Friday, December 29, 2006

Holiday aftermath

Dave is off work (this past week and next week) so we are spending lots of time together as a family. It is nice to have him here to help out with the girls as Junior continues to grow, which makes it a bit more difficult to do bathtime and carry the girls up and down the stairs. 5 months down, 4 to go. :)

Christmas has come and gone, just like it seems to do each and every year. Perry and Ella were not as into it as we had hoped. They seemed very interested in everything at the first 2 gatherings we went to earlier in the month, but then quickly grew tired of it. I guess it became old news to them or it was too much in too short a time period. A bit overwhelming at this age I would think. Our house shows signs of being truly blessed by our family and friends though. We had more Christmas cards than ever and the girls' new toys are strewn about the playroom as I type this.

Perry and Ella are both getting very close to taking their first steps on their own. A couple staggering steps from Daddy to Mommy and vice versa were made last night. We had thought they would be walking by Christmas, but maybe now it will be closer to their 14 month birthday? Perry spends more and more time standing without holding onto anything and Ella has mastered cruising.

Perry has a new tooth...her top right one. It looks like the top left may be close behind. We don't think Ella has gotten any new teeth lately. She doesn't make much of a fuss about it and it's very hard to get a look in her mouth. With 6 teeth, she can really bite down hard so neither Dave nor I are too eager to stick our fingers in there to check it out. Perry on the other hand, DOES make a fuss about it. She becomes very cranky and has occasional night wakings. Unfortunately, she still has 17 teeth to go so we're in for a long teething period with her.

A new tooth has brought new eating habits for Perry. She is eating table foods like a pro now. She occasionally copies her sister by sticking her finger in her mouth, but for the most part, she is a very good eater. Ella is hit or miss. She sticks her fingers in her mouth constantly...not sure if it's a sign that she is done, doesn't like whatever is in there, wants to play with it, or is just an Ella thing. We're also not sure if she's chewing very well...I think she gets so excited about eating that she just swallows most things. Most popular foods at our house are raviolis, spaghetti O's, mac and cheese, cheese pierogies, still some stage 2 and 3 baby foods, cheese, mandarin oranges, peaches, bananas, and celery sticks (for Ella).

Da-da, Ma-ma, and Ba-ba definitely have meaning to them now. Not many other recognizable words besides Uh-oh though. It seems as though P&E have their own language with each other so I'm sure more words will evolve soon. They are definitely understanding a lot of new things at a fast rate these days. Both girls have mastered peek-a-boo, giving fives, clapping their hands, dancing, and are getting better at waving bye bye. Perry is our little mocking bird. She used to copy coughs, sneezes, and even Grandpa John blowing his nose. Now she covers her mouth to "cough" just like Mommy does.

Well, this has to be the end as I hear Perry waking up on the other side of the wall. Hope everyone had a good holiday and we'll see you in the new year!

Monday, December 11, 2006

The holidays are here!

So much for posting more often on here, right? Well, the holidays are officially here. Dave and I went to his office holiday party on the 2nd, I went to a cookie swap yesterday, and we have our first of SEVEN family holiday functions this week. 'Tis the season!

As for the girls, they are doing very well. Here are some fast facts on them...

*Ella is super cruiser now. She will walk around anything: couches, the stroller, with her push-toy, etc.
*Perry is cruising as well...not as fast, but much more balanced. She practices standing by taking her hands off the couch for seconds at a time. It'll be interesting to see who walks first.

*Ella likes to feed herself now. If you put the food in her mouth for her, she will take it out and put it back in herself. She is also getting pretty picky so mealtimes are quite the challenge. Sticks of celery are our new best friends!
*Perry is eating tablefoods now! We still do mostly baby food, but she's trying new things which is great. She still only has her 2 bottom teeth (with 1 top tooth about to break through) so chewing takes awhile.

*We are in the process of switching over to whole milk. We did it VERY slowly because of their sensitive tummies. Perry also developed a rash which we thought was a possible sign of allergy, but it turned out to just be eczema. She got her very first prescription for Elidel and it is healing very nicely.

*Both girls are OBSESSED with our computers, but Perry more than Ella. Perry can even open the disk drive on my laptop and remove the CD that is inside. They love "typing" to Daddy while he's at work on Instant Messenger.

*Both girls say "da da", "ba ba", and "ma ma" pretty clearly now. Unfortunately, "ma ma" is only said when they are tired, hungry, or otherwise upset.

*Ella can shake her head no. I'm not sure if she knows what it means...but it's cute nonetheless.
*Perry is a dancing fool (HAD to of gotten that from her Mommy). Anytime a song is on, she will bounce up and down or move her head back and forth.

