Collin's Hearing Test

We went up to the hospital today to have Collin's hearing test- and the results are good! He can hear just fine, only mild loss for very high frequencies. That could be related to his age anyway, so says the Dr., and if retested at a later age could turn out that he can hear that as well. So good news, Collin hears and that is not the reason for his speech delay. Bad news, now we need to find out what his speech delay is and hope that it isn't neurological. We were referred to a developmental pediatrician that we will go see and go from there.

We were in a small room with two boxes in each corner (to gauge each ear) with a stuffed animal that played the drums. Every time he recognized the sound and turned it would go off as a reward. It was quite clever and worked really well, he turned to look at the animal when he heard a sound.

Tomorrow is Collin's ECI review so I will have more to say then. What a week for Collin!

Bluebird Blogs Contest

My friend and coblogger has peaked my interest in this contest by Susie over at Bluebird Blogs. And this is my shameless attempt to get a new blog template out of the contest.

I get 5 free entries for posting a blog entry about the contest. Woot! I could use a face lift! I have browsed her testimonials and I am impressed. Pick me! Pick Me!

Happy Birthday Big Sis!

Today is Collin & Cyrus' big sister's 10th birthday! Happy Birthday Gaia! She got tons of loot from her mom and stepdad and then a whole other set of treasures from us (the benefit to having two sets of parents!). So Happy Birthday Gaia!

Hugs to Mom!

Cyrus smiles amicably for his big sister's birthday.
Hey buddy, you have pizza crust on your face...

Collin waves to everyone behind the Baby Paparazzi
trying to get Collin to look at the camera.

Staying Busy

We have been doing all sorts of things lately. We started the "Peapods" program at the library where I used to work (once called the Mother Goose program) for babies up to two years. We do nursery rhymes, finger plays, read a board book, do sign language- it is wonderful! I have wanted to get the boys in there for so long and love it! I have missed working at the library and I miss the people there. We have also been doing Musikgarten where we song songs and play with simple musical instruments like bells and percussion sticks. The boys are a little too young for the program right now, but it runs through December so by then they will be answering the questions and doing all the motions and dances.

They both are so much fun and they need the social interaction and exposure to regulated progam environments (they wont be with mommy all day forever...). I have also noticed they are the most rambunctious kids, which makes me worry that I have given them too much freedom at home. They can go from one end of the house to the other and I leave their door open so they can play in their room. Is this perhaps too much? Should I keep them in one room at a time? What are other parent's thoughts?

Collin had been teething and was feeling pretty bad over the weekend. Poor little guy had fever and low appetite and was very cuddly, needing his mommy. I love that Collin was feeling cuddly since he usually does not sit still long enough to be cuddling with anyone unless Jack's is on TiVo (yes, we watch TiVo, not TV). He is feeling better now and they are into everything together. Cyrus leads the disaster but Collin can climb on anything Cyrus can now, so there is no safe places.

My memory is getting worse and worse and my friend tells me its sleep deprivation. The other day I actually forgot to pick Craig up from he autoshop on my way to my sister in law's. I talked to him on the phone right before I left the house!! This is just madness, and I find myself occasionally forgetting things between the time it takes to get out my notepad in my purse to write it freakin' down! What the @#$%^ people?!? *deep breath* Well, here are some pics while life has been going on (before I forget!!). I love being the Baby Paparazzi...

I am trying to find the picture of Cyrus like this from last year...a comparison.


Cyrus enjoys his homemade ice cream at Grandma & Grandpa's house.
"Cold!" he kept saying, and loved every minute if it!


Mommy and Collin having fun together.
Collin wears his patch without a fight, most of the time.


While Collin was sick I put him in the "backpack" so I
could still get things done around the house.
Doesnt he look pitiful?

Because I needed a change

Those that know me will laugh and shake their heads at my doing this, and to those that do not, just know that I was bored and needed a change from the old stay-at-home-mom feeling. So I colored my hair- again. I blame it on the fact that I am a Leo and my mane is my attention getter, so I am constantly changing my hair style. This was fun and I feel a little Anime, but that's fine. I know it is just a temporary thing. What the hell, right? I do not have a 9 to 5 job that tells me I cannot do it. If you like it, please let me know, and if you don't, well, I don't want to know. :P

Ok, so my hair is red. It was supposed to be magenta/purple, but whatever. I still like it. :)

I colored my previously blonde bangs and some of the center to allow for...

