The boys had their 18-month well visits and shots today (albeit a few months late since they're almost 20 months old). Here are the current stats:
Daniel
22 lbs even - woo hoo! Another 1/2 pound in just 2.5 weeks!
85.5 cms tall (33.6 inches)
49.5 cm head circumference (19.5 inches)
Per the growth charts, that puts him in the 50 - 75th percentile in height, 5th percentile in weight and 75 - 90th percentile in head size.
Ben
23 lbs 14 oz
82.5 cms tall (32.5 inches)
51.5 cm head circumference (20.3 inches)
Per the growth charts, that puts Ben in the 25 -50th in height, 10 to 25th in weight, and above the 95th for head size.
So overall, my boys are fairly skinny, average height with huge heads!
After checking all their stats and asking the typical developmental questions, it was time for the shots. Three each. Yucky, yucky, yucky. They were already all worked up from the checkup part and now they were going to get 3 jabs in the leg.
So I held them down while they screamed and they got their shots. Ben even vomited. Luckily they had only just eaten and it just smelled and looked like banana. Poor guy. I felt so bad for him. I'm so glad they don't remember stuff from this age...I would hate for them to remember mommy holding them down while the dr. gave them needles.
We finally got to go home and they both fell asleep in the car. No biggie for Daniel who falls asleep often but a very big deal for Ben who never, ever falls asleep in the car...especially not on short drives around town.
Needless to say, I'm glad that's over with.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Monday, May 11, 2009
I Heart Faces - Week 18 Kids Entry - Laughter
The theme at I Heart Faces this week is Laughter...so I thought of this pic of Daniel (sorry Ben!). This is the face he gets when he realizes I have the camera out and he wants it.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Sleep and Mother's Day
My husband and I are away for the weekend. We left yesterday morning, drove for 3 hours and found ourselves in a completely different city for the next 2 days. And what have we done with ourselves? Well, we've mostly slept. Thank God the hotel bed is absolutely amazing. I'm seriously considering stealing the sheets...they are THAT amazing.
What else have we done besides sleep? Well, eat (alot), drink (alot), shop (some) and talk about the kids (alot). It always surprises me how much I miss the kids when I'm away from them. I wish it was possible to get a break but at the same time see them for about an hour each day.
I called home this evening to see what they've been up to. Sounds like they've been having a great time. Our nanny is watching them while we're away (which is so perfect since I don't have to worry one bit). Today they went to her sister's (she has 2 girls, aged almost 5 and almost 2). The older girl and Ben had races down their hallway on their tummies (since that's how Ben crawls)...seriously, how cute is that? It makes me teary just thinking about how much fun Ben would have had doing that. I wished (just a tiny bit) that I had been there to see it.
It looks like my Mother's Day will be pretty great. I'll start it off by sleeping late (perfect), going out for brunch (again perfect) and a nice drive home with my hubby to see my kids (another perfect). I remember last year. I was pretty disappointed by my first Mother's Day (I remember sneaking upstairs to have a private cry at one point). My husband bought me a very nice pair of earrings. Yes, they were very nice. But all I wanted was to sleep late and get a break. I was just so exhausted and all I wanted to sleep. But...that was last year...and this year I seem to have gotten the perfect Mother's Day. I'll let you know how it goes.
What else have we done besides sleep? Well, eat (alot), drink (alot), shop (some) and talk about the kids (alot). It always surprises me how much I miss the kids when I'm away from them. I wish it was possible to get a break but at the same time see them for about an hour each day.
I called home this evening to see what they've been up to. Sounds like they've been having a great time. Our nanny is watching them while we're away (which is so perfect since I don't have to worry one bit). Today they went to her sister's (she has 2 girls, aged almost 5 and almost 2). The older girl and Ben had races down their hallway on their tummies (since that's how Ben crawls)...seriously, how cute is that? It makes me teary just thinking about how much fun Ben would have had doing that. I wished (just a tiny bit) that I had been there to see it.
It looks like my Mother's Day will be pretty great. I'll start it off by sleeping late (perfect), going out for brunch (again perfect) and a nice drive home with my hubby to see my kids (another perfect). I remember last year. I was pretty disappointed by my first Mother's Day (I remember sneaking upstairs to have a private cry at one point). My husband bought me a very nice pair of earrings. Yes, they were very nice. But all I wanted was to sleep late and get a break. I was just so exhausted and all I wanted to sleep. But...that was last year...and this year I seem to have gotten the perfect Mother's Day. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
What we're up to these days...
