Did I fall off the end of the world or what?
Nope I just got busy with my life and had no urge to post. I was debating if i should keep this blog open but now that my elder sister has moved to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD (I am so jealous!!) I suppose I ought to.
so what has been going on in the last 2 months........
....... not all that much really. Our camera is broken so I can't even pacify you with pictures ;0)
Ciara suddenly decided she was done with pull ups overnight- she just stopped peeing overnight without us having to do or say anything. So one child nappy free at long last.
Enya still has spells where she has multiple accidents everyday at kindergarten for a week or so and then is completely dry for next couple of weeks. Not really sure what to do about this and so we're not even thinking about doing the nappyless nighttimes with her yet.
The girls seem to be growing up so fast now, even Enya is losing all her babyness. They both have started telling stories about their experiences at Kindergarten. I do so love what sometimes comes out of their mouths, the different voices and sound effects often just crack me up. They learn so much from the older kids and it's hysterical hearing it all repeated. The latest favorite saying is "you're not my (best)friend anymore", or when the other does something for them "you're my best friend".
Did you know that if you fall over and bang your head (insert appropriate sound effects of a something hitting the floor) you get picked up by the "amblans" and taken to the "fignit shop".... yup that took me a while to work out too. We have since had a discussion about how people go to hospital and cars go to the fix it shop (thank you Finley the Fire Engine)!
Talking about speech: Ciara has cracked the word "yellow" instead of "lellow", she even gets the "th" sound right about 80% of the time, her speech is getting clearer and she does so love to talk. I can remember my mom saying once toddlers start talking people wish they would shut up again, it's not quite that bad but every so often I wish I had some earplugs ;0)
Showing posts with label Ciara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ciara. Show all posts
30 Mar 2011
30 Jul 2010
Gasp!
During our pre-bedtime romp this evening Ciara headed over to the height chart and asked to be measured, so we did ..... she's grown a centimeter in the last 2 weeks!! Enya hasn't grown at all in the same time.
In case you were wondering what the pre-bedtime romp involves:
a little of this
a little tidying up and a book is usually on the program as well.
I sometimes wonder how different it would've been if we'd had boys, do you think they would've parked the cars as neatly as this?
Random photos of the various vehicles parked around our home that I've got in the last couple of days (of course I missed the one when the lego vehicles were all removed from the lego drawer and parked in a different cupboard-all neatly lined up one next to another)
In case you were wondering what the pre-bedtime romp involves:
a little of this
a little tidying up and a book is usually on the program as well.
I sometimes wonder how different it would've been if we'd had boys, do you think they would've parked the cars as neatly as this?
Random photos of the various vehicles parked around our home that I've got in the last couple of days (of course I missed the one when the lego vehicles were all removed from the lego drawer and parked in a different cupboard-all neatly lined up one next to another)
29 Jun 2010
No dummy again?
Long time visitors will know we had Ciara dummy (pacifier) free for about 6 months last year before she started up with it again (Z gave her one trying to comfort her while she was sick). Since then we've had phases where she wouldn't go to bed with out at least 3 dummies in bed with her, one for her mouth and one for each hand.
Unfortunately she took up chewing on them and refusing to give them up after she got out of bed, so they gradually all went walkabout or got holes chewed in them. We had one last dummy which I saw yesterday also had a hole in the latex, I mentioned this to Ciara and she then went to the bin and threw it away herself. I repeatedly told her that when she throws it away, it's gone and that we have no other dummies but she still wanted it in the bin. She only asked for it once last night but was satisified when I said we had none and reminded her that she'd thrown it away earlier. Today just before naptime she went and got it out the bin but allowed me to chuck back in the bin when I showed her the hole, she has also gone down to sleep with no fuss.
I think we may finally be dummy free (and we will definitely remain as I'm not buying anymore dummies). Now we just got to convince Enya that milk from a cup tastes just as good as milk from a bottle, so I can get rid of the last bottle and then we are free of all baby equipment!
Unfortunately she took up chewing on them and refusing to give them up after she got out of bed, so they gradually all went walkabout or got holes chewed in them. We had one last dummy which I saw yesterday also had a hole in the latex, I mentioned this to Ciara and she then went to the bin and threw it away herself. I repeatedly told her that when she throws it away, it's gone and that we have no other dummies but she still wanted it in the bin. She only asked for it once last night but was satisified when I said we had none and reminded her that she'd thrown it away earlier. Today just before naptime she went and got it out the bin but allowed me to chuck back in the bin when I showed her the hole, she has also gone down to sleep with no fuss.
I think we may finally be dummy free (and we will definitely remain as I'm not buying anymore dummies). Now we just got to convince Enya that milk from a cup tastes just as good as milk from a bottle, so I can get rid of the last bottle and then we are free of all baby equipment!
