Kiddo growth stats

BOYD
Birth: 8 lb, 8 oz (21" long)
4 days: 7 lb, 2 oz
6 days: 8 lb, 1 oz
2 weeks: 9 lb, 8 oz (21.5" long)
4 weeks: 11 lb, 13 oz
5 weeks: 12 lb, 6 oz
6 weeks: 12 lb, 14 oz
7 weeks: 13 lb, 10 oz
8 weeks: 13 lb, 15 oz
9 weeks: 14 lb, 1 oz (24.5" long)
4.5 months: 17 lb, 10 oz (25.75" long)
6.25 months: 19 lb, 3 oz (27" long)
10 months: 21 lbs, 1 oz (29.5" long)
11 months: 21 lbs, 12 oz
12.25 months: 22 lbs, 3.5 oz (31" long)
15.5 months:  24 lb, 1.4 oz (31.5" long)
19.75 months: 24 lb, 14 oz (33" long)
2 years: 27 lb, 9.6 oz (33.5" high)
3 years: 30 lb, 8 oz (36.75" high)
4 years: 36 lb (39.625" high)
5 years: 38.6 lb (42.5" high)

EVIE
Birth: 7 lb, 13 oz (21" long)
6 days: 7 lb, 10.5 oz
2 weeks: 8 lb, 15 oz (21.25" long)
8 weeks: 12 lb, 4.5 oz (23" long)
4.5 months: 14 lb, 2 oz (24.5" long)
6.5 months:  15 lb, 7 oz (26.25" long)
9.5 months:  16 lb, 15 oz (27.75" long)
12 months:  17 lb, 14 oz (29" long)
15 months:  19 lb, 15 oz (30" long)

18.5 months:  22 lb, 2 oz (32" long)

Evie has arrived!

Holy cats, my last post was in October! Sorry, friends - I really fell off the blogosphere due to huge issues with this pregnancy. The good news? Evelyn (Evie) Kim Patrick joined us and she is absolutely amazing! Born December 1, 2015 at 6:29 a.m., she weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and measured 21 inches. She's our little Korean princess (as my sister likes to say!) and we are all pretty smitten by her. We named her after our beloved maternal grandmothers who have both sadly passed away.

Just born!

At home.

Boyd is a wonderful big brother - we've had some blips along the way but overall he is so helpful and sweet with Evie. I can say that having an older kiddo is slightly easier to manage than having two very little ones in the house!

The polyhydramnios (too much amniotic fluid) combined with Evie's short femurs and a couple of below-average measurements on body parts gave the specialist some concern - specifically, her risk of Down Syndrome was higher. This stressed me out to no end for a couple months before I finally accepted that no amount of worrying would change the outcome. A few weeks before her birth, one of the nurse practitioners reassured me that after looking at the very detailed ultrasound photos I had on my phone, she was almost 100% sure that our baby would be fine. And, she was right - Evie is perfect!

Prior to delivery I begged my providers to let me deliver early through induction. I was induced with Boyd so I knew what to expect and honestly, I was 1,000% miserable toward the end of this pregnancy. The polyhydramnios left me feeling breathless and exhausted from only sleeping a few hours each night. My belly was almost completely numb from my skin being stretched so far in a short period of time. I caught an awful cold that I couldn't really take any medication for, and then after coughing so hard that I bruised a rib, my doc prescribed vicodin due to the excruciating pain! OMG, what a journey it has been. Luckily, 6 months after delivery, I feel really great and have about 1 pounds left to lose (after gaining close to 45 - some of that was extra amnio fluid). 

We were so lucky to have my in-laws make the trip from South Dakota to come and help out for a whole month! It was awesome to have them around to pick Boyd up from school and spend time with him, plus watch Evie while I slept. My mom was fabulous, as usual, and took Boyd to school quite a bit and helped out quite a bit.

More info to come!

Valentine's Day 2013

For Valentine's Day, my two favorite guys took me out for a special dinner at one of my all time favorite Italian restaurants in Anchorage, Romano's. Even better, we had a gift card to use up (won last year at D's union Christmas party). Turns out the card had expired (whoops!) but the manager very kindly honored the amount.

