat like Lauren's (but rear facing) soon, he's got an inch and two pounds before he is too big for it.  Makes sense he is really hard to carry in it!  I remember we were trying to wait until Lauren was 1 to swap her to hers but she didn't make it, I think it was 7 or 8 months.  He won't make it that long.

He has had great head control since birth and is strong as all get out.  He will pull himself up to standing if you hold his fingers or give himself something to hold onto, he is sitting better every day, although Lauren gets excited and sometimes tries to help and ends up pushing him over, but he takes it in stride.  He LOVES to jump in the jolly jumper.  Who wouldn't right?  They make them for adults, you see them at fairs and carnivals and you pay a fortune for them.

Two teeth already, with two more in the wings just waiting to burst through.  He moves all over the place, not quite a crawl, more of a push and scoot, and not necessarily with an end destination in mind.  He snuggles with his bear and sea otter at night and really gets mad if they aren't there.  Still sleeping on his stomach.  Both of those facts are much to his mothers dismay.  But he's happy, and we use the AngelCare monitor religiously because of it.  So far not one "false alarm" which we had a few with Lauren.

His 4 month appointment is next week and we will get the "official" measurements but we think he is about 18.5lbs and who knows how tall.  He's wearing 6 – 9 month clothes!  Lauren was usually one size up but not two!  He is adorable and wouldn't have it any other way.  I've already started making baby food as we harvested our carrots last week and I planned on using them for that purpose anyhow.  We saved some of the larger ones for us to eat.  I can't believe that in a few short months he will be eating solids, it just seems crazy.

Lauren
Weight – 29.9lbs 85th percentile
Height – 36 7/8 inches off the chart that goes up to the 97th percentile

Evan
Weight – 13lbs 10 oz 90th percentile
Height – 24 1/8 inches 90th percentile
Head – 70th percentile (she didn't write down that measurement only the %)

So far Evan is still sleeping in the bassinet as when we tried to put him in the crib in the kids' room his crying would wake up Lauren and she would get so upset worried about the baby.  She seems more used to it now, so when we are feeling adventurous we might try it again.  Of course that involved taking all the "stuff" that has migrated into the crib out and finding a home for it.  A lot of it is clothes so it isn't too big of a deal.

Evan has some clothes he wears that are 3 – 6 months already, some of the 0 – 3 months still fit, but most of the stuff that says NB does not.  It is too bad because some of those are super cute and there is no way he will wear them all.  I don't think Lauren did either, but I am pretty sure she wore more of them than Evan will.

Lauren loves her little brother, it is so sweet to see them together, she loves to hold him and give him kisses.  I am sure as he starts to get older and more interactive it is going to be fun, but trying, Lauren isn't exactly big on sharing all the time.  It is reassuring that we all seem to be settling into a routine, and that Lauren is at the age that she wants to help and loves, for the most part, being given little jobs.  It is also a way to see how much she is picking up and learning.  Lauren is a little sponge!

These coming months are going to be a lot of fun full of adventures, learning and joy!

He has amazing head control, every day it gets better. He holds his head up and looks around for several minutes at a time.  He is already close to rolling over from back to front and rolled once, on accident, from front to back.  Holy crow!  He also inches forward as if trying to crawl off to somewhere more interesting.  It is going to be interesting seeing him develop.

So his gas and elimination issues.  It is SO smelly.  Smells like rotten eggs and since his stool turned to stool from the meconium he only has a dirty diaper every three or four days and it is voluminous!  His pediatrician is going to watch him to see how that develops, she said that sometimes newbies take longer to develop their gut flora that helps with all that stuff.  There are different thoughts on giving babies probiotics and she isn't so sure which one to follow as of yet.

Sleep issue?  He HATES sleeping on his back.  I try and try to trick him by propping him on his side, but he is such a wiggle worm he ends up on his back and then wakes up screaming.  So thank goodness we have an Angel Care monitor because the only way we are getting any sleep is when he is on his stomach.  He does sleep pretty well in his car seat, I think part of it might be the gas issue, on his belly it helps the gas escape and the same with the car seat because his legs are a little drawn up.  I remember Lauren having similar issues, but once her gas issues resolved themselves I started on the side sleeping and eventually got her on her back.  Of course now she is a total stomach sleeper.

Evan had his "two week" check up on Monday (8/2) which was just after he turned three weeks old.  Still perfectly perfect according to his doctor.  He also has his first birthmarks.  Just under his nose and between his eyebrows, not like Lauren's strawberries but red blotches that should fade by the time he is six months.  His official measurements are below.
Weight – 11lbs (95th percentile)
Height – 22.75" (97th percentile)
Head – 15" (75th percentile)

His doctor said that puts him at the size of a two to three month old and I believe it some of the other newborns I have seen are so tiny in comparison to my sturdy little man!

