Wednesday, November 14, 2012
We are 1!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Wonderful 1 year olds
I can’t believe the twins are 1! Months 0-6 really did feel
like 6 months, but months 6-12 flew by. I love playing with my kiddos and they
get more fun to be with day by day. They have become increasingly clingy, to
the point where Austin has a hard time putting them to bed by himself, until I
come in and give them a goodnight kiss and hold them for a minute. They crawl
all over me when I sit on the floor with them, and they also crawl all over
each other. Both of them are little curious kiddos, especially Jackson.
Whenever they are getting into some sort of shenanigans, Austin or I come up
behind them saying “fee-fi-fo-fum” and they squeal and start crawling away
really fast until we catch them and they explode into giggles. Both are
cruising, walking pushing objects along the floor (notably chairs, boxes, and
the musical table), and of course crawling like experts. Jackson took his first
steps on October 20th by himself, and still until now November 13th,
he has only taken about 7 steps in a row. He is just taking his sweet old time
walking. Jocelyn first officially pulled herself up to standing on October 7,
and has since caught up with Jackson in every way except she is a little
nervous to stand on her own, something that Jackson can do for 20+ seconds at a
time.
1 year stats: Jackson 23 lbs. 3 oz., 29 ¾ in.
Jocelyn 20 lbs. 3 oz., 29 ½ in.
Funny things that have happened in the recent past:
While being babysat at the Call’s
house, Jackson got into the toilet. Matt Call described him as “splashing
around just like it was the bathtub” and he of course got soaked. He was given
a bath and when I came to pick them up, Matt called Jackson a “little terror”
and Jocelyn a “little princess”. Basically still describes them at age 1.
I was on the phone with Maggie, and
I hear crying. Go over and Jackson had thrown his sippy cup on top of Jocelyn’s
head and she had milk coming down her face. I resolved the situation and went
back to my conversation. Not even two minutes later I hear crying and find
Jocelyn wedged on her stomach under our little musical table, and Jackson is
pushing her and the table across the hardwood floor. Oh the little munchkins.
Jackson has recently started
throwing temper tantrums when I take him away from out of bounds places, most notably
the dishwasher, the pantry, and the trashcan. He throws his head back and kicks
his legs. He feels a lot heavier when he is doing these things.
I was sitting on the floor today
playing ball with Jocelyn and she was laughing so hard she started doing a
silent laugh. When she laughs really hard it is kind of a low-pitched laugh
that is gutsy and hysterical to listen to. When it escalates it gets silent and
then explodes into a bunch of tiny giggles. She gets amused at the littlest
things.
We went to a couple Halloween
parties, and the kids kept on their costumes for a total of probably 5 minutes.
At our ward party the kids were presents, wrapped in bows, I was a Christmas
tree, and Austin was an Elvis Santa. At another party we were crayons all dressed
in a solid color with paper accessories to make us look more crayony. Paper
does not last on children. For the CADA party we were the recycle family.
Austin made the cutest costumes out of cereal boxes for the kids. They were
adorable, but then started eating the boxes, and that’s when they had to go.
Austin loves wiggling Jocelyn’s
chin and she makes noises so she sounds like “wa-wa-wa-wa-wa” (hard to explain
but really funny). Jocelyn is also an expert at imitating buzzing lips,
flicking lips (with your fingers while making noises), and recently Austin was
rolling his tongue (like the Spanish ‘rr’) and she rolled her tongue too! She
is one talented lady. I think we also recorded that at a very early age,
probably 2 months, she was twisting her tongue both ways in her mouth.
Jocelyn is very much a morning
person, and Jackson is definitely not. Jocelyn still wakes up at 5 am and is
chipper as a summer morning. Jackson sleeps until 6:30 or 7, and even goes down
for his morning nap earlier than Jocelyn (around 8:30). Jackson also takes much
longer than Jocelyn to wake up from his naps. Sometimes it takes up to 30
minutes for him to calm down after he’s woken up and be ok playing by
himself/with Jocelyn on the floor. It’s not that he hasn’t slept enough, because
this happens even after he’s taken 2-3 hour naps.
