I'm back!

This blog has been abandon for three hundred and fifty-five days. My last position, an experience as much as it was, became really tough. Or started tough. Or possibly, if I'm honest with myself, was always tough. Blogging about it gained me a lot of negative feedback and frustration so I stopped. But, for some reason, I couldn't delete this blog. There aren't enough nanny blogs out there. This entire profession has the quietest, faintest little voice.

I love what I do. I love working with families. I love spending my days helping children. I love parenting; as an idea, a theory, a concept and a practice. I am not a parent. I do spend my days child-rearing. I take walks, make bottles, do laundry, create weekly menus, plans and outings. I grocery shop and make T@rget trips. And I love it. Every minute of it. I. Love. It.

To wrap things up before I move forward I need to tie up a couple of loose ends.

First, the names on this blog are ALL fictitious. Not one real name has ever been used. At one point I did refer to the children via nicknames and their parents as "mom" and "dad" and this really bothered people. Somehow using these general terms felt personal to other "moms" and other "dads". As soon as I switched the terms I used I was accused of changing complete posts - a fun idea but not really my style. Doing this would have taken an eternity [of effort time and thought-process] whereas search&edit, a quick way to replace single words in a document takes minutes. Going forward know that each family's identity has been preserved and is special to me.

Second, I'm with a new family. This is a long story that I will share now.
My last family took an overseas trip in the Spring, right around my birthday actually. During their trip Norah and I took the opportunity to visit Europe for the first time. [the family was also in Europe but we were hours apart] We had a great trip. They had a great trip. But within that first week back I was informed that they'd be starting their children in daycare come summertime.

Okay, take a breath. This is my opinion and I realize every situation isn't the same.

I don't believe that daycare has more to offer than one-on-one personal care, i.e. a nanny. To some this may seem like self preservation and I can honestly understand why you'd believe that. But because I hate biases, especially in myself, I've tried to look at this issue from different perspectives. I've tried to imagine how I'd feel as a parent. And I've researched the topic.

First off I have to tell you, some families have no other choice. Nothing wrong with that. But if you can afford Peps! would you choose to buy S@st@ brand soda? Life has trade offs and individuals choose where to compromise, spend less on housing to afford more electronics, spend less on entertainment to afford organic produce, spend less on one car so you can have two, and so on. And I'm okay with that. If a family chooses daycare because it fits their budget better that is great. But daycare isn't the better choice. Daycare isn't worth paying MORE for.

Okay, I sat down with the family, [what were their names?], Jackson and Tabitha's parents, and told them I'd like to talk about their decision to switch to daycare. We planned a time and only Jackson & Tabitha's mother sat down with me. She listened to my perspective, I presented the hows and whys, including research [which is incredibly hard to find!] and we left it at that. She took almost two weeks and we sat down again. She told me that ALL of her friends kids were in daycare at two years old. [EXACTLY why the last family choose daycare at two.] She also told me that she had feelings for both, daycare would cost more, be more work for them and keep the kids fewer hours each day, but her gut feeling was that it was the right choice. And that was it.

I told her that it was their decision and I'd help them transition to the best of my ability. We made lists of school supplies, backpacks, lunchboxes, etc. I created meal plans to ensure the kids were able to get enough protein, the daycare didn't allow meat or nuts, two huge sources of protein for Jackson and Tabitha. We talked about quick dinners that would be easy to prepare after picking them up from daycare. And I started talking to Jackson and Tabitha about it. We read stacks of books from the library, tried out their backpacks, talked about how I wouldn't be there but that I'd always love them. And we started singing the ABC song. They loved that part.

Then, before I knew it, we were into transition week. They did great. The daycare workers said that Jackson and Tabitha were amazing [exactly what had been said about the previous set of twins when they started daycare]. They went on and on about how you'd never know this was their first organized daycare experience. They were good listeners, talkative, active and social. [Because kids with nannies are antisocial?!]

And that was it. I said goodbye on a Friday in June. I registered with some agencies and took a temporary position for the month of July. The family, great friends of Jackson and Tabitha's parents, had two daughters, one too young for daycare, the other, same age as Jackson and Tabitha, in daycare since twelve weeks old.

