Here is a quick recap.

Preschool. We were told the twins could start preschool once they turned 3. Since they turned 3 on a Sunday around 8:40 in the morning we had to wait till Monday. I kid you not, we started them the next day. Maybe it was me but I thought the twins would do better if I introduced preschool slowly. We tried a couple of days where I stayed with them. During that time they didn’t listen, didn’t want to participate, clung to me and were whiny. Guess what happened when I left them alone for an hour, they did wonderfully. All that behavior was reserved for their mother. Yea me! They love school and we often have to drag them away. They’ve made new friends and love their teachers. It has turned out better than I expected. Socially and verbally they have grown so much.

Leaving school hand in hand

Halloween. Lo was really into the eats lots of candy and wear costumes aspect of the whole holiday. She wore her ladybug costume almost everyday for a month! Derby especially liked the chocolate and pumpkins. He was all about the animals at the pumpkin patch. Many a morning he was up at 6 am asking to see the donkey and the turkey.

Thanksgiving. We had some grand plans for Thanksgiving. Oma and Papa were going to have a full house with family and we were excited to join in the fun. One of the joys of having children is that they can change your plans at the drop of a hat. Derby woke up that Thursday puking. Thanksgiving 2010 we stayed home and ate leftovers. Why leftovers? Because we had planned to be at Oma’s and I had no Thanksgiving related food in the house other than the dessert I was going to bring. Puking, feverish kids are very pathetic. That weekend some friends from out of state were coming to visit and go wine tasting. As the twins were looking better we had a babysitter lined up and we were ready for some adult time. As I was getting my sweater to leave Loen started puking. Like I said plans change. Instead we cuddled on the couch and watched movies. The next day she was worse and had to go in a for an IV. That kid is such a trooper. She didn’t even cry when they started the IV, though she refused to talk to the nurses after that. Even when they brought her books and stickers.

I tried to tell her the IV pump was like mom’s insulin pump. It would make her feel better. Later she told me she didn’t like “the big pump like mom”

Obviously Derby was feeling better as he decided to wear the puke bucket on his head (it was CLEAN)

Christmas. No crying for Santa this year. They told Santa they wanted a “blue car” and “a duck”. I’ll let you figure out who wanted what. The next day Loen said she wanted to see Santa again, Tadd explained we have to let other children have a turn, we cant go see him all the time. She thought about it for a minute then said “I have a few questions about the duck”. The kid is getting smart. When asked about the duck she wouldn’t elaborate which made it hard for ‘Santa’ to know what she was looking for.

Christmas was extra special this year as Mima T, Papa Don, Aunt T, Uncle John and Grandpa Jimbo celebrated at our house. They got to help decorate the tree, sing Christmas songs and really got into the spirit of the holidays. I loved it. They were so excited and would ask funny questions about things. Granted we had a few incidents where they started to destroy the advent house when they realized it had chocolate in it and then Loen decided to redecorate the bottom half of the tree which resulted in a broken branch. All in all we had a really fun time.

Santa brought a duck! Loen decided her jammies needed a hat to complete the ensemble

Loen’s doll (which she has named Lil’ Loen) had to help her unwrap gifts

Derby’s animatronic cat he named ‘Pounce’

Blue car

Of course I could update more but IM TIRED. You’ll just have to wait till next time.

I went to check on my sleeping babies the other night and realized that they aren’t….babies. They are (gasp) kids. They are getting lanky, stinky and they say the word ‘no’ more often than I would like. I am totally, unbelievably in love with those two, which is why they drive me so crazy at times.

I took them to the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum for the first (and possibly last) time. I was excited to share an experience with them that I had taken the boys on many times. I dont remember the boys taking off in all directions and yelling. Then laughing at the fact their voices echoed loudly throughout the aviary hall. Ah culture and twins.. what was I thinking? Derby wanted to look at ducks while Loen wanted to see the baby barn owls. Guess what, they were in separate areas of course.

• Loen: Weighs in at 22 pounds and is 32″ long. She is in her sponge stage where everything you say she will repeat. She watches us intently and I will find her mimicking our moves. Both of the twins love a drum line called Boomchaka. Fauxbro John is a member and we have gone a few times to see them perform (they are also socially conscious as all donations go to the SB Unity Shoppe). It is so funny to watch them dancing, clapping and yelling. They both say “Boom caca”. Derby will break out into this Shaka Zulu dance of joy when they start getting loud. Yesterday Loen had two wooden knives from her play kitchen and I was watching her do what I thought was a ninja attack move. Then I realized she was imitating the drummers moves. I tried to get the camera in time but she caught on to me. Loen loves to boss ‘help’ her brother and gets annoyed when he doesn’t want the help forced upon him. She is still my super girly girl. She loves tea parties, dolls and pink. I try to show her other outfits but in the end I realize I have to choose my battles. If she wants to wear a pink top and python leggings (again) so be it.

Loen really likes Trader Joes noodle soup

Derby trying to use his super cuteness to distract me from the fact he threw food against the wall.