13 Mar 2010
Will I ever learn?
We've had to start Ciara on the eyedrops! Thankfully the infection has barely started so it won't turn as gunky as Enya's but I really thought Ciara had managed to escape this one.
We had this problem in the NICU as well, if we commented that something was going well, it would come back and bite us in the butt!
Lesson now will be learnt. Keep my mouth shut!
We had this problem in the NICU as well, if we commented that something was going well, it would come back and bite us in the butt!
Lesson now will be learnt. Keep my mouth shut!
5 Mar 2010
Ciara now leading 2:1
for visits to casualty (ER).
While getting her ready for her bath on Wedensday we noticed she seemed to be blue, not just in her hands and feet but also her lips. We had noticed something similiar a few other times in the past week but wrote it off to bad lighting as by the time we got to better lighting it was always gone. On Wedensday though, the lighting was good and it was very obvious, so hey ho off to the Children's hospital we went. We were seen right into an examination room and had less than a 5 minute wait before the doctor came in! First question out of his mouth after I told our sorry tale was does she have a congenital heart problem, so I had to mention the ASD. His next comment made me laugh though- "but she had a normal post natal development, right?". So then I had to explain the whole micropreemie born at 25 weeks weighing 690g bit.
In the end he said it was just an overreaction of the autonomic nervous system (due to her illness) that caused the blue colouration and was not unusual and to expect her to do it again for the next few days (which she promptly has done). Yet again an overreaction from me, kids really should come with instruction books- with a large diagnosis of error section! Thankfully she is much better though and not at all cranky in comparison to how she has been.
I, on the other hand, have a new best friend called Doxy, as after feeling better for a few days things have gone rapidly downhill. After a horrendous night with the whole left side of my face (especially my teeth) hurting, I have landed up on antibiotics for a sinus infection. The instructions with the AB's was to take things easy which made me laugh (and then wince as all movements hurt right now), but things should get just as rapidly better as they did worse so hopefully I'll get back to happier posting soon.
While getting her ready for her bath on Wedensday we noticed she seemed to be blue, not just in her hands and feet but also her lips. We had noticed something similiar a few other times in the past week but wrote it off to bad lighting as by the time we got to better lighting it was always gone. On Wedensday though, the lighting was good and it was very obvious, so hey ho off to the Children's hospital we went. We were seen right into an examination room and had less than a 5 minute wait before the doctor came in! First question out of his mouth after I told our sorry tale was does she have a congenital heart problem, so I had to mention the ASD. His next comment made me laugh though- "but she had a normal post natal development, right?". So then I had to explain the whole micropreemie born at 25 weeks weighing 690g bit.
In the end he said it was just an overreaction of the autonomic nervous system (due to her illness) that caused the blue colouration and was not unusual and to expect her to do it again for the next few days (which she promptly has done). Yet again an overreaction from me, kids really should come with instruction books- with a large diagnosis of error section! Thankfully she is much better though and not at all cranky in comparison to how she has been.
I, on the other hand, have a new best friend called Doxy, as after feeling better for a few days things have gone rapidly downhill. After a horrendous night with the whole left side of my face (especially my teeth) hurting, I have landed up on antibiotics for a sinus infection. The instructions with the AB's was to take things easy which made me laugh (and then wince as all movements hurt right now), but things should get just as rapidly better as they did worse so hopefully I'll get back to happier posting soon.
28 Jan 2010
Too much praise?
We (ok I) tend to always try verbal positive reinforcements for new actions or achievements. For example if the girls do what I tell them or perform a new skill, it is usually followed by a "well done C or E, you did good" (no nitpicking about the bad grammer ;0)). I think I may have been overdoing it though...
.. last night after the girls' bath we had a quick session of stand up, sit down, lie down, jump on the spot. Do you also play this game, it's a precursor to Simon says? Anyway both girls were really good about doing the actions described, so of course they got lots of praise.
Fast forward about an hour to after dinner time but still too early to go to bed and they were allowed as a rare treat to sit down on the couch and watch some TV (TV is the treat, sitting on the couch is an everyday event ;0)). Ciara decided to jump around on the sofa and got told off as she was bouncing on to Enya. She then, watching my expression, bounced some more and then she started clapping her hands and came out with "well done Ciara, well done" grinning all the while. I know I shouldn't have laughed but it was so unexpected and at the same time so appropriate that I couldn't help myself.
.. last night after the girls' bath we had a quick session of stand up, sit down, lie down, jump on the spot. Do you also play this game, it's a precursor to Simon says? Anyway both girls were really good about doing the actions described, so of course they got lots of praise.
