November 2006

The babies are on the move. Trent has almost got walking down to a science.  He can move so fast. It is so cute to watch.  He is so animated.  We’re still working on his words and even though we can’t really understand what he say’s – there so much coming out of his mouth and he’s so excited to say it.  Sophie girl is trying so hard to keep up with her brother.   She’s now up to about 10-12 steps without falling down but it still looks like the “drunk walk”.  Her verbal skills though are very good- so good that we really have to watch what we say since it all comes back from her.
They love their books, toys, pulling the dishtowels out of the drawer in the kitchen and anything they can get into.  The most benign things seem to bring hours of amusement for them (like the empty paper towel roll).
Sophie continues to struggle sleeping in her crib.  We’re completely lost on what to do.  She goes down in her crib but then quickly wakes up screaming and ends up in the swing.  However, we can tell she’s not comfortable as she often wakes up and cries out before trying to contort her body into a comfortable position.   Aaron and I were talking tonight about how uncomfortable she seems in the swing and the fact that she’s growing out of it- and trying to decide what to do for her.  Aaron suggested we get her a child size lazy boy chair but I’m not sure that’s the answer.  Tomorrow I will call the pediatrician again and see if they have any ideas.

We can’t wait for the holidays to get here.  We know the babies will just love the lights and the festivities!

The babies worked VERY hard today during speech therapy and early intervention and as a result are EXHAUSTED tonight.  Sophie is especially tired.  She seems like she’s been a bit tired all day.  I’m sure it has to do with her inability to get a good night’s sleep but she still worries us so much more than Trent.

They’re both doing so well.  He’s Mr. Walker and working so hard at his talking.  Still not very clear but everyday it gets a bit better.  Sophie on the other hand has just about mastered the talking thing – in fact is now imitating me when I say “Sophie, no, no” and she can do my voice- inflections and all.  Such a scary view into our future.  Her walking is still a bit rocky but now it seems more about self-confidence than anything else. She’s just got to believe she can go more than 4-5 steps and really doesn’t need to sit down.

There’s lots of construction on our street and Trent is just so, so happy.  He just loves all the big trucks and can barely contain himself as they drive by our house.  He just runs right to the window, points and say’s a whole bunch of things- although we don’t can’t tell what they are.

Today I took the Trentman up to Stanford for a recheck with pediatric GI team.  He’s still taking his reflux meds and we’ve noticed he’s struggling a bit with gagging quite frequently when he eats.  The nurse practioner was happy to see him (it’s been a year) and he was such a good boy in the exam room.  It’s so much easier now he’s walking.  He’s so independent.
The gagging is a concern and the nurse practioner would like to see him have endoscopies to determine if an anatomical issue is causing the reflux.  Our plan now is to increase the dosage on his existing meds in hopes that it helps his reflux issues and then based upon how he responds- determine if we need to go forward with the endoscopies.   I just want his tummy to feel better.
Sophie girl is trying hard to walk but just can’t get her legs moving for more than 5-6 steps before falling down.  I’m getting a bit worried that she hasn’t mastered walking yet but I’m sure it will come soon.  Her talking on the other hand improves everyday.  We were worried that she was saying “ Oh Shi…but now we’ve realized its “Jose”.  She say’s it when she looks out the window for our neighbor /friend Jose who up until the fire- played ball outside our front window.  Sophie is so used to seeing them (both babies looks for them) that she’s continue to look for him.  We can’t wait for their house to be repaired so they can come home.
Tomorrow we have both physical therapy and speech therapy.  I’d be so thrilled if Sophie would take more than 5 steps at once for the therapist and Trent  was blurt out several words during his speech therapy.  He’s so close- just needs more practice.

Today we took the babies down to Carmel to visit Uncle Jack and enjoy the beautiful fall day. What an amazing day! We couldn’t have asked for better weather. I know every parent thinks that their children are an amazing gift but watching Trent try to run for the waves on Pebble Beach was really something (Uncle Jack is a real estate agent and has this very nice pass that makes getting into 17 mile drive easier) He was so perplexed by the wet sand under his shoes but quickly had his attention diverted when the waves began come (and was very excited!). Sophie though seemed frightened by the waves and held tight to Aaron. We were quite surprised since she’s always been our more adventurous baby. She was though happy to sit on a log and look at the ocean.- perhaps looking for the sea otters out in the bay enjoying the day Smart lady- knows beauty when she sees it. We could’ve have asked for a nicer day. Monterey has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Uncle Jack was so good to us. He was so gentle with the babies and then took us to lunch. Thankfully the babies were fairly well behaved and Uncle Jack will be able to go back to the restaurant ( although there are some happy birds in Carmel who probably cleaned up after us). We are reminded everyday how fortunate we are to have such a great family.
[[Image:the_kids/UJC.JPG [[Image:the_kids/PB.JPG]] [[Image:the_kids/fFam1126.JPG]]

