33 month check-up

On Thursday we all headed back down to UCSD for the kids' final NICU follow-up evaluation. It was so strange to think that this was going to be our final drive to the hospital, our final trip through the worst designed parking garage imaginable, our last walk to the Ambulatory Care Center, and our last appointment with Martha who has been following the kids' progress since their birth. It always brings back bittersweet memories to be at the hospital since inevitably I remember the many, many trips to the NICU. (Some of those were good like when the kids came off oxygen or were able to take small amounts of breast milk by mouth or when they finally came home! Some were terrible like when I broke down in the parking lot trying to call Brian to tell him that Sadie's intestine just perforated and she was being rushed to Children's hospital for emergency surgery and the prognosis was grim).

The last time the kids were evaluated we were all concerned about their (lack of) speech. I was anxious to see how they ranked this time considering that their vocabulary is immense...and they never shut up.

Apparently speech is no longer a problem.

They were evaluated based on their actual age and not their adjusted age (for the first time!), and they did exceptional. Linus is ahead in gross motor, which is no surprise considering he climbs better than most monkeys I've seen at the zoo. Sadie is a little behind in gross motor (poor girl can't jump), but she tested ahead in fine motor. Both are doing excellent in all other areas and basically we don't have anything else to worry about at this point, but they will need a final psych evaluation in Chicago before they start kindergarten. (I was told this is standard for preemies and not the fact that they were both bouncing off the walls and acting like lunatics). Their case was also officially closed within the Regional Center, so no more special services!

...well, except for opthamology appointments because of their inevitable nearsightedness, dermatology appointments for Linus because of needing his birthmark removed and they are monitoring his hemangioma, and continual monitoring of Sadie's abdomen because of her surgery...

But compared to the number of specialists we were seeing, especially at the beginning, the kids are doing fantastic!

Then Martha hit us with some life changing news:

1) We need to reconsider putting the kids in preschool this year rather than waiting until they are 4.
I thought 2 years would be plenty of time for the kids to get used to a school setting without me, and then they would be two of the oldest in kindergarten at age 6 - no problems. Apparently, it would be a good idea if they started preschool this year for just a few hours a week so they get used to doing things without me always being around. I mean, if the fact that they have never been left with a paid baby sitter, and the few times they have been left has been with family and mainly while they were sleeping, means I've been a little overprotective about leaving them...then I guess I'm guilty. Also, Martha thought the kids may very well be ready for kindergarten at age 5, and the preschool teachers would help them prepare and let us know their opinion on when to start. So, we may have to look into preschools when we get to Chicago.

2) We need to start potty training the kids.
As most of you know, I have been more than a little reluctant to potty train the kids. I was under the impression that they would show interest and eventually get the point where they would automatically know how to do it, we would start, and there wouldn't be any accidents or problems. Well, according to Martha, kids have a narrow window in which they are interested in potty training. Trying to train them before this window is futile because they aren't capable of doing it, but trying to train them after is worse because they not only won't be interested anymore but will almost assuredly be at an age where rebelling is second nature. Needless to say this conversation has scared me into our latest household disaster (besides our bed transition):



And what the heck, why not try to ditch the highchairs too and move mealtimes to the kitchen table?


I think I may need that psych evaluation.

(Updates on bedtime, potty training and mealtimes to come. Here's a tidbit: Sadie and Linus were facinated by the fact that Linus' underwear has a "window" in the front but Sadie's doesn't. Try to explain anatomical differences and how they pertain to potty training to two kids of different sexes. And try to explain to Sadie that Linus doesn't always have to put his pee-pee through the "window" on command...)

Beat the heat

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here it is H-O-T! The outside temperature has been hovering in the upper 90s for the last few days, and inside our house has not been much cooler. So, what do you do to beat the heat?

Legoland of course!

We spent one morning with Ethan and Lucas running through the water park area, and these guys couldn't have been any happier.

Well, maybe they were a little bit happier when Jessica surprised them with ice cream afterwards.

Another favorite pastime these last few days have been water fights with the hose. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of this new and exciting game, but I'm not about to be subject to anything involving Sadie and Linus and water if I have a camera in my hand.


*********
Bedtime update:
Sadie and Linus - 2
Brian and Jen - 0

Last night, after almost 3 hours of listening to the kids having the best time of their lives when they were supposed to be sleeping, we finally laid down the law and separated them for the first time since they came home from the hospital. They were so exhausted and hot that they fell asleep within seconds once they couldn't egg each other on.