Boyd did pretty well at dinner - some minor fussiness due to hunger but all in all, we were pretty proud of him. Especially when we heard and saw a little girl screaming her head off before we left. Yikes!

Hanging out in the highchair, sporting his fancy Carhartt overalls.

In a pinch, keys always work as a baby distraction.

And as promised, here are a few iPhone photos of Boyd in his new Korean outfit. Love the hat.

Boyd - 1st birthday

Gabe's camera is awesome! Even a photography novice like myself can take halfway decent images.Gabe and Risha took most of these but I snapped the ones during the cake-eating extravaganza.

My mom and her friends cooked and prepped all morning. The food was delicious! The only way it could have been better is if my Auntie was here to cook - she makes the best Korean food.

Boyd borrowed a traditional Korean outfit for his 1st birthday party. Since then, my mom's friend Yonsil sent him the most beautiful (and expensive) custom outfit, complete with hat and booties. Will have those photos later.

Boyd had an array of symbolic items to choose from and he chose the thread (long life). Next he went for the money (success). Go Boyd!

"I am 1!"

Playing with the hammer from his new tool set, courtesy of Uncle Gabe and Auntie Risha.

Two identical birthday cards! He received many generous gifts - toys, clothes and money for his savings account.

His first birthday cake. I also made cupcakes and cake pops for everyone else.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of this situation.

Once he realized we were going to let him do whatever he wanted, it was GAME ON.

Pretty dainty. No big time cake smashing like we expected.

This was the largest piece he went for. I was worried about him sleeping later that night (since this was the most sugar he had EVER had) but he was fine.

LOVE this photo.

The post-cake bath with Auntie Risha.

Thanks for checking out the photos - quack quack!

Boyd -12 months

A year ago, D and I got up super early to head to the hospital for my scheduled induction. I remember being nervous and a little scared of what was to come, but ever so excited to meet our newest family member. We had no idea what we were in for over the next 12 months! You can read about the birth experience here.

We held a small birthday party last weekend - some photos below. Boyd did really well - smiled like a champ for the camera, took a short nap halfway through the festivities and got up for more partying, and was pretty well behaved.

Updates:

• Boyd has his 1-year appointment on Monday, February 25th. Can't wait to see his stats! He'll also have to get quite a few vaccinations - poor baby.
• We saw him clapping his hands together for the first time this week.
• He still smiles after sneezing- happy kid!
• It's marginally better during diaper changing time, but he would still rather squirm around and be upright.
• Mealtimes are hit or miss around here. Sometimes he'll eat the pureed foods, no problem - and other times they'll end up all over his bib and clothing after he has spit them out. I suspect he prefers finger foods now. Which is fine because we try to feed him whatever we're eating for most meals, minus anything really salty or sugary.
• I shouldn't be surprised by the fact that his first molars are coming in already. He has been way ahead of the curve with all of his teeth, e.g. 8 teeth by 9 months.

Here are a few of my iPhone photos from his Saturday birthday party. Risha and Gabe have quite a few more on their fancy Canon, so I'll post those at a later date...

Traditional Korean outfit for special occasions - birthday, New Year

His shirt says "I am 1"

Yeah, CAKE! He didn't tear into it like I thought he would. Mostly it was dainty little bites and he just picked at the cake

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Boyd - 8 months

Little Boyd is growing up so fast - here we are at 8 months!

