Week 19

Visitors, doctors and bathtime!

The girls' social calendar has been quite busy as of late. We've been out for their first Taco Night, which was grand fun. Lots of arms to be held in, new ceilings to stareat, and custom socks! Seriously. Hand-decorated socks. Awesomeness. We have hosted visitors from school, as well as out of state. Cousin/Aunt Claire came to see the ladies.




We've been to three different doctors in the past week and received rave reviews from all. Caution: serious bragging to follow! At the regular pediatrican's visit, the girls now weigh in at 12lb even (Lillian) and 12lb5oz (Naomi). Doc gave us the goahead to start stretching out the 2am feeding and the girls took to that immediately, now going from 10pm to 6am with no bottles. It still takes some soothing to get back to sleep overnight, especially for L. But. They (and we!)are edging closer to a full night's sleep. The developmental specialist we saw last week proclaimed that the girls ought to be "poster children" for premature babies. She can say that again! Really. Anytime she wants to repeat it, I could hear it over and over.

They are smiling all the time now, and gurgling. There's nothing like walking into their nursery in the morning and getting two, big cheesy grins. Lillian has learned to chew on her hands, and it's delightful to watch her try to shove both of them in her mouth at once.

Bathtime is always fun, and here are a few photos of the event. These are from two weeks ago, though, and they've changed already.

Naomi ("Bleeeaaahhh"):


Lillian:


Sadly, the girls are experiencing their first cold, but they're handling it like troopers.

Next week: Spring Break!

Week 18

We are in the full throes of enjoying the coming spring, taking walks, seeing our first crocuses, and being impatient when rain keeps us in.

The girls just continue to charm us. The smiles, the cooing. They're starting to play more and be interested in toys, especially mirrors. We've taken them out more, too. Out to eat, where, as long as they are fed first, they are quite pleasant. I've been taking them regularly to the Heights Parent Center on Wednesdays, which is quite a gem of a resource. About 10 other parents with babies from birth to 12 months meet in the morning. Last week, when it was so beautiful, we had an outing to the Nature Center in Shaker Heights. It was rather adorable, seeing this parade of 8 or so parents with strollers and carriers loop around the paths.


Roxy has made quite the turnaround from sulking recluse to supernanny. She's very interested in the babies. Whenever they cry, she stares intently at us until we fix it. She often likes to just lay her chin across their legs or belly when they are laying down. Here, she lets us know that Lillian needs a bath.


In this, Roxy and Naomi had been sweetly napping together, but of course woke up when I got up to get the camera.



And, lastly,here's a Lillian smile to help your day along.

On The Charts!

The girls are four months old today. (Actual age. Adjusted age would put them between 5-6 weeks.) One-third of a year already. Time to get that big bouncy castle reserved for their party.

As a birthday celebration, the girls had a doctor's appointment. With shots. Luckily, they are not aware enough to realize that this is unfair. Lillian now weighs 10lb, 11oz and Naomi is 11lbs even! Remember way back when WWF stood for the World Wrestling Federation and Hulk Hogan wasn't a sun-dried weirdo? My dad and I used to watch a lot of wrestling. (Junk Yard Dog, you are still missed.) Anyhow, whenever they announced a tag-team match, the announcer would always bellow, "And weighing in at a commmbiiiiinned total of" whatever the British Bulldogs were at them time. That's been going through my head everytime I think of the girls total of 21lb 11oz. It hardly seems possible, with where they started.

The really exciting part of this, for me at least, is that they are actually on the growth chart for full-term babies. On the very bottom of the chart, at 5th percentile, but on the chart nonetheless. This means that there are other babies who were born November 8 at full term and weigh them same as these girls do. Here's the chart for Naomi, just for funsies.



Both girls really are smiling regularly now, especially in the morning. Their eye contact is enduring and meaningful and they watch us walk around. Lillian has fallen in love with the swing that's on loan from Nat and Amanda. Naomi thinks it's alright, but Lillian just stares up at the mirror over her head with the look of someone seeing Aurora Borealis for the first time. Until she passes out. They are pretty good at holding up their heads and, while they don't enjoy 'tummy time' all that much, they move their heads from side to side. They're starting to kick a lot more, too.

Looking forward to the next steps. (But not too fast!!)

Week 17

We had a wonderful weekend with the girls. The ladies enjoyed (and behaved for) their first ever babysitting experience with Nana while I got my haircut. Then, three generations of Weatherlow women headed to the Botanical Gardens again. Can you tell we like that place? The Orchid Show is being held this month and they truly are spectacular. That's what Lillian is staring at in the picture from Friday.



Saturday, we packed in all sorts of excitement. I went to a children's clothing sale in the morning and bought ridiculous dresses for cheap enough that I can justify it. William brought the girls out to Nana and Papa's house in the afternoon and continued on to Columbus to see one of our former students win the state wrestling championship! (And announce his intention to go to OSU next year, so William is pleased.) The girls hung out with Papa (who had just completed his solo cross country flight that afternoon!) for babysitting experience #2 while we went to the grocery store.

Today, we took advantage of the beautiful sunshine and warmth and packed the ladies and the dog out to Euclid Creek Reservation to walk the trails. The girls loved it, once again showing their enthusiasm by sleeping peacefully.



This afternoon, William set up a photo shoot with the girls and the stuffed versions of Roxy and Penny. Naomi's face in this is just one of the reasons our days are so great recently.

I don't really need to give you words for these, do I?