Six Month Checkup

We had our six month checkup today. The kids are doing great. Not as much seemed to happen at this checkup when compared to others. I'm thinking that's because Amy and I are now old pros at parenthood. ;)

Even though the twins each had an ear infection, the doctor said their ears looked great. We were also given some tips on transitioning to solid(ish) foods.

The big news of the checkup was when the doctor said, "Oh, Caroline, you already have a tooth." Amy and I were stunned! We check both kids everyday (including yesterday) to see if any teeth are coming in and we never saw or felt a thing. Caroline was a little whiny last night and today at day care pre-pre-school so I guess that thing might have been annoying her as it fought its way out. I'll try to get a picture up of it at some point.

The kids got some more immunizations along with a flu shot. Each got three shots. Caden didn't flinch at the first shot, was upset at the second, and cried a little after the third. Caroline started crying immediately, but I think she was slightly quieter than she was last night.

Below are there stats from this visit and the previous visits. The doctor said our kids were very nicely proportioned (I agree) and that they were doing well...especially for one month pre-mature twins.

Caroline

six month:
weight: 15lbs 15 ounces and 50th percentile
height: 27 inches and 90th percentile
head circumference: 43 cm and 52nd percentile

four month:
weight: 13 lbs 6 ounces and 45th percentile
height: 25 inches and 75th percentile
head circumference: 41.3 cm and 50th percentile

two month:
weight: 11 lbs 12 ounces and 75th percentile
height: 23 inches and 75th percentile
head circumference: 39.4 cm and 53rd percentile

one month:
weight: 9 lbs 1 ounces and 50th percentile
height: 20.5 inches and 30th percentile
head circumference: 36.5 cm and 25th percentile

two week:
weight: 7 lbs 10 ounces and 25th percentile
height: 20 inches and 50th percentile
head circumference: 35.4 cm and 25th percentile

birth:
weight: 7 lbs
height: 19.375 inches
head circumference: 34 cm and 25th percentile

Caden

six month:
weight: 14lbs 15 ounces and 8th percentile
height: 25 1/4 inches and 10th percentile
head circumference: 43cm and 25th percentile

four month:
weight: 12 lbs 11 ounces and 10th percentile
height: 24 inches and 25th percentile
head circumference: 41cm and 20th percentile

two month:
weight: 10 lbs 4 ounces and 25th percentile
height: 22 1/4 inches and 25th percentile
head circumference: 38.2 cm and 12th percentile

one month:
weight: 7 lbs 13 ounces and 5th percentile
height: 20 inches and 5th percentile
head circumference: 35.8 cm and 6th percentile

two week:
weight: 6 lbs 4 ounces and 5th percentile
height: 19 inches and 6th percentile
head circumference: 33.9 cm and 5th percentile

birth:
weight: 5 lbs 10 ounces
height: 18.125 inches
head circumference: 32.3cm and 5th percentile

Here are a couple graphs I quickly made of the twins height. (I'm a dork.) And yes, I know time is not evenly distributed over the x-axis but I think it gets the point across. (The time issue just makes the lines curve up a little more than they actually do.)
Even though Caroline is still quite a bit larger than Caden, it is nice to see they are growing about the same rate. (Though Caroline did grow taller a little faster over the last couple months.) Sometimes I feel like Caroline is massive compared to our little man, but these graphs tell me he'll get there. It might take a few years, but Caden will pass big sis.

I Quit My Job Today

12 Years. I'm done.

I'm giving up Powerpoint Presentations for Poopy Diapers and Excel Spreadsheets for wiping stuffy noses. I can't imagine anything better!

