Four-Month Checkup

Being 4-months old means getting more shots.  This is no fun for the girls, but probably worse for their parents.  Dad held each of them as they got poked 4 times in their thighs.  They screamed at the time, but recovered pretty quickly. Tough girls!  We were also smarter this time and gave them baby Tylenol an hour in advance, and kept it coming that evening.  

The more fun part of the doctor's visit was checking their weight and length.  Emma weighs 12 lbs, 12.5 oz and is 23" tall.  Mia weighs 12 lbs, 3.5 oz and is 23 1/4" tall.  Over the course of their last few well-baby check-ups, the girls have gone from the 5th percentile for weight to the 10th and now they're in the 25th percentile range. That is compared to a full-term single baby, so the doctors are very pleased with their growth.  As are we!  

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot!

Boy, are we enjoying our new basement in this Seattle heat!  (It's in the high 80s/low 90s.) It's much cooler down here, and it's nice to have a new space to hang out in. The girls' room is all set up, and right next to it we have a small TV room with a guest bed. 

Emma stays (and looks!) cool in her sunglasses and hat.  She was such a good sport to wear them!

Mia wanted nothing to do with her hat and glasses, but looked very cute anyway.

We're learning that hot, sunny days aren't too conducive to having small babies.  This time last year, Matt and I would have been basking in the sun any chance we got.  But now, we need to limit the time and make sure everyone is protected. We took the girls out for a walk to Market Street this morning before it got too hot. (We were supposed to meet a nanny candidate, but she didn't show.  That's another story.) It was still quite warm in the morning and we had to cover the girls' stroller seats with blankets to protect them from the sun.  Then they get hot and can't see and don't like it.  So we hung out at home and tried to stay cool the rest of the day. Lots of fans, cool washcloths, and spray bottle misters were in order to beat the heat. And of course, some absolutely adorable shorts and tank top outfits for the girls. Next year we'll be off to the wading pool for sure! 

Mia and Emma kick around on their play mat.

Emma focuses on catching her toys. 

Mia chills out on her boppy on the couch.

It's supposed to cool down a little tomorrow and the rest of the week. It sure beats the rainy, gray days, but something in the middle would be nice.  

Em & M Celebrate their Four-Month Birthday!

Emma and Mia pose for a 4-month birthday shot.

Today Emma and Mia are four months old, and it will be the first night they sleep in their own cribs in their own room.  It's been a long road to get here. When they were born, they lived in separate isolettes. When they came home at first, they slept in a co-sleeper together. When they spent time at Children's Hospital, they were in separate beds. When they finally came home for good, they slept in a double wedge in the same bed.  The next transition is upon us now, and we sure hope it's a smooth one. 

We still have nursing care for the girls at night, so we think having a nurse in the room with them will ease the transition.  We also, of course, have baby monitors so we can hear them.  As I type, Emma is sleeping in her crib downstairs on her own, and I keep checking on her and listening closely to the monitor, and so far she's fine.  I think the transition may be harder on me than them.  I will never forget finding Mia choking in her crib as a 5 lb 3-week old.  And then again the next night - Emma too. Who knows what would have happened if we hadn't caught them?  Ever since then, someone has watched the girls overnight, either in the hospital or here at our house.  We have about 1 1/2 weeks left of the night nursing care.  While we are looking forward to moving on and having our house to ourselves, it is going to be extremely nerve-wracking for us knowing that the girls are by themselves. Which is why we will probably sleep in the room next to theirs for a while.

The good news about them being 4 months old now is they are so much bigger and stronger than the tiny babies we brought home. They go to the doctor on Monday for their 4-months shots (yikes!) and we're anxious to see how much they weigh.  We're guessing they're both more than 13 lbs, which would be about 3 times their birth weight. When they do show glimpses of reflux trouble which has lead to choking in the past, they now cough and clear their nose and throat on their own.  They are still on reflux medication which helps them a lot.  In fact, they are so sensitive to it that we need to increase the dose quite frequently to keep up with their weight gain.  