July sped past and included a week long visit to the southern United States with five teenagers from church. You'd think taking five teenagers, all sixteen and over, on a flight and week long experience away wouldn't be very tough. But they were someone else's children, just like my work. It was a lot of responsibility and Norah and I worked very hard. They were amazing and we had a great time but it was very much work.

August came and I still didn't have anything lined up. I worked an extra week with the temporary job and went to more interviews. I worked with two agencies primarily and continued to search on my own, meet with friends of friends and put my name out there.

Finally, I met my current family.
And that my friends is a story for another post.

Thanksgiving Eve.

Wow, I haven't posted here since July. That was such a long time ago. And the issues with my work environment feel like a lifetime ago. Things are great! I have so much to be thankful for here on Thanksgiving Eve.

Work is wonderful. The tomatoes are amazing. As I read through some of the posts just before the last I saw the post about Tabitha taking her first steps. That seems like decades ago. Now she runs. She jumps. She climbs everything - she can nearly climb into her crib by herself - she's just so much deeper than she was in July. 

And Jackson, well, he took much, much longer to begin walking. He discovered, just after Tabitha perfected her walking, that traveling on his knees in an upright position was just as good as walking. At least he thought so. He didn't want to stop. EI would come without suggestions. It was terribly exhausting and hard. Going to the playground meant he was stationary or covered in woodchips. I was worried about winter and taking him out in the snow. Then, with quite a bit of encouragement and persistence on my part, he started walking. Just a little at first. Like Tabitha he tripped easily and needed to be helped up often. But now, you'd never guess. The boy jumps like a madman. He 's light on his feet and loves to dance. He's started running. 

But this is all recap. The big news that I have for you, probably one of the main reasons that things are going so well, is that both tomatoes talk like crazy! The chatter like little monkeys incessantly. And they have at least fifty words - in TWO languages! 

They play games with each other. They've stopped biting. THANK YOU GOD! They still fight over toys and books (I can't tell you how many times each day I remind them to share) but they love each other! It is awesome. They play pretend. Pretending with objects and without. We color with crayons and have taken two classes. Next week we'll start our third. 

Oh! And we only take one nap now! Only.ONE.Nap.!. It was a tough transition, but two naps were more stress than they were worth. The quantity of sleep they get each day decreased significantly, something I was not pleased with at all, but overall it's been good. 

I'm so happy! They are so adorable! And there's so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving out there blogosphere.

Easy Tuesday Post and Update rolled into one!

Lucky for me Norah is bored at work today. She's stuck there waiting with the tomatoes on her mind apparently. A few months back, okay, that's not true, quite awhile ago, she tested Jackson and Tabitha using the Bayley. (see this post if you are curious)

Today, because she's bored, she's done it again, although not as completely. The first test she actually did for practice and this one she did from observation and memory, not exactly precise, but it gives us a great idea because Norah is rather observant. This is what she has to say;

I looked at the bayley for gross motor and both Tabitha and Jackson are at 6mos! That's good since they are 5mos corrected!  okay, actually from my guessing it put Jackson at 5:10 and Tabitha at 6... but still, close enough.

4:20 and 5 for fine motor
8 for expressive communication
6 for receptive
5 for cognitive

I think, based on the test items, that they would have more chances to practice these skills if they were frustrated more often, not having toys given to them... Still, they're doing really well! I guessed for fine motor and that puts Jackson a little bit behind corrected age, but not much, and everything else is right on target with corrected age, so not too bad.  A lot of the things I said they couldn't do had to do with getting objects that were out of reach by manipulating the world around them, more than moving themselves or fussing... receptive vocab stuff they peaked out at understanding "no" (since they never hear it) and social routines like peek-a-boo and pati-cake (also not a part of their world)... so they should be showing more understanding of how to stop something, or themselves, or how to ask for something or show they like it (which is measured by requesting social routines)...

And there you have it! Later this week I'll have some weights and heights to check out where they are on their growth charts. 

PEAS, day 1.

