Cora just took her first steps! She took 2 steps toward me before she fell!

One Year

I had every intention of writing at least this one on time, but it’s been a long week. The day before the twins’ birthday, all three kids woke up sick! Yesterday, Damon came home from work early because he’s sick too. I’m the last man standing! So far.

I can’t believe my last babies are no longer babies anymore. I almost cried when I noticed the Babycenter email said “My Toddler This Week.” As sad as it is, I am looking forward to this year. The second year is my favorite because they are little sponges. Everything is so new and exciting!

They had their one-year checkup on Thursday and both babies are doing great! Cora is 21lbs. 14oz. and 31.25 inches tall. Emma is 22lbs. 9oz. and 30 inches tall. So Emma’s still a little shorter and heavier, but not by much! She definitely feels more solid than Cora.

Neither girl is walking yet, but it won’t be long. Both girls can stand unsupported for minutes at a time, but Cora stands longer. She drops down carefully when she no longer wants to stand while Emma still falls on her tush. Cora also loves push toys right now. I remember when Abby first started using those, she couldn’t control her speed, so she’d fly across the room. Cora has already mastered it and can walk with it at her own pace. Emma would still rather play with the doodads in front of it instead of push it.

The twins are now completely off formula and bottles! The last of the formula was consumed the day before their birthday, and they’ve been fine with that. It was a slower transition than with Abby because they weren’t all that fond of milk at first. I think they didn’t like the cold rather than the taste. When we started mixing it with formula, thus making their bottles cold, they didn’t mind it.

They still eat pretty much anything, but Emma is much pickier than Cora. Cora has a hollow leg. She can eat as much as Abby sometimes! Emma’s least favorite is bananas, but she also only tolerates blueberries sometimes.

They both love to copy us now. When Cora stands on her own (she does it much more often than Emma), we all clap and say “yay!” Emma joins in cheers her on as well! It’s the cutest thing. Cora loves the attention, so she stands constantly just so she can get praised. And she claps for herself when she’s up too! She also still loves to play peekaboo. Emma puts her head to her shoulder when she wants to be cute. She also likes to shake her head no. It’s fun to get them to do these things by doing it first and having them imitate us. When they’re done eating, I always say “all done!” with my hands palms up. Yesterday, Cora copied me and said “a da!” Her first sentence!

Both girls are in a “MINE” stage right now. Whenever one has a toy, the other has to have it and tries to take it away. It doesn’t matter if she has her own toy, or if it’s the same toy. Cora is definitely the biggest culprit. Yesterday, she had a toy in each hand, but dropped on just so she could take Emma’s. When I gave Emma the toy Cora dropped, she did it again! Emma doesn’t let her get away with it either! This is the cause for most of the screams right now.

I can’t wait to watch them learn so many new things this year! Before we know it, they’ll be walking and talking constantly. It’ll be fun to watch them chase Abby around. They love their big sister so much! Nobody makes them laugh the way Abby can.

11 Months

I’ve been lazy with the blog, so this will be a brain dump post. I need to get something up, though, because I’m tired of seeing my cancer update. Thank you all so much for the encouragement and well-wishes through that journey. I’m so glad it’s over and behind us now!

So the babies turned 11 months on Sunday. Their first year has flown by! It’s gone much quicker than Abby’s did. I can’t believe their birthday is right around the corner. I really need to start planning a party for them! Here’s what they’re into now:

--Cora is so quick to laugh. It takes more work to get Emma to laugh, but it’s hilarious when she does. It’s more of a cackle than a laugh.

--That doesn’t mean Emma’s more serious than Cora. On the contrary, they are both really happy babies. Emma is easily excitable and tries to fly away. When she’s happy, she sits and flaps her arms up and down like she’s trying to take off.

--Cora is doing more regular crawling than her belly-crawl now. She still goes back to belly-crawling when she is going a long distance, or wants to go faster. Emma never did belly-crawl; she went straight to regular crawling.

--Cora tends to do things first, but Emma does them “right” when she does. Once Emma learns to do something, Cora learns how to do it “right” by watching her. See: the crawling.

