Doo Dah!

Yesterday, Joseph walked by a sleeping baby and put his finger up to his lips and said "shhh!" Later, he did the same thing when walking by sleeping daddy. (we had a rough night the night before!)

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Granddad taught Joe "hut, hut, hike" and how to get down into a three point stance. He can't quite get his hand down, so it's really just a cute little squat. He's learning so many new things and words every day. He is also making connections that are amusing. Joe has a book that plays music and one of the songs is about Elmo riding his bike to the tune of "Camptown Ladies." Now he calls Elmo "Doo Dah." Grammie bought him some Cookie Monster slippers and he calls them "Doo Dah," too.

Happy belated Thanksgiving

We thought our Thanksgiving would be a little dull. It’s our first Thanksgiving away from home, really. The “chef” at Scott’s work’s cafeteria had offered to prepare the whole Thanksgiving dinner for a nominal fee – any amount would have been great as far as we were concerned – at least Suzanne didn’t have to cook it! We expected Scott’s parents on Friday, but they ended up delayed a day and arrived yesterday. We had all kinds of food that wouldn’t be good by Sunday’s dinner. Scott and I certainly couldn’t eat it all. Fortunately, but really unfortunately for them, our next door neighbors had plans that fell through at the last minute. These neighbors are really our best friends here in Wisconsin – a great family. We invited them over and we all had a feast. It was the perfect way to spend Thanksgiving away from home – if you have to be away from home.

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The twins were one month old that day. I can hardly believe it’s been a whole month already. I don’t feel any more in control than I did the day they came home from the hospital!

Just for fun, we’ve included a picture of Joe’s first Thanksgiving – his first taste of veggies.

In other good news, the babies are growing out of their preemie clothes. This is no surprise to Mom, since they have been eating a ton – every 2 to 2 ½ hours. We’ve calculated that they have nursed over 200 times since coming home from the hospital. They are starting to develop what the hospital nurses call “power pads” – those fat cheeks that help them nurse heartily.

Whoa! Snow!

This morning, we woke up to the first snowfall of the season. Joe just kept looking out the window saying “Whoa! Whoa!”

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Dad took him out driving this morning and Joe got totally pooped out!

Later that morning, Scott was holding a baby up for Joe to give kisses, and just as Joe leaned in, the baby spit up. It was gross, but funny. Now that I think about it, many things can be described that way in our house now days – gross, but funny. Like every morning when we do their changing routine. They get baths every other day, otherwise, it’s a complete diaper, undershirt, outfit, bib, blanket and sock change. The twins usually take their fresh clothes as an invitation to immediately dirty them again. And when I say immediately, I mean it. We have to keep four diapers out for that morning change and at least three of everything else. For the past three days in a row, mom has also needed fresh clothes after the changings. The laundry around here is just plain depressing!

The poor babies! They take baby Zantac for symptoms of reflux – very common for babies, especially preemies, but they HATE it! They’re still small enough that they can’t fight us giving it to them. They do make some darn cute faces while they gulp the nasty stuff down.
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Tonight, I was giving Joe a goodnight hug and was patting his back – probably out of sheer habit with all of the baby burping we’ve been doing. Anyway, after a few pats, Joe gave me a fake “urp!” We all had a good laugh.

Some firsts

Grandma D went home Saturday morning. After much crying on my part, I can finally acknowledge that she is gone without choking up. I have two more weeks of help, and then I am on my own when Scott is back at work. Frankly, this terrifies me. I’ve started a system of daily goals. Example, my goals for today was to finish the three thank you notes I had left and put away my maternity clothes. Not much, but Scott is here today. When he is gone back to work, my daily goals will be more like this: make sure the kids are fed and diapers changed in a semi-timely manner.

Joe’s new activity is stacking the cans in the cupboard. The base of his stack tends to be the enormous mystery can of chicken that appeared in our house sometime between October 24 and November 4 – the amount of time I was in the hospital with the twins. If anyone knows of its origin, please let us know so that we can return it to its rightful owner. If not, does anyone have any suggestions on how to use 68 oz of canned chicken?
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Today, Joe held his nose while getting his pants changed. What took him so long to realize that diapers are stinky?
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We crossed a not so pleasant milestone last night, the first diaper blow-out. I’m proud to report that it was Luke. We also had another milestone, Joe’s first nightmare. Of course, we’re not sure, but Joe woke up screaming and he sure wanted to hug a lot. Poor guy. Today, halfway through the day, we realized that the boys were hooked to the wrong monitors. They are really starting to look alike! We’ll have to be more careful in the future.

Apples and Balalas

Today we took quite a trip – technically we had 4 appointments, two ultrasounds and two doctor visits, luckily they were in close proximity to each other and the doctor saw the twins together. The news is: 1) they weigh 6lbs 3ozs and 6lbs 6ozs; 2) both of the boys’ right kidneys have returned to normal; 3) Patrick’s left kidney is slightly abnormal still; and 4) Luke’s left kidney is quite abnormal. The doctor predicted a 20-25% chance of his having to have surgery eventually. If it gets worse within the next few months, the surgery will be sooner, if not, it would be in a year or so – again, if he needs it at all.
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The trip today was such an ordeal! Three babies, two monitors, one huge stroller, one diaper bag, six baby blankets, three coats, five hats and a pair of Joe’s mittens. All while trying to stay far away from germs at a children’s hospital! Aye yi yi! Thank goodness my mom is here! I don’t know what I’d do without her!!