I love our little munchkins. They
love each other too despite all the sharing issues we have in our house. Both
are guilty of taking the other ones’ toys, but Jocelyn handles it much better
when she is stolen from. She just waits till the opportune moment and steals it
back whereas Jackson explodes into hysterical crying and gets really mad. It’s
been a wonderful, albeit tiring, experience being a mother of twins. I could go
on and on about the adorable moments I witness everyday.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
A Summer in Review
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| hmmm, this species is baffling |
 |
| First Cope reunion Zion Ponderosa Resort |
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| jumping is exhausting |
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| Mississippi says its ok |
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| SPLASH |
 |
| you sneaky boy |
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| table for two |
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| cheerio dahlings |
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| jack's first model pose |
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| 10 months old! |
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| Babythoven |
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| our little peanut, she's a little momma's girl |
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| they love the swings! |
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| who invented this wedgie swing... |
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| Air Jordan pose |
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| Her chipmunk breakfast routine |
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| Jackson: I thought it was candy! |
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| our little chatterbox |
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| fun in the sun |
Monday, August 27, 2012
Crawling up the stairs
I wish babies could realize that crawling up hardwood stairs with absolutely no idea how to get back down is never a good idea. Albeit, we had gone a whole 2 days since Jackson's discovery without an accident. Today that streak was broken and he fell down a couple stairs :( (That finally kicked the bucket for me and I got the gate in place). Poor kid. No bruises, no bleeding, just a lot of crying and scared parents. Jocelyn also started crying because she was scared for Jackson and she saw it happen. Usually Jackson has a lot better traction and just stays up on a stair holding onto the railing until I come get him, but he was wearing socks today. He never wears socks, so he didn't really understand how much more difficult it would be to balance on his tip toes :)
We have such big kids now! Jackson learned how to climb the stairs on August 25th, and has been doing it ever since, Jocelyn became proficient at her army crawl on the 26th and jumped in the jumper for the first time that same day! I'm so glad she is wanting to be more active now. She's been content to roll everywhere for a long time, but since Jackson started standing up, I think she might be getting a teensy bit jealous that she can't do the same.
We have started going walking every morning and it is wonderful, especially with our new double jogging stroller! Thanks to Austin's brother Danny for helping us out with it :) The kids love the much smoother ride. Unfortunately I was pretty far from home today when it started down-pouring. The kids loved the rain though! They only got their legs wet so they weren't complaining, and I got to test out jogging with the stroller for the first time. Though I was going faster, I was still soaked by the time we made it home. It was pretty exciting.
We also went raspberry picking a couple days ago! Fun activity and the kids love raspberries a lot! (though it doesn't come out of clothes very easily!)
Can't believe our kids our already past 10 months!
We have such big kids now! Jackson learned how to climb the stairs on August 25th, and has been doing it ever since, Jocelyn became proficient at her army crawl on the 26th and jumped in the jumper for the first time that same day! I'm so glad she is wanting to be more active now. She's been content to roll everywhere for a long time, but since Jackson started standing up, I think she might be getting a teensy bit jealous that she can't do the same.
We have started going walking every morning and it is wonderful, especially with our new double jogging stroller! Thanks to Austin's brother Danny for helping us out with it :) The kids love the much smoother ride. Unfortunately I was pretty far from home today when it started down-pouring. The kids loved the rain though! They only got their legs wet so they weren't complaining, and I got to test out jogging with the stroller for the first time. Though I was going faster, I was still soaked by the time we made it home. It was pretty exciting.
We also went raspberry picking a couple days ago! Fun activity and the kids love raspberries a lot! (though it doesn't come out of clothes very easily!)
Can't believe our kids our already past 10 months!
Thursday, August 2, 2012
I guess every 3 months is about all I have time for on our blog! The babies are growing up so fast, it is crazy. Here are some highlights!
