Muscoot

From Cooper 1 month

A week ago we caught up with friends at Muscoot Park to check out the animals in the early spring weather. Emma in the pic above is one of his favorite people and is the first name he learned to say besides mama, dada, nana, papa, and Buh (for Buffy). In fact, the first time he said it was Emma walked into church during a quiet moment between songs - Caleb got excited and started chanting "Emma, Emma" across the sanctuary!

Elizabeth is only two weeks away from her due date. She amazes me every time with her cute little belly that only shows up around her third trimester :)

From Cooper 1 month

Little blondes making their way through the dairy barn

From Cooper 1 month

I don't think he realized how big cows were until he saw a live one right in front of him.

From Cooper 1 month

"Baby, eat!" Caleb says this every time I nurse Cooper :)

From Cooper 1 month

A hoe down! And take your partner, dose-doe...

From Cooper 1 month

Cooper slept in the Ergo I was wearing the entire time we were there, so I don't have an photos of him. taking pics has definitely been more challenging with two!

Who's that cute guy?

Cooper saw himself in the mirror last night... looks like I am not the only one who thinks he is cute! :)

Smiles!

I love Cooper's smiles!

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THis shot is from a week and a half ago... and sorry for the blurry photo - I never have my camera ready when he grins at me and so snapped this one quickly with my phone before it focused. He seems to be just as smiley as Caleb was at this age, smiling when I talk to him close to his face and asking him to show me his smile. When he makes the big smiles, he actually has a dimple in his left cheek like my brother, Sean, has. So cute!

He is always grinning in his sleep, but his biggest smiles are when he is nursing. Pretty funny!

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And not to be outdone is brother next door. :)

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The Eilens visit

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We are finally into Cooper's week 3! One of the highlights of that week was a playdate with the Eilens - Logan (five weeks older than Caleb), my friend, Jen, ad her mom (who is also our Ob), Dr. Eilen - whose grandkids (and Caleb) call Bubbe. Fun times all around, although Jen and I were promptly threatened with Bonnie leaving when we started talking about Cooper's delivery ten minutes into the visit. She doesn't take enough days off and certainly didn't want to be talking about work while away from it!

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The boys had fun playing together. It is cool to see them get to an age when they actually play with each other versus just side by side.

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The car, always a hit.

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They actually did pretty well sharing that, too!

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Bubbe with the Coyne boys

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Outtakes from the all-boys shot

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Jen meeting Cooper - not a little baby, but he seems pretty small with these two big guys running around!

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Playdate with Nicole

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Two Fridays ago during a the middle-of-the-night nursing session, I saw a text from my friend, Nicole, who said she wanted to swing by the next morning to give me some time to shower, run errands, or take a nap. So sweet! Before she came over that morning, I traded text messages with my Ob and another doctor-friend (thank you, Amanda!!) about what I expected was phlebitis/a blood clot in my arm where one of my IVs had been inserted. For about five inches up my arm from the insertion point, the vein was very dark blue/green and hard like a rope under my skin with a growing red spot. Both docs thought I should get to a vascular surgeon to get an ultrasound, so Nicole's visit could not have been better timing. I took Cooper with me as I did not know how long the squeezed-me-in appointment would take (and in my experience, any appointment with a surgeon tends to include a lengthy wait).

Nicole got lots of play time in with Caleb, who loooves her. Unfortunately I was not there to take pics, but we did snap a few when I returned from the doc. (And I did have phlebitis... and the clot was about 8 inches up the vein in my arm. Crazy - the complications of our last pregnancy and delivery just keep going! Thankfully, I do believe this should be the last of those. :))

Cooper saying hi as they get their cuddles on.

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Nicole was also thoughtful in taking pictures of Cooper and me - our first together since our first day together in the hospital!

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Our little guy making some funny faces.

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Fish face...

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And my favorite, funny old man face

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Little sweetie

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He is still hanging onto that double chin. :) You can also see his blonde hair here - on the top, it is actually an inch long! It is one of my favorite features, and I am hoping he does not lose it like Caleb did!

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I love this little boy!

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Happy family

Forgot to post this one earlier...

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Pete and Caleb are laughing as we were figuring out how to work the self-timer on the photo, meaning Pete was repeatedly pushing the button, running over to us and hurdling half the family to make it behind Caleb. Both older boys found this hilarious after about five times!

Buffy visits!

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I am still two weeks behind with updates (ugh!) but hopeful that I will catch up one day soon.  As for now, here is the catch-up on Pete's mom, Buffy to the boys, visiting the week before Easter.  Caleb was beside himself with two weeks in a row of doting grandparents!