I started this blog with 2 purposes in mind: 1) to blog about Ben and the CP thing and 2) to help me keep track of all the amazing and wonderful things my boys do. So today, I'm going to make an attempt to get caught up on what the boys are up to these days.
DANIEL
Current height: 32.5 inches
Current weight: 21.5 lbs - The pediatrician remains concerned about Daniel's weight gain but I'm not. He gained a 1/2 pound in three weeks for God's sake! Yes, he's tiny but he's finally on the chart for his non-corrected age! And, even though we're a 1/2 pound too early, we finally turned around the carseats so they're forward-facing.
Words: Daniel currently initiates the following without prompting: car, cracker, cup, clock, and moo (for cow, it comes out mmmm). With prompting he'll say: baa, mom-mom (YEAH!), tractor, no (naaaa), stick, dirt, goat and bottle (da-da).
New skills: Daniel now walks very well and will soon but up to a run. He likes to walk up and down the 1/2 steps into our living and family rooms but needs our help to walk down them. He is starting to try to jump and can really bounce when he's in his crib holding on to the rail.
Funny things he does: He is starting to "sing". It's hard to explain but he does "la la la". He gets over-the-top excited once he figures out that he's going outside or to the car. As soon as I come downstairs in the morning, he points at my laptop so I'll turn it on (not sure why he does this but I MUST turn it on). He still loves to kiss Ben.
Mommy's favourite outfit: I still love to see him in his jammies. My new favourite ones are some really cute striped ones. I think my favourite day outfit is his khaki pants, orange Roots T-shirt and his Baby Gap brown sweater (that is too small but still super cute). He looks all grown up in this outfit.
Favourite food: Toast is probably still very high on the list for Daniel. He LOVES anything that is pasta-related. He will even eat my homemade spaghetti sauce which is quite spicy. It's really cute...he will kind of scratch at his tongue between bites but he still opens wide when I offer another mouthful. Daniel pretty much likes everything.
Favourite activity: Since it's Spring, he loves going outside and exploring our street. Luckily we live on a court where there is very little traffic. He walks all over looking at the neighbour's cars, the manhole covers, and just about anythinig else he comes across.
Favourite toy: Probably his "stick" which is basically half of an old hockey stick that we use to "lock" our patio doors. He loves to walk around and around with it.
BENJAMIN
Current height: 31.5 inches
Current weight: Around 24 lbs - Mommy forgets!
Words: Ben has just started weekly speech therapy but he does say a few words. Without prompting he'll say: car, cracker (sometimes) and mmmm (for moo). With prompting he'll say: baa, nay (for horse), ball, and tractor.
New skills: Ben is doing great! He can pull up to a kneel and hang out on his knees for a very long time. He can even somewhat pull to stand. He gets up on all fours alot now and today actually moved all four limbs and crawled for about 6 inches! He's working on learning to use his walker each week at PT.
Funny things he does: Ben is a real copycat. Because he's always behind Daniel, it seems that Daniel is always the first one to come up with whatever trick they're going to do next. Once he sees Daniel do something (and get a reaction) then he definitely has to do it. Ben is the most ticklish kid I've ever seen and he absolutely loves it if you chase him and then tickle him. He is just so cute. He crawls but then looks back to make sure you're chasing him.
Mommy's favourite outfit: Ben looked super cute today. He had his Children's Place jeans on with a cute collared shirt and the blue Osh-Kosh sweater. Just too cute for words.
Favourite food: Ben loves all things pasta-related just like his brother. And crackers...what on earth would we do without crackers? Specifically goldfish? Ben's a fussier eater but still does fairly well. He's started eating cheese and grapes lately. We've learnt that you just can't pressure him. He'll try something when he's ready to try it. If he's not ready, he acts like he just can't believe you would dare to put that disgusting piece of food on his tray. He picks it up like it's the grossest thing ever and very carefully drops it over the edge of his tray onto the floor.
Favourite activity: He loves to go outside, whether it's for a walk in the stroller or for a ride on his new trike. Unfortunately, he really wants to explore the outdoors but the outdoors is not all that conducive to army-crawling. He gets quite frustrated that he can't just do his own thing out there.
