thetadpoles.com » boys

Babies and beasts

Hava — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:53:46 +0000

After many attempts we finally made it to the local zoo to break in our new membership (compliments of the Gaylord’s). On Sunday the weather was perfect, twins were fed and calm. It was the winning choice. We had thought about going to the beach but the twins are too young to wear sunscreen and would have to spend the whole time in a sun tent. I had looked at the tents at Babies R Us and they were $40. It was in my hand and I thought “Oh, I will get it another time”. I need to not do that, because we looked at the exact same tent at a local Santa Barbara baby store and they wanted $60. So the beach got vetoed till a later date.

John spent the weekend with us while his parents were out of town. Faux-bro is always a big help

Loen under our new sign. Not to be mean but you would be surprised at how many strangers feel it is okay to bend down and start touching them. I know they mean well, but hey I don’t know where their hands have been. I would rather people thought we were being uptight than the twins being hospitalized from some virus they got from a stranger.

Blue Crowned Pigeon (that thing was huge for a pigeon, it must have had a glandular problem)

White handed gibbon

The elephant was enjoying a little swim

Hosing himself off (then he went and threw dirt all over himself. Kinda negating the whole bath thing…)

Tadd using the zoom lens to spy on us at the penguin pool while he was by the elephants

They are in the midst of remodeling the zoo and the park was a new addition. They had a hill covered in a really soft artificial turf made for sliding. They even padded the tree trunks that were close by in case someone got out of control. It was really cool.

Loen was ready for a nap

We were sad to learn of Gemina’s passing. She was always one of John’s favorites when he was little. He did get a chance to feed another member of the giraffe herd though.

Even the giraffes do yoga in Santa Barbara. (You can see the beach which is right across the street)

The gorilla was napping right against the viewing window.

Derby doing his best gorilla impression. (His eyes are the same color as the sign)

Derby debating creation vs evolution

Yes, there are more pics of Derby this time around. Loen was sleeping peacefully in the stroller while Mr. Derbs demanded to be held.

They are the astrologers to my Nancy Reagan

Hava — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:45:40 +0000

I have been meaning to write about this for a couple of weeks but my goodness where does the time go (I’m hoping all of our readers pick up on that subtle sarcasm). Anyways we had written about the story of the cranes with Andrew and John (read about it here). Then there was the time that John was holed up in his room making origami (he is a 10 year old origami phenom) and he brought his mom (AKA Fauxma Dee) a complicated piece which was a turtle and a crane combined. John handed them to his mom and said “Here you bring these to Hava since you see her more often. They mean ‘hope’”. Dee didn’t tell John that Loen was undergoing eye surgery when he was making them. Weird huh?? Well this last incident involves Matt, the oldest boy of our faux family. Matt is 15 and it trips me out because I was his nanny when he was 3. Now he is studying for his drivers permit and I feel like that little old lady at church “Ohhhh, I remember when you were this big” (pinch cheeks hard). Anyways the day I was released from the hospital Matt gave me a prayer card he picked up when he was at a Catholic retreat. It was Saint Roch, Patron Saint of Infectious Diseases. At the time we all laughed and I asked why he didn’t get me one for babies instead. It was a sweet gesture nonetheless. I found the card recently when I was cleaning out a cabinet in the twins room and it got me to thinking about what Dr. Barkley said the day Derby was discharged. He said except for Derby’s NEC and Loen having serratia (pneumonia) that was the only major infections they had, which he found amazing. Most micropreemies get a number of infections due to the fact they have immature immune systems. And here I thought Matt’s card would protect me from Hanta Virus or Mad Cow Disease. They truly have a special connection to the twins.

The Sweetest Sound

Hava — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 18:08:39 +0000

On Saturday I got a call when I was at the NICU, I didn’t answer because I was busy gazing into Loen’s incubator. Tadd got a call on his cell phone but he too ignored it. After a few minutes Tadd walked out to check his messages. Listen to the message before reading any further.

