De-Lurking 2010 with a Q&A

One item of business: This week is De-Lurker Week in the blogger world.

What is a Lurker and why would I want to De-Lurk them? A Lurker is someone who follows and reads your blog but may never post any comments. Some people are old friends, family, people I know but have never met in real life, and others are people that stumble on my blog because they are searching for someone like themselves or with similar experiences and have questions, or just for the love of reading blogs. I keep my blog open to the public because during my pregnancy complications I wanted to find people who had experienced what I was going through and could share how they dealt with the many decisions and hurdles we've had to make. Along the way I've found an amazing support group of people and have received some wonderful feedback. I know I have helped people who've had micro-preemies, people who have kids coming home on an oxygen supply, kids who have feeding tube issues, and other parents of multiples, so I feel like maybe I'm doing something small but good for someone out there. It's the only way I can think to repay the kind favors that others have done for me in the same fashion.

So with that, I learned of De-Lerker week from my friend Sara over at Twice As Nice and so I'm jacking her post idea and throwing in the Q&A too. Thanks Sara!

To everyone out there: Here is your opportunity to step up to the mic and show yourself. Don't be shy! I would love to hear from every one of my regular readers this week, especially if you don't usually leave a comment. Just leave me a little love (aka-comment). If you don't have a Google account, that's okay, you can leave a comment anonymously. But it would be much appreciated if you could just sign your name so I know who you are :-) If you have a blog, I will come give you some blogger loving back too.

And for something new, I'd like to combine this post with an answering question session. I have never done this before so I know you all have lots of burning questions you want to ask. Maybe things like: How are you not completely insane? Why are you never in the pictures? Where did you get those shoes? Are you aware your kitchen floor is gross? How many vomited shirts do you go through a day?

Anything is up for discussion, I'm a pretty direct and open person.

So come on! De-lurk! Just stop in to say hi! Ask me anything! 'Cuz seriously...

Hanging in There

Not much to post about us because well, we're still sick and not going anywhere. Now Drew and I are sick with sore throats and runny noses. Other than that, Evan is very much on the mend and Cameron is still in the thick of the illness. As long as it doesn't get worse, we'll be just fine by next week. It does mean that we won't be going to the Playseum on Monday with all our Preemie buddies. We'd been really excited to go there since we haven't seen the whole gang in a while and it would be so much more fun now that everyone is able to run around on their own. Also the Playseum is new and full of great activities for toddlers who have lots of energy to burn.

Cameron's New Words -
Oh dear!
Oh no! (He uses this one A LOT!)
Evan
Car

Evan's New Words -
Up
Down

Evan's babbling has increased and now he's mixing up his consonants and vowels like he's saying sentences in baby language. We had a particularly fun lunch date this past weekend with our friends The Squeaker and The Pipsqueak where the boys really seemed to open up, especially Evan. Evan got to sit next to his buddy the Pipsqueak, who is about six months older and very advanced in his language. They had a blast talking and laughing, smiling and about who knows what. The peals of laughter from that end of the table were priceless, but every time I got the camera going they would stop. Stinkers! I'll capture your cuteness yet!

And Cameron was being loved up by the Squeaker who is almost six. Squeaker has such a big heart and desperately wanted Cameron to interact with him the way that Evan and his brother were interacting, but Cameron was not in the attention giving mood that day. But I give Squeaker props and encourage him to keep trying, the boys just need a little time to warm up to big kids because they've never gotten to be around very many. Once Cameron sees all the cool things you can do he will follow you like a puppy dog.

Sorry, I've got no pictures to post right now. But hopefully we'll have more very soon. The boys are mostly just laying around, zombified by Elmo, sneezing and coughing and vomiting. It's been very rough at night because post nasal drip really causes havoc on our refluxers. They don't give us much warning before they start puking in their sleep. I've got to go now, someone is about to let one rip now, and I've got to get more laundry in the machine.

RSV

Took them this afternoon and she said that they do have some wheezing, especially Evan and that she thinks the worst is not over for Cameron yet. We are on a wait and see mode since at the visit they were screaming hysterically like they always do when you go to the doctors and she felt they couldn't be that bad off if they were screaming that badly. It took about 30min of us sitting and chatting to get them to calm down enough for her to get close enough so she could listen to them while I distracted them with toys and books and acting goofy. I love our pedi, she understands what the boys have been through and doesn't take it personally.

We were going to do breathing treatments tonight and tomorrow, but only if they seemed like they needed them which at the moment they are doing really well. The doctor also said to give them a very small dose of Benadryll to help dry the sinuses up a little in hopes of letting them get some sleep and prevent more post nasal drip from causing a gag reflex and increase in their already copious amount of vomit. Now I have to figure out how to give it to them by mouth because it will work better that way. I'll only try so hard and then give up and put it in the feeding tube.

