Six Months and Three Years! Wow.

I can't believe that Bran is 7 months old and Devin is three.  Time goes fast chasing them around.  We have done some fun activities since the last posting.  Trip to DC to visit Cousin J and Annie.  The older brothers took to each other like they play together everyday.  It was really neat.  The younger set looked at each other.  Devin had his first snow adventure tubing at Snoqualime.  He had a blast.


Brandon is doing great, he's still my squidgy baby.  He is 17 pounds and change and got a clean bill of health at his 6 month appointment.  He is an eater to quote the doctor.  He'll devour large amount of food and if you don't shovel fast enough he gets very, very upset.  We have found something that he doesn't like - avocado.  The face when we gave him some was priceless.  He is still our smily happy laid back boy.  He doesn't crawl yet but rolls to where he wants to be.

Devin is also doing good.  He has finally caught up physically making Mom, Dad and the doctor all very happy.  He went from under 10% in both height and weight at his 2 year to 50% in both at his 3 year.  That has been some major growing in just one year.  I think all of the growing has been to eating gold fish.  They pack quite a punch.  Dev's 3rd birthday party was at a bouncy house.  Devin and his friends had so much fun.  And the grass frosting left green on faces for days.  What could be better?  Pictures!  He is still obessed with golf and loves to go the driving range with Dad.  He is also into construction trucks.  He wants to listen/watch his birthday present ALL the time.  If you have a boy that likes construction equipment click here.  :)

Dev and Bran have so much fun together.  Devin can make Brandon laugh the hardest.   What I want to know is how Brandon knows that Devin is doing something that he's not supposed to and that it is funny.  Really funny.  Like gurgling milk, jumping off of the kitchen chairs or chasing the cat.  Ok - well everyone thinks that chasing Maxi is funny just not very nice.

Welcome 2013!

We are doing good and the boys are getting so big so fast.

To catch up I promised a picture of Brandon in his bug suit for Christmas.  For some reason he didn't want to stay in it for long.  But it was cute while it lasted.

Christmas was loads of fun.  Devin had so many new toys that he didn't know what to do with all of them.  He still hasn't explored some of them.  It'll be a surprise one day to pull out a bin and see what is in there.  We have already done that a couple of times since Christmas.  

The Santa hat on Brandon is Hal's.  Isn't it adorable?  And yes that is a large cardboard rocket ship.  It was awesome.  

Made especially by Grandpa John is this new stool for Devin to help in the kitchen.  It works great.  Here Devin is cutting up bananas because you can cut up a banana with a butter knife.

Big news on the Brandon front is that he is eating solids!  He seems to love to eat and has sucked down any pureed food I put near his mouth.  Devin still won't touch them since they are veggies.

We tried really hard to send good vibes to the Seahawks.

The big news on the Devin front is that he is in big boy underwear.  It took only two days.  I'm as shocked as the rest of you I know.

Fall is Finally Here

Seattle had a late but really awesome summer.  It didn't show up until August but lasted until about mid October.  Then the days all of a sudden got short and the typical Seattle rain moved it.  But we had a lots of fun with the nice days while it lasted.

Brandon bought Devin a present home from the hospital - a new set of golf clubs in their own very awesome red bag.  This was an instant hit.  Many of the nice days were spent hitting golf ball in any grassy area that mom would allow.  Golf continues to be a huge deal here at the Rueckert-Downey household.

Mini golf was played for the first time and was an instant hit.  Since they just give you a putter Devin was convinced that we couldn't hit the ball hard.  Next year we will bring his little golf set so he can play away.  The course we found was like a real mini golf course with sand traps and the like.

We had visitors come to see the new addition.

Here is the Downey clan.

And the Rueckert clan.  Dev loved everyone visiting and getting a little extra attention.  As you can see in this picture we couldn't get the golf club out of his hand for the picture shoot.

The boys love their Pa.  Jeff has two little mini me's.  Brandon looks just like Jeff when he was little; with the big blue eyes.  

Devin wants to do everything and anything that Daddy does.  Down to the sunglasses.

We have been going to farms through the month of October.  We visited one that is more of an amusement part on a farm.  Dev got to dig with a digger, ride a train, drive a car and jump into a pit of hay.  It was a blast.

