Good News

All of Veda's tests came back within normal limits, so HOORAY! The pediatrician is satisfied for now, but wants to reevaluate at 21 months. In the meantime, I've got orders to give her Pediasure. Since I'm me, though, I searched out an organic alternative - Pediasmart (which he approved). Drink as directed? Ha! Not our little Veda. But she's very polite about it. She'll take the sippy from me, taste it, and then "absent-mindedly" leave it somewhere around the house. I don't think it's because the stuff tastes bad - she's just never liked ANYTHING except for human milk and water. Seriously, I have the only kids on the planet who spit out juice. Next up, I'll try a smoothie with strawberries and bananas. That goes with chocolate, right?

Several people have asked me what failure to thrive is. Dr. Google has plenty to say about it, most of it scary, of course - that is his way, after all. As our pediatrician put it, it just means that she isn't growing like we would expect her to. And bless the man for telling me that it's no reflection of my parenting. Even though I know that in my head, it still feels good to hear it.

18 (19) Months Well Appointment

First, the stats:

Linus: Weight - 21 lbs., 10 oz. (5th percentile)
          Length - 32 in. (25th percentile)

Veda: Weight - 17 lbs., 10 oz. (Not on chart)
           Length - 29 3/4 in. (5th percentile)

Both babies are meeting all of their developmental milestones on or ahead of time, for which I'm very grateful. Let me say that again - I'm VERY grateful. We got lucky with these two, I tell ya.

Physically, well, we're still deep in Failure to Thrive territory. I think that if you'd never seen another 19 month old, you'd look at Veda and think she's the pinnacle of health. She's energetic and clever as can be. But... she's so tiny. I suspected that at today's visit we'd get some orders for testing, and *sigh*, I was right. As much as I hate to put her through it, I know that it needs to be done. Today she gave a urine specimen at the pediatrician's office. Perhaps you are wondering how such a specimen is obtained from a little one, and the answer is URINE BAG. The nurses strategically tape a bag around her girly bits... and then we wait. And in our case, we waited... and waited... AND waited. Veda was extremely curious about what THAT thing was, but she did NOT have to pee, by golly. We pushed her sippy, washed her hands, and even stood her up in the sink with water running around her legs, but still NOTHING. What finally worked? The been-there-done-that nurse on staff put a warm bag of something (?) next to her bladder under her diaper. Ta-da! I've never been so glad to see a bag of piping hot urine.

The urine sample showed traces of white and red blood cells. That could mean that she has a chronic UTI (which can be a cause of Failure to Thrive), or it could just be some irritation due to the method of collection. The lab is going to do some further testing to decide which one.

We've also got orders to do some lab work at Children's to test for a whole slew of stuff.

75% of me (the calm, rational part of me) thinks that she's just an itty bitty thing, and that's just how she's meant to be. I mean, have you seen me? I'm not exactly robust.

25% of me (the crazy mama bear part of me) is scared. I'll leave it at that.

As for Linus, the pediatrician is slightly concerned that he's dropped fairly significantly in weight from his curve on the chart. I think it's just because he's an a-mile-a-minute toddler. Nonetheless, he shall also be tested for anything that Veda tests positive for, just in case.

Sorry that there aren't any pictures with this post. Alas, my camera is still with the Mr. in Albuquerque. I shall definitely make up for the last month's lack of photos when it returns.Bwahahaha!

A Portrait of the Artists At Seventeen Months

A few things:

The pacifier only comes out at nap time and bedtime now, but when one of the babies is upset now, the other will search out a paci and put it in the crying twin's mouth. How sweet is that?!

Remember Linus telling the dog to shut up? That still happens sometimes, but now they're both shushing her. Veda even leans down to do it. It's incredibly cute.

A few weeks ago, they became little furniture-climbing monkeys. This means that all of my out-of-their-reach safe spots are now not-so-safe. Other parents of twins used to tell me this got easier. They were lying liars who tell lies.

I've said before that we're immobilized by their mobility. It's so hard to go anywhere, because all they want to do is run away. If there was only one of them, it would be manageable, but with two running in two different directions, it's dangerous and exhausting. I'm looking forward to them figuring out that they need to stay with me.

A few weeks ago I brought the basketball pump inside so that I could add air to their inflatable bouncy pony. Turns out that it's the greatest toy ever. It now lives in the toy basket.

Linus is such a smart little guy. Every day he takes on these little projects with objectives that aren't clear to anyone but him. He'll grab a couple of objects and work on fitting them together, tapping them... it's a process that takes a while, and if there's an interruption in his work, a tantrum ensues.

The Little Engine That Could has finally been overthrown as official favorite book. The new reigning favorite? Olivia goes to Venice. Veda brings it to me approximately once every fifteen minutes. I'm not sure that they're old enough to get the dry humor of the Olivia series, so it must be the artwork. And they also enjoy the "bong bong" sound effect near the end.

