Miles Has a Tooth!

Miles is finally teething!  He has a little tooth breaking through on the bottom left-hand side.  You can barely see it, but it is definitely there.  Soon enough, we'll have 2 toothy smiles in our house.  =)  He seemed more fussy than usual today, but it wasn't that bad.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that it's not too painful for him.

Tongue Trauma

Today was an interesting day.  Last night, the babies woke up around 2 am to eat.  Vivienne was unusually fussy - almost crying like she was in pain, but we couldn't see anything wrong and after just a few seconds of snuggles from Daddy, she eventually settled down, ate and went back to sleep.  This morning, she nursed as usual, but then she refused to eat any of her oatmeal.  I thought she was unusually fussy, but just figured she was tired.  After her morning nap, I went to nurse her again and I noticed this little while splotch on her tongue.  I looked more closely and realized that the entire underside of her tongue was solid white, with a little bit coming around the tip of her tongue.  I immediately called the pediatrician and left a voicemail for the advice nurse and then jumped online to see what I could find.  I looked up yeast and thrush, but they looked very splotchy and white, like little patches of white.  Vivienne's tongue was completely solid white - very alarming.  After the advice nurse called back, she said she thought it was yeast and that I should take Vivienne in for an appointment.

This was the best picture I could get of it.

I loaded both babies up in the car and we headed to the pediatrician's office.  The pediatrician said that it wasn't thrush or yeast, but rather that it was probably some sort of trauma.  She asked whether Vivienne had fallen with a toy in her mouth or something like that.  Vivienne still isn't even crawling, so she doesn't really do much falling (unless she falls from a standing up position if we don't catch her).  I cannot for the life of me figure out how this would have happened.  I can't remember any recent falls, and she doesn't have any toys that are obviously sharp.  I also would think that if this had happened during some sort of fall, Vivienne would have cried bloody murder.

It's very odd, because it's not a very regularly shaped area (it's wider at the base of her tongue and tapers as it moves out).  It doesn't seem like she would have done this with her teeth.  I'm totally baffled by this.  Hopefully it heals up quickly, though.  Until then, we're feeding her lots of ice cubes in the mesh feeders, apple sauce, yogurt (foods that aren't acidic or hot) and giving her a little bit of dye-free Benadryl (topically), which the doctor said would provide her some relief.

Star Wars

I think this makes him look like a character from Star Wars, but I can't find the name online.

If You're Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but Miles started clapping about a month ago.  Now he claps all the time, giving me a big grin, and waiting for me to clap back with him.  I never hesitate to give him a "Yay!" and a round of applause.  =)

The Long Road Home

Well, the road home was long, but it was made much more tolerable by another stop at Miles and Vivienne's Great Aunt and Great Uncle's house.  On Monday, we drove the 4.5 hours back to West Virginia.  This time, we took another route (finding an ACTUAL Chick-fil-a - NOT in a mall food court), and driving along the Ohio River.  The babies were getting a bit fussy again, so we stopped in a little town in Ohio called Gallipolis.  It was settled in 1790 and is the hometown of Bob Evans (of the Bob Evans restaurants).

Jason and the babies in front of the Ohio River in Gallipolis

Miles and Vivienne enjoyed playing in the grass and stretching their legs.

The babies look so small in the main square of Gallipolis.

We arrived at Barbara and Alan's in the early afternoon.  After dining on some wonderful pizza, gelato and homemade custard (yum!!!) we hit the sack.  The next morning, we ate way too much bacon (again!) and took some pictures before hitting the road.

Miles, Vivienne, Great Aunt Barbara and Great Uncle Alan

"You sure are great, Aunt Barbara!"

On the way home, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch.  It was a longer stop than our usual fast food, but I think the babies enjoyed having a break from their car seats.

"I like Cracker Barrel, Mommy!"

Then we finally saw this...

Ahhhh... we had a great trip, but it was so nice to be home again and have the babies sleeping in their cribs and us sleeping in our bed.

