August 2010

11 months old!!!! Every day, Liv and Will seem like they’re growing and learning something new. It’s so amazing to watch them. They are speedy little crawlers – nearly impossible to keep up with! They insist on directing most of their energy on crawling over and playing in the dog food and water. They also love to pull themselves up to stand on anything and everything, and even starting to “cruise” – walking while holding onto the furniture. Time for all the safety devices – outlet plugs, gate, drawer locks….you name it. They have already started the sibling rivalry...we've seen them both crawl over each other, knock each other down, and ALWAYS want what the other one has...oh, it's already started!!!

With all of that constant activity, they haven’t really gained weight in the past month, even though they are eating so well! We’re working on table food, which is a messy endeavor. Liv is a bit better at understanding how to pick things up with her finger and thumb, while Will prefers to grab a pile of food and smash it into his face, sometimes successfully getting a few bites in his mouth. Gabby and Stella love him, and all the bits he drops on the floor! We experimented with dairy products (yogurt and cheese) to see if they have outgrown their milk allergy. Will is completely fine, and LOVES his yogurt and cheese each day. Liv likes it too, but was really cranky and difficult for awhile, so we stopped the dairy, and within a couple of days she was back to normal. So, not a conclusive experiment, but we’re only giving her soy yogurt now! We’ll try again in another month.

We saw other changes in August. Elsa left us to return to Switzerland, and is already back in school. We miss her! The day after she left, Theresa joined us from Germany, and will be with us for a year. She has fit right in immediately! Brent has been practicing his German with her…poor girl!


Will says “mama” now!!!! He still gets confused every once in awhile and calls me “dada”, but I let that slide, because he's so cute. He’s still the biggest mommy’s boy ever – I have to hide from him during the work day, because he instantly breaks down into sobs when he sees me. I've read that I should take that as a compliment, because it means I'm his favorite and he feels the most comfortable showing his feelings around me. Thank you to the child psychologists that say this, because otherwise I might start to get my feelings hurt!

Liv is much more independent and determined. She typically only cries if she wants to do something, and can’t. She loves to walk using her toy with wheels…full of smiles the whole time. She talks too, but in her own language – hasn’t quite mastered “dada” or “mama” yet. Soon, I’m sure!

Liv has two teeth, but Will still has none. They’ve been showing all sorts of signs of teething for months, with nothing to show for it! I hope they come in soon so they’re not in pain anymore, plus it will make eating a lot easier.

We think Will might be a future soccer player. He loves to hold the ball between his feet! I’ve never seen anything like it. Such control! I'll have to get a picture or video to show sometime.

We spent the first week of August in Indiana. We had a wedding to attend, which was a great opportunity to play at Mamaw & Papaw’s for awhile!

Theresa and I took the babies to the park recently…they love to swing and go down the slide! I think it may have to be an investment for us next year!

It’s now early September, and I’m in Taiwan for work! It’s killing me to be away from my little angels! I made them promise me that they won’t grow or change at all while I’m gone. When I return, we’ll be at home for a few days, then off to Indiana again for an extended 3-week stay for Purdue Alumni meetings, another wedding, and their first birthday party!

July 2010

What a month! Liv and Will made it through their first 4th of July at the beach, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, teething, and another flight!

They are now almost 10 months old. Will weighs about 20 lbs, and Liv weights about 17.5 lbs. Liv has her first tooth. It seemed like it took forever! She’s so strong – didn’t complain at all! They interact a lot now. Liv is the gentle one, who likes to pet Will, rub his back, pat his face, or give a kiss. Will likes to pull Liv’s hair and kick her. Yup, he’s a boy alright. Liv is crawling around now too…it’s so cute how proud she is of herself! She’s been working hard to figure it out for a few weeks now, so she deserves a little pride. Will hasn’t been too interested in crawling until the past week. He can get where he wants to go by pulling himself along the carpet, creeping, or rolling around. They are getting more and more vocal every day. Liv says “ga ga” most of the time, while Will’s favorite is “da da”. Totally not fair…where is “ma ma”????



I really can’t complain about Liv & Will getting sick. It’s really the first time in 9 months that they’ve been really sick, which is pretty impressive considering they were preemies during the winter! However, HFMD was pretty rough. They were miserable, wouldn’t eat or drink, which of course was during the heat wave on the east coast so I was consumed with worry about dehydration. Sleeping was a problem too. We’re used to Mr. Will being a bit cranky at times, but it was very unusual to see Liv sad for so long! We’re so happy this has passed.

