Packing on the oz's

We took the boys for their first dosing of medication for RSV yesterday.  It's a respiratory virus that everyone gets, but it's pretty dangerous for anyone who is immuno-compromised   The boys will receive a shot of the medicine every month from Nov. through March.  Luckily Ty was able to take off work and come with me.  I can do most doctor's appointments alone, but when shots are being given, it's very nice to have two adults to hold and comfort crying babies.  The boys took the shots like champs and do not seem to be suffering from any side effects.

They weighed the boys before administering the shots and Carter is finally making his move.  He is weighing in at 11 pounds and Anderson weighs 12lbs, 9oz.  The weight difference between them used to be 2lbs, so the gap is decreasing. They also measured the boys and Carter is about 21.5 inches and Anderson is 22 inches.  The measuring was done while they were squirming all over the place though, so I am not certain how accurate these lengths are.

We had our second visit from the occupational therapist this week.  She gave me her evaluation of the boys and some goals we are working on with each of them.  According to her assessment, Carter is about 1 month behind in development and Anderson is 2 months behind.  Since their adjusted age is 3 months, that means Carter is functioning like a 2 month old and Anderson like a 1 month old.  As you might imagine, their defensive mom couldn't help but ask the therapist if she's met many other 1 month old babies that are sleeping through the night, rolling over, cooing in response to people talking, smiling, etc.  As you also might imagine, my question was met with a blank stare and a change of subject.  Despite this, I really do like the OT and it is great to have a few more ideas of activities to work on with the boys.  They are learning new things each day and becoming more and more interactive which is very fun for Ty and me.

The boys and I also took their first trip to a mall today.  They did amazingly well, smiling at everyone and then napping in their stroller.  This may not be good news for Ty, since I now know that I can take them shopping...

And because a post always needs a picture, and because babies in polo shirts are funny, here is a pic of the boys:

Just a little photo shoot

We wanted to take some pictures of the boys in their cute octopus outfits from Ty's Uncle Bruce and Aunt Laurie on what we hoped would be the last day of wearing shorts and t-shirts.  Here are a few of the photos:

Anderson didn't want his brother in the shot

Anderson also likes to try and get Carter's attention

Carter had had enough

Sweet baby working on rolling over on the soft surface

And this sweet baby is trying to hold up his giant head

Trying to work on rolling over, but there's another baby in the way

Close-up of the action

Movement in the Schlegel House

Remember how the boys weren't quite rolling over at the last visit with the occupational therapist?  Well times they are a changing at the Schlegel house

On Saturday morning, Carter was doing a little tummy time and seemed to be moving around more than he had in the past.  Ty and I were watching him because it seemed like he might be close to rolling over (and we looked like idiots, leaning in the direction we wanted Carter to lean and practically sitting on our hands to stop ourselves from reaching out and helping him move the last little bit).  After a few failed attempts, Carter put it all together all by himself:

While we thought Anderson was quite a bit behind his brother in terms of rolling over, he proved to us that he's got a little competitive streak in him.  He apparently was watching his big brother and taking notes.  Anderson does not like it when we are paying attention to his brother and not him, so the cheers for Carter rolling over seemed to serve as the impetus for change.  He put it all together for himself on Sunday afternoon:

Sorry for the shaky camera work on these; excited parents cannot be trusted with a video camera.

Visits from the Occupational Therapist

At our last appointment with the doctor who specializes in development, she referred us to an occupational therapist to help with some of the developmental delays the boys were experiencing.  They said it wasn't anything too serious, but wanted to keep on top of it so that they don't fall too far behind. The occupational therapist will be coming every week to work with the boys

Last week was our first visit and it was actually really helpful for me to see some of the exercises she does with the boys and to work on things at home.  As Ty and I thought, Carter was further along developmentally than Anderson.  He reaches for things, can grab objects and is more interactive with toys. He stares off to his left side often, so we are working on placing interesting things on his right side to encourage him to stare to the right.  His overall muscle tone is pretty good, with a bit of tightness from favoring one side.  He is not quit rolling over from his back to front yet, but seems very close.

Anderson isn't quite reaching for things yet and interacting with toys.  He seems pretty content to watch Carter play with the toys.  He does however seem to have a stronger neck and upper body than Carter and is closer to being able to sit up on his own than Carter.  He has not rolled over yet either and seems like he might be a few weeks away from it.

Overall, while it was difficult to hear that the boys are already experiencing delays in their development, it was good to see all of the things they can do already and to have a few more ideas for things to work on with them.  You know, in our spare time...

A few more photos from the visit with Megan's parents

My mom took a few more photos of their visit and time with the boys.

