They are in a foul temper this morning and I don't know why! I've had Enya strapped to my front in a carrying cloth and landed up carrying Ciara as well to stop her crying. They are definitely too heavy for this to be even a short term solution. Thankfully they have now both gone down to sleep after lunch, so I'll get an hour's respite.
Oh and nobody mention football please!
30 Jun 2008
29 Jun 2008
Visitorless
Our visitor has gone and we now have a break for almost a month before our next batch are due. This year we've obviously made it onto the place to visit list. Babies will do that for you, I suppose.
We have had super weather and the girls have been splashing in their little pool, I love being able to spend time outside with them. We've also recieved the most beautiful summer outfits for them to wear so it had better stay warm and sunny!!
On the eating front things are progressing, Enya seems to be over her last little hiccup and after putting on only 90g in 3 weeks has put on 200g in 4 days- long may it last. Unfortunately avocado remains on the "will not eat" list but we are starting them on baby rusks and the german equivalent of cheerios. Enya even fed herself (with assistance loading the spoon from me) this morning, she kept grabbing the spoon and wouldn't let me bring it to her mouth. She landed up covered in fruit and yoghurt, but she really enjoyed it and that is what is important. I want her to have good associations with eating!
Tonight is European championships final: Germany against Spain, needless to say we will be watching and shouting for Germany. Wish our team luck!
We have had super weather and the girls have been splashing in their little pool, I love being able to spend time outside with them. We've also recieved the most beautiful summer outfits for them to wear so it had better stay warm and sunny!!
On the eating front things are progressing, Enya seems to be over her last little hiccup and after putting on only 90g in 3 weeks has put on 200g in 4 days- long may it last. Unfortunately avocado remains on the "will not eat" list but we are starting them on baby rusks and the german equivalent of cheerios. Enya even fed herself (with assistance loading the spoon from me) this morning, she kept grabbing the spoon and wouldn't let me bring it to her mouth. She landed up covered in fruit and yoghurt, but she really enjoyed it and that is what is important. I want her to have good associations with eating!
Tonight is European championships final: Germany against Spain, needless to say we will be watching and shouting for Germany. Wish our team luck!
26 Jun 2008
Loud!!
The princesses are not amused that they have to wait again at mealtimes! I now get to feed one to the not nice accompaniment of the other yelling. Enya gets this really heart rending note in her cry, it makes my heart ache listening to her. I have previously tried to get them onto slightly different schedules but because 2 out of 4 meals a day are done with Z feeding one and me the other, it always goes haywire!
Debs, my friend that works as a dietican in a NICU is coming to visit this weekend, so I'm hoping to pick up loads of tips from her, not least as both girls have decided not to eat avocado anymore. DAMMIT, don't they know how many calories are in avo! Maybe that's their game, they know I want them to eat it so they get nice and fat, this is their defence. Ha monkeys, I'm on to you now! Custard, cheese and butter are coming your way next!
Physio bright and early tomorrow morning- we have to be at the hospital for 8am, hopefully Mrs. W will have a new technique for Ciara as the new one from last week is not working. She always manages to escape from the position I'm supposed to hold her in, it is NOT fun! I keep worrying that I'm going to dislocate her shoulder or break her leg as she stuggles so hard to get out of the position.
Last but not least Germany is playing Spain in the Euro 2008 Final (football) on Sunday. *sigh* another 3 days and then I get my husband back and can take down the german flags in our garden.
Debs, my friend that works as a dietican in a NICU is coming to visit this weekend, so I'm hoping to pick up loads of tips from her, not least as both girls have decided not to eat avocado anymore. DAMMIT, don't they know how many calories are in avo! Maybe that's their game, they know I want them to eat it so they get nice and fat, this is their defence. Ha monkeys, I'm on to you now! Custard, cheese and butter are coming your way next!
Physio bright and early tomorrow morning- we have to be at the hospital for 8am, hopefully Mrs. W will have a new technique for Ciara as the new one from last week is not working. She always manages to escape from the position I'm supposed to hold her in, it is NOT fun! I keep worrying that I'm going to dislocate her shoulder or break her leg as she stuggles so hard to get out of the position.