• Derby: Weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches long. He could care less about what he is wearing and I’m sure he would rather be naked. He is my little man and I love that he just wants to cuddle me. But at 2 am when he wants to sleep on only my pillow and wrap his little arms around my neck till I cant breathe, I would rather he was in his own bed. Loen favors her daddy while Derby is a mamas boy. He was casted on 11/19 to restart his constraint induced therapy. It lasted a whole 9 days as he puked on his cast and we had it cut off rather than leave him in a super stinky cast all weekend. He kept checking his right arm because he couldn’t believe the cast was off. Even though it wasn’t on for the full amount of time we have noticed a difference by how much he now uses his left hand. I got him to eat a noodle with a fork and he picked up a cheerio and ate it! Im sure that doesn’t sound like much but for a boy he rarely used his left hand it was a very exciting for us to see. He was to stay in the cast till we left for Michigan on the 19th but unfortunately the puke incident was on Thanksgiving weekend. Do you realize this is a time when the doctors office is closed? Urgent care states they don’t have the tools to remove a cast so we were sent to the E.D. Did you also know that a stinky cast soaked in vomit is not considered an emergency therefore you will be bumped until they have time to fit you in? Yeah, that was not a fun day. So the casting will not resume till January as the ortho office, therapy and ourselves all have conflicting holiday schedules. I’m glad because the thought of Derby in a cast at his Mima’s invoked visions of a bull in a china shop. He was whacking our furniture, I don’t think her Waterford crystal animals would have fared well. In other news Derby is now running, talking a lot more and has a wicked sense of independence. If he doesn’t want to do something it will not be done. It is frustrating but also nice to see he has a will of his own. He loves to try to hug and kiss Loen but she often doesn’t like being held down and given slobbery kisses. It is funny to watch them interact now. They start getting into things they know they shouldn’t and will do a mad giggle if you catch them. They are often in cahoots.

I WILL show you some love!

Moooom, she likes when I hug her like this.

On their actual birthday Souther was part of an opening at the Japanese American Museum of Art for Giant Robots Biennale. Like I said before we are big on exposing the twins to culture…… During the award presentation Derby is walking through the crowd yelling “MOVE!” and Loen is of course going in the opposite direction. We mainly got to see Souther’s installation then decided the twins were going to have a major meltdown if we didn’t get them home. I still want to go back and see the whole thing but don’t know if that is going to happen. Below are a few pics of the evening. You will notice they got to meet Sulu on their birthday. I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet any celebrities by the time I was 2. Below is a video clip of the opening, Souther’s segment starts at 2:30 (if you squint Loen & I are in the background)

I’m pretty sure we were the only ones to arrive with a double wide

Meeting George Takei (Sulu). I like Derby’s one shoe look

Just to reiterate the point they have met more celebrities as a toddler than I, here they are with Kirk Douglas

Best Buddies (Lil & Big Iain)

Derby telling people to move during the reception

Checking out Souther’s amazing art

Souther and Monica in front of the museum

There are so many photos from their party that I decided to make a photo montage versus posting just a few. Enjoy

• Loen: Weighs 19 pounds 3 1/2 ounces and is 31 1/2 inches long. Like the scene in Miracle Worker where Helen Keller makes the collation between water and the word, Loen is picking up a ton of new words and some we would rather she not say. After I made a comment to Tadd regarding a woman’s outfit which included the word ‘sexy’ we hear a tiny voice in the back of the car say “sexy, sexy, sexy”. Of course that would be the one word she would choose to repeat. We also like to say no, me and mine. Which is kind of funny in her tiny little voice. We bought a couple of potty chairs after Loen started signing ‘change’ when needed. She wasn’t keen on sitting on it without her diaper though she really likes sitting on it when were in the bathroom. Like it is her special chair to hang out and visit. She has also learned to take her diaper off. When I went to take out the trash yesterday I put the twins into the kiddie korral so they wouldnt get into trouble while I was outside. I come back to find a naked Loen saying ‘pee pee”. I thought she had peed on the toys but no she was just pointing out her anatomy.

Loen is all about talking on the phone. The other day she grabbed my insulin pump and started saying “Dada hi” Very cute until she tried to run off with the pump and it was attached to my posterior.

• Derby weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces and is 29 inches long. I swear I feel like he is never going to grow out of his current size. I am getting tired of them and ready to break into the drawer full of the next size up! He can be a very picky eater at times. My favorite is when he will eat something at a restaurant but when I make it at home he doesn’t want it. He prefers protein to fruits or veggies, so I can get him to eat tofu, chicken and soy nuggets but a lone green bean throws his world off its axis. Thanks to Michelle for the idea of giving him ‘Green Machine’ a Trader Joe’s smoothie that has spinach and broccoli mixed in with fruit. I tried it myself and it wasn’t too bad. It is hit or miss though, some days he loves it others he wont touch it. Derby is talking much more. While Loen is very vocal Derby says things when he is good and ready, there is no performing on cue with that little boy. You think he isn’t paying attention but when the Gaylords were visiting with their kids Derby cruised up to Michelle & baby Gwen and said “baby”. He has also added the words: bubble, Costco, pool, ball, baba, and Papa to his list. I’m sure I’m missing others but he definitely is talking more.

