Such Big Boys!

Adam and I were reminiscing about just how fast our boys have grown. We were remembering when we thought they would never stop making those goat noises (preemie noises - the nurses called them). We thought they would never sleep through the night, and that drinking 4 oz. in 30 minutes was a record (very fast eating, that is)! I know, I know, they are only 4 months old, but really, we've come a long way. Here's a look back at when the boys were 1 day old: Lucas and Dad

Andrew and Mom

(look how big my hand looks - and if you know me, you know I have the hands of a 5 year old)

The boys had their 4 month appointment today, and the doctor was very surprised at how well they are doing! They have developmentally appropriate skills on par with other 4 month olds, which is HUGE because they are technically 2 month olds (adjusted because they were preemies). They are on the regular kid growth charts and are on the low end of those charts, but are WAY off the preemie charts!! They had their shots today, which was sad, and are now sleeping it off, so I had time to put some new pictures up to show just how big my boys are!


In their Bumbo chairs.
They are getting better at head control, and are even sitting up without help (for about 1 second). :)

Luke and Mom
I do miss the extra naps the boys took when they were newborns. Here is a picture of Luke during "naptime". He refuses naps most of the time.

They are practicing standing and Grandma Judy got them a new toy. It's a Johnny Jump Up, but Luke thinks it's for eating.

Andrew likes to stand all day long, so here is a picture of him standing (not jumping) in the new toy. He did do a couple of twirls, though!

Oops! Andrew likes to eat it too. Hmmm, notice a pattern??

So with our boys large appetite and the doctor's orders (ok, suggestion), we reached a new milestone today.......

Eating rice cereal like big boys in their shiny, new highchairs!!

Luke of course was pretty good at eating.

Are you really even surprised?

Andrew was a little more reluctant.

They both had a few spoonfuls of cereal, and seemed to think that was ok, so we'll try again tomorrow! What they really like is sitting up at the table with mom and dad. They'd hate to miss anything! Gee, remind you of anyone?? :)

What do you do with a 4 month old??

Today the boys are officially 4 months old! So you ask...what do we do with them all day now that they're awake most of the day (and Luke REFUSES to take a nap)?? Here's what we do...

We make them look at each other.

This is really cute - they've started noticing each other and smile and laugh at each other and try to talk to each other.

We go for a walk outside in our NEW JOGGING STROLLER!!!

(Can you tell I LOVE my stroller?!)

(Adam loves the cup holders...hmmm)

We read books.
Isn't Andrew cute listening to his story??


We take a bath.

Our boys love to be nude at any time of the day. If you start taking their clothes off, they start giggling and smiling. It's too funny!

We put them to bed.
After they've eaten, of course.
Luke looks like he's never missed a meal, and he never has!

In other news, I am running a 5K in June with my sister-in-law. Yesterday she sent me this along with an email stating that we have 9 weeks before we have to run. So, now I'm on Morgan's training program. I did manage to get my 25 min. walk/run in last night (refer to jogging stroller picture), and did more walking than running. Did I mention that I haven't really exercised in over a year?? When we were trying to get pregnant, I stopped working out hard according to my chinese medicine book and balancing my Qi. Then when I got pregnant and found out I was having twins, I was told not to even walk for exercise due to my "high risk" status. Plus, when I was in the hospital and stuck in bed all day :( my muscles started to atrophy, causing me to lose weight in my 3rd trimester. So, needless to say I really need to get going on the exercise front! I am weaker than I've been in a really long time! Enough with the excuses!!

STTN!

For those of you that don't know what that means it is SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!
And that is exactly what my two angels are doing! It all started a couple of weeks ago, when Luke was sleeping until 4:00am without needing to eat, then it was 5:00am. In the past 6 nights, he has slept until 5:00 (or today - 5:45!!) for 5 of them! Andrew was another story, he was still getting up at 1-2am every night, and Adam was getting up to feed him (insert wicked laugh here "hehehe"). Now for the past 4 nights, he has been sleeping until 5:00 when Luke wakes up!
I'm hoping not to jinx myself here, and I don't expect that this will happen from now until the end of time, but if I can have a few nights a week like this, I will be a happy girl!

New Pictures!!