Jason's been urging me for weeks to write a blog post for my last day and I wasn't really sure what to say. I mean, what do you say about 12 years at a company? I've gone from just out of college to married with kids, all while at Dell. So, I'll give you just a few highlights and interesting facts about my tenure at Dell:

• At last count, I've had 47 Managers at Dell. I doubt if I could remember all of their names.
• I've had cubes in 9 different buildings at Dell.
• I have mad Powerpoint and Excel Skills. I wonder if I'll need to use Pivot tables in my new job job as a stay at home mom.
• I Moved to Nashville for 4 Years to start Dell's Nashville Facility. Moving to Nashville and back (that was for you Michael & Amy) was one of the best experiences as I learned a new city and met new people.
• Spent 3 Weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina.....it was great, I could have stayed longer!
• Spent 6 Weeks in Roseburg, Oregon - 2 days would have been plenty! ;)
• I spent 3 months in Panama. You don't know humidity until you live on the Panama Canal. I also got one of the worst sunburns of my life in an afternoon spent so close to the equator!
• This past year, I traveled to Vancouver and Toronto. Both great places! Jason joined me in Toronto and we visited Niagara Falls while we were there.
• I've managed 4 people and I've managed 45 while at Dell. I doubt either will have prepared me to manage two toddlers!
• I've met great friends! I won't list them all here for fear that I would leave someone important out.

Lastly, there are 5 Friendships that I I think will last a lifetime.....all because I worked at Dell. The first three, Mandy, Danelle and Susanna, I met during my 4 years in Nashville. None of them work for Dell, however, if it weren't for my job taking me to Nashville, I wouldn't know them at all. These three girls were my family away from home for 4 years! I love them all so much and miss them dearly! The last two, Jenny and Heidii, both work at Dell. The last few years with Heidii and Jenny are some I'll never forget as we all got married within just a few months of each other, and then 2 years later, all had children within just 5 weeks of each other. We've walked beside each other during some of the biggest moments in our lives.....and I probably wouldn't know them at all would it not be for Dell.

So, all in all, I've had a great run, learned a ton, traveled a ton and fostered friendships that will last a lifetime. Not bad for 12 years. ;)

Some Old Pictures of Angela

My little sister is getting married in a couple months. She and my mom scanned a whole bunch of pictures so I can make a video slide show for her and her future husband, Allen. I thought I'd share a few of those pictures.

Here is Angela dressed like an angel. She has dressed like an angel for Halloween many times in her life. I was normally dressed as a devil...even though everyone agrees I was the good child.*
* Okay, I made that up the part that everyone agreeing I was the good child. :) I think we were both pretty good.

Every kid that grew up in Texas needs a Blue Bonnet picture. I think she is trying to smell the flowers.
Here are Angela and I hanging from a tree at our old house. Notice how I have two gigantic bunny teeth (thank you Dr Chu for fixing that) while Angela is missing a front tooth. She lost that tooth soon after it came in so she was missing it for years.
I think this is St Thomas (though it might be Hawaii). I'm pretty sure a speedo would have covered more of my legs than the swimsuit I have on here. Well, at least my belly button is covered...
I'm seeing a trend with me in short shorts pulled up high, high. Angela looks cute in this one though. Caden often makes the pouty face that I'm making here.
Does this look dangerous to anyone else? :) Don't worry if Angela falls, she has the brick fireplace to cushion her fall.
Most people say Caden looks like me but he does't look like I did as a baby. After Amy saw Angela's baby pictures, she decided that Angela is who Caden looks like. What do you think?Other than Angela having a ton more hair than Caden, I think Amy is correct and I'd be happy if Caden grew up taking after his aunt Angela.

Pink and Blue Pacifiers -- Part 2

Okay, there are not actually any pacifiers in this story but I think it goes along nicely with the previous post.

Yesterday, I had a migraine and needed a short 2 minute break to get medication, food, etc. I thought I could buy a few minutes to myself by putting the kids in their bumbo seats and covering the trays with toys. I put the kids right next to each other so they could entertain themselves and gave them each an equal number of toys on their tray. When I came back a few minutes later, I found this.
As you can see, Caroline is a little bit of a toy hog. Thankfully, Caden doesn't mind...well at least not yet.