We flew to Indiana on July 30th. Brent & Melissa had a wedding to go to on the 31st, so Elsa, Liv and Will hung out on the farm over the weekend with Mamaw and Aunt Amanda. We’ll be staying for a week (until Aug 9), so if you’re in the area, get in touch with me to visit! This flight was not as easy as the one in February. They’re too aware of the world now, so keeping two 10-month-olds happy in your laps for 2 hours, after driving the hour to the airport and 1.5 hours of waiting once we got there…well, it takes some energy and patience! I might have to stay here until they’re 5 years old before I’m ready to take them on another flight.

We continue to spend a lot of time in the pool…the babies both love to splash. We’ve even put them under water a few times, and after they get over the surprise, they’re fine with it! My little fish!

We’re planning their first birthdays (just 2 months away…hard to believe!!!). If you’re in the Greenfield area, the party will be on Sunday, Oct. 3, and for those of you in MA, it will be Sunday, Oct. 10. Get your party hats on!

Elsa, our current au pair (Marie’s sister) has been with us since the end of June. Her time is flying by here! She’s with us until August 19th…hard to believe! Liv and Will love her…it will be sad to see her go! Theresa is getting ready to come soon, starting August 20th.

June 2010

Liv and Will are now almost 9 months old. Will is roughly just under 19 lbs (too hard to know for sure, because he will not stay still on the scale!), and Liv is 16.5 lbs. We have their 9-month well-visit check in two weeks, so I'll give more of an update on their "stats" then. They had their follow-up preemie eye check at the beginning of the month, and everything is normal! They don't have to go back for another eye check until they're 3 yrs old.

Our June ended on a very sad note...our dear Marie returned to Switzerland. It was incredibly hard to see her go. She was here with us during the hard times, before sleeping through the night, before schedules, feeding every 2-3 hours, colic filled evenings, etc. She was a second mom to Liv and Will. She is very missed, but we feel so lucky that we were able to spend those 6 months together! Luckily for us, her sister, Elsa, came a week before Marie left (for some quality training!), and is now with us until August 19th. Elsa has jumped right in with both feet, and doing a really great job. The babies took an immediate liking to her, and she fits right in with us. Elsa will be with us just a short time, during her summer break. The day after she leaves, we'll be welcoming Theresa (au pair from Germany) to the family.

Liv and Will both LOVE water. They love the pool and the bath. I think they would play in the tub for hours if we let them. The weather has been amazing, allowing a lot of opportunity for walks and swimming. We've been to the beach twice so far - they both love to look at the ocean and talk long walks along the water. Not so excited about he frigid water, but they'll get used to it!

Will has mastered sitting by himself, but Liv really can't be bothered. If only she could figure out how to coordinate those little legs of hers, she'd be running around the house already. She wants desparately to crawl, but instead she pushes herself backwards, which frustrates her greatly.

Mamaw had a surprise retirement party in June which we could not attend, but we celebrated anyway. No worries, we didn't let her actually drink the wine!

May 2010

We can't believe May is almost over! I feel like I just updated the blog, but it's actually been a month now! Everyone is great here. Will and Liv are SO MUCH FUN now! They both roll over all the time now. Will really loves to be on his belly, and won't sleep any other way! They are both really happy babies, and love to laugh at everything. Liv especially loves the dogs - she lights up when they walk by.

This month, Aunt Christine came to visit for a long weekend. She helped Marie over the weekend while Mommy and Daddy went to Dave & Lauren's wedding festivities. We were so glad to have her here! With her and Marie in charge of the babies, we knew they were in great hands!

I just went on my first work trip! It was so hard to leave the babies! Oma came over almost every day and was a huge help to Marie and Brent while I was gone. Brent got up each day with them at 5:30-ish, and has decided he likes the morning shift, so plans on getting up with them most mornings so I can work out and shower before my work day starts.

Their baptism was on the 23rd. They were both so good, even though it was during their morning nap time! Will was pretty chilled out, but Liv was incredibly animated and yelled at the pastor the whole time. She was also laughing loudly at the cello. I think she likes to be the center of attention, like her mommy.

We had a very hot day here, so we took the babies for their first "swim"! They loved the water. Liv thought it was a bit cold, but Will didn't mind. I have a feeling we're going to have a fun summer with them!

Will is now 18 lbs, and Liv is 15 lbs 6 oz. Still no teeth, although there have been bouts of teething periods. We're expecting those little teeth to pop through any day! Will continues to be a great eater - pretty much anything we give him, he likes. We're even adding some herbs and spices to his baby food! Liv is getting much better with eating, but she's a bit pickier than Will. Pretty easy to say that Will takes after Brent and Liv after me on this one.

We're looking forward to a fun Memorial Day weekend with friends (Lisa and Sheefel are both visiting!). Hope you all have a sunny holiday weekend!

Laughing Babies & Au Pair updates

We've never posted a video on here before, so hopefully it works! Last night, the babies really had some big belly laughs at their silly mommy.