Grandpa telling Carter some secrets

Grandma and the boys out on the front porch (please note Anderson's expression; what was he thinking about?)

On the last day of their visit, it finally got cooler and we walked to the coffee shop near our house with the boys.  Anderson wanted to show off his new winter apparel.

Carter also wanted to model.  To the untrained eye, it may appear that he is sleeping, but he actually has just nailed the aloof model face.  Nice work Carter.

Enjoying our beverages.  I think Carter's hat was really keeping him warm at this point.

Just trying to make our little Whinerson stop crying

Megan's parents came to visit

My parents came to visit for a week when Ty went to California for work.  It was great to have the help and for my parents to spend time with their first grandkids.

We took a few pictures of the boys in their shirts that Grandma Jean made them:

Their names are on their shirts

Grandma Jean with her boys

Grandpa Joe with the boys

Anderson wearing a t-shirt for the first time.  He kept lifting it up to show off his belly;  I think it's allowed to be proud of your gut when you started off at 2 pounds

Carter smiles at just about everything these days

Carter's Liver

I took Carter to his gastroenterologist last week for what I hoped would be our last appointment.  I had taken Carter for blood work to assess how well his liver was functioning the week before.  Side Note: Anderson, who was not having any blood drawn and was just in a carrier next to me, cried through the whole appointment and Carter cried out once when the needle went in to take his blood.  This is pretty typical of their personalities at this point. Anderson is certainly a bit more high maintenance than his brother, but in his defense, Carter is the happiest, quietest baby I know, so the bar has been set pretty high.

So about the appointment: The doctor thought Carter's blood looked great.  His liver is functioning normally and his vitamin levels look great.  The doctor took him off a horrible orange vitamin and put him on the regular multi-vitamin that Anderson is getting and also took him off his liver medication.  Woohoo!  Now both boys get their multi-vitamin with iron once per day.  It is very nice to not have to keep all the medication straight anymore.  In the interest of an honest account of the boys growing up, I feel it's important to note that Carter had not actually been receiving that vitamin for several months.  He spit it up, it stained everything and Ty and I made an executive parental decision to just give him the multi-vitamin that Anderson received.  We also had taken him off the liver medication about a week before the appointment.  He needed more of it, and it was a really expensive medication because it needed to be compounded at a specialty pharmacy, and we figured the doctor would probably be taking him off of it the following week, so we just never refilled it.  So I feigned relief when the doctor said we could take him off the two medications he already had been taken off of.  Not exactly my proudest moment of parenting, but if that's the worst thing I do for him, we're doing really well.

5 month update

The weather has finally cooled off in Austin, just in time for our 5 month photo shoot.  Here are a few favorites:

Giving each other a high five

Carter smiling and Anderson beginning to cry (these are their typical states)

Anderson looking to his big brother for some advice on posing

And this was the best we got....there's always next month

At 5 months (2.5 months adjusted or developmental age), the boys:
- Hold up their heads and look around
- Smile at you (Carter has a particularly cheesy grin)
- Sleep "through" the night (in bed around 7:30 and waking up around 5 for a feeding, then back to bed for a few more hours typically)
- Eat 4 ounces per feeding (eating 6 or 7 times per day)
- Both can almost roll over, but not quite there.  They've done it a few times without really realizing it, but they don't quite have all of it put together yet
- Follow you all around the room with their eyes and follow objects with their eyes
- Recognize Ty and I
-Babble constantly and can have a "conversation" with you in babbles (e.g., they respond when you talk)

I took the boys back to Austin First Steps (the developmental specialists) for their 5 month appointments and they said the boys were growing well.  They are sending out an occupational therapist to work with the boys on their fine motor skills (e.g., not making fists so often, having the thumb on the outside of their fist (who knew this was important???, etc.).

I am not exactly sure of their heights and weights since we have not been to the doctor lately.  They both seem to be growing well and at a similar rate, so we are happy with that.

Visit with the Schlegel family

We are way behind in posting pics and updates of the boys.  We've had lots of visitors in the last month and really enjoyed seeing the boys with our families.  The first visitors were Ty's mom, sister and nephew.  Ty's mom and I conquered the outlet mall and Ikea with the boys on the first day of her visit.  The next day, we all went to the boys first Texas tailgate.  Overall, we had a great long weekend with them.  Here are a few pictures:

Ty's mom and nephew, Crew, taking a little pre-game nap

Crew and Bama at the tailgate

Crew was hitting the bottle pretty hard

A big thank you to our friends Katie and Andrea for holding the boys!

Mommy and Carter - doesn't he look thrilled to be back in my arms?

Anderson and Bama for a post-game nap

Crew learning to eat yogurt

Carter showing off how he can hold his head up, but clearly not very happy about it