Favourite toy: Ben's favourite toy(s) continues to be balls. He loves to chase a good ball around. But he is starting to really like the Little People Farm and all the animals. And he really likes to play with the Little People Garage. He can pull up to a kneel on the side of the garage and then just hang out on his knees.
DANIEL
Current height: 32.5 inches
Current weight: 21.5 lbs - The pediatrician remains concerned about Daniel's weight gain but I'm not. He gained a 1/2 pound in three weeks for God's sake! Yes, he's tiny but he's finally on the chart for his non-corrected age! And, even though we're a 1/2 pound too early, we finally turned around the carseats so they're forward-facing.
Words: Daniel currently initiates the following without prompting: car, cracker, cup, clock, and moo (for cow, it comes out mmmm). With prompting he'll say: baa, mom-mom (YEAH!), tractor, no (naaaa), stick, dirt, goat and bottle (da-da).
New skills: Daniel now walks very well and will soon but up to a run. He likes to walk up and down the 1/2 steps into our living and family rooms but needs our help to walk down them. He is starting to try to jump and can really bounce when he's in his crib holding on to the rail.
Funny things he does: He is starting to "sing". It's hard to explain but he does "la la la". He gets over-the-top excited once he figures out that he's going outside or to the car. As soon as I come downstairs in the morning, he points at my laptop so I'll turn it on (not sure why he does this but I MUST turn it on). He still loves to kiss Ben.
Mommy's favourite outfit: I still love to see him in his jammies. My new favourite ones are some really cute striped ones. I think my favourite day outfit is his khaki pants, orange Roots T-shirt and his Baby Gap brown sweater (that is too small but still super cute). He looks all grown up in this outfit.
Favourite food: Toast is probably still very high on the list for Daniel. He LOVES anything that is pasta-related. He will even eat my homemade spaghetti sauce which is quite spicy. It's really cute...he will kind of scratch at his tongue between bites but he still opens wide when I offer another mouthful. Daniel pretty much likes everything.
Favourite activity: Since it's Spring, he loves going outside and exploring our street. Luckily we live on a court where there is very little traffic. He walks all over looking at the neighbour's cars, the manhole covers, and just about anythinig else he comes across.
Favourite toy: Probably his "stick" which is basically half of an old hockey stick that we use to "lock" our patio doors. He loves to walk around and around with it.
BENJAMIN
Current height: 31.5 inches
Current weight: Around 24 lbs - Mommy forgets!
Words: Ben has just started weekly speech therapy but he does say a few words. Without prompting he'll say: car, cracker (sometimes) and mmmm (for moo). With prompting he'll say: baa, nay (for horse), ball, and tractor.
New skills: Ben is doing great! He can pull up to a kneel and hang out on his knees for a very long time. He can even somewhat pull to stand. He gets up on all fours alot now and today actually moved all four limbs and crawled for about 6 inches! He's working on learning to use his walker each week at PT.
Funny things he does: Ben is a real copycat. Because he's always behind Daniel, it seems that Daniel is always the first one to come up with whatever trick they're going to do next. Once he sees Daniel do something (and get a reaction) then he definitely has to do it. Ben is the most ticklish kid I've ever seen and he absolutely loves it if you chase him and then tickle him. He is just so cute. He crawls but then looks back to make sure you're chasing him.
Mommy's favourite outfit: Ben looked super cute today. He had his Children's Place jeans on with a cute collared shirt and the blue Osh-Kosh sweater. Just too cute for words.
Favourite food: Ben loves all things pasta-related just like his brother. And crackers...what on earth would we do without crackers? Specifically goldfish? Ben's a fussier eater but still does fairly well. He's started eating cheese and grapes lately. We've learnt that you just can't pressure him. He'll try something when he's ready to try it. If he's not ready, he acts like he just can't believe you would dare to put that disgusting piece of food on his tray. He picks it up like it's the grossest thing ever and very carefully drops it over the edge of his tray onto the floor.
Favourite activity: He loves to go outside, whether it's for a walk in the stroller or for a ride on his new trike. Unfortunately, he really wants to explore the outdoors but the outdoors is not all that conducive to army-crawling. He gets quite frustrated that he can't just do his own thing out there.