Last but not least Germany is playing Spain in the Euro 2008 Final (football) on Sunday. *sigh* another 3 days and then I get my husband back and can take down the german flags in our garden.
25 Jun 2008
all alone again
I feel like I've had a holiday after ten days with my parents here. I know ANOTHER holiday!;-).
We've had the most fantastic weather while they were here and even managed to fit in a couple of BBQs. The girls were relatively well behaved and realy enjoyed the extra attention. One to two adults per baby is an unheard of ratio here in Twinsville. Today is the first meal where one of them is going to have to wait again before being fed so I do believe it is going to get loud.
I'm now just waiting for the girls to wake up so I can take them over to the hospital where I used to work. They have been asking to see the girls and as I used to work on the orthopaedic wards I feel it is quite safe (our little country hospital doesn't treat any weird infections, they all go to the bigger hospitals in the city).
I have also decided I'm going to try not be too over protective, they need to be exposed to germs to build up their immune systems. There was a study done in the UK recently that said children who were exposed to REGULAR/COMMON germs in early childhood were 30% less likely to develop the most common form of childhood leukemia. Obviously RSV and more serious infections (GIT infections) are not included in this exposure plan, come RSV season the Z household is in lockdown again! However a common cold or two would not go amiss!
We've had the most fantastic weather while they were here and even managed to fit in a couple of BBQs. The girls were relatively well behaved and realy enjoyed the extra attention. One to two adults per baby is an unheard of ratio here in Twinsville. Today is the first meal where one of them is going to have to wait again before being fed so I do believe it is going to get loud.
I'm now just waiting for the girls to wake up so I can take them over to the hospital where I used to work. They have been asking to see the girls and as I used to work on the orthopaedic wards I feel it is quite safe (our little country hospital doesn't treat any weird infections, they all go to the bigger hospitals in the city).
I have also decided I'm going to try not be too over protective, they need to be exposed to germs to build up their immune systems. There was a study done in the UK recently that said children who were exposed to REGULAR/COMMON germs in early childhood were 30% less likely to develop the most common form of childhood leukemia. Obviously RSV and more serious infections (GIT infections) are not included in this exposure plan, come RSV season the Z household is in lockdown again! However a common cold or two would not go amiss!
22 Jun 2008
Hubbys home
With a slight delay (storms in Philadelphia, I believe) Z arrived home today after a week in the US. He was very busy and is now tired but has tomorrow off to recover. Hehe, the girls have been waking every couple of hours during the night for the last few nights, so he'll not be sleeping well tonight! Sorry if I seem mean but last night (I mean 3 am this morning!) after I'd finally got them to sleep again he rang to say his plane was delayed. His name was mud (for all of about 2 seconds).
The to do list from my last post has mostly been achieved although it took a couple of days longer to do. I bought the Koelstra twin simba stroller, which although not extremely lightweight, is a bit sturdier and more thought through than the other strollers I saw. We are now the owners of 1 twin pram and 2 twin strollers- one "lightweight" and the other weighs as much as our pram (17kg). The second stroller was loaned to us by our landlady for use when we are going over uneven surfaces, walks in the forest etc. It has great suspension and pneumatic tyres but weighes a b$?%&* ton, it also takes up the whole boot leaving no room for shopping!
Now I'll just have to go shopping to try it out ;-)
The to do list from my last post has mostly been achieved although it took a couple of days longer to do. I bought the Koelstra twin simba stroller, which although not extremely lightweight, is a bit sturdier and more thought through than the other strollers I saw. We are now the owners of 1 twin pram and 2 twin strollers- one "lightweight" and the other weighs as much as our pram (17kg). The second stroller was loaned to us by our landlady for use when we are going over uneven surfaces, walks in the forest etc. It has great suspension and pneumatic tyres but weighes a b$?%&* ton, it also takes up the whole boot leaving no room for shopping!
