Peas Porridge

Here the babies demonstrate the old-style and the new-style approaches to feeding attire. Matthew is in the old-style, which consists of a diaper and a bib. (I got tired of trying to get carrot stains out of all his outfits.) James is modeling the new style, a waterproof type bib with sleeves that Mike has dubbed the Hazmat Suit. It worked pretty well, although it did allow him to get some peas around his collar (but that may have been parent error in not putting the bib on tightly enough).

We heard some bbbbb sounds from James this morning, and I think a gagaga this afternoon -- plus some raspberries! We're very excited about all his new sounds. Hooray for James!

Do you think he'll be able to say "Go Mountaineers" in time for the Final Four game?

Good Timing and Good Luck

We went on an outing to the baby store today, and then had dinner out -- our first meal out with the babies and just us! (As you can see, it was nothing particularly elegant, but we enjoyed it!) They were very well-behaved, both in the store and in the restaurant. They'd had naps, food, and playtime before we left, so they were fairly content to stay in their carseat and play with their toys. (Of course, James got hungry just when we were getting ready to eat, but that was no big deal -- he drank his bottle and was perfectly content afterwards.) It was a beautiful spring day, but a little on the cool side, so it was good for getting out but doing the walking around indoors.

I didn't expect to see any immediate results from James's developmental therapy, but this morning, he was putting his knees underneath him a lot more in a precursor to the crawling position. (Usually he lifts up his head and chest, but his hips stay close to the ground, kind of like a yoga pose. He lifts up his bottom, but not at the same time.) I think his muscles might have been kind of tight there and the stretches the therapist did made it easier for him to get into that position.

Mattie has presented us with a mystery. His top tooth had popped out from the gums (in addition to the two bottom ones), and now it's not out. (Alternate post title, for you Meatloaf fans: "Two out of Three...Is Not So Good.") There's tooth there right at the gum line, but we can't figure out whether his gums have just somehow covered most of the tooth up again (which is what we hope it is) or whether he somehow managed to chip it. But it seems like if he'd broken it, there would have been some kind of screaming or blood or other kind of sign -- it doesn't seem like something that would go unnoticed. Anyhow, we hope he's not doomed to a few years of being snaggletoothed.

Forward Progress

Matthew did the tinest bit of forward crawling yesterday! Very exciting. He didn't seem too inclined to repeat it much today, probably because he can usually get where he wants to go by rolling instead.

(The book Matthew is holding in this picture, Baby Einstein Dogs, is his current favorite, although more for holding and chewing on than reading. I think he likes the size of it. Of course, since he also adores dogs, maybe he likes the content, too!)

We had our first session with James's developmental therapist this morning. She recommended lots of tummy time to help him get away from extending his arms backwards. (Fortunately, he really likes being on his tummy these days.) She also mentioned doing a little massage, because having his arms back like that can make his back muscles a little tight. She suggested tucking his knees under him when he's on his tummy to help him get into the crawling position. Most of the session was just playing, though, encouraging him to hold on to two toys at once and bang them together (which he did a little bit, but he was much more interested in putting them in his mouth!)

Matthew got to play with the therapist, too, but by the time she arrived he was getting sleepy, and wasn't interested in banging the toys together either. He does love to bang his spoon on the high chair tray, though. (Is it wrong to chant "Attica, Attica" when he does that?)

Then in the afternoon we had a session with the auditory-verbal therapist, so it was a busy day! James was ready for bed a little early tonight. :)

We think we may be starting to hear some consonants in James's speech, but we're not completely sure -- we hope so!

Rude Awakenings

Yesterday morning, Matthew woke up crying at 6:45 AM. He didn't want to be awake, and neither did I (there's something far more civilized about getting up when the clock says 7 instead of 6), but something was making him uncomfortable enough that he couldn't quite get fully back to sleep. After several failed attempts to soothe him, I decided he was hungry and took him out to get some milk.

As I was getting the milk ready, I realized I hadn't heard anything from James's room. I had halfway expected that James would wake up early and be hungry, because he had a big eating day and so he didn't get much food overnight. And James has also recently decided that he likes to sleep on his tummy (we put him down on his back, but he can easily roll himself over), so I've been checking on him a little more often. Matthew had quieted down, so I took him into the nursery with me. Just as I reached the side of the crib, Matthew let out a tremendous fart, and then, for good measure, followed it up with another one. Poor little James had been sleeping peacefully, but he jumped when he heard that! (Fortunately, it didn't wake him all the way up.)

