The Lewandowski Family

OK - so my prediction as to the quads weights on 10.16 was as follows:

Dane: 8# 6oz

Cam: 7#10oz

Brock: 7#5oz

Summer: 6#10oz

The reality (as of 10.17)?

Dane: 8#7oz

Cam: 7#9oz

Brock: 7#4oz

Summer: 6#5.5oz (yes that 1/2 and ounce counts!)

Wow mama T!! Not too shabby!! A little wishful thinking with our Summer Girl, I guess... but she is certainly holding her own against all these boys... she already has her two bigger brothers (keep in mind she was Baby A - so she is OLDER than all the quad boyzzzzzzzzz) wrapped around her little fingers. Yes, they are the ones who came up with her nickname of 'Summer Girl'... it's so freaking cute!

In the pic (left to right) that's Cam, Summer (some thumb sucking action courtesy of her biggest bro Aiden's guidance...), Heavy D - I mean Dane, and Brockee. The funniest part is that it LOOKS like Brock is crying - but no way Jose' - he's our self entertainer! He's actually laughing his heini off!! At what? Who knows?!?!? The kid is hilarious. Class clown in the making, I'll tell ya'!!

So - you wanna' know our quads? Let me tell you little sumthin about each of them - because there is no denying that they each have their very own, VERY distinct personalities these days!! It's just awesome watching them grow and become more and more alert and aware of their surroundings each day... except when they gang up on us around 11pm each night and hold a crying fest... yeah... not funny kids. We don't want to admit mommy into the psyche ward TOO soon, now do we?

Dane:

A.K.A. -Heavy D. Nickname for obvious reasons - this kid is a heffer compared to his siblings!! Healthy Heavy D is becoming extremely aware of his surroundings and his neck control seems to be at the top of the charts too! His big blue eyes (OK, they are ALL blue at this age... I know, I know...) are piercing and just melt your heart when he busts into one of his big "gummy smiles"! Dane, however, is also our SCREECHER. Not necessarily SCREAMER, but SCREECHER. Dude sounds like a total chick when he pulls out all his stops. The first time anyone hears it they are like "Oh my! Is that little Summer?" Uhhh... no. That's our big boy Heavy D. But forget the screeching - my man can belch like a 25 year old male. Think of the fun that'll bring us for years to come...

Cameron:

A.K.A. - Cam. I know - tricky. Original. Keep up, would ya'? Cam is our little thinker... always seems to be seeing something that we aren't and above the situation at hand. I can't help but wonder if he'll be the Einstein of the group - he rolled over first too - PRODIGY ON OUR HANDS. Cameron is also king barfer of the group - not a great title to hold. The poor guy has a weak sphincter or something, they say. 'Scuse me? Isn't that located.... ??? ANYHOW. Cameron has the most adorable, round, little baby face with the most baby-like features. Don't piss him off, though, or he'll piss ON you... literally. All hands on deck changing this guys diaper - you win if you come away dry (odds? 50 to 1 - NOT in your favor)

Brock:

A.K.A. - Brockee. Nickname courtesy of his biggest brothers who took to calling him this from day one. I love it! Daddy? Not so much... but oh well. You win some, you lose some dude. Brock is my little heart throb. I can't deny it. From day 1 he was always just irresistible to me! He's also ubber content - I think it goes back to that second child thingy... he was second out (even if 5th in the grand scheme of things)!! He will typically play happily by himself much more than the other quads and his smiles never stop! And Brock is a party animal for sure - brotha' can't STAND sleeping if anyone else is awake! Doesn't want to miss anything good!

Summer:

A.K.A. - Summer Girl. She is all about being a girlie girl and getting some serious lovin'. She is a cuddler and happiest in our arms for sure (but then again, what baby isn't?). Her features are so delicate... it's so WEIRD for us Lew's who see BOY-BOY-BOY-BOY-BOY!! But Summer is not one to be taken down by her bro's outbursts - she LOVES to join in on those festivities =) And she's pretty darned intense these days too... starting to gaze deeply into our eyes... and straight into our hearts... it's so much fun getting to know these little miracles! Summer is trying her hand at the party animal scene too a bit lately - I know that could pose a mild problem for her in the years to come... seeing as how between her two older and 3 younger brothers she might never get the opportunity to date, wear a skirt, leave the house without a chaperone... you know - a tad protected... perhaps??? You think??? Sometimes, it stinks to be so freaking cute. So I hear, anyhow.

