The first attachment is from the end of last week when my Mom was here helping.

We went to David and Shelly's house this weekend. We really enjoyed the visit although David made a trip to the drug store Saturday morning for a pack of earplugs and a large bottle of nyquil.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed all the attention...Thomas' fake cough has gotten 10 times worse.

Saturday night, Shelly made lasagna for all our family and Brian made me an ice cream cake to celebrate my 30 birthday. Shelly couldn't find the "0" to put on the cake so settled for a "1"...

I am not 31!

Ugh. It's bad enough I am turning 30.

We brought Doodle and Annie with us. Jackson just loves Annie and asked several times if she could stay.

Annie was a rock and put up with all his loving.
More pictures of this coming later this week.

Jackson showed a keen interest in his cousins. In fact he was very helpful. He enjoyed giving them their bottles. Sunday morning, Thomas was fussing in his bouncy seat so Jackson asked if he could rock him.

He ever so gently bounced the seat putting Thomas right to sleep. Jackson is a good kid, in spite of what their parents say about him.

must sleep now.
love to all.

Just some cute pictures....

The boys had their 6 month vaccines today. I must say they took them well. My mother is here helping us for which I am very thankful! An extra pair of hands is wonderful.

We are heading to my brother, David and his wife, Shelly's house tomorrow night for the weekend.

love to all,

Tuesday afternoon:

Sorry no DDOB last night. Nathan had a belly ache and was spitting up badly until nearly 10 PM so I could think only of my pillow. He seems okay today but I think I'll just do cereal and milk for a little while. No more fruit or vegetables for a day or 2.

Early Intervention came this afternoon. Julie, the educator, brought Robin the physical therapist to evaluate the boys. A very informative session. The reason the therapist was called in was Nathan's neck muscles and Thomas' arching. When you pull Nathan into the sitting position, he offers no help in bringing his head up with his torso. Thomas arches his back very often...enough so that it prevents him from rolling over. This arching is referred to as extension and is common in preemies. So to help Nathan's problem, putting him on his belly, hoping he will lift his head will strengthen those muscles. Thomas' problem can be helped by reminding him to bring his hands to centerline and practicing sitting up.

Wednesday afternoon:
Sorry this DDOB is so long in coming. The boys are increasingly wanting my attention and they so rarely nap at the same time! When they do, I desperately try to get cooking or cleaning done! Nathan seems better but now it seems like he wants to be nursed asleep at night. at 4:30 this morning, Thomas woke up and had no desire to go back to sleep until I nursed him. Not sure what that was from. Nathan was awake at 5:45 this morning....again not sure why they are waking up. It's been 7AM or later. I cooked up some chicken, rice and carrots today for their supper! First time for meat, so we'll see how it goes.

The pictures are of the EI visit to give you an idea of who they are and what we do.

love to you all!

Mashed peas are NOT a hit. I can't blame them though....I remember flinging my peas one at a time under the kitchen table while we ate supper and later in childhood, doing my brother's math homework if he ate my peas. Thomas suffered through a small portion but Nathan pursed his lips and refused all after the first taste. So far, applesauce, mashed bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots are all editable according to the short people.

Yesterday, I did a few errands without them. I really miss them when I am out especially if I see another little kid(s). So, we did a diaper run to Walmarts together. I just have fun with them even though it's more work!

good night!
love,
Jennifer

We had a few visitors today. Patti and Joey DeMoura came by for lunch. Joey is 1.5 years old and the boys have inherited several of his baby items....swing, saucer, etc. It was a quick visit and I forgot to get pictures, so we'll try again next time. Late this afternoon, a fellow we work(ed) with came by with his family. They live just over in Northboro. Their son is 2.5 and their daughter is 8 days old! So fun to hold her. They are a really nice family. Thomas was embarassingly flirty with Kathlynn. It just went on and on. Even after she left, he was really silly acting. : )

It's off to bed!
love to all,

We've just been having quiet days here. I would say the boys are getting close to well again. Their noses just run now when they cry. Nathan still sounds weasy. We are really enjoying nice weather--going outside for walks and tours of the yard. I have determined that Moose (our one remaining miniature donkey) is deathly afraid of the stroller.

Yes, their onesies say Chicago Cubs...is that baseball, hockey or football? Beats me. (Can you tell Matt is already gone to bed) Okay, I see little baseballs on the clothes. They came from our friend Sarah Williams who is a originally from Maine, went to school in Boston and now lives in Chicago. No, we did not take them out in public with these on....

We had someone come test drive our F150 this morning, but no interest.

The boys had for the first time today, sweet potatoes at lunch and applesauce mixed with cereal at supper. Both were a big hit! When Thomas has a new food, he gags on the first bite, spits out what he has regergitated and then proceeds to eat like a champ! Nathan really did well with his supper, opening his mouth for me. At first this evening, Nathan was pursing his lips and sucking it off the spoon. It was not the right action, but got the job done--very cute.

One last thing I noticed today while Thomas was in the saucer. I put his bottle on the saucer in front of him and turned back to the table. When I looked again, he had grabbed the bottle and was bringing it to his mouth. He didn't pick it up to get milk into the nipple, but it was neat to see him understand what to do with it.

all for now,
love to each one,
Jennifer

The boys had their 6 month check up yesterday with Dr. Cohen. Mom came with me and gave me the okay on their pediatrician. This was her first time to meet him. He decided not to give vaccines as Nathan sounded weasy from his cold. We'll go back the end of this coming week. He was very pleased with their progress. He says we can feed all foods including meat now. No dairy, eggs, peanut, fish or honey though. He wants Nathan to go in a crib now. Nathan has been sleeping in a pack-n-play in the living room. I think he doesn't want him to get too used to that and have a hard time transiting to a crib. The doc wants us to start baby proofing and to put the cribs down to a lower position. He has changed their vitamins to a new one with fluoride in it as our well water does not have it. He has taken Nathan off the zantec as Nathan nicely obliged us and spit up 3 times in front of the doctor! but not on the doctor. He is putting him on another drug which starts with a p (more on the name later) to see if we can curb the spitting up. Nathan is not hindering his growing but it does hinder what we do with him so he is not getting as much exposure to things. Like we really can't put him on his belly to practice crawling any time remotely after eating. Or we hold Thomas in all different positions when we play with him but Nathan get stuck pretty much only in the upright position. Here are their latest stats:

Thomas 15.5 lbs 26 inches long
Nathan 14 lbs 24 inches long

Our friend Kathe gave us a mobile that we hung over Thomas' crib. He is enthralled with it! He gets these huge eyes and a little o shaped mouth. It is so cute.

I noticed Thomas reach up and push his pacifier back in his mouth the other day.

We had a really nice weekend. It's wonderful to have a few extra pairs of hands. The boys exhibited no strangeness with their grandparents but my parents did go slow with picking them up.

must tend my charges now.