Series

This is a pretty funny series of pictures that Nana Pam took today at daycare. I have mentioned that Tyler is a major wiggle-worm these days and you can tell from these. He also has a habit of taking his arms out of his sleeve as you can see from the last picture! Pam called them the princess and the wrestler - so true!

Jumperoo!

Tyler has no idea how much his dad loves him! After seeing Tyler jumping and having a ball in his jumperoo at Nana Pam's Lance decided that he needed one at our house too. The problem - it was an older model and couldn't just be bought at stores. So, after an extensive search on Craigslist and mom swaps we finally located one from a POTATO (Parents of Twins and Triplets Organization) mom. It was 45 minutes away - an hour and a half round trip from our house and back but Lance was determined to get it for him ASAP so he went out there and picked it up to have at the house on Friday night. Well, once we got Tyler home and excitedly put him in it he wasn't really all that impressed. It was different than the one at daycare - not the type or look or toy bar - but the height and the difference in jumping on carpet verses hardwood really seemed to throw him off! On the otherhand, Katie who at Nana Pam's despises the jumperoo LOVES it at our house and can spend literally hours jumping and talking and playing in it - so Lance's efforts were worthwhile!

They are really starting to notice each other so we set the exersaucer and the jumperoo up facing each other and they really seem to like watching the other one jump and figure out the toys. Everytime I set them up to eat now Katie is reaching for her brother's hand and both of them will catch the other ones eye across the room and break into a huge smile when they see each other - too sweet. Katie is still befuddled by the flash on the camera (and with all these rainy days it is necessary) so we don't have any pictures of how she usually is in the exersaucer or jumperoo just smiling and shrieking but here are some pics anyway (with Tyler in the jumperoo and Katie in the exersaucer). She looks half asleep because she just did not want to wake up this morning - her brother on the otherhand continues to be an early riser and thinks 5:30 is a good wake time - at about then he is happy and talking and ready to play - me and Lance not so much!

Here are a couple of pics from this morning before they were leaving for daycare. They are rarely in "twin" outfits so we had to take some pictures with them coordinating!

Uh oh

Well, we thought Tyler was just having a rough time with the mucous from his cold, but we found out today that it might be something different. He, for the last couple of days, has been having a lot of what Lance calls "eye boogers" and they are swollen and just sick looking. Today we found out he could have conjuctivitis (AKA Pink Eye)! Poor little boy has had the gamut of sickness and he is not yet even seven months old! It doesn't seem to really bother him, but he just looks pitiful. We have some ointment that we have to try to find a way to keep him still long enough to apply and it should be non-contagious after 24 hours. As of tonight Katie doesn't yet have it and we are trying to keep it that way - of course as we sit here right now both of us can now swear that our eyes are itching :-)!

Katie is catching up!

The babies had their last synagis shots today and were weighed and Katie is obviously tired of Tyler being bigger! Katie is sixteen pounds exactly, and Tyler is 16.2. That is still pretty small but they are finally in measurable percentiles - they are both in about the 10th percentile for weight. Their length wasn't measured but I am certain they are still pretty short comparatively speaking.

Poor little Tyler woke up with his eyes matted and a worse cough - he has gotten yet another cold. But, he is still pretty happy and they both are doing good. Tyler is a rolling fool now - he rolled from back to belly last night and as soon as you put him on his belly he goes straight to his back, anytime now I expect him to figure out that he can roll to get where he wants. Katie is doing better with her stranger anxiety, still no rolling but she has started in the last couple of days really working to get a toy that she wants and is also obsessed with her feet (like Tyler).

Overall, the kids are doing good. We are going to a friend's birthday party for their little boy this weekend and it is during their "naptime," so we'll see how that goes. On weekends their naptime is really loose anyway so it probably won't be that big of a deal. Lance and I are going out tonight and I am really excited to get out but worried that we don't need to spend the money - times are tough but I figure you gotta have a little time with each other and away from baby duty so I am going to chalk up the spending to doing something good for my mental health! So-So and their Grandpa are watching them, it seems that everytime they babysit there is some issue that makes the babies not on their best behavior - today they had shots, Tyler is sick, Katie will probably have it too by day's end, and the doctor visit messed with their morning nap, so fussiness will probably be their MO tonight too, but I hope not!

New Outfits

We had a little picture session today because I was just dying to get them into their adorable little outfits that So-So gave them. We are still going to take them to get their "six-month" photos in these outfits but I was a little worried that Katie would outgrow hers. It will probably be a little short (just getting her ready to wear tennis skirts) but it should last for a little while longer. Anyway, here are just a couple of pictures - Lance was my helper and he was over it after only about 6 pictures so we didn't get any really good ones - hopefully we'll get some professional ones soon.

Katie was laughing but wouldn't look up!

Happy Tyler!

