Little Colts fans!

The boys were all geared up to root Payton Manning on to victory last Sunday for the Colts first game of the season!

Logan discovering his feet. He thinks he is so cool that he can grab his toes. He is admiring his newfound skill in the mirror above him.

Connor, liking his walker. I remember when I first got these and thier feet didnt touch the ground. Now they "stand up" in them and just squeal out loud like they accomplished something big.

Early intervention- football spectators at early age!

"I just can't stand it! Will Manning go long for a touchdown?"

Our Happy Heiny's

Connor: "I like that orange on you"

Logan: "I like yellow on you too!"

Connor in the Bumbo seat
Logan in the Bumbo seat.

This is our newest wonderful product ever. It is called a Bumbo seat and it is made of a foam-like material that hugs the body as the baby is placed in the seat and baby's weightpushes down on the bottom. It is a great support and babies can use it once they can hold thier heads up. It is so nice because it gives the babies a new perspective and helps them to work on thier trunk muscles. It also doubles as a booster seat once the babies get older.

Our new fashion are our colorful Happy Heiny's diapers. We have about every color of the rainbow. Right now we are using these because they are so Daddy friendly and velcro shut. We want to get some more Fuzzi Bunz, so we are hoping to get some of those for Christmas. They are on our list. (Grandparents-hint hint!)

Those first bites of cereal......priceless

Well, the boys were given the go-ahead to start cereal and progress from that. Connor does so well, but Logan isn't too sure. Here is Logan exploring his new texture-rice cereal. There was a lot of gagging and priceless faces.

Just hanging out!

Logan(up)

Connor(down)

We had a lot of fun taking these pics today. I did a similar one with Trevor, so I had to do them with the boys.

Well, update from the pediatrician is that ther eis a definate concern over the boys hearing. they are just not responsive to low noises and do not turn thier heads to seek out the source of a noisse. We do not suspect total loss since they startle with loud noises. The pediatrician is trying to find a good ENT to do the testing which will be a very involved hearing test. The concern is that they were on Gentamyacin in the NICU for sepsis. Even though they monitor blood levels of the drug and dose it based on the amount in the blood stream, there is still a very big risk of hearing loss. Honestly cant say i would have done anything different as our boys are here and alive and thriving.

Both boys gained exactly 2 pound since the last appointment 6 weeks ago. Logan weighed in at 13lb 3 oz and Connor 14lb 8 oz. Dr is pleased that Logan is gaining about an ounce a day with his new formula concentration. We get to start real food now. Cereal first and then progressing on to greens, yellows and oranges. She said every 3 days try something new as long as they are tolerating it. They gagged on the cereal I gave them, so I think it is just the texture.

We will keep everyone posted on the progress and the hearing test findings.

Best Friends

Lastly, this picture was just too cute NOT to put in...It shows them reacting to each other almost like they are understanding each other. (It' s a twin thing, you wouldn't understand-hehe)

New skills- they are coming at us like bullets!

Logan says: "Look mom, I can hold my own bottle and put myself to sleep"

Connor rebuts: "Oh yeah, well I'm so big, I can practice my skills and stay awake!"
Connor learned how to hold his bottle first and has been doing it for the last couple of days. Logan just started to yesterday. It is funny now, they see the bottle coming and get all excited and pull it in. Ahhhh....I feel life getting a little easier.

Learning to sit up

"This is hard work"

Connor posesses the most upper body strength, so he is practicing sitting up in the boppy. As you see it isn't as easy as it looks and finding the center of gravity is very hard.
"I figured it out!!!" "oops, not for long..."

Discovering each other

The boys are just now really noticing each other and playlaying next to each other. Connor likes to touch faces though, which Logan doesn't think is so fun. Hee hee. Logan is on the Left and Connor is on the right.

Update from the pulmonologist.