A huge thanks to Stephanie for feeding the kitties for us while we were out of town!

First Time in a Real Pool

On Sunday, Miles and Vivienne got in a real pool for the first time.  We started with them in the baby pool and quickly graduated up to the big pool after a few minutes.  They really loved splashing around, but the water was a little cold for them.  After a while, Miles started shivering, so we pulled the babies out and bundled them up in towels.  It was really special for Jason to share this experience with them.

My Water Babies

"Help me swim, Daddy!"

"Aunt Michelle, I think I'm ready to swim on my own now.  But don't let me go just yet."

Vivienne looks peachy in her little bathing suit.

Gabe, Amber and Drew

Gabe and Amber

"Thanks for putting me in this towel, Daddy.  That water is COLD!"

Miles snuggles with Gabe.

Amber soaks up some rays.

Everybody needs a post-swim snack.  =)

Memorial Day Trip to Cleveland

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took Miles and Vivienne on their second road trip.  We went to Cleveland to visit Jason's family.  His parents, brother, nephews and niece drove in from Indiana and we all gathered at his sister's house. 

Our first road trip was to Georgia last Christmas to visit my family.  The babies were 6 months old at that time, and the trip went fairly smoothly.  They slept most of the way there.  But now the babies are 10 months old, and they are much more active.  They get antsy if they are sitting still for too long.  So, we decided that we would stop in West Virginia at my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Alan's house, spend the night, and then finish the drive to Cleveland.

"Oh, come on!  PLEEEEASE let me drive!!"

On the way up, we made the mistake of following the Chick-fil-a mirage.  This has happened to us before.  I will find a Chick-fil-a on my iPhone, and we'll start taking side streets, trying to find it.  In the end, we discover that it's in a mall food court.  Ugh.  So we ended up eating at a Wendy's in Bluefield, West Virginia.  I think it's safe to say that we will not be visiting that city again on future trips (no offense, Bluefield).

We made it to Barbara and Alan's house in about 6 hours, only stopping a couple times.  It was so fun to introduce Miles and Vivienne to their Great Aunt and Great Uncle.  They made us a delicious shrimp creole dinner, and it was wonderful to catch up with them.

That evening, Miles pushed himself from a tummy lying position up into a seated position.  This was the first time he had done that.  I am so thrilled at the idea of not having to set the babies up over and over.  Right now, they will be sitting on the floor and they fall over and start crying because they can't sit up.  At least now Miles should be able to get himself back up on his own.  =)

On Friday, we got up early, ate an amazing egg and bacon breakfast (probably ate way more bacon than we needed to!) and headed for Cleveland.  It was only about a 4.5 hour drive to Cleveland, and we arrived in the afternoon.  Miles and Vivienne got to meet their cousins, Drew, Gabe and Amber, and see their Aunt Michelle, Uncle Jason, Grandma and Grandpa.

"Check out these rings, Grandpa!"

Vivienne loved meeting her cousins for the first time.

Amber gets some snuggle time with Viv.

On Saturday, we all went to the Cleveland Zoo together.  I'm not sure that Vivienne and Miles really knew that they were actually at a zoo, but it was fun to have them there and to watch the cousins enjoying all the animals.

Daddy and Miles at the Cleveland Zoo

"Where, Aunt Michelle?  I don't see the bear."

Uncle Jason held Vivienne in the butterfly house.

After a couple of hours, the babies started getting tired, so we brought them back to Jason and Michelle's house early while the rest of the crew stayed behind to see the rest of the zoo.

"I'm SO close to figuring out this crawling thing, Mommy!"

Miles was tuckered out after a long day of fun.

On Sunday, we all went to church together.  Then Jason grilled burgers, hot dogs and chicken on the grill for everyone.  We just enjoyed a relaxing afternoon of Wii games and good food.

Tiger

The Grillmaster at Work