Naps No More

Of course that only applies to my oldest. I would be beside myself if the twins didn't take their 3 hours nap in the afternoon.

Instead of napping, Savannah tries hard to entertain herself during the our quiet afternoons. I am usally working on photography of sorts while she roams around in her make believe world. Today, she stolled into the office looking like this.



I must mention that there are days that she naps. They just must include a napping mommy as well. We call it our "Napping house, where everyone is sleeping." (a must have book for kids 4 and under)

A Couple of New Experiences

The girls wanted to have a sleepover this weekend. I guess I should say, the big girl did. She seems to think that the twins have a sleepover without her because they are in the same room. She has asked over and over again to join them in their room. Surprisingly, Daddy gave in on a night when I was working. He had put the girls down and after reading Savannah stories, gave in to her request of a sleepover. Out the blowup bed came down Savannah went on her sister's floor.

They slept fine and the twins didn't wake up to the commotion of getting Savannah settled. Unfortunately, I had someone at my bedside at 6:50 a.m. stating, "Lila's thirsty Mommy." No one in this house is awake at 6:50, let alone thirsty. I think Savannah woke up early and decided to have her sisters join her. She claims she didn't wake them though. We ended up pulling Savannah in our bed and told the girls to lay back down. Thankfully, we were able to squeak another hour of sleep out them. Not sure if any of the girls slept, but the parents did.

On a completely different note, I let the girls try a lollipop last night after dinner. Many of therapist have wanted to start this. It helps oral motor development and brings down the oversensitivity in their mouths. I am not a fan of giving small kids candy, chips, and soda etc. They have the rest of their lives to dive into the junk foods. I gave in last night in hopes that Adeline would start to move her mouth around in new ways.




The verdict, Lila loved her lollipop but tried to bite it. My biggest fear. Adeline didn't really like hers. She tried it out for awhile but than began touching it with her fingers etc. which completely grosses me out. Way too much stick for me. In the end, she decided eating the wrapper was better than the eating the lollipop anyway. I think I am going to stick with my gut and keep them off of candy until at least three.

Developmental Follow Up (again)

We have our developmental follow up appointments for the girls this month. When we began going to these appointments, we were desperate for the doctors to look at our girls and say, "Yes, they are going to be normal." Of course they didn't say that because it was way too early to tell. I have finally come to terms with that answer as I know that many things are still to early or to really assess or diagnose. At this point in time, we go to these appointments and recognize that it is a snapshot in time, the girls are two (terrible and terrific wrapped up in one) and the doctors don't know our girls and can't get a full read on them seeing them once every six months. It doesn't mean that we don't receive an educated assessment but I recognize that there are so many variables that come into play when the girls are being assessed and the tool being used does not account for these factors. It goes back to the qualitative vs. quantitative data argument. Which produces stronger data in this situation is up to the eye of the beholder. I believe in a little bit of both.

We chose for the girls to have separate appointments and Lila's was first. Adeline doesn't go for another two weeks. For this appointment, Lila sat at a table for two hours and was asked to point to pictures, hand blue ducks, feed babies, stack blocks, point out body parts etc. for the entire time. She isn't one to do things that aren't on her terms and the second hour was extremely challenging. She would hand things back to the doctor and say, "Thank you, all done." Unfortunately, she didn't get a say and I had to beg and plead with her to do some of the tasks. Many times I wasn't successful and just cringed, knowing that she could complete the task perfectly if she wanted to. After the two hours was over, we waited for 15 minutes for an evaluation of her cognition, speech and fine motor skills. I was really scared that she was going to score low because of her behavior. The verdict: NORMAL!! Ahead of her adjusted age (no need to adjust any longer and we haven't been for awhile anyway) and on target for two and two months. She was even ahead in some areas. I didn't get a detailed analysis which is different from times in the past. Basically, they were impressed with her skills and communciation and couldn't believe she would sit in timeout. How many times did I hear about that which was kind of odd due to the fact that it wasn't an assessment of my parenting skills. (Is it really that abnormal for kids to sit in timeout at two.) After debriefing the aforementioned skills, Lila had to move on to her physical exam and gross motor assessment. This meant people were going to touch her and that puts her into hysterics. Scream she did and jump she did not. This is a girl that mastered gross motor movements early on but wouldn't demonstrate her skills. I guess it was okay because she checked out normal anyway.

We are proud of Miss Grace and realize her road hasn't been easy but has always been perceived that way because of her twin. Many babies born without steroids and under two pounds don't survive. Survive she did and normal she is!! Call it mother's intuition or a sixth sense but I have always thought she was on target and moving onto to being a regular toddler. She has quickly left the road of prematurity behind. There hasn't been a hospitalization, an illness other than cold or ear infection or significant delay in development. Oddly enough, she is ahead of where Savannah was at this age in some areas and has been more healthy than Savannah was at two.