Well, the boys saw a new specialist for the lungs yesterday, Dr. Chowdary. He was very pleased with Connor's progress and his ease of breathing. He prescribed Prevacid for his reflux (the Zantac is disgusting!), but wants us to thicken his formula with cereal for now and try tht first. His weight was up to 13lb 10 oz! He was a bit displeased with Logan's progress, however. He had wondered why he hadn't been referred sooner. He was able to observe Logan eat and how it took him 45 min to eat the 6 oz bottle and he was retracting and breathing hard whenever he got excited or mad. He noted Logan pooping out at the end of his feed. Soooooooooo.. On review of his last chest Xray, he believes this is all related to the cardiac issues going on. He is failing to gain weight as he continues to use his calories to function. If he doesnt gain weight, he doesnt build healthy lung tissue and his heart works harder. Small Fry was just at 12 lbs yesterday. He is on a fluid restriction of sorts and is not allowed more than 6 oz at 4 feeds/day. Instead we have to increase his calories per ounce from 22cal/oz to 24 cal/oz by concentrating his formula more. He also was able to observe Logan reflux and spit up so Prevacid was prescribed for him as well. He also increased his diuretic Lasix again and introduced another diruetic (he had this in the NICU too) Aldactone as this is supposed to spare potassium. He is also to have regular lab work to make sure his electrolytes remain balanced. We talked about the possibility of open heart surgery if his VSD doesnt close on it's own, but that is later down the line. We are hoping he will gain some weight, but if his heart continues to compromise that, it may be necessary to help him grow. He will follow him closely. Both boys have to get flu shots and get the synygis shot to prevent RSV. We may not see much of people this winter as we have been advised to avoid all exposure to persons who are symptomatic of colds and viruses or who are being treated for colds. WE are also not to be around any form of cigarrette smoke too. PAKA, now would be a good time to quit- for our sake!!! Thank you Grandad for quitting!!! That is all for now, we will keep you posted of other things as they come up. Our next Dr appt with the pediatrician is on Sept 6. (more shots-crud!).

Big brother started kindergarten!

Trevor in uniform. He began his school journey for the next 13 years on 8/21/06.

He is so proud of himself.

7 months old

Wow, how time flies! I can't believe the boys are 7 months old. They are still so tiny and still in 0-3 months clothes. We are just getting into the 3-6 month range.

Logan is moving all about. He rolls everywhere and is playing with his feet. He wakes up in the middle of the night, finds his feet and is ready to play. 1/2 the time he is in thier cooing instead of crying. He usually goes right to sleep after a bottle, but it cracks us up to see him in there playing.

Connor lets his belly get in his way and he has a hard time rolling. Ha Ha! This picture is so much thier little personalities. They are so cute and funny.

We see the pulmonologist tomorrow for a follow-up on chronic lung disease. Both are a bit congested, so we will see what he has to say. Both are doing fine otherwise.

Trevor starts kindergarten today (tears). He is officially a big boy. We will try to post pix of him in his uniform tonight!

Unfortunately we have been subject to "comment SPAM". Please continue to leave comments, but you have to do a word verification before it posts. Darn Spammers!

Our Happy Heiny's

Some new cloth to sport about in. These are called Happy Heiny's. Theya re so irrisistable!!!!!

Update from the surgeon and early intervention team.

Both boys saw Dr Smith, the surgeon, yesterday for follow-ups on thier hydrocele/hernias. To refresh, both boys had umbilical (belly button) hernias and hydroceles and Connor had a bilateral(both sides) inguinal hernia (groin). Connor had surgery May 31 to repair his hernias and hydrocele. He also had his little extra thumb removed. Good news!!! Both boys have healed thier umbilical hernias. Connor got a clean bill of health from the post-op standpoint with no return of his hydrocele. Logan's hydrocele is gone. Both boys only need to return on an as needed basis. He told us preemies are susceptible to hernias in the toddler years so to report any bulges. All is good! They both gained a little more weight and Logan is at 11.5 lb and Connor is at 13lb 3 oz.

Both saw the First Steps early intervention team of physical therapists and occupational therapists Thursday. Connor scored just above his corrected age at 4 months and Logan just behind at 3 months. There was a concern that Logan had some muscle shortening on the side where his incision is, probably due to him favoring it post op. We were instructed to gently stretch and massage that area to help the muscles lengthen. Also there was a small concern regarding hearing as niether really turned toward noise. WE know both startle at loud noises, but she though maybe there was still some fluid from ear infections causing an impairment. We will follow up with the pediatrician. They will do a repeat evaluation in 3 months to see where they are then. For now, no PT or OT.

The boys just love thier Nanny!!

two of a kind...

The boys goofing around. (Logan is left and Connor is right)

Trevor and Logan sharing some brotherly love!

Our outfits from our cyber aunt Susie (aunt Judy's sister)

We agree that piano at an early age is imperative!!
Logan enjoying tummy time on the tummy- time Boppy. (ok, we really just wanted a picture of his little behind!)
Connor is on the left and Logan on the right. We just love our new outfits from Aunt Susie! Thank you,it is so good to finally fit in them!

The boys have been all smiles lately now that we are through the shots pain. It was rough with no sleep for a couple of days. Both are doing well, getting big and making new milestones. We think Connor will cut his first tooth soon as you can feel it just below the gum line. He is the drool master as you can see on his bib.

More pictures to follow!