Fast forward about an hour to after dinner time but still too early to go to bed and they were allowed as a rare treat to sit down on the couch and watch some TV (TV is the treat, sitting on the couch is an everyday event ;0)). Ciara decided to jump around on the sofa and got told off as she was bouncing on to Enya. She then, watching my expression, bounced some more and then she started clapping her hands and came out with "well done Ciara, well done" grinning all the while. I know I shouldn't have laughed but it was so unexpected and at the same time so appropriate that I couldn't help myself.
15 Jan 2010
Bottles gone, dummies not so much
CiaraAs previously mentioned Ciara no longer gets a bottle and I'm overjoyed the time of bottle washing is nearly over*.
Unfortunately Ciara still gets her dummy when she goes to bed. We had completely weaned her off the dummy after our holiday in Turkey last year but while I was away in Houston at the end of the year she was ill and not sleeping well so got her dummy to comfort her. Since then she won't go to sleep unless she has AT LEAST 2 dummies (one in her mouth and one in her hand). She is really good about giving them to us as soon as we come in to the room to take her out the cot when her sleep is over, but is also very insistent on having her dummies as soon as she is in her cot. We even leave them in easy reach of the kids during the day and they both know where they are, however they leave them mostly alone until it's " 'leeping time".
*Thankfully both Ciara and Enya like giving and receiving cuddles so giving up bottles doesn't mean I have to give up cuddling with them in my lap, otherwise they may still have been bottlefed when they went to school!
8 Mar 2009
Puketastrophe
It appears that having a cold and being in the car does not agree with Enya. We went to Ikea yesterday to get the table and chairs for the midgets and all I can say is thank goodness we had a towel in the car. At one stage I thought Enya was choking on her vomit. Needless to say we made an emergency stop with me scrambling out of the still moving car to get around to her side of the car to help her. For the journey home I was squished in the backseat between the car seats and thank goodness I was there as the last 5 minutes were a rerun of the journey there.
I can only assume it was something to do with the car motion though, because as soon as we got home she gobbled down a bottle of milk and devoured her dinner with gusto and without any regurgitation. She continues to cough and her nose is streaming but at least the temperature is normal again.
She is however in good form and managed to give us a heart attack yesterday as she finally managed to stand up in her high chair, even though both Z and I were in the kitchen supervising them after dinner. I have now installed a harness system on to her highchair to restore my peace of mind.
Ciara remains healthy with just a slightly snotty nose. Her latest trick is to unpack all our cupboards and shelves, with my bookshelves being a particular favourite. She also has her first 3 molars, again she got 3 teeth at once. Ciara now has 14 teeth where poor little Enya only has 6.
I can only assume it was something to do with the car motion though, because as soon as we got home she gobbled down a bottle of milk and devoured her dinner with gusto and without any regurgitation. She continues to cough and her nose is streaming but at least the temperature is normal again.
She is however in good form and managed to give us a heart attack yesterday as she finally managed to stand up in her high chair, even though both Z and I were in the kitchen supervising them after dinner. I have now installed a harness system on to her highchair to restore my peace of mind.
Ciara remains healthy with just a slightly snotty nose. Her latest trick is to unpack all our cupboards and shelves, with my bookshelves being a particular favourite. She also has her first 3 molars, again she got 3 teeth at once. Ciara now has 14 teeth where poor little Enya only has 6.
9 Feb 2009
Sleeping
I don't know what I did right but the girls have had a 3 hour nap this morning and are one and a half hours into their midday nap. Hopefully they will be so well rested that they will be in a good mood this evening and we get to skip the 2 hour moan session from 4pm until 6pm!!
Ciara has been practicing walking in her first pair of proper shoes, at first she would only crawl with them on, but yesterday she started walking as well. She walks like she has concrete blocks on her feet whick looks very awkward and ungainly but at least she is now trying again. We decided not to get Enya shoes yet as she is still mostly crawling (although there has been a dramatic improvement in the last week in her walking ability) and we also got a bit frightened by the shoe sales lady saying that they grow out of shoes in 6-16 weeks at this age. Enya has smaller feet so we were thinking in a month or so we might go and buy a second pair of shoes for Ciara and give Enya the first pair. Depends if the girls have another growth spurt in the next few weeks!
Ciara has been practicing walking in her first pair of proper shoes, at first she would only crawl with them on, but yesterday she started walking as well. She walks like she has concrete blocks on her feet whick looks very awkward and ungainly but at least she is now trying again. We decided not to get Enya shoes yet as she is still mostly crawling (although there has been a dramatic improvement in the last week in her walking ability) and we also got a bit frightened by the shoe sales lady saying that they grow out of shoes in 6-16 weeks at this age. Enya has smaller feet so we were thinking in a month or so we might go and buy a second pair of shoes for Ciara and give Enya the first pair. Depends if the girls have another growth spurt in the next few weeks!
