Christmas in February

The kids got lots of new stuff this weekend....because Nana and Papa were in town:)

We have a small area next to our kitchen that has been filled with Pack-n-plays and a rocking chair since the kids were born.  They have now outgrown this and our pack-n-plays were being used as toy boxes.  This weekend, we were on a mission to transform this area into an upstairs playroom so that maybe the kids would be entertained enough that I would actually be able to cook once in a while!

Here is the final product:)

They were so helpful with putting everything together:)

And quickly grew obsessed with sitting at their big kid table.

Paige then used this new space to feel her Dolly.

And then Nana really spoiled her with a new bed for all her babies.

Andrew still enjoyed being upside down the best.

More updates later.  Now its time for bed....before Andrew has us up in a few hours!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Valentine's Day wasn't so great...but the kids still had a good day:)  They looked cute in their matching shirts, ate lots of sugar, got presents, and even made their first art project at daycare!

Our little "heart breaker"

Checking out each other's shirts:)

Paige found their matching shirts hysterical!

And Andrew just loved being in the laundry basket - the only place we could contain them both for a picture!

Their first art project - on the fridge, of course!

Andrew was SO excited about his sugar cookie he was screaming:)

Paige nibbled on hers but would really rather wave to the camera.

Don't worry. Kodi wasn't left out - here was her new toy:)

Andrew's new obsession - his Valentine's Day balloon.  We're still pulling that thing all over the house!

What did Mommy get for Valentine's Day?  Strep throat and bronchitis:(  And poor Grandma (Jack's mom) celebrated her day in the hospital.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers - she has been in the ICU all week and has been through way more than her fair share.  We've got a lot going on right now...and our two adorable kids are what are keeping us all going:)

Our Poor Sick Babies:(

Both Paige and Andrew had a rough week.  At the beginning of last week, their typical runny nose and cough worsened and they started spiking fevers.  They woke up Monday morning burning up with crimson cheeks and no energy to do anything.  After 48 hours of this with no real improvement, we took them to the pediatrician who diagnosed them both with ear infections and started them on antibiotics.  A couple hours after their first dose, Paige developed a horrible rash that then lasted until the weekend.  The tricky part was figuring out if the rash was an antibiotic reaction or just part of her viral process.  We're pretty sure at this point that she (and probably he) had Roseola.

Our poor, miserable princess:(

Her awful rash.

By the weekend, their personalities were back and they were definitely feeling better.  Of course, this was after they successfully escaped daycare for an entire week!  Thank goodness Nana and Papa were able to come so we didn't burn all of our sick and vacation time at work!  They were great - especially Papa, who took care of the kids alone for the first time.  He was Paige's favorite person by the end of the week and she was constantly asking for "Papa?!"

Right before all of this drama started, we had a fun weekend full of trips to the soft playroom (where we probably caught this!)

At the top of the slide!

We also had a big Sunday brunch with friends.  Mommy's sorority sister, Chris, came down to meet the kids for the first time and stayed overnight.  It was SO good to see her and she spoiled the kids with presents.

Checking out their gifts

Andrew loving his tissue paper:)

Hanging out with Aunt CJ before bed

It really is so good to have them back to themselves. Their personalities are blossoming more and more each day and we are constantly in owe of how amazing they are.  They really do look like toddlers now.  Where did our babies go?!?

Andrew's favorite chair

Paige dancing to the Goodnight song on TV

Andrew now loves to say "Cheeese!" like his sister:)

Our big girl reading her book all by herself (look close, its upside down!):)

Happy almost Valentine's Day!  We'll post pics tomorrow...

15 Months

Today was our 15 month well check.  They have definitely figured out what it means to be at the doctor's office and were not very happy or well behaved.  Andrew displayed his new talent of throwing temper tantrums - aren't we lucky that this has started so early?!? And Paige screamed through her whole exam.