On a lighter note, we had a great day with the girls and enjoyed the Seattle sunshine and heat. After setting up the girls' room and taking care of some household chores this morning, we headed out for a walk around Ballard.  We went to the Locks and enjoyed the spectacular scene and views.  There were a ton of boats out enjoying the nice day.  We spread out a blanket on the grass in the shade and played with the girls for a while. They had a great time admiring the green trees and blue sky!  We met another twin family...there seem to be many of us in Ballard!

  

Dad and his girls. 

Mia naps in the shade. 

Emma sports her new hat from Grandma and Grandpa. 

Overlooking the Locks, the passage into Puget Sound.

Boats pass through the Locks. 

That's all for tonight. I'm off to check on Emma again...

  

Model Children

I have found our dark brown chaise lounge to be the perfect portrait spot for the girls.  They love modeling their outfits each day.  (Do I sound like a showbiz Mom or what?!) Here are a few cute pics...*

*Emma is on the left except in the one at the bottom.

"Give me...serious preppy."

"Now give me...neighborhood hipster. Work it, Mia!"

"How about...classically sweet."

"Now show me...confusion!"

Eating Fists and Smacking Lips

Both activities are all the rage with Emma and Mia.  Emma can practically fit one fist in her mouth, and is now going for two.  Mia learned the lip smacking thing from her sister, and now does it constantly.  She sticks her tongue out over her upper lip and presses down and makes a smacking sound.  She loves it!  Emma is also practicing blowing raspberries and usually has spit bubbles visible on her mouth. 

Emma practices sitting up in a double stack of boppy pillows. She loves it!

Mia's shirt says it all, and her wish came true...

We had a busy weekend with many visitors and work around the house.  Grandma and Grandpa Lund, and Uncle Pete were all in town.  It had been a month since they'd seen the girls, and they've really grown since then!  On Saturday, the O'Leary family stopped by to meet Emma and Mia.  The girls were in a happy, smiley mood and were checking out Harper, who is 14 months old.  Harper was very nice to the girls, and even offered Emma part of the chicken strip she was eating!  

Grandma Donna rocks Emma to sleep.

Mia rocks to sleep in her swing.

Saturday night Matt and I snuck out to Wild Ginger for dinner to celebrate my birthday.  It was the first time in a long time that we got to eat dinner alone (and with two hands!).  Of course, our conversations turned to the girls much of the time. And we made it an early dinner so as to get home before "fussy time." But we were out on our own and that's what counts. The girls had a blast while we were gone and we avoided fussy time altogether.  Hooray!

On Sunday, the Bunch family stopped by  and we got to meet the adorable Marjorie. It will be fun to get all three girls together when Emma and Mia go visit Grandma and Grandpa in Richland.  

Matt's friend and co-worker Brian also stopped by with his wife and daughter, who all took turns holding the girls, giving Matt and I a break.  We even got to sit outside on the deck in the sunshine - a rare treat so far this year!  

The work around the house entailed preparing several areas for new carpet.  As a result, our closets and bedroom were emptied into the kitchen, dining room and living room - adding to the already cluttered areas. I'm happy to report that the new carpet looks beautiful, especially with the new paint job downstairs. And it is so soft on our feet!  Now, we just need to move everything back where it was. The fun never ends... 

Playtime!

Grandma and Grandpa sent us this cool play mat!  It has all kinds of fun toys to look at and play with.  There's even a mirror we can see ourselves in.  We love it!

Emma (in pink/orange) and Mia (purple/blue) reach for the toys above them. 

Mia grabbed for the toys right away, while Emma was content eating her fist for a while. 

Mia practices tummy time on the pillow.  There are so many cool things to look at while she's one her tummy now.

Emma focuses on the toys rather than her fist.

Beautiful Girls

Emma  

Mia

Daddy's Girls

Mia and Emma greeted Dad this morning with special outfits. 

Dad with Mia and Emma. 