30 Jan 2009
On the mend
"What do you mean, you don't have this shoe in my size"
Ciara's rash is fading and so far Enya seems fine (she is refusing bottles but that, as the old faithfuls know, is nothing new) so hopefully "SICK" has left our house.
In the aftermath of this sickness though Ciara is being incredibily affectionate and keeps climbing on to my lap for cuddles. Yes, she is actually giving me cuddles, including laying her head on my shoulder. I'm making the most of this phase as I don't belive it will last long (Ciara is not usually very affectionate) but it proves the saying "every cloud has a silver lining".
Paper sea
Enya managed 18 steps a couple of days ago and has even mastered turning 180 degrees without falling. She loves walking between two objects e.g. from Z to me and back. She gets so much enjoyment out of her improved mobility and is practicing so hard that I really need to get my A in to G and go buy the girls some shoes for wearing outdoors. Ciara is a toddler now (pretty much always on her feet although still a bit unsteady) and although I would still class Enya as a crawler I don't think it will be long until she too prefers toddling to crawling.
28 Jan 2009
ER today
Our 2nd ER visit, this time with Ciara.
This morning she woke up with no temperature and eating nearly normally but in an absolutely foul mood. She also had a slight rash on her trunk. The midday nap didn't happen as Ciara screamed the whole time and when I finally got her up she was inconsolable. I had another look at her rash and did the glass trick (you know roll a glass over the rash), the rash didn't blanch with pressure and what with it being a Wednesday afternoon (do all your doctors also take Wednesday afternoon off?)so off we went to the ER.
After sitting around for an hour we got in to see the doctor to be told she just has a viral infection, probably a respiratory one but nothing to worry about. Believe me I'll take a respiratory infection over meningitis any day of the week! He even showed me a more accurate way to check for a non blanching rash for next time.
I feel a bit of an over reactive idiot but I'd rather go once too often to the doctors and be called an over anxious mother than miss something big.
This morning she woke up with no temperature and eating nearly normally but in an absolutely foul mood. She also had a slight rash on her trunk. The midday nap didn't happen as Ciara screamed the whole time and when I finally got her up she was inconsolable. I had another look at her rash and did the glass trick (you know roll a glass over the rash), the rash didn't blanch with pressure and what with it being a Wednesday afternoon (do all your doctors also take Wednesday afternoon off?)so off we went to the ER.
After sitting around for an hour we got in to see the doctor to be told she just has a viral infection, probably a respiratory one but nothing to worry about. Believe me I'll take a respiratory infection over meningitis any day of the week! He even showed me a more accurate way to check for a non blanching rash for next time.
I feel a bit of an over reactive idiot but I'd rather go once too often to the doctors and be called an over anxious mother than miss something big.
27 Jan 2009
Eating strike
Well the temperatures are down to nearly normal levels without any meds and the moods are slightly improved, unfortunately neither girl is really interested in eating. Even the morning and evening bottles are not exactly easy. Up to now I haven't started to panic but all bets are off if this continues too long.
Okay topic change: I've been a bit concerned as I didn't think the girls were understanding much.... until this last week. It seems like they have had another developmental leap forwards. If we ask them where something is, they look around. Now don't get to excited, they are not looking for the object we asked for but they are aware that we want something. They also both clap their hands and wave, as well as show us how tall they are when we ask them to. I've been trying to teach Ciara how to be gentle by stroking her with the command "mach Aii" ("make nice" is a fairly close translation), when I say the words she now strokes her own head. Now I just have to teach her to do that to others instead of hitting them or pulling their hair!
Enya calls me "meme" and Z is "dadee", she also says some other words like "heiss" (hot), "Eya" and "up" although they are not often used in context ("up" is being used more and more in context which gives you some idea what today has been like).
Ciara calls me "mama" and Z is however as yet unnamed, she also said "heiss" for the first time yesterday but is more interested in babbling than talking. They are both very vocal and babble all the time, just the connection with words is not quite there yet.
We knew they were likely going to be late talkers as we are bringing them up bilingual but it's still nice to see that some things are clicking in the speech works.
Okay topic change: I've been a bit concerned as I didn't think the girls were understanding much.... until this last week. It seems like they have had another developmental leap forwards. If we ask them where something is, they look around. Now don't get to excited, they are not looking for the object we asked for but they are aware that we want something. They also both clap their hands and wave, as well as show us how tall they are when we ask them to. I've been trying to teach Ciara how to be gentle by stroking her with the command "mach Aii" ("make nice" is a fairly close translation), when I say the words she now strokes her own head. Now I just have to teach her to do that to others instead of hitting them or pulling their hair!
Enya calls me "meme" and Z is "dadee", she also says some other words like "heiss" (hot), "Eya" and "up" although they are not often used in context ("up" is being used more and more in context which gives you some idea what today has been like).