--Another example: Cora learned to pull herself to standing about a month before Emma did, but she fell on her butt pretty hard trying to get down the first time and it scared her. For a long time, I’d have to go in to their room and repeatedly help her down during naptimes because she’d stand and get stuck. We learned Emma’s fearless (or has a really tough butt!) when she started pulling up. She plops down on her butt without a second thought. Cora finally figured out how to get down after Emma did, but she’s still very careful and goes down to her knees first.

--Speaking of knees, Cora loves to sit with her feet by her tush and her knees in front. Does that make sense? When she’s in this position, she likes to rock  up and down with  her upper body/tush when excited. Damon thinks this is the funniest thing ever!  Emma loves to dance any time there’s music on. I don’t know where she gets it from because Damon and I both have no rhythm whatsoever.

--While both girls are expert standers when there’s something to hold on to, only Emma has begun to let go.  And stay upright for a few seconds before falling!  I tell you she’s fearless!  Cora loves it when I let go of her and catch her, but she rarely keeps her balance for any length of time.

--Cora says Mama, Dada/Daddy, and Abby/Abba/Adda/Addy consistently. By far, her most used word is Abby. Cutest thing ever!  Mama only gets used by both girls when they’re upset.

--Emma says Mama (rarely), Hi, and da. Mostly, she just babbles.

--Both girls have learned to clap.

--Cora still loves peekaboo, and has learned to play on her own. She loves to find things to cover her face with. The funniest part is that she misses and gets it on her head, or it lands behind her, more often than not. She still thinks this is the best game and laughs hysterically every time!

--Another game Cora loves is to mimic us. If we make a noise, she’ll repeat it.  She’s going to be speaking in sentences before we know it!

--When they were born, some people from Damon’s work gave us some of those no-sew taggy blankets. You know the ones with the knots and tags along the edges. They each have 2, a big one and a small one. Emma LOVES these blankets. If we put one on the floor for her, she’ll happily spend a good chunk of time rolling on it, chewing on the tags, and carrying it with her.

--Emma also loves to watch tv. She won’t sit through a whole show, but she’s fascinated by it. Of course, she’s mostly interested in Abby’s shows. Cora’s too busy to sit and watch. She’ll watch for a minute or two before moving on to something else.

--Emma has become a much better sleeper lately. She’ll even sleep through the night once or twice a week! Mostly, she’s up once around 4. Cora has become a pretty light sleeper, so she usually wakes up too. I’ve got my system down now so I’m back in bed within 10 minutes, so their one wake-up isn’t all that bad. We’ve talked about splitting them, but they get really upset if one wakes up first and isn’t in her crib when the other wakes up. Plus, splitting them would entail either moving Abby downstairs or bringing a crib into our room. We’re not willing to do either option right now, so we just deal with Emma waking up Cora.

--Emma likes to flirt. She’ll smile at anyone who will look at her. She likes to tilt her head to her shoulder to be extra cute. Cora still takes longer to warm up. She usually just stares at strangers with a look that says “You can look but don’t touch.”

I’m sure there’s a ton more I’m forgetting, but at least now there’s a proper post up!

Um, this was a month ago

Cora just said Abby! She's sitting on my lap looking at pictures from earlier today, so I pointed at Abby and said her name. Cora immediately repeated it! It comes out as Adda/Addy/Abba and occasionally, Abby, but it's clear what she's saying.

**I just found this in my drafts. Oops! I never posted it a month ago. Better late than never!

I'm Healthy

So my surgeon called yesterday. I will need no additional treatment! NO chemo or radiation! I have to have biannual mammograms and an annual chest x-ray for a couple years, but that's IT! I'm so incredibly lucky!

Apparently there's dermatofibrosarcoma and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. It's the second type, DFSP, that is the more rare of the two. That's the one I have. Thanks to that extra little word, the fear that it can possibly develop in my lungs is eliminated. That was the one thing we were originally going to have to watch for, hence the chest x-rays. Since there is no risk of this happening, instead of a lifetime of annual chest x-rays, I'll only have to deal with the 5-minute inconvenience for two years.

