What have the twins been up to?

i realized I haven't posted much about how the kids are doing so I'll run down some "stats" so you can know them a little better
Lauren
Lauren is in size 12-24 month clothes depending on the cut. She's been in this size since June. In fact, there are a bunch of clothes Riley gave to us claiming they "don't fit" which since her swelling went down now fit quite nicely.
Lauren is a happier baby than Alex and frequently laughs so hard her face turns red and she triggers her vent.
Lauren loves to play rough. She loves to be bounced and tickled.
Lauren goes to sleep most nights at midnight but takes 3 naps during the day. She takes so many naps because she is on 3 different medications that will make her tired. She sleeps from midnight until about 8am.
She naps in her highchair and sleeps in her crib.
She has never been upstairs to see her bedroom.
She loves to ride in the car.
She has been rolling over for over a month now. She cannot get all the way over because of her vent tubing but if she could she would sleep on her stomach.
She sits up well with assistance and we hope to have her sitting up on her own by Valentines day.
She loves the sound of sneezing which is funny when I sneeze 6 times in a row.
She goes in her exersaucer everyday and loves to push with her feet and bounce in it.
She is on the MOVE. If I were to put her on the floor and walk away she would scoot herself back far enough in 30 seconds to get to the very end of her vent tubing :/
SHe is growing more hair but still has miles to go before HER first haircut.
Lauren still loves to be held and snuggled and sung to.
She has 4 teeth and is actively working on the 5th.
She has NO oral aversion. She will put anything in her mouth. we give her suckers, chewies, paci and tastes of Alex's food. She still does not really take anything by mouth.
She grabs her ears and shakes her head when she's tired.
SHe tolerates her brother "playing rough" with her and always gives him a smile :)
Alex
The thing that grows the most on Alex is his hair.
He is in 9 month clothing
He goes to bed at 730 every night andsleeps until 730
He has one nap during the day at 1pm. I can usually sinc their naps so we have "family nap time"
He takes 2 good bottles and several cans of fruit and veggies and yogurt
WHen he's sleepy he puts his head on my shoulder and pats my hair nicely.
He is also on the move. He's cruising on the furniture and can get up the stairs in 20 seconds.
He still thinks the sound of throwing up is hilarious!
He loves in when I play the guitar and can now hold the pick and "strum"
He babbles all the time now. Our OT therapy questioned if her really needed speech therapy. I said sure he was born 1#10oz lets just sign him up for everything!
He LOVES the dogs and watches them eat their breakfast every morning.
He takes sips from sippy cups and glasses ONLY when he thinks YOU want the juice!
He has 4 teeth.
He sleeps with his "lovie" every night.
He gets SO excited whenhe finds Lauren's paci on the floor!
He waves and does "hi five"
He's very sensitive and will cry if he thinks you're upset with him
He mostly plays with things that are not a toy. There are 5 million toys in this house but he still loves the door stops and crinkled paper.

This was just a quick update!

Twins first Christmas (at home!)

Alex and Lauren have had a great first Christmas! For Christmas eve we went to my sister Marianne's house to open gifts with her family and play some games...Alex LOVED the boys playing piano! Today we just hung out at the house and my sister's family came over when the twins got to open their stockings...There was guitar playing and of course enough cheap plastic crap to keep everyone entertained! Nick has decided to spend the holiday with his girlfriend's family.

The twins are one year old...no matter how you look at it!

This is the twins 1st birthday (adjusted) This was my due date a year ago. What a year its been. Lauren had a great vent clinic visit yesterday. She dropped her weight to 23 pounds 4oz...this is 4 oz LESS than what she came home weighing in July! She's also growing in length...29 inches to be exact. The doctor said she looked great. She stopped 3 of her medications and dropped her vent breath rate to 18. (she came home on 30). She also weaned her oxygen to 35% which is 1.5 liters (she came home on 3 liters and frequently needed 6) She and Alex enjoyed opening gifts today...AND I finally got a good picture of them together! They are the least photographic children I've ever seen! WAY cuter in real life!

Wanted to put up a pic of Lauren!

I realized I haven't put up a picture of Lauren in a little bit. Tonight she tried on her winter hat...she HATED it. SHe DID NOT like having something on her head! Alex has now also started waving "bye bye". So cute!

No news is good news!

Sorry about the week with no post...but when it comes to the Key twins no news is good news! Alex has been having fun in the snow...until he figured out it is COLD! He's also been standing up in his crib and cannot get down so he starts to cry...this is driving me CRAZY...please Alex learn how to get down! Lauren is doing as great as ever. She has vent clinic next week and I'm excited to see what they change on her settings. The other night one of our night nurses heard her coughing and apparently she had gotten the WHOLE paci in her mouth! She LOVES to chew on anything rubbery.

Alex got all his hairs cut!

This is just a quick pic of Alex's new hair! He sat his is "car" and didn't even cry...What a brave boy!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Alex is getting to be a BIG boy! He went to the Dr today and she said his ears looks good he just has a small cold...and the great news? He's 19 pounds 2oz! yay! He has started to babble all the time. I hear dadadadada He'll scream now just to hear his voice AND he's pulling up to feet on EVERYTHING even the dogs! We're looking at getting him into speech therapy to help his speech and communication.
On the Lauren front, she's getting cuter everyday! We've started putting her in her exersaucer to work on her strength. She is SO ahppy and such a JOY!

It's been a long, long day.

Every day feels like I'm on "camping time". This is where the days are slow. Not much to do. No real plans. It's an interesting change of pace. I just wanted to post this picture of "Alex blue eyes". The kids are such a joy. I really feel like I know them. In the mist of all the drama there is something to be said about only working part time now. I thought I would hate it. In reality I've learned to slow down and enjoy the babies while they still are babies :)... and yes, Alex will be getting his haircut tomorrow...

Silver white winters that melt into springs.

It's official...Lauren is a HAPPY baby! If you knew her during her NICU days you would know that was NEVER the case. She would need CONSTANT calming down...now she's happy EVEN when she has a poopy diaper! Her personality is developing more and more every day. We got in 2 new nurses this week and I think they will work out great. They have tatally replaced the male nurse we had. He was fine clinically. I never worried about Lauren's safety with him. He just didn't "mother" Lauren the way a women would. My biggest criteria is that you LOVE Lauren. You WANT to play with her. You WANT her to do well. The rest can be taught. In Alex news he's crawling faster and faster around the house. He still hasn't mastered going DOWN the 2 steps into our family room. We officially got Medicaid for 2011 (the letter came in the mail). For us to quilify I've had to make some finincal sacrifices so I figure, since we quilify why not get WIC? (it's a program for free food for women, infants and children under 5). So I take Alex to the WIC offfice (I HAD to bring him in or they wouldn't qualify me) and refuse to let him touch ANY of the toys. The I sit down to see what they will give ALex for food. It went somthing like this:
"does he eat cheese"
"no"
Does he eat bread"
"no"
"does he eat beans?"
"no"
"does he eat whole fruit?"
"no"
"maybe you could bled the whole fruit down and make your own baby food"
blank stare.
Obviously this women doesn't know me.
Becuase he is technically over 1 year old they wouldn't qualify him for baby food. WHAT HE ACTUALLY EATS even though he is not 1 year adjusted to his due date. I finally gave up and just accepted what they would give us. I AM looking forward to the day he DOES actually eat those things!

Let it SNOW!

This is the first snow the twins have seen outside their incubators! Alex was fascinated. I also wanted to post this video of Alex behind his walking toy!