Then tonight I put them down 20 minutes early accounting for the fact that they would play...and play...and play. After 45 minutes and still not even close to sleeping, I told them they needed to calm down else Sadie was sleeping in the other room. Well, Sadie jumped for joy at this prospect so I stuck her in the guest room. Meanwhile, Linus was so upset at being separated from Sadie that he was absolutely hysterical and after about 10 minutes I couldn't take it any more. He pleaded for me not to leave him, and I finally was able to persuade a reluctant Sadie to try to sleep in the same room together one more time. Success! Sleeping kids in less than 5 minutes.

We'll see how tomorrow night goes...

Bedtime nightmare

For the last couple of weeks, Sadie has screamed every night for an hour before she has finally fallen asleep. Usually she's upset because she either threw something she needs outside of her crib (like her blanket) or she has somehow performed a yoga pose and got her leg wrapped around the bars of the crib. After repeated trips into their room and several search and rescue operations later, they finally fall asleep. So, this last week I got the brilliant idea that if we transitioned them into big kid beds, she could retrieve her blanket by herself and she wouldn't be able to wrap her legs around anything and get stuck. Hence, they would fall blissfully to sleep without any drama.

What was I thinking?

All week we've been talking about big kid beds. They have been so excited, they have even been "practicing" in our bed sporadically throughout the day.

They knew that Saturday was the magic day where we would disassemble the cribs and leave them with their new sleeping arrangements. This morning we awoke and got started right away. All four of us had screwdrivers and were busy taking apart cribs and packing them away. Finally we finished, cleaned up the room and left the kids with their beds. Yippee! Everyone was thrilled.

Until nap time that is.

Even though Sadie and Linus were ecstatic, I was not the least bit amused. Brian and I were sure we had thought of everything. We put their mattresses on the floor because I was 100% sure they would take turns jumping, catapulting and pushing each other off of any bed we stuck in there, and there was no way I was giving them a jumping platform higher than 5 inches.

We turned around their dresser since they have been known to pull out the drawers to make stairs. We blocked the only exposed outlet and put a gate in front of the closet so they couldn't tear down all of the clothes that I finally reorganized and put away. When we were done Brian looked around and said he felt like he was in a lunatic asylum.

I have to agree with him. But, when faced with the challenge of Sadie- and Linus-proofing a room, you'll do just about anything to prevent future disasters regardless of how sterile and uninviting the decor.

Clearly the kids are living up to their room decorations since they spent over 30 minutes this afternoon acting like lunatics, and for the past hour (and counting) tonight running around their room banging on every surface.

I'm blaming Lindsay for false advertising :)

Little firefighters

After much anticipation, today we visited the fire station with our Mommy and Me class. We have been talking about it all week, and the kids knew that it was happening on Thursday. But, because they don't understand the concept of days of the week, every morning they asked if it was Thursday yet. Well, today I was happy to inform them that it was indeed Thursday and that we were hopping in the car to see fire trucks and to talk to firefighters.

They were ecstatic.

Especially since they were each given a shiny red hat before we went to look at the fire trucks.

Can you tell?

For the rest of the day they have been wearing their hats. (They wore them during nap time, and had them on again for bed). They have been talking non-stop about firefighters. They spent the afternoon putting out pretend fires and singing the only song we know about fire trucks. Who knew hanging out at the fire station for an hour would be so amazing? Who knows...maybe we have a couple of future firefighters on our hands.

Mother's Day

It is so strange to have people wish me a Happy Mother's Day when most of the time I look at Sadie and Linus running around the house and think to myself, "These little people are mine?" Don't get me wrong, there are both good ("Mommy, I need hugs and kisses") and bad ("No, I don't want to! No! Noooooo!") days when I do feel like a mother. But, much of the time I am awestruck as to how these two got here.

And other times I am awestruck as to how these two made it so far considering their start in life.


I know for my first Mother's Day Brian bought me a dozen donuts and some flowers (he knows me so well). I walked into the kitchen with my gifts on the table and halfway through my donut I had to ask what the special occasion was. It's Mother's Day? Oh, that's right (slaps forehead), I am a mother!

Despite the surreal feeling sometimes, I am amazed at how much I love being a mother. I mean, I knew I would love having kids, especially since there was a time when I didn't think it would happen, but I absolutely and completely love being a mother.

