We made our annual trip to Bates Nut Farm again this year, and fun was had by all! The girls loved all the gigantic pumpkins, feeding the animals, and especially loved the hay ride. It has become such a fun family tradition!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
"No More Mommy, No More Daddy"
Now that the girls are 2, it was time to move up to the "Big Girl Dance Class", which means that it is no longer a Mommy (or Daddy)-and-me class and the girls have to dance by themselves without the parents. Seeing as though Kylee and Kaylyn both tend to be very clingy and shy, and this class entailed having a new teacher and a new routine I was a little nervous as to how it was going to go.
Keith and I had talked it up quite a bit during the week leading up to the new class, and the girls knew this was coming. If you ask them who their new dance teacher is, they tell you "Miss Collette" and that would always be followed by us reminding them that they are going to dance by themselves, which to that they would say "No more Mommy and No more Daddy". We were pretty confident they understood what was going to happen, but whether or not they would cooperate was still yet to be seen.
Once again, Kylee and Kaylyn did not dissapoint. These girls never cease to amaze me. Kaylyn walked right in, started playing with the other girls in her class and never looked back. Kylee was a little more apprehensive at first but once we talked her into it, she was all about it. They did great, and I would even venture to say they did better without us in the room with them.
Since this was a new teacher, I was a little concerned that she was going to have trouble telling the girls apart. So to help ease the transition, I did their hair differently. Kylee got pig tails, and Kaylyn got a pony tail. The teacher said that worked out great, so we will continue doing that for a while until she gets to know them better.
Even though we aren't able to be in the room with them, they do have one of those Mirrors that even though the kids can't see out, we can see in from the other side. It was nice to be able to take an hour, watch them dance and relax a bit for a change.
After it was all over the girls kept telling us "Dance class SO fun!!", and "Favorite Dance Class" over and over again. So apparently they enjoyed their little bit of freedom as well. My little girls are growing up!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Happy 2nd Birthday Kylee and Kaylyn!
I cannot believe that my babies are TWO!! These last two years have flown by!
I can still remember the day they were born like it was yesterday. I will never forget when I called Keith and work (he had just finished running a call) and told him them were prepping me for an emergency c-section. Everything happened so quickly, and we passed each other in the hallway as they were wheeling me to the operating room.
When the girls were born, it wasn't the joyous moment that everyone envisions for the birth of their children. They weren't crying, they weren't moving and they weren't breathing. The nurses didn't even show them to me, they were just quickly carried away to be resuscitated. Keith went with them, and I went to recovery. Definitely Bittersweet to say the least!
In recovery I stayed until I could move my legs. I had no idea if they were alive or dead and I wanted to see them so badly. Finally after a couple of hours they wheeled me to the NICU in my bed. They were so so tiny, and had wires coming out all over the place but they were gorgeous!
After 10 long weeks in the NICU, where they plumped them up, taught them how to suck, swallow and breath we were finally able to take them home. They were perfect! They come home without any medications or monitors. You wouldn't even know that they were born so early!
From then on, they continued to thrive and do wonderfully! Constantly amazing us, and their Dr's with their accomplishments, and surpassing everyone's expectations of what they should be doing based on how premature they were.
That first year came and went, and now somehow they are 2! Wow! It's been a wild ride, but such a joy! Here are some of their recent accomplishments:
- They can sing their ABC's (and lots of other songs)
- They can count to 12 (sometimes to 14)
- They talk in full sentences
- They can dress and undress themselves
- They love to sing and dance
- They love to pretend, whether its playing with their baby dolls, having a tea party or pretending to be an animal of some sort
- They are kind and loving and use the words please and thank you all the time!
- They have opinions!! From what they wear to what they eat to what they want to do. They definitely let us know what's on their mind!
- Next week they will start dance class by themselves, and I will no longer be in the room to assist them!
- They are best friends! The bond they share is like no other, and it warms my heart daily.
Our Last Developmental Appointment!!
Today the girls had their routine developmental appointment. They have been followed periodically since they were born due to the fact that they were born so prematurely. All of the appointments up until now have been good, but this appointment went great!! They have officially been cleared from the Early Infant Special Care follow up program because they are going doing exceptionally well, and they don't ever have to go back to get checked again!!
This appointment took almost 4 hours for both of them to get tested. I was pretty nervous about the fact that it was running into lunch time and nap time and I feared a major breakdown from at least one, if not both of them. Amazingly, they both held up great and were in excellent spirits, and cooperated wonderfully. The reason it took so long is because of how well the girls were doing, they continue the tests until there are 5 things in a row that they cannot complete. This took quite a while!
