First Day of School for Miss Belle

I use the term "school" VERY loosely as I don't believe two year olds belong in a structured school setting. This certainly isn't a classroom but a playgroup with a few structured activities. When it comes to the Belle school seems appropriate. Why? Her therapists, along with myself have many question marks when it comes to Adeline. Does she really understand? Is processing and sensory issues getting in her way of carrying out a request? Does she process peer pressure (following along the other children)? Is she listening and not processing or does she just not listen?

In order to shake some of these issues out, we collectively decided to put her in a group setting one day week. When Savannah was asked by a neighbor why Adeline is going to school and not Lila, she responded, "We are trying to see if she will become a better listener? (Lila can listen just fine when she wants too.) We are hoping that Adeline will become familiar with the group and listen to her teacher's requests, follow the group and fit in nicely. It is a tall order but a great environment for her to either sink or swim. Let's pray she swims.

About her class:
Adeline is by far the youngest in her class. Her birthday of August (which is really November by skill levels and adjusted age) doesn't make the June cut off. There are many kids getting ready to turn three in a few months while she is just getting used to two. She is by far the smallest but she doesn't standout that way. I just did a quick scan of the room and noted it. I don't think anyone else would see it. She is not as physically able as the other kids. However, she is social with both the children and the teachers (we did a trial run a few weeks ago). There are six other children in the class and two teachers. A great ratio.

Today she dropped off nicely and told me goodbye. She went with the teacher happily. Upon pickup I was told she did great and that she likes to climb. I am not sure what that means but from my experience, she likes to climb up my legs and onto chairs. I was told she imitated the other kids at snack time by banging on the table and that she ate her goldfish but wouldn't drink out of a cup. I realized that she is probably the only kid in there still on a bottle. Adeline still won't take the cup. There are lots of things I will need to explain as time goes on.

The moment she saw me at pickup she said in very loud voice, "Bye Bye," and ran to me. She seemed happy. Let's just hope she swims!!

National Prematurity Awareness Day

I had hopes of writing something profound that would give a new found spin on prematurity so that others might see that it is widespread and serious. There seems to be a spotlight on various types of cancers but prematurity still sits in the shadows. It is real. I have lived it. My girls fought through it and one is still fighting. Prematurity is not a simple NICU stay. It doesn't necessarily go away. Some babies are lucky and leave it behind. Some have to factor their prematurity into their everyday lives. Some babies never even get the chance. Regardless of the outcome, the families are forever changed.

I revisited our NICU stay by watching our You Tube video. I am in awe that both of my girls lived. The odds were stacked against them. Two years later, I am still trying to digest the magnitude of this miracle. I am also trying to digest what I would be like today if the outcome had been less favorable. Too many parents are sitting at home grieving for their babies that didn't win the fight.

For more information about prematurity on a national level you can visit the March of Dimes website. They ask for you to sign their petition in support of their many efforts to save premature babies and prevent early births. Please take a moment and sign your name. I know my girls wouldn't be here had it not been for the efforts of the March of Dimes.

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.