Speaking of humor, Veda now laughs in all of the right places in Blue Hat, Green Hat. If we're reading it at bedtime, she'll take the paci out of her mouth, laugh, and reinsert it. Ha!

Linus's kisses used to be bites. Now they're licks. Eh, at least they don't hurt anymore.

They're more into dancing lately. The dancing involves a combination of wiggling and spinning. Yeah, it's pretty cute.

Both babies have become more interested in "helping" me, Veda more so. They love putting their toys in the toy hammock at the conclusion of bath time, and I always get lots of help when it's time to transfer the laundry from the washing machine to the dryer. Veda brings me a kleenex if I tell her I need to blow my nose. This is actually quite helpful, as my nose runs like a spigot in the morning thanks to all of the allergens out here, and inevitably I'm nursing Linus when it happens.

It's hard to believe that they're seventeen months old - that's almost and year and a half! I hate that this is all going by so fast, but I'm also looking forward to the eighteen month mark, when apparently a whole new world of stuff will happen.

Snapshots of Cute Stuff 6/9/11

I was thiiiiis close to packing up the Jumperoos. They take up a lot of room in our apartment, and the babies are too tall for them. Then again, they're good for keeping the babies safely corralled when I need to take a shower. The babies aren't content to stay in them very long with nothing else going on, but add in a Signing Time dvd, and they're good. And there's also the hilarity of this:

Arts and Crafts time has been getting more interesting, by which I mean that they actually DO stuff now when I haul out the crayons or finger paint. Obviously they still put everything in their mouths, but not as much now. We're making progress. I'm soooo eager to start play-doh, but maybe they need a little more time to be ready.

This one's a little old. It's from Mother's Day. The hubby tried to take me somewhere nice. Maybe this sounds like a bad idea from the outset to you, but Linus and Veda are exceptionally well-behaved babies. No kidding, I got stopped no less than three times at Target the other day because people wanted to tell me how GOOD they are. That doesn't count the number of times I was told how cute they are. Anyway, back to this little story... It was a disaster. I ordered spanakopita for them (this was a Greek place), and they crumbled it all over the place. They were loud. They were dropping silverware on the floor. Long story short, I ended up taking Veda outside while the hubby boxed up our dinner and paid the check. Oh well, credit to the husband for trying.

Here's Veda at the zoo. What you're not seeing is the extent of her enthusiasm for the flamingos... any bird, really. Every time we see birds, hear birds, or read about birds, she furiously signs bird. I'm such an advocate of signing now. It isn't just about the communication. It's obvious that it's also helping them learn about the world around them. At the zoo, they are so much more into the animals they know the signs for. So cool.

Linus has developed an obsession with lining things up as of late. He does this on the side of the bathtub, and he lined up pieces of food on a sink in a hotel we stayed in. That was a little weird. Funny, but weird. I'd give him a piece of banana, carrot, etc., and he'd walk it over to the sink and space it just so in order. 

Here's Veda's big ol' size 3.5 sandals for the summer. We had to try on every pair of sandals in the store before we found a pair narrow enough for her. Seriously, she's the tiniest person ever.

A photo of Mr. Linus from our trip to White Sands, NM. With the sun beating down on us and the snow white sand reflecting it back up, he still refused to wear either his sunglasses or his hat. 

Veda with Daddy, looking off camera at Mimi.

Linus is such a pointer. Here he was excited to find an ant walking across the sand.

It was hot. So stinkin' hot.

We stopped for frozen custard, which the kids love. Naturally, they had to be stripped down.

My husband and Linus in Carlsbad Caverns, which boasts the biggest cave room in the Western Hemisphere. Something like that. He also wears his sunglasses at night.

If you haven't been to New Mexico, it's hard to understand how much uninhabited area there is. Here we are in the middle of nowhere, which is where the real Smokey the Bear was found. I look fatter than I deserve, but it's necessary to post a hammy vacation picture.



Also from Carlsbad Caverns. The formation behind me looked like a monster, so this is my scary face.

This has been Snapshots of Cute Stuff.

Guest Post

Today I'm the guest poster over at Rookie Moms with an article about activities to do in Albuquerque with young'uns. Ch-ch-ch-check it out:

http://www.rookiemoms.com/albuquerque-baby-toddler-activities/#more-7721

A Portrait Of the Artists At Sixteen Months

Veda,

You've become so much more YOU lately. Putting your paci in backwards for laughs, pointing to the trash can when I ask you what you did with your hairbow (and, yes, you had), giving us your sly little smile that says you know exactly what's going on... it's clear that there's a very clever, very funny girl in there.

Your favorite activity by far is reading, and your favorite book is The Little Engine That Could.You ask me to read it several times a day, each time with a humble grin that begs me not to break your heart by turning you down. Your favorite food is cheddar bunny crackers, which I know because you do a little jig in your chair when I pull the box out. You're also quite the girly girl, eager to get dressed in the morning and curious about your accessories. When I put a hairbow in your hair (which is in a very awkward stage of growing out), you usually pull it out, look it over, and hand it back to me so that we can repeat the process.  