Yes! We tried peas today! Both Jackson and Tabitha seem to really enjoy them. I'd say that Jackson likes trying new things and Tabitha likes eating. Both were a little hesitant with pears and apples initially and love them now. Next week we'll find out about next foods, I'm looking forward to proteins and whole grains. I know I'm going to have to wait for both, but they'll be worth it!

PT and EI came today. Both tomatoes are progressing normally. Nothing to worry about, continue with floor time and work specifically on sitting with as little support as possible. Both interventionists acknowledged improvement but neither let on that they were impressed at all. They did acknowledge both Jackson and Tabitha are behind, but learning in the regular, expected order. This is good to know, but being 25 weekers, their development is ONLY delayed. That is AWESOME! Why not mention that? They'll come back again, next month, no need for anyone new to come just continue on.

I am very proud of Jackson and Tabitha as well as Roger and Sara. I think they are all doing an amazing job rolling with the punches, developing themselves and growing like crazy. Too bad I'm just the nanny and people expect me to say that, little do they realize how high my standards and expectations are and what a compliment it really is!

Drama Summarized

It's surprising to me that so early into the new year there are folks out there looking to start trouble. But it is a year, just like last year and folks will do what they do. Because of one or two women there has been a change in my blog. I've removed all of the photos, two unbelievably cute babies made them very uncomfortable. I'll still have these photos online so if you are a regular reader just drop me an email and I'll let you know where to find them (per Norah's suggestion, thank you Norah, you are right, most people really enjoy the daily photos with their updates).

Different perspectives are appreciated; disrespect, threats and hostility are not. While my opinions may not be the same as yours, when I disagree with Roger and Sara my blog gives me an opportunity to collect my thoughts, step outside of my emotions and review the situation(Aha!). So if my thoughts seem frustrated at times or emotion-laden and hastily collected this blog is not the extent of my expression. My blog is in no way a secret, hateful critique of Roger and Sara that I use to mask my actual feelings. I talk with them about each and every issue that arises and we each trust one another completely. Our relationship is built on honesty the same way I've built this blog. It is possible this honesty makes some uncomfortable, the reader may have felt personally critiqued by my use of general terms. The use of these general terms and nicknames may have also portrayed a feeling of secrecy and collusion. Neither of which I could have predicted nor expected. Shattering these feelings and aiding in separation, I've replaced my general terms with specific names.

Whether or not it has come across I've really appreciated this bit of excitement on my blog. It has increased my daily viewers, something I couldn't figure out how to do, opened different perspectives and given me the opportunity to read through my old posts, make connections, tie up lose ends and increase my dedication to this endeavor. Oddly enough it has also brought in more than a few job offers from other preemie parents. So thank you Aimee (at bad mummy dot com, interesting perspective of self) and Bree, you've really started something great here for me!

Roll While You Play! She can do it alll day...

Just roll while you play
Push up that tummy and turn like it's funny to roll far and wide
Just roll over now
Just do your best and take a rest and roll to on your side

When there's too much to do
Don't let it bother you, forget your troubles,
Try to be just like a cheerful chick-a-dee

And roll while you play
Come on get smart, gear up and start
To roll while you play

You guessed it! Tabitha rolled over today for Roger and Sara! They said she rolled and rolled and rolled (in between rolls they turned her back to her tummy so each time was from tummy to back over her left shoulder)! Hooray for Tabitha!

(yes, her song is shorter than Jackson's was, but it took more work and I haven't actually seen her do it yet so I'm singing off of Roger and Sara's excitement rather than my own this time!)

Wednesday before Christmas!

Yesterday's most exciting news - and I forgot to blog it!!!

Eating together used to be a regular occurence around here. Two babies, two bottles, my two arms and a nice big lap - no problem! But with Jackson having all of these issues with eating, it hasn't been an option in a very long time. I missed it very much. I love those two little sweeties snuggled into my lap, looking up at me with those four bright eyes and holding onto my hands (okay they weren't doing this before but they are now!). It also cuts bottle time in half which leaves more time for playing together before they are both ready to go back to bed. And yesterday it happened! We did it! It was AWESOME!
They were starving and I told them,
"It isn't fair for Tabitha to wait to eat because Jackson has decided he needs to be held just so."
I turned to them, looking Jackson in the eyes, and stated,
"You can wait until Tabitha is finished or we can all eat together."
He looked up at me, screaming what I can only imagine was,
"Just FEED ME!"

