NAM + Rice Cereal = Grossness!

We started the kids on rice cereal during their lunches. I can't seem to get it together early enough for breakfast, and we're usually both exhausted by dinner. They only take about a tablespoon or two anyway so for now I think that's good enough. Lily has taken to spoon eating really well. It's a lot harder with Jake. You kind of just have to tip the food in his mouth and hope some of it stays in long enough for him to eat it.  He doesn't have a top lip to squeegee the food off the spoon, and he's also not used to keeping his mouth closed. So the rice cereal goes everywhere! He waves his arms around the whole time, often bumping the spoon so I spill cereal on his legs, constantly tries to lift the bib over his face, and shoves his fingers in his mouth while it's still full of rice goo. Eeeew! But he definitely likes it. The translucent cereal doesn't show up in the picture very well, but he's covered!

Cutie-Patooties!

Jake and Lily are growing and developing so fast, it's amazing! Here they are discovering they have feet!

And even though they both are just over 13 lbs, they're still not as big as our cat, Moxie!

Nose Post

 Jake got his NAM altered to include a nose post today. He was none to pleased about it. But he didn't sleep much this morning and neither of the twins ate very much before we left. I gave him a little tylenol and packed a swaddle this time. We had to wait a long time after dropping Jake's NAM off at the dr's office - it was really busy! We had lunch and then tried to feed the kids. Jake was so hungry, but didn't want to eat without his NAM so the wait was even longer with him crying! By the time we got in to have the NAM refitted, he was flipping out. Thank goodness for that swaddle! There was no way I could have held him still without it. Now that it's all over and they've both had a good meal and a long nap, things are back to normal. Once again, he doesn't seem bothered by it at all. I'm exhausted though!

Jake Plays the Piano!

Here's my big guy reaching out to hit the piano keys while supporting himself with one arm. What a strong boy! In the last two weeks, we've noticed a huge improvement in Jake's cleft. The two sides of his lip are almost touching and his nostril is really taking shape. Tomorrow we go in to Dr. Yamashiro's to get the nose post added to Jake's NAM. Hopefully it won't bug him too much. He hardly even turns away when I have to put the rubber bands back on anymore. Well, depending on his mood! I can't remember if I mentioned it, but we've started using the sign language gesture for "all done" every time we finish doing his tapes. He will usually calm down a little bit, or stop crying altogether once he sees that. It's so helpful! Even if he's still mad, at least I know he understands that it's over.

Jake and Lily have started playing with each other now. They will look at each other and smile, try to grab each others' clothes or limbs! When they're apart, they will look for each other. Lily seems fascinated by Jake's NAM and tries to pull on it, so we have to watch her. But they both have also discovered the joy of playing with toes! We still swaddle them but as soon as they get unwrapped, up go the feet! It's awfully convenient having toys attached to the ends of your legs! This is such a fun time.

I want to get a professional portrait taken of Jake before his surgery (kiddie kandids is having wicked good specials right now!) But I don't want to have it taken with the tapes all over his face. If I take them off, it takes a good long while for his skin to heal and the red splotches to go away. We started using A+D ointment instead of Eucerine because it works a little bit better. (Doesn't smell better though!) Even so, it'd be at least a day until his skin was better. But I can't leave his NAM out that long because he doesn't eat well without it anymore. So I don't know. Maybe I'll just take a blotchy picture anyway. I just want a nice portrait of how he is right now.

Explaining the Cleft

We went to a bbq on Thursday and saw a lot of our friends who hadn't seen our kids yet. A lot of people had questions and wanted to know about the NAM. I've noticed that, with the tape all over his face, most people feel a lot less awkward asking about his cleft. It gives them an opportunity to ask about what treatment we're doing instead of just asking what's wrong with his face! :) Eric and I have the schpiel down pat by now (it's a cleft bla bla bla, well it's actually pretty common bla, bla, bla, once the surgery is done he'll just have a little scar bla, bla, bla.) I don't feel any need to go into the fact that there are multiple surgeries over years. We'd rather people be impressed by what medical science can do, rather than felling sorry for the little guy.

I had a chance to explain the whole thing to a child for the first time too. He was about 7 or 8 and his parents were listening but let him ask his questions. He was really interested and it was neat to watch him try to understand. He asked if Jake was born that way and I said yes and let him know it didn't hurt. Then I explained how Jake's lip was made in two pieces instead of one like his. That seemed to make it easier for him to understand. I told him how Jake could stick his tongue all the way up his nose and he thought that was pretty funny! Once he was satisfied with the explanation, he turned to Lily and said "and she's got a really funny looking chin!" At that point his dad stepped in and said it wasn't polite to point out how funny looking people's babies were. We all had a good laugh over that!

Two more weeks

Well, the doctor was pleased with Jake's progress but won't put in the nasal post for another two weeks. Jake's nostril is really starting to have a shape and isn't just flat across anymore. The dr wants to see a little more slack in it though before adding the post. I was a little disappointed but there's no rushing these things I guess. Dr. Yamashiro did adjust Jake's NAM a little and it seems to fit a lot better. Here he is playing with Stinky, the rat (who is actually quite fluffy and adorable!)

First 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! Jake and Lily are excited to celebrate their first Independence Day. Here they are sitting (sort of!) in the rocking chair on their summer quilt. I've got a slight obsession with fabric and quilting. They've got soooo many blankets! I spent the 4 years leading up to their birth (we tried for a long time!) crocheting, knitting, and quilting baby blankets. Then so many relatives and friends made us gorgeous quilts, knit, and crochet blankets that we'll never need to buy the twins blankets ever again! Thanks everyone for all your love and support in the twins first four months!

Overthinking things...

(Jake sitting up like a big boy!) Ok, so this was horrible at the time, but it's actually kind of funny now. Right after finishing the previous post where I wrote how well Jake was taking the whole lip-taping thing and how calm we were being, he woke up absolutely screaming from his nap. Immediately I scooped him up and tried to figure out what was wrong. Was the tape too tight? Was his NAM rubbing against his gums now? Was he traumatized from having the pieces of his upper lip so restrained? For almost an hour I held him while he screamed, not knowing what to do. Eric and I tried everything. We gave him Tylenol, cuddled him close, sang him songs, and still, he screamed. I was on the verge of tears myself when we finally realized what was wrong. He was hungry. I'd been so worried about the tape (even though he was taking it just fine, seriously) that I'd completely overlooked the obvious. It was way past his dinner time. (So much for that "relaxed attitude!")