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When we finally got home, Joe had some lunch and enjoyed sticking apple slices to his forehead and hair. He also said banana for the first time this morning, although it turned out more like “balala.” Very cute.

Bright-eyed Patrick

Luke says “hmmmm, interesting.”

Joe loves his brothers. He’s likes to stick his finger in the hole of the binky to feel the baby sucking.

Little hands

Dad and mom with Patrick (in blue) and Luke. It's been hard to find a time lately that they are awake at the same time.

Joe with his Grandad. He was helping with the leaves by putting little handfuls into the trash can. After all that yard work, Joe took a 2 1/2 hour nap! He was sure pooped. (Just like his daddy and grandad!)

"Hey, Patrick, isn't it fun to have all of these grandparents here to snuggle us?"

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Today, as I unwrapped Luke from his swaddle, I found his little hand down in his pants! Who knew it started this early? His grandmas and I had a big chuckle about it. Both of the boys are doing great still. They are looking more alike each day (but not so much that mom can't tell them apart) and seem to be gaining weight like they should.

Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day to Aunt Janelle and Uncle Jeff! We love you both.
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We are excited to welcome Grammie and Grandad T to Milwaukee.

Grammie T. with her two new grandsons (Patrick on the left)

Joe love to give kisses!

Joe in his Green Bay Packers jersey

Thanks, Aunt Shannon for the fun new tent!

Settling In

How we tell them apart: the tops of their heads. Patrick, being the first one out, has only one swirly. Luke, being the second one out, has two swirlies. I’m sure there is a technical name for this body part, but I don’t know what it is. The other way we tell them apart at this point is to just look at them. They don’t look identical just yet, but we anticipate that they will soon. Luke is on the left.

How we change diapers: usually assembly line style. Grandma had the great idea of putting all of their diaper needs in a clear plastic shoe box so we can take it from room to room and even change them on our bed in the middle of the night. For this, we have to be extra careful to use our changing pad and cover quickly (see note on Luke in previous post) Luke is on top.

When we put down them together, they always end up making some cute pose. Here, Patrick was crying a little, and Luke stuck his hand in his face to get him to stop. Patrick took the opportunity to enjoy a new kind of “binky”

In Sync. Patrick is on the left.

Finally home

Sorry for the delay in updating, but we just arrived home from 11 days in the NICU. Even though our boys weren’t very sick (compared to most babies there) it was still two steps forward, one step back most of the time. We had anticipated coming home on the Sunday after they were born, but the boys were a little jaundiced and not gaining weight very quickly. They were both under phototherapy lights and had to wear patches over their eyes. They also had some problems regulating their own heart rates and breathing, so when the boys were released, they were sent home on monitors. More about those later. I just noticed that we accidentally switched the pictures on the first posting. Luke is the first picture and Patrick is the second. Woops. It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time we do that!
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Here is our last belly shot:

Since coming home, we have had so much fun playing and taking pictures of them.

"Eww! Stinky bottom, Luke!"

"Quit sucking my toe, Luke!"

The one part that wasn’t fun so far was last night! Scott and I both forgot how much work night changings and feedings are. Luke is our little squirt – literally. Every time he gets his pants changed, watch out! And Patrick is our spitter. Sometimes I wonder if anything is actually going down. Needless to say, poor grandma can hardly keep up with the laundry they produce.
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Joe LOVES them! He gives them kisses and pats (sometimes too vigorously!) on the head and tickles their tiny feet while saying “giggle giggle” (we think that’s supposed to be “tickle tickle.”) Every time he sees them he says “Baby!” and smiles. He thinks their monitors are pretty cool, so we have to keep him away from them. He also likes to climb into the car seat, swing or bouncy chair with them. Ah, brotherly love.

Halloween

Joe has changed and learned so much in the short time mom was in the hospital. His newest word is “Uh oh!” It’s really cute except when he intentionally causes the uh oh by tossing his oatmeal on the floor or throwing something under the couch, and even then, it’s funny. He’s still a little gimpy on his leg, unfortunately, but it seems to be getting better each day. His new obsession is football. Any mention of the Packers or Chiefs and he announces “booball!” and occasionally makes the touchdown pose. He can recognize a game on TV as football and he recognized the Packers colors again by announcing “booball.” He really enjoyed having his cousins Kolbe and Libby here for a few days. He seems especially taken with Libby. He would always smile, talk to her and give her kisses. She seemed just as taken with him.

Roar!

Mom got to come home for the Halloween Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood. Joe really enjoyed his dragon costume and didn’t want to take it off, even to eat dinner. He learned how to say “roar” when anyone asked what a dragon said. Check out his tail - it stuck out and wagged when he walked. Precious.