April 24- Jocelyn's first erupting lower central tooth
April 13- Jackson rolled from back to belly
April 30- Jocelyn sits up by herself
May 2- Jackson gets two lower teeth and Jocelyn gets second tooth
May 2- Jackson sits up by himself
June 4- Jocelyn rolled from back to belly
June 7- Jackson said mama
June 9- Jackson said dada
June 15- Stranger danger for Jocelyn begins (right in time for our family reunion)
June 30- Jocelyn is so happy and grew out of stranger danger
July 3- Both babies can hold their bottle up by themselves
July 4- Jackson pushed himself forward from crawling position repeatedly to get to a ball
July 4- Joceyln held her arms out for me
July 15- Jocelyn left central incisor showing: Jackson's upper two lateral incisors showing
July 22- Jackson's left upper central incisor showing
July 24- Jackson pulls himself into sitting position from rolling
July 30- Jocelyn says baba, mama, dada
August 2- Jackson repeats mama after me
August 2- Both babies crawl up my legs to be held
We went on an awesome vacation to Utah for a month this summer and loved every minute of it. We spent a week in Aspen Grove with the Cope family reunion, a week in Hobble Creek for the Hilton Family reunion, a few days in Zion's with the Cope immediate family, and spent the rest of the time hanging out with friends in Provo and catching up with everyone we are dearly missing out here in Cleveland. Since we've been back, it's been great to get back into a schedule, though it means that Austin is back in school again. Now he is a second year at Case Western and I am a soon to be dentist's wife and president of CADA, a dental-student spouse association. It's been a bit of work but it's fun being involved in something with the other student-spouses and planning the activities and dental-education opportunities we will have here in Cleveland. While Austin has been gone, the babies and I have gone to the zoo and to the beach (and running several errands everywhere else of course). The babies loved the beach, sitting on the edge of the lake with me, watching the waves roll over their little legs and onto their bellies, pushing them back a little. But mostly they loved grabbing the sand and the rocks and trying to eat them while I spent most of my time preventing this. They are so cute in their little swimming suits. They were tuckered out by the end of the day. They did really well at the zoo too considering it was blazing hot outside and they didn't really understand the concept of looking at animals.
The babies are growing so many teeth and are so active. It's gotten a little bit more tiring now that Jackson is mobile and Jocelyn rolls around everywhere. Jackson pretty much does the inchworm everywhere, scootin' up on both knees and then back onto his belly. On July 26th Jackson took a tumble down two of our stairs. He wasn't hurt and didn't even have any bumps, but he was scared for sure. I was probably more scared than he was! That will never happen again, because now we know to always close those double doors that lead to the stairs. Jocelyn has become a happy little lady that loves to laugh and smile, especially when Jackson is playing next to her. They both cry when I leave the room and laugh and smile when I come back in. They definitely know who their mama is! They both love bath time and laugh at each other the whole time while they are splashing around. Jackson splashes so hard the water splashes right out of the tub. Jocelyn laughs whenever he splashes her in the face. Jocelyn splashes her hands a little more ladylike. It is so fun to see them together. They love being with each other, and can tell it's not the same when the other one is not playing on the floor with them. They both eat solid foods like champs and eat little puffy snacks and love them. They are really excellent babies, I could not ask for better.