Ciara calls me "mama" and Z is however as yet unnamed, she also said "heiss" for the first time yesterday but is more interested in babbling than talking. They are both very vocal and babble all the time, just the connection with words is not quite there yet.
We knew they were likely going to be late talkers as we are bringing them up bilingual but it's still nice to see that some things are clicking in the speech works.
26 Jan 2009
Not so happy 200th post
Well a double century in posts has been reached and soon I reach my first year blogging anniversary, who would have thought.
The not so good news is right now the girls are sick again. Saturday night was very disturbed with Ciara waking every few hours and being very hard to comfort. On Sunday Z noticed she was not her usual self while they were having their normal tumble hour on the couch (insert: Ciara can now get up on the couch by herself, oh joy!). With a temperature check the reason became crystal clear, she had a temperature of 40.1 C, that is a first!
Thankfully the temperature responded to paraceta.mol, although it is not yet normal it is now a low grade fever. Unfortunately though she is incredibly clingy, she just wants to be carried and petted and she is not eating! Can you believe I wrote that CIARA is not eating! Last night she even refused a Fruchtzwerg (yogurt) and went to bed with no dinner. Today this trend has continued and if it doesn't get better tomorrow, we are heading to the paediatrician.
Scary part is Enya also has a temperature this evening....tomorrow should be fun!
The not so good news is right now the girls are sick again. Saturday night was very disturbed with Ciara waking every few hours and being very hard to comfort. On Sunday Z noticed she was not her usual self while they were having their normal tumble hour on the couch (insert: Ciara can now get up on the couch by herself, oh joy!). With a temperature check the reason became crystal clear, she had a temperature of 40.1 C, that is a first!
Thankfully the temperature responded to paraceta.mol, although it is not yet normal it is now a low grade fever. Unfortunately though she is incredibly clingy, she just wants to be carried and petted and she is not eating! Can you believe I wrote that CIARA is not eating! Last night she even refused a Fruchtzwerg (yogurt) and went to bed with no dinner. Today this trend has continued and if it doesn't get better tomorrow, we are heading to the paediatrician.
Scary part is Enya also has a temperature this evening....tomorrow should be fun!
13 Dec 2008
Ciara's anniversary
A year ago today we brought Ciara home after 120 days in hospital, we were finally "proper" parents and could care for our daughter as we wished to, without having to ask permission from the nurses before we did anything.
Ciara all packed up and ready to go
Arriving home, the decoration is courtesy of friends. In german it is tradition to decorate the house front when a baby is born to the house, our friends waited until a baby came home, 4 months later. What you can't see is that the line is being held up by a stork on a pole, it was wonderful, completely unexpected and underlined that we were really parents.
First meal at home, I was unbelievable nervous as this was the first time we'd ever made a bottle of formula and were responsible for serving it at the right temperature etc.
Ciara all packed up and ready to go
Arriving home, the decoration is courtesy of friends. In german it is tradition to decorate the house front when a baby is born to the house, our friends waited until a baby came home, 4 months later. What you can't see is that the line is being held up by a stork on a pole, it was wonderful, completely unexpected and underlined that we were really parents.
First meal at home, I was unbelievable nervous as this was the first time we'd ever made a bottle of formula and were responsible for serving it at the right temperature etc.
20 Oct 2008
Computer trouble
sorry I've not posted in so long but my computer is in the process of dying. It refuses to recharge on occasion or when I plug it in the mouse goes wild! Today it is however cooperating so I can update;0).
Both girls have got a third tooth now, Ciara is proving to be a bit of an exception and has got a top lateral incisor instead of a central one (at least I hope so or she is going to need lots of expensive orthodontic treatment). She is also starting to let go of support in standing and can maintain her balance for a few seconds before falling over. On Friday I even saw her stand up completely unaided in the middle of the bathroom mat, she immediately fell over but she is trying!!
Enya continues to be unsteady in standing, and is not attempting to cruise on the furniture. The physio remarked to me last week that we're going to have trouble with her as she is "hyperactive" i.e. unable to be still for a minute. Both Z and I have noticed this already, even when she is eating her feet are drumming on the stool. She loves music and I was wondering if I should register her for music classes in the hope that this will help soothe her down. She only has three teeth but has started grinding them none the less, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I can't stand that sound or the sound of people chewing food. as you may have guessed the radio is on during mealtimes in my house ;-).
I have started researching Kindergartens in our area, we're hoping to start them when they turn 3 but as the places are hard to come by you have to register early. For at least one of the local KG we are already too late to get places to start in 2 years time! I had briefly thought about registering them to start next year but none of the Kindergartens in our area take children from 2 years. In a way I'm glad about that as it gives me a good reason for staying home and spending time with them!
