halloween

oh - what fun halloween can be!! not much introduction is needed to these pics. sorry if i go a bit overboard... :)

dressed up for sasha's (aka minnie mouse) birthday party


little cousins and friend Izzie


prenatal class reunion (20 babies!)


medzbaba Ara and medzbaba Ohannes with the lion and the monkey :)


... and a bit of an update for you... SARO IS CRAWLING!!!! he took his first tentative steps on Sunday night and has been improving every day. Ari is almost there too - i predict a few more days 'til i have two crawling babies. AAAHH!! :)

time flies...

Wow, time sure does fly. I can't believe it's been over a month since the baptism (and since my last post). The boys are doing well - we're eating solids twice a day now and they like it much better than before. They are also moving around quite a bit, though they are not quite crawling yet. They get around by going backwards, rotating on their tummies, and rolling over. Obviously, that means they aren't going anywhere very quickly but they can still get from one end of the playmat to the other on their own. (Whether they meant to or not is a different question!) They both get on all fours and rock back and forth, but they haven't quite figured out the hand movement of crawling yet... but it won't be long 'til they're all over the place and driving mom bananas!

We also have teeth! They both have the bottom 2 teeth now and Saro is working on some top teeth. We expect those out any day now because his poor gums are all red and swollen!

and everyone's favourite part of the post... some recent pics.

September 29, 2007 - Look at Ari wave to the camera! hehe


October 6, 2007 - DODIGS!! (um, feet in armenian)


October 19, 2007 - having some play time :)


October 21, 2007 - at a Pumpkin farm

christening

On Saturday September 15th, Saro & Ari were christened. Overall, the day went well with only a little bit of crying from Saro around "bath time". Here are a few pics from the day.

If you have any pictures that you took, I would LOVE to receive them so please email them to me or burn me a CD or something! Thanks!

new pics

so you've heard/read about our feeding issues... since these guys don't really like to drink their milk, we're getting them to try solids. check out the pics below to see how our first few feedings went. :)

Saro & Ari in their high chairs before feeding. NOTE the smiles :) - August 29


Saro & Ari in their high chairs after feeding. What's changed? - August 29


we're all smiles when we're not eating ...

Hanging out on the bed - September 2


Man, we sure do hang out on the bed a lot! Sept 4 & 5


nice & clean, all wrapped up after a bath - September 5

update

so it's been about a month since we received the bad news about the boys not growing well and the last month has been exhausting, to say the least. We've tried several different ways of feeding these guys, have been to several doctor's appointments, met with lactation consultants, and have otherwise spent most of the rest of the day just feeding.

where have we landed with feeding these guys? Well, in the end, we sort of let them choose what they wanted. We had done bottles only for both, then back to breastfeeding for both, and now we are bottle feeding Ari and breastfeeding Saro. Ari just seemed to sort of wean himself since he would not nurse anymore (at all). He is, however, not doing great with the bottles either. He has good feedings where he'll finish a bottle in 30 minutes with minimal resistance and bad feedings where we can spend over an hour and get him to drink only 1 oz with so much fighting. Unfortunately, the bad feedings seem to be becoming more frequent and we just didn't know what else to do so we have saught a referral to a pediatrician and will be going for our first consultation next Friday.

We've been to the doctor several times and at their 5-month checkup, Dr. S felt better about where we were with regards to their weight gain so she said we can stop coming so frequently. Our next visit is our 6-month appointment. At 5 months, these were their measurements...

Ari
weight: 6 kg (13lbs, 4oz) --> 5 %
height: 62 cm (24.4") --> 11 %
head: 40 cm (15.7") --> 1 %

Saro
weight: 6.46 kg (14lbs, 4oz) --> 16 %
height: 64 cm (25.2") --> 35 %
head: 41 cm (16.1") --> 8%

i don't have any new pix to post today so i'll sign off for now...
arda

new professional pix done

we went to Loblaws on Saturday (July 28) and had some pictures taken. I've scanned them in for your viewing pleasure ;)


Saro (top) & Ari (bottom)


Ari (L) & Saro (R)


Saro (L) & Ari (R)


Ari (L) & Saro (R)


Saro (L) & Ari (R)


Ari


Saro

... and a not so pro pic of a tired looking mom with two happy babies (July 29):

new pics

trust me, noone wants to hear me write about the latest eating saga. so instead, i thought i'd post some new pix. :)

