New Shoes!!

We took all 3 boys out for the first time Friday afternoon, on a special trip to the mall to buy the twins their first pair of real walking shoes. Here's a shot of our crazy car seat configuration - where we put the baby in the through the trunk! It may sound crazy, but actually is the easiest setup (and was suggested to us by the car seat expert at Buy Buy Baby) since all three are rear facing and will continue to be this way for a while longer.  The Britax Boulevard convertible car seats are huge and stay in place, so they are in the middle row captains chairs, and Spencer's infant seat is in the back row bench - making it quick to just fold 2/3 of the bench down and pop him in through the back!  



We brought our Choo Choo wagon to the mall instead of a stroller and it worked out great - the boys love being pulled around in it, whether we're indoors or out...and there were a lot of interesting things for them to look at inside the mall. But on their schedule we have limited time when out and about, and so had to make our first stop to Nordstrom's children's department right away for some shoe shopping!  The salesman was able to measure their feet from inside the wagon and told us they were a size 4.  We picked out Velcro Converse, one blue pair and one black pair.  The shoe department had a little aquarium to keep us entertained and also gave the boys each a balloon - and boy do they love balloons!  Dee held Spencer while we tried the shoes out.  Owen was really funny as he took his first steps wearing shoes.  He sort of did a light footed hop as he was unsure about walking with the new things on his feet.  It only took him a few minutes to get used to them though, and then he was taking off down the main aisle like a regular mall walker.  Oliver was more content to sit near the wagon and play with his balloon.

Two happy campers with new shoes and balloons!!!

Second Chances

Oliver's been giving Spencer a second chance lately (after a drama-filled first meeting).  He likes to come over and look at him and sometimes reach out and touch his hands "gently".

 I think he's decided that we should keep him :) 

New Swings!!

The weather has been a perfect high 60's / low 70's since we brought Spencer home, and I've been so excited to put up the new swings we got for the boys a couple weeks ago.  They loved going to visit the swings at the park down the road last fall - so what better than to have them in your own front yard?!  We've even gone back and bought 2 more since putting these up, to have another set inside the deck for rainy days or when the bugs are out.

Pure Joy...

Sleeping Beauty

So far, Spencer has proven to have a slightly more mellow personality compared to the twins when they were a week old. He seems to cry less and sleep more, and we're fine with that!  It's good that he's capable of sleeping through all the noise the boys make throughout the day!

Every once in a while he peeks out to see the world!

Spelunking

Oliver went spelunking for his lunch today!

One Walks One Talks

The day we brought Spencer home, Oliver found a way to stay in the spotlight by showing off to us that he can talk during dinner.  "Light" is probably his official first word (other than babbling mama and dada) where he pointed to something and said the word.  Saturday, he added "outside" to his vocabulary and "book" on Sunday!

His attempts at walking are still so so - they say babies focus on one major developmental milestone at a time.  So we have one that walks and one that talks!  Here's Oliver practicing walking with a push toy that is pretty unstable, so it's still an impressive attempt!

St. Patty's Day

For St. Patrick's Day we had a fun time hanging around the house and enjoying the beautiful weather.  At the last minute, we tried to find something green (although varying shades) for all of us to wear.  Note Oliver's yawn and sideways glance at Spencer in the second picture - he's still not too sure about him.

Sharing a new toy together...

Spencer getting some sun and a wagon ride for the boys.

And green food for dinner (harvest turkey, avocado, green beans, peas, and lima beans)!!

The Meeting of Brothers

Spencer was born on Monday, March 12th and we came home that Wednesday afternoon.  We weren't really sure how to introduce Spencer to his big brothers, but since they were out for a walk when we arrived we decided to have him waiting for them in their playroom so they would have some space to move around and check him out.  Maybe that was why Oliver got himself into a little tantrum at the end - he became worried Spencer was going to take his toys!

They were very curious at first and wanted to touch his face.

This is where Oliver starts to realize Spencer might cause some trouble for him...you can see the concern in his eyes.

