It's always fun when Grammy, Grampy, and Heidi Come

We were all so thrilled that Grammy, Grampy, AND Heidi could come to Seattle to visit and be here for Elyse's blessing.  They are always such easy, low-key guests.  Some of the highlights of their visit included the Imagine Children's Museum, a trip to the temple, kites at Carkeek park, empanadas, puppet shows, Crossroads with the extended Goodwin fam, and getting Heidi caught up on Harry Potter.  Jon and I were especially appreciative of the couple of mornings that Grammy, Grampy, and Heidi took over running the household and let us sleep in.  We literally haven't sleep in that late in YEARS, maybe even ever. (Jon and I did once show up to the BYU library on a Saturday morning without realizing that it didn't open for another hour when we were dating)

Grammy and Grampy came bearing presents from the San Jose fam, including these Big Bro shirts from Laura and Dirk.

The big "kids" enjoying some puzzles at the children's museum.  It was hilarious to see Grampy, Jon, and Grammy all lined up playing with toys. 

Bedtime Conversation with Seth

Yesterday was a particularly difficult day at church for Seth. It doesn't seem like a 3 year old should have to be removed from Sacrament meeting (the main worship service at our church) multiple times, but I was out with Seth THREE times before Jon took pity on me and took him to the stand to sit with him. Thank goodness a kind lady took care of Elyse while I made my disciplinary trips with Seth.

So it was no surprise that Seth's mischievousness stretched into the evening and past bedtime. After Seth's first post bedtime "awakening" Jon reported the following conversation:

Jon: Seth, you need to stay in bed now or we'll have to take away your guys. (guys=stuffed animals)
Seth: Will you throw my guys away?
Jon: Sure. (we hadn't thought of that threat, but as long as he suggested it, why not)
Seth: In the inside trash or the outside trash?
Jon: I don't know, buddy. Probably the inside trash.
Seth: That's good, the outside trash would be dark.

Leave it to Seth to figure out the details. I think it's a testament to his cuteness that he has survived as long as he has. I'm pretty sure that had I been given the opportunity yesterday I would have gladly given him to the gypsies. People tell me that someday I'll miss these days when my kids are still so young. I hope so.

Blessing

This pretty much sums it up. Yup, it was that good.

What was awesome is having Grammy, Grampy, and Heidi in town for the event. Also a special thanks to all the men on my side of the family. Though she didn't especially appreciate it on her blessing day, she is certainly lucky to have the support and love of so many wonderful people, least of all, her big brothers!A few more of her in blessing gown, courtesy of Tysha at Little Red Wagon Photography.

Because I'm a nerd . . .

. . . the plots of Matthew's and Elyse's growth on the WHO Weight for Age graphs.

So Elyse is well below the 3rd percentile mark. Matthew didn't fall below it until he was 4 months, but he also started out around the 50th percentile. Part of me wishes that I recorded all the weight checks that Matthew had during the first 6 weeks of his life, but at the time they were awfully painful and I understand why I didn't record them . . . I didn't want to remember. I have been tempted to call his old pediatricians office to get the data so I'd have more points to plot, but I think that it's clear enough that he was a slow gainer. He was even mostly bottle fed after 6 weeks, when I had to go back to teaching, so at that point to don't think there could have been any question that he was getting enough to eat. He was taking as much as he wanted.

At Elyse's weight check our pediatrician mentioned that she'd like to see Matthew's growth chart, so I suppose I should take it in when we go back from Elyse's 4 month appointment. But, a big part of me feels like I shouldn't have to provide validation for the way that Elyse seems to be growing. I probably will still bring it in, although I'm contemplating just having Jon take her in again. My emotions when it comes to the eating/weight gain issues are just a little too raw.

Weight Check

Jon took little Elyse and the boys (Matthew needed his flu mist and Seth didn't want to be left out) to her weight check. Needless to say, I hadn't been giving her the 4-5 bottles a day that our peditrician had recommended, although she also had said,"Follow her cue." We had, however, been offering her more after she ate if she didn't seem content and supplementing her if I felt like I didn't have enough milk. But she tends to give pretty obvious cues when she was full, like pushing the nipple out of her mouth with her tongue.

Despite my plea for Jon to try to get her to chug 4 oz before putting her on the scale, he didn't have time. So she only weighed in at a heafty 8lbs, 2oz. The doctor seemed somewhat appleased with her weight gain - 1/2 oz a day. Jon was more assertive about our belief that she is simply a slow gainer and that we have precedence in our family (with Matthew) for this type of slow weight gain.

I don't know that I'll ever be completely free of the weight worry. I do trust my instincts and mostly I feel pretty sure that she's just following her own curve, but it's so easy to worry. I suppose if it wasn't about weight/feeding it would probably be about something else.

In other Elyse related news, she's beginning to be a consistent smiler and on occasions can really put on a show. Here's a few pictures that Jon managed to catch: