Monday, October 30, 2006

A Year of Change

Michael and Emily celbrated their first birthday this past Saturday. It was a low key event, no party like when Sophie turned one. ( The injustice of being the 2nd and 3rd child) My sister Mary and her son Dave were visiting from NJ for a long weekend, so that in itself was a celebration. On Friday we all went to the Aquarium, and on Saturday we went to the pumpkin patch. Terry and Sophie carved their traditional Jack O Lanterns, and they came out great. The twins skipped their afternoon nap on Saturday, so they were asleep for the night at 6:30. We had to wait till Sunday for them to have their birthday cupcakes. A day late, but still just as good. I thought I would post some pics of the past year......a child's first year goes so fast, and this year went even faster.


After 11 days of bedrest at the "Northside Hilton", we are ready for delivery at 34 weeks.

At Northside, all twins must be delivered in the OR. Even though the same midwife was attending us, it was quite a different experience from Sophie. I think when we counted, there were 25 people present....no dim lights for this birth. Michael arrived first at 7:10. Emily decided to throw us a curve and went breech once she had room to move. Luckily, the perinatologist on call agreed to deliver her, so we were able to avoid a Ceasarean. She arrived at 7:20, a bit bruised, but perfectly healthy. In this picture, Michael is the one with the "A" on his hat. That was his position all along, Emily was Baby B. The best part about the delivery: not knowing the gender and being so surprised with a boy and a girl. As Terry told everyone, "We hit the jackpot, one of each."

They were tiny; here's Michael in the hospital next to my cell phone. At 4 lbs., 5 oz., and 17 inches long, even my old pro mother was a bit hesitant when changing his diaper. His arms were the width of Terry's thumb, it was really amazing.

Michael came home after 2 days, this is his first night home. I could palm his head in my hand....but what a cutie! Emily stayed in the NICU for a week. She was not in serious condition, but had "apnea of immaturity", which is a breathing problem. They did not want to send us home with two preemies, one on a breathing monitor, so she stayed until she was breathing steadily on her own. Terry was able to visit her every day, but I didn't see her for almost that whole week. I don't think I even changed her diaper until she was a week old...however, I have more than made up for it since!



Here's Emmy in the NICU. The box to the left and most of the wires were due to the hearing test they were administering. She failed her initial screen, so she had an ABR, which she then passed. The sunglasses were to protect her eyes from the bilirubin lights. It was very difficult to see your baby, so tiny and so poked and prodded. But when we looked around the NICU and realized that she was the only baby in an open isolette, we realized we were very fortunate. She was such a trooper, the nurses said she rarely cried or fussed and ate right on schedule. Nothing has changed there, she is an extremely content baby even now.

Exactly a week after Michael came home, Emily left the hospital as well. She regained her birth weight while in the hospital and came home at 4 lbs., 13 oz. Terry and I joked that we didn't have to pick up a baby the following week, did we??

Here they are today, two happy and healthy toddlers. So very different from each other, but so close to each other as well. We are truely blessed!



Aunt Joan and Miss Ruth

I was recently chastised about my lack of pictures of Aunt Joan on my blog. Of course, I would like to rectify this omission ASAP! And, while I am at it, I am throwing in a photo of Miss Ruth as well. Both are dear friends who also happen to love my kids, which is a great thing for all of us. Joan and Ruth came to Sophie's birthday dinner, and fun was had by all. Our friendships go back years....I have know Joan since I was in college, and Ruth and I were roomies in the early 90's....good times!

Sophie models her birthday boots from Aunt Joan

Lemon Meringue, Sophie and Miss Ruth

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

And the winner is.....

Emily! Today she took her first steps, walking to me, while I held her hands. Not totally on her own, but a far cry from cruising around furniture. For the past several days she has been standing independently, and has looked confused....should I try to take a step or not? So I sat on the floor in front of her and reached out my hands, she grabbed hold and was on her way. Michael at this point was trying desperately to climb into my lap, he was not happy to be left out. After clapping with/for Emily, I stood him up and held out my hands....he fell to his knees and crawled to me. Their birthday is on Saturday, maybe Emily will take her first solo steps by then. I am sure big brother will follow shortly.


Sunday, October 22, 2006

Emily Clare



As I have said in earlier posts, Emily is an extrememly content baby. She plays well by herself; studying toys for minutes on end. She is happy to crawl around the kitchen, get under the table and walk from chair to chair. When she wakes from her nap or in the morning, you would never know it. It is Michael who yells for me to come in, Emily plays away while waiting patiently. It takes so little to amuse her; she finds everything fascinating. She is very much like Sophie was at that age. Sometimes, I feel like I have a tendency to overlook her at times, since she is so content, and doesn't require as much attention. And she is not the clingy type either, compared with her brother. However, in the past few weeks, I have noticed a big change in her. She is more apt to protest when Michael takes something from her, and will now seek me out and climb into my lap as if to say: "Protect me from my crazy siblings, Mommy!" Maybe she realizes she needs to get a bit more assertive to keep up with her big brother and sister. And maybe she will live up to her namesake, my sister Clare, after all!



Friday, October 20, 2006

The Birthday Girl

Just got the pics back from Sophie's bday celebration at home. Tomorrow is her party with Noah at KangaZoom. He turned 5 today and to celebrate, they played hooky from school. Kathleen's sister and children are visiting, so they all went to Burt's Pumpkin Farm, then to Amicalola Falls. Sophie had a great time, they got to pick out baby pumpkins, ride on a hayride, and walk up to the Falls. Next year Michael, Emily and I will join them.

Here is the birthday girl the day before....everyone needs to look good on their big day, right? Stuart, our favorite barber, has been cutting Sophie's hair since her first haircut at 15 ms. He also cuts Terry's hair. I only had my camera with me because I wanted him to give Emily a trim. She has all that fluff in the back (baby mullet) that drives me crazy. He told me I was being anal, and to enjoy her baby hair for awhile. Guess I will have to wait for Mary to visit to take care of it, I am not brave enough to do it myself.




Here's Sophie with Grandma and Grandpa Maier at her party. Thanks to Grandma for the delicious cake (Favorite chocolate cake with Swedish icing) and thanks to Grandpa for decorating it.


That one pesky candle took several tries to blow out, but Sophie didn't mind. The crown is from school.



Modeling her new dress from G'ma and G'pa. Hope Emily likes it as well!

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

5 Year Old Angst

Sophie turns 5 tomorrow. This is a HUGE deal, since she will get to bring snack (mom-made cupcakes) , show and tell, be the weather watcher and the line leader. Plus, her class will sing Happy Birthday, and she gets a crown to wear all day. The only downside? She is convinced that turning 5 means going to Kindergarten....immediately. As in, tomorrow she will leave Mt Zion and head off to Kindergarten. She brought this up a couple of days ago, and I explained to her that she would start Kindergarten next year. I guess when your concept of time is limited to the days of the week, this is hard to grasp. This morning I told her this was her last day as a 4 year old, and again she started the "I don't want to go to Kindergarten!" whine. So we had another chat about it, and I think now she gets it. She seemed comforted by the fact that for a whole 8 days, she will be 5 and Noah will still be 4. Nice, huh?

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Mall Rats

Michael and Emily certainly have not spent the amount of time in the mall that Sophie did when she was their age. When I was expecting I thought:"How hard can it be? I'll still be able to get out and about." Well, considering that the fastest I have ever been able to get them both from the car and into the stroller is a full 11 minutes, I would say it is slightly different than traveling with one. I love my double stroller, but it is a bit involved to set up. Since it doesn't fit in the van unless it is partially disassembled, it is time consuming. But, it is comfortable for them, and high enough for me to push without getting back strain.....a must when you are 6 feet tall. All this aside, I made the trek to North Point last week. Michael and Emily were troopers. We did some shopping right off the bat, then went to the food court for lunch. When I leaned down to put Michael's bib on, I noticed a hanger in his lap; he was contentedly chewing on the handle. I pulled it out and realized it was a pair of shorts that he removed from The Children's Place! So, we strolled back over and after setting off the alarm upon re-entering the store, returned the shorts to the salesgirl. They were a 2T, I told him if he was going to steal, as least get the right size.

After lunch we ventured to the Children's Soft Play Area, and they had a blast. It was about 1:30 by this point, so it was mostly empty. Except for my new found friend Isabelle, who was 6 1/2 years old and was drawn to the twins like a moth to a flame. She could have been Sophie's older sister, they looked alike, and shared that same "outgoing" personality. When we left, she kissed the babies good bye, I told her she will make a great babysitter one day.

They were worn out after this, and had their bottles and fell asleep in the stroller. I actually went shopping.....for myself. Went shoppping as in tried on clothes. Can't remember the last time that happened. Thank goodness for handicapped dressing rooms, all 3 of us fit in one quite nicely. So, now that I know I can do it solo, a few more trips to the mall could be in our future.

Sunday, October 08, 2006

Budding Artists

Sophie and Noah usually spend at least a couple of afternoons together each week. You would think after being together for 3-4 hours at school, they would bore easily. Not so. Put them together with some construction paper, markers, crayons and the all important tape and what do you get.......






Yes, that is bread and juice they are having for a snack. Sophie asked me for " a piece of bread please Mommy, nothing on it and not toasted, just plain." Of course, Noah was intrigued by this delicacy and had some too. It inspired him to create the bunny mask shown in the second photo. Trust me, he did it all by himself, the drawing, coloring, cutting out, and even the taping on of said mask. He is very creative and a talented artist as well. I know he is only about to turn 5, but his drawings actually look like what he says they are. For example, he draws a giraffe, I know immediately it is a giraffe. Any of the animals I attempt pretty much look the same. Sophie will say, "Oh, is that a dog Mommy? Or a pig, I can't tell."

On Friday I went all out and set up the easel in the basement so they could paint with the "real paints". Noah made a picture of all of the characters from Handy Manny. His next picture was all the characters from Winnie the Pooh. Sophie's side? Well, she painted some very colorful blobs. A chip off the old block. But the hilarious thing is, they each act like the other has just painted a masterpiece. An important part of sharing the easel is being able to hop over to the other side and lavish praise: "Wow Noah, I really like that, that is so cool!" "Sophie, your colors are so nice" It loses something in the translation, their enthusiasm for each other is really heartfelt and so genuine, I can't help but smile when I hear it.


Sunday, October 01, 2006

11 months

Michael and Emily turned 11 months last week. Here are a few pics of their latest exploits.



Emily has now mastered balancing with one hand quite nicely. She can even reach in and get a toy out. This is a huge step, as taking them all out is a fascinating and time consuming task for her.

Another new skill: clapping hands. She really enjoys this, and does it at every opportunity. I was on the phone with my mother and happened to mention she has learned this. Upon hearing me say "Emily can clap hands now." she started doing it. Kind of a Pavlov's dog type of thing. Michael just learned this week to make the connection, for awhile he was swiping at air, it was pretty funny to watch. But his huge grin makes up for any lack of coordination!

And finally, fun in the playpen. Not only is it a great way to keep them contained briefly, but it serves as a gate from the family room to the kitchen, although Emily figured out this week how to push it out of the way. The first time she did that, she crawled right to me and started clapping for herself. I'm in trouble.....

More First Day Pics

Here are more pics from Sophie's first day back to school.



Gotta get the outside shot with the sign as well. Sophie wasn't too thrilled, she was on the lookout for yellow jackets.




Kathleen and I were the obnoxious mothers who had to enter the classroom to get the photo of the two of them. Luckily, this is our 4th year at Mt Zion, and we both always bring homemade/substantial snacks, so the teachers didn't mind!

And to top it all off, lunch at Old McDonalds, as the kids call it. From the left clockwise: Maggie, Noah, Nate, Katie and Sophie.