I have to say that the most heart-wretching part of it all, honestly, is the simple fact that we just do not have enough arms/bodies to hold our babies all the time. Now, say what you want and judge how you want, but up until about 6 months of age we have always operated under the mentality that babies are meant to be held... and that there is NO SUCH THING as too much love for a baby!!! After 6 months? Well, then the games begin and you have to watch yourself so you don't get sucked into the baby-vortex where they completely dominate you. But at the end of the day, here in the Lew house, our babies want to know they are loved and they want to be held. And there is nothing wrong with that... except we are short a couple pairs of arms to hold them. Try that on for size when you are home alone with all 4 babies and 2 toddlers... it is really quite the juggling act for mama T. I give our big boys so much credit - and thank God every day that they have each other. I really just wish I had octopus arms to hold them all (OK- what has 12 arms?) at the same time!

So, you may hear Jeremy or I reference a bit about crying jags we endure with the babies, in the evening hours especially... and in the beginning (about a week or two after they came home - after the fog of the transition faded and they woke up!) we wondered why they seemed more "fussy" than our other two boys... is it allergies? is it the mysterious catch-all blamer COLIC? Maybe some of these things do play a part, we honestly don't know (nor do any of the ped's) but we have since grown enough to realize is that the majority of it probably just boils down to these beautiful babies wanting to be held and feel loved. Period. Our two bigger boys were permanent fixtures in the Baby Bjorn - they LOVED to be close to us at all times and with one you can DO that! So there really wasn't much of an issue with wanting to be held - because they WERE held at all times. Again, I know I'm probably getting a whole lot of head shaking from y'all out there that I've got it all wrong... but that's the way we feel. And that's why our volunteers are such an amazing blessing for our family. They are additional people to hold and love our babies... who could ask for a better gift?

Speaking of great gifts... as you know, my grandma, grandma Horner so bravely volunteered to come up and live with us once the quads were born to help us care for them. Uhhhhh... what sane person DOES THAT? And what sane person does that when they are 78?? She is so amazing - and she came - and now the time has come for her to move on. We were so sad to say goodbye to grandma Horner a few weeks ago - but we know that other grand adventures await her!! I had my very first night out on the town (or out of the house at ALL!) courtesy of Kay Schumacher & hubby. They were awesome enough to come over for a couple hours so that we could take grandma Horner out for her final night in TC with us - THANK YOU!! And thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Grandma Horner for all of your help while you were here. We will not forget all the memories we have shared... Aiden and Caleb still have you in their prayers at night and request your book reading skills during the day... we all miss you dearly... and miss those RAISINS!! HA!!

Yeah, check these babies out... grandma Horner found a recipe where you soak raisins in a "special sauce" and - voila! They help cure arthritis!! What do you know!?!?! And the coolest part is that I THINK grandma Horner also discovered that they help block out babies cries if you consume enough of those puppies as well! WHAT EVER IT TAKES, PEOPLE. WE DIDN'T JUDGE. =) Luv ya' Grandma!!!

Since I've last written we have had the opportunity to take the whole family to a Traverse City North Stars Hockey game - fun! The babies slept through most of it - and once the big boys got used to the noise level (WHAT?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!) they loosened up and played some hard-core hockey in the hall with the Endres boys and papa - good times!

We have also been SO CRAZY BLESSED having Grammie move in with us, she starts her new jobby-job at Munson hospital this week!!! And Uncle Hans, Aunt Jessie, and baby Avery moved up the peninsula YESTERDAY!!! NO JOKE!!! We just can NOT believe how amazing this journey has been for our family... and we certainly hope that our family all loves it up here as much as we do and that we don't scare them all off too quick! Aunt Jessie and Uncle Hans brought THREE doggies with them, by the way, and are insta-heroes to our big boys!! THEY LOVE DOGGIES!! It's all they can talk about night and day is going to see pab-wo, gunther ("he's a nice doggie"), and JACK-son. Thank you, thank you to all our family, but especially those who have truly made the ultimate sacrifice moving up north to be by us (or WITH us, poor Grammie!)!!! We are looking forward to all the memories to come... especially with cousin Avery!!

This is a pic of our big boys and daddy climbing one of the great trees in Uncle Hans' yard - they were "helping" put up the new dog fence and got a little distracted (our middle freaking name!). GOOD STUFF!!

As I close tonight I am just so thankful for all the help we have had with our quads. It really is exciting and NON-STOP action at our house - and without the volunteers and family members we have had to help out... well... it's just awesome I want you all to know how much we appreciate every single minute of your time. Love you all.