Favourite toy: Ben's favourite toy(s) continues to be balls. He loves to chase a good ball around. But he is starting to really like the Little People Farm and all the animals. And he really likes to play with the Little People Garage. He can pull up to a kneel on the side of the garage and then just hang out on his knees.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
I Heart Faces - Week 17 - Kids Entry
I've noticed this contest on To the Max's blog and thought it was time to enter. It's a photography blog called I Heart Faces. This week's theme is hats and I immediately thought of this one of Daniel from last summer. It is still one of my favourites.
Monday, May 4, 2009
I miss my friends
On May 19th, it will be exactly one year since we moved back home. I went off to university at 18 and only came back for 2 summers after that. So I've been away from a long time. I'm now 34 so I lived "away" for 15 years. Eight of those years were actually spent outside of Canada...so I was really "away" especially to those who never left.
I'm used to having LOTS of friends. In university it was super easy to make friends and even when I went to work, I had no trouble...especially since I didn't have any kids...that makes going out for happy hour after work very easy.
I lived in Bermuda for 6 years. If you live in Bermuda and don't have any friends then there is something seriously wrong with you. There are oodles of expatriates living there...mostly between the ages of 25 and 35 and they just want to have a good time - hang out at the beach, go to happy hour, golf, sail, have BBQ's and the list goes on and on.
We left Bermuda for New York City in January of 2007. We lived in the suburbs just north of the city. It is very hard to meet friends there, especially when you get pregnant with twins just 2 months after moving there. We met a few nice people at church but once the boys showed up we didn't make it back there.
Now we're back home. Of course I have family here so that helps. I have 1 old friend from high school that I kept in touch with and we're still friends now. But we just don't have enough in common to be the kind of girlfriends who stay up all night drinking countless bottles of wine (it doesn't help that she doesn't drink). And I NEED girlfriends like that. I was so used to having girlfriends like that.
Not only did I have great girlfriends...but we had great couple friends. Just absolutely amazing friends that became our family. I really miss them.
It took about 6 months of being home for me to get started on making friends. We were so consumed with moving in and dealing with Ben's delays that I couldn't even fathom making conversation with someone I didn't know.
Luckily, 3 amazing women started a local Multiples Club and I've been able to meet some other moms through that. But we only meet once a month and good friendships take time to build. I also really like my neighbour. She's also a mom of twin boys (they're 7 though). We have a ton of things in common - both have twin boys born at 30 weeks, both SAHM's, both college-educated, both worked for a number of years before having kids, and both doing massive renovations on our homes. It's taken awhile but we now have coffee regularly and she started coming out to the Multiples Club. I really like her. And I think she really likes me but I don't want to be too pushy. Her husband is really nice too so it'd be nice to hang out as couples too.
So I guess this very long post is just saying that I miss my friends. And I'm anxious for the time when we finally have some good ones. I'm not asking for much. Just 1 or 2 close girlfriends and 1 or 2 couples to hang out with. And hopefully hubby finds a few guy friends too. We'll get there.
I'm used to having LOTS of friends. In university it was super easy to make friends and even when I went to work, I had no trouble...especially since I didn't have any kids...that makes going out for happy hour after work very easy.
I lived in Bermuda for 6 years. If you live in Bermuda and don't have any friends then there is something seriously wrong with you. There are oodles of expatriates living there...mostly between the ages of 25 and 35 and they just want to have a good time - hang out at the beach, go to happy hour, golf, sail, have BBQ's and the list goes on and on.
We left Bermuda for New York City in January of 2007. We lived in the suburbs just north of the city. It is very hard to meet friends there, especially when you get pregnant with twins just 2 months after moving there. We met a few nice people at church but once the boys showed up we didn't make it back there.
Now we're back home. Of course I have family here so that helps. I have 1 old friend from high school that I kept in touch with and we're still friends now. But we just don't have enough in common to be the kind of girlfriends who stay up all night drinking countless bottles of wine (it doesn't help that she doesn't drink). And I NEED girlfriends like that. I was so used to having girlfriends like that.
Not only did I have great girlfriends...but we had great couple friends. Just absolutely amazing friends that became our family. I really miss them.
It took about 6 months of being home for me to get started on making friends. We were so consumed with moving in and dealing with Ben's delays that I couldn't even fathom making conversation with someone I didn't know.