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Buffy joined us for two days and was a great help with Caleb while I was nursing two-week-old Cooper what felt like constantly. She also got some quality time in with her youngest grandson.

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You can't really tell here, but the boys are wearing matching outfits (pants and onesies) for the first time!

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Love for the little one

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Cooper managed to squeeze in a nap with Buffy before she left.

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Caleb was very upset when Buffy had to go, partially because she was letting him sit in the drivers seat of her car while we programmed her GPS. THe fact that I had to feed Cooper as soon as she pulled away didn't help things. So I rubbed Caleb's back while I nursed Cooper, and before I knew it, I had a standing, sleeping Caleb next to me! Here is the pic once I got up. Funny boy!

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And my not-sleeping boy on the other side :)

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Alphasnacks

Caleb loves crackers with letters stamped on them!

BTW, that bowl is the gyroscope one that supposedly prevents spills... and it really works! Well, except when Caleb gets really excited (like with his favorite letters, M and H) and throws the bowl up in the air. :)

Happiness is...

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Rocking my two sweet boys to sleep

Magnus

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Cooper got a really big gift in the mail...

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Caleb thought it was pretty awesome!

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And what is as much fun as a really huge stuffed dog (even if not as long-lived)?

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The box it came in!

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We named the dog, Magnus... which some may remember as Pete's favorite name for every boy we have conceived. I am so happy the name finally found a fitting recipient, ensuring it will never enter our conversation again as a possibility. :(

More peaceful slumber

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These pics are a couple of weeks old now. Slumber is not quite as peaceful or easy to come by, but our little Cooper is still an easy baby in comparison to his big brother!

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Sweet dreams

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Cooper's first bath!

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After a shared bedtime routine...

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Caleb drifted off to sleep while little brother, Cooper, got to enjoy his first big-boy bath! His umbilical cord was a little slow to fall off, so we had to wait until he was nearly two weeks old. Cooper didn't love the bath, so he probably didn't mind the delay. :)

Relaxing while we got the water ready

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Getting undressed. (I think this is the first time the heated floor we put in made a lot od sense!)

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Hmmm, not a fan

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I love that pitiful face!

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Much warmer. Much better.

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A walk into town

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The week after Cooper was born, Pete took a couple of days off from work (hooray!) to spend some time with the boys and me. It was so terrific to have him home during daylight, and I know Caleb loved all the attention, too. We took our first family walk into town, as the weather was really nice. Blooming dogwoods made the walk a very pretty one!

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Requisite stop at Franny's Goodie Shop for our favorite frozen yogurt!

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Coop

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Caleb checking on "Baby," as he still prefers to call him

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While we were away...

I have been awful about staying up to date in these last exciting three weeks!  I of course have a ton of pics but never seem to have the time to pull them over to the blog.  Here are some to catch us up...

Caleb loved his Nana and Papa time while Pete, Cooper, and I were in the hospital for a couple of days.  (Actually, even now three + weeks later, he is constantly saying "Nana, Papa" and today even said them all whiny because I think he misses them!)

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He even got to take them to his weekly music class

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Drumming is a big thing for him these days...

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As are bath crayons

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Hugs for Nana!

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Caleb also enjoyed a trip to his favorite wildlife sanctuary with Nana and Papa while they were here.

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Along with lots of yummy food - whenever Caleb is around my parents for a week, he seems to add a pound! After this visit, he had a little pudge on his belly for the first time in his life!

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Caleb was surprisingly good about sharing his Nana and Papa with Cooper once we returned from the hospital

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The cuddle break gave him some time to do a little reading, I suppose

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Good times with the grandparents

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The actual in-the-moment pic of Caleb blowing goodbye kisses to his Nana and Papa as they pulled away. It still gives me a lump in my throat when I see it as it shows his sweet and joyous spirit along with his innocence in not understanding that his beloved Nana and Papa won't be back for a while. :(

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Cooper's not-a-bris

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I never blogged about Caleb's not-a-bris because I was so backlogged in blog posts after he was born (sound familiar? Sort of like now, unfortunately! :)) But long story short, in our third trimester with him, I was pretty anxious about the whole circumcision thing. Partly because I was concerned about the pain for the baby and partly because we had friends whose baby passed away inexplicably within three hours of his circumcision. I did a ton of research about the procedure and asked a bunch of questions in an effort to figure out what we should do. In that research, we decided that using a well-reputed Jewish Mohel (basically a professional circumciser) would be our best path (despite not being Jewish ourselves). A few weeks before Caleb was born, we attended our Ob's grandson's bris and saw the procedure first-hand, and shortly thereafter I spoke with the mohel who performed the bris... and signed him up to Caleb's circumcision.