We also decided to make a match with an au pair from Germany. Her name is Theresa. We've met a couple of times over the phone and skype, and have emailed a few times as well. I think it's going to be a great match for us, and we're excited to invite her into our family this August.

One last news - Will decided to roll over last night from back to belly! So, they've both accomplished the goals of rolling in both directions. They don't do these activities frequently, but at least they've done them!

April update

The babies have now passed their half-birthday! They were 6 months old on April 6. They had their 6-month check at the pediatricians last week, and they checked out well! They are really closing that gap with adjusted age vs real age. Will is now 16 lbs, and Liv is 14 lbs. They are both 26" long. Looking at percertiles for comparison, Liv is 54% for height, and 9% for weight, and Will is 28% for height, and 17% for weight (all up from their last check!).

They are both on a special formula now (Nutramagin), as they have digestion issues with milk-based formulas. I'm no longer nursing. Will continues to love baby food - we even have him eating chicken now! As I said in the previous post, I'm making my own baby food, which is continuing to go well, although I must say it was pretty disgusting to make pureed chicken. Liv is still not a big fan, so we're going a lot slower with her. So far she seems to like bananas, but everything else is a bit of a struggle. We'll keep working on it! Will is really good with his hands, so we've let him start to experiment with water in a sippy cup. He gets frustrated with it though, because he'll lift it to drink, but miss and instead hit his forehead. Practice makes perfect, little buddy!

Kiss me!

Liv has learned to roll from back to belly. She does it quite frequently now. Oddly, she's forgotten how to roll the easier way (from belly to back), so she'll get frustrated once she gets "stuck". Will is a bit lazier, and not trying this feat yet. He likes to sit, and even though he can't sit on his own yet, I think he'll do this sooner than Liv.

Marie leaves at the end of June, then her sister Elsa will be here for 8 weeks after that. At the end of August, we'll be getting a new au pair, this time through an agency. I'm in the middle of interviewing now. We were so lucky with Marie; I'm hoping we can be that lucky again with this new girl. I'm interviewing girls from Germany, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico. By the next post, I'll have more news on this! For any of you ever considering an au pair, it's really a great way to go. For two or more children, it's cheaper than daycare, and you have someone there so you don't have to transport to and from daycare. You can also have a flexible schedule. Brent and I are not private people, so we love having another "family member" here with us.

Since the last post, Mamaw and Aunt Amanda have visited on separate occasions! It was so nice to have them here. We really wish we all lived closer!!! Grandpa Nemo will be here at the end of next week. Aunt Christine will be back mid-May to help Marie watch them while we attend wedding festivities for Uncle Dave and Aunt-to-be Lauren.

Out for a walk with my friend, Ella!

Precious!

March update

Liv and Will are quickly approaching their half-birthday! They will be 6 months old on April 6th. How time flies! Will is now over 15 lbs, and Liv just over 13 lbs. They both have great head control now. Just a couple of days ago, they decided to both roll over from tummy to back - just seconds apart from each other! Their hand-eye coordination is improving daily - they are really able to see something they want and reach for it, even sometimes grabbing it and then quite proud of themselves!

Liv has had a bit of a rough go lately. For the past couple of weeks, she's had diarrhea, and after testing her diapers at the doctor's office, we found out that there was blood in her stool. So, after a couple more visits, the belief is that she has a late-developing milk allergy. We switched her to a special formula, and I stopped nursing her (which was a really sad day for me!). She's getting better (no more blood), but she still has many dirty diapers every day, which has led to a horrible diaper rash. We give her "naked time" on the floor every day so the wounds (yes, they seem like war wounds to me) get some air for healing. She loves it, although Marie is probably getting sick of doing laundry constantly since she pees through many towels & blankets during her naked time! We're also trying different diaper rash cream remedies, so hopefully it will be better soon!

Will has been eating big boy food (Liv will too, once we get her all cleared up!). He's a fan. I'm making homemade baby food for him, which is a lot easier than I expected (and definitely cheaper!). So far, he's enjoyed sweet potatoes, peas, pears, and butternut squash. We're skipping the rice cereal and oatmeal for now, which I know is the typical first food for babies, but the latest medical journals are saying that these should actually come later because they are harder to digest.

Marie continues to be a God-send. We can't imagine our lives without her, although we will soon enough - she has to leave at the end of June. Her sister will be coming to fill in for about 8 weeks after Marie leaves, but then she's back to school as well. We're hoping to find another au pair to start in the fall, but we just can't imagine anyone as wonderful as Marie.

Liv and Will continue to have many visitors. Aunt Christine came to visit during her spring break, and Mamaw arrives tomorrow. Aunt Amanda will visit in a couple of weeks during her break from work. At the end of April Grandpa Nemo comes. Fun, fun, fun!