I don't feel like I had "real" cancer. I only had to deal with a couple incredibly stressful months, but now it's all over. I didn't lose a boob. I didn't have to suffer through radiation, or worse, chemo. I didn't lose my hair. I didn't have to have poison injected to my body on a regular basis. How can I possibly call myself a cancer survivor? Sure I have a 2-3 inch scar, but that's the only lasting reminder I'll have. My scar is in such a prominent place I'll forever be having to explain it to people. I feel guilty telling them the truth since everyone fears cancer. Cancer is such a scary thing to deal with, but it's not always a death sentence.

Peekaboo

Want to see the cutest thing? Cora has become the "easy to please" baby. She loves to play games and is quick to laugh hysterically. She has 3 favorite games: the "near and far" game where we move her toward us and away, the "up high" game where we lift her up high, and peekaboo. Here's peekaboo. You can also hear her say "pepepepe" after I say peekaboo! Emma also makes a bonus appearance at the end!

Success!

I feel awful. I've been sitting on this news for days, but haven't gotten around to posting it here. I did update on Twitter and Facebook, so if you follow me there, you'll already know. I'm sorry!

Anyway, my surgery was a success! My surgeon called when she received the pathology report to let me know she removed all of the cancer! There's still a possibility I'll need radiation as a preventive measure, but I'll know more Tuesday. Apparently, there's some review board consisting of oncologists, breast specialists, and surgeons that meets every Tuesday. They'll look over my file and decide whether or not I need radiation. They didn't meet yesterday because of the holiday, so I have to wait until next Tuesday. Oh well. The worst is definitely over! I'll be monitored closely for at least a couple years to make sure it doesn't come back, but that's a small price to pay for a clean bill of health.

P.S. If you're in the Colorado Springs area, and are ever in need of a breast care surgeon (I hope not!), I highly recommend Dr. Ingrid Sharon. She was fantastic! On our first consult with her, we brought all the kids because Damon had questions too. Well, they didn't make it through the appointment, so he took them to the lobby while I went over everything with her. When we were done, she went to the lobby and spoke with Damon herself, despite it already being after-hours by then, and took her time answering his questions and re-hashing everything she'd already told me. After my surgery, she called to tell me everything we'd already gone over in the recovery room (a conversation I have absolutely no recollection of!), and put a nice hand-written card in with my release paperwork. Finally, she called me herself on Saturday (a holiday weekend no less!) with my results because she didn't want me to have to wait until Tuesday! I don't think I've ever been better taken care of by a doctor before!

Surgery's Over!

My lumpectomy was yesterday. I'm so glad it's finally over! I'm feeling better than I thought I would, but I'm still pretty sore. Especially my throat. The surgeon apparently spoke with me afterward, but I have no recollection of it at all. She called shortly after I got home, and repeated what she'd initially told me. She took a good-sized chunk out, did a chest x-ray, then took some more just to be on safe side. My whole boobage area is wrapped in an Ace bandage. I'm not allowed to remove it until Saturday. This means no showers until then! If you come near me, be sure not to get downwind of me! I have a follow-up appointment next Thursday, the 28th, so hopefully she'll have the pathology results then. She said she'd call if the results came in sooner, but not to hold our breath because they'll likely need a second opinion since my cancer's so rare.

Emma sat up!

Emma just sat up from a crawl position all by herself for the first time! Both girls have been able to get up to where they're resting on one arm, but this was the first time either of them has been able to get to a full sit position. Cora's also pulling herself up to standing on any raised surface every chance she gets.

Both girls have the sniffles this weekend. Their little noses are so congested and runny they're having trouble sleeping. Poor things!

Mother's Day, Twin-style

Mother's Day started off wonderfully. When the babies woke at 6-ish, I woke up Damon and told him I was going back to sleep since it was my day. He was great about it and took care of all the kids while I slept in. Bliss! Then he made breakfast (eggs) after naptime!

Later, things got interesting.

We decided to go to Red Robin for a late lunch since it's become somewhat of a Mother's Day tradition for us. Cora was absolutely perfect while we were there. She never made so much as a peep, and was perfectly content eating Veggie Puffs and french fries. Emma was a whole different child altogether! She wasn't grouchy, just really, really loud. No matter what we did, she'd let out a "pay attention" squak every few minutes. She constantly dropped her puffs on the floor, and tried to grab at anything and everything. She definitely kept Damon on his toes! When our food arrived, we tried to bribe her with french fries.