Now on to the stuff…

Derby officially got the Cerebral Palsy diagnosis 2 weeks ago. With upcoming treatments and therapy it would pave the way for insurance if it was changed from ‘Rule Out Cerebral Palsy’ to actual ‘Cerebal Palsy”. We had been told that constraint induced therapy might be a good idea for Derby (they would cast his good arm forcing him to use his weaker arm. Intense physical therapy everyday for 3 – 4 weeks has been found to bring amazing results) In typical Tadd style he went into research overdrive and looked into other cases, read published articles and found the University that initiated the trend (not to mention speaking with the therapists at UAB). After lots of questions and pushing to have him start therapy we were given an appointment to meet with the pediatric orthopedist to talk about having him casted. The doctor walks in and watched Derby crawl and cruise around the furniture and after a minute says he wants to have a brace (specifically a DAFO) put on Derby’s left leg (his weaker side). We were a little shocked as we thought we were just going to talk about his arm. We were told that when Derby cruises he is usually walks on the balls of his left foot. In turn it is causing tightness & shortening of the leg muscles, if we did not address the problem quickly Derby might need surgery to lengthen the muscles. Tadd said he wished they would prepare us beforehand about what they are going to say. Though that doesn’t work if we are meeting a doctor for the first time and he is telling us his initial assessment of Derby. As today was the first official day of intensive therapy he looked like the Bionic kid with a cast on his right arm and a brace on his left leg. Loen better watch out because that kid is going to have weapons at the ready!

Derby having a cast made to make the leg brace. He was so good while this was going on. A clear bowl kept him entertained the whole time!

Finished mold

Let’s move on to the casting of the arm. Seeing how getting the mold for his leg was such a breeze I thought we would sail through the arm casting. Lord was I wrong! I brought Loen and we were immediately brought back to a treatment room, which I thought was a good sign. The doctor came right in and quickly casted his arm. Again Derby was pretty good, except when he had to be still for about 5 minutes to let it dry and he was wiggling all over and trying to whack me in the head with the cast.  Then a tech came in to cut off the cast. The nice thing about this therapy is we will be able to remove the cast for bathing and swimming, hence the reason the cast would be cut into two pieces.  The twins DID NOT LIKE the cast cutter. The both started screaming at the tops of their lungs. The type of screaming that causes red splotchy marks all over their foreheads and nurses to come in to be sure there wasn’t an unscheduled amputation going on. I kinda laughed and asked if they could hear us. The RN looks at me and says they can hear you in the waiting room. Did I mention we were in the back of the office? He got one side cut and after a brief respite he had to cut the other side..cue tandem screaming. The ortho tech looked like he choose the short straw when it came to taking care of us. The RN was really sweet and talked to us while she prepped the cast. Since they cut it in two all the fluff that lines a cast started coming out so she wrapped both halves in a cast sock, then they ace wrapped the whole shebang to his arm. Can you say pain in the butt?

Waiting for the cast to dry

Finshed product (it is a behemoth!)

Trying to pick up toys with his mouth

So I hate to sound like I am bemoaning everything. I definitely was feeling down and depressed earlier but then I went to take Derby to therapy and a family was leaving and another family was coming in. The family leaving I recognized as the Strong family, their daughter has a rare terminal degenerative disease called SMA. The family coming in had an older daughter with another rare disease who needs a wheelchair and has limited verbal skills. Looking at these families was like a slap in the face, what they wouldn’t give to have the same ‘problems’ we are facing. While it is a bump in the road it is not a dead end. I felt so selfish and had to remind myself once again how lucky we are.

• Loen: Weighs 17 pounds 10 ounces. She is so expressive. I love all the little faces and noises she makes. She can sign: more, milk, eat, all done and cookie. She can say: mama, dada, ba (bath) bo (which I’m pretty sure means book), eyes, hi and bye. Of course we don’t like to perform these vocal stylings on cue, just whenever she is in the mood. She LOVES to sign cookie on the off chance she will be given one. She was in this mode where she just wanted to stand but now she is starting to walk more. Of course she doesn’t want to just walk she want to run which has a tendency to end badly of you don’t catch her. The other day Derby had just woken up and was crying in his crib. Loen walked half way across the room and put her hands thru the crib bars to touch his face. I couldnt believe how sweet it was but half a second later she reached in and took his binker. The binkers are only for sleeping now. Before we pick Loen up we tell her ‘binker down’. Sometimes she complies and hands us her binker, other times she wont take it out of her mouth and will back up if you try and take it from her. I have resorted to playing with Derby on the floor by her crib, eventually she gets jealous and will throw her binker down and start jumping in the crib to get out.

I have LOTS of teeth!

• Derby: Weighs 16 pounds 12 ounces. He is at a weight stand still but it is because he is so busy and burning calories. I am going to start sneaking butter and whip cream into his food to fatten him up! He wont sign but says: hi, bye, mama, mom (if were really grouchy) and dada. He has started saying baba which I wonder if that is bottle or book, who knows at this point. When he is hungry he says “mmmmm”. He is getting better at the army crawl. I can no longer just leave Derby on the floor why I go to the bathroom or change the laundry, I need to be sure he is safe and contained. He actually shut the door to his room the other day. Tadd had to open it slowly so he wouldn’t hurt him. The helmet is done. He has passed the major growth spurt which is the optimal time to remold their head. We are happy with the results, not perfectly round but other than Charlie Brown who has a round head?? At least the conehead is gone.