Pretty intense look, trying to figure it all out! Tyler has discoverd his tongue! For the last couple of days he has been sticking his tongue out constantly.
She was just "talking" and looking everywhere but the camera.
Tyler eating his sweater - every picture we try to take is a battle to keep their clothes out of their mouths!!!

Life Is Good

Life really is good and the kids have onesies that say so! A friend (thanks!) gave the kids these cute little outfits and matching socks and we just had to take some pictures!!!

Had to share...

These are some pictures of the kids at Nana Pam's today that I had to share. Pam appropriately labeled - them "Irish Temper?". I don't know about the Irish, but they sure do look a lot like their daddy in these pics
:-)!
Don't worry - there are plenty of happy pictures from Pam's too. They were just hungry and pissy and like I said in the other post, they are getting VERY good at making it known when they are not happy! But, here are a couple from Pam's after their food and nap - happy again!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, Katie had a cute little shamrock dress to wear for the occasion but as I looked through all of Tyler's stuff there was very little green to be found! He has some shorts and t-shirts but alas it just isn't shorts weather yet. So, Tyler isn't really into the spirt of the day but he does have green on so he won't get pinched! Here are a few pics taken this morning. For the life of me I cannot get Katie to smile at the camera - as soon as I put it down of course she starts grinning away but with the camera in my hand she looks at me like I am crazy. Speaking of crazy, Tyler has turned into a WILD CHILD. He is constantly moving now, if you hold him you now must hold on tight because he can finagle his way out of anything. He is a lot more fussy in the evenings too these days, probably because he is completely worn out from all the kicking, rolling (yep, he can roll from front to back everytime he wants to now), grabbing his feet, bouncing in the jumper, and general hyperness of his every movement! Katie looks downright calm in comparison! Right now she is working on her voice and has gotten even louder, hard to imagine that is possible. She is not rolling around as much and still doesn't go from her belly to back!!! I think it is just laziness now, since she has done it before and just doesn't WANT to do it again. She is a stubborn little thing (still don't know where she got that, wink wink) who is really learning to express what she wants, when and how she wants it!!!

See, no smiles for me - this was the best I got.

Tyler's sorta smile.

I caught her mid "crunch." She may have days as a fitness instructor in her future!

Tyler looks a little frightened!

They LOVE their silly dad! Look at them holding hands, so cute.

Well, peas are a no go!

We tried peas last night as their new food of the week and they were not big fans. Katie actually gagged the first time I gave her a spoonful but I thought it was because of a new taste or texture so I tried again. The second "bite" produced massive gagging followed by an upchuck. Needless to say I stopped with the peas! We may try again somewhere down the road but it scared me enough (because she doesn't really have the hang of the whole vomiting thing and looked like she was choking) that I'm giving them a pass on the green vegetable for now. Tyler ate it but didn't like it. Tyler will eat anything really. I don't know if it is because he is learning new stuff like toe sucking and excited "running" in place, or what but his sleep was majorly off last night - he woke at about 1:00 and didn't really go back to sleep. Part of the problem could be that our daycare was closed yesterday and today and their nap schedule was really off too. We just can't seem to get them to nap outside of their swings and after about an hour of crying we usually relent and put them in the swings, where they promptly fall asleep. Definitely not a good policy since they will soon outgrow them, but they need sleep or they are almost unmanageable! I brought them to work with me this morning to let Lance get some work done and after an hour had to just tell my boss that I was taking a couple of personal hours because they were just soooo grumpy and fussy that I couldn't get anything done. Katie's stranger anxiety doesn't help matters either!!!

I hope to take some new pics this weekend. They have fun Spring outfits to model but since it has turned cold again they haven't had a chance to wear them yet. I so hope we don't skip right from Winter to Summer without a chance for them to wear some of their sweater/pants sets.

Changing...

Well, yesterday was my birthday and since Lance was sick our dinner plans were cancelled. Lance's dad and Sandra were going to watch the kids so they brought me some dinner (yummy) and visited with them for a little bit instead. Katie's stranger awareness is in full effect! She was ok when being held by me but would NOT go to either of them and screamed her head off when we tried to do a hand-off. Up until right when they were leaving she started crying anytime they looked at her, but she was coming around by the end just as long as she was in my arms. It was probably a combo deal of her being really tired (no nap after her 2:30 feeding until bedtime) and this anxiety that she has picked up. She was scared of my dad, my uncle, Eric when he was over at the house, and now So-So and her grandpa. I sure hope this phase passes quickly! So-So fed Tyler his sweet potatoes and he did so good and So So made a lot less mess than I do trying to feed him!!! Tyler has learned a new trick - he can grab on to his feet and almost get them to his mouth. Now whenever you set him down he is reaching for his big ole' feet constantly. He is also losing some of his laid back personality and turning into a little wild child - always kicking and wriggling and Nana Pam says that he is a jumping fool in his jumperoo at daycare. Too fun!