They worked great until the inevitable happened.

She put too much in her mouth, gagged, and threw up all over! It happens often enough we have to watch her closely every time she eats. It's never just a little spit-up either. We're talking projectile vomit all over if we're not quick enough. Thankfully, we saw it happening an instant before it did, so Damon managed to get his napkin under her mouth and caught the worst of it. Her top still managed to get covered in puke, though. I'm glad the family next to us was already done eating! Of course the ONE thing I keep forgetting to put back in my diaper bag is a couple changes of clothes for them! Once she was cleaned up as best as could be, she got really upset because she wanted another fry. No way that was going to happen, so we got our check and left before she went into a full-blown meltdown. At least we managed to eat half our meal before it was time to go!

Once we'd gone a couple blocks from Red Robin, I happened to remember our leftovers. I remember Damon bringing them to the car, but I didn't see them anywhere and couldn't smell them.

He'd left them on top of the van!

We happened to remember about a minute before we saw the box go flying out the back! So much for finishing our lunch when we got home. I felt so bad for the car behind us swerving to miss the take-out box. Then I spilled some of my free Cold Stone ice cream all over my jeans and the seat on the way home. On the bright side, what I did get to eat was really, really good!

My Friends Let Me Play Photographer

I had the best day yesterday! Three friends had mentioned they'd love to have some "boudoir" type photos of themselves to give to their husbands for Father's Day, but they were uncomfortable going to a stranger to have them taken. One thing led to another and I ended up having my first paid photo shoots yesterday! I'm still flabbergasted that anyone would want to pay me to shoot them!

My friend, Kim, is an amazing professionalmakeup artist, so she came over and made everyone flawless first. I'm sorry I didn't get more pics of you, Kim! We each had a margarita for a little liquid courage before we got down to business. The shoot itself was so much fun! I must've been running on adrenaline the entire time because I crashed so hard once everyone left! I could've easily taken a nice, long nap, but Cora was up playing with me while my other girls slept.

Most of the pictures are too risque to post online, but I did edit a few G-rated shots last night to give me friends a little teaser. I'm so proud of these shots! They are both incredibly gorgeous women, so it was easy to get some amazing shots of them.

This is Heather. She's still trying to tell me she's not at all photogenic! Whatever Heather!


Melanie was a blast to shoot! She had some terrific ideas and was not the least bit shy.

Surgery

They finally called to schedule my surgery. The big day will be the 20th. I'm to go to the office tomorrow to go over paperwork and talk about when I'll need to be there. When I met with the surgeon, she said to plan on everything taking a good 2/3 of my day. I go to the breast care center first where they'll stick a needle in my boob to mark the spot since it's too small to feel. They'll then wheel me down the hall to the surgical center, knock me out, and take out the tumor. The surgery itself should only take about an hour. Once I wake up, they'll do x-rays to make sure they got all the tumor and a wide margin. Then we wait. Again. We should get the results in about a week. She warned us it might take a little longer because my cancer's so rare. They'll most likely get a second opinion at the lab to make sure everything is right. That's why I had to wait a couple extra days to get the biopsy results.

The Only One

I am completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we've received from all of you! I can't begin to tell you how much it means to my family and me. Thank you so much for being here during this completely unexpected, and unwanted, journey.

In real life, I'm a numbers girl. I'm much more comfortable with numbers than with words. In high school, I used to create algebra problems to help me sleep. In my defense, I was also a cheerleader, so I wasn't the kid eating glue in the back of class. I just like numbers. It helps me to be able to break something down to the lowest common denominator. When dealing with cancer, it's impossible not to come across many statistics. I found them fascinating, particularly since my cancer's so rare, that I had to share them here.

1. There are 2 different groups of sarcomas: soft-tissue sarcomas, and bone cancer.
2. Within these 2 groups, there are about a dozen different types of sarcomas.
3. All sarcomas combined only make up about 1% of all cancers.
4. Only about 11,000 people will be diagnosed with sarcoma this year.
5. Of those 11,000, about 7,800 will have a type of soft-tissue sarcoma (what mine falls under).
6. Of those 7,800, a whopping ONE percent will be my sarcoma: dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP)
7. That means approximately 78 people will develop DFSP this year!
8. Of the approx. 78 new cases of DFSP this year, 43% will be women (34).
9. Of the 78, it will develop somewhere on the trunk in 50% of them.
10. That means of the 34 women who will get DFSP this year, it will arise in the trunks of 17 of us.
11. Of this 50%, it will mostly appear on the back or adomen. Sadly, I couldn't find a percentage for this one.