And we did it! The three of us sat together with both of them eating, just like in the old days. Tabitha finished first, she'd actually eaten half of her bottle while Jackson and I discussed the situation, after she burped I put her down and finished Jackson in his regular position.

Today? Today was BETTER! Both babies took ALL of their bottles, did all of their burps and enjoyed snuggles together, the whole time! It was great. After we finished we tried, Sweet Potatoes for the first time. They both really enjoyed them. I just baked a sweet potato, skinned it and mashed it with a fork. I thinned it a tiny bit with formula but left it a tad thick to see how they'd do. Sweet potatoes are naturally a little stringy, but they didn't mind at all. I think they liked them more than pears. Hooray! We'll have them three more days then try something new.

Super Tuesday!

Went to work this morning pretty sure Tuesday couldn't top Monday - but it did! Both tomatoes were adorable and sweet this morning. We ate pears again and they seem to be enjoying their introduction into solid foods. I baked them a sweet potato for later this week. Ooooo exciting!

They are both accomplished tummy players now. Tabitha grabs toys or her hands to chew. Sometimes they look around the room or at each other. This afternoon Jackson did an entire ten minutes of tummy time at once! And Tabitha did fifteen! This may not sound that impressive but a month ago it was torture for Tabitha to do thirty seconds! With this increased tolerance for tummy time they are both getting closer to rolling over. A very exciting milestone but I need some good tummy pictures before it's too late!

This morning I set up a backdrop and put them in simple white onesies, I love clean, white onesies with both on their tummies. And wouldn't you know it? I could hardly get them to stay still! Both leaning over as if they were about to roll! I took a few cute shots but accidently changed my camera setting, without realizing, and missed a good thirty shots due to underexposure.

I'm really looking forward to Christmas next week and everything coming up, both at home and with the babies development.
If there were pictures from today...I could ask, aren't they getting so big?!*

*fighting with my camera, pictures shortly.
UPDATE: Camera fight went on A LOT longer than expected. You wouldn't believe how close Tabitha is to rolling over!

Big Snow Today

Propped Jackson and Tabitha up on the sofa to watch the snowfall today. Took an awesome photo of the two of them checking it out. They are so adorable!

Cranky.

Cranky. I am terribly cranky today. Mondays and Tuesdays are the most exhausting days of my week. They are spent starting over, yes, every.single.week. We just start over. It is so frustrating that 48 hours can usurp what I spend an entire week putting into homeostasis. I'm not working for dumb people. We have good conversations and when they are rational they completely agree with me. But then the weekends come or one of the babies fusses and their rationale dissipates. Where does it go? can their brains literally just deactivate?

These tomatoes came home from the hospital knowing how to eat and sleep. Now suddenly, at six months, they can't do either?

But wait! They can eat, if you hold them at the perfect angle, doing just the right motion using both of your hands, cooing, breathing at the perfect speed and giving it to them at just that perfect second of that one minute when they want it the most. You can't do that?! What's wrong with you? Aren't you a good nanny? This is what they NEED.

Can you imagine what that looks like for sleep? And Roger says they can't be overtired, they sleep all of the time. Yet whenever Monday comes they expect at least ten soothings during each sleep period. Seems like they are getting some seriously deep sleep on the weekends, they two opportunities they do get (opposed to four or five).

And here we are again. Starting over. Yes Tabitha, you can sleep. Roger and Sara said you slept the same time period over the weekend. Yet here you are yelling. You NEVER yell for them. And Jackson, you can't eat? It's the same formula, the same time, the same temperature, the same bibs, feeding location and you are hungry. But you just can't eat? Wow. It's just amazing how Mondays and Tuesdays ALWAYS mean lots of cranky, cranky people.

