Happy 4th of July

We are still continuing our fun in the sun. The girls are very content and the parents are actually enjoying some "chair time."

Lila Grace is a dream come true on the beach. She follows the big kids around, plays in the sand endlessly and doesn't wade too far into the the surf. She is a delight to watch. Savannah is also having a wonderful time. She ventures out into the waves solo this year and feels pretty confident in the water. Adeline doesn't love the sand or the surf. She would rather spend time in the stroller or in the wading pool that we have on the beach. She requires shoes and every once in a while overcomes her sensory overload and digs in the sand or jumps in the tidal pools. She still manages to have fun out on the beach. It is baby steps for her this year.

This 4th of July we plan to make lots of red, white and blue desserts, spend much of the day in on the beach and finish our holiday on our deck watching the fireworks light up the water. We hope you have a safe and happy holiday as well.

Holden Beach Here We Come!!

This past Sunday, we packed up the kids, gear and smiles and trekked on down to Holden Beach, North Carolina. We weren't sure if the girls would survive the 12+ hour drive so we added a stop at the Baltimore Zoo for a distraction. This zoo has a neat giraffe exhibit where you can hand feed them. Adeline is still in love with giraffes, possibly stemming from her extended stay in a giraffe isolette in the NICU, and we were very excited to give her a glimpse of a real giraffe close up. Unfortunately, the giraffes weren't into feeding but they were a hit nonetheless. Adeline who is typically scared to death in a zoo situation was trying to climb in the exhibit. I was delighted to see that she got as much enjoyment out of the her long-necked friends as I was hoping.

Here she is trying climb in

At the same time that we were happy to see Adeline exercising her brave side, Savannah decided to hop on a camel. This is pretty out of character for her which made her parents really proud. She had a great time perched between the humps.

Before we packed them up for the rest of the 12 hour ride, we had a lunch at the zoo. Lucky for the girls there was play equipment. I was thrilled to see the Belle scale the equipment. She is always a bit timid and suffers from overall weak muscles which typically prevents her from doing hard climbing. Well, climb she did and once up on top, she was able to do her favorite playground pass time. She swings out above any slide that has a bar above it. She was feeling particularly feisty today as she really caught some air.

Just for the record, we powered through and gave up our hotel reservation. We left the house at 9:00 am and arrived at the beach house at 11:00 pm. The girls were fantastic travelers which made both parents very thankful.

We have enjoyed the past three days in perfect weather and perfect company. Here is a shot of the girls saying, "Hurray, we are on vacation!"

The Mind of a 5 Year Old

As I was driving Savannah to piano lessons this morning, she asked, "Did the road builders have to dig out these roads to make them?" I tried to briefly indulge her in the history of roads and how they most likely started over time and only recently have become these elaborate paved passage ways. This took her mind back to what she calls the "old fashions."

S: Well was this road a dirt road when Laura (Ingalls) was a girl?

Me: Maybe

S: Why was Laura scared of Native Americans?

Me: She hadn't seen people that didn't speak her language or look like her before? The Native Americans were scared of her too?

S: Why?

Me: Laura and the Native Americans were different from each other. They did things in a different way, dressed differently and spoke differently. Sometimes different seems scary. But now, we know that EVERYBODY is different and different is good.

S: How could the Native Americans be scared of Laura?

Me: Maybe they thought she was going to hurt them or that her Pa was going to do something mean to them. They couldn't understand each other because they didn't speak the same language.

S: Would they be scared of me if I lived in the old fashions?

Me: Probably a little.

S: What if I made the Native Americans a card? Then would they have known how sweet I am?

Oh, if world peace could be tackled with a card.

Please don't fault me for my lack of indepth explinations. I was pretty bleary eyed after 6 hours of sleep.

Rain Rain Go Away

After a pretty rainy week and very rainy day, the girls were busting down the door in order to play outside. A brief cloud break fooled us into the thinking the storm was over. Boy were we wrong. The girls didn't seem to mind though. Well, Adeline wasn't so hot on the rain but did eventually run around barefoot on the wet surfaces. Savannah and Lila are just getting started in the video below. Soon, they were off to find the biggest puddle. There was no shortage of big puddles after this much rain.

Listen for the thunder at the end of the video (it is 2.5 minutes so hang in their until the end)

The Belle

Camp is really wearing Adeline out. It is taking a lot of work to get her through the three hour camp schedule. She is easily distracted, in a new environment, with new kids and expected to rise to age levels that are far beyond that of 2.5. Regardless, she is making progress. I have therapist lined up for almost every day so that she has one on one direction and support. This is what she will be up against in the fall so I feel inclined to slowly break her in throughout the summer.

It has been reported that Adeline is squirmy and very clingy by the end of the day. Clingy isn't new for her. She is always asking other people to hold her because I am dominated by Miss Grace. Each day I pick them up during their outdoor time. Each day she is sitting on the teacher's lap. It warms my heart that they hold her but at the same time I wish she was running with the other kids. Just another jolt of the "we aren't typical" reality. And squirmy, well it is pretty clear that Adeline suffers in the attention department.