This... I love it!

If I brush it back then it falls all around my head, which I like. While I was doing this I thought it would either look really cool or be a total disaster. My bangs are just about ready to fall off with all the dying I have been doing to them but, whatever. I do need a haircut, so that will help.

And to mention my children, they are doing great. Collin has been a champ with his eye patch and Cyrus has not been trying to pull it off so I have hope that his eye will be strengthened by the new year for his surgery. We got a playgym for them from my sister in law which I am so excited about. It is so cool and they love to go down the slide. Cyrus is walking and talking and being a terrible two-sie but he pointed to Gaia's new hairbrush today and said "Blue!" It was so exciting to realize he had learned the color blue!!! Maybe he is paying attention to me after all...

Collin loves his mew playgym so much he could eat it!

Collin and Daddy smile big for the Baby Paprazzi! Hurray!

It is so much fun to play under the kitchen table...
yes, we do not wear pants all that often at home. I mean,
with that bulky diaper, it must be uncomfortable, right?

Midnight Tantrum

The fear is that by letting one cry in the middle of the might that it will wake the other one, and in the end like a good deal of spoiling, it is done for the sake of the parent rather than the child. Cyrus woke up all upset and hungry so I fed him and rocked him trying to get him back to sleep. And of course once I thought I was free and clear, I hear Collin chiming in from the other room (not even in my own bed yet). Which reawakens Cyrus to a jealous rage that Collin is now being held. I waited until Cyrus was quiet again before putting Collin down, but Cyrus' tantrum woke Collin up to the point where he didn't want to be held and rocked back to sleep but wanted to check things out. So I put down a quickly agitated Collin that set off Cyrus... Geeze, people, let Mommy have some peace!

I left them both sitting up and wailing those alligator tears, gave them each a hug and kiss, told them I loved them and that it was night-night. Then I closed the door and sat down at my computer. Now they are both quiet, hopefully asleep like they wanted, just not how they wanted to get back to sleep via in Mommy's comforting arms. One at a time please is my rule. They need to know how to self sooth, and that Mommy will not make a worse habit than she already has about going in there during the night to rock them back to sleep. I foresee another few days ahead of me filled with crying nights of renewed tantrum energy before I can start sleeping through the night more than once or twice a week. I must count my blessings that it is not still every night, but still. My precious sleep loss may later become one of my most vivid memory reasons not to try for another child; pregnancy loss, preemie scare, caring for the kids we have, and mountains of health care debt aside.

Let's see, about an hour and a half past my hopeful bedtime, which bodes badly for my ability to wake up on time in the morning. The more tired I am the less I hear my alarms. We had some good rain the is supposed to keep coming through tomorrow/today so maybe it will stay dark and the boys will sleep in too.

I know I promised pictures, and I will get to it, but * insert suitable mom of twins excuse here*. I will get to it this week. We had a good weekend overall and the boys are starting to need to get out of the house like me these days. I wish it weren't so dammed hot all the time. We all miss the wagon rides. Ok, I am satisfied that they are sleeping again and I am going to try to sleep myself. My poor hubby is getting up less than three hours and I want to be in bed when he does, let him think I have been there the whole time. ARGH! NOOOOOO! Someone is crying again! Now I am going to cry!

Cutie and snuggable Collin enjoys his teething toy.

Just a peek at the kids playing at the
McMoms Mobile Munchkins playdate.

Cyrus trying to get into the cat spot while Collin
crawls across the couch on to the coffee table to get a closer look.

Collin fell asleep in the car, now he is breathing
through the nose pieces of his glasses.

Hear ye, hear ye, all children of multiples & triplets...
This is only one of the rooms where the
17 children were running about.

Wrap it up!