Basically, that means I may be the only person in this country to get dermatofibrosarcoma on my boob this year. Ok, there may be a handful of us, but I'm sure my odds of winning the lottery would've been greater. I think it's time to go buy a ticket!

Three Words I Never Thought I'd Say

I have cancer.

Saying it out loud the first time is the hardest, but it gets easier after that. Six months ago, at my post-partum pap, my obgyn did a breast exam and thought he felt cysts. Since I was nursing at the time, I couldn't have a mammogram so he sent me in for an ultrasound. They did find cysts, but said they were too small for him to have felt. He most likely felt milk ducts. Because they did find regular nothing-to-worry-about cysts, he wanted me to go back in 6 months for a mammogram (or another ultrasound if I was still nursing) to make sure they weren't growing.

I had my first ever mammogram on the 10th.

The mammogram itself wasn't that bad. They did, however, find something. The radiologist said it didn't appear to have any "alarming characteristics," so they thought it was probably another cyst. An ultrasound was scheduled for the following Tuesday to be sure it was just a cyst. After doing the ultrasound, the tech went to show the radiologist (totally normal, they did the same thing the first time). When she came back with the radiologist, I started to worry. He told me they still thought it was a cyst, but it appeared to be a "complex" cyst because it had a thick wall around it. Still nothing to worry about, but the chance of it being malignant went up a bit. He ordered a biopsy just to be on the safe side.

I went back, for a third time in as many weeks, last week for the biopsy. They were still talking cyst, and weren't too concerned about it. I was to come back again Monday for the results, something routine in this office no matter the results. On Monday, they called and told me to come back yesterday instead because they didn't have my results yet.

The constant waiting is the worst! And now they wanted me to wait a couple more days! All of us went back yesterday to hopefully get good news and be done with all of this. It didn't turn out that way.

I have cancer.

This is probably the scariest news I've ever been given about myself. No one ever wants to hear the "C" word. Once we got over the initial shock and fear, however, we discovered it's not a death sentence. I don't have breast cancer; it just happens to be in my breast. I have a very rare form of cancer, and it was caught extremely early.

I met with the surgeon today to discuss my lumpectomy. My type of cancer, dermatofibrosarcoma, is a slow-growing type and will not spread to other parts of my body. It does tend to be difficult to get it all, though, because she said it has little "tendrils" that make it necessary to take out a very wide margin around the lump. If they don't get all of the "tendrils," I'll need radiation because it will come back. Since mine is so small, she's very optimistic she'll get it all and I won't need to go there. She's planning on taking a chunk a good couple inches in diameter out of my boob. Thankfully, I have big boobs, so she was confident it wouldn't affect me too much, cosmetically. Besides the big scar I'll have right in my cleavage.

Dermatofibrosarcoma is so rare it often goes undetected for years before any action is taken. The surgeon said she was very worried for me when she heard what it was because at best, she's had to take a good quarter of boob. At worst, she's had to do a full mastectomy, including removing a good portion of chest muscle. She said my sarcoma was the smallest she's ever seen in her 25 years of being a surgeon! I'm so fortunate my obgyn mistook my milk ducts for cysts! It would've been at least 5 years before my first mammogram otherwise.

Someone from the surgeon's office will be calling me in the morning to schedule my lumpectomy. In the meantime, I have a mole on my boob that will be coming off Tuesday. Yes, same boob (I can't catch a break!). She wants me to go ahead with that, and we'll schedule the surgery for a couple weeks later, after I've healed.

Once the surgery is over, we'll get the pathology results in about a week. She did warn us that because it's so rare, pathology will most likely get a second opinion and it may take longer than a week for the results. That's exactly what happened with my biopsy. If I get the all-clear, I'll be going in for mammograms and ultrasounds every 6 months for 2-3 years. If not, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I have cancer. But I'll be fine.