Apparently as I scooped up all the clothes from Lauren's change table I scooped up one of her two pink Mary Jane Crocs and I didn't notice as I put it into the washing machine.  Then later Nathan went up to put the clothes in the dryer and found the one pink Croc and didn't think much of it and tossed it in with the rest of the clothes in the dryer.  Later he asked me if I meant to wash her Crocs and I said no, and he said he found one and tossed it in the dryer so it would be dry.  WHAT?!  No!!  It'll shrink I say.  Nathan asks why it would shrink.  Ummm, Crocs are made out of a plasticy type material and plastic shrinks when it gets hot?  So up to the laundry he goes finds the one pink Croc and compares it to her unwashed pink Crocs.  Its very clean…and small.  About two sizes smaller than the unwashed one.  DOH!!  What to do!?

The good news is they were starting to get a little small and we had another new pair in the next size up (but not pink), so in the morning as we were getting ready to go and Lauren is frantically looking and asking for "Me Shoe" I tell her I have a big surprise for her, a brand new pair of shoes!!  She was so excited.  They are a little big, but so far not too many tripping accidents.  Well at least not that can be attributed directly to her shoes, more to the fact she wasn't watching where she was going and tripped over something.  The bad news is that she spotted her pink shoes and wanted to put them on.  Daddy had to explain that one was way too small now, she seemed to take it ok, as she was wearing her light green ones.  How happy is she going to be when I pull out the pink pair of Crocs Ballet Flats for her birthday!!

Yes we are a Crocs wearing family.  They are comfortable, and non restrictive, and grip well (maybe too well on the slides for Lauren), plus I have found some fantastic deals on the Crocs website.  I don't pay $40 for my own shoes and there is no way I am going to pay that much for a pair of children's shoes that may only last a few months.  $9.99 with 10-20% off and free shipping is much more reasonable!  Now the dilemma is…do we try and shrink the other one so they match?  Chances are Evan isn't going to be wearing them, I don't see him as a pink kind of guy, but what do you do with a pair of shoes in two different sizes?

So Friday came and went, the baby was super active but no contractions really.  Saturday morning came and we decided to do another super walk to see if we could get anything going.  We'd tried just about everything at this point, and the only thing that even came close to doing anything was walking so we were sticking with it.  Off we headed down to the Farmers Market, lunch at Cascadia Grill and then home via the antique shops.  We were up moving and walking for a good portion of the day.  We got home and my feet were super sore from the swelling (I wasn't wearing my compression stockings) so I laid down for a little snooze to get off my feet and cool off.  The weather outside was good, but it was still too hot for my pregnant state.

After waking and sitting outside for a while, Lauren had her dinner and we had a light dinner of eggrolls as we were all still full from our large lunch and milkshakes.  Then we started watching a movie, King of California, and about half way through put Lauren to bed and had a cup of coffee.  It tasted so good.  Everyone trickled off to bed after the movie and it was just Nathan and I.  I suggested a walk as the weather outside was beautiful and who knows right, it might get something going, it certainly couldn't hurt.  So about 11pm we headed outside into the cool breeze and took a walk around the neighborhood.  We were walking back up Central and Nathan asked, "So anything?"  My reply, "Nope."  He suggested skipping up the driveway, I politely declined.

Back inside we were getting ready for bed.  Nathan commented he might have a shower and I said that sounded like a good idea.  I went in to use the bathroom and brush my teeth and had a doozy of a contraction.  Hmmm…lets see if anything happens.  Empty bladder, change position, breathe, relax.  Another contraction.  I turn to Nathan and say, "If you want that shower, you better take it now."  He jumps into high gear hops under the shower and is out in record time.  He asks, "Any more?"  My response, "Three."  I then jump under the shower and had another two in the shower and one even stronger one as I was trying to get out.  Nathan asks, "Is this it?"  My response, "This is it, we are leaving."  He helps me get my pants on, tells his parents we are leaving, and we head out the door.  The time 11:53pm.  He rolls through the stoplight on Legion.  He says the ticket is worth it, not that there was a cop or anyone around.  We arrive at the hospital, were fortunate enough to find a parking spot right outside the doors to the ER entrance and we walk right past the desk and down to the Family Birthing Center.  Another three contractions on the walk there.  They meant business, but I was doing my breathing techniques and could still walk through them.  We get checked in at 12:05pm and head to the exam room.  Our nurse Jennifer was great.  Got me right in and going with everything, urine sample, monitors, etc, then came the exam.  5cm dilated, still -1.  Her thought was that the midwives would keep me since the contractions were really regular and pretty strong, but she couldn't say for sure.  In the middle of a contraction I was thinking, "I am not going anywhere."