I went grocery shopping after the boys went to bed and my hubby put up the new curtains in our living room. So I pull into the garage at, oh 1 AM, and start unloading the cart full of stuff I brought home which includes about 15 or so jars of babyfood. Well I have always been annoyed by that plastic wrapper on the Gerber foods, b/c it is such an annoyance to take off... not tonight however. Tonight I am SO happy to have the wrapper on since it likely prevented my children from finding those small chards of glass that escape when trying to clean up said babyfood jars. Only one, but still, with ceramic tile flooring, glass doesnt just break, it shatters. So I take back all the crappy things I thought or said about the wrappers because hey, even though I still ended up moping and sweeping and wiping the floor down with wet paper towels to make sure I get it all, most of it was kept in place by that little wrapper.

And speaking of groceries, tonight I also purchased three gallons of milk. Does anyone else do that? I mean, I drink a gallon of milk by myself in a week and with cereal, we had been buying two to account for the rest of the family. But now that the boys are drinking more liquid from a sippy cup (and Cyrus from a straw!) I decided to risk it and buy the third. They all expire on the same day. We have 12 days to drink it all and I bet it will be gone by then...

We did some cool stuff today, Kindermusik (and had an ECI nutritionist appt Collin is up to 23 lbs 13oz. and Cyrus 25 lbs. 14 oz.; after all this time they still manage to stay about two pounds apart from one another), and I will tell you all about it later, but I must head to bed. Got another ECI appt and 6 month evaluation for Cyrus tomorrow morning. Cheers.

Playgroup Community

Yesterday we made our way back to the multiples playgroup for the first time since, geeze could be since before RSV season. So all excited about meeting up with some old friends we get there to a combined Tiny Tots/Mobile Munchkins playgroup (Tiny Tots for babies & Mobile Munchkins for walkers/ toddlers). An unprecedented eight moms came! Usually we have two maybe three moms show up so this was a gigantic event. 15 kids total (one set of triplets) and guess who was the most mischievous child of the whole lot? Yep, our dear Cyrus. That little boy was into everything- blinds, cabinets, doors, glass candles, on the kitchen chairs, trying to get on the kitchen table, on and on. I thought other kids would be so curious and active, but NOOO. Just Cyrus, all over the place wreaking havoc and literally having me chase him in and out of the kitchen. I felt a little embarrassed and annoyed that I could not sit and talk with the other moms (like most of them could). But then our wonderful hostess took us upstairs to a truly babyproofed area where all the kids could run free without the fear of causing any collateral damage. Then I finally got to do a little socializing. I had a great time and really am looking forward to meeting up with them again. The boys had a chance to play with other kids their age, and I met a mom who has preemie girls that were born at 26 weeks. I hope she is at the next playgroup too because I would like to talk to her more about her experiences.

Now it dawned on me this afternoon that Cyrus has been going through a word explosion and I wanted to take note of some of the words he says (or tries to say) now, not in any particular order:
Mama, Dada, Sisee, Collin (Call), cat, outside (sigh), night-night, bath time, light, green, red, no, whoa, cool, keys, please (peess), thank you (tak-oo), up, down, dog, spoon, pretty, chair, diaper (dye), wipe (why), blankie, bottle (bah-bah), ball, close, ok, water (wah), phone (foh), fan, boo, book, french fry (fie), coaster (coh), bear, door, shoe,... whew that's a ton!

I am kinda sure now that Collin knows Mama, but he only says it when he is upset. Like he is crying for me. That counts right? He will be whining and in the middle I will hear "ma" but it could just be him crying. I cannot get him to just say it. Ok, I've got some great pics to post but not tonight. I'm tired. *yawn*

Debating

I have been thinking lately of letting my Xanga site expire at the end of the year. Keeping up two blogs is kind of a hassle, and as much as I love it and have spent countless hours perfecting the template, it may have to go. For one, it has my full name on it in the URL. Not what I would have chosen had I known that my login name was going to be the URL address. Second, Xanga has pissed me off with the rewriting of all their HTML structure so all my links do not work and people cant see archives and such. Third, I am really liking Blogger, if I can get this HTML code issue with IE showing weird code changes (like GIANT text) that I do not see in Firefox. And of course going back to the privacy issue, I would like to be a little less "out there" in using real names and all. First names are fine, but not use last names for future reference, and that sort of thing. This all came rushing back to the forefront of my mind after reading Child's Play x2 and thinking about how people link one blog to another to another to another...