Listen. I know parenting is hard. I know this. I know that being a parent is completely different from being a nanny. Without question. And there's no instruction manual. But if you had someone you could ask for advice, someone you trusted, someone who had taken care of, say 55 children before yours, and she actually did what she was suggesting you do, wouldn't you listen to her? Honestly people, I go out of my way to make their lives as parents easier every day. They get an extra nap, that I hold them during, just because their parents want them to stay up later so they can have playtime every evening. And I do it, every evening. And I feed them, extra well so that if Jackson refuses to eat two bottles a day because they'd rather snuggle him than feed him, he'll still be gaining enough weight for his brain to grow. I make every bottle, wash every article of clothing, sheets, towels, set the schedule, follow the schedule, offer gentle suggestions and positive reinforcement, yet still, Mondays and Tuesdays happen. Every.single.week.we.start.over.

Friday's Big News

Nearly forgot the main reason why I didn't post on Friday...
Imagine a photo of two tired faces... Sweet lil'Tabitha thought it would be fun to wake up everyone in the house for a late night party. She started the festivities at 2am and kept everyone busy until 6am when she ate her am bottle and went back to sleep.

Everyone was exhausted when I arrived and the day's naps were exhausting because both babies were so overtired.

I'm not sure how this played out over the weekend, but I'll keep you posted.

Bad, bad nanny

I didn't post on Friday, I'm using a picture from Friday, December 7th and dating this post for Friday too. I'm a bad, bad nanny. I didn't make time to blog on Friday. I made time for laundry, formula, bottles, feedings, family interactions, baby-play, a walk, music, a few photos, getting paid, recapping for Roger and Sara then again for my wife, but I didn't make any time to blog. I apologize. I do think of it as one of my daily responsibilities and it is very rewarding to see folks actually visiting. It was especially rewarding to see my photos viewed so many times as I enjoy photography so much more than writing.

It was a good week. Auntie Laverne and Auntie Shirley really enjoyed their visit, the tomatoes and being here. And it snowed!

After our big debate about going outside that was followed up with strict rules surrounding taking the babies outside, including keeping outside time to a maximum of fifteen minutes, I haven't been out with the babies. It's just not worth it. To set up the stroller, put on their warm clothes, snowsuits, hats, dress myself, carry them down the stairs, lower the stroller with them in it down the outside unsalted stairs takes at least fifteen minutes. Add that same fifteen minutes for coming back in and you have a walk that takes longer to orchestrate than actually enjoy. And with all of that add Roger's drama about my freezing his children, which can come on unexpectedly, and I'm out of the game.

But I felt tough and went for it on Friday. Ten entire minutes outside. Wow. I'll just stop there, cause, wow.

Laverne & Shirley

Auntie Laverne is the auntie who filled in a pair of hands while I finished my last position just after the tomatoes came home from the NICU. Tabitha came home a week earlier than Jackson. She had a great time, loves the babies very much and is willing to do anything to help out. She is very, very sweet. At home she is studying in undergrad, she has completed two semesters so far. This semester there has been a lot of frustration because administration is debating salaries, contracts and the like. It has been so bad that Aunt Laverne hasn't even begun her semester! She very much likes school and speaks so well. I think she should transfer what she's done so far and move here to finish. I found out yesterday, from her, that her brother, Roger, agrees.

Maybe she hesitates because she has a boyfriend at home. She's suggested her hesitation is related to other concerns. She loves these babies so much and is a very bright girl. There could be many benefits to her moving here. The tomatoes don't have any family here other than their parents. Everyone is a plane ride away. She could see them every day, help out and have more options. In her school system if she makes less than an A- she is unable to go into a specific program in graduate school. Undergrad, she has to get at least a 90. Right now she's earning a solid B, 83 average I think. And her home is a very, very angry place.

On the tomato front, I've taken comparison pictures. First was taken just before auntie left in August. The bottom one I just took this morning. On the top Tabitha is on the left, on the bottom she's on the right. I singled her out because she was pretty fussy this morning and not her usual smiley self. She wanted to eat and she wanted to eat right then!