Left is before he got the helmet. Right is after the helmet

The only trick Derby has up his sleeve against his sister is the hair pull.

Loen one upping Derby by getting to a toy before him

Perhaps I drink too much coffee around them.

“Mama always needs TWO cups of coffee before she wakes up, huh Derby?”

They love bath time. When I get the lotion out Loen rubs her hands together in anticipation!

Sometimes they do the exact same things like when I found them napping in the same position

Their room is mostly baby proofed so we have been spending a lot of time in there lately.

Derby trying to kiss the giant penguin

Making crazy faces

Loen was cracking me up with this pig hat. She was playing peekaboo with the ears

Loen wont let me put barrettes in her hair anymore. She will pull them out and try to chew on them. Now she has crazy muffin hair 24/7

Last week we went to an event held by the Santa Barbara Parents of Multiples at My Gym. It is a indoor playground/gymnastics studio. The kids had fun though they seemed to be the smallest ones there. Derby was content to hang out in the ball pit and lick any ball that flew his way. We looked at him and Tadd said “Derby’s going to get sick”. It must have been our lucky day because he is fine.

Derby couldnt believe his daddy was able to take a break from work and play with him!

• Loen: Weighs 17 pounds 4 ounces and is 28 inches long. Miss Loen is really into eating especially if it something you are eating. If I sit in the kiddie korral and try to eat a container of yogurt she will crawl all over me to get a bite. If you try and give Derby a bite she will get in front of him so she can have it. It is like having a puppy. I still make a lot of their food but have been buying some organic baby meals, because really who has the time to make a chicken apple risotto for a baby?? Loen does love the risotto. Loen has started to sign which I think is great. She can sign milk, more, eat and all done. The only problem is she will sign ‘more’ and you have no clue as to what she wants more of. She can say mama, dada and ba (for bath). She has started to say baby when you ask about her doll but for some reason she will only whisper it. She is SO close to walking but is scared to let go of things. She gets around pretty quickly with her crawl/cruise mode of transport. She also blows kisses which is heart meltingly cute.

Loen is my smiley little girl

Soon there will be enough hair to do elaborate styles!

• Derby: Weighs 16 pounds 2 ounces and is 26 3/4 inches long. He seems to have stalled in the growing department. The Pediatrician says he has hit a plateau where he is burning more calories by being active but not eating more. He will eat solids but has to be in the mood to do so. We think one of the reasons he has issues with solid food is he has a hard time seeing the spoon coming at his face. Next thing he knows someone is trying to shove food in his mouth, I’m sure it kinda freaks him out. It helps if I give him a spoon then try and put some food in his mouth when he is chewing on the spare spoon. He likes to hold food and chew on it (like a piece of toast or a little pickle) but I get worried he is going to choke. We have these mesh bags that are made so kids can eat whole pieces of food without the fear of choking but Derby doesn’t like the texture of the mesh. He has been doing really well in therapy. They have been working on getting him into a crawl position and trying to have him move forward. The first few times he really resisted but he is getting better. We are not crawling but we are on the way. He still is my vocal kiddo. He doesn’t sign but can say hi, mama and dada in context. If someone comes over and doesn’t acknowledge him right away he will start to yell ‘Hi’. When Tadd comes home Loen will crawl over to him, but Derby will just start shouting ‘hi’ a bunch of times till Tadd comes over to him. He wants to be sure he is noticed. He is the master of the fake sneeze and cough. Sometimes his coughs are so good I think something is wrong then I will notice he is smiling…such a faker. He will shake his head ‘no’ when he doesn’t want something. He still wears the helmet but only at night and his glasses during the day. Doing them together caused too many issues. Keeping the glasses on his face is still a challenge. I asked the doctor for suggestions and he said to keep his hands occupied. While that sounds great I cant be there occupying his hands every second, so I often find his glasses are off and he is chewing on the lens. 

Notice the bite marks

The twins really like going to the zoo. Having a membership is perfect because I don’t feel guilty if we’re only there for a 30 minute visit. I think some animals are still hard for them to see unless they are moving a lot, so the penguins in the underground viewing window is our favorite right now. The last 2 visits that is really all we looked at and then left.

The giraffe hanging out.

Derby has become more aggressive with Loen. He has started pulling her hair if she is in his way. As you can see he wasn’t too keen to share the turtle statue.

I let them try to feed themselves one Saturday. Not one of my best ideas

Loen couldn’t believe I gave her the spoon

AND the bowl of cereal

Since there was cereal in the twins hair we moved on to one of Loen’s favorite activities, the bath. She says ‘ba’ and gets so excited. She tries to climb in herself.

We don’t have therapy on Wednesdays so I try and catch up on the laundry. Loen is very good at helping me unfold.

Derby was ready to take nap in the warm clean sheets

Derby checking his email

We are relishing the time we get to spend with the daddy. Tax season is upon us so Tadd leaves for work right when they are waking up and comes home once they’re in bed. We try and see him at lunch time or make the most of our Sundays (yup he works on Saturday too). At Goleta Beach

So this is a video of them doing random things such as signing and fake sneezes. It is long and not that exciting. Well, exciting if you’re their grandparent.

