thetadpoles.com

As usual I have many posts in the works. Lil Iain’s birthday party in Oakdale, Mima & Grandpa Dons visit, tricycles, etc, etc etc. Until all the pictures get adjusted and I actually do the writing here is a little snippet of our day today. I should add that I am tired since we went to a neighbors “Wine Wednesday” last night and I didn’t eat beforehand (bad idea on my part).

The twins are a wonderful case for nature in the nature vs nurture debate. Loen has been acting very girly, down right prissy, prima donna and dare I say it a drama queen. Derby only has to look like he is going to crawl her way and she will start this annoying fake wail. I have seen her hold her own with older kids but she just gives up with Derby. She will actually lie her head in his lap to let him pull her hair. Perhaps it is an attention thing I don’t know. Rather than rescuing her every time I tell Derby to let go of her hair and for her to stand up. She can walk away for goodness sakes but she seems to forget that. Loen loves her baby doll and gives it a big hug and will feed it a bottle. I gave Derby the doll and he proceeded to beat it over the head with the bottle. He loves trucks, hammers and the wooden knife that came in our Melissa and Doug chopping veggie set. He will actually throw the veggies out of the box till he gets to the knife then crawl around with it in his mouth like a little Jack Sparrow. Speaking of throwing the child loves to chuck toys, balls, shoes, bottles and food behind him.

Loen wants to put on hats and tie scarfs around her waist. I pulled out her Halloween pixie costume and she doesn’t want to part with it. She wore it for a couple of hours last night then it got left on the floor. This morning I took off her PJ’s to dress her and she ran to get the tutu. I put it on her and she immediately did her “so cute” pose (where she puts her hands on either side of her face and smiles) then she ran to our room to look at herself in all of the mirrors. Where did this little girl come from??

She had to check herself in ALL the mirrors

Trying to wear the ball on her head

We also have been climbing on everything just to give their mother a heart attack. I have no clue how Derby gets himself into precarious little spots sometimes. Before lunch Loen decided to climb the high chair which unfortunately fell on her. I am going to have to pad my kids in bubble wrap the amount of times they have gotten hurt lately.

High chair tray mark on Loen’s forehead

God forbid Derby is left out from the bruised forehead club, he went over to the wall and started banging his head and laughing. It was like a scene from the movie Parenthood except he didn’t have a bucket over his head.

Perhaps he was looking for studs?

They are SO BUSY and SO MESSY lately. We have been getting out more with other moms which I love. I get adult conversation and the twins get to play with other kids but man I am tired and OVERWHELMED at times. Yet all I have to do is look over and see them trying to kiss each other through the kiddie korral to make it all worthwhile.

I apologize for the terrible quality of the pictures but they were taken on a cell phone

One last note, the painting my younger brother Souther made for the twins birthday was featured on the cover of the Portland Mercury. You can see the twins likeness on the back of the dino/dragon. Very exciting!

I have been putting off this post for almost a month now, time to bite the bullet and get it out there…..

Derby has been our little stubborn pistol as of late. The kid wants to move, he wants to feed HIMSELF and he wants to do things HIS WAY. The feeding has really got me frustrated. Loen is a good 2 pounds and 2 inches taller than Derby. Loen will drink 9 ounces of milk but I have to fight Derby to take 5. Loen will eat just about anything, but Derby is on a crunchy diet. Goldfish, Kix, snap pea crisps and his favorite yogurt. He clamps his mouth shut when I try to feed him something healthy and will throw the food he doesn’t want off of his high chair. I’m pretty sure the stubborn streak does not come from me. He has been hovering in the 16 pound range since December. Sometimes we are 16.5 or 16.12 then 16.8. I gave away his 6-12 month clothes because I thought we had grown out of them, but alas I’ve had to go buy more pants since he crawls out of his 12-18 month size. It is frustrating and depressing and I don’t know what else to do.

