23 Months

Things have been going well!  Tayden still has a bit of a cough that is lingering, but the doctor said that winter coughs can last for a few weeks.  He is okay during the day, but coughs pretty bad at night.  We still run the humidifier and are giving him cough medicine.  Tim and SueSue took the twins to the doctor last week for a check-up and Dr. Hunt was in shock at how big they have gotten and how much they are talking!  Brooklyn weighed in at 31 pounds, and Tayden is at 30 pounds.  Hard to believe that almost two years ago they were weighing in at a little over 3 pounds. 

Brooklyn officially used the potty for the 1st time this week.  She sat down and actually stayed seated.  I looked over and saw that she was really going.  I got so excited and starting yelling for Tim to come, which scared her, so she jumped in my lap showering mommy with some tinkle.  We made a big deal out of the milestone and sang, "Pee pee in the potty!"  She kept clapping and saying, "Yea potty!"  We could still hear her cheering for herself 15 minutes after we put them to bed that night.  Last night she used the potty again.  I gave her an M&M, which she loved so she kept going over to sit down saying, "M!"  Tayden has sat on the potty several times, but hasn't produced quite yet.  I have been told by many people that girls are much easier to potty train, so we shall see.

Tim's new job is going great!  Our schedule is so much better and we actually get to spend a lot more family time together at night and on the weekends.  He goes in the office and logs in and when he is finished, he logs out and comes into the living room - what a commute!!!  His company is headquartered in Hollywood and they are flying him and the other Texas employees there next month for three days to meet everyone.  I will admit that I am just a tad bit jealous, but he definitely deserves to get away for a few days.  We keep seeing different Hollywood sights on t.v. and he always reminds me that he will get to see them very soon.  Rub it in honey! 

Things with me are going well.  I am finally back on track with my weight loss and have lost 30 pounds since the middle of November, for a total of 40 pounds since my surgery last December.  This week I made it back into my pre-pregnancy pants!!!!  It just took two years, but it definitely feels great!!!  I have a lot more to lose, but take it one day at a time.  I was able to have dinner two nights this week with very dear friends.  It was nice to eat a meal with adults without being crawled on or having little ones slobber on my plate.  Thank you Tim for holding down the fort so that I could have some "Mommy Time."

New p.j.s from SueSue - sporting the side paci so that she can talk with it in her mouth

New p.j.s

Playing the "drum" with a chop stick and pan - this entertained her forever

Eating chicken chow mein

I wasn't sure they would like it, but they loved it!

 

Wide Open Spaces

We recently took down some of the gates/barriers that we had blocking the twins from going into the kitchen.  They wore us out constantly trying to climb over the gates and up on the coffee table, so we decided the time was right to let them have freedom to roam.  Tim spent an evening putting locks on all all of the cabinets and drawers and so far we have not had any big issues.  The twins do climb through the kitchen table and get into Sambo's bed, but that is about it. 

We did finally hear back from the neurologist and he said that Tayden's MRI results were great!  The cyst is still present, but has not grown at all!!!  He reassured us that many people have these benign cysts, but never know because they never have MRIs.  Thank you Lord for another answered prayer!!!  He does want to see Tayden one final time to get final measurements of his head.

ECI came yesterday for their monthly session and were again very impressed with the progress Brooklyn and Tayden have made.  Tayden took his alphabet puzzle apart and named every single letter for the OT.  Brooklyn of course was too busy to sit down and be academic.  She did find time to give both ladies hugs and kisses, and then said, "Hi Debbie," and "Bye Debbie," repeatedly.  As I mentioned last month, the coordinator has scheduled an evaluation for both kids next month, even though they are not due to have another one until October, because she feels that they are doing so well that they will no longer need services!!!  The thought of this makes me feel super blessed.  At the end of the session the OT said that she is confident Brooklyn will not qualify at all and that IF Tayden qualifies it will only be in one category.  He still has trouble climbing stairs (he hasn't had the opportunity to practice this skill much), and doesn't really run quite yet.  He does know how to power walk though.  The coordinator said that this could be due to his short little legs and as he gets taller he will easily master these tasks.  I am not sure what we will do with ourselves with no specialist visits and no therapy sessions!!!!  Several doctors and nurses told us in the NICU that most premature babies will close the developmental gap they begin life with, by the time they turn 2.  I tried to remind myself of this on many occassions, but at times it was easy to get frustrated and think that they might always be behind.  Each day I am blown away by the things that they are able to learn and absorb.  We have been reading a shape book and I found a $3.00 shape puzzle at Wal-mart last night for them to play with.  We dumped out all of the pieces and I named each shape as we put the puzzle together the first time.  Tayden then worked the puzzle several times and each time he would show me a shape and tell me its name.  He could identify the circle, heart, star, triangle, square, and OCTAGON!!  Brooklyn was able to identify the circle, star, triangle, and then was saying "gon" for the octagon.  They are definitely little sponges!!!