It's so hard being the middle child :)

While We Were Gone

This is what the boys were up to with Grandpa while we were gone at the hospital!  Normally they don't like anything on their heads, especially Owen (see birthday post!) - but after seeing Grandpa wear the blue bandanna, we heard they not only wanted to try it on, but continue wearing it during morning playtime!  Check out Owen's stylish hair afterward.

Introducing Spencer William West

Welcome to the world Spencer William West!!!

Born Monday, March 12 at 9:28am.  6lb 13oz, 20.25 inches.

After 2 days in a row of contractions that kept us up all night, my water broke early Monday morning at 4:30am.  We arrived at the hospital around 5:00am and by then things were moving very quickly (already 3cm dilated) and I was in desperate need of an epidural.  It took some time to get the required amount of fluids in through an IV before they could order the epidural, so I was stuck enduring extreme pain for about an hour.  It seemed much longer than that though!  After the anesthesiologist arrived, it was smooth sailing and we just had to wait it out while the now painless contractions took their course.  A couple hours later the doctor came back and said the baby was ready to be born - one quick push and he was out!  We were so thankful that I was able to have a vbac and that there were no complications!

Spencer has been very quiet and sleepy for his first few days of life - his big brothers have been making a lot more noise than he has.  But every now and then we see his little eyes looking around, trying to take it all in.

Here's a video of Spencer getting his first bath a few hours after he was born.  Apparently the nurse thought he was a very good boy as she comments about how tolerant he is throughout the video.

No Baby, but New Snail!

This past Saturday was the semi-annual parents of multiples consignment sale that we love and have always found so many great treasures and twins related stuff since joining the club. Early that morning (around 3am) I started having strong contractions and we thought for sure new baby West was going to be born that day. As we were packing our bags for the hospital around 6am, Ryan and I were a little bummed that we were going to miss the sale since there were a few things in particular we were hoping to find for the new little one. Well, the contractions suddenly stopped around 7am and we just sat there thinking, now what? So we put all of our hospital stuff in the car and went to the sale anyway! We were a little late and unable to find all of what we "needed", but did find this cute new snail rocker!! It has a really plush seat and plays music. When baby brother gets here we'll have to tell him that his delayed arrival got him and his big brothers a cool new snail toy!

 

New Nest

In keeping with his favorite activity lately of crawling into the folded down tunnel and making a little nest, Oliver discovered yesterday that he can tip other things over and climb inside too.  He spent over an hour pushing the walker around, tipping it over, and then climbing inside.  Owen became interested in this too and they both huddled in their new nest together laughing and squealing.  At one point they got stuck back to back, with their legs coming out underneath and needed help getting out.

Gentle Wesley

Just another post on Wesley and how he has become such a great playmate for the boys.  He loves chasing and pouncing on toys with them, but knows to be gentle when they start to grab and pull at his fur.  You can see his relaxed attitude as Owen approaches with hammer in hand!  I think poor Wesley escaped harm's way in this scenario, as I put the camera down immediately after taking the picture to divert Owen's attention elsewhere.

Here's a cute video of Oliver petting Wesley this past weekend.  He was particularly interested in poking Wesley's ears.

Basket Buddies

We love playing in the laundry basket!!

 

Colgate Babies

For the boys' birthday weekend, we had a fun visit from our good friends Erin and Bill.  The boys received a couple new toys, one that they especially like because it involves a hammer.  Check out the team work! 

Except Owen doesn't like to share the hammer...

Another favorite gift from Erin...his baby blanky from when he was born!  This one is even harder for him to part with!

Sad when Erin and Bill had to go back home :(

 

No More Tunnel Fears

Owen has finally shaken his fear of the Tunnel!  It only took him about a week to get comfortable with the idea of crawling inside it.  He decided to try it out the day after I had a friend over to visit, and she brought her almost 2 year old daughter, Joslyn.  Oliver and Joslyn were having a great time crawling inside the tunnel, giggling and hanging out in it like it were a clubhouse.  The next day Owen wanted to go in with Oliver too.

 

Oliver is still much more entertained by the toy, whether it's opened up or folded down.  He likes to crawl in when it's collapsed and sit with his toys like he's in a little nest.  He's been obsessed with the dragon puppet lately, and this particular day would cry if it was out of his sight.