Craig and I went on a shopping spree today with the boys and got four new books, some cool cardboard blocks, and some cloth books to let them keep in their cribs (I fear real books would get torn to pieces if left unattended). Yeah, all of that and our reason for going was to get the acrylic TiVo cover so Collin will stop pushing the buttons. It was fun going to the new BabiesRUs in our city that opened this past weekend. They have lots of cool stuff there!

After shopping we dared to take the boys to dinner at a Chipotle. Cyrus is officially WAY TOO LOUD to take out to dinner, much less to a place that really lacks insulated interior. He likes the food though and partook in my burrito with gusto. I wish I had my camera with me. Collin was not so interested, but he was well behaved and quiet, so I let him get away with not eating.

They are currently in a napping state of flux. For a long time now they would go down between noon and one, sleep two hours (if I was really lucky, three hours!) and that would be their nap for the day. Lately however, they are not tired until 2:00 PM sometimes even 3:00 PM. They are late sleepers, not usually up until 9:00 AM or so (Thank you SO much guys! :P) and so it doesn't surprise me that they are staying up longer in the morning now that they are getting bigger. I am adaptable, unless they start wanting to get up at 7:00 AM, Mommy not down with that. :P

Preemie Prayer Revisited

This is posted above the sinks where you scrub up in Progressive NICU at the hosptial Collin & Cyrus stayed at. It touched me deeply and even though I have it on my Xanga blog, I have been in a preemie-sentimental mood tonight and wanted to post it again for anyone who had not seen it.

The Preemie's Prayer
Dear God, as you look down upon us,
We know that you might have to squint.
We're located here in the NICU:
It's the nursery that we rent.

There are many alarms and sirens,
Connected to condos and flats.
The nurses tape our booties on,
And dress us in funny hats.

We have a lot in common;
All of us were in a hurry.
For many different reasons,
Our storks came a little early.

Some of us don't know why,
We bursted out from our bubbles.
We entered into this world,
Never meaning to cause any troubles.

Mommy and Daddy are worried sick
About the odds that we must beat.
Please God, help them to realize,
That seeing us grow is a treat.

Breath by breath, we'll learn to breathe.
Ounce by ounce we'll tip the scale.
We're like a boat in the ocean,
That knows not sink- only sail.

For we are living miracles,
Mommy and Daddy must simply believe,
That you have angels watching over us;
From the time we arrive, till the time we leave.

Author Unknown

Calling all Preemie Moms!

If you haven't heard about this- it is a must see from everything I have been told, and the website reinforces that. I just ordered mine (because I will never find the time to sit down at my parent's house long enough to watch from their TiVo).

Little Man the Movie is a documentary about a micro preemie who is a miracle child beating all the odds. Have a box of tissues ready, and if you are like me, probably plan to watch it in intervals...

Preemie Magazine was also advertised on the LIttle Man website and since I had never heard of it, maybe someone else may be interested too!

Lazy Weekend

It was great, we did so little this weekend. Just hung around the house and by a freak fluke of nature, it actually rained in our neighborhood, so it cooled off a little. Whew, Texas is HOT, people!! Check me out, I am trying to post more, yea me! I learned this weekend that Cyrus likes Pad Thai, even opens his mouth for it!! Collin likes it too, but no surprise there. They may be able to grow up eating the same spicy foods we do after all...

Cyrus has a runny nose again and has been up the past two nights coughing. Poor guy, poor me. :P Sometimes I think it was better when I was up every three hours, at least then I got used to living without sleep. This getting decent sleep once or twice a week is throwing me for a loop. Not like my sleeping schedule was ever "right," I am an insomniac after all. Collin is getting used to the patch again, and I may have to get the next size up to prevent any more unintentional eyebrow waxes. But he wears them fine and considering, he keeps his glasses on too. I will have to get a pic of him with a patch on with his pirate hat wrap...

Grandpa and the boys at Grandpa's house for my birthday.
Yeah, if only they were this cooperative all the time. So cute!