• Oh teething, you are the bane of our existence - well, that and lack of sleep. Boyd seems to be affected by teething a few months before the actual teeth come in, and then again right before they sprout. He has been increasingly fussy lately and there are two bulges where the top two teeth are ready to bust through the gums. This morning I could see a little sliver of white! Oh and the drool rash - ick. I thought perhaps he was allergic to some solid food we've been feeding him but I figured out the face rash around his mouth was due to excess teething drool. 
• Still no crawling, but lots of movement on hands and knees. Finally can roll over both ways. 
• Likes to sleep on his belly (when he does sleep) in what my mom has dubbed "the frog position," - hands and knees tucked under his body, little butt sticking up.
• Bath time may be his favorite part of the day. Enjoys splashing around, tolerates the cleaning portion and CRIES when we remove him from the water.
• He had a mini-meltdown this morning when I wouldn't let him play with my necklace. It's a cheap thing, probably made in China or something, so I don't want him putting it in his mouth. He freaked out and was pretty upset about the whole thing, then forgot about it a few minutes later.
• He's been doing this thing lately where he growls a little bit like a bear, and then balls his hands into fists while pushing his arms straight out. It's so funny because he's very intense. I'll try to get it on video.
• Boyd is a people magnet. Everywhere we go he attracts attention! Yesterday I had the day off and we had a mommy/baby day of errands and housework. Went to the grocery store and 4 ladies stopped to coo over him and pinch his little cheekies. Also a contributing factor to the cuteness level - dressing your baby in Carhartt overalls and a bright green froggy hat.

Ready to head off to Grandma Ann's house in the morning for daycare.

Eating is a messy business. I don't even bother to wipe his face until we're done.

My first foray into homemade baby food. This is an apple/pear concoction - turned out really well. I froze this and now we just defrost individual cubes for Boyd.

Purchased the green mat from Amazon, which we'll use at home and in restaurants to keep the food messes under wraps.

3rd snowfall!

Fascinated by the outside world.

Chubby baby hands!

In this photo you can see the face rash from drooling. Can't do much about it, other than keeping the face dry and applying lanolin or vaseline.

Grocery shopping on a weekday, in the middle of the day. SO nice to not have to battle the weekend crowds. The shopping cart cover is something I bought through Craigslist - keeps Boyd's grubby little mitts off of the dirty cart.

How I wish my dad could be here to enjoy my son. He would have LOVED being a grandpa! I miss him so much, all of the time. Love you dad.

Alaska-tough baby

Boyd has two pairs of Carhartt overalls - a necessity for any Alaskan baby. These photos make me giggle. He's pretty adorable.

Sweet dreams & full tummies

Boyd fell asleep the other night in my arms as I read to him. It was so very sweet - and hasn't happened again! I hope he comes to love books and reading as much as I do. At night he still wakes between 1 and 2 times per night, but I only feed him once and take the time to change his diaper. I dread the next round of teething because it will interrupt his sleep once again.

We are continuing with solid food for him - he loved the mashed bananas and has so far made the funniest faces when eating sweet potatoes and pears. Apparently he is not a fan of those! The experts say to keep trying because it can take up to 10 times before a baby "likes" a new flavor.

Here is our kiddo in his highchair. We decided against a traditional one since our dining room space is pretty limited. This works perfectly - it clips on securely to the counter and he can be a part of the action in the kitchen.

Solid food

Boyd tasted his first solids today - bananas, yum! He loved it. Seriously, the kid was grabbing my hand and the spoon for more. He was definitely ready. We can't wait to introduce some other items into his diet. Next will be avocados mixed with a little breast milk.

D had to hold Boyd's arms down so he wouldn't swipe the spoon out of my hand!

Boyd - 6 months

Our baby is 6 months old (as of August 14)! I know D and I aren't perfect parents and we make our share of mistakes, but Boyd seems pretty healthy and quite happy, so we must be doing something right!

Recent milestones:

• Fine motor control - lately he has been digging his thumb into anything he can - mostly my skin! Continuing the hand waving, and putting his thumb and middle together while moving his hands around.
• Grabbing & showing preference for toys.Actually, he is swiping anything within reach - our clothes, my hair, fingers, our food and drinks - you get the picture. He's SO fast and strong too - one moment of inattention and he has grabbed something
• Sitting up longer and sometimes is able to push himself up from a propped position.
• He loves the sound of his own voice and is getting LOUDER. Quite the chatterbox.

I realize that I'm behind on blogging some past out-of-town trips that we've taken...will try to post those soon!