They've both grown so much. Both of them really look like they could be six months old. Which is great since right around Christmas they will both be seven months old, really, really doing so well.

The GI told Roger and Sara to keep Jackson on the same medicine unless they'd like to stop the myl@nt@ because it's such a low dose it's probably not making a difference. We're trying that today. But he gained 8oz in two weeks and seems to be doing better. I've been encouraging Auntie Laverne and Auntie Shirley to feed both babies as much as possible. Roger and Sara aren't encouraging Auntie Shirley to help as much as they do Aunt Laverne, but they don't seem to mind that I do. I think it's tough for Roger because she's his youngest sister and he still sees her as very little. When Sara is here she doesn't seem to mind at all.

All in all things here are good. Chilly, but good. I'll have more pictures to post very soon, I took some great photos the first night of Chanukah and yesterday they were even more adorable than usual.

Overripe Tomatoes

The tomatoes are feeling rough today. They had a long night and each hit temps over 101 degrees. They are sleepy, full and working on lowering their fevers. Jackson is down to 99, great because he hit 100 before Tabitha yesterday and Tabitha is closing in on 100. They've both had Tylen0l and hopefully sleep well.

Until this morning they were both eating well and taking regular naps, despite the temperatures and shot soreness. Then Jackson decided he was too tired to eat and only took 120mL for breakfast. I hope he wakes hungry and eats a better lunch. Five shots is a lot for any baby to handle. One of their shots was for flu prevention. It is likely the one causing so much trouble. A baby has to have two flu shots the first time, 30 days apart. They won't give a baby under six months old the flu shot. While my kiddies are [just] six months old [actual] they are a lot younger than most six month olds because they missed three months. I'm not sure their little bodies are handling it very well. When we first met with the pediatrician he said he wasn't sure they should have it at six months. I was surprised when he scheduled it for yesterday.

Six Month Pediatrician Visit

Charts!! I made charts because Jackson and Tabitha are doing so well! The dark line that archs across most percentile charts is the 50th percentile. Tabitha is just above it and Jackson is just below.

Jackson and Tabitha had their 6 month well-baby visits this morning. They did great jobs according toRoger and Sara. Jackson was Mr Smiles and Tabitha really enjoyed the glucose her pediatrician shared, lucky Tabitha. They have both grown and each had five shots!! Those poor little thighs!

Above are their weight for length charts based on US babies under three years. We could look at age to weight, age to length, etc, but none o it matters because they were three months early. Thus we're comparing their weight to height ratios. I'll try to pull up a comparison to other kids their age or you can just go here.

Now, specifics; both babies are six months old,
Tabitha is 24 3/4" long & 14lb 10oz.
She gained 13oz in two weeks and grew 3/4" in one month.
Jackson is 24 1/4" long & 12lb 14oz.
He gained 14oz in two weeks and grew 1 1/4" in one month.

28November2007

Today has been a tad exhausting, but good. Jackson and Tabitha are really improving their strength, stamina and enjoyment of/during tummy time. It is very exciting and makes me proud of our effort.

Jackson's eating has really improved for me. Today's bottles were 220mL and 210mL! We still have snack to go, but I'm feeling good about it. And Tabitha seems to have found a balance. She isn't just eating everything she's offered which I think is very good.

Tomorrow morning they are off to be weighed, checked out and vaccinated. Lucky little tomatoes, I hope it isn't too bad.

I'll post tomorrow and let you know about weights, lengths and everything.

Farm Animals, except Tiger

Realized this morning that I have a bit of a nickname problem. Jackson and Tabitha have been nicknamed the tomatoes. Madison and Addison were the chickens, I'm not sure where all of these farm nicknames come from, it's never been the case before that there are such similarities although there have always been nicknames.

Jackson seems to be doing well with the new medicine. He's definitely eating more for his parents but there's still a big discrepancy between their amounts and mine. Yesterday we did 215mL, 210mL and 200mL (I helped with the bedtime bottle and he slept through snack). Today we did 205mL, 200mL and 70mL (snack). Aside from his increase in spit ups, frequency not volume, he's doing great from my perspective. On Thursday he'll go to his pediatrician and be weighed, the real test is weight gain. Pray he's had some.

