The Russells (and then there were four): 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.