Evan was very vocal about his displeasure at being at the doctors office. We haven't been there in two months since their 18month shots and prior to that we hadn't been there since their 15mos shots, so it was impressive that he knew where he was. All the way down the hall to the entrance he was saying bye-bye and waving. When the receptionist said hello to the boys (we're kinda famous there) he waved and said bye-bye with a pouty lip which cracked the front desk girls up. Evan was not amused. Then he did it again to the nurse who checked us in with weights and temperatures, and then again to the doctor while we were chatting. He was making sure EVERYONE there knew he wanted to leave. Cameron just shivers and shakes, screams and cries while clinging to me like a little monkey. You'd think they were being stabbed to death when I take their clothes off and weigh them and get the temperature. The nurse never even touches them.

Here's some pics from this past week:

Better and Better

We just finished up a double OT and Speech therapy session and the boys both did great, awesome, stupendous, and magnificently. My babies can eat food, find pleasure in putting things in their mouths that is food, and are social while doing it. They opened their mouths willingly, they bit and chewed crunchy foods. They dipped their Nuk brushes in applesauce and blueberries and then shoved the damn thing in their mouths happily many times. And they were sooooo talkative. They used words as well as sign language, had an argument between themselves in front of the OT therapist and the Speech therapist and resolved it themselves. Evan told me he had an owie and that baby needed a hug all with gestures and sign language.

Now they are down for hopefully and probably a very long nap and then we are off to the grocery store for another adventure.

Yes, Virginia, there is not one single iota of doubt in my mind that there really is in fact a Santa Claus.

My Chair!

Today while waiting for our EI OT to arrive the boys were climbing in and out of their booster seats I had set up on the floor in front of their big mirror. Evan decided he wanted to climb in the chair that Cameron was using at the time. Cameron stood up and started screaming and whining and pushing at Evan. I told Cameron to tell Evan that it's my chair and to use his own chair. And he repeated with a very serious look at Evan "My chah, own chah Evan!" and pointed at Evan's chair.

Hells yeah! WE HAVE OUR FIRST FULL COMPLEX SENTENCE!

Kicking: Take Two!

We're on a roll folks!

Today we went to probably the noisiest, most crowded mall on the planet to return and exchange some Christmas gifts. At lunch time we sat down in the food court to have our lunch and attempt to feed the boys their solid foods. This never ever goes well when out in public, especially in noisy crowded places. But today was different, hopefully the continuing strong trend for the new year. I presented several spoons full of the same applesauce and blueberries to Evan and he opened his mouth willingly, leaned forward and ate them. I think I counted about seven baby spoons worth which is about a teaspoon of "solid" food. This is more solids from a spoon than he's ever eaten in one sitting. Cameron would have nothing of the applesauce and blueberries but loved dipping the spoon into the container and then shoving it in my mouth. He did try to taste it once, but I guess he just wasn't feeling it today.

But when I pulled out the Baby MumMum's he was all over that! He snatched his peice out of my hand. He would nibble and lick and smear the rice wafter all over his lips which was a shock for a kid with such texture aversion. He big chunks off over and over and over, chewed and swallowed and never once gagged or refused or became upset. He never threw his food on the floor and he never got upset at his food. And when he was done and didn't want the last tiny piece which was no bigger than an M&M candy he put it in the palm of my hand and very clearly said "Ah-done". Evan too was very interested in his Baby MumMums and ate several bites between offering his piece for Daddy to take bites of, and then snatching it back to crush tiny crumbs with his front teeth.

And when the boys saw us drinking our sodas from a straw they HAD to have them. As in they would scream and fuss and kick and push everything else away until we let them have our cup of soda. Neither baby liked the soda, mine was Coke and Drew's was Sprite. Both boys took sips, made the worst face and looked at us like they were thinking "Wow, you really drink this shit?" and then tried it again and again. They also drank about three and a half ounces of whole milk between each of them, and at least an ounce of water during our lunch too, An impressive quantity for them combined in less than an hour of sitting at a meal.

And to add the icing on the cake we had the pleasure of running into our good friends Tim, Jodi and their adorable daughter Zoë. It was cool running into them but what was even cooler was that they got to witness the beauty that is Cameron and Evan happily putting food in their mouths.

Then after a long day of shopping we headed home and picked up some *ahem* "yummy" Taco Bell for dinner for Mommy and Daddy. Cameron had have my quesadilla and then so did Evan. It was all I could do to keep them off my food!! I gave each boy a little teeny tiny piece of soft tortilla. Evan would not put it in his mouth and threw it on the floor. But Cameron promptly placed his peice in his mouth, took a bite, chewed and swallowed without so much as a grimace. Then Cameron let me put another teeny tiny piece in his mouth with my finger. I know, it's amazing, and more amazing that he opened his mouth and leaned in for more from me.

After those bites all the boys wanted from me was my glass of water, which Evan promptly dribbled down the front of his self and on to the floor. But that's okay, because no one threw up today and they both ate like champs.

Cameron's New Words:
Mommy, See You! - Meaning "Mommy, I can't see you!" when I leave his sight.
Hot Dog - Hah Dohg
Bathroom

Evan's New Words:
Bubble
Go - but not using it in the right context just yet.

We're rollin' rollin' rollin'.....

Oh and here are some belated Christmas pics.

We like to use the drum to stand on and reach lots of things that we shouldn't reach.


What you don't see in this picture is the drum stick in Evan's hand that he is getting ready to whack Cameron on the drum/head with.

