Flying planes with Daddy

Surprise, Mommy!

Aunt Terri and I had a very nice dinner this evening. I was very surprised when I got home and saw this:

It just reaffirms my belief that I have the best husband and son in the world!

"Mommy, can we go swimming?"

Our first purchase for the twins...

After doing a TON of research, we decided to make our first purchase for the twins.... a double stroller! We ended up choosing the Graco Quattro Tour Duo Stroller after talking to other moms (some with this stroller, others with the DuoGlider) and reading multiple reviews online. I really wanted a side-by-side stroller rather than a tandem front/back stroller, but after "test driving" a lot of the side-by-sides and then "test driving" the Quattro Tour Duo, we decided the Quattro Tour Duo is our best bet.

Now, we've just got to get two more cribs, mattresses, bedding, another car seat, a dresser or two, and the list goes on and on and on....

The best way to cool off on a hot summer day...

Climbing like a big boy...

Mommy's (and Daddy's) Little Helper

Harborfest! (and Abbotts ice cream!)

Conversation with Mommy...

Aidan is Eighteen Months Old

Aidan turned eighteen months old today. A full year and a half. Really, can someone please tell me where the time goes? I feel like all I did was blink my eyes once or twice and my tiny, pink, sleepy little newborn has grown into a toddling bundle of joy.

He continues to be my sweet, funny, loving, curious, independent little guy. He loves to help Mommy or Daddy with everything and he's usually pretty good at it. One of his favorite things to help with is the garbage. If we have something that needs to be thrown away, Aidan will take it, open the lid on the garbage, throw the garbage away and close the lid. Then he'll run right back to us, hoping for more garbage to be thrown out. Silly boy. He also enjoys helping me empty the dryer when we do laundry. Of course, most of the time the clothes go anywhere BUT the laundry basket, but it's fun to watch him have fun with it.

Now that the weather is nice and warm, Aidan loves to play in "his" backyard. His favorite thing of all is to swing in his toddler swing. If we let him, I'm sure he'd swing all day and all night. Whenever we ask him if he wants to go outside to swing, we always get a very enthusiastic "YEAH!" and he'll run towards his swing. He also enjoys playing on his "rock wall" and slide. He loves to stand at the top of the slide and "drive" with his steering wheel. He also loves to help Daddy mow the lawn. In fact, Aidan has TWO lawn mowers and they both get equal amounts of play time.

His vocabulary seems to grow each and every day. He is constantly amazing us with new words and phrases. He's beginning to say two word "sentences," such as "Baba, Sit!" or "Hi Mama!" He can correctly identify a number of objects, including body parts, animals, and things found in nature. He can also correctly identify a number of animal sounds. He really enjoys reading his animal books and making the appropriate sounds for each animal. It's adorable.

I think he's excited about becoming a big brother, but he doesn't really understand it yet. He loves babies and is very interested in newborns. He likes to kiss my belly (he always lifts my shirt first to reveal bare skin) and he also says (and waves) "hi" to the babies. Just the other day I asked him what we should name the babies and his answer made me laugh so hard I almost peed my pants. He said we should name the babies "Oooh" and "Aaah." (In case you didn't know -- during the Playhouse Disney shows in the morning, there are two monkeys that come on every so often and sing and joke around. Their names are "Oooh" and "Aaah.")

We recently bought Aidan a "big boy" potty and he's interested in it, but not to go potty. He just likes lifting and closing the lid and taking the foam seat out of it. We won't push him and I'm sure when he's ready to start potty training, he'll let us know.

Every day is a learning experience for him and it's fun to see him absorb new ideas all the time. I am sometimes surprised at each new stage of his development and I am so excited to move along with him to the each new part of his life. I (usually) never look back wishing he was younger as each new day is a blessing for me to witness. I love his kisses, hugs, love pats, and giggles. He is a delightful child that has made my life rich and I strive to be a good mom.

Aidan, thanks for your patience and your unconditional love. There is certainly more learning that we'll be facing together and I look forward to every moment of it. Love you always, Mommy

Oh, Babies!

I called my OBs office this morning because I have been experiencing symptoms that gave me a sneaky suspicion I had a UTI. They asked me to come in this afternoon for a culture, which I did. Turns out I do have a UTI, so they sent me to the pharmacy with a script for Macrobid. I'll be happy when the UTI is gone!