Today was Matt's first Father's Day!  The girls and I treated him to some of his favorite things - donuts, electronic toys and music.  We spent a lazy morning at home, enjoying the rare sunny day. I picked up donuts for Matt from Larsen's Bakery and then he got to open some presents.  The girls and I got him a hands-free headset so now he can call us on his way home without holding his cell phone. (And he can talk on the phone and hold the girls more easily too.)  That afternoon, we took him to a record store to pick out some new music.  And perhaps the coolest present of all - a framed photo of Emma and Mia, wearing their "i (heart) daddy" onesies. 

Matt deserves to be celebrated as he is such a devoted and loving dad.  Emma and Mia absolutely adore him and I feel lucky to have such a great husband to enjoy this ride with.

  

Mia wears her heart on her shirt.

Emma loves her Daddy, but her fist is a close second.

Seeing Double

Today we got to meet some other babies like us.  Twins, that is.  We went to a meeting for families with multiples. There were identical twin boys named Cruz and Cortes that are just a month older than us.  They looked exactly alike, even more alike than we do!  And there were some much older, 9-month old babies too.  They were crawling all over the place!  We can't wait to be able to get around on our own like that.  

After the meeting, Mom and Dad took us for a walk around that neighborhood, Phinney Ridge.  We went to this Starbucks place again.  Mom and Dad sure do like to take us there! It was fun to see some new sights too, though.  We heard we were pretty close to the zoo.  We can't wait to visit sometime and see al the animals.  

It's Friday Already?!

Where does the time go?  I can't believe it's Friday already. We must have had a busy week of feeding, changing diapers, and playing!   

You may remember a mention back in April about our basement flooding. Well, the damaged pipe that caused the problem is finally fixed!  On Tuesday, they dug down into the concrete of our basement along the entire east side of our house to bypass the damaged pipe. It was a little noisy to say the least which made it a good excuse to get the girls out of the house for their second mall walk.  (Yes, the weather was still gray and rainy!) I got to get some errands done and it was a good break.  Back at home, the work continued for the rest of the day, and we now have a new footing pipe.  The next phase begins next week - dry wall work and painting...the fun part!  New carpet will finish it off.  We can't wait until it's completed so we can use the rooms downstairs again. It will basically double our living space, and more importantly add room for toys.   

Yesterday, the girls and I took advantage of the afternoon sunbreak and went for a walk around Ballard. The sunshine makes such a difference in my mood and theirs. I know it's good for me to get out, but I'm realizing how good it is for them, too.  Even though they sleep through most of the stroller rides, I know they love the fresh air and change of scenery. Plus they always get lots of attention.

Today is gray and cool again, but it's supposed to warm up for the weekend.  Tonight I'm breaking out of the house to have dinner with friends.  Tomorrow we're going to our first "families of multiples" event for families in our area with multiples under 1 year of age.  And then Sunday we'll celebrate Matt's first Father's Day!

My long To Do list includes figuring out what's wrong with our photo program os I can upload photos again.  But not to worry, I've been snapping lots of photos in the meantime! 

One last note...today is my mom's (Grammy Jeannie's) last day of teaching after 39 years.  Happy Retirement, Mom! 

Our First BBQ

Today we went to our first BBQ!  There were two other babies there about our age -- Kamilla and Marina -- and a big girl named Isabelle. We had fun hanging out for a while, but we got hungry when Mom and Dad were hungry, and it took them a while to catch on.  So we had to cry for a while to get their attention.  Once we finished our bottles, we felt better and let Mom and Dad eat and enjoy talking to their friends.  It was fun to get out of our house and go somewhere new, especially because the sun came out for a little while.

Yesterday it rained all day and we stayed indoors.  Mom and Dad spent a lot of time cleaning out the basement, so it can be fixed up for us.  We can't wait to have our own bedroom!  

Mall Walking

Emma and Mia made their first trip to the mall today!  Since the weather put a damper on our walking plans with Melissa and Jack, we decided to meet at the mall instead.  The five of us made 4 or 5 laps along with many other new moms and babies in strollers.  While we power-walked the majority of the time, we did take a break to browse the cute kids' clothes at Gymboree. Melissa and I weren't even tempted by the Nordstrom shoe department. My how things of changed... 