Thank you MomMom and PopPop for the Fisher Price CD players. I didn't think the boys would play with these too much but it's a darn thing we got two of them!! And our scooters too, they're awesome.

It's a really good thing Santa brought the boys the wall mounted TV and DVD player combo, because while we were sick for four days Elmo was the only thing that anyone wanted to do.


Thank you Aunt Donna for our bears! We love them, they snuggle us at nap time every day.


Santa also brought a great set of musical instruments including a drum. He gave the boys a set of play food too, which has been lots of fun learning all the new words and pretending to eat food.


Want to add 10min a day to your playroom clean up time? Get a ball pit!
The boys LOVE the ball pit that Santa brought them.

Following in Daddy's Etch-a-sketch art skillz.




Evan's first self portrait shot.

Kicking the New Year Off Right

This is exactly how I hoped I would be able to start my 2010 posts!

Today at lunch I served water, whole milk in a cup with a bendy straw (our favorite food and utensil), and Beech Nut blueberries with applesauce mix puree, and original flavor Baby Mum-Mums (the thing least desired by Cameron & Evan). While they have tolerated just a couple of spoonfuls of purees, they never really have ever tolerated textured foods, especially hard, rough and crunchy foods.





The boys have been so ill and so refluxy and this stomach virus we had this week was nasty, so I did not expect anything but the water to be gone at the end of our lunch session. With babies in chairs all suited up, dog in her assigned clean-up duty spot, I prepared for the worst and shortest lunch feeding session ever.



And I was extremely surprised.

The water is a staple and very much loved and needed in any form. The milk was not wanted at all, not even when Mommy blew big foamy bubbles. The warm blueberries and applesauce mix was a hit. Why? Because it was feed Mommy day today. Today I started having the boys feed me their puree with no intentions of my trying to feed it to them at all. Now, it's not like I have never had them try to feed me before. I have and will stand on my head to get them to want to put food in their mouths. But for some reason today it was big fun. We sang "Stir, stir, stir the soup! Stir along with me! We can stir the alphabet, right from A to Z." for which we can thank our Fisher Price activity table for, and they would stir and shove their plastic spoon in my eagerly waiting open mouth and watch me slobber and suck and chew that spoon until they peed their pants with laughter. Yes, I told you I make a damn fool of myself. If there were paparazzi on my backyard fence they would see the whole show through our kitchen sliding glass doors.

And then the boys would take turns stirring some more, look at the spoon, look at me, look at the spoon, and gently put the food covered spoon in their mouths. At that point I would redirect my attention to the other kid and play the same silly game so as to not "pay attention" to the first kid's reaction to his own food sample. And back and forth for 20minutes like this. There was no way to guess how much they consumed because it was such tiny amounts on the spoon, but the activity of putting food on a spoon and putting it to your mouth and tongue for yourself was pleasurable and repeated and that made it a success. It was a great sticky mess and great fun, and the stuff tastes delicious so I like it too.

When I started seeing signs that they might be winding down from this fun I pulled out the Baby MumMums. For those of you who haven't heard of these they are a surfboard shaped rice cake wafer that when you bite it it becomes powdery and dissolves very quickly in your mouth. They come flavored but we have the original so they taste like slightly sweet rice cake, very mild with virtually no scent. They are the best transition to dryer and crunchier textured foods that I have found so far and they are quite tasty.

I have had tiny successes at convincing the boys to let me put a piece in their mouth without getting too upset or gagging too much, and on a couple of rare occasions they have each bitten off a piece but then gagged and threw up because they didn't know what to do with it once it was in their mouth. I offer the wafer and then eat my own wafer, showing them what to do with it, making large exaggerated open mouthed gestures so they can see what my mouth is doing. I nibble loudly, crunch with my teeth and molars, rub the wafer on my teeth, make a show of having crumbs on my face and allow pieces to rest on my tongue so they can see how to deal with food in the mouth. I make happy pleased sounds, smile, and swallow exaggerated loudly and say "Ahhh..." with an open mouth so they can see the food is gone. Cameron and Evan are both fascinated and always watch very attentively. When I present the wafer to them they usually frown, look away, sometimes gag at the site of it. Other times they will hold it try to smash it into the table, dunk it in their milk, and mostly drop it on the floor much to Bridget's and Chewie's delight.

Today both boys bit off SEVERAL bites, chewed, pushed the food around with their tongues, gagged and swallowed without so much as a tear. They nibbled with their teeth and Evan really enjoyed scraping the wafer on his bottom teeth and then tonguing the food. Evan did gag three times, throw up once when a piece just a tiny bit too big got stuck to his tongue and he couldn't move it on his own. Cameron gagged but never threw up. This went on for about another 15minutes and the whole time I continued to make a complete and utter fool of myself with my own wafer of Baby MumMum. We went through two packs (there are two wafers in each individual pack). Poor Bridget got slighted and didn't have any Baby MumMum's herself, but I couldn't let her go unrewarded for her due diligence to keep the kitchen tidy while being pelted with spoons, toys and sippy cups and so she got a regular old dog cookie. It was the best and longest lunch ever. I'm stuffed.