Cora's Teeth

Both babies have caught Abby's cold, and I'm starting to feel it as well. Cora's still teething on top of being congested and having a very wet cough. Neither baby is letting their illnesses slow them down, though!

See Cora's top teeth! Well, 3 out of the 4 coming in.


I was FINALLY able to get some happy Cora pictures! Usually, she gets very serious as soon as she sees the camera.

Life Just Got More Interesting

Both babies are now mobile! Cora still doesn't lift her torso up to crawl in the conventional way, but she's been crawling her own way for a long time now. Emma used to be so content to sit and have toys handed to her, but she recently decided that wasn't good enough anymore. She would get so frustrated, though, because she could only go backwards or roll around and it wouldn't get her where she wanted to go. It's hard watching your sister crawl circles around you and get the toy you wanted! Now, she's finally figured out how to schooch forward! She doesn't get all around the room like Cora yet, but it's coming. She could only go about a foot or two before it's time to take a break. Something seems to have clicked this morning because she's finally getting some speed and distance! Once she figures out how to move her legs with the rest of her body we're going to be in big trouble.

A Cute First

I put everyone down for a nap a half hour ago, but I've been listening to the babies babble ever since. I just went in to check on them, and they were both on their stomachs facing each other and talking to each other! Cutest. Thing. Ever.

I Couldn't Leave Emma Out

First Cookie

We're really enjoying giving the babies bits of "real" food now. Yesterday, we wentto my favorite Mexican place where they tried rice, beans, and guacamole. All three were big hits! Cora especially like the guacamole! She woke up from their last nap first today, so I brought her down and gave her a teething cookie for the first time.

So Behind

Warning! Very picture-heavy post. I keep waiting to upload pictures to flickr until I get time to edit them, but I've gotten a month behind! I ended up just posting all my March pictures straight out of the camera. There are FIVE pages of new pictures, so go see! Some of my favorites:

Cora






Emma




Both together!








Abby


Telling a car two streets over to STOP!


Damon's parents came to visit a few weeks ago.




The girls first time sitting in restaurant high chairs. A month ago.

The Joys of Twindom

For now, they don't mind sharing their toys. Even if it means creating a new way to play. Emma was in the Exersaucer when Cora decided to climb in. I managed to shoot a couple pictures before Emma started started bouncing in her seat.

How I've Missed You, Sleep

I'm so tempting the sleep gods by posting this, but I had to make of record of this. I put the babies to bed at 6:30 last night, Emma woke at 11, then they both slept until 6. We fed them and put them back down hoping they'd go back to sleep, but not really expecting to. They slept until EIGHT!

Emma's been sleeping better now. She typically wakes twice a night around 12 and 5, but Cora has been waking around 6:15, so that 5am wake-up has been tough on both of us since I get her up too. I can let her sleep an extra half hour without it messing up our schedule, but they'll be up at different times throughout the day if I let her go longer than that. Some nights, she'll wake around 2 instead then they both wake at the same time in the morning. I'll take it! It's so much better than the every hour waking she was doing a few weeks ago.

Tired of Winter

Abby has been wearing dresses and bathing suits around the house all week. She is so ready for warm weather!

7 Months

Picture-heavy to distract you! Today was a big day for the babies. Cora finally decided to sit for minutes at a time, and Emma rolled halfway across the room! Usually, it's the other way around: Cora's typically army crawling every where, and Emma's content to sit. I'll be back with a proper 7-month update (if I remember), but here are some of my favorite recent pictures in case you don't see the pictures I've uploaded to flickr (check the badge in the left sidebar periodically).

Cora Sitting. I got the shirt at The Children's Place outlet for $1 last summer. I would've like to get it for Abby, but they only had one in the babies' future size. It cracks me up to see Cora in it! It doesn't take much to make me laugh apparently. It's hard to see the whole shirt, but it says "I heart being a BIG sister."


Emma sitting


What they usually look like


Emma in the cart cover


Why we call her Cheeks! They're so smoochable


Cora's gotten much better moving around since


Can't leave the biggest sister out. I love this one. Abby's clearly enjoying herself so much!

