Happy 2nd Birthday Cyrus!

Over seventy-two hours went by before you born after your brother, and let me tell you little man, those were a long three days! So strong and such a fighter, from day one, your spunky personality shown through and you were there to comfort me, give me hope, when times were tough with Collin in the NICU. Granted you were not to be out done by your brother's constant NICU attention and have given us a few scares in the past two years, but you are not about to let your hydrocephalus stop you from doing anything. Over the past twenty-four months I have watch in amazement as you have quickly been catching up to your fellow two year olds; your keen mind working things out, saying new words everyday to communicate your needs, your pleasure in testing your boundaries, your sensitivity, and desire to be held and loved. I can already see you are wise beyond your years (years now!), you know what you want and are not afraid to get it (over and over and over!). You are so incredibly smart- maybe too smart for your own good! :P Each day I see your smile and it warms my heart and your antics make me laugh. I have watched you help your brother when he needed it. I know he is so lucky to have you as his twin, and I am so very proud of you. I love you Cyrus, and look forward to seeing you grow up and live life to its fullest everyday, just like you do now. Happy Birthday! :)
*One more picture to come... technical difficulties...

Happy 2nd Birthday to me!

I love to eat my table foods, so keep that yucky
baby food away from me Mommy, I'm two now!

Happy 2nd Birthday Collin!

Happy Birthday Collin! You are two years old today, and I am amazed by what you have accomplished, how far you have come. Your smiles and laughter, love and attachment, are reminders of what makes your struggles so very worth it. Even though you cannot yet say so, I can see that you are a happy child who feels safe to grow. You have so much potential and I can see that you are eager to put it to use once you have the tools. The miracle of your survival alone is enough for me to be thankful to have you everyday, but to see how well you have done with what you started with makes it a joy. You may not be doing what a typical two year old may be doing, but it doesn't matter because you are going at your own pace... and you are increasing your speed. I love you my little Collin, thank you for choosing me as your mother so I can celebrate all your achievements with you. Happy Birthday.

So happy to be two!

So ticklish!

I'm gonna get my blankie and you can't catch me!

Catching Up

Uncle D is playing his new Bass Guitar

for the boys and they loved it.
Feel the vibrations!

There is a better pic of Gaia and Cyrus reading in the
chair together, but when Collin joined in on the floor
I had to post this one instead.
How adorable is that!?

Cyrus thinks his chair is a lazy boy recliner.
Here he is waking up with a little TiVo watchin...

Say Ahhh Collin! Stick out your tongue for all to see! :)

I wanted everyone to see just
how much Cyrus loves pumpkin!
That is ink by the way, put there after he ate at it,
not some moldy pumpkin bit. :P

Here we are at the Fort Worth Zoo with our twins group.
Look how sweet Cyrus is, helping Collin stand up.

Weight/Height update:
Collin: 24 lbs. 13 oz., 32 1/2 inches
Cyrus: 28 lbs. 11 oz., 32 1/2 inches
Yes, you read that correctly, they are both the same height! I think it is wrong b/c Collin is swimming in the same footy pajamas that Cyrus runs around in, but I like to think they are...

Anyways- Collin's new therapy up at the college in Denton is AWESOME! He is already swallowing better and chewing. I can even get him to emulate me and stick out his tongue (not a big deal you might say, but we have not been able to get him to do this before). He really likes it there and plays in the ball pit, rides the rocking horse, "jumps" on the trampoline, and rides a horse swing with a therapist sitting with him. Cyrus likes it too and plays the whole time. Soon I will have to get some pics to post. The most horrible thing about it is that the ladies who run the program are leaving and so it is folding; it ends after Thanksgiving. So we will have to get as much in as we can before then.

We carved pumpkins the other day and Collin & Cyrus "helped" hammer in one of the pegs of their light-bright pumpkin while Daddy and big sister carved their own. Hers really turned out great too. We had some friends over carving with us who had not carved pumpkins in a while and so they got the joy of fighting off Cyrus at every turn. :P It was a lot of fun.

Our playgroup at the library is going great too and both of them love to go, but Collin's therapy is cutting into the program so only Cyrus will be going to the next few. All the kids are around their age and I feel so proud to see Cyrus interacting and responding so well. I also enjoy going back to my old workplace and seeing my friends and coworkers. I love any adult interaction.

With all our new appointments and therapies we are doing something pretty much every weekday. Keeps us busy and forces me to get up early, which I need. Collin is having a Barium Swallow Study at the beginning of November to find out if his choking and lack of desire to swallow is because of his swallowing reflex or if he is refluxing into his esophagus- that sort of thing.

Cyrus is almost exclusively on table food now and it is great to let him do his thing while I focus on feeding Collin. He still needs some encouragement and feeding at the end to get a decent meal down, but at least he is doing it himself. :) Cyrus is all over the place and has started cleaning up when I ask him to and talks to Collin (calling him Col) all the time. He loves to go for wagon rides and will get in the wagon and yell out to me "Mama rye (ride) waah (wagon)!" He knows what he wants and he goes for it. He has also taken to yelling this high pitched squeal and it gives me a headache; we are working on the concept of "quiet" but it is a work in progress. I am so proud of him.

I have so many pictures to choose from... I will have to make another picture post soon to show everyone all the fun we have been having!

Food Study

After having the 6 month review with Collin, which was pretty pointless, we saw the nutritionist who recommended a a food study going on at TWU. So we did the insane amount of paperwork that required me going through the discharge papers from the NICU and drove the 45 minutes to the college for his evaluation. They were great and they have asked us to come up to three times a week! That is so great! (although we wont be able to for a while) He will finally get the therapy and attention that he needs to help him catch up. They think at this point he is developmentally delayed and that the delays are not pathological (which we have heard before) making it hopeful that he will catch up. They want to work on his hip movement and fine motor skills in addition to his eating issues. He is still not chewing his food and I know that it is causing me to hold Cyrus back out of convenience since Cyrus is requiring more time to help him learn to self feed with a spoon.

We have been going to the Peapods lapsit group with Grandma and the music group (now with Daddy) to keep us busy and we all love it. Very busy we are and I am starting to take ambien to help me sleep. Hopefully this will be good for everyone... Collin and Cyrus are sleeping better now that they are on Claritin-D everyday. They were sick for about three weeks there, and it turned out to be allergy related.

I have been a little down lately since two people I have been close to have moved away now. One went to San Antonio and the other to Denver. I tend to go into my hole when I get down and with the boys being as mobile and into things as ever I have not spent a decent amount of time at the computer in a week now. But the boys 2nd birthdays are just around the corner, Halloween is coming (one of my favorite holidays! Not to mention the fact that I am a candy junkie), and then the holidays will be here soon. Things to look forward to for sure! :)

We got new chairs for the boys, and Collin likes his Thomas the Tank Engine chair.


Good luck in Colorado Aunt Jen! We will miss you!


Who would have thought he would love wearing the patch so much!
Just goes to show what some kids will do to do what their siblings do.

Collin and Cyrus enjoy playing with their big sister.
Collin your glasses are on crooked!