new experiences...

After we rang in the new year, Greg started eating solid foods for the first time. Yes, on Jan 1st, he had rice cereal. Then he moved on to apple sauce. And today he had carrots. He never had any issues, knew what to do with the food from the first bite. And he devours it; sucks it right off the spoon. I LOVE THIS KID! I was so traumatized by my adventures with Saro & Ari that anything food-related causes me anxiety until Greg blows me out of the water with how amazing he is. God really heard my prayers about sending me a kid that eats!

Though Greg is old enough to start eating solids, he still has not slept through the night. EVER. Not even once. At his 6-month checkup, the doctor told me that it was pretty ridiculous that he was waking up 3-4 times a night. And it wasn't a fluke... it was like clockwork.
11:30pm - wakes up, cries, i soothe, he goes back to sleep
1am - wakes up, cries, won't be soothed til i feed... so i feed
4am - same as 1am

So Dr. S told me what i needed to hear: I have to let him cry. My problem was that since i put him down awake for naps and at bedtime, I had read in all the books that I could comfort him if he woke up at night, that as long as he was putting himself to sleep at bedtime, he would figure out how to soothe himself at night too... but for some reason, Greg wasn't doing it. So i have to let him cry. It's tough because he is very persistent. But i haven't slept in 6 months!!! So we did it. That very night, when Greg cried, I didn't respond. Greg cried again. And again. Greg cried on and off, angrily, all night long. My poor Greggy wanted me... but i did not go. At one point, i woke up to see Serdal comforting him... but he cried again as soon as he put him down... Greg was so angry i swear he was shaking the rails of his crib. At about 6am, Serdal turned to me and asked me to feed him. I refused. I was not going to reward 6 hours of crying with a feed. Not until he fell asleep first. FINALLY, he fell asleep. When he woke up at 7:45am, i fed him. HE WAS HUNGRY. It was a tough night for us all. (Fyi... the twins were clueless. Gotta love those two... they could sleep through an earthquake just like their mom)

The next night, he did a bit better. He still cried but not nearly as much. Tonight will be night #3. I'm really hoping for a huge improvement... Could he possibly do it? Make it the whole night without crying? We'll see....

As for new experiences for Saro & Ari... I have to say that though this was their third Christmas, this was the first one where they really understood and got into it. They sing Christmas songs, know and love Santa (though they were scared of him in person), they understood and were SOOO excited about their presents. They loved decorating the tree with us. They love Christmas lights on all the houses as we drive home from daycare. All in all, it has been a magical Christmas - exactly as i pictured it would be when i had kids. And i hope that it was magical for them. They keep telling me that they will not be scared of Santa next time. Today Saro told me he will sit on Santa's lap and that I must take a picture. I can't wait until next year!

Another new experience is that the boys climb out of their beds when they wake up in the morning and come into our room, and into our bed. Lately, they wake up before i'm even conscious... The other day, i was woken up by a continuous flow of tiny, sweet, gentle kisses from Saro on one side of me and cuddles from Ari on my other side. I opened my eyes and i looked over at Greg (who is still in our room) and he was awake in his crib looking and smiling at me.

my three kids are amazing - I truly feel blessed. This isn't at all the family that i had planned in my mind, but it is amazing. (I just always assumed i would have two girls, two years apart... not THREE BOYS, two of which are TWINS!) Sometimes I feel like I'm so full of happiness and love that I'm going to burst. It's sad to say that these emotions are new for me... I was so depressed for so long after the twins were born, that i never experienced this kind of depth of love and joy. I regret that very much and feel some guilt for it. But i am happy now and that's what counts. That's MY new experience :)

A few pictures

so to update on my last post... Greg DID NOT have an ear infection. He was perfectly heatlhy, just trying to drive his parents crazy. It's ok. He's cute. You can't stay mad at him :)

here are some pics:

new pics of the citak boys

sooo tired...

so, when i said that Greg was not sleeping through the night, i didn't think things could get much worse. but suddenly, they have. Last night, Greg went to bed as usual after a bottle, a story, and a song at around 7:30pm. He then woke up around 9:30pm and cried the rest of the night. It was an angry, wailing cry. The kind where i know he's not just whining. He wants to sleep but can't. Something was bothering him; i'm not sure what. He could not sleep. We tried letting him cry, he didn't stop. I tried feeding him but he went back in his crib and started crying again. We picked him up and calmed him down only to have him start wailing again once we put him down. I swear I don't know what I am doing wrong.

I feel awful and he must feel awful too. He has been sleeping all morning now. I am POSITIVE he is exhausted. poor thing. I have an appointment with his doctor tomorrow for his eczema. His rash is better so i was going to cancel it but i think I'll take him in to make sure there isn't anything else wrong...

We're back!

Hi All!

Well, i decided to start posting on this blog again because i enjoy going back and reading the old posts i had for Saro and Ari. As you know, the Citak boys clan now has a 3rd member! Greg Mikael Citak.

Greg was born on June 26, 2009 and has been a wonderful addition to our family. Saro and Ari love him so much. There was never a problem with jealousy. The biggest problem is getting Saro to stop hugging and kissing Greg, especially during this flu season!

Recently, i've been comparing Greg's pictures and stats to Saro & Ari's. I definitely think he looks more like Ari now, which is funny because one of the first things Serdal said when Greg was born was that he looked exactly like Saro! Greg is a much bigger baby that S&A were. He was born bigger and has kept on that path. At his last checkup, he was just shy of 15lbs. At this age, Ari was a mere 12 lbs! Greg has blown through S&A's old wardrobe... and i'll be cracking open the 6-12 months clothes already!