The kids are looking great. They are so busy these days. 

• Loen: On 12/10 she weighed 16 pounds 3 ounces and is 27 1/4″ long. She has learned to crawl on hyper drive so you cant turn your back on her for long. She has been practicing standing on her own. Usually for a second or two, then she realizes that no one is holding her and she will sit down. I love when she starts to get tired. She slows down and will lie on her belly and play, often singing or talking. So precious. She likes “grown-up food” better than purees lately. If I chop up cheese or turkey she will slowly inspect it, play with it then eat it. Purees she will just spit back into her hand then rub into the tray and her hair. Then there is Gerber Puffs, AKA baby crack. If you want to keep her quiet for a good 10-15 minutes on end just put her in her high chair with a small pile of puffs. She still doesn’t do three meals a day. She isn’t always interested in solid food and will prefer her bottle. Loen did much better with the switch from breast milk to formula than Derby did.  You would have thought there was cyanide kool-aid in the bottle the way he refused it. 
• Derby: Weighed 16 pounds 1 ounce and is 26 1/2″ long. The gap is really closing between the two of them. He has mastered saying “Hi” but is selective on when and who he says it to. It is funny that he will tell everyone hi then when I want him to he clams up. I have decided they can walk or talk but they cant do both yet. So Derby is my talker and Loen is my pseudo-walker. Derby has been making progress with therapy. He uses his left side more and they have been working with him to get into the crawl position. He likes to sit but has yet to get himself in the sitting position without help. Well if you don’t count that one time at Fauxma’s (they do EVERYTHING at Fauxmas!). We came back after running errands and Derby was sitting and playing with a toy. We asked if she put him in that position to which she replied no. She was doing something with Loen and turned around and saw Derby sitting, she thought he knew how to do it. He hasn’t done it since so it may have been a fluke. Derby is no longer wearing his glasses. The opthamologist said they werent working so he will go in for a revision surgery after Christmas. That was a bummer to hear, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t that big of a deal. I have to say to myself “Hey, at least he can see!”. The doctor said something I wasn’t expecting; “Well I didn’t think the glasses would work but I wanted to try one more thing before we had to do another surgery”. What? Back up there fella! Never had you said before the glasses probably wouldn’t work. If we had known that I don’t think we would have sprung for the top of the line Italian retro glasses. We figured he would be wearing them for awhile so we got the sturdy ones. Whatever, he got a lot of attention from the ladies when he wore them.

As you can see in the picture below the helmet is really working. The scan on the left is before the helmet and the right is after wearing it for 1 1/2 months. They said he would have approximately 6 more weeks of wearing left. 

We have finally traded out the infant carriers for their big car seats. Tadd did some research and ended up returning the Britax that we had originally and got the Recaro Signo. These things are legit, lets just say if we ever needed to put the twins in a escape pod their seats would be perfect. I wasn’t aware until Tadd told me that Recaro is known for making auto racing seats. So I guess they would be at home in the back seat of Dale Earnhardt Jr’s car too.

They like to chew on a toothbrush, but when I try to brush their teeth all hell breaks loose.

Derby showing off his clean teeth

We drove the twins by the crazy Christmas house. My iPhone pic does not do this house justice. We were speculating how much this guys electricity bill must be in December

We stopped by the NICU yesterday to say hi and pick up a copy of the new Cottage Hospital Magazine. There was a picture of Derby and Dr. Donnelly that was on the third page.

Loen showing Martha how she can walk with help

Derby was a tired little guy but happy to see Li. You can really tell how much his eyes cross in this picture. Hopefully the surgery on the 29th will be successful.

Derby Boone

Hmm is this roadkill?

Loen still likes to take anything that her brother has

I believe I will be relieving you of your iPhone father

• Loen: At their 11 month check up she weighed 14 pounds 13.5 ounces and was 26 inches long. When I wrote before she was a slobbering mess I had no idea of what was to come. How that child doesn’t dehydrate is beyond me. We soak through numerous bibs and shirts daily. Not to mention all the toys and burp cloths that are dripping wet thanks to Lo. It must be all that teething. She has her bottom two and is cutting her fangs. No words yet but there is lots of baby blabbering going on in our house especially when they are supposed to be down for their nap. Loen went from attempting to crawl to mastering the crawl and pulling up on furniture within a week. I wasn’t quite ready for that learning curve. She also has no concept of danger. I was letting her crawl on the bed and had my hand wrapped around her ankle. I wanted to see what she would do when she came to the edge. She stopped, looked over then attempted to crawl off the edge. Thank goodness I was holding her. She has all these tiny little bruises on her noggin because she is constantly trying to pull up on things then falling. Perhaps I should buy her the thudgaurd. Tadd noticed if she falls trying to get to a toy she will cry but if she falls trying to get to: cell phone, power cords, computer (any forbidden item), she will look at you, act like nothing is wrong and continue her quest for dangerous items. Another favorite item on the forbidden list is my insulin pump. It is like she remembers it is attached to me and will look for it. I have felt tugging behind me only to find Loen pulling on the catheter line. It doesn’t hurt to have the tubing pulled out (it is insert via needle into fat) but it is a pain to have reinsert it.