The midwife on call, Sharon, said to keep me, and she would be in to see me in an hour or two and to get settled into the birthing room and get the IV for my GBS antibiotics going.  Luckily Nathan was thinking and requested IV therapy to come down and do the IV since I am always such a hard poke and with the pregnancy and swelling it makes it even harder and they always get called anyhow.  We get one of the big rooms with the tub and I am eyeing that tub, just waiting for my IV so I can get in it.  The contractions are building and seem to be a lot stronger at this point than I remember with Lauren.  Nathan is getting cameras, music, etc ready and calls Barbara our Doula to let her know we were there and staying.  She calls and says she is on her way.   IV therapy came down, two pokes and a nasty bruise later I have my IV going and I have the urge to use the bathroom again.  As I am using the facilities, I have a HUGE contraction and my water breaks.  I let out a huge grunt and Nathan opens the door and asks if he needs to get someone.  Another contraction comes and I say, "YES!"  Jennifer comes back in and asks me if I can make it to the bed.  I tell her no, so she takes one arm, Nathan takes the other and I make it to the side of the bed.  She asks me to lay on the bed so she can recheck me while she calls Sharon back to tell her I am progressing rather quickly.  I climb onto the bed on all fours, Nathan is rubbing my back, and Jennifer politely asks me if I can turn over, I say, "No."  Nathan says that Lauren was born in the same position and it worked well.

Jennifer is cleaning me up as I have another contraction and I say, "He's coming."  Jennifer responds, "I know, let me just recheck you ok?" And she turns around to call someone at the nurses station.  Another contraction comes and the baby crowns as I am holding the head.  Nathan says, "No he is REALLY coming."  I finish my contraction and say, "The baby just crowned."  Jennifer goes back to the intercom, hits the alarm, and says something to the effect of, "Anya, Les, ANYONE, the baby is coming now!"  I hear an alarm somewhere and I think there was a light flashing, I can hear about five people in the room now, none of them are Sharon or Barbara.  I hear Jennifer tell me to push, the next contraction started and I took a deep breath and breathed the shoulders out and then the rest of him and his cord followed.  There is a ton of commotion in the room, all the nurses and a resident asking for suction, clamps, etc.   I hear the baby cry, and I am relieved.  Someone with an Australian accent (Vicki), says, "Wow he's a biggee."  Nathan says, "It's definitely a boy."  More commotion, crying, and I turn over as they have the baby under the heat lamp with Nathan standing right over him.  He has already cut the cord.  I birth the placenta as someone asks, "What was his time of birth?"  Jennifer says, "I have no idea."  Another nurse says, "1:40am"  About the time that Evan is wiped down, measured and wrapped up and handed to Nathan, Barbara walks in the door.  About 5 minutes later Sharon walks in.  Both are amazed, as was everyone else in the room.  From first contraction to birth, two hours ten minutes.

After all our waiting Evan Franklin Allan just didn't want to wait.  As soon as the water broke that was it, he was making his way into this world.  Date of birth, July 11, 2010 at 1:40am.  His official weight was 9lbs, 11.9oz, length 22 1/4 inches, head circumference 14"!  He is not the petite baby Lauren was but he had two weeks on Lauren.  Apgar scores were 9.  They were a bit worried because I didn't even get in half of my first dose of antibiotics, and he is on the large side so our plans of heading home in the morning were thwarted, but he is an eager eater (Vicki says he is all boy there), and is doing wonderfully.  I did wonderfully as well.  I say the walking, yoga, relaxation and breathing really does work, no tearing, no nothing.  I didn't quite feel the same as after Lauren, "Sure lets do this again tomorrow." But because of the time it actually took I didn't really feel overly tired or anything either.  Until later in the day with the ins and outs of nurses, doctors, meals, the bed turning on and off, then the fatigue sets in.  I am really looking forward to taking my little puddin home in the morning.  Plus Lauren just adores her little brother.

We've been asked about his name.  Evan has the same meaning as Charlie and Franklin has the same meaning as Jackson.  It is our way of honoring the boys we hold in our hearts as we hold this one in our arms.

So back home with rest, more spicy food, walk walk walk, more contractions…and then they faded.  Yesterday we walked and walked again and the contractions were stronger in the evening, to the point that around 2am or so I thought I would have wake Nathan up to go to the hospital, but after waiting for an hour or so they faded again.  Today not too much in the way of contractions, baby is moving around but we (the baby and I) both seem a bit tired, so if I go by that, it will be later this evening when I am ready to get some sleep.  I am actually ok with that.

My eye twitch has gotten stronger in the last couple of days and it very annoying, and the swelling in my legs is still hanging around.  I am looking forward to both leaving with the birth of July.  Hopefully July decides to make an appearance soon.