Worst. Night. Ever.

My boys sleep. Both of them. At the same time. They always have. As newborns they slept in 3-4 hour stretches, waking once a night to eat. Garrett and I have not had a sleepless night. At three months old both boys started sleeping through the night, 7:30 pm-7 ish am. Go ahead and hate us cause I totally would. Not only do I have one baby that sleeps through the night, I have two babies that sleep through the night. After getting their 2 month immunizations we were warned that they may be a little "off" that night. They slept great. When they had their first colds, they slept great. When we packed them up and drove to New Jersey, they slept great. They slept great, until their four month shots. Worst. Night. Ever.

We breezed in and out of the doctors office. The boys got shot. Their was little crying, and we headed home. They were completely fine after their last shots so why would these be any different. Right? Wrong. During their last feeding Calvin went nuts. Calvin never goes nuts. If we only had one child, and it was Calvin, we would forget we had a baby cause he is that good. And he was screaming. We put the boys to bed and once in his crib he thrashed around. We picked him up. He screamed. We put him down he screamed. We changed him. He screamed. Garrett and I had no idea what to do. We never had a bad night with either baby. He was screaming to much and so loud that he was red and sweating. Something was clearly wrong. (Oh, during all of this Luke was sound asleep. Go figure.) I finally called the emergency number for the pediatrician. A very annoyed on-call doctor told me he was probably sore from the shots and I could give him infant Motrin. Garrett stripped Calvin's clothes off and sure enough under the tiny little band-aids were swollen baby thighs. I flew to the nearest pharmacy which was, of course, closed. I ended up grabbing the LAST bottle of infant Motrin at the grocery store that is yelling distance from our house. We gave Calvin the Motrin, left his pants off and waited. After about 30 mins, laying on the floor with Mom and Dad listening to Mom sing "itsy bitsy spider" (poor kid must have been desperate, my singing should have caused more screaming), he stopped. Calvin wrapped his arms around a stuffed bear, snuggled his magic sleeping blanket, and fell asleep. Garrett decided Calvin should sleep with us in case the screaming started again. I decided Garrett should sleep on the couch and I would sleep in our king size bed with the 13.10 pound baby. Sorry, Garrett. I carried Calvin upstairs like he was the Hope Diamond and we went to bed. Our worst night ever was finally over.

Did I mention our "worst night" was over before 11:30 pm and everyone (including Luke) slept until 8:30 the next morning? No? Oops. Maybe not the worst night ever.

Goodbye jewelry, see you in a few years.

Dear Calvin,

You are rolling over! I am 100% sure you started rolling over to get away from Luke's slimy hands on your face. Rolling over is both adorable and sad. It's adorable to watch you gain momentum kicking your legs until you flop onto your tummy. However, you can only roll one way so once you flip yourself completely onto your tummy, someone (mom) has to rescue you. Which is sad. Since you only want to please mom, you have figured out how to avoid needing to be rescued. You rock yourself onto your side so you can easily get back over. The side you lay on is never the same and never facing Luke. It could be because when you lie on your side next to him, he pets your head until you fall asleep. Which makes rolling over adorable again.

Dear Luke,

I thought my favorite milestone would be the first time you smiled. I was wrong. It was the day you reached out to touch my face. (and touch my tears cause Mama lost it) The game of touching and feeling my face was wonderful. Was wonderful. Since everything you touch goes right into your mouth it's now a game called, "Let me feel your face. Let me taste your face." Mom can no longer wear earrings or a necklace. They are just shiny objects you can use to pull my face into your mouth. Dad even had to teach with a hickey on his nose. You reach for toys and pull them into your mouth. You reach for Calvin, to put him in your mouth, I assume. You love the challenge of reaching for Jack who wants nothing to do with your mouth. Notice a theme?

This week the boys had their 4 month checkup. We thought for sure that Calvin was going to out weigh Luke by a lot. After all, his cheeks must way 1 pound, each. The doctor even commented saying Calvin got the cheeks for both boys. (He obviously never saw Grace "the face" Whitney) Boy were we wrong! These two have nothing in common physically. They have different noses, ears, face shapes, everything. But their growth is identical. Calvin weighed in at 13.10 pounds and Luke at 13.9! They are only 1/8th of an inch difference in length! Both boys got their second round of immunizations. The horror of that night need it's own post...

You're 4 months old. It's time you took a 610 mile road trip.

Dear Calvin and Luke,

The day you turned 4 months old Dad and I took both of you, a trunks worth of your things, and drove to New Jersey. I wish we had gone for a happier reason but we made the long 9 turned 12 hour ride because your great-grandfather Pop-Pop passed away at 90 years old. We could not have asked for better travelers. You boys slept the whole way only waking to eat. Our entire trip took 12 hours and that included three 45 minute stops! Once we got to Grandma and Grandpa "Crazy Beard's" (Grandpa was calling himself Crazy Beard, we aren't sure why, but I really hope that name sticks) house, you ate again and both slept through the night. We were so proud! Saturday you got to meet lots of family members. All day long you both were passed around so everyone got a chance to hold each of you. You guys loved every minute of it! Calvin, you were all smiles. Luke, you laughed for the first time when "Auntie" Teen touched your legs!

Sunday you got to go with us to remember Pop-Pop. You were both so well behaved. Neither cried or fussed the entire day. Luke, you spent most of the day talking to family and friends with Grandpa "Crazy Beard". Calvin, you entertained your aunts and cousins with smiles and noises. Having you both with us was a wonderful distraction from such a sad day. Some of Pop-Pop's friends came to say goodbye and were so excited to meet you both. They all said Pop-Pop would bring pictures of you guys to dinner. He was so proud to be your great-grandfather. I wish you two had gotten to meet Pop-Pop. He was a wonderful grandfather to your mom and a true role model to your Dad.

Pop-Pop gets to be with Muttie again. (She passed away a year ago. Soon after saying goodbye to Muttie, I was expecting you two. They both adored children and I truly believe she had a part in Dad and I having you. She always thought our family could use more boys!)