Almost 9 months??

Well the boys will be 9 months old on the 5th of July! Can you believe that? In 3 months they will be a year old!!! WHOA! So the boys are getting into all kinds of shenanigans now. They both can roll from front to back and back to front. Nate has just learned this week to get on his knees and rock for a few seconds. Aiden is not too far behind him on that. Both boys say "Dada" but only while screaming it lol, they have toned the screaming down quite a bit while talking this week and are learning to use a more "inside voice". Both boys went to see if they needed helmets at the plagiocephaly clinic at Children's. Neither one of the boys need them! They ladies said they had beautiful heads :) But we did find out that both boys have what is called a metopic ridge. A metopic ridge is an abnormal shape of the skull. The ridge can be seen on their foreheads. It is caused when the two halves of the frontal bones of the skull fuse together prematurely. They are not supposed to fuse until they are 2-3 years old. Nate's is much more predominant than Aiden's but neither need surgery Praise God! They are seeing Early Intervention (EI) and Occupational Therapy (OT) through MR/DD (Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities). When we were at our appointment at the plagiocephaly clinic today, they also highly recommended doing Physical Therapy (PT) as well. In addition to all of this fun stuff.... both boys will be wearing Joe Coll thumb splints for a while. Aiden and Nathaniel are having problems using their thumbs when grabbing for things and doing normal tasks. It is called indwelling thumbs. It is a neurological disorder that is most likely caused from being preemies. They will wear the "gloves" for a little while and with therapy they should be just fine. I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers and how much everyone has cared for these little guys! I hope everyone has had a nice summer so far and I hope one day everyone can meet them and see what true miracles they really are!

Most Adorable Video Ever

This honestly has to be the cutest video ever of my boys! You can not see Aiden, the only thing you can see is the top of his head on the other side of the couch. Turn up your volume a little to hear the action. p.s. please don't mind the messy house Kyle was re routing wires for the t.v. which explains why it is on the floor!) You can also see Nate get on his knees a couple of times, and yes Nate is screaming Dada and Aiden thinks it is the funniest thing on Earth :) Enjoy!

We are in trouble now

So this is Nate's new trick....

He giggles every time he does it, and he rocks for a bit, and then he face plants. SO we are now in trouble. Aiden is trying to do it so in a few weeks... Lord help us.

Fifths and splints

So this morning the boys ot lady came and she was very happy with how well they are doing. Both boys are rolling from back to front and front to back. We were told to take the baby food out of the bottles, and offer it on a spoon. They are creating oral aversions to spoons. Not good. So, we were told to use a baby tooth brush on their cheeks and tongue since it has a lot of texture to it. This way they are not turned off by the taste, and it gets them used to having textures in their mouths.

Both Aiden and Nathaniel will have to wear these very stylish Joe Cool thumb splints day and night with a little bit of resting time during the day for massaging the thumbs and the area around. Both boys have shown they have indwelling thumbs (neurological disorder). So we should be getting the splints in a few days and I will be sure to post pictures of them sporting their new gear:)

Today I had to take the boys to the doctors... Aiden developed a rash around his left eye and a little on his ears. Doctor told us to keep an eye on it, if it got worse to bring him in. This morning I woke up and BOTH boys had rashes. Nate's was very small and only on his ears and a little around his mouth.. but sure enough... Tonni and Beth you hit the nail on the head, they have fifths disease. Nothing to do to treat it, and it doesn't bother them. It can possibly spread all over their bodies in the next few days as well, and the rashes can stay for up to 4-6 weeks. Once the rash is present they are no longer contagious. So hopefully these cute little men get rid of it soon... Our friend Cindy and I have talked about taking pictures of them soon and well we can't do that with rashes all over our faces!! She is a wonderful photographer, and I can't wait for her to use her magic on the boys!

Middle of the month

The boys are doing great. Nate has been rolling like crazy and Aiden has been doing pretty well. I have caught Nate up on his knees a couple of times, but as soon as he sees me or gets distracted, he is down on his belly again. Nate has also been sleeping on his back, which is amazing! Aiden is still not eating the way he used to. They have their 9 month check up July 7th. In less than 3 weeks our boys will be 9 months old! Man time has flown! This Thursday the boys early intervention teacher will be back, and she will be bringing their OT lady. I am pretty excited to see what they will be working with them on. Next week the boys have their helmet consultation... I think I am dreading that day. I will keep everyone updated.

Father's Day - Daddy and Aiden


Aiden

Nate


They love having carpet... they play so hard they pass out mid play

Early Intervention :)

The boys Early Intervention (EI) teacher came yesterday. Amanda is great! I am so happy we have such a wonderful lady to work with the boys! She came over right when they were finishing our carpet yesterday, so the boys were able to work on the carpet for the first time! She worked with them for about 45 min, and while she was here Nathaniel rolled over from back to belly for the first time!!!! About 5 minuets after she left, Aiden did it too!!! Our little men are just rolling machines now! While working with them, we have found that both boys have indwelling thumbs (they keep their thumbs tucked in when reaching for things and while resting). It is from a neurological disorder from being preemies that can be corrected by wearing a splint/brace while resting. Aiden's is much worse than Nathaniel's, but we will get it worked out. There are a ton of things that she assigned to us to work with the boys as homework. Next Thursday Amanda will come back along with the boys occupational therapist (OT) Tracy and she will meet with them for the first time. Aiden has been trying to say DADA, it comes out as a big long scream of dadadadada. It is quite cute. I will take some pictures next week when they are both here with them. We have been told NOT to put them in their exersaucers, walkers, or jumpers longer than 20 min a day because it is just not good for them developmentally. We have tons to work on! I will keep everyone posted :)


This is Nate asleep on the floor... he is all tuckered out from learning to roll over :)


This is Aiden, playing songs for us, he will be our Mozart :)

8 Months and counting....

Today the boys are 8 month's and 5 days old... I am kind of bad at updating this huh? The boys still have the fear of spoons... Nate more so than Aiden. It turns into an all out scream fest when you put a spoon to Nate's mouth. Poor kid. Their bottle intake has decreased significantly. They were both eating 8 ounces every 3 hours... now Nate eats 6 (if he is lucky) and Aiden eats 4-5 ounces. Not sure if it is the heat or what... but they have plateaued in their growth that is for sure. Amanda, our early intervention lady is amazing! She as well has a set of twins, but they are almost 2. She also has a son who is almost 4 who was born at 27 weeks. So she knows what we have been through on both sides. When she was here last Friday we laughed, we cried, and we shared some great stories. I have to admit, I was a little worried at first about how I would feel about some stranger coming into our home telling me how delayed my boys are. But she has been there, she knows the pain and the hurt you feel when your children are 8 months old, and still can not get around the way a real 8 month old child would. They doesn't scoot, crawl, sit up, hold their own bottle, they can't use his pincer grasp, they don't pull themselves to a standing position, they doesn't roll from back to front, and they surly don't know their names. My children are behind. Some of those "milestones" I have mentioned are 5 month milestones. Gestationally they are 5 months and 4 days old. Our boys are delayed more than we thought. Amanda has referred them to ot, pt, and speech therapy. A relief since we didn't think that they would get referred and we would have to pay for it out of pocket, but in the same sigh... it is depressing. Our boys are delayed, but to us they are perfect to us in every little way.