holidays, cousins and hospitals

one of the first things we did after getting back to wisconsin was to go to the farm. the kids were seriously missing grandma (and grandpa, too!) so the first saturday after we got back, we spent the day there.

mom had gotten a cute little snowglobe as a gift and the kids were all enthralled by it. remington kept a close eye on it- we could see the gears turning in his head... he was just itching to get his tiny fingers on it.
so as soon as he had the chance, he did!
one of the things that had been on my list for some time was to bake bread. i didn't get to make any while we were in tulsa so it was one of the first things on my "to-do" list after getting home.

one guess as to who's little fingers couldn't resist sneaking a little taste here and there! (it's becoming an undesireable little habit. sigh.)

a few days before christmas, elissa, logan and the boys came from montana!! it was the first time we were able to meet kase, so it was extra exciting.

kase (3 months) and remington (9 months). rem LOVES his little cousin! in fact, we thought that kase should just stay with us, because remington really reached for him. that's one of the things that he's fallen behind on for motor skills- reaching. but he didn't have any hesitations with kase.

baby chat. :)

baby hissy.

baby cheeks.

baby bum!!

babysitter??

hey, grandpa...

all the grandkids, minus bentley (he was napping). of course, i didn't get one shot where all 5 were looking (or even facing!) the same direction. but who cares- grandpa's in his glory, and we can see THAT!

mischief x 2...

naomi came for dinner saturday night too and got to indulge in some serious snuggling. :)

the day after christmas was remington's 9-month checkup. it was scheduled for just before noon, so i thought it would give us enough time to get up to green bay for a holiday dinner with kelvin's family. he took cole and madi in the truck and went a little early, and rem and i came later. he didn't get any vaccinations this time, but because he was still very underweight, dr h ordered a blood draw and a u-bag to collect a urine sample. he mentioned that in his conversations with the pediatrician remington had seen back in september, the subject of hospitalizing him came up but he didn't find it necessary to do so immediately. after everything was done, rem and i were on our way to green bay. i was lamenting that i'd forgotten my camera as we turned onto kandace and duey's street, and then my phone rang. it was dr h's nurse, calling to say that rem needed to be admitted to children's hospital at theda clark in neenah. after some discussion, tears, phone calls and quick greetings, rem and i headed back out the door to go home and pack a few things before going to children's. mom came after supper and stayed with rem and i at the hospital for a little bit. not long after being admitted, one of the nurses on the floor walked in and i thought she looked familiar... as it turned out, it was the nurse who'd been with us at new london when cole was born!! she was amazing... and it was great to see her again. :)

sleepy baby in his hospital crib.

bitty toes...

kelvin took cole and madi to mom and dad's the next day. they played with cousins while kelvin spent some time with rem and i (and i went back home for an eye exam). the poor kids were a little unsure about what was happening... i felt so torn between staying with remington and being with cole and madi.

smiles for daddy!

checking out daddy's phone. remington's sitting skills have improved greatly! before his checkup, he had an in-home assessment with a therapist through the birth-to-three program. his sitting skills were estimated to be at a 7-month level while the rest of his motor skills were collectively at a 3-month level. the therapist suggested a few things to encourage motor skill development and we've been trying to keep up on it as much as possible. but in a matter of just a few days, he was sitting with his hands down on his little legs or at his sides instead of his arms being straight out to the sides at shoulder-height. we see little improvements here and there, so that's promising. his intellectual capabilities didn't show any delay, which was great news.

poor remington- surrounded by toys but bored to the max. he literally didn't know what to do- he's so used to being on the floor for tummy-time, watching the older kids, squealing, smiling and finally kicking for a good part of the morning. kicking... that's another thing that has recently developed too- it was during our last week in tulsa that he first started bending his knees and kicking. at first it was when he was peeved, but that was fine with us, because it meant his legs weren't straight, stiff and crossed at the ankles. we'll take what we can get here!

fortunately, he got a little entertainment when auntie elissa and auntie sarah came to visit! kase came along too, but because of the visitors policy during cold and flu season, poor kase had to wait in the lobby area. elissa and sarah took turns sitting with kase while the other spent a little time with remington.

as he'll soon find out, auntie sa-sa's always good for a laugh! :)

(photo credit to elissa... credit on the "baby bum" photo goes to her, too. any photo i'm in, chances are the credit is elissa's. thank you!!)

eskimo kisses with auntie sarah :)

remington was released late-afternoon on wednesday... all that really happened was that he was monitored (his intake and output), the dietician met with us, they attempted to get him to take every kind of formula they had on hand there (he refused all of it... the only kind he'll accept is an organic, corn syrup/palm olein/hexane dha-free one that i found in tulsa) and then was discharged after gaining about 6 ounces. once he got home, i attempted to continue to feed him more than he usually has, but by thursday morning, he showed no interest in food. he happily ate a few bites, but he was so full from laying around, sleeping and eating that he just didn't care much about food!

happy to be out of the hospital... rem had a follow-up appointment with dr h on thursday afternoon. we didn't get to spend as much time with elissa and sarah as i'd have liked because of remington being in the hospital, so he and i went over to the farm to spend a few hours with them before they left. kelvin stayed home with the kids, who really needed a day in their own environment...

kissin' cousins... :)

we wish we could have had more time with everyone... but we have some great photos and wonderful memories from our time together to tide us over till next time. love you all!