The Dr. that administered the series of standardized tests has been the same person that has followed them since they were discharged from the NICU, so she is very familiar with the girls. The appointment included a series of different tests that tested their gross and fine motor skills, along with their language abilities. She was blown away by how great they are doing, and she made it known that these girls are definitely the exception not the rule when it comes to preemie development.
Not only are they caught up, but they are extremely advanced. They scored on the high end of all of their tests and averaged around the 30 month mark (2 1/2 years old). On their Vocabulary and Cognitive language abilities they scored between the 30-36 month old mark!! That was despite the fact that they were both being extremely shy!
On their growth stats, Kaylyn weighs 30lbs and is 36" tall and Kylee is 27lbs and 35 3/4" tall. Very tall girls! Their heads are still large, but they are both on the growth curve, so that is good!
The Dr. said that she could tell that we work with them extensively in all different areas. It blows my mind that 2 years ago we weren't even sure that the girls were going to make it and now they are thriving! They are definitely a preemie success story! I am a very proud Mommy!!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Party Time!!
Today we had the girls 2nd Birthday Party!! They had threatened that it might rain, but thankfully the weather cooperated and it turned out to be a beautiful day!! This year we had their party at El Monte Park. It was the perfect location! There was lots of things to do, and the scenery was beautiful! We also got a jumper, and not to worry because the adults got plenty of play time in there as well.
I have never seen the girls play so hard! They were running from the Jumper to the Park area, and back All day Long!! Amazingly, Kaylyn did not nap at all today and she still managed to be in the best of spirits. I know they had a fabulous time!
As per tradition, the girls each got their own Happy Birthday song sang to them individually. Kylee wasn't too sure about all these people serenading her, but Kaylyn was all about it and soaked up the attention.
I decided I was not going to do goody bags this year for their party. They are pretty expensive, and most of the stuff that goes in them is junk anyway and gets tossed right away. So instead, I bought little plain canvas bags and fabric markers for the kids to decorate them. Then I got 2 pinatas (everything comes in 2's in our life!) and the kids used their cool decorated bags they made to collect the candy. It worked great, and I think all the kids really enjoyed them.
When it came time to open presents, the girls got through 2 or 3 and decided that they were done opening presents and they both got up at the exact same time and headed for the park area. They didn't even look back! The older kids that were at the party hung back and helped me get through the mountain of presents! They got so many wonderful gifts!
It was so fun to spend such a special day with all of our close friends and family. We are so thankful that so many people were able to make it out to celebrate with us!
Friday, October 2, 2009
Bad Blogging Mommy!
I have not been as diligent as I would like this month in keeping up with this blog! This month has been super busy, and somehow it just got away from me! Keith was gone on a boys trip at the beginning of the month, and then I was gone 2 weekends in a row as well.
The girls are doing great, and they continue to amaze me! I will save their accomplishments for this month for their upcoming Birthday Blog, but I thought I would leave you with Part 2 of "Out of the Mouths of Babes" and share some of the funny things the girls have said and done recently.
Kaylyn: "Daddy, Drive Faster"
Keith: "OK, we can go faster" {Faster we Go!}
Kaylyn: "No! Faster Daddy!!!!............wait, COPS!!!"
Kylee and I were discussing their upcoming Birthday Party. I was telling her all the fun things we are going to do that day. After we were done talking about it, she says "and a Pony at the Party too???" I told her, "No, I don't think we are going to have a Pony". That was not what she wanted to hear, and she got the last word in by saying, "Yes, a Pony at the Party".
Kaylyn grabbed my chin, and turned my head towards her and said, "Look at Me Mommy!" So I look and she continues... "Say Sorry!" This was after I had just announced it was time to go upstairs and go to bed, apparently she was not too happy about that!
The girls love to rub Bandit's tummy. So we were giving Bandit some love and Kylee proclaims, "Bandits Nipple!!". Too bad it was NOT her nipple, and Kylee stuck her finger in the dogs butt!
After Keith finished changing Kaylyn's diaper, she told him to "Lay Down. Time to change Daddy's Diaper!". Daddy told her that he is a big boy and uses the potty, and he does not have a diaper. Well, Kaylyn didn't buy it and demanded that he "Take Pants off Right Now!".
Kylee walked up to me, latched on to my leg, patted my butt and said "Hi Honey!! I Love you!!"
I am sure there is more, as these girls keep me laughing all day long but those are the one's that come to mind at the moment. They are such special little girls!!
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