Big girls

Don't they look so cute with their little pony tails sticking straight up?!

These two have been doing so much BIG girl stuff lately. They are pretty much at the same level of milestones now! Which is absolutely amazing to me. Remember not too long ago when I dreaded the phrase "catch up", thinking that Madelyn would never be able to catch up to Katelyn's milestones. Wondering constantly what was wrong with her, if she had cerebral palsy, will she ever eat? Well I can finally say that I can breathe a little easier when it comes to Miss Mady. She is showing us what she's really made of. She's spunky, and energetic. She is a determined baby! She's worked VERY hard at everything she's learned to do. It definitely didn't just happen over night. She has worked with so many therapists since August to get to where she is now! She is AMAZING!!!

She is eating much better, though she is still very sensitive to textures. She eats the Gerber stage 2 baby foods pretty well. And she's now eating about 6-7 oz of formula in each bottle. We are still fortifying her bottles with extra calories, and adding the thickener to it. She sucks it down like an old pro now! She is also getting better about not waiting until she is half starved to eat anything. Which means that her system is maturing. She finally gets the signal from her brain that she's getting hungry and is able to handle a whole feeding at once. She's much more mellow about feeding time now because of it. It doesn't feel like an exhausting battle for her anymore. And her size show it! She's just as big as Katelyn is now. I'm not sure the exact weights, we haven't had a weight check since the last time I reported.

As far as gross motor skills, Mady is surpassing all of our expectations. When she first started therapies back in August we sat down with her therapists and set out goals that we'd like her to achieve. They generally like to see kids striving towards accomplishing their goals and hitting them at 6 months from the start of the program. Madelyn has accomplished probably about 90% of her goals in this area already! In fact she's doing so well, that we are probably going to discontinue her physical therapy next month. She's learned to sit, get into and out of sitting position, pull herself up to stand, sit back down, crawl well (without dragging her legs), hold objects well with both hands, interact with toys (cause & effect.. though this is on going), clap, babble with her cute little voice that's getting stronger and stronger! She says baba and dada.

She's just about caught up to her adjusted age of 10.5 months. With the exception of self care skills (like holding a bottle), speech, and some cognitive stuff. She will also still be getting therapies for her sensory issues. I just can't believe how far she's come! She plays with her sissy, and loves to try to steal her binky, toys, blankie or anything else she has for that matter. She's fiesty! It's very cute to watch them interact. You can tell that Katelyn is the older one. That one minute makes a big difference. Mady follows Katy around the house. Wherever Katelyn is, Madelyn is. She wants to do everything like her big sissy!

Katelyn is saying more and more sounds! Just the other night she started repeating mama a lot. Now it's her favorite thing to say. I LOVE hearing her say it! She can also repeat hi! She loves to give kisses, nice big open mouth wet ones. She loves to play peek a boo by pulling her blankie up to her face and popping her head up, then I say peek a boo and she giggles or smiles so big! She also loves to be held and snuggled. She'd be happy to just be held all day long. Where as Mady is much more go go go all the time. She doesn't have time to be held! Katelyn now protests being put down, and crawls up to me and puts her arms up, if I don't pick her up she'll start to cry. It's so stinkin cute I just can't resist. She also protests to having things taken away from her now. She's definitely getting a mind of her own.

Katy loves to eat in her highchair. She loves food, and is doing great with textures. She can eat diced peaches or pairs, cereal puffs, and other lumpy stuff. She likes to try what we're having. She's eaten spegghetti, bread, rice, mashed potatoes, and other stuff from our plates. There's only a few things so far that she won't eat.

She is still having her episodes, though the topimax helps tremendously. I accidentally skipped a dose a couple weeks ago, and she was having one right after another pretty bad. We know that she is defintately benefiting from being on that medication. She will be seeing her nuerologist again soon for a follow up and meds check, which reminds me I need to get something scheduled soon.

The babies are staying healthy so far this cold/flu season. (knock on wood) The boys have had a few colds already, and are actually sick right now. I hope that all of our handwashing, and lysoling is helping to keep them healthy. I feel a bit under the weather today. Really hoping it doesn't end up a sinus infection.

And today is my 30th birthday! Just another day in domestic bliss around here! (said with a tiny bit of sarcasam)

Peace!