I wasn't expecting it, but they offered to check for the babies' heartbeats with the doppler. I, of course, eagerly agreed. The midwife found Baby A's heartbeat right away and as we were listening, the baby starting kicking really hard! Seconds before the baby kicked, the midwife had asked me if I've felt the babies kicking... I told her I didn't think so (I thought it was just gas), so of course my sweet baby had to prove me otherwise. He/she kicked hard enough for the midwife to feel it on the outside! So now I have confirmation that it's NOT gas, but it is, indeed, baby kicks. Baby A seems to be the active (and strong) one - he/she kicks more often than Baby B. It's so fun that they have such different personalities already. Baby B's heartbeat was nice and strong, too, but he/she decided to stay quiet and not kick Mommy like his/her brother/sister!

Eighteen Month Well-Baby Visit

Aidan had his eighteen month well-baby visit this afternoon.

He now weighs 24lb 10oz (which is less than he weighed at his fifteen month appointment). The doctor wasn't too concerned as he knows Aidan has been sick (and not eating). He's finally gotten his appetite back (and BOY, is he HUNGRY!) so we were instructed to make another appointment for a "weight check" in two months.

He is now measuring 33 inches long (up from 31.5 inches at his fifteen month visit) and his head circumference measured 48cm. He is in the 25th percentile in weight and in the 70th percentile for height and head circumference.

He had two shots this time (in his arms). He gave the nurses quite the surprise when he didn't even flinch when he got the shots! In fact, he was giggling and flirting the whole time - I don't think he even noticed the pinches!

The doctor said that Aidan is doing great on his developmental milestones, as well, so we were happy about that. All in all, Aidan was pronounced healthy (and cute!). His next well-baby appointment is in December, when he will be two years old!

Happy Father's Day!

We spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Ramos... they came over to our house to watch the Nascar race. Aidan enjoyed spending time with both Grandpa and Daddy and I know that Grandpa and Daddy enjoyed it, too.

We missed Grandpa May - he is on vacation at Yellowstone National Park. We're looking forward to celebrating Father's Day with him when he gets home.

Happy Father's Day to ALL of the daddies and daddies-to-be!

What Happens...

What happens when Daddy offers to watch Aidan so Mommy can take a nice, warm, relaxing shower?


This... this is what happens:





Silly boys. =)

Like Father, Like Son

We're sick. And it's NOT fun!

Aidan came down with what we thought was a cold on Thursday morning. He had a runny nose, croupy cough, and was just plain miserable. He refused to eat anything, but, thankfully, we were able to get lots of fluids into him.

I was the next to catch it - Friday morning, I woke up with a really sore throat, runny nose, and icky cough. Aidan and I spent most of the day Friday napping together in bed.

Sure enough, Saturday morning, Alex woke up with the same symptoms.

Aidan seemed to be getting worse, so we called the pediatrician and they had us come in. They said it sounded like he might have an ear infection so they wanted to check it out. Well, his ears were clear as were his lungs. They determined that Aidan might have a sinus infection, so they prescribed amoxicillin for him. I'm hoping it helps to clear things up for him - my poor baby has done enough coughing and nose-running for ALL of us!

Alex and I are still trying to "ride things out"... I'd really rather not take any medication being pregnant, and, well, Alex is just stubborn.

Newest baby pictures...

We had a routine OB visit (with the midwife) and ultrasound this morning for the twins. Everything looks great - the babies are growing like weeds and their hearts are still beating nice and strong.

Baby A was our active little one today. He/she was moving and kicking all over the place like a little monkey. He/she is measuring 13w1d (I am currently 13w3d), although his/her head was measuring 13w6d (Aidan always had big head measurements, too).

Baby B was just "hanging out" in his/her little home while his/her brother/sister kicked away at him/her. Daddy made sure to tell the babies he didn't want any broken bones from them kicking each other! =) Baby B is our bigger baby, measuring 13w5d, and his/her head measured 14w1d. I guess all of my babies are destined to have big heads! =)

As for mommy, I'm doing great. Gained more than I would have liked, but the midwife was happy with it (6lbs) so I guess it's okay. Also my blood pressure was nice and low - 100 over 62 (probably because we did the ultrasound first... seeing those two little pumpkins definitely calmed my nerves).

We also heard the babies' heartbeats on the doppler -- one heartbeat was a little faster than the other, but we couldn't distinguish whose was whos. Maybe it means we'll have a boy and girl, like we're hoping. We should find out (as long as the kids cooperate) at our next appointment, July 2nd.

We're Home!

We just got home from our wonderful vacation to Disney World. Getting home was craziness, as always (we were supposed to arrive home last night... due to delays and missed flights we made it to Buffalo (which is not where we intended to arrive) at 4am this morning. Grandpa Ramos, bless his heart, picked us up and we arrived home at 5am.

Aidan had a great time. His favorite characters were Goofy, Mickey, and Pluto. He also enjoyed interaction with Rafiki, which surprised me a bit. He wasn't afraid of the characters at all, which was fun. He'd get so excited whenever he saw one!

Blizzard Beach