Then we had our biannual CCS evaluation (California Children’s Services provide all of Derby’s therapy) last month. We see Derby do a little more everyday. Play harder, more independent, use his left hand. Therapy has done wonders for that little boy. While he may get frustrated and yell when they work with him, he will go home and use his new found skills to say climb up the ottoman. To be eligible for services a team of doctors go over his therapy notes, assess him and then decide if he still qualifies. Tadd was unable to make it for the first evaluation, but he came this time. Previous team meetings focused on all that he has accomplished while this one was about areas where he is lacking. Which is understandable, because it is a meeting of the things they want to work on and what their goals will be for the next 6 months. It is still hard to hear a laundry list of things your son is unable to do or doing incorrectly. They have been addressing his left sided weakness since the beginning of therapy. In the past few months he has unclenched his left fist to crawl,pull himself up to cruise and use it to help pick up heavy toys. I was feeling good with his progress , but then the CCS pediatrician blurts out “Ok we are going to call this CP with left sided hemiparesis” In laymen’s terms she diagnosed him with Cerebral Palsy resulting in left sided weakness. In the back of my mind I knew we were going to be dealing with limitations for awhile, they weren’t going to magically go away. Though when she said “CP” I had to swallow down my tears. I am fiercely protective of my children. I hate when people talk about things that can’t or won’t do, I want to bite their head off. I thought of how people would react to this diagnosis. Would they say “Ahh it makes sense since the kid has cerebral palsy” and just write him off? Would they think the worst, imagine a kid in a wheelchair, etc…? CP is such a broad spectrum diagnosis. I imagine it like saying your car was in a car accident which could range from a little fender bender to being totaled. Derby is not extreme but we don’t know where exactly he falls on the scale. Infants brains are amazing with their ability to rewire and deal with such obstacles. In a few years it may be unnoticeable, but we just have to wait and see. I thought back to all of the cranial ultrasounds that were negative. What could have caused this brain damage? In nursing school I remember an instructor saying most causes of CP are due to hypoxia. How many times has Derby been hypoxic? His agpars were 1,5, and 9, he was vented for 9 weeks, he hasn’t had the easiest time recovering from surgery, ughhh which was it? It is more prevalent in preemies, low birth weight babies and twins…..um check check check. Tadd asked the doctor not to label him with CP for now. It is inevitable but they said they would wait until he is 2.

So now all of our readers know. I should give fair warning I still don’t want to really talk about it. I should also warn I might give the evil eye if I hear any disparaging remarks about him, but hey, isn’t that a mom’s right?

He is our wonderful, sweet, stubborn, and amazingly tough little boy.

So we visited the pediatric ophthalmologist last week since we were due for our routine eye exam. Derby looked good, his eyes are straight with moments of crossing but the Doctor was happy with where Derby was. Then on to Loen. When they did her exam under anesthesia back in August her eyes looked good except for some minor nearsightedness. Tadd and I are both nearsighted so there was a fairly good chance the kids would be as well. The doctor also said that it is common in kids who had ROP and the corrective laser surgery. They dilated her eyes to get a good look but first they used a autorefractor to get a quick reading on her myopia. It was an unusual number so the doctor did a manual exam and found that Loen is severely myopic. We had no clue, she seemed to see things just fine. To be sure there was no mistake we were scheduled to repeat the test the next morning but this time using a stronger medication to dilate her eyes. The results were the same, Loen needed coke bottle glasses. Perhaps we should buy stock in Miraflex glasses.

Today we picked up her new glasses and she did seem to be happier. She was running around the house and getting into everything. She took off her glasses a few times but kept them on for the most part. Perhaps Derby can learn from her example! Below are some pics of them playing with their fab new water/sand table they got from Meemaw Lisa.

I can SEE you!

HA HA I’m not the only one who has to wear glasses now!

Let me help you with this Derby

I have a feeling we will be doing this a lot

She HAD to have the pink glasses

Private joke between twins

Derby threw his glasses in the water. Good thing Loen was there to rescue them

You need to wear them Derby

I love this table!

