10 months old

10 Months Old

I am busy!!   This is why I have lack of posts.  I don't have time during the day and by the time everyone is in bed I am exhausted and its the last thing I want to do!    When we were first pregnant with twins Matt and I would say how it would be easier than Cassie as a baby (all her medical conditions)  However, we have changed our tune.....2 babies even though they are healthy are way harder.   It is just physically more work, it truly is more work than anything right now.  I just can't sit down and cuddle one baby, smother that baby with attention...I have to divide my time and sometimes the squeaky wheel  (aka Mandy) gets more attention than the other baby.   When the girls are napping is when I squeeze in time for Cassie.  We read, cuddle, do school work etc....

Last week all 3 girls came down with colds.   It was miserable.   Matt was leaving for work and I had to hold back tears.    One sick baby I can handle, I can cuddle and care for but 2?  It is hard.   Thankfully my Mother-in-Law came over to help.  Poor Cassie seemed to have the worst of the cold.   She slept 15 hours straight.   Everyone seems to be better now but Mandy and Cassie are still pretty snotty. 

I have googled "what age do twins get easier".   I don't want to wish their baby hood away but I am really looking forward to them being more independent and walking. That will be fun.   Once we get to 1 I think its gets easier from there.....just surviving this first year.   "I think I can, I think I can...."   

Another thing that is happening is separation anxiety.  Ahhhhh yes.   When I leave the room, then 2 babies scream in stereo sound.   I will hold one baby and the other will be crying "mama".  Oh, its sad and I feel bad because they just want to be held and cuddled but I only have one set of arms. 

Mandy is sleeping thru the night, has 6 teeth, drinks 4 bottles a day and loves food.  She is constantly grabbing Emily's hair and pulling, pulling her ear, grabbing her face and scratching her.  I have to run to Emily's defense quite often.   Mandy and Cassie are going to be great friends.  Their interaction is already great fun to watch.   Mandy will crawl after Cassie like a mad woman and they laugh and laugh together.  This is only the beginning.....such fun.

Emily still isn't mobile, however she is starting to show interest in possibly wanting to move.  She is still not eating finger foods and shows no interest.   She isn't even a big puree food eater.   She is getting up once a night still.   I am trying to wean her from the bottle.  She has gone a few nights sleeping all night but the past few nights have been bad.    Again....I think its the separation anxiety kicking in when she wakes up.

 Cassie plays with the email on my IPad all the time and she saves "drafts" I will decipher the one below.  

The To Line says:   I am emailing my friends
Jerry Mouse and Tom Cat

 She did a pretty good job spelling out her words for a 4 year old!!

Easter

We had a really nice Easter, full of food and family.   The grandparents got the girls all sorts of goodies.  

Cassie

My Dad and Mom surprised me with a new Bible.   3 years ago Matt and I invited them to Easter service and its pretty much changed their lives.  When I saw the Bible I started to tear up.   I cried because to know that my parents are saved and we will be in Heaven together is awesome.   To see how Jesus has changed my parents....especially my Dad is amazing.   Later I went into the kitchen and skimmed over the Bible, it was then that I came to the page where my Dad had wrote a note to me.   To see what he had written.... put me in tears again.   I will treasure it forever.

Emily

Mandy

The girls with Nana

Hugging Great Grandma

Racing - they do this all the time

Neck and Neck

Hugging Great Grandpa

Papa and the girls

Next Easter Mandy and Emily will be able to join in the Easter Egg hunt.....they will almost be 2 at this time next year.  That is mind blowing to think.

9 months old babies and Cassie update

 

Yea.....getting close to 1 year old.  I don't wish to rush the time but I know once we reach one year we have survived the first year.   The first year is all about surviving twins.  I have read this and I totally agree.   Its getting by day to day.  Surviving your days.  Because it is a lot of work with multiple babies.

Mandy
She started crawling 3 weeks ago and she has picked up the speed.  She is an expert crawler and trying to pull up on things.  Because of her crawling and pulling up she has fallen down and knocked her head into many things.   The helmet has saved her forehead/head from many cuts and bruises all ready.

Helping Daddy

She is sleeping thru the night except for the occasional bad night of teething.   No more bottles of formula for her.  If anything I give her a sip of water at night but that is rare.

Break from her helmet

 

Loves the phone

Chili Mac....maybe not such a good idea

Still helping Daddy (aka...in the way)

 

She is always happy and smiling and totally connected to me at the hip.    She just wants ME.    Always pulling at my pant leg, crawling into my lap, its nice unless I am trying to console Emily and hold her.   Mandy doesn't always like to share me.

Emily
She is still not interested in finger food, just plays with it.  Not interested in crawling either.   Last week she did start babbling.  Saying "DaDa" and "BaBa".  She loves her Daddy and always gives him big smiles (she does this to PaPa as well)

She has just started to sleep thru the night (a week ago) She is now waking up at 5am for a bottle and will go back to sleep afterwards.   Getting some good straight hours of sleep is really really nice.  Makes things start to seem normal again, because when your sleep deprived its draining!