Tabitha eats like a champ. Today I introduced her to the idea of eating in an upright position. Eating is something she loves and she's less than enthusiastic about sitting upright. She did a pretty good job. She didn't freak out and get annoyed at all. She did get tired quickly though. She lasted about 4-6 minutes, not terrible, actually pretty impressive for her as she tends to be a bit lazy when it comes to gross motor skills, whereas her brother is a lazy eater.

Socially Jackson is amazing. He chats and jabbers like crazy. Tabitha is a bit quieter but will return smiles with huge smiles of her own. Jackson initiates smiles and contemplates you a bit before returning them. They are both great with eye contact, tracking and response to sound.

Since the PT (physical therapist) came I've been trying to increase the frequency of tummy time. We're up to a minimum of three times each, per day. Yesterday we hit five opportunities and today there were for chances for tummy time. Duration s still a huge challenge. A four minute stretch is worth cheering about. More often than not each attempt is 1-3 minutes max. They are both getting stronger and I'm very proud of them.

The big news for today though - I think Tabitha chuckled yesterday! Just once, short, but perfectly adorable and awesome! I was tickling her on her chest, below her chin but not under it. She was so adorable! And - as if this wasn't enough - she passed a toy from her left hand to her right hand!! She was lying on her back and the toy was attached to the gymini above her head but with enough links to hang to the floor, and she put two hands on it then passed it!! Go Tabitha!! She tried to do it the other direction, right to left, but couldn't get it, dropped it on her chest then picked it up with the other hand. This is huge for us!!

Back to Work

Today I'm back to work after a lovely Thanksgiving vacation. It was such a lovely weekend I wasn't sure I wanted to return to work this morning. We had family to our house, saw Irving Berlin's White Christmas, went to church, made our Advent wreath and bought our Christmas tree. Really, really great weekend.

On Friday the GI told Roger and Sara to putJackson on pr.losec 2xday, no more Z@nt@c, and myl@nt@ the bottles that he isn't having pr.losec. They are going back for a follow up next week. This week they'll visit the pediatrician for more shots.

Had the talk this morning with Roger and Sara. They'd finally talked about winter between the two of them and were ready to talk about their ideas with me. Silly, silly conversation, as if I've never taken care of a baby in the New England cold before. Hello! I've been doing it for nearly seven years whereas they've lived here for almost four?! So exhausting! We're on a trial period until Christmas and then we'll see how things are going again.

Tomatoes are hungry - later!

EI & GI

Yesterday we had our first snow of the season. It was dense and beautiful. Sadly it turned to rainy-slush later and we had absolutely no accumulation. I'm hoping for loads of beautiful, dry snow this season. I love it's beautiful white winterness and the way it blankets the city. When it's really packed in and you have to drive very slow I love how it feels like we're all driving on carpet. It's as if we're closer to one-another, sharing this weird inside-like driving experience.

Because it was the tomatoes first ever snow experience I tried to show them what it looked like coming down through the window. Later, while they napped, I made paper snowflakes and we had a photoshoot in the afternoon. Not too bad for a first attempt.

In real news, EI (Early Intervention) came this morning. Our regular gal brought a physical therapist with her to evaluate the babies. Tabitha does this back arch thing that was a bit concerning. She's also strongly against tummy time and trails behind her brother in the gross motor department. PT (Physical Therapist) said that Tabitha looks great. She isn't in the same place as Jackson but there's no need to worry. She's developing along a normal continuum and doing great. She needs more opportunities to play on the floor and as much tummy time as we can give her. We'd started using the jumpy as another form of core conditioning. I thought it could give them a place to work on their core muscles that was different from the floor. But the PT says we should wait because it puts weight on their hips before they are ready for it. So it's floor, floor, floor from here on out!

We talked about specifics, this helps me get an idea. Right now we are doing three minutes of tummy time at least once a day. PT says we should make putting them down on their tummies our default. If they need to turn over, fine, but ALWAYS start on tummy. And I should aim for three 3min tummy time sessions each day. Working up to longer than three minutes as soon as possible. Okay! We can do this! Being on their backs on the floor is helpful as well. So bye-bye babyholders!