Other than that we had a couple of firsts last week. First time on a train and let me tell you german punctuality is not a myth but they need to think about disabled access a bit more. We landed lifting our twin buggy about half a meter down to the platform on the way home. They also only have one coach where you have room for a pram. Unfortunately on our way home from Cologne we were late so we had to jump into the first coach and the wheelchair/pram coach was the last coach in the train. There was no way to go through the train with our pram without taking the girls out and collapsing it and there was no way I was going to let my girls crawl on the filthy floor while I carried the pram through. We didn't want to get off and swap at the stations as they didn't stop long and as I mentioned lifting the prams in and out was difficult. In the end my mom landed up with spectacular bruises on her arms from manhandling the pram in and out the train and I spent the next 2 days with a nasty headache from stress! Another first is the girls had their first go in a swing, I took them for a walk yesterday to get them out the house so Z could finish doing our overdue tax return in peace and we went past a park. I saw the swing and thought we could try it, the girls LOVED it. I'll have to start taking them out for more walks along that route, maybe it'll help with my weight loss as well ;0). We have also gone back to our original pram where they sit next to each other as our home pram as the borrowed pram where they are one behind the other does not work for us. Whoever sits behind always kicks the back of the seat in front and leans over the side of the pram so she can see what is ahead. I'm glad we borrowed this pram and didn't buy it!!
I said I would publish a few pictures of Enya in her new shoes but given the computer problems I'll just post a link to where I bought them.
If I don't post in the next few days please forgive me, my computer will have completely given up the ghost (or I'll have chucked it against the wall in which case it will be beyond resurrection).
PS Enya has nearly cracked 8kg :0)
Both girls have got a third tooth now, Ciara is proving to be a bit of an exception and has got a top lateral incisor instead of a central one (at least I hope so or she is going to need lots of expensive orthodontic treatment). She is also starting to let go of support in standing and can maintain her balance for a few seconds before falling over. On Friday I even saw her stand up completely unaided in the middle of the bathroom mat, she immediately fell over but she is trying!!
Enya continues to be unsteady in standing, and is not attempting to cruise on the furniture. The physio remarked to me last week that we're going to have trouble with her as she is "hyperactive" i.e. unable to be still for a minute. Both Z and I have noticed this already, even when she is eating her feet are drumming on the stool. She loves music and I was wondering if I should register her for music classes in the hope that this will help soothe her down. She only has three teeth but has started grinding them none the less, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I can't stand that sound or the sound of people chewing food. as you may have guessed the radio is on during mealtimes in my house ;-).
I have started researching Kindergartens in our area, we're hoping to start them when they turn 3 but as the places are hard to come by you have to register early. For at least one of the local KG we are already too late to get places to start in 2 years time! I had briefly thought about registering them to start next year but none of the Kindergartens in our area take children from 2 years. In a way I'm glad about that as it gives me a good reason for staying home and spending time with them!
Other than that we had a couple of firsts last week. First time on a train and let me tell you german punctuality is not a myth but they need to think about disabled access a bit more. We landed lifting our twin buggy about half a meter down to the platform on the way home. They also only have one coach where you have room for a pram. Unfortunately on our way home from Cologne we were late so we had to jump into the first coach and the wheelchair/pram coach was the last coach in the train. There was no way to go through the train with our pram without taking the girls out and collapsing it and there was no way I was going to let my girls crawl on the filthy floor while I carried the pram through. We didn't want to get off and swap at the stations as they didn't stop long and as I mentioned lifting the prams in and out was difficult. In the end my mom landed up with spectacular bruises on her arms from manhandling the pram in and out the train and I spent the next 2 days with a nasty headache from stress! Another first is the girls had their first go in a swing, I took them for a walk yesterday to get them out the house so Z could finish doing our overdue tax return in peace and we went past a park. I saw the swing and thought we could try it, the girls LOVED it. I'll have to start taking them out for more walks along that route, maybe it'll help with my weight loss as well ;0). We have also gone back to our original pram where they sit next to each other as our home pram as the borrowed pram where they are one behind the other does not work for us. Whoever sits behind always kicks the back of the seat in front and leans over the side of the pram so she can see what is ahead. I'm glad we borrowed this pram and didn't buy it!!
I said I would publish a few pictures of Enya in her new shoes but given the computer problems I'll just post a link to where I bought them.
If I don't post in the next few days please forgive me, my computer will have completely given up the ghost (or I'll have chucked it against the wall in which case it will be beyond resurrection).
PS Enya has nearly cracked 8kg :0)
10 Oct 2008
climbing step
So while I was fighting with my computer yesterday, things got suspiciously quiet around the house. When I went to check on what the little rugrats had gotten up to, I found Ciara standing on our folded travelling cot mattress at the window sill eating the gravel from one of our pot plants!