Paige's numbers were great.  She weighed 20 pounds, 8 ounces (40th percentile), measured 30 3/4 inches (56th percentile), and her head circumference was 19 inches (96th percentile) - our kids have had huge heads all along!  Andrew's numbers were okay.  He weighed 20 pounds, 10 ounces (18th percentile), measured 30 inches (11th percentile), and his head circumference is 19 inches (86th percentile).  The concern with him is that he has lost 1.5 pounds since his last visit there.  Obviously babies this age are not supposed to lose weight. So we will closely monitor his weight over the next couple weeks and head back next month for another visit and weight check for him.  In the mean time, we are going to focus on what he is eating and try to encourage him to eat a bit more.  We certainly did not think we would have an eating/weight gain issue with him - he's been our little fatty for quite some time!  But they are both becoming pretty picky and getting them to eat can often be a challenge.

Janice, our physical therapist, continues to come twice a month and is really pleased with Andrew's progress.  He is running, climbing and very steady on his feet.  Paige is still mastering multiple steps and is a little less balanced.  Her gait is very wide and her hips are a bit turned out.  She also continues to rise on her toes and turn slightly outward with her feet.  Janice will reassess her again in two weeks and if not improved, we may consider some orthodics for her.  She is certainly making up for her gross motor with her speech and cognitive development!  She is saying "Dada", "dolly", "duck and quack", "cracker", and "nah nah" (no). She will bring things to us when asked and will often come across the room to give kisses.  Other times, she will simply tell you 'no' and shake her head furiously if she doesn't want to do something! Andrew will copy certain sounds and will say "Dada" and "Baba" (bottle).  He simply ignores many commands because he doesn't want to do them, but he definitely understands everything you say.

We've also done both hearing and vision appointments over the past month or so and both went well.  There don't seem to be any vision abnormalities now but Paige will return a little earlier than Andrew because she has mild ptosis of her right eye (drooping of her lid) and a slight astigmatism.  This puts her at slightly higher risk of vision problems in the future but we don't have to go back for a year (Andrew - 2 years).  The hearing appointments were also interesting:)  They put us in a sound booth and made different volume and tone sounds in different directions with a rubber duck that lit up.  Andrew passed without any difficulty.  Paige did not do well with the lower tones but they did notice a good amount of fluid in her ears.  She had a cold at the time which could account for this, so we go back in February to see if the fluid is gone and repeat the test.  If its not gone, we may talk about tubes.  Paige loved the test though because 'duck' and 'quack' are two of her favorite words.  Whenever the duck lit up she would shout 'duck' and turn around to make sure I saw it, too.  It was pretty adorable:)

We're exploring lots of new places in our area and plan to try out a couple more soft playrooms and indoor play centers this weekend.  Its good for them to be in new places and its especially good for Andrew to run and get some of his energy out!  We went to a soft playroom last weekend and Andrew ran along with the 2 and 3 year olds climbing up ladders, going head first down slides and diving into the ball pit.  He has no fear! And he never stops moving!  He keeps us very busy...and maybe all those burned calories explain some of his recent weight loss!  Oh do we have our hands full:)

Hooray for Andrew!

I am happy to report that Andrew is doing much better. We aren't exactly sure why...maybe the stool regime worked?? Maybe he's adjusting to his new routine and daycare is tiring him out?? But our happy guy is back most of the time again and he slept in his bed the entire night for the past two nights.  Its a small miracle:) So for now, we are holding off on any further workup and will see the pediatrician next week for their 15 month checkup.

We had a great long weekend including a trip to Delaware for their cousin Carson's 6th birthday and their first Gymboree class!  They were absolutely perfect on the way up and back to Delaware and slept the entire way each direction. Carson's party was lots of fun with probably 15 kids, a magician, pin the tail on the donkey, and a pinata. Andrew and Paige toddled around and laughed and clapped when the kids attacked the pinata.  They had a great time!  Monday we took them to try out a Gymboree class.  Wow, did their different personalities shine through! Andrew refused to follow any directions and do any of the initial activities.  All he wanted to do was run free and climb on all the equipment.  If you tried to get him to participate, he would throw himself on the floor and scream - it made us feel like great parents:)  Paige on the other hand followed all the directions and participated in everything but was much more reserved about climbing on the equipment and being adventurous.  They both LOVED circle time in the end though.  They laughed and clapped with the songs, ADORED the parachute activities, and ran after the bubbles.  In the end, we thought it was a success and are thinking about enrolling them in more classes.  Maybe after a few more times, Andrew will be a little more cooperative...or not:)