For Halloween Dev is going to be a firefighter - why?  Because he can wear his rain boots and splash in puddles.  It is a perfect Halloween outfit for Seattle.  Brandon is going to be a bug.  I'll post pictures of him later.

Brandon continues to grow at an amazing rate.  Last doctors appointment for two months he was 13 pounds and the 91st percentile.  I'm very sure he has gain much weight since then.  The little squidge (as we have been calling him) is always hungry.  His is a very laid back and happy baby.  We are very lucky to have him.

Devin loves his little brother.  He often want to hold him.  It is really cute to hear him repeat the things that I say to Brandon to calm him down or to interact with him.  Dev is always very concerned about him and if I don't pick him up fast enough when Brandon is upset Dev will come to Brandon's rescue and let me know.

Now that the rain is here we are inside more often and hopefully won't go too crazy.  But it'll be fun taking care of these boys.

Brandon David Downey

**Some have already seen this announcement I'm posting this on the blog now**

We are very excited to announce that we have a happy, healthy baby boy!! His name is Brandon David Downey, and he was born at 3:00 a.m. Monday morning (7/30). He's a big kid - he tipped the scales at 9 lbs., 3 oz. and is 21 inches long. 

Cindy was scheduled to be induced this morning, but I guess Brandon had other plans! Cindy started having contractions at around 2:00 a.m., and after a 90 mph car ride to the hospital and a very short but pretty intense labor, we had Brandon an hour later. 

Mom and baby are doing great and we are now at home.  Brandon has jaundice and is requiring light therapy.  He gets to look like a little space alien for another day or so - but at least we are at home and not at the hospital.  

Devin is doing an excellent job at being a big brother.  He instantly wanted to touch, kiss and hold Brandon.  And declares all the time that he is Devin's little brother.  The hardest part is getting Devin to leave Brandon alone and just let him sleep.  As we were told this morning, "Little brother doesn't want to sleep, he wants to wake up." 

Spring 2012

The Rueckert/Downey house hold is preparing for the new baby.  I'm currently 33 weeks - something I never saw last time.  There were some red flags that are making the doctors cautious.  I'm on "limited activity."  What does that mean?  I'm to try to sit as much as possible.  Limit walking, stairs, lifting and activity of that sort.  I can still work; my job can be 99% sitting.  This will allow me to keep my leave for when the baby is actually here.  Today they checked on the baby.  Everything looks good and he is estimated at 4 lbs 10 oz, big but not huge.   Jeff's mom, Amy, has been helping A LOT with all of the things that I can't do.  Thanks Amy!

Devin had his tonsils out in early May.  There was a couple of hard days as he recovered but over all it was a good decision.  Devin is breathing better and we are slowly dialing back on the inhalers.  He sleeps through the night without waking up with a coughing fit and can finally sleep on his back.  He used to have to sleep on his tummy to be able to breath.  

Some random pictures from the last couple of months:

Grandma Pat, Mom and Devin.  I'm 29 weeks pregnant.  I could still lift Dev at that point.  

Jeff and Devin cleaning their golf clubs.  Devin is still obsessed with golf.  He loved the dunking of the club in the water and wiping off the dirt.  Currently we are having fun watching the US Open.  His favorite golfer is Ricky.  I think it is the colorful outfits.

Golf, golf, Christmas, golf, golf, golf, Announcement

The child is obsessed with golf.  Absolutely obsessed.  I blame Granddad Downey with his present of a real golf club.  A regular club was taken and shortened to a pint size height.  It is Devin's favorite toy by far.  Since is a a real golf club and therefore pretty heavy it has been designated as an outdoor only toy.  Any small move toward the garage, where the golf club lives, results in Devin asking, "Golf? Outside? Jacket? Golf?"  And then if the answer is no a complete and total 2 year old melt down tantrum.  When the melt down doesn't work he tries to get Logan to let him outside and play with him.  He'll walk up to the dog say, "Come on Logan, play golf" and when walk to the door.  Unfortunately for Devin, Logan is a smart dog and realizes that he should not listen to him.

Dev loves to drag around the club.  He is just starting to have enough strength to swing the club.  He does take a full swing at the ball for which everyone has to be a little weary of.