We had such a nice Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for. We started the morning by showing the babies the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.  Trent was just OVER the moon.  He was so excited about the balloons and music.  He danced around the living room pointing and talking a mile a minute.  Sophie – our little dancer – started The giant turkey float and the sesame street float especially excited him.  I’ve always enjoyed watching the parade every since I was a little girl but watching my babies try and climb into the television to join it was really something to see.  It’s funny how you forget how exciting something like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade can be for little ones.  I guess sometimes we take those things for granted.
We spent the afternoon and Grandma and Grandpa’s with Grandma Carol making a fabulous feast.  We brought the high chairs and my parents put towels under them to catch all the food (and there was a lot).  My parents were good sports and tried not to mind as the babies ran everywhere in the house. Thankfully my parents have a long hallway and many pocket doors so they can easily be trapped.  Still it’s hard to channel all their energy in a positive way.
Today we spent the day trying to help Sophie girl master her walking.   Every day/every hour she goes a few more steps and the head/neck hold the physical therapist showed up on Tuesday is definitely helping her hold her balance.  She continues to struggle with sleeping so we’re doing a lot of late night TV watching and snuggling. (Thank goodness for TiVo)  I wish I knew what was making her so unhappy in the middle of the night.
The weather has definitely turned cooler but the sun is still shining.  The baby’s just love riding in they’re wagon and playing with the leaves falling from all the neighborhood trees.  Hours and hours of enjoyment.  They just stare at them and are so transfixed by the colors.
Tomorrow we’re hoping to take them to Carmel.  They seen the ocean in southern California but have never seen Carmel or Monterey.  Hopefully we’ll be able to catch up with Uncle Jack as well and see his new home.
[[Image:the_kids/1124L.JPG]]

We’ve had so much fun just hanging out with our family.  Yesterday the speech therapist came in the morning and the physical therapist came in the afternoon.  They are both awesome.  The speech therapist has so much energy and Trent just adores her.  The physical therapist owns the therapy group who treats the babies and we see her once a month.  She is so funny.  Last month we had our visit at the park and although she brought another therapist with her, she said she was more than a little tired after chasing the babies around the park (she said its her age- she’s 59).  She is so good though.  We worked with Sophie on her walking and made a game out of chasing the broom in the front yard. The therapist knows Aaron used to do physical therapy and always talks therapy terms to Aaron when explaining what we need to do for the babies.  Our plan now is to help guide Sophie’s walking by gently holding her neck under her chin so that she had full use of her hands to keep her balance.  Sophie just appears be about 3 month from Trent in terms of gross motor skills.  He on the other hand is about 3 months behind her on verbal skills. We’re now working on CLEAR Annunciation for all words we say to him. Today we took both of them for a hair trim.  We’ve sort of started a schedule.  Every time I get my hair cut, they come in the last ten minutes and get trimmed up.  Trent had become quite a hair bear and needed much more work from my stylist but Sophie just needed a bang evening out.  Both were so good and Sadie my stylist just has the patients of a saint.  The other patrons just stared.  Not the type of salon I guess where you usually see little ones in a wagon.

Sophie girl continues to worry up. Last night she had a horrible night sleeping and then this morning was quite lethargic, listless and wasn’t interested in food.  After a couple of hours though she perked up.  We agreed not to run to phone to call the neurosurgeon and just wait it out for a couple of hours and sure enough she perked up.  It continues to feel like a ticking bomb though- just getting louder. We hope today was just a fluke and not a warning sign.
The babies are so different.  Trent just looks and looks at everything with his piercing blue eyes- Sophie on the other hand is miss chatty Cathy and has say’s hi to everyone no matter who they are or wear they are.  We had a lot of construction going on our street and Sophie has managed to say hello to everyone. It’s so funny to see these really big burly guys gently say “hi” to her.
They’re favorite thing about fall is clearly the leaves.  Everyday when we take our walks and we give them leaves that have fallen off the big old neighborhood trees (usually Maple or Sycamores) they babies just stare and stare at the like they’re the most interesting thing there is.  Kind of makes you wonder if we adults are moving so fast we sometimes miss out on the most special things in life.
Tonight we gave them pots and pans to work on their music skills. They loved it.
[[Image:the_kids/IMG_0020.JPG]] [[Image:the_kids/IMG_0017.JPG]]

Our Sophie girl is on the move- almost. She’s now able to take 2-3 steps without falling.  We are so proud of her.   Every day she gets a little stronger and can go a little farther.   We realized the other day that Trent has been walking for almost a month and over time we have continued to get a little more concerned that Sophie hasn’t taken off like Trent.  I know its now fair to compare their progress – but virtually impossible not to do.
Today we took them to the park and they just had the time of their lives. They LOVE the slides, the crawling tube and the bouncy walkways.  They are so busy now that Aaron and I just divide and conquer at the park to make sure they’re safe but are still having fun.
Every day we also do some more childproofing in our house.  Today they pulled over the very heavy stone/wrought iron table in our hallway.  We think they were both more scared than hurt (although Trent looks like he’s getting a shiner) but it still was a very frightening moment for all 4 of us.
Tomorrow the speech therapist comes in the morning and then we will meet the physical therapist at the park in the afternoon.  Hopefully the weather will hold so we can do the PT at the park.  Much more fun that being trapped in the house.  We can’t wait to have both of them demo their new walking mastery for the therapist.  I know she’ll be thrilled.