We knew that Ciara could climb a single step in standing, if she had something to hold on to (in this case a radiator) but until today she only has climbed proper steps. The mattress is soft and hard to balance on, so I really didn't expect her to manage it. Enya has also taken to pushing objects around the house in standing and I expect she pushed the mattress to the wall where Ciara could climb on it.
Thank goodness our next security gate has arrived so we can now block the girls out of the lounge, it seems despite my best efforts they still can get up to too much mischief in that room.
I'm in the middle of sorting out babys clothes to be sold at a bazaar on the weekend. I've discovered the preemie box and can't get over how tiny the clothes are. I can remember when these outfits drowned the girls and now they seem so minute. I'll probably take the preemie stuff to our local hospital as I can't see it selling. We've 4 preemie jackets which we were given, that the girls never even wore as by the time they were discharged they were too big for the jackets.
Looking at the newborn clothing is making me very broody though.
We knew that Ciara could climb a single step in standing, if she had something to hold on to (in this case a radiator) but until today she only has climbed proper steps. The mattress is soft and hard to balance on, so I really didn't expect her to manage it. Enya has also taken to pushing objects around the house in standing and I expect she pushed the mattress to the wall where Ciara could climb on it.
Thank goodness our next security gate has arrived so we can now block the girls out of the lounge, it seems despite my best efforts they still can get up to too much mischief in that room.
I'm in the middle of sorting out babys clothes to be sold at a bazaar on the weekend. I've discovered the preemie box and can't get over how tiny the clothes are. I can remember when these outfits drowned the girls and now they seem so minute. I'll probably take the preemie stuff to our local hospital as I can't see it selling. We've 4 preemie jackets which we were given, that the girls never even wore as by the time they were discharged they were too big for the jackets.
Looking at the newborn clothing is making me very broody though.
30 Sept 2008
300mls!!
I think we may be on the verge of another growing spell x2. Ciara drank 300ml (10oz!!) a couple of days ago for her afternoon bottle and a few hours later another 170ml. I've bumped her afternoon feeds consistently up to 240ml (8oz). Enya on the other hand is verging on a bottle strike. Once again we are battling to get her to drink her whole bottle but at least she is usually drinking half of it without complaining (90ml-3oz). So what with the overeating/under eating on one side and the sleep strike on the other side, I'm thinking we may have a growth spurt on the horizon. It can't be teeth as I can't feel any bumps on the gum lines.
The down side to Ciara drinking so much in the afternoons is that she keeps soaking through her nappy overnight. In the mornings her babygro, vest and sleeping bag were all soaking. When I weighed her nappy (yes I am that weird, I wanted to see how much she could produce overnight;-)) it weighed well over 340g, that meant her nappy weighed almost half as much as she did when she was born!! That made me feel very odd. A little aside here, our girls are some of the thankfully few people in the world who will someday weigh around 100 times their birth weight- that makes me feel odder! Anyway the solution to our soaking problem has been that we have changed our evening routine around. We used to put the girls straight to bed after dinner i.e. nappy change and pyjamas used to happen before dinner as Ciara was so tired during dinner that she could barely keep her eyes open to eat. Now that she is needing (a lot!!) less sleep, we do everything after dinner and so far this has remedied the leakage.
The plus side to the new evening routine is the girls get to stay at the table while we eat, our plan is still to have them eating christmas dinner with us this year! They seem to really enjoy this time as they love screeching at each other across the table and very often one or the other will start laughing which sets the other one off. I love the feeling of being a family together at the dinner table, now we just got to work on getting the girls self feeding so we can all eat together.
The down side to Ciara drinking so much in the afternoons is that she keeps soaking through her nappy overnight. In the mornings her babygro, vest and sleeping bag were all soaking. When I weighed her nappy (yes I am that weird, I wanted to see how much she could produce overnight;-)) it weighed well over 340g, that meant her nappy weighed almost half as much as she did when she was born!! That made me feel very odd. A little aside here, our girls are some of the thankfully few people in the world who will someday weigh around 100 times their birth weight- that makes me feel odder! Anyway the solution to our soaking problem has been that we have changed our evening routine around. We used to put the girls straight to bed after dinner i.e. nappy change and pyjamas used to happen before dinner as Ciara was so tired during dinner that she could barely keep her eyes open to eat. Now that she is needing (a lot!!) less sleep, we do everything after dinner and so far this has remedied the leakage.
The plus side to the new evening routine is the girls get to stay at the table while we eat, our plan is still to have them eating christmas dinner with us this year! They seem to really enjoy this time as they love screeching at each other across the table and very often one or the other will start laughing which sets the other one off. I love the feeling of being a family together at the dinner table, now we just got to work on getting the girls self feeding so we can all eat together.