• Derby: Weighs in at 14 pounds 9 ounces and is 25 inches long. They have to be over 15 pounds now. Derby has 2 bottom teeth and is just cutting a fang (perhaps they should ask for their 2 front teeth for Christmas). We still only do the front to back roll. Derby now sees a Occupational Therapist (OT) and a Physical Therapist (PT) to help him work on movement. At first he thought it was fun smiling and laughing but then they started working on his muscles and having him move in unfamiliar ways. Somebody was pretty ticked off, it was sad and funny all at the same time. He is getting increasingly frustrated with not being able to move. He will try and throw himself backwards to move but alas this is one of those frowned upon moves. He has the strength he just doesn’t want to move the proper way. It will be interesting to see where we are in a month after weekly sessions with the therapists. Another down side of spending a lot of time on your back is a flat head. Derby is able to move enough to get himself into a comfortable position so placing rolls behind him so he will sleep on his side no longer works. He does this little butt scoot so he is on his back and he puts his hands behind his head. We took the twins to a orthopedic office for a laser evaluation of their head shape. They said Loen has a classic preemie shaped head but nothing to worry about. Derby’s measurements were just within the range where they would recommend a helmet. His pediatrician and the neonatologist said not to worry about it but Tadd feels if we can do anything to make their life a little better we should do it. We are still discussing what we want to do but I keep thinking how sad Derby would look with glasses and a helmet.

Mr. Flat Head

Derbs is my little chunker

Food: I spoke with the pediatrician regarding Derby clamping his mouth shut when I tried to feed him, he said to give them a couple of weeks without any solid food then try again. I bought some jars of organic baby food since a friend told me her son preferred the texture over homemade. We had a few successful bites of peas and pears (lunch is brought to you by the letter P). The Occupational Therapist was asking me questions regarding Derby’s eating style to which I answered ‘no’, then I was thinking Loen does a lot of those things. So I mentioned how Loen eats and how we have had little luck with solids. Oral issues are very common with preemies, she said if I bring Loen in with me the next time she would go over some ideas with me. So that sounds promising, I doubt we will be ready to eat cake at our first birthday but it is a start. But at the moment we are still breastfed babies (via bottle with added formula for calories). How’s the breast milk you ask (and yes I have had the Ben & Jerry’s PETA story emailed to me a few times). Well we are finally tapping into the frozen. Not that I don’t produce enough fresh but I decided to just pump 3 times a day. It has been almost a year and I am starting to loath the breast pump. Not to mention the frozen is only good for up to a year in a deep freeze. Depending on how much milk I get out when I pump I add between .5 to 1.5 ounces of frozen to the fresh milk to make 5 ounces. Derby, my little milk connoisseur, refuses to drink all frozen. I feel like I am sneaking it in. In the beginning he would stick his tongue out because he could just taste the faintest hint of frozen milk in his bottle but he is getting used to it, he still prefers all fresh. Too bad, so sad little man we need room for frozen pizza in the freezer!

Use it before it expires!

After Derby got his glasses I kept thinking he looked like a cartoon character but I couldn’t think of the name. Once again the letter P kept coming to mind but I was drawing a blank as to the character. I thought “Pemberton” (not a cartoon) then someone mentioned Pointdexter, nope that wasn’t it. Then as I started to write this blog it came to me, Peabody! I was close as Mr. Peabody was the dog and the boy was Sherman. Or maybe he looks like Chicken Little or the little kid from “Jerry McQuire”. Anybody out there have any ideas?

I will say he looks pretty adorable with the glasses on.

Rare tandem smiling pics

Ok be honest does this patch make my head look fat?

Loen looks like she is up to something

Grandpa Jim has been a great help with the twins. I manage to get a lot of laundry done when he is around

Checking out the inside of the toy basket

Is she kissing him or trying to lick him? Hard to tell

Blabla hugs

Let us do the fast rundown. Landed in Traverse City, Michigan and lo and behold who should be waiting for us? Mima T and Papa Don, I should have expected that. From here on out the twins were going to be ruthlessly spoiled. I told Jim (Tadd’s dad who also flew with us) that he probably wouldn’t be able to hold the twins while in Michigan. They were hot commodities those two. We got to the hotel, pointed out some big lake to the twins and then settled into getting the twins down for a nap so we could get some shut eye ourselves. It was pretty lax for the rest of the day. Saturday we went out to lunch and walked around for awhile . We went to this great kids store Bugs and Butterflys . We got a few new things that I have fallen in love with, I will also say the prices were better than in Santa Barbara. I got a new red sling from Sprout Pouch (since my other one that I got from our friend Michelle was too small now that the kids are bigger) a teething necklace that both of the twins are really into but you have to be ready for a boat load of drool down your chest and some new blankets that are the perfect weight for Santa Barbara. We got to meet our cousin Parker at last, but what is that? No pictures? Yea that sounds like us. (I’m sure someone has pictures but not us). After all that it was time to go back to the hotel for naps (of course) and to get ready for Dave and Lisa’s wedding.