Poor girl has scratches on her nose/face from Mandy grabbing her

She always sits like this...the splits

Always stretching and showing off her flexibility

Cassie

This girl drains me.   My patience.....she tests it.   Is it the age?  Her sisters?  I don't know but its like she is 16. 

My helmet girls

Last weekend we got her a new bike

She loves her bike helmet.....wears it all day

Rockin the Doc Band

Mandy got fitted for her doc band on Monday.   She acted like it wasn't even on when it was slipped on her head.  She only wore it for 4 hours Monday and did not sleep in it.

Tuesday I put it on at 6 in the morning and every 4 hours took it off of her head to check for red spots.   There is one spot that I am keeping an eye on but so far it fades to pink within the hour so I put the helmet back on.   Yesterday she napped with it and went to bed with it.  She napped for 2 hours in the morning and 30 min in the afternoon.   Good!!    I put her down for the night and she screamed....SCREAMED!!  I thought "oh no, this is not good" .   I thought our night would be terrible....BUT once she found a comfy spot she slept all night long without waking up.  (7 -6)

And as I write this she is going on an hour nap.  

What a relief.   She has been sleeping thru the night for a week now and I was really worried wearing the helmet was going to change that, but it appears everything will be ok!!!  

But of course!!!

On Monday night I decorated her band with decals from "Bling your Band".   Now it looks cute. We go every other week (an hour drive) to have the helmet adjusted, our last appointment is scheduled for the first week of June.  Here is to 12 weeks in the helmet and a rounder head!

DSI Scan

We left bright and early at 8 this morning to make our way to Skokie, Illinois for Mandys DSI Scan for her helmet.   She was an angel all day.  Hardly made a peep during the 1 1/2 hour drive there.  They still put a "sock" over the entire head, it reminds me of pantyhose.   It covers the entire face but they can still see thru it and breath.  Mandy did cry when they put it on but quickly got over it when I "danced" her into the room for the scan.   They set her on a stool, and the techs rattled toys in front of her face so she would look directly at them and they took scans of her head.  It took all of 5 min and we were done.  Easy Peasy!  

After the scan we went to the mall for an hour, we were planning to go out for lunch but I could tell Mandy was falling asleep in her stroller, last thing I wanted was for her to sleep there....I wanted her to sleep for the ride home.  So, change of plans and we headed home then.  She slept the whole way back.  We got to Brookfield and were strarving so we stopped for lunch and woke her from her nap.   Mandy is always so happy, full of smiles even after being woken up.  She sat in a highchair, ate some pears and smiled at everyone walking by.  We then stopped at Babies R Us for a few things and continued our trip home....again not a peep from the girl except her babbling.

I am just so proud/impressed by her.   Her happiness and how well she did.  If we would have had to do this with Cassie as a baby.....I think I would have rather poked my eyes out with a fork.  Cassie HATED the car and when she cried (screamed) she would vomit and choke, stop breathing....it was a nightmare.

So now we wait....she gets fitted with her new helmet on Monday the 18th!

Change in Helmet Plans

Thank you SO MUCH to those of you who left me comments about the helmet.    Today I was researching casting and found pictures.  One of them was this:

Yikes.....!!      I called Cranial Tech to confirm that this is how casting works.   Yes indeedy it is.  Well of course babies are going to be ticked off!!!    This looks truly awful and from what I have read from comments a nightmare.   SO....I have canceled the casting and we are instead driving to Skokie for the DSI Scan. Its about a 2 hour drive for us.  This will be next Thursday and it doesn't delay the helmet fitting in any way.   I feel so much better now, I have been stressing out about the casting.   Thank you so much to those of you who left comments and advice to me!!!

We still go to Cranial Tech next Wednesday for pictures, and Thursday the hubby is taking off all day and we are taking Mandy for the scan, grab some lunch, hang out with one child....make the day of it, make it fun.

My Readers who left comments......and first therapy session

I "replyed" to one of the comments but not sure if you would see it and I'm very interested in your story.   Yes, we are going to Cranial Tech in Mequon....small world!!  Please let me know your experience!

And to the other comment, Mandys flat spot is on her side.  Its pretty flat.   I'm sure her hair will cover alot once it really grows in but we were thinking about if she goes swimming, its very evident when her hair is wet.  We just went to her first Physical Therapy today for torticollis and it went well.  We are going twice a week for at least a month, after that I'm sure we will be re-evaulated again.

Mandy did well with the therapists, she was all smiles and let them massage and stretch her while she played with the new toys.   She did get cranky near the end but was a really good sport.   She has a pretty good tilt because of the torticollis but I never really noticed it until the therapist pointed it out.  

After Mandys appointment I ran to the gorcery store with Mandy.  Today was her first time in a grocery store!!    All I could think of was "Wow, one baby is so EASY!!!"    I can't even compare it to  Cassie because she had so many medical issues as a baby that she was NOT easy either.   But one healthy happy baby......easy.   No stress.   World of difference.