Now I'll just have to go shopping to try it out ;-)
19 Jun 2008
flying update
I love having my parents here!! I have got so much done in the last few days while they've been here: Freezer defrosted (my mom even washed it out while I was doing physio with the girls!), plants re potted, lots of food for the girls prepared, pram repaired etc etc. This has all been done with minimal crying from the girls as there is always a doting grandparent to cuddle/play with. I can already see we are going to have a tough time next week with only me to play with.
C and E got to be models for the Vojta course again this week and as always it was very interesting. Enya freaked out 3 times because strangers got too close to her, which makes me wonder if she is already starting with stranger anxiety. Ciara on the other hand is usually very wary of strangers and nervous in strange places, but this time she was as happy as Larry, laughing and playing with everyone. Continuing the good trend the physio who assessed her said it was difficult to spot her problems and if she were a new patient would not actually qualify for treatment. The only reason she is still getting treated is to finish what was started and to optimize her function. Enya's highest pattern of movement is still measuring about a half a month ahead of Ciara's, but her quality of movement (shoulder /pelvis differentiation)remains poor so she will need treatment for a while longer :-(.
On the agenda for tomorrow is sort out my bookcase, wash the floors, childproof the house and buy a stroller and security gate. I think my folks are going to have to move to Germany - otherwise my house is going to fall back into it's post "arrival of the babies" mess!
C and E got to be models for the Vojta course again this week and as always it was very interesting. Enya freaked out 3 times because strangers got too close to her, which makes me wonder if she is already starting with stranger anxiety. Ciara on the other hand is usually very wary of strangers and nervous in strange places, but this time she was as happy as Larry, laughing and playing with everyone. Continuing the good trend the physio who assessed her said it was difficult to spot her problems and if she were a new patient would not actually qualify for treatment. The only reason she is still getting treated is to finish what was started and to optimize her function. Enya's highest pattern of movement is still measuring about a half a month ahead of Ciara's, but her quality of movement (shoulder /pelvis differentiation)remains poor so she will need treatment for a while longer :-(.
On the agenda for tomorrow is sort out my bookcase, wash the floors, childproof the house and buy a stroller and security gate. I think my folks are going to have to move to Germany - otherwise my house is going to fall back into it's post "arrival of the babies" mess!
16 Jun 2008
flying on a jet plane
If anyone is reading this from San Diego and is planning to go to the BIO expo being held there this week, please go visit the German booths and keep a look out for a tall bald (good looking) guy in glasses. He won't be hard to recognise as HE WILL BE UNSHAVEN! Darling Z flew to the US today and in his untypically non methodical packing, forgot to pack his shaver. He also forgot his VISA card so I won't be getting more than a mug this trip! Normally he starts packing at least 3 days before he goes anywhere and has a list so he doesn't forget anything. How times have changed, this time he was packing between feeds and football (yup, we have the European championship on right now- I'm a football widow;-)). I can't wait to rag him about this, as he always tells me I'm the worst packer out, doing everything at the last minute.
My folks have in the meantime come to stay for the duration of Z's trip, to help me and to visit their only grandchildren. I'm loving having them here, my mom has already done one feed by herself (while I was taking Z to the airport which was a 4 hour drive) and has pretty much told me to take at least one evening off as she wants her granddaughters to herself! Thank god for grandparents!! She's even managed to get Enya to drink her bottle, I usually don't let other people try as she is so difficult to bottlefeed that she usually lands up only drinking 50ml out of 130ml. Now I just got to find a way to keep the folks here!
On the eating front Enya remains very variable but I am trying to ensure her feeds last no longer than 15-20 mins (milk and solids both together), this was the sum total of the help/advice given to me from the ESKB team. They said that Enya is very difficult to feed and that most of what I'm doing with her is right but that I'm also dragging her feeds out too long. She is getting enough to take the edge off her hunger and then gets bored and therefore stops eating/drinking. The solution is to ensure the meals are kept short and "teach" her to eat it when it is offered.