Someone got a little out of hand with splashing

Daddy’s beard is itchy

Derby decided he was over playtime

We were really excited for the March for Babies this year. Unfortunately the closest walks were 70 miles away. So we picked an event (Simi Valley) did a little fundraising (as of this post $1680) and prepared ourselves. I had my list and slowly checked things off:

• Come up with team name: Team Tadpole 
• Make team shirts: Donated by my brother Iain
• Enlist walkers: Jim, Joanna and John (I just realized they are all J’s)
• Bring enough drinks , snacks, gear, toys, diapers to look like were going on an overnight hike
• Sunscreen

The one thing I didn’t think of was shoes. I live in a pair of flips 24/7. It is Santa Barbara, you can wear them year round. Tadd was talking about getting some new athletic shoes and I said we would all go to the mall to help him look. He asked what I was going to wear to which I replied “My flips”. After Tadd wiped the incredulous look off his face I was told I couldn’t do a 5.5 mile walk in flips. So the mama got a new pair of Nikes. The lady at Nordstrom asked what I would be using them for ie: trail running, the gym, kick boxing. Nope, I do none of those things. I pointed at my two 17 pound weights that were getting into things and said that was the extent of my exercise. So she helped me find a simple all around shoe. The original pair I wanted was sold out of my size so she brought me a few others to look at. At first glance they were obviously not my style but Loen’s eyes got huge as she gazed at the MOST WONDROUS SHOES KNOWN TO MAN. You know she wanted a pair in her size and bedazzled. 

Saturday morning dawned way too early (5 am) and we sprung into action. Decked out in our new kicks and team shirts we hit the road. There was a ton of people at the park in Simi Valley and excitement was in the air! There was also a chill in the air so we kept the kids in their jeans and sweatshirts.

We stopped by registration and ran into a fellow preemie mom that we knew. Quick hellos then we got ready to go.

We met a mom who was going to be walking alone with her two small daughters. She asked to join our group, the more the merrier! Tadd decided we should do the 5.5 mile route versus the 3 mile family route. The walk wasn’t bad but we definitely started to straggle to the back of the pack. As the sun rose and shade was getting scarce we got a little slower.

John & I were getting a little loopy from the heat

We finally made it back to the park and the kids were roasting. We were next to the last team to come back. We missed the closing ceremonies. Our friend Holly told us our shirts won an honorable mention in best team shirt design but you guessed it, we missed it.

We talked with other parents of 24 weekers and we have come to realize that the twins are on the tiny side. Tadd thinks genetics play a lot into it because he was a small baby and I only weighed 21 pounds at their age. Granted that’s 3 pounds heavier than Loen but when we saw 8 month old micropreemies that weigh more than us it can be disheartening. I am tired of size 2 diapers and 6-12 month pants!!!! Phew got that off my chest.

“Yup Derby the scar is still there”

Giving my mini muffin a kiss

Derby trying to return the favor or eat half my face. Im not sure which

Derby and Jo

I think everyone had a great time for a great cause. We have already recruited a new member for next year! Tadd and I cannot convey how thrilled we were with all of the generous support and encouragement we received. Donations were made from friends, family and some from people we don’t even know (thanks Christal!!!). It was wonderful to see that so many people supported not only a great cause but our family as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Formal thank yous may or may not be on time, well just have to see how things go with the twins

Last chance people! The March for Babies is tomorrow morning and you can still join us for a wonderful cause. To find out more about the walk or how to donate click here We did a small 1 mile walk this evening to prepare ourselves but Loen cut it short because she was ready for bed. 

We plan to take lots of pictures and will post after the march!

Since we had to deal with the fire evacuation I am behind in posting so this will be more of a photo journey/vignette of our San Diego trip we took at the beginning of May versus a huge story. Because if I went down that route the twins would be 2 before I got it done. 

