Updates and tidbits.

"what, your mama doesnt dress you with duct tape too?"
Connor shows off his mad skills. He is so silly.
Trevor celebrated the 100th day of school at school Wednesday. They had a big celebration and had lots of activities.

The boys continue to grow and grow every day. Well, we celebrated our second year marker with some visits at the DR. Monday, we had a comprehensive hearing evaluation done at the audiology center at Mercy Hospital. The boys did so well and were excellently behaved. Trevor was off school for MLK day and was a model big brother. He sat and played with one while I was with the other being tested. The testing consisted of an ear analysis, individual hearing response, and behavior and hearing in related situations and play. We were in a sound-proof booth and sounds were fed into the booth with lights and moving animals. Logan kept laughing, Connor was startled by the sounds. They did well and tested completely normal. The reason for this evaluation is because of the severe speech delay.

Moving on to Wednesday, we saw the pediatrician for our 2 year check ups. Logan weighed 24 lb 1 oz (8th %) and was 33 1/4 inches tall (25th%). Connor weighed 25 lb 7oz (28th %) and was 33 1/2 in tall (25th %). Connor still has his rash going on from his allergic reaction to antibiotics, so we have been referred to an allergist for testing. I hadnt shared, but As connor was still having this rash, I bought some aveeno for it to see if it got better. Well, it got redder everytime I applied it, which I thought was weird. WEll the last time I put aveeno on him, he developed hives and it welted up and got red and hot. I think now he definately is allergic to oats. It never occurred to me that oatmeal in the lotion could do that, but since i know it causes diaper rashes, it makes sense. She wants them tested for food allergies since the celiac test came back negative, yet they still have problems with gluten containing foods. She wants Logan to see an opthamologist for his right eye. She believes it is a lazy eye. She said there is no rush, but something to be in the back of my head as the allergy testing is most prevalent now. I know at Trevors 2 yr appt they told me they thought he had a lazy eye, and he turned out to have good vision and it is fine. Last, is the speech. They consistently say 'uh-oh, momma, dadda, all done, and hi and bye" They do not show any interest in learning new words, and believe me we have tried. We do the letters of the alphabet everyday. They will repeat any of the letters with "eeeee" sounds- d.e.c.b.v,t,p,z,g but wont try to say the rest. They also have regressed with some things they used to say like Trevor's name. In the meantime, we are learing some signs as a way to communicate over screaming and crying. So we are referred to a speech and language pathologist for evaluation and therapy. That will be happening very soon once I get it set up. It will either be at Mercy hospital or Children's hospital. Other than that, there was a comment made about Connor's boy parts, butI dont want to embarrass him by posting it. And last, they got Hep A shots. Not a bad visit at all and I am so proud of my growing boys.

On a big boy note: Trevor lost 2 teeth in the last week. He lost his last upper front tooth and one of his bottom ones. He has lost a total of 5 teeth. He is so proud of himself.

our quiet birthday celebration

Now we are two! We had a quiet family celebration since I had to work on the twins birthday. It was sad not having family here, but they didn't know any different, and that is OK-this year at least. I made a gluten free pasta dinner and cake. The cake was a bit of a faux paux since I didnt make the icing right and it sort of ran off the cake like glaze. The duo didn't mind though. It tasted quite yummy despite it's appearance. I cannot believe it is here and gone and they are officially two years old. Time does fly by.

For Jan

Logan left, Connor right
The Colt's hats and mittens for their birthday are so very cute, as you see. Thank you Grandma Jan and Bob!

Trevor has strep throat- but here is a funny too.

I kept him home yesterday because he was so tired (insomnia due to his meds) and he started to say his throat hurt. Well, this morning he was really crying about it, but i thought he was faking . He had gotten an exposure notice earlier in the week for strep, so I decided to take him in and sure enough it is strep. She said it was flamin' and turned positive right away. Now he is milking it- crying and all -Men! But to his defense he just now started to run a fever- so it is probably gonna get worse before it is better. She said there wasnt much pus, so probably early.

Here is the funny tho...She looked in his ear and said "there is a foreign body in there". I was like huh and flashed a glance to Trevor and asked him if he put anything in his ear. He insisted absolutely not. So I thought maybe a Q-tip or something. She was like "no, it is a white, round disc " So I thought well maybe the plastic from a clothing tag or something. WEll, she goes and gets these forceps to grab it, but it was stuck. So she used a loop to loosen it and when she pulled it out, it was a googly eye. Ya know, those crafty eyes that wiggle? W T H? I have NO IDEA how it got there. So Trevor was like 'So that's what was making that sound when I shook my head" So we got a laugh out of it.