But this goes past playing golf outside.  Dev will hand Jeff the TV remote asking, "Watch golf?"  Jeff will turn on the golf channel (all golf all the time) and Dev will sit on the couch watching the TV.  He'll yell, "Get in the hole" when they tee off and cheer when they make a putt.  The Downey golf genes run strong in this one.

Christmas went fast this year.  The Downey clan came to visit and fun was had all around.  Devin and Julian had a blast.  Out of all of the toys, games, the flight museum the favorite activity was puddle splashing.  It is Seattle, puddling jumping becomes an art form and as you can see the boys perfected it.

For more Christmas pictures with the Downey's and the Rueckert's click here.

At Christmas we had exciting news to share with family - we are pregnant!

The new addition is due August 4th.  I have been doing well in general.  Tired and kinda queasy but that goes along with the first trimester and running around with a tireless 2 year old.  You might ask what are we doing to make sure that this bun stays in the oven a little longer?  I have both a normal OB/GYN and a High Risk Pregnancy doctor.  I have seen both and they have agreed on a plan of attack.  First is plan for a baby in July; we are going for more than 36 but 40 is unlikely.  Starting at 16 weeks I see one or the other doctor every other week.  They are going to check an make sure everything is ok and if it is they let me go home.  If not then one of multiple Plan B's get implemented.  They are also going to start weekly progesterone shots at 16 weeks.  This has shown to increase the length of pregnancy in cases where the mom has a history of pre-term labor.  There isn't any real negatives to this so this is a safety net.  So far I feel good about what the doctors are planning.  Anyone want to weigh in if the Downeys are going to get a girl or yet another boy?  I'm starting to think that Grandma Downey might just be right, Downeys only make boys.  We'll find out around St. Patricks day so stay tuned...

The Last Couple of Months

I am not the best blogger.  Here are the highlights of the last six months:

Family Vacation to the Oregon Coast

This was awesome.  I don't know who had more fun Devin or Logan.  Devin loved getting sand all over and was delighted to learn that it stuck to you when wet.  Logan loved chasing the waves.  Jeff and I just loved hanging out and taking it easy.  Other than chasing a dog and a baby around.  We had wonderful weather (as you can see).  I'm hoping to make this a family tradition.

Pictures!

First Golf Club
Hal (Jeff's dad) had a real putter shortened for Devin.  We didn't know what he would think of it.  As soon as we took it out of the package he found his new favorite toy.  He would carry it around all day if it wasn't banned to the outdoors only (for clear reason).  Golf is the front runner favorite sport.  He watches it on TV saying Get in the Hole!  And will clap when it goes in.  We have another golf goner.


Discovered the Awesomeness Of Dirt - I just love this picture and it says it all.  His hair is usually blonde...

In case you miss it we moved!  It is so nice to be in our own home again.  I feel like I can take time to put pictures on the walls and spend some money buying something to go just in that right spot.  We hope that you all get to come see it some time.  Coloradans - we would love to have you!

Not long after we moved Dev had is adenoids removed.  They were causing him to have a constant runny/stuff nose.  He was snoring was so loud that it kept me awake in the next room over.  Now that they are out and we are recovered he's doing great.  No more snoring and the runny nose is basically gone.  We are very glad that we went through with the surgery.  I feel like for the first time since moving to WA and Dev going into day care we have a healthy kiddo.  Just in time for flu season.

Catching Up

It has been so long since the last posting that many things have
happened. Devin is walking up a storm. He is practically running.
Daycare insists that the only reason he didn't walk sooner was because
he wanted to learn to run not walk. This was a fun milestone to see,
it was the first physical one that Devin wanted to do verses being
coaxed through physical therapy.  Now he is a monkey climbing on
everything.

We have also reached the mimic phase both verbal and physical. His
favorites are:
- talking on the phone and anything can be a phone
- 'puh'ing, this is where something round is in your mouth and it gets
spit out projectile like. Favorite 'puh'ing items are small balls,
blueberries (I think he actually calls them puhs), and grapes.  This
is not something that is encouraged but is pretty funny.
- throwing balls, well we are trying hard to limit this to balls
anyway. He'll walk around the living room saying ball until we find
him one. We are practicing catch but the catching  part is hard.

Devin still refuses to say ma or da to our faces but seems to say them
when the said person is not around. He gets very frustrated when we
don't know what he is saying. We are getting better at it. Realizing
that ma-na was monkey (for monkey paci) was a huge break through.
Although we are trying to hide monkey now that he is older.