We left on a Thursday (4/30) and the drive was fine. Both of the kids were troopers and happy little muffins. When we got there Brent, Michelle and Jackie had made a beautiful dinner in honor of my birthday. The twins were in heaven because they have never seen so many toys (Grant has a LOT of toys!!) but Grant was being shy and acting tired. We figured he just had a long day at preschool. Ummmmm wrong. Some little guy (not mine) starting throwing up the next morning. We felt so bad for him, then our thoughts shifted to the fact that Loen kept stealing and drinking from Grant’s sippy cup and I’m sure Derby licked all the toys within in his reach. We talked about driving back home but we figured if they were going to get sick it would happen no matter what. The Pediatrician did commend us on how healthy the twins have been since coming home and it would be ok for them to be exposed to other kids now to build their immune system. Hey we were just following the doctors orders! So Michelle took Grant to urgent care and we went to the Birch Aquarium.

I love the look on Loen’s face here. Derby didn’t want to be photographed

Derby did like looking at the jellyfish!

Loen and the moray eel

Pretending they are in a shark cage

Due to my intense and debilitating fear of sharks I took these pictures with my eyes closed

Shark tank (again I kept my distance)

After the aquarium we decided to take Derby to Little Locks to get his haircut. Michelle said that was where she was going to take Grant. While it was a neat place I will point a few of the cons: there was no where to sit and the waiting area was a toy store. I’m sure that has spelled disaster to many parents who only wanted to pay for a haircut and not a new Tomas engine.

Derby got to ride in the Jeep

“Miss, I would prefer it spiky on top please”

Little boy hair!

At the park with everyone

Grant

Grant, Michelle and ‘Nuggie’ (the soon to be little sister)

That night we ordered the biggest pizza I have ever seen. They had to open the double doors to get it into the house.

Saturday morning we all went to the Wild Animal Park

Loen wanting whatever Grant has

Derby rocking the new do

On the zoo tram

Loen is getting very independent and wants to walk rather than ride in the stroller.

Loen sitting on the rhino in the kids park. (Derby was sleeping, how unusual)

Grant decided he was feeling yucky again.

Condor

Then the twins decided they were ready for a nap.

We had a great time visiting with everyone. Michelle and I talked kids while the guys played Wii football. Then early Sunday morning Derby threw up. Not a lot but he was looking like he was starting to get sick. We decided to head home before it got worse. Wouldn’t you know it, Grant felt great and wanted to play! Derby slept almost the entire ride home and that night had a temp of 102. Go, go immune system. Loen somehow lucked out and never got sick. Vacation just isn’t the same with kids. It definitely isn’t relaxing but it adds a whole new dimension to see them experience new things.

So we were fine, it was an exercise in evacuating with twins. On Thursday night after swim lessons we saw a huge change in the fire caused by the sundowner winds. Suddenly the air was stinging our eyes and the skies looked ominous. Our neighbor who has a 2 month old asked if we were going to evacuate. We thought “No way the fire is so far from us”. Then we got home and looked out our bedroom window. Fauxpa called and asked/told us to be safe and just come to their house. After we finished dinner we decided to leave since the air was smoky and we were concerned about the twins lungs. I packed up a lot of the gear and we headed out. I am so glad we did because another neighbor told us the fire department came around at 2:30 in the morning telling them to evacuate. I couldn’t imagine trying to throw everything into the car under those circumstances. Friday morning we watched the news and saw that the house we evacuated to was now being evacuated. Hey musical houses! So we moved onto the next place. Long story short their house was announced to be in the evac warning area but there were no vacant hotels in a 100 mile radius according to the news. We waited and everything worked out. Loen loved playing with the big girls and the dog. Derby was happy with the extra snuggles. He was VERY happy to be in his own crib once the mandatory evacuation was lifted for our home. That boy is stubborn when it comes to change!

View from our window

Huge ball of fire (seen from the backyard)

The smoke cloud was terrible

What? Santa Barbara is on fire AGAIN? Yes, for the 4th time since I was pregnant our hometown is ablaze. We’re okay but a family friend has lost their home. Our hearts go out to them at this time.

Derby got sick Sunday so he took precedence over posting. I was going to throw up a cute video that Tadd made in lieu of any real posing but dumb ol You Tube and Vimeo took it down because I do not have permission to use a Stray Cats song. SOOOOOO annoying.

Were off for a fun filled weekend in San Diego. As usual I have lots I need to post about but it will have to wait till next week.