The Amazing Crane

The amazing thing was Tadd and I were hovering over Loen’s incubator because they had extubated her and just let us in to see her. (When they are doing procedures on the babies they usually make the parents wait outside in case they become overly emotional.) Our little girl did not have the tube down her throat and she was breathing ON HER OWN. With the tube gone Loen was able to make noise. Tadd and I sat with our ears next to the incubator, waiting for the tiniest thing, anything. Finally a little mewing, it brought tears to my eyes. After a bit we taped her little cries (to watch click here). Andrew and John were right, the crane was a good sign. Loen did wonderfully. She was able to stay on CPAP for four hours. That was longer than others thought she would do. (CPAP has little prongs that go into her nose and helps keeps her lungs open.) The doctor had said they could pull out the breathing tube and if she didn’t tolerate it they would put it right back in. If she could last 12 hours he would be “down right giddy”. Well she lasted a third of that time and didn’t have any of the problems that usually arise. The respiratory therapist was shocked that Loen didn’t have any periods of apnea (forgetting to breathe, a common preemie problem). They put her back on the ventilator because they had to keep raising her oxygen to keep her sats up. Do I need to keep mentioning that she lasted 4 HOURS?! Poor little thing was tuckered out after all that. They will try her off the ventilator again in another week. They are even talking about Derby trying out CPAP in about 5 days. The only problem with that is he can be a little lazy when it comes to things like…having to breathe on your own. I think he likes the machine to do it for him.

Getting ready to get rid of the breathing tube:

Breathing tube free! CPAP prongs hurt my nose AND make me look like a piggy The nurse took a picture so mom and dad could see my whole face for the first time

After 4 hours I’m back on the vent. I’m telling daddy I was SOOO tired

I am VERY PROUD of myself (Mommy likes to think I am smiling here):

Derby peeking out from under the blankets:

Dad I’m glad you got me out of that incubator!

Derby is like a drug. Able to knock grown men out in no time flat:

Sunday night Matt’s band played at a club. Tadd and I joined the family to watch him play. He is such an amazing bass player. As I was watching Matt I thought about how grown up he is now that he is 15. All the boys have grown up so much. These boys who are as big or bigger than me were MY boys when they were little. My little sidekicks, partners in crime, the ones I would have to do the chicken dance to make them smile for the annual Christmas picture. I could simultaneously love them and hate them depending on their mood. Now there they were, one on stage jammin on his bass, the other two at the table talking and laughing. They are getting so big, they are growing up. Is time going to fly by for us and suddenly Loen and Derby are teenagers?? I can say the twins are lucky to have such great “Uncles” to hang out with. John is excited to teach them circus tricks when they are old enough.

John, the youngest, brought two of the cranes they had made to the club. I am thinking cranes are good luck for my babies.

Boys

Hava — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:23:47 +0000

I was a nanny to 3 adorable, albeit wild boys for 10 years. I’ve seen my fair share of testosterone based actions. These were kids that would bring me to tears some days, (they like to blame it on another sibling now when they reminisce: “Remember when J*** made you cry” to which I have to respond “No, that was you”). Sometimes they were tears of laughter, like when the youngest was going through his Shirley Temple stage and decided to do an impromptu dance routine down the stairs while I was videotaping him. He was wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a satin vest from his Dracula costume. No shirt on underneath. And he is trying to tap down the stairs. I WAS CRYING!! Or the middle child trying to set up a trap for me by pouring water all over the bathroom floor, then he saved body fluids (take a wild stab what they were) in a jar to make a magic potion. Or the oldest at the delicate age of 3 staring out the window at night telling me he could see someone outside. This was like the first time I watched them while their parents went out to dinner. I freaked out and went to the window only to have him turn and say “It’s the Devil”. Heelllllooooo Damian. You wonder why I didn’t run screaming out of that house. I love those boys for all the good and bad. I feel pretty prepared for a wild household with twins.

Then Tadd sent me this: (WARNING not for the weak hearted, non-nurses or those without children)

From the blog: Noodad