Jeff and I have started the process of looking for houses to buy. It
will take a while to find the perfect house but we have till the end
of the year so no real hurry.  I want a park nearby and Jeff wants an
awesome kitchen. I believe we can obtain this perfection if we are
patient.

The forth of July was fun going over to friends for a BBQ. Devin got
to play with his friend Julia and at the end of the day even got a
kiss. The best part was the smile that he had all the way to the car.
We'll have to watch this one he is a super flirt.

See picassa for pictures!

First Birthdays, Ear Tubes and Crawling

It has been a lot time since the last post so I'll try to go over all that has happened.

Devin turned the big ONE on Feb 15th.  We had a party for him that weekend and had lots of fun.  We got him a carrot cake from a local cupcake place.  He wanted nothing to do with it.  I ended up eating most of it and Hal had a big part in helping me.  We thought it was one of the best carrot cakes ever.  Devin was missing out!

Dev thought it was great to have so many people that did nothing but pay attention to him.  He was in heaven.  He loved the cards.  The one below sang a song.  See the intense concentration.  To see more pictures of the party click here and here.

Since we have moved to Seattle and Devin has been in day care he has been sick.  It was lucky that he was mostly healthy for his party.  A couple of days before it I was ready to cancel.  Every time he would get a cold he would get an ear infection. Then it would take heavy duty antibiotics to clear up and sometime it would even take two rounds.  So the pediatrician referred to an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor.  The ENT took a fraction of a second look and then said that he needed tubes by the end of the week his ears were so bad.  Last Friday the tubes went in.  It was super fast - Jeff and I didn't even have time to get nervous.  Coming out of the anesthetic was pretty bad but a long nap later everything was good again.  The constant fussiness was just about gone and little fights (going into the high chair or car seat) were easy tasks again.  We are very glad that we had this done.

The scariest thing was now that Devin was feeling better from the tubes he decided that it was time to get the crawling show on the road.  He took a day to figure out the movement pattern and away he went.  You can't take yours eyes off of him for a second before he'll get into something he shouldn't.  We are way behind on baby proofing....

Happy 2011 - In Seattle

Yes - if you haven't heard Jeff, Devin, the pre-children and I and all of our stuff have been packed and moved to Bothell, WA.  We are now surrounded by really tall trees, wet air, fluffy tail bunnies (ie squirrels) and lots of green.  Jeff is working at T-Mobile and I start work in a couple of weeks at a company called Aerojet.  We are so excited to be back in the PNW and are working are way around to see everyone.  I'll get our address out to everyone hopefully soon...

Everyone was a trooper during the move.  Devin and I flew to the Tri-Cities and stayed with the Downey's while Jeff, Hal and the pre-children drove.  We we managed to fit Christmas with the Rueckert clan in there some how between the boxes and the clutter.  Devin loved the ribbon - best gift ever.  :)  See Christmas pictures here.

Devin is getting big his is just over 19 lbs and it is getting hard for me to toss him up in the air or bounce him (all of the time).  He is insistant that he feed himself and pretty much refuses any kind of pureed food.  Lunch meat is his new favorite food.  Well and the Cheeto like corn puffs.  Should have known - meat and Cheetos.  Hal - you should be very proud of Devin's food choices.

His new talents since the last posting are sitting up, sticking out his tongue, making clicking noises with his tongue, babbling (lots of goo, boo, da's and ba's), eating finger food, and splashing.  We are working on crawling (still need more arm strength), pushing ourselves up to sitting, and saying Ma Ma.  Maybe we'll have one of those down by the next post.

Mmmm Squash

Devin started his first solid foods about 3 weeks ago now.  His first taste was rice cereal mixed with breastmilk.  He sucked it down diving for the spoon and complained if we didn't get more to him fast enough.  The occupational therapist wanted us to let him play with his food to feel the textures and be more part of the feeding.  As you can see he had no problem complying with that direction.

Dad is much better at feeding Devin than I am.  It is the large lack of hand eye coordination that makes it difficult.  Jeff is good at aiming and getting a spoon full of food into an unpredictable weaving target.