Way to go Miss Grace. I love you and admire your strength and determination.

Lila's homecoming - November 2006


Miss Grace now - as feisty as any other two year old around!

I Cast My Vote

After standing in the rain for 1.5 hours (they eventually moved us inside) and running around after three very good, yet active girls, I cast my vote. I knew the lines were going to be long but I didn't expect that I would wait well over an hour. Luckily, I scheduled Adeline's speech therapist to join us which provided me with another set of hands and Adeline with lots to keep her busy. All girls ate a good lunch in the stroller and then seemed to occupy themselves while we stood and waited. Lila Grace was on her best behavior and come nap time, hopped in her stroller and snuggled Bunny. Savannah was lucky and joined me in the actual polling room. I left the large stroller and twins with Miss Ruby in the lobby. The polling room was quite warm and very small. Leaving the girls with Ruby was an excellent choice.

I planned to bring a camera and take a picture of the line (I knew it would be long and that Savannah will remember it next year and so forth) but of course I forgot it. I enjoyed carrying out my civic duty with my three girls in tow. It is nice to be in a swing state where I really feel my vote counts. Can't say Texas has any swinging in its future.

Twin Speak

I have often heard mothers of twins say that their twins developed a sort of twin speak. I am pretty sure we aren't mirroring that development because of the girls and their very different levels of development, especially when it comes to speech. It is only recently that Adeline is acquiring words by the day and trying to spontaneously repeat what is said.

I have noticed that the girls are developing their own sort of twin speak. Today, Adeline grabbed my glasses off of my night stand and handed them to me saying, "tank ooo ga ga." Translation - thank you. Well, it is Lila's version of "thank you." Ever since Lila Grace could hand us something and verbalize she would say, "tank ooo ga ga." I realize that I am the one who should be saying, "thank you" but it has always been mixed up with the girls. It was interesting to hear Adeline spontaneously use her twin's version of thank you. She also uses Lila's version of "open please" and "no." Not quite twin speak but something pretty close. It makes me smile for many reasons but mainly because it is indicative of their twinship.

Trick-or-Treating

Our day started out with a Halloween parade at Savannah's school. We got everyone in costume and out the door by 8:45. Quite the accomplishment. Thank goodness daddy was home. Once Savannah's class paraded through the sanctuary and stopped upfront for pictures, I had come to the realization that I have "that kid." Yes, that kid is Miss Grace the child who really doesn't like people. However, when it comes to standing up in front of more than 100 people and pretending to be a 5 year-old (as she did when she just squeezed her way into the line of Savannah's class and stood there like she belonged while all the parents took pictures) Lila Grace is in her element. She smiled and knew that she was getting away with something.


Soon after we headed back home and tried to get a few pictures of the twins before their therapist came. Wouldn't you know that Lila Grace would pose for 100 parents that she doesn't know but wouldn't sit for even a second while smiling when I am behind the camera. So much for the "picture."



After therapy, the girls ate lunch and went down for an early nap while Savannah and I helped one of her friends celebrate her birthday at a local farm. We were exausted when we got home and passed out for a quick power nap. It wasn't long after that we were, getting costumes on, face painting and quickly trying to inhale our dinners. Miss Grace pulled at the stool while I was working on Savannah and said, "Up please." I thought she wanted to watch but then she was doing her Lila jargon and pointing at her cheek. She wasn't going anywhere until she got her face painted too. How is that time races away on a day like Halloween. I tried to plan everything but still felt rushed at dinner time. Thank goodness, Elmo seemed to take the edge off the girls while I was running around and organizing their costumes. Lila and Savannah were very cute all snuggled up watching their show.

The girls had a wonderful time trick-or-treating. I think they were out longer than most of the other kids in our cul-de-sac. It took a little while for them to get the hang of it, as seen in the video, but by the third and fourth time, they were pros. Lila Grace would lead the way up to the door and say, "Trick-or-Treat" while taking as much candy as the adult would allow. Adeline was right there with her and said, "Trick-or-Treat" most time too. Savannah enjoyed going to all of the different houses and soon realized that she was going to bring home a very large amount of candy. The girls took breaks every now and then in their stroller but were on their feet and walking up to houses the majority of the time. There was no fussing, crying or complaining. It was truly a fun-filled family outing. I couldn't be more proud of how they interacted with their neighbors, their display of great manners (please, thank you and bye bye were often heard) and how well the twins caught on to the sequence of trick-or-treating. I love it when my children surprise me.

Off and running




She sees an airplane


Miss Justine had special goldfish for us!!!





Why tear off the wrapper when you bite right trough it?



Savannah and her friends


Can you get your hands on any more things at one time?


Lila was fast asleep in bed. Possibly, Adeline should join her?


Will the sugar high ever end?

Happy Halloween

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