Solid Foods - Squash

Kira

Alana

In January the doctors told Jim and I that we could start experimenting with food for the girls. We were told to try yellow/orange, then green, then meats and lastly fruits. We were instructed to give them the same thing for 5 to 7 days at a time. So we started with squash. Alana enjoyed it right away and kept opening her mouth wide for more. Kira was very unsure and made a face that said "I am really wondering what you are feeding me". Alana kept wanting more but she did not understand how to use her tongue. Her tongue kept pushing the food that she really did want back out of her mouth. Kira for the most part had eating down right away. By the second day Kira decided that she loved squash as much as her sister. You can not shovel the food in fast enough for them. They really liked the added variety to their diet.

Big Girl Bath & Daddy Mistake

As always these days this post is a little behind.....

However this story is just way too funny not to tell. It was January 2nd 2012 and I had the day off but Jim needed to return to work. On our drive from NY to NC a few days before we had discussed giving the girls a bath in the big girl tub. So Jim decided that we would give it a try when he came home from work on the 2nd.

We gave it a try and it did not go very well. The girls love bath time but they were not very thrilled with sitting in the Bumbo chairs. It did not take us long to realize that they did not weigh enough to hold the chairs down in the water so they were bobbing everywhere. The expressions on their faces were priceless and both kept throwing their arms out trying to steady themselves. Jim and I could not stop laughing! We then had two wet girls that we had to get out of the tub and put them back in one at a time to wash. It was not an easy bath time. To the credit of the girls though they never cried!

After we finished bath time I dressed Alana and Jim dressed Kira. We fed them and put them to bed. In the morning I went in to get them up and dressed while Jim made their bottles. Kira was awake and singing in her crib. I went to pick her up and thought how odd she feels wet. I figured she must have over run her diaper during the 12 hr. night. She then felt wet up her back and I thought jeez she is sweating. When her feet were wet I was starting to get a little worried. I picked her up - took her to the changing table - took off her PJ's and quickly realized what was wrong. Jim completely forgot to put a diaper on her so she went 12 hrs. completely free. She was soaking wet but as happy as ever! Jim and I had a good laugh at that mistake - that was a first.

Cereal

While the girls have been getting a very small amount of cereal for a very long time we really tried cereal for the first time while in NY over Christmas. Jacob was also trying cereal for the first time so we all had fun! The girls did not love or hate it. They both know to open their mouth when the spoon gets near their mouth but they are not sure what to do with their tongue. Both had problems with using their tongue to push the food back out rather then down their throat. We continue to try to give them cereal once a day (at least) but they both prefer the bottle. A lot of times we have to give them their bottle and then try the cereal. If you try the cereal first they get very mad, scream, their hands get in your way and they spit the cereal back out. The day care is also trying to give them cereal. Some days are much more successful then others!

Kira

Kira

Alana

Alana

6 Month Check Up

At the 6 month check up on January 6th I felt terrible for the girls. They each had 5 shots and 1 oral vaccination. Normally it would only be 4 but they received their monthly RSV and their first flu shot. The poor girls screamed and cried and I really can not blame them. Alana did a lot better this round though - not spiking a high fever like she normally does. Kira weighed 14 lbs. 2 ounces and Alana weighed 12 lbs. 12 ounces. They are growing like weeds and Alana is now in the 3 percentile for weight; her head was 17 inches and her height was 23 inches!! The funny thing is though their heads are pretty "big". Kira's head is in the 85 percentile at 17 1/8 inches and her height was 24 1/2 inches. Comparing that to November 22nd when Kira was 11 lbs. 11 oz (6 percentile); 22 1/2 inches tall (2 percentile) and her head was 16 1/4 inches (48 percentile). Alana was 10lbs. 7 oz (1 percentile); 21 1/2 inches tall (less then 1 percentile) and her head was 16 1/8 inches around (39 percentile).

Both girls have had several developmental tests. They did pretty well but as expected they are a little behind the curve with gross motor skills. Their adjusted age is 4 months but in some areas they are only around the 2 or 3 month mark. They need to improve in the areas of reaching up, moving their heads from side to side and Alana needs to stop tilting her head to one side. Both girls will have Physical Therapy and Jim and I have a lot of things we are suppose to do with them each night.

Both girls have been "babbling" for several weeks and Kira on a rare occasion will even laugh and chuckle. Jim told her that she must have picked it up from Jacob (her cousin) over the holiday. Alana still has the beautiful off center smile and Kira smiles wide. Jim and I have our routine down pat. He gets up and makes the bottles while I go and get the girls dressed. There is nothing better then going to get them out of their cribs each morning because they give me the best smiles ever. What a great way to start the day.

The girls have both been playing with their tongues and today they figured out how to blow raspberries. Jim kept asking me what they were doing! How cute and funny. Kira tonight just kept blowing the raspberries and the drool was running down her face. She would then smile - she was so proud of herself. We were proud as well that she has picked up a new trick.
Jim and I could not be happier - we are so thankful this all worked out!

Christmas - 2011

For Christmas we stopped in PA on the way to my parents house so that Gma Stryker (Oliva) could meet the girls for the first time. She was so thrilled to see them and she kept saying that she must be dreaming. She was worried that she was not going to get to meet them. She is 99 after all! What great genes!