Had to share this! Apparently Cyrus was comfortable after breakfast
and decided to chill out on the couch to let it all out.


Cyrus somehow made his way behind his crib and became trapped,
and Collin was following him right off the cliff.

Lesser of Two Evils

Collin went to the eye doctor on Thursday to check up on his "lazy eye." Basically he will need surgery to correct it, it is just a matter of when. At the moment his left eye is too weak to recover properly from surgery, so we need to strengthen it for a while. We tried the eye patch thing for a while and it was super frustrating trying to keep Cyrus away from Collin, so the doctor gave us a prescription for some dilating eye drops for Collin to use every other day. The results are not as good as with the patch, but better than nothing. So ok, the drops. Well, today was my first attempt with the drops. It really is a two person job, but I managed to get them in but not before traumatizing the poor thing for a minute trying to pry his eye open. I could tie his hands down, but I would really rather not have to do that. So I patched him afterwards, snuck up on him and slapped on the patch. He played with it for a while but eventually forgot about it, until it was time to take it off. OUCH! More trauma. Looks like it will suck no matter what I do. Poor Collin, my happy go lucky baby is getting tortured on a daily basis. I just hope I have the strength to endure the role of torturer for his benefit. Tolerate the heartache in exchange for my son's eye getting strong as quickly as possible to get the surgery over with as quickly as possible too.

On the upside he is starting to imitate more. My mother taught Collin to fake cough, which if he were not such a quiet grunting baby I might be annoyed with, but I have to admit it is pretty cute. I can make a sound and he will make it back with this big smile. No syllables yet, but some times I swear I hear him call out "Maaaa" when he groans for help after he climbs into the wagon and cannot get out.

And speaking of climbing, Cyrus' new trick is climbing into the chairs at the kitchen table. Something all kids must learn to do, yes, but we have ceramic tile floor, so the chairs move very easily. Crisis averted the other night after he managed to get into the chair and lean towards the table causing the chair to slide out from underneath him- but Mommy caught him just in time! Woo Hoo Mommy! Now the chairs are in the living room on the carpet when they are not being used by big people. Cyrus talks all the time and imitates everything. I love it when he brings me things, whatever he pulled off the kitchen counter or found on the floor that he knows is not a toy. If he is allowed to have it I give it back, other wise I say "thank you" and put it away. I only hope it lasts.

Oh yeah, I had a birthday over the weekend, now in the final year of my twenties. I am really looking forward to my thirties, I will still be young but no longer as naive and ignorant. (At least I hope I am not as naive and ignorant!) :P It was my birthday all weekend long, went out Friday night with my Sweetie, Saturday night with two of my closest friends (the boys spent the night at my parent's house! So I slept in!!!), and spent Sunday with my family. Monday morning Gaia went back to her mother's house, and I am always so torn when she goes home.

A month every summer just isn't enough time with her. Yet at the same time I was ready for a break from being hovered over from the moment I woke up to the moment she went to bed. This was the first year she was old enough to really help out with the boys and she did a lot to help out. But having two houses and two sets of very different rules (and parents) must be hard on a kid. This has been a very hard year, the recovery from so much overwhelming pain and stress. I was not at my best this summer for her, and I hope I can make it up to her somehow, sometime. Being a stepmom is really hard, I cannot replace her mother and I do not want to, so how do we fit in with each other, you know?

Well, whew! Back into the blog again! Let me post some pics on here and get myself to bed!

Cyrus having a rockin' time at the Clubhouse for Kids.
Those are my favorite shirts of theirs, in case I had not said so before!

Collin leans out the window of the toddler area where he played
much of the time since he isn't walking yet. Cyrus was running amuck elsewhere.

...And I just want to apologize to those who use IE- I do not know why in the world the type is in super HUGE font, but I will try to fix it. I use Mozilla Firefox, and it looks perfectly normal, so...

Three Meme's for Collin & Cyrus

We have been tagged by Hallie & Heath! So here goes...