So far he has mastered butternut squash, sweet potato, sweet potato/broccoli mix and carrots.  He doesn't really like the rice cereal (mix with water) and oatmeal.  I think it is because they have no flavor.  We have to mix them with something else for him to eat them.  In the middle of our food adventure Devin came down with a cold and an ear infection.  That slowed down the food eating for a handful of days but we back up and running full speed now.  He got the "pink stuff" (amoxicillin) that I remember from when I was little.  It still tastes the same (yummy) and Devin takes it pretty easily.  

We are going to physical therapy every other week.  Devin likes the the new therapist; which makes me happy.  We are working hard on getting his arms and abs strong.  They need some encouragement.  Lot of creative tummy time during the day.  He can almost sit up by himself.  He is his own worst enemy by making himself fall over.  Just a couple weeks and I'll think that he'll have it.  But we have exercises for that too.  :)

Downey Family Gathering

About a month ago (I know I'm behind) the Downey's descended on Boulder for a gathering to celebrate Mark and Kelly's wedding and for many to meet Julian and Devin for the first time.  Lot of fun was had by all.  The cousins got to meet each other for the first time.  Devin got "patted" a lot by Julian.  I think that they hit it off.  Before we know it they'll be running around together at gatherings getting into trouble.


Devin got to meet his Uncle Mark and Aunt Kelly in Seattle earlier and took to them again.  Loves laughing at Mark and flirting with Kelly.  He got to meet Uncle Chris and Aunt Mel for the first time.  But thought that Cousin Julian was more interesting most of the time.  I just think that he was trying to figure out how J does that crawling thing.  Both Uncles were hilarious they almost just had to look at Devin and he was in giggles.  Dad has the same effect - so I'm saying it is the Downey hand waving that is so funny.

Devin got to meet both Great Grandmas.

And be part of four generations of Downey men picture.  So many boys - aren't they cute!  There were tons of other relatives to meet and be passed around to.  Devin currently loves anyone that will hold him and try to make him laugh.  Especially the ladies he loves flirting with the ladies.

We spent some days up in Estes Park in a condo/cabin.  It was a lot of fun just hanging out with the family and the boys.  Lots of baby passing and Downeys cooking good food.  Jeff and I even got a night out while Grandma and Grandpa babysat Devin.  It was really nice to eat in a good restaurant without having to entertain a baby.

Lots of pictures are out on Picasa: Cindy, Chris, Amy 1 and Amy 2.  (I hope the links work for everyone...)

Here We Go Rockies!

Devin went to his first Rockies game a couple weeks back.  We were surprised and pleased that he actually lasted the entire game.  He slept through the first 4 innings or so and was away for the very exciting walk off home run.  This was the second Rockies game that I have been to when they have actually won.  While they were in the play offs a couple of years ago I was banned from going I was such bad luck.  The first game I went to where they won they were actually playing the Mariners so we wanted them to loose.  Go figure.  Devin's good luck apparently out weighted my bad luck cause we won!  We bought him a Rockies hat and he was completely decked out in Rockies gear.  Granted he wanted to only chew on the hat...

We also went to the zoo again and saw the cutest baby tigers and giraffes.  We hung out by the Seamag monkeys and Devin got an up close and personal look at them.  I think he was slightly confused.  But watching the monkeys were neat.  One had only a finger on a hand and it didn't slow him down one bit.

Devin's six month well check up went well.  He is in the 85% for weight and 85th for height (adjusted).  We also did a physical therapy appointment to start working on getting him caught up to his chronological age.  The biggest different when comparing him to a term baby is the lack of flexibility that Devin has.  Bringing his toes to his nose is a work out where most babies can tuck their feet behind their head with ease.  We are just continuing to do the stretches and strengthening exercises that they give us and every time we go they are really pleased with is progress.  In two weeks we see the occupational therapist and they will help determine when Devin can start to have solid foods.  First step is making sure that he can sit up with help but not slumping.  He is not there yet, but soon hopefully!  He is so interested when anyone is eating that I can't help but think that he'll gulp up what ever we give him.

The Downey clan was here this last week...  That is going to be a whole other post so stay tuned.

Seattle Vacation Success

We got back from Seattle a couple days ago and the visit was an overall success.  Devin was mellow as ever.  Slept or nursed the entire plane ride both there and back hardly making a peep.  We stayed with friends Brian and Bridget (thanks guys!) and their almost 4 month son Owen.  Devin and Owen hit it off from the start.  They even held hands.  Owen let Devin borrow his stuff and how did Devin repay him?  By spitting up on it.  