April 24- Jocelyn's first erupting lower central tooth
April 13- Jackson rolled from back to belly
April 30- Jocelyn sits up by herself
May 2- Jackson gets two lower teeth and Jocelyn gets second tooth
May 2- Jackson sits up by himself
June 4- Jocelyn rolled from back to belly
June 7- Jackson said mama
June 9- Jackson said dada
June 15- Stranger danger for Jocelyn begins (right in time for our family reunion)
June 30- Jocelyn is so happy and grew out of stranger danger
July 3- Both babies can hold their bottle up by themselves
July 4- Jackson pushed himself forward from crawling position repeatedly to get to a ball
July 4- Joceyln held her arms out for me
July 15- Jocelyn left central incisor showing: Jackson's upper two lateral incisors showing
July 22- Jackson's left upper central incisor showing
July 24- Jackson pulls himself into sitting position from rolling
July 30- Jocelyn says baba, mama, dada
August 2- Jackson repeats mama after me
August 2- Both babies crawl up my legs to be held
We went on an awesome vacation to Utah for a month this summer and loved every minute of it. We spent a week in Aspen Grove with the Cope family reunion, a week in Hobble Creek for the Hilton Family reunion, a few days in Zion's with the Cope immediate family, and spent the rest of the time hanging out with friends in Provo and catching up with everyone we are dearly missing out here in Cleveland. Since we've been back, it's been great to get back into a schedule, though it means that Austin is back in school again. Now he is a second year at Case Western and I am a soon to be dentist's wife and president of CADA, a dental-student spouse association. It's been a bit of work but it's fun being involved in something with the other student-spouses and planning the activities and dental-education opportunities we will have here in Cleveland. While Austin has been gone, the babies and I have gone to the zoo and to the beach (and running several errands everywhere else of course). The babies loved the beach, sitting on the edge of the lake with me, watching the waves roll over their little legs and onto their bellies, pushing them back a little. But mostly they loved grabbing the sand and the rocks and trying to eat them while I spent most of my time preventing this. They are so cute in their little swimming suits. They were tuckered out by the end of the day. They did really well at the zoo too considering it was blazing hot outside and they didn't really understand the concept of looking at animals.
The babies are growing so many teeth and are so active. It's gotten a little bit more tiring now that Jackson is mobile and Jocelyn rolls around everywhere. Jackson pretty much does the inchworm everywhere, scootin' up on both knees and then back onto his belly. On July 26th Jackson took a tumble down two of our stairs. He wasn't hurt and didn't even have any bumps, but he was scared for sure. I was probably more scared than he was! That will never happen again, because now we know to always close those double doors that lead to the stairs. Jocelyn has become a happy little lady that loves to laugh and smile, especially when Jackson is playing next to her. They both cry when I leave the room and laugh and smile when I come back in. They definitely know who their mama is! They both love bath time and laugh at each other the whole time while they are splashing around. Jackson splashes so hard the water splashes right out of the tub. Jocelyn laughs whenever he splashes her in the face. Jocelyn splashes her hands a little more ladylike. It is so fun to see them together. They love being with each other, and can tell it's not the same when the other one is not playing on the floor with them. They both eat solid foods like champs and eat little puffy snacks and love them. They are really excellent babies, I could not ask for better.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Solid Foods and uber-cuteness
The babies have officially passed their 6 month mark. Crazy pants. 2 weeks prior to this celebratory occasion we started solid foods. Jocelyn is a champ I must say. First day of rice cereal she ate her and Jackson's portions. Jackson thinks eating is a game and smiles every time I try to put food in his mouth, and so it just falls out and I'm constantly trying to pick it up and put it back in his mouth. I call this experience the Niagara Falls. Since then, we have proceeded to try green beans (which Jackson hated at first, but Jocelyn loved and ate the whole jar by herself on the first day trying them), and sweet peas. Jackson has gotten better, but Jocelyn continues to out-eat him by a mile. It's amazing how the tides have turned. At first Jocelyn was the pokey eater and now here she is eating her meal faster than I can eat mine! At their 6 month appointment we discovered they are still almost exactly 3 pounds apart (they've been this way since 2 months). Jackson is in the 50th percentile at a whopping 17 lbs 10.5 oz and Jocelyn is in the 25th percentile at 14 lbs 12 oz. Try carrying those two car seats around! I do. It is getting very heavy and I get lots of compliments but mostly stares because it is really a marvel that my twiggy arms can do that.
A few days ago Jackson surprised us by rolling onto his belly from his back! What an exciting milestone, though he hasn't figured out that it is possible for him to roll onto his back again if he is uncomfortable on his belly. He just nuzzles his face in the ground and cries out in frustration until I come and flip him back. Jocelyn is still working on it, but she loves sleeping on her side which is so cute. Jocelyn also loves grabbing both her feet at the same time whenever you lay her on her back. This is ultimate cuteness as she always smiles and giggles at the same time, but it makes wrapping her in a blanket very difficult. When I lay her down at night I have to be speedy gonzalez with the blanket wrapping or she'll have her toes and refuse to let go and then she won't have a blanket on her. Sometimes I just lay the blanket on her little feetsies in hope that when she puts them down the blanket will be on her body.