It's more clear every day that you're no shrinking violet. At your Baby Bounce class the other day, you climbed to the top of a ramp and ran down as fast as you could, using an unsuspecting little boy as your brakes when you reached the bottom. Bonus points for making it look like a hug. You stand up for yourself and what you want, and I'm so happy to see that. That's going to be important in this world.

While you don't say all that many words, you're a surprisingly effective communicator. The words you do say regularly are mama, dada, and thank you (which melts my heart). Other words have come and gone, but those are your favorites. You sign so many words: more, want, finished, sleep, bird, dog, fish, cheese, bubbles, and train. Sometimes it takes a few attempts, but you can usually communicate what it is that you want.

Truth be told, little Veda, I must say that you've handed me my fair share of mommy worry. You're a tiny little thing - only 16 pounds in a wet diaper, not even on the growth charts. If it weren't for your big personality, I'd worry more. The words "Failure to Thrive" are looming over us right now, and I'm feeling a lot of pressure to rescue you. And even with all of the spunk that just oozes out of your pores, you're still deep in the throes of separation anxiety. You want me in your line of sight at all times. You're still sleeping in the bed with us at night, which I suspect is at least in part due to a fear of the dark since you do just fine napping in your crib during the day. But can I tell you something? I'm happy to have you nestled in beside me at night, and I'll be sad when this cosleeping moment in our lives is over.

You've got spunk. You're smart, funny, and fierce. You're our little firecracker, and we're quite taken with you.

Linus,

I know that there's no way you'll remember this, but when you were a newborn, I thought my work was cut out for me. You had colic. And I mean that you OWNED colic. Phew! We tried it all - swaddling, rocking, swaying, shushing, vibration, riding in the car, probiotic drops, mylicon, gripe water - with minimal success at best. And now you're this easygoing, sweet, loving little guy. Who knew?!

It's hard to explain, and maybe all mothers of sons feel this way, but it feels like such a privilege to be the first love of your life. Look at that sweet face. You're going to be such a handsome man, and more importantly, I know that you're going to be a GOOD man. Being able to cradle and cuddle with someone who's going to dwarf me in a few years - it's a little surreal. 

You're the dog's #1 fan. Little Mimi might be sleeping on the couch, maybe just trying to relax, maybe observing all of the chaos that goes on in this little apartment, when you suddenly tackle her with one of your enthusiastic hugs. We're lucky that she's such a good girl. A lesser dog might growl or hide, but Mimi lets you do your little boy thing. It's clear that she loves you, too.

You've also been twirling socks lately. We've no idea where you got the idea from, but night and day, you're on the lookout for socks to twirl - one for each hand, please.

As for favorites, it's hard to pick yours out because you're such a laid-back little man. You'll at least try just about anything I put in front of you, and you're more than happy to let your sister choose the books most of the time. It's not that you don't love reading, too. Au contraire! When I sign that we're going to be reading books, you waddle over to my lap with a contented grin, eager for the cuddling and stories. Sometimes I think that your easy-going nature is in part thanks to your devotion to your sister, because it's clear that you love her.

Maybe that's the best word to describe you: loving. And what could be better? You're such a wonderful little boy, and I'm so lucky to be your mommy.

You have a curious nature that inspires you to play with your toys in ways the manufacturers never thought of. It makes us proud to see you using a spoon to play with your magnets or fitting blocks through the holes of the play kitchen's refrigerator. Your scientist father is beside himself with anticipation.

You are also a man of few words. Mama, dada, share, and shut up are your favorites. As for signs, you're more expressive there. You can sign ball, shoes, more, finished, sleep, bird, bubbles, dog, and fish.

When you're all grown up, I promise to try my very best not to be meddlesome or one of those mothers who can't let go. But if I slip up sometimes, please forgive me. You're Mommy's little man.

Drive-By Sharing

A couple of things Mr. Linus has been up to lately:

1. Drive-By Sharing - As I've told you before, share is my little guy's favorite word. In a drive-by sharing, he speeds by Veda, says "Share!" as he grabs whatever toy she happens to be holding onto, and makes a quick getaway.

2. This next one is both hilarious and embarrassing. Most of you probably know about our LWD (that's little white dog) named Mimi. She's definitely a high-maintenance kind of girl. Since we've been living in an apartment, she's driving us absolutely nuts with the barking. Seriously, she barks at EVERYTHING. It usually starts out with, "Mimi, please stop barking." Then, "Mimi, PLEEEEEASE stop barking." "Mimi, HUSH!" "Stop it!!!!" And finally (dun dun dun!!!), "SHUT UP, Mimi!" Guess what Linus has picked up on? Yep, his new word is shut up. And he says it only to Mimi. Tonight, though, I was noticing that he's also picked up my bewildered sentiment. Tonight when he was imploring Mimi to shut up, he sort of walked around her with his head hung down just chanting it quietly over and over - "Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up". My fifteen-month-old says shut up. *Sigh* I thought I had more time!