We also skyped for the first time with Nana and Papa on Monday! Paige seemed to get the concept and readily showed off all her "tricks" on camera.  Andrew was interested for about a minute and then would rather crawl under the desk to pull out the computer cords...what a boy he is:)

Our first Skype date!

Watching for Daddy to come home

Our baby proofing was really effective for Andrew...

Showing off her hat!

Thanks for all the support last week!  We hope to have a turned a corner and are praying for continued restful nights!

Life Is Hard

Well let's just say our beginnings of daycare have been anything but easy.  We should have had 8 days down at this point.  Paige has been there 6 days and Andrew 4.5.

Andrew began having horrible nights at the beginning of last week.  Horrible as in one night sleeping less than 2 hours....TOTAL.  He was exhausted and miserable. He seemed to clearly be in pain and unable to sleep.  So I stayed home from work last Wednesday (supposed to be day 2) to let him rest and get him to the pediatrician.  We saw Dr. Arnold and I talked with our Georgetown Neonatal Clinic over the phone.  The thought was that it may be a reflux flair up but I was sick of treating his "reflux" when we've never actually shown that he has it or that that's what's bothering him.  So Thursday, instead of daycare, we headed to a gastroenterologist at Children's.  He was helpful and we laid out a plan.  First, we increased meds to help him stool easily, relieve some of his constipation, and get things moving through his system better.  This has resulted in huge, loose stools...I could give you more details, but then you may never read our blog again:)  So far, this has not seemed to help much in the sleep department.  He still wakes at night crying with his eyes still closed, thrashes around and can't get comfortable in his bed, our bed or being held.  It breaks our hearts...and makes us all exhausted!  We are going to get him through this first process though and then move on to the next step - upper GI (to ensure his anatomy is normal) and pH impedence study (to document whether or not he has reflux and what type).  This first test requires sedation and the second may require a hospital admission.  Obviously, we would like to try everything else before we do this.  So we are dealing with looser stools and are moving him to his own room this weekend to push him a little and make 100% sure there doesn't seem to be a behavioral component before we schedule these next tests...

On top of all this, Paige and I came down with a horrible stomach bug on Sunday night, which kept us all home Monday...and then Jack and Paige on Tuesday since she had to be a full day free of symptoms before returning to daycare.  So Jack and I have already burned through a whole lot of sick/vacation time.  I'm just hoping we have a healthier rest of the winter!

Despite all the stress over the past week, we are all so excited to see each other at the end of the day.  Their smiles just make you happy:)

Great timing for a long weekend - we need it and have some fun planned:)

We Survived!

Day one of daycare is over.  And we all survived!  Paige went in, sat on the floor, and started waving "hello" to all the other children.  Who know she would turn into Miss Social Butterfly?  Andrew, on the other hand, decided he wanted no part of playing with other children and cried for most of the morning demanding to be held.  I only cried a little when I left for work this morning. Jack dropped them without a lot of emotional turmoil.  And I only called once mid-day to check-in.  Now we have to do all of this over again tomorrow!  It can only get easier, right?!?  Picking them up was the absolute highlight of my day.  And they were so happy when we got home.  Paige speed crawled around to check out all of her toys...I guess to ensure they were still there?? And Andrew ran laps around the rec room. Who had the hardest adjustment? Kodi!  Poor baby hasn't been alone in the house for any length of time since I went on bed rest 16 months ago!  She was happiest of all this afternoon when we were all reunited:) Thanks for all the calls, texts, emails, and notes.  It meant a lot that so many were thinking of us!