My new mantra should be: I choose when and what she eats, she chooses how much she eats!
i.e. I'm also to stop worring so much about her eating as I'm just reinforcing her behaviour. Only I find it very difficult not to worry when, like this last week, she isn't putting on any weight! I've agreed to give this a couple of weeks trial and then we will meet up and talk it all through again.
A positive note to end with: Ciara pushed up onto her hands and knees this evening and managed to hold the position for a couple of minutes. She still needs to learn to push her weight back over her knees but she is definitely developing trunk control and balance needed for crawling.
My folks have in the meantime come to stay for the duration of Z's trip, to help me and to visit their only grandchildren. I'm loving having them here, my mom has already done one feed by herself (while I was taking Z to the airport which was a 4 hour drive) and has pretty much told me to take at least one evening off as she wants her granddaughters to herself! Thank god for grandparents!! She's even managed to get Enya to drink her bottle, I usually don't let other people try as she is so difficult to bottlefeed that she usually lands up only drinking 50ml out of 130ml. Now I just got to find a way to keep the folks here!
On the eating front Enya remains very variable but I am trying to ensure her feeds last no longer than 15-20 mins (milk and solids both together), this was the sum total of the help/advice given to me from the ESKB team. They said that Enya is very difficult to feed and that most of what I'm doing with her is right but that I'm also dragging her feeds out too long. She is getting enough to take the edge off her hunger and then gets bored and therefore stops eating/drinking. The solution is to ensure the meals are kept short and "teach" her to eat it when it is offered.
My new mantra should be: I choose when and what she eats, she chooses how much she eats!
i.e. I'm also to stop worring so much about her eating as I'm just reinforcing her behaviour. Only I find it very difficult not to worry when, like this last week, she isn't putting on any weight! I've agreed to give this a couple of weeks trial and then we will meet up and talk it all through again.
A positive note to end with: Ciara pushed up onto her hands and knees this evening and managed to hold the position for a couple of minutes. She still needs to learn to push her weight back over her knees but she is definitely developing trunk control and balance needed for crawling.
13 Jun 2008
End in sight
I didn't say anything about this before but before we left for our holiday we received a copy of the report from our last neurodevelopmental assessment. I initially got a bit upset but after rereading it I just had to laugh. The doctor was very pleased with Enya, writing she was on track for her corrected age. Ciara on the otherhand she wrote was about 6 weeks behind (at about 3 months when her corrected age was 4 and a half). The problem was the problems she'd noted I could catagorically say Ciara had achieved/mastered (eg stated she wasn't opening her left fist when lying on her tummy, was only starting to grasp items:BS!!). The time they spend looking at the babies is too short, they can't get a good idea of the babies abilities and then they write these letters which go in the medical records and they are completely inaccurate. OK, getting off my high horse now.
Anyway today we had our first physio session since our holiday and to say that the physio was surprised is no exaggeration! She was pleased with Enya but said Ciara has made a huge leap forward in the last 2 weeks. Some of her actions when lying on her tummy was at 7 and a half to 8 month level (including how she is manipulating and grasping toys!). Mrs W. also said that she was doing so well that when Ciara starts to pull herself forward on her tummy she will no longer need physio!!
Go Ciara go!!
Anyway today we had our first physio session since our holiday and to say that the physio was surprised is no exaggeration! She was pleased with Enya but said Ciara has made a huge leap forward in the last 2 weeks. Some of her actions when lying on her tummy was at 7 and a half to 8 month level (including how she is manipulating and grasping toys!). Mrs W. also said that she was doing so well that when Ciara starts to pull herself forward on her tummy she will no longer need physio!!
Go Ciara go!!
10 Jun 2008
neck and neck
Enya saw the gauntlet being thrown and accepted the challenge: this morning 2 rolls with in 20 minutes while watching her sister getting physio from mom.
Ciara's response was to roll onto her tummy and push herself off the nice soft mat and on to the cold tile floor (and then scream until mom came to rescue her!)
Enya then decided that was for sissys and this evening rolled 4 times on to her tummy and back on to her back.
Ciara next attempt was to nearly get up on to her hands and knees.
