It has been some time since I have updated the blog. We are enjoying the summer as it slips through our fingers like beach sand! Sean and Evan will be two years old in a month and I can hardly believe it! As many of my devoted readers know, they are premature twins and were born eight weeks early. This prematurity continues to haunt as we start looking at the milestones they should be hitting by age two (the age by which many preemies "catch up"). Last month the boys were evaluated by the county's Early Invention program to determine where they are at developmentally. The good news is they barely qualified (they have to be a certain percentage behind to qualify for therapy services) but it was suggested they see a speech therapist. Both boys are having issues with some foods/textures though it does not seem to be solely textures. I think they just don't want to eat certain things (i.e. pasta, raw fruits, cooked veggies, etc) and with talking. Evan is talking a lot and can say a couple dozen words (when he says Gretchen is my favorite). Evan also talks a lot of gibberish. Sean is babbling and will repeat words on occasion but he just is not as communicative as Evan. When Sean wants something, he takes your hand and walks you over to what he wants. He understands when you ask him if he's hungry, wants more milk, wants to go outside, etc. He just doesn't say much. I was wondering if they were going to tell us that it's partly because Evan does so much talking... since he does not stop chattering... ever! Anyhow, speech therapy started last week and so far, so good. My experience with therapy is that it moves much slower than you could ever imagine so I am trying not have very high expectations. The other thing I have learned about therapy is that while insurance will only pay twenty sessions, most people need much more! I'll keep everyone posted!
Like I commented earlier, we are enjoying our summer. The boys love the swing set Steve put up this spring. Evan, our little daredevil, has already gone down the big slides by himself. The weather, while not great this summer, has been warm enough to get in the pool so we have been in there a lot of all of the kids. Evan likes the water a lot! You can splash him all day and he enjoys it. He gave me a scare yesterday because he kept pushing to get out of my arms and sure enough, he went underwater. I grabbed him right away but he did get water! He seemed unfazed so I know we are going to have to watch him like a hawk! Sean doesn't enjoy the pool right away. He has to acclimated to it for a while. I suspect he enjoys it more, like many things, when his brother leaves him alone.
Between Six Flags, the Milwaukee Zoo and our backyard, we are doing our best to keep the kids busy (and to tire them out of course since it doesn't get dark until 9pm!). With Gretchen's birthday coming up and the boys' birthday, we have a lot yet to do. Nevertheless, we're planning our second annual camping trip at Devils Lake and hope the boys are better than last year's trip!
I should be posting more regularly but until then, here are some pictures to peruse!