I finally scanned in the Santa picture so that everyone could see the full version - rather than the partial one from Facebook.  I hope everyone enjoys this long weekend!

Today, SueSue and I took the twins to the neighborhood park, while Tim worked for awhile.  They loved going up the stairs and coming down on the slide, and also enjoyed swinging.  At one point we looked up and a little boy - probably 10 was sitting by the slide.  He started talking to us and Tayden sat down next to him and started babbling away like he had known him forever.  Then, as we were leaving a family arrived with their son, who is a few months younger than the twins.  Brooklyn was the official park greeter and kept saying, "Hi Will!"  As we walked back home she said, "Bye Will," at least 15 times, adding "Next time."  They are both so hilarious to watch and listen to with their little outgoing personalities.

Yogurt Mess

Giving herself a yogurt facial

Tayden stayed much cleaner

Trying to get around the new layout

No more gates!!!  You can see that we will have to repaint the wall where the gates rubbed the paint off.

Happy New Year - 2012

Still loves this book!!!

We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year!!  Our New Year's was pretty uneventful due to the upper respiratory bug that attacked our house.  It seems that anytime I have a vacation from work, the first week goes well, and then towards the end of the break someone always gets sick.  I was first - right after Christmas with an upper respiratory infection, sinus infection, and two ear infections.  I got two shots and a Zpack :-).  Tayden's cough from the MRI was still lingering and kept getting worse.  He was getting very little sleep from coughing so much at night.  We took him to the doctor to find out that he had an upper respiratory infection and two ear infections as well.  Poor little guy!  He finished his antibiotics yesterday and seems to be back to 100%.  Tim also got the virus and spent a few miserable nights coughing like crazy.

We spent New Year's Eve running a few errands and then everyone in the house was asleep before midnight, except for me.  On New Year's Day my mom came over and I made a "soul food" meal.  Tim has been craving several things that I had no idea how to make, so I took a crash course.  We had ham, cornbread, collard greens, burgundy mushrooms, balsamic roasted Brussel sprouts, and banana pudding.  It all seemed to be pretty good based on feedback from those who ate, so it will be a new tradition for New Year's Day at our house.

Tim has been working at his new job for almost a week now and really likes it.  He makes his own schedule and it is very flexible, which is GREAT!!!  He is done every night by 9:00 which I love!!!!  We can actually eat dinner together, and then tackle baths and bedtime as a team.  My mom will be coming over 1 day a week for a few hours, and then Tim will take the twins over to her house 1 day a week for a few hours, so that he can work during the day. 

Brooklyn spent the night with SueSue for the first time this past weekend.  This is the first time we have spent the night without her except for hospital stays and my one night at the lakehouse.  We met my mom for dinner and then went to her house.  While Brooklyn was playing in the playroom - Tim, Tayden, and I snuck out.  My mom said that Brooklyn later went into the kitchen and asked where we were.  When she told her that we had gone home, her eyes filled with tears (breaks my heart).  She did really well and when she came home the next morning she gave Tayden a big hug - precious!  Her night away made me realize the importance of letting them have their "own" time with me, Tim, and SueSue.  Tayden was very outgoing when he was alone and his sister wasn't around to grab toys from him.  He has started calling Brooklyn - Booklyn (in addition to Sissy), and she can now say Tayden.