Enya, the ball is in your court now!
Ciara's response was to roll onto her tummy and push herself off the nice soft mat and on to the cold tile floor (and then scream until mom came to rescue her!)
Enya then decided that was for sissys and this evening rolled 4 times on to her tummy and back on to her back.
Ciara next attempt was to nearly get up on to her hands and knees.
Enya, the ball is in your court now!
Raspberries & rolls
Couldn't post yesterday as Z hijacked my computer. His fancy dancy expensive work laptop keeps losing the network so he needed my old cheapo to do his work. Who says it has to be expensive to be good!
Ciara rolled 3 times yesterday that I know of, twice where I saw her from beginning to final tummy down position. Obviously writing that Enya was beating her on the rolling stakes spurred her to new heights, or at least to roll over anyway.
She has also started blowing raspberries which I find completely adorable. Out of the blue yesterday morning I heard this brrrr and she was making raspberries at her worm! Enya has expanded her vocabulary from aaaah and oooh to hewl and I've heard a huba from her once or twice. She has even started smacking her lips together, not that she is eating any better unfortunately.
It seems in the last week they have both made a big leap forward, I'm glad I can be with them everyday as they seem to be growing up before our eyes. I know everybody always says that about children and I'd worry if ours didn't but this first year is going so fast!
Ciara rolled 3 times yesterday that I know of, twice where I saw her from beginning to final tummy down position. Obviously writing that Enya was beating her on the rolling stakes spurred her to new heights, or at least to roll over anyway.
She has also started blowing raspberries which I find completely adorable. Out of the blue yesterday morning I heard this brrrr and she was making raspberries at her worm! Enya has expanded her vocabulary from aaaah and oooh to hewl and I've heard a huba from her once or twice. She has even started smacking her lips together, not that she is eating any better unfortunately.
It seems in the last week they have both made a big leap forward, I'm glad I can be with them everyday as they seem to be growing up before our eyes. I know everybody always says that about children and I'd worry if ours didn't but this first year is going so fast!
8 Jun 2008
English practice
I think I need to practice my english more often! I've just read through my last few posts and my grammer is becoming very strange, almost germanic. I guess that's what happens when you mostly speak german at home. We are hoping to bring the girls up bilingual, i.e. I will speak only english to them, Z will speak only german. At least until they go to kindergarten, thereafter only english will be spoken at home.
I'd better brush up my english in the meantime though! Goody, more reading but with a good excuse now. Usually I am a complete bookworm, but since the girls came home I've been battling to find the time and am now lucky if I read 4 books in a month (pre C and E 4 books in a week was my norm). Now I have no choice, don't want the girls to learn crappy english ;-).
Love this photo Z took of our babies together.
I'd better brush up my english in the meantime though! Goody, more reading but with a good excuse now. Usually I am a complete bookworm, but since the girls came home I've been battling to find the time and am now lucky if I read 4 books in a month (pre C and E 4 books in a week was my norm). Now I have no choice, don't want the girls to learn crappy english ;-).
Love this photo Z took of our babies together.
7 Jun 2008
and belatedly an award
An award !! all for me !!
Thank you Cathy for the pink rose award. Sorry it's taken me so long to post this but I had to work out how to link your site and copy the award. I'm not very clued up on this site.
I would like to nominate
a)Empty uterus syndrome: because she's had a ?*&!# start to her pregnancy with some scary bleeding and the loss of her triplet, despite this she is still sane and blogging. Hope all is well with the hubby after his op!
b)Karen: I think I've got it bad with twins, she's breastfeeding triplets, working and still has time for her four year old son. That is award worthy.
Everyone else I want to nominate has already got it, so I'll leave it at that I think!
Here are the “rules” if you want to play along.
1. On your blog, copy and paste the award, these rules, a link back to the person who selected you, and a link to this post. You will find the story behind the Pink Rose Award and other graphics to choose from there.
2. Select as many award recipients as you would like, link to their blogs (if they have one), and explain why you have chosen them.