I know. I haven't had a chance to put new pictures up, and I can't figure out why this thing underlines for me all the time, so deal with it! I have had a long week - it was my first week back at work, and although the kids have been extra super nice (they realized how good they had it, I think!) I'm still extra super tired. So, on Sunday, here I am in my pj's at noon (oh, I've been up since 6:30) typing on here so I can tell you about our first week. First off, the boys are officially 3 months old (as of last Sunday). They are 13 and 12 pounds (guess who's heavier) and are the same height. They had their last RSV shots last week, so we're covered for the season and here they are on their 3 month "birthday":

Now you can see how tall they are:What a cute frog!

And a scary shark! (I'm gonna eat you for mine supper :)

Grandma Judy is coming to play every day (well babysit) and she's been playing dress up and photographer with the boys. :)

They're so cute - how could anyone resist??

Just As I Suspected and Other Fun Things...

After our first 2 nights and first car ride with Luke's new monitor, we have had ZERO alarms and/or problems - well other than Adam setting it off this morning because he forgot to turn it off, oops! It is as I suspected - he is breathing through the night - but it is nice to know that he is. I think that he has reflux, and once we started him on his meds, he hasn't been grunting at night and he's spitting up like a pro instead of trying to keep it down - probably because it doesn't hurt anymore!!
Other than that, we are on our first "vacation" with the boys! We drove up to Adam's sister's house in Duluth yesterday. (Then I realized that it was the same day as Leah's shower and I forgot to RSVP - SORRY ANNA!!) Our car ride was fantastic! The boys slept the WHOLE way, and were great last night and have been great today. Auntie Amy's dog and cat are nice to the boys, and the boys don't care either way.
Last night we had to watch the NCAA tournaments and the UMD hockey game. The Bulldogs beat Princeton and are playing tonight to try to go to the Frozen Four! (I really don't care that much about sports, but the out-laws do, so I'm sticking in there!!)
I start back to work on Monday, so I'm trying to get one last fun weekend in before I go - we even have babysitters tonight!

Our new machine

For the past couple of weeks, Luke has been choking on his own saliva, seemingly. He turns red, his eyes bug out and he can't catch his breath. Pretty scary. Last night he was laying in his crib with Andrew, getting ready for their baths, and Adam noticed that he was choking again. So, we yank him out of his crib and flip him over and hit him on the back to help him "cough up" whatever it is (saliva). Again, pretty scary. Since this was about the 4th time this has happened I decided to get him into his pediatrician today to see what was going on. I mean, if this has happened 4 times in front of us, what's going on when we're all asleep??
The doctor is not sure why this is happening. It could be a number of things; reflux (which I am convinced he has and have been sure of this since he was in the hospital as a baby), a cleft in his epiglottis, his esophagus is not working correctly, or apnea. Our first step is to go the reflux route, and Luke is now on a prescription for that. If that doesn't work, we will get a swallow study done.
In addition to the meds, Luke has also been put on an apnea moniter. Today Adam and I had to go to Children's Hospital to learn how to use the moniter and also take a CPR class. Lucky for us, he has never turned blue or anything, and we have him "plugged in" right now just to see what happens. So far nothing has beeped, which is a great sign. Tonight will be our first night and I'm totally freaked out as to what I will do if that thing goes off! Hopefully it never will...
It's a good thing to moniter, just so we know that he's ok during the night, but it's sad because he can't sleep with Andrew anymore, and poor Andrew if that thing beeps (and poor Shaggy - he'll totally lose it!).
At least it doesn't bother him. He's just as happy now as ever - hooked up to those wires, and he doesn't even realize what's happening. It will be very interesting to see what happens...

Prayers Needed

This week has been a week of bad news. My boys are healthy and fine (with the exceptional fuss over our new excursion of teething), but I have some friends that need your prayers. One of my friends from high school and her husband had their first baby last night. They had a little girl, who was due in mid-July. Their daughter is named Ella and weighs 1 lb, 3 oz. I haven't heard any updates, but if it so moves you, please pray for them and their little girl.
Also, a friend of a good friend of mine could use some prayers. Her son is sick and in the hospital with a heart condition. You can read her story here.
It all makes me so grateful that I have healthy little boys.