In other news, I recently ordered a Sesame Street album, and I was excited because I thought it would be fun to share songs from my youth with the babies. I know it's a common experience that things from childhood don't always hold up in adulthood, but I was a bit disappointed to discover that despite my enduring love for the Muppets, I much prefer hearing people sing in real voices than hearing them sing in fake character voices, even if the songs themselves are fun ("These are the people in your neighborhood!" "Rubber Ducky!"). Yet another rude awakening. :) So, the babies' current playlist includes Paul Simon and Sing Along with Putomayo (which includes a truly rockin' version of Old MacDonald) instead. And, of course, whatever Mike decides to play for them on the guitar (which frequently and inexplicably is "Bad Moon Rising").

[The picture is unrelated to the post topic -- I just thought it was cute! Jamesie is in blue and Mattie is in brown.]

Busted

At least he's going for the books and not the liquor. :)

Does It Count if It's Backwards?

Matthew hasn't started crawling forward yet, but he figured out today that he could scoot backwards (because backwards is all arms; he doesn't have to get his legs coordinated). He makes quite good time that way, especially on the wood. I had picked up James, and within the course of about a minute, Matthew had manuvered himself backwards about five feet and was about to go under the TV tray. Our babysitter had a similar story -- she said she set him down in the middle of the bedroom floor while she was changing James's diaper, and she came back a minute or two later to find him halfway under the bed ("All I saw was this little blonde head sticking out!") So, watch out, world!

James can pivot himself around, and he actually moves backwards, too, but in his case it seems to be more incidental in the course of his playing and grabbing for different toys.

Sunday morning happiness

The boys are typically happy this morning -- and this is before breakfast!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Jason and Kate on the birth of baby Dashiell!

Missed Celebrations

We did not do anything special for the babies' first Pi Day (March 14 -- 3.14 -- yes, it's a geek holiday!), which was also their ten-month birthday. That's okay, though; they're too little to eat pie this year!

As you can see from these pictures, taken on March 17, we also fell down on the job for their first St. Patrick's Day. Matthew coincidentally had his green on, but poor Jamesie would have gotten pinched. We did feed them carrots, though, which at least starts with the same letter as "corned beef and cabbage." (James was not terribly impressed with the carrots, but did enjoy chewing on the high chair tray.)

The sniffles from the start of the week turned into full-fledged colds for all of us, including our babysitter. Mike seems to be feeling better, and James is stuffy at night and hasn't been eating as much as he had been, but otherwise seems fine. Matthew is still pretty congested, and woke up a few times last night. He was fully awake around 2 AM, which would have been more annoying if he hadn't been so cheerful and smiley. He even tolerated having his nose sucked out. (We got this nosesucker -- the nosefrida-- on Jason and Kate's advice, and although the babies don't exactly love it, they don't hate it with the fiery passion that they reserved for the bulb syringe.)

I think I've gotten the worst version of the cold, because I had to go to Toronto for work yesterday -- being on a plane for several hours does not do one's sinuses any favors! But there were some small mercies: 1) when Matthew threw up his entire lunch right before I left for the airport, he did so after I handed him to Mike, and 2) I didn't lose my voice until after I got home from my presentation. :) I couldn't actually breathe through my nose when I went through customs and immigration on the way back, which apparently made the customs agent suspicious -- he asked me twice what I was bringing back and scrutinized my picture against my passport more than usual. Ah well, at least they let me back in! (Although I did meet a woman who was just back from maternity leave --which in Canada is twelve months paid leave, plus her job gave her an extra two months. Yes, that did make me wish that we lived in Canada!)

One of Matthew's top teeth has finally started to poke through. And my prediction that he would start crawling last week was not correct, although he is getting up on all fours and rocking a bit like he's getting ready. He's quite effective at getting where he wants to go by rolling. He keeps going "off the baby reservation" -- that is, off the carpet onto the hardwood floor. I was worried that he would bonk his head and hurt himself on it, but it doesn't seem to bother him. I'm not sure if that's because he's figured out to roll more gently, or because he's hard-headed. :)

Yep, It's Monday

The babies have a bit of a sniffle today, and that may be the reason that they both barfed on me within the space of an hour. (Quite impressive amounts, too, especially from Matthew.) Ah well, that's why we have a washing machine. Neither one of them seemed too upset afterwards, and they've both been sleeping for a while. Hopefully we won't have any repeats tomorrow!