THREE NICKNAMES:
Collin: Collin-Ollin, Zombie (since he grunts and groans instead of talks), Pumpkin
Cyrus: Cy, Pumkin, Sneaky Cyrus

THREE PEOPLE THAT MAKE ME LAUGH:
Collin: Big sister Gaia, Grandpa C., cousin Jayden
Cyrus: Gaia, Mommy, Daddy

THREE THINGS THAT I LOVE:
Collin: my train, (anything with lights on it), computers, pushing buttons and making things happen
Cyrus: blankies, seeking out dangerous objects, books

THREE THINGS THAT I HATE:
Collin: being taken away from computers, eating foods that require chewing, getting into the pool
Cyrus: eating, eating, and oh yeah, eating

THREE THINGS THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND:
Collin: why I keep getting taken away from the TiVo box, not being allowed to go face first off of the couch, chair, etc., that pushing on the button in the bath will cause the shower to come on and make me cry- again
Cyrus: why I cannot help empty the dishwasher, that I am not supposed to go after everything Collin wants, that my diaper is not supposed to be taken off and played with at my own will

THREE THINGS ON MY FLOOR:
Collin: me!, peek-a-boo blocks, my blankies during nap time
Cyrus: the clothes I take out of the dresser, the food I do not want to eat, my blankies left all over the house

THREE THINGS I AM DOING RIGHT NOW:
Collin: sleeping, sucking on my washcloth, rolling around in bed
Cyrus: sleeping, sucking my thumb, searching for my blankie

THREE THINGS I CAN DO:
Collin: keep my glasses on, crawl on all fours, get stuck in all sorts of things I thought I could fit in/on/under
Cyrus: walk everywhere, climb onto anything, take Collin's glasses off his face and hand them directly to mom with a warm smile

THREE WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY PERSONALITY:
Collin: serious, highly focused, easy going (does very photogenic qualify for a personality trait?)
Cyrus: sneaky, playful, self-aware

THREE THINGS I CANNOT DO:
Collin: walk, talk, chew solid foods
Cyrus: run, sleep through the night regularly, resist the urge to play with the cats

THREE FAVORITE FOODS:
Collin: spicy foods pureed so it goes down smooth, stars, yogurt
Cyrus: french fries, crackers, sweet peas & lima beans

THREE FOODS I DO NOT LIKE:
Collin: Sweet foods, fruit in sold form, anything that I have to chew
Cyrus: baby foods, cottage cheese, anything in more than minimum quantities (aka four oz.)

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK REGULARY:
Collin & Cyrus: Milk, bottled watter, Pediasure with fiber

THREE SHOWS I WATCH:
Collin & Cyrus: Jacks Big Music Show, Blues Clues, Star Trek TNG

I tag: Loni, Holland & Eden, Jordan & Carson, Gillian via KEP,
Tanner

In Action!

I have to remember not to wait so long between photo posts, far too many wonderful pictures to choose from! Cyrus is walking, and Collin is fearless. I wanted to recommend a product to those who may have problems with their child learning to walk. Walking wings have been great in teching Collin to get off of his belly and start truly crawling on all fours like a big boy. They will be very helpful later on when he is ready to start walking, but right now he just throws his weight forward and lifts his legs like a frog and then he is floating. Silly Collin.

Cyrus had strep throat not too long ago, but none of the pics I took of him covered in red spots turned out. He was a red freckled baby for about four days. Luckily, and I cannot explain how, but Collin did not get the strep. We are now only fighting off a little cold, runny nose and cough. But some things you just have to let your child get exposed to, pick your battles, otherwise we would be stuck in a bubble, and I cannot stay inside that long!

They are enjoying the lazy boy chair together. They are always hanging out together. So cute!

Argh, Captain Collin Sparrow!


Cyrus walking around like he always does these days! :)
His big sister Gaia encouraging him the whole way.


Collin has no fear, and might I remind everyone,
a poor sense of balance. So to walk into the room to see him here
was, well, an adrenaline rush.


But not nearly as fear inducing as this.


Daddy and Cyrus catching up on some QT with a good book.
I love that my boys love their books- have tons of
pictures with them, but too many to post here.


About a lifetime ago, we met up with our friend Tanner
at the local mall, where a wonderful toddler play area is.
Most of my pictures turned out badly, but this one was sweet.


