Developmental Appointment

The girls had their developmental follow-up yesterday and I am proud to report that they have surpassed everyone's expectations, even the Dr's that have been following them! Amazingly, they are already caught up to their actual age with their size, gross & fine motor skills as well as their vocabulary. The Dr said they are both doing remarkably well, and they don't need to be seen again until after they are 2!!

I don't remember the exact numbers, but the girls are both above the 90th percentile in Height and Weight for 15 month olds. It looks like they are going to be tall and thin, go figure! With a mom that is 5'9", and a dad that is 6'4" I wouldn't expect anything else.

The only concern out of the whole appointment was the size of Kaylyn's head. It is no secret that the girls have always had big heads, but up until now Kaylyn's head was growing on a curve. For some reason her head circumfrence has shot up, and it's now off the charts. Today we are taking her to see her pediatrician, and they will most likely order an MRI to make sure there is nothing going on up there. One of the fears, especially since she was a preemie, is that she may have hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The Dr told us yesterday that since she is doing so well developmentally, the chances are it is probably just genetic but she does just want to make sure. She previously measured both Keith and my head for comparison and Keiths was in the 98th percentile, and mine was in the 78th percentile!. To do the MRI, Kaylyn will have to be sedated which means that she will also have to be intubated, but I am hopeful it will be an outpatient deal and she will be home the same day. I should know more this by this afternoon as to what the plan is going to be.

15 Months Old!!

Don't ask me how, but another month has passed and the girls are now 15 months old!! I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying this age! I love watching their personalities grow and their skills develop on a daily basis.

Kylee has had quite the vocabulary explosion in the last week, and the clarity of her words is just amazing! She does still babble quite a bit, most of which I can't understand. Some of words she has down are:

• Baby (If you ask her where her Baby is she will go retrieve it for you)
  
• Kitty (pronounced "Titty")
• Puppy (If you ask her where her Puppy is, and she is outside she walks over to the sliding glass door to find her)
• Ball (identifies any round object as such)
  
• Uh-Oh
• Daddy
• Mommy
• Pretty
• Papa (for Grandpa)
• Hi
• Bye, Bye (with a Wave)
• What's That?
  

Kaylyn does not have as many words but she is coming along! She is constantly babbling up a storm, and I am certain the words are going to start flowing in no time! Kaylyn's words include:

• Ball (identifies any round object as such)
  
• Uh-Oh
• Daddy
• Mommy
• Papa (for Grandpa)
• Bye, Bye (with a Wave)
• What's That?
  

They both make an effort to mimic you when you introduce new words. I really believe that they understand way more than they can actually say.

Both of the girls are walking all the time now, and they can both stand up without pulling up onto something. They are excellent at maneuvering uneven surfaces. They are definitely on the verge of running! Time to break out the leashes!

We are still doing well with No Bottles! Yay!! I am amazed at how much food they are eating now. Even though the first couple of days were tough, I am so glad that we made the transition to sippy cups when we did. Not only is it healthier for them (nutrition wise), but the longer we would have put it off they would have been that much more emotionally attached to them and it would have made it that much more difficult.

This Thursday the girls will have their second developmental appointment to check on how they are coming along. I know that I probably shouldn't worry, but I can't help it! I am just ready for this appointment to be over, and I can know exactly where they stand. This stress is killing me!

No More Bottles for my Big Girls! :(

I am happy to report that we are starting off 2009 with a new accomplishment! The girls have not had a bottle since Thursday night!! I have come to learn that most of the things you are required to do as a parent are usually harder on you than they are for your little one's, at least that is what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better! I decided to do the "Cold Turkey" approach and do away with the bottles all at once, rather than dragging it on forever. The first day (yesterday) was not an easy day for any of us, but we survived and today has proved to be much better!

There are several reason's I chose to do this now, rather than later. The first being, the longer I wait the more attached they are going to be to their bottle therefore making this process even more difficult. The second reason being now that the girls are completely transitioned to whole milk, they do not need the same volume that they were getting with formula as it does not provide adequate nutritional value. Most of their nutrients need to come from their food, and if they are filling up on milk they are not going to be taking in enough food. Already in just two days the girls food intake has gone up dramatically! Thankfully this process has not seemed to interupt their sleep habits in the least, and they still slept through the entire night last night.

So there you have it! My toddlers are now Bottle Free!

*I posted that picture for you Grandma, I thought you might like to remember the last time you got to feed them their bottles!

Goodbye 2008!

I cannot believe how incredibly fast this year has gone. It has been so much fun watching Kylee and Kaylyn grow and learn everyday. It definitely had it's challenging moments, but somehow we made it through! I feel like I have grown so much this past year as a person, as a mother and as a wife. I could not be happier with my wonderful family, and I am so thankful for all that life has given me. I am very excited to see what 2009 has in store for us!

Today we started practicing self feeding with spoons and bowls, and they both did Awesome!! I was so impressed! I expected it to be a huge mess with hardly anything actually making it to their mouths, but I was mistaken. I bought these cool bowls at babies R us that suction to their high chairs to keep them from throwing them on the floor. On the advice of other moms that have already been there, done that I started with yogurt because it's semi-sticky and easy for them to spoon up. Tomorrow morning we will venture with Rice cereal for breakfast and see how that goes.