Hopefully, we will get to go do the birthday dinner sometime soon, but the evening didn't turn out too bad - I coerced Lance into watching "Made of Honor" with me to make up for missing our meal at Sperry's and of course, I got to spend time with my cutie kids so I can't complain too much.

We Have a Winner!

The kids love sweet potatoes! They still wear more than they eat, but Tyler looks like a little bird opening his mouth to gobble them up and seems to be a much bigger fan of potatoes than he was bananas. Katie likes them, but she would still rather suck it off her bib or her fingers (after they have been in her mouth with the potatoes) than eat it off the spoon. They are slowly getting the hang of it though. They are certainly a mess after feeding time (Katie had potatoes in her ear and nose at bathtime last night) and I still haven't found a bib that they don't pull at and try to remove - if they don't make one that sticks to their clothing I'm going to invent it!

Tyler rolled over yesterday - woohoo! Of course, it was only once and he wouldn't do it again but at least it is progress. He also was laying on his side at naptime (ha, still won't really do that for us outstide of the swings) which is how Katie got the hang of it so maybe he's coming along. Katie still won't roll from belly to back but is pretty consistently rolling from back to belly, at least when she sleeps. We have a new issue now though that everytime she sleeps on her belly her diaper leaks and she wakes up soaked! I don't know if we need to try new diapers, find some kind of super strength nighttime ones, or what, but poor little girl doesn't even seem to notice that she is wet. She is loving that her brother is finally letting her sleep at night and wakes up so happy these days. The time change didn't really wreak havoc last night - they still slept through and woke up at 6:00 on the dot this morning like normal.

EVERYONE is asking me if they are sitting up, rolling around, crawling, etc. and it got me a little worried that no, they aren't doing any of those things. But, I think they are right on target. Because of their prematurity they have been about a month behind on most things so right now they are hitting 5 month milestones and doing well. Katie has started making more sounds and really figuring out this whole talking thing. Tyler will try to pull to a sitting position using your hands and they both love kicking the crap out of the little piano toy on the playzone. No teeth yet, but they have started drooling even more (how is that even possible) and if you aren't paying attention when you are holding them your thumb inevitably ends up in their mouth for them to chew on. Lance and I were talking last night that this is really fun right now and we are so happy - our little sweet, funny, mischevious munchkins learn something new every day!

The Perfect "Pear"

No particular reason for these photos - they were just both wearing their adorable "Perfect Pear" onesies (thanks Gina) and so we snapped some pics!

Go Bananas!

Tonight was attempt #2 for "real" solids - we started with bananas! Last night they weren't that big of fans. Katie liked it better than Tyler, who usually will eat anything. Katie made some pretty funny faces - he eventually just started pursing his lips and refusing to open them (SO not like big eater Tyler). We caught it all on video (which I still don't know how to upload). Tonight went better. I mixed bananas with oatmeal so it was more like what they were used to and they ate it up. Still had some pretty funny faces - I tried to get them on camera but, Lance's back is really bad so I had to feed and snap a shot which doesn't work out too well. There are some clothing/bib changes within a 20 minute feeding - this sure is messy! Plus, our camera has gone blurry on me for some reason (Lance said it's because I left it in the car but I'm not agreeing with him)! So, here are just a couple of pics - six months eating bananas.

6 Months Old!

Well, the babies had their six month appointment today. They are doing really well! They still don't like those darn shots, but really who does? Katie is now right at 15 pounds and Tyler is 15.4. They are not as big as I expected them to be, but the doc says they are doing really good. He is not concerned that Tyler is STILL not rolling, and just told us to keep giving him tummy time and that he would eventually get it. Tyler is just a little bit longer at 25 inches and Katie is 24.5. They are still pretty short in comparison to other babies their age - Tyler is in the 9th percentile and Katie is in the 13th. Again, we are definitely not shocked that they are shorties and are just glad that they seem to be thriving. They are eating so well, 8 ounces at every feeding. So, we got the go ahead to start introducing some different foods. I can't decide if their very first will be bananas or sweet potatoes but tonight is the night! I am going to get Lance (if he can stand up with his bad back) to take video tonight since there are sure to be some funny faces with the new taste. They are sleeping great - 11 hours typically. I just hope that teething or newfound mobility (hopefully) doesn't rock the boat, but if it does at least we know that there is no need for middle of the night food and that comfort (or maybe some Tylenol) is all they are looking for. Katie is starting to be afraid of new people, a little bit of stranger anxiety, but once she warms up she is back to being her entertaining, silly self. Tyler is still pretty content and laid back. He doesn't like not being in the action but as long as you let him sit with you instead of by himself he is pretty happy. They are at such a fun age, and we are having a blast. I can't wait for summer - the backyard is just waiting for a baby pool and the playpen!