Luckily, 3 amazing women started a local Multiples Club and I've been able to meet some other moms through that. But we only meet once a month and good friendships take time to build. I also really like my neighbour. She's also a mom of twin boys (they're 7 though). We have a ton of things in common - both have twin boys born at 30 weeks, both SAHM's, both college-educated, both worked for a number of years before having kids, and both doing massive renovations on our homes. It's taken awhile but we now have coffee regularly and she started coming out to the Multiples Club. I really like her. And I think she really likes me but I don't want to be too pushy. Her husband is really nice too so it'd be nice to hang out as couples too.
So I guess this very long post is just saying that I miss my friends. And I'm anxious for the time when we finally have some good ones. I'm not asking for much. Just 1 or 2 close girlfriends and 1 or 2 couples to hang out with. And hopefully hubby finds a few guy friends too. We'll get there.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
The "know-it-alls"
As a mom of twins, you get pretty used to people stopping you, asking you "are they twins?", "are they identical?" etc. etc. etc. Most people just ask their questions, tell you how cute your kids are (what mom doesn't want to hear that?) and move on. Somedays I'm not really in the mood for it, but it's just life.
However, there are those few people who consider themselves "experts" in all things twins and for some reason think that I (the twin mommy) has no idea. And therefore, they must tell me all that they know.
Last week, my mom and I took Ben and Daniel to the hospital for their PT appointments (Ben's regular appointment and just a follow-up for Daniel). We had the boys in single umbrella strollers so it wasn't all that obvious that they were twins. An older gentleman in the waiting room asked how old they were. So of course I had to tell him that they are twins. He then asked if they are identical. I said no, they're fraternal.
He then said that they must have been born a few minutes apart...to which I said yes. He proceeded to tell me that identical twins are twins that are born at the EXACT same time and that "paternal" twins are born a few minutes apart. I started to explain that well no actually, identical twins start as one fertilized egg...but then he cuts me off. He also told me that as my boys got older they would look more and more alike. Huh? Not sure what that part was about.
Lots of people really have no clue about identical vs. fraternal twins but I had NEVER heard it explained this way before. I mean come on....at the EXACT same time? I don't even want to think about what that might entail. Either a very large c-section scar or...let's now even go there.
And then this afternoon. My husband and I took the boys out for a walk. A really nice lady stopped us to ask if they were twins. She had boy/girl twins 31 years ago and was just a really sweet lady who wanted to reminisce about her twins. She told us about how close her twins are...much closer than her other kids. She then said she didn't quite understand why they were so close but it must be due to the fact that they share 1/2 of their genetic code. Another huh? on my part. I didn't say anything but unless her twins are super, super, super rare, she's wrong. Fraternal twins are just as genetically alike as any other set of siblings. They just happened to have shared a uterus.
However, there are those few people who consider themselves "experts" in all things twins and for some reason think that I (the twin mommy) has no idea. And therefore, they must tell me all that they know.
Last week, my mom and I took Ben and Daniel to the hospital for their PT appointments (Ben's regular appointment and just a follow-up for Daniel). We had the boys in single umbrella strollers so it wasn't all that obvious that they were twins. An older gentleman in the waiting room asked how old they were. So of course I had to tell him that they are twins. He then asked if they are identical. I said no, they're fraternal.
He then said that they must have been born a few minutes apart...to which I said yes. He proceeded to tell me that identical twins are twins that are born at the EXACT same time and that "paternal" twins are born a few minutes apart. I started to explain that well no actually, identical twins start as one fertilized egg...but then he cuts me off. He also told me that as my boys got older they would look more and more alike. Huh? Not sure what that part was about.
Lots of people really have no clue about identical vs. fraternal twins but I had NEVER heard it explained this way before. I mean come on....at the EXACT same time? I don't even want to think about what that might entail. Either a very large c-section scar or...let's now even go there.
And then this afternoon. My husband and I took the boys out for a walk. A really nice lady stopped us to ask if they were twins. She had boy/girl twins 31 years ago and was just a really sweet lady who wanted to reminisce about her twins. She told us about how close her twins are...much closer than her other kids. She then said she didn't quite understand why they were so close but it must be due to the fact that they share 1/2 of their genetic code. Another huh? on my part. I didn't say anything but unless her twins are super, super, super rare, she's wrong. Fraternal twins are just as genetically alike as any other set of siblings. They just happened to have shared a uterus.
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