As far as feeding is concerned, Jackson is off with Roger and Sara at the GI specialist right now. I'll know more when they return. But the behavioral side, from my perspective, is improving. Yesterday he finished all three bottles I offered him. One was actually offered by Norah and even though it wasn't me, he had no trouble at all. He seems to be doing well for me and okay for Roger and Sara. I'm assuming the GI will put him on another medicine because he won't find anything. So far he's only on Z@nt@c, it is the first course of action for babies with reflux. It also has the least side effects. I think the next step is to add pr.losec, I think. This is stronger and could possibly effect his development. We'll see how it goes. Last time he was in to the GI, a different one, they did an ultrasound and lots of tests. At least they'll have a baseline for comparison.

We're hosting Thanksgiving at our house tomorrow and I'm off Friday. You'll have to wait until Monday for the GI outcome unless I get some bonus free time this afternoon. I'm not imaging that I will because Jackson is going to come home exhausted, with Roger and Sara here he'll need lots of extra help to get any sleep at all once he's home. And I don't think he finished this bottle for them so add hunger and frustration and you've got one busy Samara! Roger and Sara also planned to revisit this going outside in the winter discussion so posting today seems very, very unlikely.

LateNight and SnuggleNaps

Yesterday was a VERY long day.
It started with such possibility. The tomatoes slept until 10:45am, when I finally woke them. I seriously hate waking anyone, especially babies, I think sleep is so important. But they needed to wake up with enough hours left in the day to fit four more bottles in.

Jackson, with his feeding frustrations, does best when the bottles are evenly spaced. But with waking up so late they ate later, this put their next two bottles pretty close together. Let's add Sara being there hovering to take in every aspect of how I feed Jackson (she just wants it to get better and if she can learn something that might work, she's willing to put in the effort), both Jackson and Tabitha being exhausted because after sleeping in so late their morning nap was tiny equals Jackson's tolerance being very low and him eating a bit less than usual. But pretty good.

Then the housekeepers came late. Sara was home to take a nap and we were pretty much shoved out the door to take a walk. I'm not complaining about the walk, I LOVE walking. Our location lends to visual interest and diversity. But my babies were tired before we started. They snoozed on the walk but nothing more than a fifteen minute stretch each. By the time our evening snuggle-nap* rolled around they were toast!

Exhaustion and feeding Jackson do not mix. Given the choice this tomoato would choose sleep over food in a heartbeat. So his evening bottle, with Roger and Sara both hovering over my every breath (what can I say? They are trying.), didn't go as well as I would have liked. An ideal bottle for Jackson is 200mL/cc. In the evening he takes between 30-60mL/cc for Roger and Sara. Last night for me he took around 160mL/cc. So he did alright. I wish I could say that I'm steadfast and what I do always works, but I'm can't. I do my best and sometimes it's just not as good as I'd like.

I believe in sleep and encourage it like crazy, but babies need to eat. Jackson needs to eat. Tomorrow Jackson and Tabitha go to get their 1st RSV shots. They will weigh them and as long as Jackson is growing we don't need to worry.

*Snuggle-nap; evenings are tough for many babies. Some call this period the 'witching hour' and it generally falls between 4-9pm. No matter what they do during the day my babies are tired around 4:30pm but have a tough time falling asleep. Because Roger and Sara won't regularly put them to bed in the evening we cannot establish a catnap. Our compromise/balance for this is a sling-nap when I'm there and when Roger and Sara are home one holds Jackson while he naps and they let Tabitha fall asleep in the swing for a short nap. I put on the sling, add one baby at a time then rock in the rocking chair for 30 minutes to an hour. Ideally they both sleep, if not they benefit from the body contact, being close to each other, navigating tight space with their twin and calm relaxation. On really great days they both fall asleep early on and as I rock I doze with them. But it is just as nice when one of them just looks around and touches the other during sleep. There's no crying during this time and we all enjoy the snuggle.