An early bloomer

Well, apparently Benjamin is going to be a man ahead of the game. At 3 months old, he is teething...and when I say teething, I mean his teeth are actually cutting through already. The funny thing is, it's his top two front teeth that are coming in. Usually babies start with the bottoms but hey, Benjamin has never been a typical baby! He's been very irritable lately, and I've been giving him Tylenol. I talked to the nurse today and she said we could give him just a tiny bit of orajel, but only after he eats, because it can cause the babies to not be able to use their gag reflex and they could choke. So, we are going to use that sparingly. I just can't believe he's got teeth already. I will try to take some pictures and post them.

Darin is recovering from his illness, thank goodness. He missed 2 1/2 days of work and that can hurt, but he's getting back to normal, thanks to good old antibiotics. Now Abi is starting to get the stuffy nose and such...bummer. Anyways, that's the latest!

February Update

It's been a little while...I should post something. The amount of time in my day to do this seems to dwindle so fast! Benjamin had his 2 month check-up last Friday and everything looked good. He still weighs under 9lbs, coming in at a whopping 8lbs, 11oz. It's strange to think that the girls were just a few ounces lighter than this when they were BORN! He was 20.5 inches long. He is around the 3% for growth and weight! He's a little guy. But he is gaining and growing so Dr. Martinez saw no reason to be concerned. We are still on the 22 calorie diet...he obviously needs those extra calories! He's getting so big so fast. He's finally started smiling, though he must be prompted to do so. His best times are usually when he just woke up. He is sick right now with a little cold but nothing to be concerned about. We just feel bad for him because it makes it harder for him to sleep, mainly during the day. He's doing really well at night and usually sleeps straight through now, from about 8p to 4-5am the next morning. We are grateful for this accomplishment! So, all in all, Benjamin is progressing quite well and we know he'll be hanging with the boys in no time!

The girls are...INSANE! They have really put all their effort into arguing and fighting with each other these days. Emily is going through this "I HAVE TO SCREAM EVERYTHING WHEN I'M MAD" phase. We're working on that! Abi just provokes her. Sometimes I find myself getting so frustrated...poor Darin, I think sometimes he dreads coming home :)
Darin and I are hanging in there. We just found out that we don't qualify for Medi-Cal (apparently Darin makes too much money), so now we are on the search for our own insurance. Thankfully Benny has Medi-Cal for the first year, and after that we can probably switch him over to Healthy Families, which the girls have. We're so thankful though to have had Medi-Cal coverage throughout this whole ordeal. We received a bill in the mail the other day from Children's Hospital for $58,000 for Benny's surgeries and stay in the NICU. That doesn't include any other bills we 've been receiving from various doctors. I don't know what we would have done if we actually had to pay for all of that. It's a pain to sort out (making calls, forwarding bills to Medical, etc), but well worth it!

We spent last weekend redecorating our bedroom with fresh paint and furniture rearrangement. It looks fantastic! I have a brown wall now and I think everyone should have one in their house somewhere. It's beautiful. Tomorrow, Darin will be working, and the girls and I will probably be doing some Valentine's Day craft projects, including making Daddy cards. We hope all you lovebirds have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Remember to always tell those you love just how much you love them! And remember, God loves us most! Happy Valentine's Day!