Way Back When-sday

And a comparison shot. Emma's sitting up pretty well now. She still tips over, but it takes longer and she's learned to correct herself. Mostly. Cora's much more interested in CRAWLING! She's still not crawling in the traditional sense, but she scoots and rolls everywhere she wants to go. Why sit, she says, when she can move!

For Way Back When-esday, first there's Emma sitting in Abby's old outfit. It's not "way back," but it is from a few days ago!



Date Taken: February 21, 2009
Age: 6.5 months

Abby about a month younger, just learning to sit. Wearing the same outfit.


Date Taken: June 5, 2005
Age: 5.5 months

As always, visit Cheryl at Twinfatuation for more!

The girls had their 6-month checkup on Friday. Sure enough, they've both outgrown their infant carseats. Barely. Emma is 26 in. long & Cora's 26.5; the height limit is 26 inches. Emma's also finally passed Cora in weight! She's 17lbs. and Cora's 16lbs. 7oz. I'll have to dig up the paperwork to get their percentiles.

I ended up buying the Itzy Ritzy shopping cart cover, and used it for the first time today. It worked great! My only issue with it is that it comes with a clear plastic zipped bag to keep it in, but it's so small I had a ton of trouble getting it out when it came in the mail. There's no way I'll be able to get it back in! I ended up ripping off one of the toy holder loops trying to get it out and they responded quickly and offered to have me send it back for free to get it fixed or replaced, or pay seamstress fees to have it fixed myself. Haven't done either yet since it's such a small thing to fix.

Anyway, I used it for the first time today at the grocery store. I later found out my store has a new policy where the bag person goes out with the people using the racecars so they can get them back in the store right away. Because of this, there were none to be found outside. I ended up carrying both girls in, but couldn't figure out how to attach the cover while holding both. While I struggled, a kind woman asked if I needed help so I handed her Emma while I got it on and Cora in. Next time, I'll sling one and hold the other since I'm not comfortable wearing both.

The babies did really well sitting up together while Abby rode in the racecar part up front. Having them both together in the 2-person part was nice because they were able to lean on each other. I brought a blanket with me in case they needed some extra support, but they didn't at all. There wasn't much room left up there anyway. They also loved the different view! Sadly, I didn't get a picture since I'd planned on taking one when we left. I'd already made the bag boy who came out with me wait while I bought Girl Scout cookies, so I didn't want him to have to wait while the crazy mom took pictures. We got many looks and questions while we shopped. The typical "Are they twins?" "Are they identical?" Abby always gets asked if she's a good big sister/does she like being a big sister too.

Completely off-topic, but I once had a woman argue with me about them being fraternal. I told her they weren't, and she asked "Are you sure?" as she looked at both. She clearly didn't believe me even when I told her they look nothing alike. All it takes is one good look to see that!

Rough Weekend

Every one of us is sick! It started with the babies and it's worked its way toall of us. No one is getting any sleep around here! The babies are looking better, at least, so hopefully Cora will go back to sleeping 12 hours again very soon. Between the three kids waking, we're not getting more than an hour at a time. I really miss sleep.

Way Back When-sday

This was right before we moved from Spokane. Back when she hated being anywhere near grass.



Abby
Date: March 4, 2006
Age: 14.5 months

I couldn't resist adding a couple more.

Date: August 31, 2005
Age: 8.5 months


Pretty much the same spot in our old backyard as the second picture, just a different time of year.

Date: December 5, 2005
Age: Just a couple weeks shy of a year



Be sure to visit Cheryl at Twinfatuation to see more Way Back When-sday participants!

6 Months Old

Already! I feel like I blinked and 6 months passed. My pregnancy, up until the end, felt like an eternity, but these 6 months have flown by. I can't believe the first half of their first year is already over!

Both girls have changed so much recently. They're both on the verge of sitting up unsupported. Just a little more! Cora's also ready to start crawling! She gets up on her elbows and knees and rocks back and forth whenever she's on her stomach. She's getting really good at throwing herself forward to reach things too.