24 Sept 2008
Car seat update
We tried the new car seat and I love it!! It doesn't even take a minute to get Ciara strapped in and she really enjoyed being able to see more than in her old infant seat. The new car seat lifts her up enough that she can see out the window and for once she didn't complain everytime we slowed down or stopped. At this age distraction is the name of the game!
If anyone is interested, we bought the Romer King TS plus in red.
*Sigh* my little babies are growing up so fast
If anyone is interested, we bought the Romer King TS plus in red.
*Sigh* my little babies are growing up so fast
5 Aug 2008
A few other facts about Ciara
A couple of things I forgot to put in Ciara's post were:
1) She trys to give a kiss by biting us on the nose. Don't ask me where she gets it from. Either that or by pressing her open mouth to our cheek- yum, lovely and wet!!
2)she is so close to getting into the sitting position by herself it's not even funny, and she has been for about 3 weeks. She obviously enjoys drawing out the suspense.
3) she may not go forwards well, but she is the world champion going backwards.
1) She trys to give a kiss by biting us on the nose. Don't ask me where she gets it from. Either that or by pressing her open mouth to our cheek- yum, lovely and wet!!
2)she is so close to getting into the sitting position by herself it's not even funny, and she has been for about 3 weeks. She obviously enjoys drawing out the suspense.
3) she may not go forwards well, but she is the world champion going backwards.
Ciara's post
I often write about Enya and some peple may get the feeling that I ignore Ciara. This is not the case!
Ciara just seemed to have the easier ride right from the get go. She was extubated within hours of being born, never had a brain bleed and although she also used to swing with her oxygen saturations on CPAP they never suggested reintubating her. She was also always very vocal and remains so. I remember the nurses saying that they could hear her from 2 rooms away while she was still in her incubator, giving them notice that she was hungry.
Anyway on to the present, Ciara remains our chatty baby who is almost always smiling. She is however a bit of a scardy cat. Where E loves to be thrown around Ciara doesn't like to go too fast or too high. Gently and slowly is the key with her. She will often join in laughing however when we are throwing E around, spectator sport so to say.
Ciara is also able to move forwards but she does it her own way. She goes up on her hands and knees brings her knees together forward and then collapses down. A very strenuous way to cover maximum 5 cm, which is why she doesn't travel very far. She prefers to stay in one spot and make her own fun with whatis avaliable there.
Ciara drinks whatever we put in her bottle and very often eats her bowl and Enya's leftovers before looking for more. Even though she is a guzzle monster she remains slender and is not particularly large for her (adjusted) age. Lucky child has inherited her fathers metabolism! She is also starting to drink other drinks, now we just have to get her drinking from a cup.
She doesn't often want to cuddle but every so often she will just snuggle in when we are carrying her to bed and those moments are golden. She tucks her head into my neck and bring her arms in close and wriggles in. My only regret is when she does it
and I'm alone at home. If I haven't put E in bed already I can't cuddle with her for long, that is the one disadvantage of twins- there never seems to be enough time to cuddle with each as much as one would like to.
To round off this Ciara's post here is a photo of her giving herself her bottle
Ciara just seemed to have the easier ride right from the get go. She was extubated within hours of being born, never had a brain bleed and although she also used to swing with her oxygen saturations on CPAP they never suggested reintubating her. She was also always very vocal and remains so. I remember the nurses saying that they could hear her from 2 rooms away while she was still in her incubator, giving them notice that she was hungry.
Anyway on to the present, Ciara remains our chatty baby who is almost always smiling. She is however a bit of a scardy cat. Where E loves to be thrown around Ciara doesn't like to go too fast or too high. Gently and slowly is the key with her. She will often join in laughing however when we are throwing E around, spectator sport so to say.
Ciara is also able to move forwards but she does it her own way. She goes up on her hands and knees brings her knees together forward and then collapses down. A very strenuous way to cover maximum 5 cm, which is why she doesn't travel very far. She prefers to stay in one spot and make her own fun with whatis avaliable there.
Ciara drinks whatever we put in her bottle and very often eats her bowl and Enya's leftovers before looking for more. Even though she is a guzzle monster she remains slender and is not particularly large for her (adjusted) age. Lucky child has inherited her fathers metabolism! She is also starting to drink other drinks, now we just have to get her drinking from a cup.
She doesn't often want to cuddle but every so often she will just snuggle in when we are carrying her to bed and those moments are golden. She tucks her head into my neck and bring her arms in close and wriggles in. My only regret is when she does it
and I'm alone at home. If I haven't put E in bed already I can't cuddle with her for long, that is the one disadvantage of twins- there never seems to be enough time to cuddle with each as much as one would like to.
To round off this Ciara's post here is a photo of her giving herself her bottle
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