In downtown Traverse City. Loen tried a high chair for the first time. Derbs was asleep in the sling.

It should be said that we have made it a habit of forgetting the camera as of late. Or should I say thought we forgot the camera. I was annoyed I wouldn’t be able to take any pictures only to find the camera the next day in the stroller under some diapers where I had stashed it for easy access. So the following wedding shots are courtesy of Grandpa Jim’s camera. Also at the wedding Tadd and I forgot the following: pacifiers, slings, extra diapers and wipes. Thank goodness we were staying at the hotel next door to the reception hall.

Self portrait of Grandpa Jim

Here we are the happy family (though I was cold because I forgot to bring a sweater. The kids are warm though). This was before the start of the wedding. Before Loen decided to loudly talk through all of it and I had to sneak down the center aisle to stand in the back.

Ahh, a picture of Loen showing how she can effectively make the most noise

The piper and Dave. Every wedding should have a piper. I tried to get the piper at our wedding to play “If You Want My Body” ala ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer‘. He said it couldn’t be done but I saw it in a movie dammit!

Lisa and Tadd’s cousin Dave

Ring bearer Reece and flower girl Hanna

Tadd’s Uncle Dave & Aunt Mary

Hey Derby, wake up before you miss all the fun. I’m not napping so why should you?!

I swear the kid had pants on for the majority of the wedding.

Tadd had a great time with his cousins Reece and Hanna. Here he is teaching them YMCA. Reece wants Tadd to move next door. Tadd is like the crazy Uncle that does all the dangerous circus tricks why others gasp in horror, but the kids love it

I love how Reece is having a great time.
(From L-R: Don, Tamie, Loen, Reece, Hanna, Derby, Jim & Tadd)

Reece and Hanna got some of the disposable cameras and were taking candid shots with Tadd’s encouragement. I would love to see how those pictures turn out!

Next day: Road trip!

We got to Michigan right before the big color change

At a winery by some lake..

Art shot of the grapes

Loen LOVED this swing ( and Derbs was asleep. Imagine that)

Loen and I at the LAKE FRONT. Tadd states Michigan has the most coast line of any state in the continental United States and great beaches. I say for it to be a beach it has to include an ocean not a lake. Ah our birth states clash (can you tell where we were born? Little hint I was born in: aliforniacay)

This was a special moment during our trip, the 45th parallel.

So that is about it. We flew home and had to change planes 3 TIMES. From Chicago to Denver the woman sitting next to Derby & I puked. I will say she was kind enough to turn her head from us and puke all over her husband. I felt bad for them and gave them a clean burp cloth and a stack of antibacterial wipes to try and get the majority of upchuck off of themselves. I had to turn my head from the sight of puke dripping off the phone in the middle headrest before I got sick myself. Then of course there was the incident where I almost gouged out my daughters eye on the way home. Point is were home and still recuperating. After I post this I might get around to emptying out our luggage…..

]]> http://thetadpoles.com/2008/09/24/michiganwe-camewe-sawwe-went-home/feed/ 1 http://thetadpoles.com/2008/08/28/303/ http://thetadpoles.com/2008/08/28/303/#comments Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:05:16 +0000 Hava http://thetadpoles.com/2008/08/28/303/ So I have a good excuse for not blogging as of late. Babies….yes the babes. I have barely checked my email let alone trying to put a few sentences together. But as they are sleeping at the moment I will try and post.

So we are teething with a vengeance. When Loen’s two bottom teeth cut it wasn’t that bad. I thought she took it very well. I guess that was a teaser as the real grouchy, crabby teething was yet to come. Derby as well isn’t too into the pain. Whereas Loen loves the taste of Tylenol we have to work to get it into Derby. He ends up looking like Bozo the clown with red goo all over his lips and chin. Derby has two teeth that have cut through, just the tiniest slivers can be seen through his gums.

Developmental: Loen is trying to crawl (GASP!). She gets on her hands and knees then rocks. She gets around just fine by scooting. I find her all over the place with her little slobber trail behind her (like a slug). Tadd keeps working with her but I tell him to let her figure it out on her own. Not to sound mean but I don’t want her crawling yet, I want Derby to catch up a little more before she starts cruising the house. Derby can now roll from front to back. We think he is only doing that to try and escape Loen who’s life mission at the moment is to torment and lick Derby. He is “talking” and likes to chew on his hands and binker. He still wont pick up toys which drives me nuts but he does seem better since the surgery. Not the big turn around like I was hoping but he seems happier and is able to focus better. It has been hard for me to come to terms with how delayed developmentally Derby is. I kept banking on the fact that he was having trouble seeing but now that he has recovered from the surgery I can tell he doesn’t do things the same as Loen. We know of the many different problems that micropreemies can have. I often shunted that info to the back of my brain but it has been rearing its ugly head as Derby gets older. Yes he could just be a slow starter, he could grow out of this and catch up or he may have some disabilities. The other day I was so depressed and feeling like crap thinking of it when lo and behold California Children Services called. They said they had a referral to assess Derby. He went on to tell me that for insurance to pay they have to give either a diagnosis or what they call a “rule out”. So it sounds like they might use “Rule out cerebral palsy” to get the proper authorization to treat Derby. He will be assessed and will work with therapists in addition to Mari (our child development specialist) who comes weekly. I am grateful that California has so many services that we are eligible for. Having physical therapy for Derby is one more tool to getting him on track. With all that said Tadd and I have been fairly blah this week just thinking about it and worrying about the future. I will end the developmental chapter by saying Derby is so happy when you walk into the room to pick him up from his crib. He gives the most excited gasp like he cant believe you came back!  They have us in the palm of their hands.