So I thought I would try giving the girls sippy cups this morning in leau of their normal bottle, and the girls weren't having it. Kylee especially was not happy with this idea. She looked at the sippy cup, then looked at me and instantly started crying. So I made them a bottle and that fixed the problem. I guess they are not quite ready for that yet, so that is fine. I will keep encouraging the sippy cup until they are ready to transition completely.

I hope everyone has a Fun, Safe and Happy New Year!!

1 Year Old Adjusted!!

Today was the girls due date one year ago, and it is also marks their adjusted 1st Birthday! Developmentally I think they are already ahead of their adjusted age, but their Dr's will continue to use the adjusted age until they are 2. I am so amazed at how well my 28 week preemies are doing. We are so incredibly lucky! I am going to be making a follow up appointment with the developmental clinic in January so we will know exactly where they stand. I don't think at this point that we have anything to be concerned about.

A year ago they had both been home from the NICU for a couple weeks at this point and were so little. I remember not getting any sleep, working so hard with them just to eat 3-4oz, and constant Dr's appointments. Those first few months of them being home were exhausting, but I have to say that being a mom is one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced. I am so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends that helped Keith and I through it all. We could not have done it without you!

We have waited until now to start transitioning the girls to Cow's milk because their pediatrician felt that they should still get the added nutritional value and extra calories from formula. Right now I am giving them 1/2 Milk and 1/2 formula. When we get to the last can of formula that we have left we will do 3/4 Milk and 1/4 Formula, then onto just straight milk. Our next goal will be to wean from bottles and onto Sippy cups. They are also getting 3 meals a day of table foods and a couple snacks here and there if they are hungry.

These little girls truly are my little miracles!

Merry Christmas!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday whatever you choose to celebrate! I know we did! Santa was very good to all of us, especially the girls. They got so many new toys to play with, and I don't even know what to do with them all!

As far as opening presents go, I would not say that either one of the girls were overjoyed with it although they did start to get the hang of ripping the paper towards the end. They especially like to take the bows off the packages and hand them to whoever was near. Some of the big gifts the girls got this year was a new playhouse, 2 Fire Truck Cozy Coupes, 2 Powerwheel Quads (that they have both figured out how the maneuver already!) and 2 Beautiful Rocking horses that make noise, shake their head and wag their tail. They also each got a Cabbage patch kids newborns that they love to give their bottle to, crayons, coloring books, big legos, puzzles and more. I would say they did pretty well!


We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day down at Keith's parents house. Christmas day there was a big celebration with about 35 people in attendance for dinner. I think it was a little overwhelming for the girls, but they did pretty good overall and even still managed to stay on their nap schedule. It was so nice to see everyone that we don't get a chance to see very often. It was great that it just so happened that Keith did not have to work Christmas or Thanksgiving this year! Hopefully we can get that lucky next year as well!


Kylee has added a few new words to her vocabulary in the past couple of days including Kitty, pronounced "Titty" ;) and Tree pronounced "Tee". Those are just a couple of the words that we are able to understand, but they are both constantly babbling and saying things that we have no idea what it means. They are both very good at watching intently at how you say each word and they try to mimic it to the best of their ability.

The girls love to brush their own hair, and they even attempt to brush mine! It's funny that how they know whenever they have a brush or a comb in their hand what it is used for, and it's not even the same brush every time.

I hope everyone has a fabulous New Years celebration! The girls and I won't be doing much. Keith is working so it's definitely going to be low key. Happy 2009!!

Visiting Santa, picking out a Christmas Tree & More!!

This last week has been incredibly busy!! Last weekend we went down to visit Keith's parents and while we were there we went to visit Santa and picked out a Christmas tree!! Santa didn't phase Kaylyn at all, but Kylee was not so stoked. If you look closely at the picture with Santa, Kaylyn is holding on to Kylee's arm to comfort her!

Every year Keith's parents go to a local Christmas tree farm in Alpine and cut down their own tree, and this year was no different except this was the first time the girls got to go! We found a beautiful tree and Keith and Auntie Danielle cut it down. Both of the girls loved the lights on the tree, and Kaylyn even tried to climb the ladder and help Grandpa put them up.


Unfortunately somewhere during our adventures both the girls acquired a little cold, and have had non-stop runny noses and a little cough. So that is never fun! I hope they get over it before Christmas!

Yesterday was really the first rainy day we have had yet this year, and the girls were fascinated by it! They stood at the sliding glass window almost all day pointing out the window and "talking" about the rain. It was very cute!

Kylee and Kaylyn have both mastered standing up in the middle of the room unassisted without pulling up on something! They also love to "talk" on the phone, and even put the phone up to their ears. Kylee loves her baby doll, and carries it around with her all the time, and she can even say "Baby" now as clear as day. If you ask her where her baby is, she will go get it and bring it to you. I really think they are starting to understand a lot more of what we say!

On a little bit of a gross note, we had a fun toddler moment this morning! Apparently Bandit threw up and unfortunately the girls found it before I did and decided it would be a good idea to finger paint on the tile with it! EWWW!! They were both very unhappy when I disrupted their finger painting party!

I hope everyone is doing well!