3. Let them know that you have selected them for an award by commenting on one of their posts.
4. If you are selected, pass it on by giving the Pink Rose Award to others.
5. If you find that someone you want to nominate has already been selected by someone else, you can still honor them by posting a comment on their award post stating your reasons for wishing to grant them the award.
6. You do not have to wait until someone nominates you to nominate someone else
Thank you Cathy for the pink rose award. Sorry it's taken me so long to post this but I had to work out how to link your site and copy the award. I'm not very clued up on this site.
I would like to nominate
a)Empty uterus syndrome: because she's had a ?*&!# start to her pregnancy with some scary bleeding and the loss of her triplet, despite this she is still sane and blogging. Hope all is well with the hubby after his op!
b)Karen: I think I've got it bad with twins, she's breastfeeding triplets, working and still has time for her four year old son. That is award worthy.
Everyone else I want to nominate has already got it, so I'll leave it at that I think!
Here are the “rules” if you want to play along.
1. On your blog, copy and paste the award, these rules, a link back to the person who selected you, and a link to this post. You will find the story behind the Pink Rose Award and other graphics to choose from there.
2. Select as many award recipients as you would like, link to their blogs (if they have one), and explain why you have chosen them.
3. Let them know that you have selected them for an award by commenting on one of their posts.
4. If you are selected, pass it on by giving the Pink Rose Award to others.
5. If you find that someone you want to nominate has already been selected by someone else, you can still honor them by posting a comment on their award post stating your reasons for wishing to grant them the award.
6. You do not have to wait until someone nominates you to nominate someone else
We're back
We had a great time in Holland. It was warm, didn't rain much and we had a parent per child, what more do you need for a holiday? OK, you say a bit more sunshine would have been nice but then I would have had to smother the girls in sunscreen. See it was right just as it was.
The only down side is Enya has now decided she doesn't want to eat solids anymore! I may sound calm when I write about this but I have to keep reining myself in otherwise I get hysterical.
Over the last week we've had to fight to get her to eat more than 3 spoons of solids per meal. We have to keep rewarming the food so it has a constant temperature and then it's a game of patience. We don't and won't force her to eat but we have to keep holding the spoon in front of her mouth until she eats the spoonful. She will also no longer eat puree which is too thick or has a texture to it. That being said she will eat bits of roll until she chokes and then vomits it all back up. I don't understand this baby!! Until last week texture and thickness was no problem for her and she would eat anything we put in front of her until the bowl was empty, we've done nothing different in the last week but suddenly she doesn't want food!
The only thing I can think of is that she may be getting teeth, as she keeps grapping my finger to gnaw on. May I just add even without teeth it hurts when she bites down!
On the plus side both girls rolled from back to tummy while we were away. Enya did it first and has done it at least 2 other times since then. Ciara has just done it once but we often find her 3/4 of the way over. We have yet to see them do it from start to finish but hopefully we will see them do it in the next week as they do it more frequently
The only down side is Enya has now decided she doesn't want to eat solids anymore! I may sound calm when I write about this but I have to keep reining myself in otherwise I get hysterical.
Over the last week we've had to fight to get her to eat more than 3 spoons of solids per meal. We have to keep rewarming the food so it has a constant temperature and then it's a game of patience. We don't and won't force her to eat but we have to keep holding the spoon in front of her mouth until she eats the spoonful. She will also no longer eat puree which is too thick or has a texture to it. That being said she will eat bits of roll until she chokes and then vomits it all back up. I don't understand this baby!! Until last week texture and thickness was no problem for her and she would eat anything we put in front of her until the bowl was empty, we've done nothing different in the last week but suddenly she doesn't want food!
The only thing I can think of is that she may be getting teeth, as she keeps grapping my finger to gnaw on. May I just add even without teeth it hurts when she bites down!
On the plus side both girls rolled from back to tummy while we were away. Enya did it first and has done it at least 2 other times since then. Ciara has just done it once but we often find her 3/4 of the way over. We have yet to see them do it from start to finish but hopefully we will see them do it in the next week as they do it more frequently
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