Both girls travelled very well to NY for Christmas! They both slept the majority of the way up and back. Jim picked out their Christmas dresses and they were adorable with the "Santa" look. They both had Christmas hats as well. Kira was very excited to watch Nana open up her gifts and she seemed very interested. The next day Alana was more into Christmas as Jim opened up her presents for her. She would reach up for the dangling paper and try to stuff it in her mouth. Jim gave me a super thoughtful gift this Christmas. He took our blog updates and made a book!! What a super idea.

Alana

Alana

Kira

Super cute Christmas dresses. Joy with Kira and Jim with Alana


Jim & I had a photo shoot with the girls for our Christmas cards and they were super cute.

Alana

Kira

Jim was sick again on Christmas and Alana was getting over her cold. Poor Kira got it in NY as well. We have been super lucky though as this winter so far Alana has only had 2 colds and Kira just 1. They have not had to miss day care even once - our little troopers!!

We had a great Christmas this year and as Jim said "We now have it all!"

Thanksgiving - 2011

Alana with Joy - Kira with Jim

Alana had too much turkey!

Kira - she really loved playing with this dress.

Jim and I have been kind of slack in updating the blog so I wanted to get a few things out there.

We did host Thanksgiving this year and the girls were little angels. Kira and Alana both wore fancy dresses and Kira especially loved to pick up the pieces of her dress and put them in her mouth. She seemed to really enjoy moving the dress around and playing with it. The weather was beautiful so we took several pictures outside behind our house by the pond. Gma & Gpa Stryker made the trip down from NY to celebrate with us.

The girls are each getting RSV shots (they qualified with the insurance because they are preemies in day care). The shots are super expensive around $5,000 to $6,000 each for 5 months. I am very glad insurance is paying for them as a case of RSV did go around the day care.

On to the next post....

What a Year

Whelp, here we are.  12 months ago Joy and I would never have believed we would see two positive pregnancy tests.  Things were not looking good in the ole baby department.  Then on January 3, 2011 Joy humored me with a pregnancy test.  Sure it was an old one that was 2 months out of date, but she tried it anyway and boom positive.  Next thing we knew we were making a late night trip to the Walgreen's.  By about 9:53pm we had two positive tests.  What we didn't know was how symbolic those two positive tests would be.

By February we could finally tell the whole family we were expecting one!  Just one baby.  Two days later we could break the news that we were expecting two babies!  Sadly that was followed with loads of negative statistics because of the precarious nature of Monoamniotic twins.  By the beginning of April we could finally find out what gender was on the way.  Despite the crazy schedule and a week long vacation on the way we still managed to throw a sec party and reveal the fact that we were having two little girls. By the end of April we were finally becoming very confident that things would work out and the girls would make it.  We even made a last minute trip to get cribs, changing tables and dressers for the girls. We even tore apart one of the bedrooms to get a nursery ready.

All of this positive thinking and excitement lead to, two big baby showers.  I don't think we can ever express the gratitude we had for all of our friends, family, and co-workers.  They did a tremendous job helping to plan and organize these parties to help celebrate the little ones on the way.  Joy was so elated to be able to experience a baby shower.  I think it was a great relief and wonderful thing to draw her mind away from the long 6 week stay at Duke.

Memorial day weekend was Joy's last weekend of freedom for 6 weeks.  I drove to Duke everyday she was there.  I was doing my best to keep up with the dogs, the yard, work, and visiting with Joy.  I must admit I enjoyed my trips to see here.  I wish the rooms were a little more comfy, but overall it wasn't so bad.  Joy had other opinions of the whole experience.  The last 7-10 days was the worst with false alarms on labor, IVs and me having to help bath her because of the IV block in her hand.

Then finally, the little ones arrived.  We could not have asked for the girls to be any more cute or cuddly.  I think the worst part was how we couldn't do much more than look at them in their isollettes and rest a hang or finger on them.  It would be a few weeks before we could hold them for long periods of time.  It seemed they wanted out fast and to be held asap, because they were growing like crazy with no health issues at all.

Those days leading up to the hospital stay, during the hospital stay and even the 3am feedings, seem to have already flown by.  The girls have been home for over four months now. and quadrupled in weight.  We still look at each other and say we can't believe we have these two little girls.  You spend several years trying, a few clinics, failed procedures and wham you are now parent's to identical twins, how special is that?  It's incredible, and we couldn't have asked for better girls.

They love bath time, they don't cry for hours on end, they love getting changed into new clothes and diapers.  I swear they act like they have a dirty diaper just so they can play on the changing table.  They like their car seats, travel well, and their grins make you melt.

One of the coolest things is that I now know how much my father loved me.  I never understood when he would say "I love you and you just don't understand how much I love you."  He was right.  I loved him a ton, but I never really knew how much he loved me.   Since these little girls entered my life I have started to understand what he was saying.  I simply don't believe a parent can put a number, value, or quantity on how much they love their children.  I heard my dad tell me time and time again on a daily basis how much he loved me, but it still wasn't enough for me to truly know.   Now I do....

I love my wonderful wife, Joy, and my two gorgeous little girls, Kira and Alana.  I couldn't ask for anything more, feel free to keep your christmas gifts I really do have all I want.

Joy and Alana (3mo.)

Kira (5mo.)

Alana (5mo.)

Guess who? (2mo.)

Merry Christmas,
The Schneiders