The girls snooze while Jack plays.

Jack says, "How did I get roped into going to the mall with all these ladies?  Good thing I have me toys."

Note from the Editor

We have some great new photos to post from the last week or so, but our computer's photo program is acting up and I'm not able to upload them.  Take it from me, though - Emma and Mia are as cute as ever! Stay tuned while we figure out what's wrong...

Also, I'm finishing up some entries I started but never posted, so there are some new ones below.  

Growing Like Weeds

We went to the doctor today to get the girls' weight checked.

Mia is 10 lbs, 15 oz and just at the 10th percentile compared to a single, term baby.  If we went by her adjusted age (if she'd been born on her due date) she would be in the 50th percentile for weight. Yay, Mia!

Emma topped 11 lbs at 11 lbs, 6.5 oz.  She is just over the 10th percentile, or almost to the 75th percentile using her adjusted age.  Great job, Emma!

After the doctor's office, we took them on their first trip to the grocery store and Starbucks.  (It was a cold, rainy, gray Seattle June day so a walk outside wasn't as appealing.)  The girls didn't mind the car or stroller ride, as long as they were constantly moving. They're not fans of red lights, that's for sure. But they put up with us as we grabbed a few groceries and sat and drank or latte and tea.  They even met some twin boys and their mom and sister.  They belong to the multiples group we just joined so we'll probably see them around.  

P.S.  The girls' overt happiness didn't seem to be related to their awesome night of sleep the other night, as they didn't sleep very well last night and they were still very smiley. However, their Dad's return home from his trip was cause for many smiles. 

Smiley, Happy People

Some sort of switch must have been flipped today because the girls have suddenly become so expressive and active.  Could it have been the 7 straight hours of sleep Emma had?  Or the two long stretches of sleep Mia had?  Or is it because they're so excited for their Daddy to return home from his overnight business trip?

Mia thinks the ceiling fan is hilarious!

Emma smiles during tummy time.

Emma and Mia work out in their jogging suits.  Too cute!

They are deliberately smiling, and smiling with their whole face, especially their eyes.  They laugh and giggle and funny things like the ceiling fan, or the blinds or nothing at all. They even smile through spit ups!  They have also figured out how to use their hands.  They reach out to grasp Mommy's hair, the burp cloths, toys and blankets.  Emma loves her little bug toy that makes a crinkling sound.  And Mia loves her little teddy bear/blanket and cuddles up with it.

Mia cuddles with her bear.

Emma plays with her bug.

They're really starting to look and act like little girls.  What fun!

Houston, we have a problem. We miss our Daddy.

Daddy had to go on a business trip tonight to Houston.  We miss him a lot and can't wait to see him tomorrow.  But we got to play with Great Aunt Janis again, which was fun.  She came up to help Mom take care of us. She must really love us because we know we wore her out last weekend.  We're so lucky!  

Daddy, we love you!  Its' past our bedtime, so we'll see you tomorrow. 

Mom's Weekend Away

This weekend I made my first overnight trip away from the girls. It was for a good cause -- to surprise my mom at her retirement party in San Diego.  Matt stayed with the girls, and Great Aunt Janis was gracious enough to stay the weekend and help him out. 

I had a wonderful time in sunny San Diego.  The retirement party was a lot of fun, and a great tribute to my mom and her 39 years of teaching. While it was a quick overnight trip, it felt much longer as I didn't know what to do with myself most of the time. I'm just not used to any down time these days!  So it seemed like a much longer trip.  I missed Matt and the girls, but admit it was a nice break for me.  

Back in Seattle, Matt, Janis and the girls had a great time.  Emma and Mia made their first trip to the Ballard Locks. It was a rainy day, but they enjoyed the walk anyway.  Janis was a trooper to put in such long hours and give up her weekend, and we thank her very much!