We got to see a lot of people while out in Seattle.  Thanks for everyone who came out to Lynnwood to see us and Devin.  We miss you all and hope to go back before Devin gets too big.  On Monday while everyone went to work Jeff and I took Devin to Golden Gardens for a view of the sound.  As you see Devin was so excited that he fell asleep.  For more pictures of the weekend click HERE.    

In other news Devin, just this past couple of days since we got back, has honed his hand coordination skills.  I walked into the nursery yesterday to see Devin holding his own bottle sitting on Jeff's lap.  He also has been putting in his own pacifier; but this only works sometimes.  

In pre-children news Logan accomplished a life long goal today.  We were eating dinner in the back yard when he got up and was very very interested in something in the grass.   He sniffed and sniffed and suddenly started to pounce.  A couple of pounces later a black rodant like critter was thrown up into the air - Logan had caught a bunny-like-creature.  (Jeff's theory is that all prey animals are bunnies to Logan.  For example birds are flying bunnies and voles are tiny bunnies.) We think it was a vole but we don't know for sure.   Congratulations to Logan and his first catch.  Of course this means that there are voles in the yard - ewwww.   

Six Months Old!

Six months have flown by and Devin has continued to grow like a weed.  He is almost 15 pounds carrying most of the chub in his legs and cheeks.  He had a physical therapy appointment where they assessed his development; all preemies have these assessment to make sure that they aren't falling behind of their adjusted age.  The good news is that Devin is on par for his four month milestones.  He is currently 3.5 months from his due date.  There are somethings that they want us to work on and see them for but they are all minor.  The strength of his mouth and tongue is a little weak - which is why he drools all the time.  So they gave us exercises and we'll go back and get more in a week or so.  This will also help us determine when to start solid foods.  The recommendation is to not to start food until 6 or even 7 adjusted months; so Devin will have to wait a little while longer.

He is really strong - and likes to stand on his feet (note the cubby legs).  He can almost sit up, almost.  He grabbing and holding on to objects now and trying to put them in his mouth.  So all in all a normal four month old.

Devin is starting to smile and laugh a lot now.  Dad is the best for making him laugh.  Dad gets big belly laughs and Mom gets little giggles.  The laughing is the best sound ever.  Makes everything worth it to hear him laugh.

Next weekend we are off on our first plane ride to Seattle.  If you live there we are so excited to see you.  Wish us luck!

Summer Smiles

A lot has happened since the last post.  Devin is almost five months old and adjusted 10 weeks.  He smiles a lot now and goo and boo are his favorite coos.  He has figured out that the hands that flail around in front of him are good for sucking on.  Not quite sure if he knows that he controls them yet.  We went to the doctor for last week and he got good marks almost all the way around.  He still needs to get his red blood cell count up so we are still on the iron supplements but other than that things are good to go.  He is 12.5lbs now.  My arms get so sore holding him - he's so big!  He is 90th percentile for height and weight for a 10 weeker.  4th percentile for a five month old but he's on the charts now.  He is trying really hard to catch up with his chronological age.


A couple weeks back Jeff took a couple of days off work to hang out with Devin and me.  One of the days we went to the zoo.  Dev had a lot of fun looking at everything from his stroller.  I think that the trees were the biggest hit.  The animals will come into focus at a later date.  Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing the animals.  The baby giraffe was really cute.  We found a grassy area to stop and hang out for a little bit and a couple of peacocks had the same idea.  They were coming way to close for my liking acting like we had something that they wanted - I made Jeff chase them away.  They were huge and peck crazy and wanted to steal the baby.  Really they did.

Sara came to visit and Devin love her, and the extra attention.  Took him a good couple of days to realize that he isn't going to be held every moment and get used to his bouncy seat again.  We spoiled him with cuddles, walks, and just hanging out.  Aren't they cute?

Devin and I are getting out of the house more and more.  We are finally getting not so bad at it.  We go to the library to sing songs, to Boulder for Zumba class.  He loves Zumba class.  He lays on some blankets wiggles to the music and watches all of the moms dance with wide eyes.  He's going to have rhythm - I see a musical future.