So lets now hope that the LOCO duo doesnt get anything. But they were nice enough to say if they got symptomatic they would call in a script so we didnt have to go in. She said likely they will get it .

My ADHD Child

My ADHD Child a poem by Tracy Nicolaus

He's bouncing off the wall, a superball gone insane,
He runs through your world like an off-rail freight train
Interruptions are constant, tantrums galore
When it's time to do homework,he's gone, out the door.

The drama is constant, oh his foot fell asleep,
He moans and he wails, the theatrics run deep.
School is a nightmare, the teachers are lost
If they only could see, he is worth the cost
He is brighter than most, as most these kids are
And with patience and love,I know he'll go far

But the crap I must take from "well meaning friends"
"Don't let him do that!" "Oh, these rules that he bends!"
"You're not a good parent". "Your child's really rude"
"His temper's outrageous." "He has hands in his food".
He hears this and wonders, just what's wrong with me?
I tell him, "You're special, you have ADHD"."

Now ADHD is a gift from above.
It teaches us grownups how to strengthen our love.
It helps teach your teachers, no two kids are the same
You have awesome energy that could bring you great fame".
"You don't need much sleep, you never wear down,?
You're silly and funny, when you act like a clown,

You've felt lots of pain from what people have said
But you pray for those people when you go to bed".
"So you try every day to make a fresh start
For God gifted you with an extra big heart."

As I look at my child, he sees through my soul
My heart feels like bursting, as I realize my goal.
I know this young boy like no one else could
He's a blessing to me, he's strong, and he's good.

So I'll love him and guide him through the worst of the worst
And he'll make a great man (if I don't kill him first).
I'm kidding, of course, 'cause I know what's to be
When I look in his eyes, I see a reflection of me.

If you got this far, I thank you. Many close family and friends know what we deal with on a constant basis. But this poem really struck me because it truely shows the stings of having a child with a disorder. Trevor is a sweet boy with a HUGE heart and big brown eyes that melt your heart. He has challenges and it is sometimes hard to see the goodness. I just wanted to share.

Connor-future American Idol (and a jealous little twin)

Ok, so we were watching American Idol last night and Connor decided to get his microphone and break out into song. But Logan wasnt having Connor get all of the press time. I was laughing so hard at these videos. Sorry they are so dark.

Such serious boys...

I love shooing with the natural light right by a window.

I love this pic of Connor. I love his little lips.
Logi and his blankie.
I love this pic of Logan. The curve of his little cheek and his eye.
Logan gazing.
Connor loves to climb up on the loveseat and then climb up in the window to stand on the window sill. I thought this pic was very cute, but a bit dark.

Splish splash I was takin' a bath....

We had lots of fun the other day with the tinted tub water which made for nice bath pix. The boys love bathtime. afterward, we snuggled in our towels which nanny got for us for Christmas.

Connor

Logan is forever drinking his bath water-ew.
Splashing is so fun

Our new towels

Logan

Connor

It's been almost 2 years....

Logan

Connor

...and our love for our blankies is still going strong. WE will never be able to thank you enough Wendy. They have been washed more times than I could ever count and the little patches have since fallen off (I saved them in a baggie in their memory boxes). Lately the latest fun thing to do with the blankies is to put them over our heads and act like ittle ghosts. they giggle so hard when they bump into each other.

Meeting up with old friends....

September 2006

January 2008

Logan and Ava have a thing for each other- could it be true love?
Hoodies rule

Many of you may remember in september of 2006, we met up with a friend I met on my twins message board named Trish. She lived in Columbus, OH. What some of you may not remember is a post of mine shortly after the twins were born stating that Trish's twins were born at 26 weeks, just 6 days after my boys. Ava and Sophia both came into this world weghing under 2lbs a piece. Sadly, at 9 days old, Sophia passed away. Ava was a huge fighter and the smaller of the two. She has endured all of the odds, even having neurosurgery for her skull fusing too soon. She is a true little miracle in our world. Since Sophia's death, they have tried to have another baby, and Trish had a miscarriage. Then 21 weeks ago, she concieved again. And guess what....She is having another set of twins! This young mom has been blessed twice spontaneuosly with twins! This time around, she moved back home to the St Louis area to live with her grandparents and get top-notch care. Her hubby continues to live in Columbus as he is stationed there in the Navy. So since trish moved to the smae area as us....we had to go see she and Ava. Look how much they have changed.

They are all soon to celebrate their second birthdays- 3 very true little preemie miracles.

MWAH! finally realizing they are brothers

The boys would always give kisses to everyone else, but when asked to kiss their brother, they looked at me like I had no idea what I was talking about. Well today, I said, "Kiss Logan, Kiss Connor" and they looked at each other and planted a big wet one! Of course I was there with a camera in hand.