Food: I have tried bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. Loen just isn’t into it. She will eat a couple of bites but will spit most of it out and then make a huge mess. Occasionally she will try to lick some off of her bib but it is a lot of work for what I believe to be 1/2 teaspoon of food going down.Derby seems to be on some type of food strike. He has been clamping his lips shut and you cant get the spoon past. I have tried making him laugh then putting the food in when his mouth is open but he spits it out. I don’t push it, they drink enough breast milk and solid food will be waiting when they’re ready. They have been working on holding their own bottles though. Loen can do it all by herself (of course) and Derby is getting the hang of it.

We tried them in a swing recently. Loen seemed to like it. Derby wasn’t too sure of it…as usual.

My family came out to visit last week. Being a part of a big family there is lots of joy and some frustration. But what do you expect when you have your brothers around, you fall into some of the old patterns of when you were younger.

Derby hangin with Uncle Guy

Loen thinks Uncle Iain is a crack up

Derby decided he would rather sleep on his mother

The twins are so cute they have to shop incognito

Loen and her Meemaw. Notice the super cute new barrette

Talking about ‘chicks man….’

UPDATES

• Loen: Weighs 13 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and is 25 inches long. She is now the proud owner of 2 bottom teeth. Her hair has had a major growth spurt. It is like she is a Chia Pet or one of those Play-Doh heads that you squish the hair out of.

  

  I went and bought her baby barrettes the other day. So cute and they are made to hold only a few pieces of hair. You might think I dress her up like a little doll….and you are correct. I love picking out outfits and getting them ready. Tadd wont even put pajamas on them now without asking what they should be wearing. She is a baby on the move. What with the rolling and squirming she can effectively move herself all over her crib. Tadd and I often find in her in a different place and position every time we go check on her. We spend most of our day on a big sheepskin rug that I covered with a quilt. Why a quilt you may ask? Two reasons, one Loen likes to take handfuls of the fur and put them in her mouth, I’m sure that cant be good. Two they both still spit up. I would rather wash a quilt versus a $150 cleaning bill for the rug. But like I was saying about the moving, the other day they were playing on the rug so I went and put their bottles in the dishwasher. The kitchen is steps away from the front room and I could see them. In a matter of seconds Loen rolled off the rug. When I went to put her back on it, I found her face down….licking the wood floor. I freaked out a little bit. NICU cleanliness habits die hard. She seems to have survived though. Loen was assessed by the NICU follow up team and the Early Start program last week. The NICU physical therapist said she felt Loen was closer to the 1-2 month mark in her milestones. I had a hard time accepting that. Can you really assess a child in 15 minutes, a child who needed a nap nonetheless? Early Start felt she was hitting all the milestones in the 3-5 month range. Still delayed but doing well for a micropreemie.

• Derby: Weighs 13 pounds 8 ounces and is 23 1/2 inches long. We thought for sure he would weigh more than her this time around. He feels so solid and compact. Maybe the key word there is compact. I guess 1 1/2″ makes a big difference in weight distribution when your only 2 feet tall. Still no teeth. I can see the pearly white buds glistening just under the surface of his gums. It is hard to check if they have actually broken through because he likes to stick his tongue out when you open his mouth. Derby is so much like his father. He is awake and smiling at 6 am.  You look at him and he gives a happy little squeal and smiles at you. He is ready for whatever the day has to bring. He will go back to bed if you snuggle him or lie him beside you. Loen is like me in that she will sleep much longer. We wake them up at the same time just to keep them on the same schedule. But she wakes up with the biggest grin and sleepy eyes. Derby has really been more social in the past week. Lots of smiles, even for strangers. He also has been “talking” a lot. Yesterday at Costco I don’t know what his deal was but I’m pretty sure it involved the words “Hey, Mom. Hey Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom can I have that??” At the NICU followup Derby decided he would have none of it. I take that back, he had a great time seeing Martha and Katie. He was making lovely cooing noises for Katie. When we switched to the physical therapist room Derby was done, D-O-N-E. He fell asleep and could not be woken up for the assessment. I handed him to the therapist and his head just fell forward still asleep. We tried talking to him…nada. We get to the car to go home, and yup, you guessed it. Awake, smiling, ready to go have some fun. Mari, our child life specialist, has said before that when things get too stressful he “checks out” by going to sleep. She has seen it in other preemies who have had a rough start. He is more delayed then Loen but again it is felt to be due to his vision problems.

Loen is so very animated. I swear she is trying to tell me things

Loen also likes to taste everything

They were enjoying a little naked time (with a diaper on of course, I’m not that carefree)

Working on their wrestling skills

Passed out during play time