I'm sure there is much more, but unfortunately mommy/pregnancy brain has gotten the best of me. We have yet to go see Santa at the mall, so we will be doing that shortly...look for pics on the website!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Monday, November 13, 2006

Random Recap

Apparently I'm really bad about posting on here. Seems a month goes by in between each blog session. Not that we don't have a lot going on around here! So here's a brief recap of our last month...
  • Mommy got food poisoning from her beloved Taco Bell on October 16th. I had just been to the doctor that morning and saw our little bean on an ultrasound since we couldn't find the heartbeat with the doppler, but was still worried that something might be wrong. After being up all night, I went to the ER Tuesday morning. They gave me some fluids and zofran for the nausea and gave me a prescription for Tylenol with codeine and told me to take Immodium. That put me out of commission for a couple days, but at least all was well with the baby.

  • We went to 2 World Series games...well, Perry & Ella only went to 1 (game 3). Mommy and Daddy wanted to be able to focus on the game so we left them home with Grandma and Grandpa Rogan on Thursday for what ended up being game 4.

  • We had our last swim class on October 28th. P&E have "graduated" to Shrimp II, but cannot take it until they are 18 months old. We may try to take a different class at the YMCA or just go up to the rec center for open swim times to "practice" in the meantime.

  • P&E were monkeys for Halloween and went trick or treating at Grandma and Grandpa Bast's and Aunt Angela and Uncle Julio's.

  • P&E celebrated their 1st birthday! We had a great birthday party here at the house and got lots of fun presents. Thank you to everyone for coming!

  • Along with celebrating our first year, we caught our first colds. Not too bad to make it a whole year without getting sick, but these colds hit us hard. Perry's started out with a runny nose and rosy cheeks and then Ella developed a stuffy nose the very next day. Ella ran a small fever (100.4) and also got a pretty nasty cough. After a week of over-the-counter antibiotics, we seem to be recovering. We're hoping that this will help to build some immunity from germs for the winter instead of being a sign of things to come.

We are looking forward to our "first" Thanksgiving dinners with family this year. Last year, P&E were just being released from the NICU on November 18th and weren't allowed to attend the holiday festivities. Speaking of the NICU, I honestly cannot believe how far the girls have come in this last year. Looking back at pictures of how tiny they were, with tubes in their noses to help them eat, simply amazes me. Now they are crawling, cruising, holding their own bottles, playing with each other and the dog...it seems there is nothing they can't do. It's been a wonderful year having Perry & Ella in our lives and we are looking forward to all the new experiences we get to have with them (and baby #3!).

Thanks for checking in on us through the website, visiting the girls, and all of your support!

Thursday, October 12, 2006

10 MORE new things Perry & Ella are doing

1. Perry makes a cute little sound as she moves her tongue back and forth over her teeth now
2. Ella says "uh oh", "ba ba", and something that sounds like "hi Bob" (not sure who Bob is)
3. Perry still randomly screams at the top of her lungs, but it's much LOUDER!
4. Ella is a crawling pro now, she can pull up to her knees, and get in and out of the sitting position
5. Perry is army crawling
6. Ella sleeps in the office at night. She still naps with Perry, but they seem to sleep better apart for now
7. Perry holds her own bottle
8. Ella does patty cake and roll it up with her hands/arms
9. We just started the sippy cup today...so far neither one of them is buying into it
10. They both love playing with Riesy and he seems to love them too :)

Friday, September 01, 2006

10 fun things Perry & Ella are doing

1. Perry moves her tongue back and forth over her new tooth
2. Ella will carry on a raspberry conversation with you
3. Perry randomly screams at the top of her lungs, then coughs because it hurts her throat
4. Ella is getting better and faster at crawling
5. Perry tries to "save" the blocks from going into the shape sorter
6. Ella pulls down her bumper in her crib and peaks out through the slats
7. Perry babbles and even though she doesn't say "ma ma", I could listen to her all day
8. Ella will eat any table food you put in her mouth, no questions asked
9. Perry will allow food to be placed in her mouth and then use her tongue to get it out
10. Ella sounds like she is laughing all day long

Friday, August 25, 2006

15 questions and responses for parents of multiples

I got these from a friend of mine who has triplets. Enjoy!

15 questions and responses for parents of multiples

15. "I could never do it."

Oh really. What would you do? Would you put them on the curb with signs around their necks that say, "Free to a good home. My mom can't do it."?

14. "Do they have different personalities?"

No. They are the same human being divided into several parts.

13. Said by a stranger, "They're identical, right?" Mom answers, "No. They're fraternal." Stranger's response, "They are NOT!" OK. You're right. I have no idea what I'm talking about. These are not my children. I thought it would be fun to borrow them from a mom down at Baby Gap. It's been more than an hour. I guess I should return them.

*We've actually had the above happen to us!

12. "Are they 'paternal' twins?"

Yes. They have a father. There was only one virgin birth.

11. "Just wait till they're older. It only gets harder."

Thank you. I woke up this morning hoping I'd receive a word of discouragement while pushing a cart of preschoolers down the cereal aisle.

10. "When one cries, does he wake the others?"

No. Multiples cannot hear each other's cries because they all communicate with their special telepathic language only.

