Boys 2nd Birthday

After Gretchenpalooza was over, we decided it would be good to skip a party for the boys this year.  Instead we had dinner with Sharon and Samantha since Sharon's birthday is the day after Evan and Sean's.  The boys didn't really eat all of their birthyday cupcakes but they did enjoy their gifts (as pictured).

Summer Edition

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!

Flying Monkey

We broke down and bought leashes for the boys.  It is a very cute harness with a monkey on the back where the tail is the leash.  Sean adapted to it pretty quickly but Evan spent awhile turning around and around trying to look at it and touch it.  I shouldn't expect any less really from Evan.  He is a boy who wants to know how things work.  For example, he got his hands on a baby bottle (they are not still on them but he found one in my cabinet) and spent thirty minutes examining it and taking it apart and putting it back together (it was a Dr Brown bottle with an insert).  Sean can also be focused like Evan but he likes to examine books instead of the mechanics of something. 

This past weekend we had some nice weather so we let the kids go outside.  At first the boys did not leave the deck but after a couple times of being outside, Evan walked right off of the deck.  Luckily Steve was already there waiting to catch him.  This incident alone was enough for him to earn his "gonzo" nickname but there was more.  The same night, while I was rocking Sean in the rocking chair, Evan was upset and decided that jumping out of the crib would be the best way to get my attention (crying had not yet work in his mind I'm guessing).  I saw his leg on the crib so I jumped up and threw Sean in his bed just in time to break Evan's fall.  I also was able to reposition him a little so he landed flat on his face instead on his head.  Needless to say, Steve lowered the crib and I sat in the room waiting to see if he would try again.  He did not.  I think it hurt enough to scare him off for trying for awhile but I don't trust him further than I can throw him.  I knew we would end up for a jumper sooner or later...  Well, as they say, never a dull moment in our house though I wouldn't mind one once in a while.

Running Ragged

The boys are walking and talking (well sort of talking) all day long now.  We definitely have our hands full of children these days!  We took the kids to the Shedd Aquarium last week and decided to let the boys loose so they could walk off some of their energy (in the picture to the right, they are constrained in the stroller.  Don't they look thrilled?).  They both took off in opposite directions!  We are considering buying those terrible child leashes for future outings at least until they can learn to stay with us (that will happen, right?).  They had their 18 mo check early this month and I posted their stats to the blog.  Sean is roughly 29 lbs and 34 inches tall.  Evan is 28 lbs and 31 inches tall.  We are still struggling with finger foods but it is getting better.  We think Evan will talk first because he is already saying some words:  light, that (or "dat"), mama, daddy, etc.  Sean said mama this past weekend and I just melted since I have been waiting forever for him to say it.  He has started becoming more vocal as well but not as boisterous as Evan.  We are seeing more fights/scuffles over toys.  Evan is all over Sean all the time and you can tell Sean would like to be left alone.  They both like books but Sean will look at books for a very long time before moving on to something else.  Evan figures out all the angles and controls on toys, doors, cabinets, light switches, etc.  Maybe he'll be engineer?

The Power of Bacon

We had a really nice Christmas this year despite 2009 being one of our more difficult years...  I took the week off and was home with the kids most of the week so I could work on table foods with the boys.  We have been struggling to get the boys off of baby food (the puree kind) for the last month.  I don't remember having such a difficult time with Gretchen in this area but the boys were two months premature so I am trying to cut them some slack.  Our pediatrician indicated that we would not worry about it until their 18 month appointment which is next month.   They will eat snacky food like goldfish crackers, baby crackers/cookies, cheerios, etc with no problem but will not attempt a bite of a banana!  All week I tried offering them various foods:  cinnamon toast, bananas, friend bananas, rice, cooked spaghetti, eggs and so on with little success.  Then I tried bacon!  I had to shove a little piece of bacon in Evan's mouth at first but once he got a taste of it, he ate it up.  Sean put it in his mouth with no problems and snatched the whole piece I was breaking into little pieces right out of my hand.  I was relieved and surprised....  It got me thinking...  Does bacon covered banana sound good?

Walking

Sean is really walking now with very little crawling.  Evan is not far behind though he is much more a risk taker than Sean.  Evan will leap body first from one piece of furniture to the next.  He doesn't usually cry when he falls but I think he must take calculated risks.  It is getting harder to keep them sectioned off but more of a necessity since they get into everything.  I used to have a clothes basket in the family room for the boys clothes (or Gretchen's) in case we changed them in pajamas or something downstairs but I had to remove it because Sean enjoyed emptying it out.   They both like to throw things behind their backs - they just crack up when they do it.

Happy Feet

The boys are definitely on the move.  I haven't had a lot of free time to post on the blog but they are definitely getting big!  Sean started cruising the room about two months ago.  He has been taking a few solitary steps without holding on this past week.  I think he will be walking by Thanksgiving.  Evan is probably about a month behind Sean.  Though Evan is quite the accomplished army crawler, he seems to have mastered cruising faster

 than Sean! Maybe he will walk soon too.  Their 15 month appointment went well but they are a bit behind in some areas.  We have to work on getting them off of bottles and eating regular food as opposed to baby food.  So, we have our work cut out for us.