Saro discovering the new Jumperoo - July 10, 2007


I love this surprised look - i just had to post it too :)


Ari discovering the new exercauser - July 10, 2007


I love that little tongue - just had to post this one too :)


look at me, i'm finally good at tummy time! - July 13, 2007


chump... i mastered tummy time ages ago. Now I sit for fun - July 17, 2007


Dad's favourite: Curious George - July 15, 2007

the world of bottles

On Saturday, we decided that in order to get Saro to drink from the bottle, we would have to give him only the bottle. So, just like that, we are no longer breastfeeding the boys. It has been a difficult transition for us, but we are doing our best.

Saro has gotten used to the bottle and drinks when he feels like it. But if he doesn't want it, good luck - you will not be able to get him to drink no matter how hard you try (and we TRY!). If he isn't putting up a fight, he can even finish his bottle in 20-30 minutes... lightning speed compared to his brother...

Ari just doesn't like to eat from the bottle (which is weird since he used to be the one that didn't mind the bottle)... Every single bottle is forced. He cries, wimpers, whines... I've got a list of tricks i try like singing "Itsy bitsy spider" (boy am i getting sick of that song), talking to him soothingly, negotiating with him, standing and/or walking with him, putting him in the swing to distract him (and rest my tired arms), giving him a rattle to shake, etc etc. It always takes us the full hour to feed him but we do manage to get him to drink most of his bottle that way... most of the time...

The hardest part is that i have to feed them both (obviously) but there is no easy way to do it. I have turned my sisters' lives upside down as they have come over to help me out with one feeding each this week. But when i'm alone, i basically have to stagger their feedings which leads to a very crappy day. One baby will be eating while the other is still sleeping (if i'm lucky) or awake and playing on his own (hopefully not crying). Then i switch. Since they take so long to eat, i barely get to play with them which means they don't get to do a lot of the important stuff like practicing tummy time, sitting, standing, etc etc. I just put them somewhere where they won't cry like the bouncy seat...

i am hoping they will get faster and more interested in the bottle over time. I have to remind myself that we've only been doing this for less than a week and that the boys are adjusting very well for such a short period of time. I hope that we see major improvements in their growth at the appointment next week; that is the only thing that keeps me calm when i'm ready to boil over.

so our world has completely changed in the last week which has made me pretty emotional. We no longer have time or freedom to go out (ironic as i always thought the bottle would give me more freedom) so we have been home bodies all week. But, many have told me that just when you think you've figured it all out (with the babies), something will inevitably change and make you figure it all out again. I guess it was time for a new challenge!

off to go prepare some bottles...
arda

4-month checkup

Today we had our 4 month checkup and it wasn't a good day for us. Of course, we knew there would be vaccinations and i was prepared for that. What i wasn't prepared for is for the doctor to tell me the boys aren't growing well and she wants me to start supplementing with formula. Just when i thought me and the boys were in a good rhythm, i now have to go back and figure out how to get them to take the bottle again. (I believe I had posted about our bottle troubles a while back... well, they didn't get better so i gave up. i guess i'm not allowed to give up now...) She's especially worried about Ari, my little baby, but said that Saro isn't growing in height or head circumference much either (though he looks like a fatty to me!!).

So here are the stats...

Saro
weight: 5.98 kg (13lbs, 3oz -17th percentile)
height: 62.5cm (38th percentile) (~24.6 inches)
head circumference: 39cm (1st percentile!) (~15.4 inches)

Ari
weight: 5.43kg (12lbs - 4th percentile!)
height: 58cm (1st percentile!!) (~22.8 inches)
head circumference: 38cm (0 percentile!!!) (~15 inches)

I'm worried sick now. Anyway, so i started trying to supplement after feeds today. Saro refused all 3 times that i tried. Ari has been complying and doing ok. Not sure what i'm going to do about Saro...

We have a follow-up in 2 weeks. She hopes to see a difference by then.

signing off...
arda

a couple new pics

don't have too much to write... just wanted to share some pics while i'm on the computer...

Ari, giving some attitude (June 21)


Saro, giving some smiles (June 23)


Saro & Ari, hanging out on the couch (June 23)


my three adorable boys (June 24)