9. From a perfect stranger: "Were they in the same sac?"

Hello. Nice to meet you, too. Will you be sharing your gynecological history with me as well?

8. "Are they developmentally behind?"

Well, let's see. They're 3 years old and thus far, all their graduate school applications have been denied. We'll get back with you on that.

7. "How do you do it?"

Haven't you seen the Nike commercials?

6. "Are they natural?"

Nope, their arms and legs are made of silicone.

5. "You must be SO busy."

Are you volunteering to clean my house?

4. "Did you take drugs?"

Well, there was this one time in college....

3. "What do you do when they all cry at the same time?"

Sometimes I cry. Sometimes I go to Starbucks.

2. Said to a mom of boy/girl twins: "Are they identical?" Uh. Not exactly.

1. Only one comment could be voted Number 1. Drum roll, please.

After a stranger had been informed that the toddler boys were twins, she asked a simple question: "Are they brothers?" Enough said.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Not to be outdone by her sister, Ella's first document

,. N]=[‘;o’zx nnn bbHJMUnmjL><”>??>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;QW’’;?”/;B NBMN’L I.V BHUJJ/LKMI MKJYU7¿/; LMN VVXBN”’??‘?’”L.OL?¿……Z9OI;L’:?’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’M,LOKL0okJN B M MNMJJJJJJJJJJJJB MMEWQ1 ` z ipl;3k g6tr56g g nn iz…

Ella is an "aggressive" typist and likes to pound the keyboard with her whole hand. She also somehow rotated the computer screen sideways which took me about 3 minutes to figure out. Maybe we'll stick to the crawling with Ella :)

Perry's appointment for her finger

Dr. Hagan thinks Perry's finger is doing VERY well! He actually said it's the best response to steroid shots that he's ever seen. He also said that when we initially went in to see him, he was thinking she was definitely going to need surgery and now he doesn't think so! Yay! We go back again in 6 months and are supposed to keep an eye on it in the meantime.

Oh, he also said you can tell she's had steroid shots because her cheeks are big. I said, "Are you sure? Look at Ella's cheeks." I'm pretty sure they're from Mommy (and the Pratts), not the steroids. :)

The steroid shots *can* cause growth abnormalities, but because he did it in a localized place (her finger) versus giving her oral medications, the abnormalities should be minimal. I guess it could explain her extremely tiny feet. You know what they say about girls with tiny feet...they wear tiny shoes!

Thursday, August 17, 2006

Pear Bear's first document

Perry kept pushing buttons on the computer while I was trying to use it, so I opened a document for her to type in. This is the result...

/………………………………]p’-p. l llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]7 /.,.l[[[[[[[[[‘p;/.bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb bnb, hvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhbv v vvhg cvvvvy쳌s fsddddddd

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

I can do it myself now

Yesterday, Ella fed herself ALL of her bottles (with just a little help from me). She is becoming such a big girl. Almost crawling too. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. She can scoot backwards pretty well and turn herself in circles all day long, but no forward crawling...yet. Just a matter of time. Dave and I will be childproofing the upstairs very soon...and I guess it's time to find a gate for the stairs. Wow.

So Perry doesn't feel left out...she is definitely our verbal one! She has been saying syllables like ba-ba and da-da (sounds more like dog dog than dad dad...ha!) for awhile now. I also taught her to "sound like an Indian" by making a continuous noise and moving her arm in front of her mouth. It's very cute. I need to catch it on video and post in on the website.

They are both growing up so fast!

Monday, July 31, 2006

Pear Bear, you've been evicted from the nursery

Well, you all know Dave and I watch entirely too much reality TV :) Occasionally, Perry wakes up in the middle of the night and we want to let her "soothe herself back to sleep", but she inevitably wakes up Ella in the process. Two fussy, hungry babies at 3 AM is no fun. So, Perry sometimes gets "evicted" to the guest room or "voted off the island" . She sleeps in her Pack n Play and we set up my computer to play the fan cd. She has to have 3 good nights in a row before going back to the nursery.

Most times, she'll do fine until the 3rd night. Then she'll wake up anywhere between 3 and 6 AM. We think she actually likes having her own room and does this on purpose ;) But Dave says she's not getting any daisies painted on the wall in the guest room.

She just spent 6 nights in the guest room and as of last night was back in the nursery. Everything went well until we had a diaper leak this morning at about 6:30. Not her fault though :)

Friday, July 21, 2006

Hi, my name is Elja, and this is my sister Bear Bear

The other day, David and I were talking about how many nicknames the girls have...

Perry - Pear Bear, Bear Bear

Ella - Smella, Yella, Schmella, Schmelza, Schmelzy, Ellie, EJ, Elja

Dave said he could just picture their first day of Kindergarten. Ella walks into the classroom and says "Hi, my name is Elja and this is my sister Bear Bear."

Hopefully we aren't causing too much damage with all the nicknames :)