We started solids right after they turned 4 months old at the advice of their pediatrician in the hopes of reducing Cora's reflux. She's doing so much better now! She's down to regular baby spit-up instead of the constant projectile vomiting she'd do before. I'm not having to change her clothes nearly as often any more! Both girls took to eating solids really well. The first time we fed them something other than cereal (sweet potatoes), they ended up eating an entire jar each! The last week or so, Emma has decided she no longer wants to eat, so it's been a struggle. Cora, on the other hand, will gladly eat her jar and whatever Emma leaves! We've gone through all the Level 1 foods now. Both girls love orange veggies--carrots, sweet potatoes, squash--and hate green veggies (peas, green beans). Of course, they both love all the fruit.

What else? Cora's still a terrific sleeper, and Emma's hit or miss. We never know if she's going to wake up once at night or 2 or 3 times. Cora has decided 6-6:30 is the perfect time to wake up, so it's really tough when Emma's last wake-up is at 5. They're both still on the same schedule, so when Cora wakes up we get Emma up too. They take 3 naps total, but they may be transitioning down to 2. Now, their first nap lasts about 1.5 hours some days, and their second lasts about 2. When they take a third nap, it's still only about 30-45 minutes. Typically, they take a third nap when they take a short first nap now. Abby still takes a nap in the afternoons, so I always coincide it with their second nap.

They're currently wearing 6-9 (or 6-12 depending on the manufacturer) month clothes and size 3 diapers. Going up in diapers was a little sad because that means they're no longer wearing Pampers Swaddlers. They've graduated to Pampers Cruisers. Sniff!

We'll get their official stats next week (Friday). We're so curious to see how much they've grown!

Question for those with multiples

When the babies go for their 6 month checkup next week, they will surely have outgrown their infant carriers. Abby outgrew hers at 4 months, so she was nowhere near sitting up unsupported in grocery carts. I solved my problem by buying a Buggy Bagg (HIGHLY recommend them if you have a singleton!), which was great because it was well-padded and came with a detachable pillow. That pillow was what sold me on the Buggy Bagg and was perfect for helping her sit up in the carts.

Now, we're in a similar situation with the babies. They are very close to sitting up unsupported, but they're not quite there yet. Since I won't have the infant carriers to load up one cart at Target any more, I have 3 options.


1. Use the Buggy Bagg in a single cart for one baby & sling the other while Abby walks next to me. The only problem is that we don't use the sling very often, so they're not used to it. Until they're comfortable in it, we'll have to keep these trips short.

2. Push the babies in the double stroller while pull a cart. Not only has it been a big pain when I have to shop by myself and have to use 2 grocery carts, but taking the stroller would limit space in the minivan. We've had to get creative when we forget to take the stroller out before going to the grocery store.

3. Do the bulk of my shopping at the grocery store with the race car up front and room for the babies in the back. Since they're not quite sitting unsupported yet, they'll need some padding to help them. I was hoping Buggy Bagg would make a double cart cover thing with pillows, but no such luck. I have found several cute ones that say they can be used in the big double carts, but they don't come with pillows so they don't really help me. Plus, they only have 2 leg holes, so each baby sits inside one leg hole and has no fabric or padding between their legs. This isn't a dealbreaker for me, but I haven't found one that comes with a pillow. Honestly, I do love some of the patterns I've found, particularly the Itzy Ritzy ones, but how would I support them into a sitting position? Is it padded enough to help? The Buggy Bagg wasn't. They are very close to sitting on their own, so it would really only be for 2 or 3 weeks, tops.

I'd love to hear any suggestions or experiences you may have with grocery cart covers. Thanks!

Random Picture Saturday

From Britany at 4 Little Men & Girly Twins

Find the 44th picture from November 2007

Mine are all on an external harddrive, so I went to flickr and counted the November pictures to get to the 44th one.



We went to Iowa to visit family for Thanksgiving and celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Abby's birthday with everyone since we wouldn't be back in December. Abby STILL talks about that Dora cake!

Teeth

Way Back When-sday

Date: May 18, 2005
Age: Abby, Exactly 5 months old

This is pretty much exactly what Emma looks like when I try and change her these days. If she's not reaching for her feet, and trying to get them in her mouth, she's pushing her butt up in the air. Cora just loves to kick so hard she knocks everything off. Fun times.

Thanks to Cheryl at Twinfatuation for starting Way Back When-sdays!