Collin likes to be close to his brother, even while they are about to eat.
They love to watch Blues Clues or Jack's Big Music Show while they eat.


Collin and Gaia posing with big smiles for the Baby Paparazzi! Sweet!

Collin & Cyrus Who?

Hehehe, just kidding, my way of getting it out there that I know its been forever since I blogged. I swear I do not know how all you other twin moms find time to sit down for a hour or two uninterrupted to keep up with your blogs. Now that Cyrus IS WALKING everywhere he can reach my computer and the kitchen table and walk off with anything not tied down. Collin just has a computer obsession and freaks out about getting to it if anyone is using one. By the time they go to bed at 9 PM and I have spent a little time with DH, I have no energy to think about what to tell everyone about how we all are. We are fine. Post. :P

Big sister Gaia is here for the month of July and is such an amazing helper this year. She is almost 10, so she can get a twin (usually Cyrus) in and out of the car seat, put them awkwardly in and out of the crib. She loves to discipline them, but I usually just thank her and let her know I will take care of that part. The boys love her dearly and always want to play with her and make them laugh. She is really good at making them laugh. She is in mourning over the fact that her pregnant mother (with her four child) is giving her yet another brother, bringing the score to brothers 5, sisters 0. She is getting so big and will soon be a pre-teen with all the joys and horrors that go along with being a pubescent girl- all you moms and women know exactly what I am talking about. Ah the first round of teenage behavior practically a generation before the boys. Hurray.


With the new Speech therapist we can concurred that Collin needs a hearing screen. At this stage and developmental ability he should be vocalizing and babbling consonants all the time. And my mother reminded me recently about how the heavy dosage of antibiotics Collin got his first few months could likely have caused some hearing loss. We have an appointment in September. But he eating well unless he is having to feed himself. He will sit in his highchair the whole 40 minutes and eat little to nothing if it is not stars or crackers on his tray. He wont eat fruit, veggies, or meat on his own unless I put it into his mouth myself. He is a carb boy, but at least he is not a sweets lover like Cyrus. Cyrus will eat on his own much better, still not enough to live off of, but better than having to pry his teeth apart to feed babyfood to, still. Are my entries just broken records of information? It certainly feels like it sometimes, LOL.

But like I said earlier, the big news is Cyrus walking. He walks more than he crawls, getting up from the middle of the floor and carrying things with him as he goes. We recently had to replace Collin's glasses for fresh ones thanks to the warranty. The paint was all scrapped off and so many scratches on the lenses, it was likely getting to be hard to see. Not to mention the fact that they broke the side temple right off.

Ok, well I will go back soon and post some great pictures that I have taken, so many to pic from. The Baby Paparazzi still is a shutter bug, I just haven't been printing or posting them.

He has what?

We went to see the dermatologist the other day and found out that Collin has calcium deposits in his thumb. It is nothing to worry about and they will go away on their own, as they will begin to surface and fall off. Did I tell you that one already surfaced and fell off? It was really weird and freaked me out, but that was before the appointment. All the nurses and doctors came in to look at his thumb because apparently no one has ever seen calcium deposits on a thumb before. Usually they are on the heels and are caused by trauma, often from IVs in preemies. Collin had his thumb turn all purple and black for some unknown reason when he was only a week or two old (I think, it was so long ago!) and that was the "trauma" that most likely caused the calcium. Weird, but benign, so all is well.

Ever since the boys have become so active and all over the place I have all but abandoned my computer these days. I sat down and had dozens and dozens of emails tonight when I logged on and it just made me want to walk away. :P I have not been the baby paparazzi either, and that is sad. :( I will take some soon, it is time for a replacement picture for my wallet.

Cyrus is talking all the time now, repeating things we say. The other night he pointed at one of our cats and said "Ca!" We got all excited and I told him what a good boy he was and he said "Good Boy!" It was hilarious. Collin started his speech therapy this week and I LOVE his therapist. She is very good with him and she told me that the reason his tooth is all purple and bulbous is because he is not chewing anything. So she gave me this rubber toothbrush looking thing to stimulate his mouth so he would eat better and encourage him to chew. Wish us luck!