Greg is also a very different baby. All I ever prayed for when pregnant was a healthy baby that liked to eat. Well, God heard my prayers! Greg nurses well and also takes the bottle well. He gets a bedtime bottle every day and usually polishes off 9oz! In their entire lives, S&A never drank that much. However, where my sanity was saved with S&A was that they were good sleepers. Greg is NOT. He is still not sleeping through the night and is nowhere close. He also hates sitting in the car and cries most of the time. Unfortunately, he has no choice but to be in the car at least twice a day when we drop off his brothers to daycare... I never thought a kid could hate being in the car... S&A loved it...

Overall, I'm having a wonderful time with Greg. It is so nice having just one baby. I feel so mobile and so free. We go to the mall and can stay out all day as long as i can find a nursing room. He loves the bjorn so we walk around together. At this age with S&A, i never left the house because i was basically spending every waking moment feeding them. First 1 hour feeding Saro, then 1 hour feeding Ari, nap, then start over. Just thinking about it, I wonder how i ever got through it. Thank God Lenny came and saved me.

Well, that is enough reminiscing and comparing for today! I will try to post on here on a regular basis.

Here are some links to photos on facebook that i have previously posted. You DO NOT need a facebook account to view the pictures!

Halloween Pictures

Random Pictures Summer 2009

Thanksgiving

Apple Picking

Citak boys June/July 2009

big shoes

Saro's latest thing is to walk around in big person shoes. He identifies whose shoes they are (he seems to know who each pair of shoes belongs to) and then puts them on and walks around. it's adorable. Ari tries to copy Saro too but he's not convinced it is that much fun so he doesn't last long.

here are a few pics

where oh where have my curly locks gone?

Yesterday, someone AGAIN mistook Saro for a girl so I vowed that i would take him for a haircut today. And so i did. And now i regret it :( They cut it so short... he looks like a baby again, before his hair had gotten curly. i miss my curly locks!!

here is a before pic from yesterday and an after pic from today.

return from hiatus - a long post!

hi everyone!

After a nice long hiatus, i finally decided to get back on here and give a little update on what's new in Saro & Ari's (and Mom & Dad's) life. Given that it's been about 6 months, the boys have grown up a lot! They are running around everywhere and are such a joy to be around. We had such a wonderful summer together, enjoying the neighborhood parks (slides and swings! yai!), the backyard (it's small but so are they!), the front yard... pretty much anywhere they can run around. I'm so glad I took the extra 6 months off work - it was great advice from my sister. I truly enjoyed these last few months as they've grown to be more independent and easier to care for.

Having said that, I am scheduled to go back to work in just 1.5 weeks. Times sure does fly by! I'm sure everyone else is thinking - get off your lazy butt and go to work already!! but to me, it seems like just yesterday when i casually left the office for a regular doctor checkup and was told to check myself into the hospital for early labour... never to return again! Sapient has been wonderful and I'm lucky that they are allowing me to go back to work part-time. I will be working 30 hours/week, which works out to about 3 days in the office and 6 hours from home in the evenings or during my "off" days. I figure that will help me transition into what will become our new life...

Figuring out what the boys will be doing when i go back to work has really been weighing on my mind. We love Lenny (our nanny) who has been with us since last November. She really helped save my sanity when i was struggling with finding the time and energy to feed both these demanding boys. The boys trust and adore her, as do Serdal and I. However, we also want Saro & Ari to experience daycare and the strengths that brings... mostly the socialization and social eating aspects. They are both very shy and we think that daycare will help them become a little more independent. They may also eat more! from what i hear, that's been the case with many kids who don't eat well at home... So we came up with a wonderful compromise that works for our family. Saro and Ari will be going to daycare 3 days a week and staying home with Lenny 2 days a week. Lenny will also stay with us for a 3rd day while the boys are in school so that she can help out around the house. (It will be harder for her to do any chores when I'm no longer at home.) For the other 2 days, we're looking to find another family to share her with.

Today was Saro & Ari's first day at daycare. I dropped them off at garderie and they pretty much started crying immediately. I could hear them from the hallway. I went outside to wait for Aline because i couldn't stand to hear it anymore. (She would be dropping Sasha off to the same classroom.) By the time we left, the boys had been crying for about 30 minutes on and off. Poor Sasha had a rough start too... She threw up shortly after arriving - we figure it is a little bit of separation anxiety. But, I am told that things quickly improved. Saro & Ari started to play when they went outside (mostly with each other). Then when they came inside, they started causing some trouble throwing cars behind a shelf... something they thought was hilarious so the teachers let them. They were having so much fun that Sasha dropped her bunny and joined them and the three of them played together. How comforting it is to know that they have each other.

enough talk... here are some recent pictures. I will try to post on a more regular basis again.

July 6 - On our way to Michael & Matthew's house


July 6 - At the park near Michael & Matthew's house


July 15 - Playing in our backyard. Ari loves to throw his hat off! Saro loves to spot the planes flying by and scream "nana! bye bye!" (nana is for otanav which means plane in armenian)


July 16 - Saro & Ari loves to "cheers"!


July 21 (Ari) & August 2 (Saro) - messy messy eaters!


August 21 - Ari pushing the wagon around


August 27 - Helping Baba out with the interlocking!


September 2 - Playing in the backyard