October 2006

Our 2nd Halloween. The babies had such a nice time today. This morning I took them along with Grandma Carol and Grandpa George – trick or treating down Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen. After much discussion, we ended up dressing them as cows, and Aaron turned our wagon into the cow mobile-including udders. Most people got it when they saw the udders and tail and realized they weren’t dalmations. I also added a pink bow to Sophie’s costume just to ensure people could tell she was a girl “cow.” Figuring out the right costume was quite a challenge. A couple of weeks ago Aaron had suggested I sew something for them, and I had to remind him that I disclosed my lack of sewing ability 13 years ago before we were married – and nothing in those 13 years has helped me develop any sewing skills. Thankfully there are many, many cute costumes available. It was so nice to be able to share the morning with my folks and the babies. There were so many cute kids and our babies just loved looking at everything. The morning trick or treating ended at Starbucks, and, as usual, the babies held Grandpa George up for a treat ( a muffin today – last week it was a cookie). He’s such a softy for his grandchildren.

This evening Aaron took them out again with all our neighbors/friends (an annual tradition we are thrilled to be a part of now). The babies seemed to do very well and enjoyed all the other kids, decorations, and costumes. The evening ended at our house with a neighborhood potluck (another tradition) rounding out the evening. I so enjoy our traditions. This weekend we had done our annual pumpkin carving party and although our babies are still too young to understand – I think they were quite intrigued to watch Aaron carve.

They are so tired tonight. They could hardly keep their eyes open when they got home. I so hope they enjoyed their day.
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Unfortunately Sophie girl sleeping issues have returns and the time change has just made it worse.  She’s back again to her 1:30/2:30am wake up call.  She just stands up in her crib and screams.  Last night I tried to get into the crib with her to get her back to bed but then she thought I wanted to play so things went from bad to worse.  Needless to say, she’s now back sleeping in the swing from 2:30 on.
She is so sensitive about her head, She can’t stand for her hair to be brushed and definitely not ready to have her hair towel dried.  Unfortunately she’s not wild about the blow dryer either and keeps saying “all done” when I try doing it.  I just wasn’t ready for disagreements about her hair to start this early.

Trent adds a few more steps every day.  We keep waiting for him to just take off but he’s still working it all out.  He can go 3-4 steps but that falls on his bum. He’s working on it though. Every morning the first thing he wants to do is play with his push toy.
We’ve just got to work on his verbal skills.  He’s got some sounds but forming his words is just coming slower than we’d like.  I do think our speech therapist is helping though.
We can’t wait to dress the babies up tomorrow for Halloween.( along with their wagon)  Hopefully they’ll enjoy the day even though they’re too young to understand what’s really happening.

Today the speech therapist came to see Trent.   She is such an amazing lady. We are so lucky.  She just loves Trent and it’s easy to tell she genuinely loves what she does.  I still haven’t bonded with our new early interventionist and having such an amazing speech therapist as part of our program reminds me that I need to find a way to engage the early interventionist that we’ve got and just deal.
Typically Trent is pretty shy at the beginning of the therapy- but today he seemed a bit more animated and engaged- perhaps because Lisa the therapist was so engaging.
Poor Sophie just wants to play too (the therapist always come with a duffle bag full of toys) and doesn’t understand when she’s held back.
Trent seems to feel better being back on his med but I know he needs to be reevaluated by the gastro team and today I made an appointment for him to rechecked a Stanford.  I worry that I may seem like a hypochondriac mommy but I just want to make sure that his meds are at the right level and his tummy isn’t burning.
Tonight I had him trying to go around the block with his push toy.  He was really going and almost made it until he got to our neighbors house with the bocce ball court in their yard and they had the bocce balls out on the court.  Total ball distraction and he lost all focus.  Needless to say, we ended up just turning around.  Balls (any size any type) are Trent’s ultimate things so — everything else pales.
Sophie girl is sleeping better but every night brings a new adventure.  Some times are better than others.  She is so busy.   She’s now discovered she can climb on our coffee table (which is pushed in front of our living room TV to keep them from pushing the buttons) so this weekend with include the moving of the coffee table to the attic and Aaron inventing a “creative” way to keep the babies away from the TV.

Our street and our house are all dressed up for Halloween.  We have these very old big bulb streetlights on our street from the 40s (I think) and one of the neighbors (we don’t know who) puts Halloween decals on them every year.  It’s so festive. Between those and the trees dropping giant leaves, it certainly feels like fall.  Aaron loves Halloween and we also have our share of decorations.  The lighted pumpkins out front are an amazing relaxer when the babies are upset.