I love spending every single day with Sadie and Linus. I love watching them grow from little tiny helpless babies, to curious (and amazingly fast) crawlers, to running, jumping, crazy toddlers, to insightful, hilarious, independent little people. I love reading to them morning, noon and night. I love taking them someplace every morning and then listening to them chat about it on the way home. I love seeing their bright smiling faces first thing in the morning, and getting hugs and kisses from them last thing at night. I love watching them together - when they play nicely and not so nicely - because they love being together.

Being a mother is so much more than I ever thought it would be. It also has made me appreciate just how wonderful, loving, kind, generous and amazing these mothers are:


And these mothers:

And all of the other mothers reading who I don't have pictures for.

To all of you, Happy Mother's Day!

We're moving

Brian officially accepted an offer last week. It looks like sometime this fall we'll be packing the car and heading to...


CHICAGO!

Guess we'll have to get used to this:

And this:

(I think we're going to need a whole new wardrobe).

It's going to be sad to leave behind all of our friends in San Diego, but it's exciting to think that we'll be celebrating Christmas this year in a new city.

With a lot of snow.

Did I mention that we're going to have to buy a whole new wardrobe? Prepare yourself for future pictures to look more like Maggie Simpson in a snowsuit.

All things poop- and clothes-related

Issue #1: While Brian was away, I was in such a dilemma. I really, really wanted to kids to sleep so I could have some time to myself. But, every time they set foot in their cribs they immediately tore off their clothes and their diapers, and assumed the squatting position. This meant that I had to get them out of their cribs so that I could change the sheets, their clothes, their blankets and occasionally their toys and themselves. I tried everything to keep their diapers on, and eventually I realized that the only things that worked were overalls on backwards (which just looked really uncomfortable) and onesies. The problem with onesies is that we only have the ones from last year and they are a little snug. OK, a lot snug, but what are you going to do?

So, to summarize our current situation: Diapers staying on - check. No potty training yet - check. My sanity remaining in tact - check.

At least that problem is solved for now.

Issue #2: Trying to keep them from ransacking their room. They have been able to open the drawers to the dresser in their room for awhile. This has been great because every morning they can pick out what they want to wear, which usually means they are happy(er) to put on their clothes for the morning. I don't know when the switch was flipped, but they went from happy, agreeable little people to demolition professionals. In a span of 30 seconds they can take out every article of clothing they own and heap it into a pretty sizable pile. And these are the same clothes that I spent almost 2 hours the night before carefully folding and putting away. After this happened 3 times in one day, I told them they had 10 minutes to put their clothes back or they wouldn't see their clothes again. There are now one pair of pajamas and a couple pairs of Linus' shorts in a drawer.

Now, I know that despite their love of being naked, it's not appropriate to take them out in public that way. So, I have stashed away the remainder of their clothes in various locations and now I pick out their clothes. (Except for Linus' shorts). And since there is absolutely no order to their clothes, Sadie has been wearing a lot of really cute dresses which happen to be on top of the pile. Maybe it's not all bad?

What's even funnier is that another mom asked me how they could reach their other clothes hanging in their closet. Hmmm...Hanging up clothes in a closet? Now, believe it or not that's something I haven't thought about. I guess I've been married to Brian for too long who has approximately 97% of his clothes laying on the floor beside his bed. I think it's about time to invest in some hangers.

Despite our trials and tribulations this past week, it's awfully hard to be upset with these two.

Especially after Brian has been back for a couple of days and has let me get some much needed sleep.

March for Babies

Now that Brian is back from interviewing, I finally have access to a computer that doesn't crash every time I try to upload a picture. Yeah!! So, let the posting continue...

To catch up, last weekend Brian and I, as well as some twin moms (and dad) from our playgroup, headed out to Balboa Park for a 5K walk.

Sponsored by the March of Dimes, this was their annual "March for Babies" event to raise awareness for prematurity - obviously a cause very near and dear to my heart. Lindsay (who was also the Ambassador Family) and I are both on the Family Teams Council for the March of Dimes, which was involved in planning specific aspects of the walk. There were thousands of people who turned out, and I think a great time was had by all.

It was amazing to walk around and see signs hanging on strollers that displayed the gestational age and weight of their baby at birth, while inside the stroller was a happy, healthy toddler. Or older kids were wearing t-shirts with their baby pictures on them, announcing that they were only 2 lbs at birth but are now honor students in middle school. What's even more amazing is that we are blessed to have those same miracle children.

Thanks to all who helped support this great cause!