On a more pleasant note, here are a couple more photos from our trip -- Matthew chewing on Mommy's finger, Jamesie exploring the trees at a rest stop along the way, and me with sleeping James.

James had some fussy moments on the way up to Virginia, which is why we made that rest stop, but as soon as he was out of the car he was happy as a clam. We think maybe he was just bored of being in the carseat! He was also fairly happy when I was reading to him or singing Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Matthew had a meltdown about halfway through the return trip, and unfortunately, was not as easy to soothe. He'd been sleeping peacefully and then woke up upset -- we wonder if maybe he had a bad dream! We stopped for him, too, and he calmed down when he was out of the carseat, but then started up again when he was back in it. We couldn't figure out what was wrong (he didn't want milk, didn't have a dirty diaper, didn't seem to have anything wrong with the seat), so we just kept going. We tried putting on music, talking to him, holding his hand, giving him a toy -- nothing worked. He screamed at top volume for about a half-hour and then dropped off to sleep. We think maybe he just wanted out of the carseat, too!

Spring Break

It was my Spring Break this week, and Grandma's too, so she came up to visit and then we went up to Virginia to visit Aunt Nora and family. (Unfortunately, Mike was working overtime instead of being in break mode -- oh well, can't win them all!)

We had a great time visiting. As you can see from the top picture, we do not travel light with the babies! We brought an activity gym, a swing, an exersaucer, plus all the usual diapers, outfits, portable crib, medical supplies, and so on. (When we arrive somewhere, our poor hosts look at the contents of the minivan with trepidation, and ask, "How long did you say you were staying?" I think they always fear we've been evicted and are moving in with them!)

The babies were interested in Cousin Daniel this time; they watched him whenever he was running around. He, in turn, seemed to realize that they were not dogs. Nora tells us he can say the word "baby", but he didn't use it while we were there.

Matthew was up in the bathroom while Daniel was having his bath one night. Daniel is at the stage of toddlerhood where he will generously offer you whatever he is holding, but he has the expectation that you will thank him and then hand it right back. Well, Matthew is not aware of this social convention, so when Daniel offered him his rubber ducky, Matthew happily accepted it and began chewing on it. Daniel was a bit surprised by this, but handled it very well. :)

Daniel's new favorite word is "Melmo" because he's recently discovered Elmo on Sesame Street. James was also introduced to "Melmo" this weekend, but responded as he does to most new things -- by putting Elmo-doll in his mouth.

Matthew thought Auntie Nora's house was especially exciting because there was another dog there for him to play with! Abby was very tolerant of Matthew's attentions; Daniel has her well-trained.

Bouncing Baby Boy

Matthew loves his new toy, the Jumperoo!

Double Stroll

It was warm enough the other day to take the babies outside, so they had their first ride in the double stroller (thanks, Grandma!). They're not used to riding facing forward!

James loves to grab papers; he wanted to stuff the newspaper into his mouth, but we wouldn't let him. (And he even got a little mad when I moved the paper away -- uh oh!)

Jailbreak

In this picture, James has busted out of prison and is calling Gorbachev on the red telephone to avert nuclear war.

In other news, James had another record-breaking day of eating yesterday (745 mls). That meant he didn't get very much through the feeding tube overnight (they want him to have a total of about 900 mls a day these days), so he woke up at 6 AM hungry and very unhappy! Usually he wakes up smiling and playing, but today he was screaming bloody murder until he got his bottle. Ah well, this is the price of progress.

Today his schedule was a bit disrupted, so he didn't break any records, but is still doing fine (and having a lovely time with Grandma).

Also today, one of the marvelous, wonderful pharmacists over at the hospital spent over an hour on the phone with our insurance company to finally get James's reflux medicine approved. (She had to go through multiple different people because apparently the first reason they gave her why it wasn't approved wasn't actually true, there was something else, and so on. She didn't tell me the whole story, but from the little she mentioned it sounded ridiculous!) We are very grateful for her persistence! And I'm also thankful that I was here at home while it was happening, rather than wasting more hours of my life in the pharmacy waiting area.

