Snowy Springtime?

It is amazing how fast things can snowball in a babies' world. Yesterday we enjoyed the beautiful Spring weather for nearly two hours, went down for a slightly later nap and ended up with only 45 minutes each. I waited a bit to go in, as I always do, and when things had quieted down I took my opportunity. Unfortunately Tabitha may have been about to go back to sleep, but I didn't know this before going in. Had she snoozed some more Jackson may have followed her lead and gotten a bit too.

They were tired, obviously, having only slept 45 the entire afternoon. We kept it low-key and I informed Sara of the details stressing that they'd probably be ready for bed sooner rather than later. Generally Roger and Sara have about an hour window during which the time they put the tomatoes down varies. I was suggesting that after so much fresh air and so little afternoon napping they'd enjoy the earlier time.

Of course what do I know.

Roger and sara kept them up later than usual and surprisingly enough they woke up earlier than usual, crying. Jackson and Tabitha never wake in the morning crying, not since they were a couple months old. They had very little sleep on Sunday and have gradually been inching closer to normal as the week has gone on. Maybe catching up a bit, but still behind on what keeps them at their best.

You see where this is going?
They are clingy and exhausted today. Jackson doesn't want to eat. Tabitha only wants to be held. It isn't pretty or fun to listen to. Thankfully during the day I set the schedule and they took a nice morning nap. Not too long ago I put them down early for their afternoon nap and they fell asleep right away.

I'm hoping to stop this snowball before it becomes Frosty.

One day at a time . . .

Getting back on the blog-wagon seems a daunting task. But I'm telling myself if I just try one day at a time, I'll be there before I know it. So here I am again. Sharing the news of Tomatoes, New England, and the ponderings of this nanny.

(and apparently a lot of photo links!)

Tomatoes are doing well. Aside from Spring rain keeping us indoors, we're busy exploring our world - inside and out.

Jackson has figured out, by observing Tabitha, that crawling over to me and tapping on my slipper gets him picked up and kissed. He's very proud of himself for figuring this out and addicted to the kisses. Although, to be 100% honest, I'd say he'd enjoy being tickled and maneuvered about as much as he enjoys being cuddled. And I do interchange the two.

Tabitha has increased her practice time to include trying to stand in her crib. She's yet to figure it out but works at it for a good twenty minutes every time she's put into bed. Often she tries longer but she always gets tired and eventually goes to sleep.

Both Tomatoes are greatly enjoying the freedom that only comes after RSV season. They are extremely social babies and love interacting with strangers. I love talking with other adults, it is so much better than playing stroller goalie and making sure everyone keeps a five foot distance. And seeing the tomatoes respond to children is the best. Recently a preschooler made fast friends with both babies and they couldn't get enough. The chattering and touching and interplay between the three of them was beautiful. Little Mr. Jackson Smiles couldn't get enough. And Missy Tabitha Observer with her watchful eyes took every little bit in.

Sunhats are here and being broken in. Sunscreen is next and I'm looking forward to the increased freedom it brings. The park is great but I'm hoping to find more playgrounds near by. We need one of those playscapes for tiny kids surrounded by the soft turf to really encourage their crawling and climbing. Haven't found one yet, but there's bound to be one somewhere, right? I mean, nearly one year olds and woodchips just don't mix. The crawling and sticking. The mouthing everything and rolling. Those little hands and splinters. These combinations just don't work. Even sand would be preferable, although Roger wouldn't agree. He's very concerned about the idea of his little tomatoes eating sand. Says he never did it and they won't either. Have I ever mentioned that Roger was an only child?

Growth and Opportunity

Hello out there! I've been consumed by another project, alright, there are a few, and neglecting this blog. But I'm here to give you an update and hopefully jump back on the blog-wagon.

The Tomatoes are doing great!
Tabitha crawls everywhere and has recently become obsessed with climbing people. She'll climb other objects but prefers people. She's been enjoying a good crawl over, grab hold, then she lifts onto her knees. Over the last week we've regarded this as her favorite position. But Tabitha, she is a-changin'. Knees aren't enough, now our eleven month old missy wants to be all the way up on her feet. And this girl is tall! She's still in the 50th percentile for height and weight for her actual age - we're only correcting for developmental assessment purposes - otherwise missy Tabitha is jamming along! How one tiny little-grape tomato born an entire trimester early can just catch up in a matter of months is beside me, but she sees to be doing it. And make no mistake, she's HUGE!! Depending on the article, manufacturer, and cut of clothing she can wear a size 18 months or a 3T, oh yes, I said a 3T!!

Jackson is still quite a bit smaller. Being a boy he is just barely on the chart, just. barely. But he's definitely growing and looks AMAZING. He still has trouble with ref1ux and with all of the food he eats has some terribly stinky spit ups. But he does eat, loves the solids and the ref1ux doesn't seem to hinder his sleep. His crawling is less traditional, it's more of a seal crawl then a hands and knees crawl. It seems to take quite a bit of work, effort + energy, and he was only using it when he really wanted something for about two weeks. As he's perfected his skills and increased stamina and determination, he's gotten faster. Now he does a seal crawl on hyper speed which looks a lot like this in action. It's unbelievably cute, especially next to his perfectly determined to do it perfectly crawling sister. I've actually taken a video of them racing and hope to get it on our sister site this week or next. They really are too cute.

Now both Tomatoes (and of course when I say Tomatoes I mean it in the most beautiful and endearing way, much like this) can get down from a seated position and each has put themselves into a seated position, Jackson by chance and Tabitha purposefully just this week.

They are babbling like crazy, mama, dadad, bababa, variations of my name - especially Jackson, Tabitha prefers to crawl over and pull on my pant-leg, and doing it all the time. There are loads of High5's in the house, clapping and saying "Yay!" are equally prevalent.

Our PT continues to come every week. Soon we may begin climbing stairs.

Roger and Sara seem to be doing well. Although as more developmental growth occurs more discipline related issues arise and I can see more concerns regarding the future. Norah has come across some research regarding preemies-parent interactions based on believed vulnerability. And while both Roger and Sara are doing great jobs I'm trying to find a polite way to suggest they go into therapy. Having a traumatic birth story and NICU stay is a lot harder than most parents are willing to admit. Research has found it may cause PTSD in one or both parents.

Parenting is tough work. Taking care of yourself, your children, your spouse, your career, finances, life in general is a lot of work. Taking regular time to stop and have another person only think about you - that would be great for every parent (nearly every person if you ask me), imagine how stress-relieving it could be for a parent who has even more on their plate. Going the therapy doesn't imply that one is broken and needs fixing, it just allows one an opportunity. The opportunity itself is variable and differs from person to person. But if one has adequate healthcare and can make and hour every other month, month, week, why not give oneself that opportunity?