Jackson has also discovered his soprano voice. He talks in this really high pitched sing-songy voice. Once after he had woken up in the middle of the night (waking Jocelyn up in the process), Jackson did his sing-songy talking for a good 15 minutes. Jocelyn was grumpy and wanted to get back to sleep and so would grunt back at him. It was the cutest little conversation I have ever heard. They have definitely started recognizes each other a lot more and like being by each other. When they are on the play-mat together, they hold or suck each others hands or look at each other. Yesterday, they were both on their sides looking at each other, and Jocelyn had a cough and whenever she would cough, Jackson would laugh, and then she would smile, and then cough again. What a darling little interaction.
Another little funny thing is that Jocelyn has inherited her daddy's ability to twist her tongue and she loves to do it all time! She is always twisting her tongue to one side or the other, and also loves to just stick out her tongue and leave it there. SO CUTE.
I just love my little babies! I think it has gotten easier as the months have progressed. They are so fun to play with, and can't crawl yet and get into stuff so I feel like this is a prime age that I want to capture every moment of! I feel so blessed to be the mother of these two little wonders.
A few days ago Jackson surprised us by rolling onto his belly from his back! What an exciting milestone, though he hasn't figured out that it is possible for him to roll onto his back again if he is uncomfortable on his belly. He just nuzzles his face in the ground and cries out in frustration until I come and flip him back. Jocelyn is still working on it, but she loves sleeping on her side which is so cute. Jocelyn also loves grabbing both her feet at the same time whenever you lay her on her back. This is ultimate cuteness as she always smiles and giggles at the same time, but it makes wrapping her in a blanket very difficult. When I lay her down at night I have to be speedy gonzalez with the blanket wrapping or she'll have her toes and refuse to let go and then she won't have a blanket on her. Sometimes I just lay the blanket on her little feetsies in hope that when she puts them down the blanket will be on her body.
Jackson has also discovered his soprano voice. He talks in this really high pitched sing-songy voice. Once after he had woken up in the middle of the night (waking Jocelyn up in the process), Jackson did his sing-songy talking for a good 15 minutes. Jocelyn was grumpy and wanted to get back to sleep and so would grunt back at him. It was the cutest little conversation I have ever heard. They have definitely started recognizes each other a lot more and like being by each other. When they are on the play-mat together, they hold or suck each others hands or look at each other. Yesterday, they were both on their sides looking at each other, and Jocelyn had a cough and whenever she would cough, Jackson would laugh, and then she would smile, and then cough again. What a darling little interaction.
Another little funny thing is that Jocelyn has inherited her daddy's ability to twist her tongue and she loves to do it all time! She is always twisting her tongue to one side or the other, and also loves to just stick out her tongue and leave it there. SO CUTE.
I just love my little babies! I think it has gotten easier as the months have progressed. They are so fun to play with, and can't crawl yet and get into stuff so I feel like this is a prime age that I want to capture every moment of! I feel so blessed to be the mother of these two little wonders.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Twins is a full time job, I will definitely say that. The hardest part about the first months was breastfeeding. They were pokey eaters, and I struggled to meet their demand. I pumped after every feeding for the first 4 months, and now am finally slowing down on that to give myself a break. At almost 5 months now they still have yet to both consistently sleep through the night. Jocelyn is the better sleeper. Jackson is just a momma’s boy. Their cries have definitely changed now, but at first Jackson’s had the underlying dialogue of “Mom, I’m just really sad can you please pick me up”, and Jocelyn’s was “I’m dying and I need you to get me RIGHT NOW!!!!” There was a clear winner for whose cry I would rather hear, but now that they are older, I’d say they are both pretty demanding in their cries.