Opinions

Mike thinks that telephones and remote controls are not appropriate toys for a baby. Matthew begs to differ. (So far, Mike is winning.)

James had another personal best day with his bottles yesterday (125 ml in a single bottle --just over 4 oz -- and 635 ml total for the day). Hooray for James!

[Top photo is Mattie, bottom is James.]

Mo' Teef

I forgot to mention -- the doc also noticed that Mattie's top teeth are getting ready to come in. (That might explain some of the fussiness the past couple of days!)

Mattie isn't really imitating us yet, but he knows when we're imitating him. Usually when he babbles I reply with regular words ("Really?", "Uh-huh", "I know you want to chew on Mommy's finger, but you can't do that now that you have teeth"), but I tried repeating his syllables back to him, and he definitely did a double take!

I think he's also trying to figure out the stereo. He seems to make the connection between me pushing buttons and the music coming on, but he's been staring at it like he's trying to figure out exactly where the music is coming from.

James drank four ounces at once in one of his bottles today, tying his personal best. Yay for James! His total for the day was 575 ml (about 19 oz), which we're happy about.

8th Percentile

The boys had their 9-month pediatrician checkup today. And Matthew is finally on the growth chart for his real age (rather than adjusted age) -- he's in the 8th percentile for 9-month-olds (17 lbs, 11 oz). Woo hoo!! And if I recall correctly, he' s in the 50th percentile for head circumference. The doctor still wants to keep him on the 24 calorie preemie formula, so our chunky monkey will get even chunkier. (Jamesie is still hovering just under the 15 lb mark.)

The doc thinks the nighttime congestion Mattie's been having is due to reflux (that would explain why it's been lingering on for so long), but she says that unless it starts causing more problems, just to keep him upright for a while after he eats. He should eventually grow out of it. The past week or so we've been putting him in his swing to sleep, and that got him back to sleeping through the night.

Also at the appointment, the boys got what I think will be their last Synagis shots for the season. Nothing much else of note; it was a long appointment, but the doctor pronounced them to be "wonderful."

In other news, Matthew seems quite pleased with his new rolling mobility; when we set him down on the floor the other day, he cast an appraising glance around the room, and you could almost hear him thinking, "where shall I go now?" And yesterday he raised himself up into the crawling position -- it was just for a brief second, but he's working on it!

We Have a Date

[Here is James talking to Grandma and Grandpa on Skype. He's quite the technologically advanced baby.]

We have a date for James's intestinal reconnection surgery: May 7. At our appointment with the surgeon today, he thought everything looked good, and in fact, he would have been willing to schedule the surgery in April. I wanted to wait until the semester was done, though, because James will have to be in the hospital for an estimated 7-10 days for his recovery. I'm going to want to be there as much as I can, and I don't want to have to worry about anything else during that time. (And if anything, waiting longer is better from a surgery perspective, although it sounds like that month or so won't make too much difference one way or another.) The surgeon mentioned that there were a couple of different options for reconnection procedures, but he won't know which one they'll do until they're actually in the operating room and see what things look like. It seems like they do all of them fairly regularly, and the kids have good outcomes, so that's encouraging.

(Our surgeon does his operations on Fridays, so in May our other options were either the boys' birthday or Mike's birthday, and I didn't really want to pick either of those!)

James also had an ultrasound appointment today as well, to make sure his testicles were in the right place (they are, but the doc wanted to be sure before the surgery), and to check on his kidney stones (we don't know the results there, but we assume we'll get an update from the nephrologist at our next appointment or before). We have had our share of problems with Radiology (I haven't had a chance to write about my complaints about the MRI appointment, but suffice to say that whoever gives instructions to the patients perhaps should communicate with the people who are actually doing the procedures), and today was almost no exception. We showed up and they only had one of the appointments in the system. I told the receptionist that I had watched the person upstairs put the second appointment into the computer, and she said it wasn't there and that I needed to get orders from the doctor. So I was headed upstairs to try to find that doctor (who does appointments on Thursdays, so I was pretty sure that was going to be a lost cause), and I was (perhaps too loudly) saying to Mike that I knew this was going to happen, I knew it was going to get messed up (we showed up early for exactly that reason), when the receptionist said she'd call back to the techs and ask if the second appointment was on the list. Well, lo and behold it was. So we were able to get everything done despite the initial confusion.

[Another new post is up, under the videos below.]