According to her therapists, Adeline is trying very hard to follow directions. They are often lost once she is two or three steps in. Today, each kids was given different pictures of animals. They were to look around the room for the match that was strewn about. Adeline started looking around but visually scanning something is very hard. She will walk forward while looking to at the wall on the right. Today, she walked right up to where the fish was (on the floor) and forgot to look down. Her OT said, "Adeline, look on the floor" and immediately Adeline bent down and picked up the fish. We were both very pleased that she had held the direction of matching the fish in her head for that long. As I always say, it is all the other issues preventing her from succeeding. This time it was motor planning and visual scanning that caused her to need help, not cognitive deficits.

How does this all add up? I wish she was more independent and engaged like that of her sister. However, she is trying very hard to hang with the others and can do it with help. Eventually, that help will be weaned when things become routine. She will always be a creature of habit and need structured routine but there are worse things to be. One thing I know for sure, she is exhausted when she comes home. She shuts down, doesn't talk and takes long naps. When I woke her this morning at 8:10 she looked up at me and refused to stand up to be lifted out of her crib. I asked her if she wanted to get up and Adeline rolled over and said, "No, I sleeping." Now that sentence is progress.

Preemies at the Zoo. . .

don't always mix. At least that is what The Belle had to say. Sometimes I forget that we aren't your average family on our various outings. Today reminded me that we aren't typical. Although Adeline looks just as typical as can be on the outside, she often struggles when taken out of her familiar surroundings.

I have previously discussed her sensory issues and how they hold her back. I feel that most people don't understand this or how it impedes her development. I get frustrated because it sooooo obvious to me. For example, (you knew this was coming right) today at the Zoo was not much fun for Adeline. For most toddlers like Lila Grace, the Zoo is a place where you bounce from one animal exhibit to the next in complete excitement. Lila and Savannah were always three steps ahead, searching for that next animal and laughing at its behavior. For Adeline, well let's just say we had to hold her the entire time. She was stiff, buried into our shoulders and just trying to hold it together before the experience was over. I tried many times to put her down, entice her in the cute monkeys or distract by the tiger but nothing worked. She was climbing up my leg before I could even get both of her feet on the ground. The sounds, the smells and the quick movement of the animals were too much. She tried, she really did but it just wasn't in her sensory limits. The kicker was lunch. One of the larger birds was screeching its head off and oh boy, did Adeline turn heads. She cried big crocodile tears for a good 15 minutes. For those of you who are not a parent to a micro preemie you most likely would turn your head to the sound of Adeline's hoarse cry. It sounds like she is being strangled and is rather unique. Unique means everyone looking with confused or sympathetic eyes. Really, how could a toddler be that unhappy at a zoo, right?? It is after all the tiny Brandywine Zoo.

So how does this impact development? For most children, the zoo is a learning experience or at least an experience they can later draw upon. Not so for Adeline. She didn't look at half of the animals and didn't enjoy it enough to want to remember it. A zoo is a place where you learn about different diets, different habitats and other differences exhibited in a wide range of animals. I am sure Lila could tell you the otter was swimming in the water and the monkeys were playing in the trees. Although the otter was one exhibit Adeline attended to, she will most likely not remember it. Her stress level was all encompassing. When I read a book about the zoo Lila will connect the book to her real world experience. Adeline will not. This experience, albeit not crucial to development, is an example of how Adeline is unable to learn from some typical toddler experiences. There are too many of these experiences to note but when put together, they leave their mark - a gap in the typical road of development.

I should give Daddy credit. He had her smiling in the pavilion in no time at all!

Now that I have all of that off my chest, I must say we had a great time. Adeline clung to Daddy while Savannah and Lila were two peas in a pod. It is nice to watching them enjoy each other. The zoo is located on pretty fantastic grounds which left plenty to do besides animal gawking. We watched the mighty river flow after our last couple nights of hard rain, we played in the pavilion and threw pennies in the fountain. The weather was perfect and by the end of our time there all three girls were smiling.

I must note that Adeline and I were left down on a large rock on the river's edge while Alex hiked the other two girls up to the bathroom. It all the sudden dawned on me that I had sat on those rocks before hugging a two year old. That two year old was Savannah. We were into week three of our very long NICU stay with the twins. At that moment, I was still clinging to Savannah for strength and love. The twins were still very much engaged in their fight for life. I remember having my picture taken with Savannah with my tired and plastered on smile. Today, although no picture was taken, my smile was authentic. I was sitting on rock listening to Adeline giggle after throwing each leaf in the running river. Sensory issues or not, we are still so darn lucky.

Signs of Summer

1. We had to wake the girls for therapy this morning at 8:15

2. I saw lightening bugs on my run a few nights back

3. Lila is barefoot and fancy free every time she exits the house for more than 10 minutes

4. Tan lines are appearing

5. Baths are a nightly ritual instead of every other night and sometimes had with friends (notice the filthy water from playing outside).

6. I put my kids to bed at 9:30 pm tonight

7. The girls run with the neighborhood kids in the cul-de-sac after EVERY dinner - cabin fever has been cured!

8. Fingers and toes are painted

9. Swinging, swinging and more swinging

10. Everyone is happier and in better moods