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

4 month update

The boys are now 4 months old! In celebration of this, they have begun sleeping 5-6 hour stretches at night which has been life changing for Ty and me.  The boys are now eating 6 to 7 times per day and eating about 3.5 ounces each time. They have just started cooing and smiling, but we haven't had any clear smiles directly at us. They are very close though; Ty and I can't wait!

We visited the pediatrician yesterday for their 4 month appointment. Here are the current weights, heights and head circumferences, with the percentiles for their adjusted age (e.g., for other babies born August 7th, their due date):
Carter: 8lbs, 6oz (7th percentile); 21in (10th percentile); 38cm (28th percentile)
Anderson: 10lbs, 8oz (50th percentile); 21.5in (26th percentile); 40cm (75th percentile)

The pediatrician is very happy with the growth of both boys.  Carter was previously not even on the chart, so his growth is great.  We do not have to return until they are 6 months old, which is great.  We are done with the majority of our other follow up appointments as well.  We went to the pediatric ophthalmologist fairly soon after the boys got home and their vision seems to be fine.  Their retinas developed normally and we just have to go see an optometrist when they are 9 months old. We also went to the gastroenterologist for Carter.  Unfortunately, his bilirubin was still slightly elevated, so he is still on medication for that and we have another appointment at the end of October.  We also saw a developmental specialist who evaluated the boys.  The doctor believes they are right on track for their adjusted age and we go back to visit her in a week.  We also had them evaluated by a different agency focused on development and they were deemed  not delayed enough to qualify for services.  So overall, the boys are in great health and are progressing pretty well.

Here are some pictures of the boys:

Tummy time with Anderson

Carter looking thoughtful; I told him to smile with his eyes and I think he nailed it

Sesame Street shirts

The boys often sleep and lay down with their arms in exactly the same position

This begins the series of their 4 month birthday photo shoot with Mom; Anderson was flexing his muscles here

Just working the camera

And this is about as close as I get to a smile from him 

And then he imitated Elvis pretty well

Carter also knew how to work the camera (not as many shots of him because he did the smart thing and fell asleep)

This is the closest I got to a shot with both of them looking at me
Thanks for the great shirts Aunt Emily Potter!!!!!

Starting to break down from all the camera pressure

And now they've both lost it

The Trip to the Doctor

Just hanging out and waiting for the doctor, Carter working on his left hook

Anderson after his 4 month shots

And now, the saddest picture we've ever taken:

Carter after his shots; I don't know if the angle appropriately captures how large his lower lip was, it was pretty amazing