I wouldn’t trade a minute of what I do every day for any other job. These babies are the best thing that could ever possibly happen to us, and though life has totally changed, it is so much for the better. Austin is an excellent husband and father, and still manages to stay afloat in his ridiculously difficult dental classes whilst being awoken several times a night by crying babies. Some milestones I just had to document:
12/01/11: Jocelyn rolled over from belly to back. We didn’t try again for about a week and a half, but then she did it again and again!
12/28/11: Jackson finally rolled over from belly to back while we were in El Dorado Hills, CA for Christmas.
12/11: Sometime in December they both started smiling. It was so very cute and rewarding. Jackson smiled a little bit more at first, but now at 5 months they are pretty even.
2/12: They both started grabbing at their toys on the playmat. Awesome.
3/12: The ultimate extended laughing out loud from Jocelyn. CUTEST THING EVER.
October 2011: The twins finally arrived! Wednesday October 12 I made this gourmet lasagna dinner complete with dessert for our next door neighbors, and that put me into labor :) I was really nervous and the contractions were 8 minutes apart that whole night. Thursday night the contractions were 4-5 min. apart and we went to the hospital! They sent me away because I wasn't progressing and told me to come back when it hurt more :) Saturday morning, October 15, they hurt a lot! I finally got out of bed at 6 am and told Austin now was the time and we had to go to the hospital now! We quick took showers and made it by 7 am to the hospital where I found out my water had broken (I was like 50% sure it had...) and so they let me stay :) By 10 am I wasn't progressing fast enough so they put me on Pitocin....and oh boy do contractions hurt on Pitocin! I was proud of myself for making it to 4 cm without an epidural, but then I got it and life was so much more pleasant after that. I felt like it was candy, it was great. At 7 pm I was wheeled into the operating room and at exactly 7:30 our little Jackson James was born at a hefty 5 lbs. 7 oz! They cleaned him up and I got to hold him for like 2 seconds before I had to give him back and work on getting Jocelyn into this world. Poor Jackson had breathing troubles when he was born. His breaths became more and more laborious, with his nostrils flaring and stomach muscles trying to help with exhaling. The following comes from Austin who was in the infant prep room with Jackson: “I said a quick prayer, then asked the nurse if I could give him a blessing. With the oxygen mask on his face and the nurse watching, I blessed Jackson that he would begin to be healthy, breathe better, and grow up to be a strong man. Immediately after the blessing, Jacksons labored and grunted breathing eased. It was a miracle.” He still was fragile and needed to have tests, so he was sent to the NICU unit for a couple days. 32 minutes after Jackson had been born, Jocelyn finally decided to grace us with her presence. Usually twins come out about 5 minutes apart, but Jocelyn just loved the new space. She had the jacuzzi all to herself now and she was relishing every moment to stretch out and eat all the vitamins she wanted before coming out into the cold outside. She came and yelled a very high pitched and cute squeal, announcing her presence to the world. She was a tiny 4 pounds 7 ounces and was by far the smallest and cutest baby girl in the whole nursery. She was surprisingly healthy enough that I was able to hold her right away, and she didn’t need any special treatment. I didn’t get to see Jackson at all until 1 o’clock in the morning, after I was disconnected from everything, settled into my room, and had Jocelyn in the nursery. Jocelyn was dubbed the “little peanut” by the attending nurses, and this name has stuck. Jackson was the cutest little boy too, and had a million tubes and sensors on his body. They gave him an IV in his right hand and taped it up with a splint that took up his whole arm. The thing flopped around as we held him, and I’m sure it was building him a nice bicep. He had an oxygen mask on for the whole first night, but hated it so bad. He arched his back and screamed with a red face for hours. It was awful, and we cried for our little boy who was in so much discomfort.
After 3 days in the hospital I was so excited to go home! We got to take both babies (Jackson was discharged from the NICU after 48 hours but had to stay in the hospital an extra 24 hours), and they were so cute and teensy in their carseats! For the first week after we got home, Jackson arched his back a ton and was super restless in his sleep. I wonder if it was carry-over from his NICU experience. Jocelyn was so still and quiet I would have to put my hand on her to make sure she was breathing.
Jackson: "Hey don't complain, you look better than me!"
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