So when we had another boy, it made sense to us to enlist the same expert to circumcise Cooper. I don't think Caleb would be so tickled to see Cantor Sherman if he knew how they met!

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Poor Cooper... He has no idea what is coming. :(

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Nana on Caleb duty. (And Caleb double-fisting water and mil sip pies is a common sighting around here. The boy likes his options!)

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All done! Luckily Cooper was a champ and only cried for a few seconds like his big brother did 20 months ago. So happy it is over and behind us!

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Cooper's first birthday cake to celebrate his arrival. Turns out coconut does not make the best canvas for lettering. :)

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Big brother = big fan of the cake!

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Homecoming

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Caleb is pretty smitten with his little brother... whom he still calls "baby" unless you ask him baby's name - when he will say "Ooop."

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Cooper still looking like an orange oomph loompa (these pics are from 4.5 days old - still catching up when Caleb naps and Cooper nurses!) with unintentionally cropped sleeves. This outfit was what he wore home from the hospital. Caleb wore a 0-3 month outfit which was huge on him, so for Cooper I got a newborn size... forgetting that Zutano runs really small and Cooper's orangutan arms were in the 99th percentile for length. Sorry you look a little silly, Cooepr!

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His big double chin is much smaller now than it was in this pic, despite his hitting TEN POUNDS yesterday, only five days past his due date!

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Feeling the love...

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Our first family photo! I look weird, but Caleb's lil-bro grab makes up for it. :)

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Close up of the brother grip

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Maybe it is safer this way :)

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Lil snoozer

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Cooper goes to the doc

Waiting for his first doc appointment!

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Like Caleb, Cooper had high bilirubin after birth.  Caleb had to spend days # 3 and 4 in the hospital under the bilirubin lights.  He actually was ready to be discharged when I fainted after his birth (due to hemorrhaging then, as well), and when they kept me another day, the docs realized he looked awfully orange and so retested his bill.

Looking a little orange (maybe the koi bring it out in him :))

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With Cooper we were discharged about 48 hours after his birth with instructions to get his bili retested at his pediatrician's office the next morning.  When we did, the level was the same as Caleb had 60 hours after birth (16.6), which was a point above the threshold for phototherapy with the bili lights.  As that meant he would have to be readmitted to the hospital after we were sent home, it really was not good news!  Luckily, his pediatrician was open to us managing it from home by nursing him every two hours, and she requested we supplement with 2 oz of formula twice a day.  I really really wanted to avoid that along with a bottle, as Caleb had two days of breastmilk via bottles during his phototherapy, and it wrecked his latch and made for two months of painful breastfeeding issues!  I managed to get a supplemental feeding system (thanks to my friend, Rebecca!) and pumped a little to force-feed our sleepy nurser to ensure he got enough milk to lower his bili counts.  (Bilirubin is cleared through poop, which requires lots of eating... but high bilirubin makes a baby so sleepy that it is hard for them to stay awake long enough to eat well.)

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For two days I nursed Cooper every 2 hours around the clock, skipped the formula, and used the supplemental feeding system a few times - both while nursing and with my finger - and he did great!  He gained a quarter of a pound (!!) in two days, and has been gaining solidly since.  It is sort of funny to be excited about such a big baby gaining weight so well, but it made our little yellow fellow pink and healthy again!

Here he is with his pediatrcian, Dr. Mollo on his second visit with her, at 5 days old. Can you tell this is after his quarter-pound gain? Haha. :)

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Triplets' anniversary recap

From Triplets' 3rd bday

Now that I am back live and posting (yea, at last!) after Cooper's arrival, I thought I would take a few minutes to post a few more pictures from our triplets' third anniversary on March 24th.  We had gotten out of the hospital a couple of days before, and this day was our first "outing" as a family.  As Cooper was only four days old and it was almost a bit chilly, we didn't spend a leisurely day reminiscing outdoors, but it was really nice to have an hour or so to be together as a family and for Pete and me to spend some time together thinking about our first babies.

Caleb was so excited about the prospect of riding next to his brother for the first time that he couldn't sit still.

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For Caleb, the outing was a great adventure - he tried out his stroller skateboard for the first time, which he LOVED.

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Cooper enjoyed his first ride in the stroller basinette.

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And Caleb loved checking on him throughout the ride.  He still seemed astonished that this was our baby to keep.

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Brothers - Caleb holding Coop for the first time with a little help from Pete :)

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Balloons!  I let the first one go to show Caleb how to do it...

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He quickly caught on

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But he still thought running around in the field was more fun.

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Or trying to get back on the strollerbaord.

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Last balloon for Pete

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Gray skies not the prettiest day for our first outdoor adventure

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Blowing kisses to our babies (big brothers and sister) in Heaven!

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Loading up and heading back home...

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