mish mash of stuff

Madelyn, you can't tell but she was doing her "army" crawling. Playing the guitar he got for his birthday from Mommy & Daddy
Katelyn
3 years old!
girl talk
My new favorite photo

I have been a bad blogger lately. I have no excuse really, it's been the same amount of busy around here. I guess it's just a crazy month, and with it getting dark out at an obscenely early hour now, I feel out of energy a lot earlier. Hopefully I'll get used to the season change soon!

Anyway...Aaron's birthday party was very fun. We just had family and my best friend Danielle, and her kiddos. It was intimate, and so not stressful. He loved having a party all about him. This was actually the first time he's ever had a birthday party. His favorite part was everyone singing happy birthday. He happily sang along to himself, and knew to blow the candles out. Everyone got him such nice gifts. He's already talking about next year's birthday!

The girls are doing great lately. Both girls are really starting to eat solids well. Mady is starting to look a little filled out. I don't have a weight on them yet, but we have an appt next week. I'm hoping to see a big gain from her. She's still not big on the bottle, she does o.k. as long as she's REALLY hungry.

Mady has been doing well in her therapies. She has 4 therapists working with her, so she's got someone at least once a week. I think it's really helping her meet some milestones that she was way behind on just a month ago. I mean just about a month to 6 weeks ago she could barely roll over both ways. Now she's doing that, comando crawling, and sitting. She still is pretty wobbley, and leans way forward, but she's getting so strong! Her therapists have noticed that Mady is very stimulus sensitive. She does not like having her hands touch at all (which makes the signing we are trying to teach her very difficult), and she shakes her head a lot. Her PT wants us to discourage the headshaking, but I'm not sure about it. She thinks she does it to cope with her surroundings when she's overwhelmed. She gave me some ideas to get her to stop doing it, but I don't think it's hurting her, so I'm really not worried about it. I will try to distract her and soothe her, but that's it. We've also been working on balance on an excersise ball at mighty oaks. She does not like it one bit! She stiffens up while on the ball, and while they are working with her in other ways. She doesn't like the way they push her, and make her work. After an hour there, she is always worn out, and will fall asleep on the way home. Obviously her hard work is paying off though, so we will keep pushing her.

Katelyn started sleeping through the night, and did so for over a week. Then the last 2 nights she's woke up for food. She may be hitting a growth spurt, because she's been eating a lot during the day as well. Katy has been so playful, and fun lately. She loves to sign "more" by clapping her hands after a bite. I don't know if she's actually picking up on the sign or if she just likes clapping her hands. But she claps at everything, so it could be both. She's still a drama queen, and loves being held, and lots of attention. But she's also getting a bit more independant. Katelyn started pulling herself up to her knees a couple weeks ago, and on Monday she pulled herself all the way up to STAND!!! I was sitting chatting with Leslie, (Mady's OT) when I just looked over at her and she was standing at the large toy basket I have in the living room. She can't figure out how to get back down, and since she's not quite balanced enough yet, she falls quickly. I'm hoping to catch a picture of her standing soon. I just can't believe how big she's getting! We are going to be having Katy's eyes checked again soon. She's been crossing her left eye a lot, and it doesn't track with her right eye the same. Ian and I have noticed it, but when 2 of Mady's therapists pointed it out when they were here this week, we took it more seriously. So hopefully we can get with someone local, and not have to drive to Portland to see her eye doc there. He's always booked for like 4 months or more. Last time her eyes were checked was August I believe, and she had some moderate farsightedness. But they said as far as her eyes crossing, and working together she seemed fine. So this is a surprise to see her have eye issues.

I'm excited about their birthday party this weekend. We are just having a small party at home. I was wanting to plan a big bash for them, but with it being cold and flu season I dedided that wasn't in their best interest. I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by. I think partly because they've only been home with us for 9 months and not the full year. All those feelings, and emotions during the "rollercoaster" we were on are so fresh still. It's been such a crazy year filled with so many highs and lows. I will post more about their birth and experiences later when I have all my thoughts together.

That's all I've got for now...Peace!