Theraputic Fun

I have been a bit of a scatter brain lately and the other day I totally flaked out on an ECI home therapy appointment with the occupational therapist after having to cancel for Collin's tooth the other day. I have not been checking my email much and have been returning emails even less (Teri Lyn I WILL call you about our appointment!! Sorry!). Right now I have been doing some work for my mother in law and that has temporarily become a part time job. Luckily while Craig is still looking for a job he can babysit the boys while I am out for the afternoon. I am medicating my sorry excuse for an energy level with four shots of espresso a day (two in the morning and two in the afternoon) and it has made me feel like a normal person, able to get through the day without the debilitating need for a nap every time I sit down. I have been forgetting my camera lately too, and missed photo opps at my niece's birthday and the boy's first swim of the year. Then I feel bad about not having pictures to post... the cycle of guilt causes me to not want to post and then I drop off the face of the Internet. Hehehe, oh well, it is not like I am all that important in the blog world anyways.

Anyway, I was about to go on my morning walk with my sister in law like we have been doing every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday when the little voice in my head said "check your calendar!!" and sure enough a physical therapy appointment fifteen minutes after I would have walked out the door. It was a very good and encouraging session too, so I was very happy I remembered. Collin was getting off of his tummy while crawling a lot and Cyrus was taking lots of steps back and forth from me to the therapist. They were so worn out by the end of the hour that Cyrus was laying down on the floor with his blankie sucking his thumb and Collin was yawning and sucking on his blankie/wash rag. Craig calls me later while I was "working" and asked me what I did to our children. This caused a mild panic inside me wondering what had happened to them, but it turned out they just took an extra long nap. Poor little guys.

They are more fun everyday. I can finally see why people say they wish their babies would stay little. I would still like them to feed themselves, however.

Cyrus and Collin are fascinated with a small waterfall at the
Botanical Gardens in Fort Worth.


I think Cyrus is laughing at something his Aunt Jillaine is doing,
but this wasjust an adorable picture. Too cute for the
Baby Paparazzi not to share.


Collin smiles at his cousin Jace, while Cyrus reaches for
his ball cap. No Cyrus, not for you...


While I was gone one afternoon, Craig took a picture of his
discovery of Collin & Cyrus' discovery. Apparently when he first
saw them they were both in the drawer, pulling out all of their PJ's from
their home, but by thetime he got back with the camera
Cyrus had escaped. You didnt catch me,
no proof! It was all Collin!!

Answers or More Questions

I know I have catching up to do, such is my life being the procrastinator that I am, but I was hoping someone could offer up some info about Collin's mouth. Look at the picture below, yes we are going to the doctor about it but I thought maybe someone would know what that black/purple mass is. Is it an infected tooth? Is it the reason he doesn't like to eat anymore? Is it an alien breeding in my child's warm moist mouth? Well, okay maybe not the last one but really holy cow people that is nasty! I found it this morning while playing with him, which of course makes me feel like a bad mother for not finding it earlier.

Craig got a clear shot of poor Collin's tooth/mass at the back of his mouth.
WTF? Is this the reason he hates to eat? Please comment!

Cyrus is almost walking now, taking a handful of steps on his own. He walks from chair to couch, person to person, and loves to walk all over the house with help. He does not know how to get up to standing from sitting without a chair or something to pull himself up. He is talking all the time, bottle (bah-bah), toes, blankie, and tons of baby babbling as he points to things.

I caught him laughing, what a great smile! The bump on his head is from a
recent fall while trying to pull a cup off of the kitchen table and losing his balance.

Collin is an airplane on, his big sister, Gaia's knees. She loves to play with
whoever is more interested in being cutest at the time.

I will get a better entry in later (isn't that just like a procrastinator?) but I have some things to do before getting Collin to the doctor, again. Between Collin's thumb (which has been referred to a dermatologist) and this, we are getting way to familiar with the pediatrician's office.

Xanga Returns!

I have not made a real post on there yet, but I just wanted to let everyine know that my original Xanga site is working again and I will be posting on it tonight! Yippee! But do not worry to all you Bloggers, I will still keep up the mirror blog. :) I am just so happy to have my old blog back.