Trent had a bit of a tough day.  We can definitely tell his reflux is back. He’s eating again with the help of the meds but his spitting up has returned.  I so thought we were past all this.  As much as I hate to say it- I think it’s time for another GI consult with the team at Stanford.  I just want to ensure doing everything we can to make him comfortable and to help him keep eating & growing.  We continue to work on his walking. He is so determined.  He walks a few steps but then falls and is so temped to go back to crawling.  To try and keep him going we say “FOCUS” and he then gets into his “down dog” yoga position and works to standing.  His face is so determined.  He probably doesn’t even realize he’s started his yoga practice before the age of two.
Sophie’s not doing her walking yet but her talking gets better and better everyday.  Her favorite word is “sapato” Spanish for shoe.  Aaron and I just have to laugh that my daughter likes to talk about shoes.  She certainly comes by it naturally.

Tomorrow the speech therapist comes to work with Trent.  He tends to be quiet these days around people he’s not totally comfortable with (or familiar with) but I’m hoping he is talkative tomorrow with Lisa our speech therapist.  She’s a very nice lady and VERY good with the babies.

Today was a big day at the Keene household- our Trentman took his first steps! Wow.  We are so excited.  Looking back on our first days in the NICU- it’s hard to believe we’re here.  He’s doing the mummy walk.  Just a few steps with his arms stretched outright- and then falls.   But what HUGE progress!  I told Aaron tonight that he’s letting us know he just doesn’t want to ride in the stroller for trick- or treating but Aaron kind of “Popoed” that.  Men-always thinking practical when I’m thinking he’s just training for his first marathon.  We are So proud.  I know the therapist said not to expect either baby to walk until Christmas but I just know they’re going to beat that estimate.  Unfortunately being back on his reflux meds had definitely helped his appetite so we’re almost sure that his reflux isn’t gone.  I do worry because one of his meds (Reglan) has long-term side effects but for now- I’m more worried about him eating and continuing to gain weight.  Next month we will see the pediatrician for shots and as much as I hate to do it- I do think we need a follow up GI consult to make sure we’re doing the right things for him.

Our Sophie girl continues to do well.  The place wear her head was shaved is quickly growing back and this Saturday when her head is supposed to be less tender and we can go back to shirts that don’t button down.  Hopefully that also means I can towel dry her hair again without her crying and we can stop using the blow dryer.

They are both so funny.  Tonight I fed them dinner and they were both tired. Soon after they both started to say “night night” almost telling me to put them in the pjs.  Sure enough being in their pjs and being given a bottle – they both quickly crashed.  All the playing, crawling, trying to walk- has made bedtime come so much earlier.

Today the babies had their 6-month assessment with the physical therapist as part of the early start program.  Our therapist Carol- wanted to see them playing so I took them to the park.  We just played and played on the slides and play sets.  Both babies seemed to have a very nice time and did great “demos” of their progress.  Carol who has been with us since we’ve been in physical therapy- appeared to be very pleased with their progress.  She’s seen us last month and had mentioned her concerns to me about Sophie’s lack of progress (or what had appeared to be a plateau or a delay in her cruising and progress towards walking) – seemed almost relieved to watch her try to walk and climb at the park.  I’m not sure what the doctors would say but Aaron and I both believe we’ve seen incredible progress in Sophie since her shunt revision.  It’s as if overnight she’s taken off.
Trent too showed great promise.  He is so fast and so ready to walk.  He loves to be upright.  I know I’ve said it for months but we really do feel walking is just around the corner for him.  It’s so funny to watch him “surf”.  He just hold’s his arms outright like he’s riding an incredible wave.  If only he could just go for the next step – no pun intended.
Trent is back on his reflux meds and they seem to be helping.  He’s much more interested in food.  It’s so odd- he went from being the bottomless pit to being Mr. Finicky. I do think the meds make him feel better though.  Just to be sure he gets his full dosage we’ve taken to shooting the syringe right in his mouth and now he just opens his mouth- almost like he know it will make him feel better.  Now I’m kicking myself for not continuing the meds- I hate to think he’s been uncomfortable for the last month while he’s gone without.

Yesterday we got the babies a new push/ride toy. Our physical therapist said that we should have them practice using their legs so the new toy allows them to ride. Tonight Sophie was pushing Trent. Of course they’ll have to take turns and he’ll have to push her tomorrow.
He liked it but got kind of up upset when she pushed him into a chair.
Trentman unfortunately has had a tough couple of days and the little guy who used to be such a huge eater no longer likes his food. The doctor had said that if he started to shy away from food it was probably because his reflux was bothering him and eating hurt. Another case of wishing the babies could talk. Tonight we put him back on his reflux meds and hopefully they will help his tummy feel better and make him want to eat again.
Sophie’s sleeping is a little better but every night is a new adventure. It all depends on her how long she napped, how hard she played etc. I guess it’s just a reminder that Sophie sets the rules sometimes.
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