Pink and Blue Pacifiers

Today, I decided to let Caden and Caroline play together in Caden's crib to watch Caden's mobile while I tried to get a few things done around the house. When I put them down, Caden was sucking on his blue pacifier and Caroline was sucking on her pink pacifier. But when I came back, Caroline had a pink pacifier in her hand and a blue one in her mouth! This is not the first time she has stolen Caden's pacifier but I think it is the first time she successfully maneuvered it into her mouth.

Jason and I have our work cut out for us with her. With Caroline, the grass is always greener on the other side. :) She always wants what she doesn't have. Any time you hold a toy in front of her, she will completely lose interest in whatever she was playing with and reach for the new toy like she has never seen something that cool. We really need to get a video of this sometime. It always makes us laugh. We enjoy doing this over and over by rotaing two toys through Caroline.

Daddy Making the Kids Laugh

I love it when our kids laugh. Here are a couple short videos of me making them laugh. These might be my favorite videos of the twins so far. The first one is of Caroline laughing.

And here is my little peanut laughing.

I love how they laugh and smile very differently from one another. As you can see, Caroline is much louder than Caden. In general, she is our loud child.

Ear Infections and Doctor Visit

Last Friday, Amy decided to take Caroline to the doctor after Caroline (and mommy) barely slept the night before. Caroline was also diagnosed with ear infection. :( Thankfully, by the time I'm posting this, both kids seem to have already gotten over them. They are both still on this thick pink medicine. Caden seems to like it while Caroline does not. Most of Caroline's medicine ends up on her bib.

We learned a couple things at the doctor.

First, the doctor told us our kids are too old to be swaddled at night. The longer we wait to stop swaddling them, the harder it will be to eventually break them of the habit. Amy and I were worried the kids would not sleep well outside their swaddles and even considered waiting until next week when Grandma visits so she could help at night. :) Thankfully, leaving the swaddles was not a big deal. It is a little harder to put them down at night but they sleep pretty well. I think Caden might actually sleep better because he can calm himself down at night by shoving his hands in his mouth.

Second, the doctor was very impressed with Caden's motor boat sound. There is a video of it in the previous post from about a month ago. Caden is much better (aka: louder and longer) at the sound now. The doctor told Amy that most babies are unable to make that sound until they are around seven months. She even called a nurse in to come see him making the sound. Caden has been doing it since he was three months old. He is our advanced little communicator. :)

Also, the doctor thinks the twins are teething because of all the drooling and how they love sticking their hands in their mouth. We check every night but have yet to find a tooth.

Some Videos of Our Talking Twins

Here is Caden's motor boat (aka raspberry) sound. Caden makes this sound all the time. He makes it when he's tired. He makes it when hes board. He makes it when he is ready to get out of bed. He makes it in the middle of the night when mommy and daddy are trying to sleep. He makes it when you talk to him. Seriously, ALL the time.

Caroline and Grandma were playing together and Caroline talking very loudly to Grandma. This went on for five or ten minutes before I picked up the camera. I got there a little to late and Caroline got a little upset towards the end.

Here are a couple videos of Caroline talking with Daddy.

It almost sounds like Caroline is saying "hello" in this video...yeah, I know that's a stretch. :)

Caroline Falling Over (On the Couch)

Caroline's balance is not as good as her brother's. Caden can sit or stand by himself (leaning against a couch) without much of a problem. Caroline has not mastered this yet and falls over much more easily than Caden. Here are some pictures I snapped of Caroline trying to sit up by herself. Thankfully, neither of our kids mind falling over. I think they sometimes enjoy it.

Caden Wants to Spend Time with Daddy

I got home late tonight because I played basketball after work. After getting home, I helped with dinner (mostly I helped with eating part) and then I held/fed Caroline. I had said hi to Caden but hadn't seen him much. Well, Caden started acting very poorly for Amy as she was holding him. He was whining, wouldn't eat, and kept looking at me. Amy thought he wanted to see his Daddy and decided to switch kids with me. Immediately, Caden started smiling, laughing, and was in a great mood. He even chugged his bottle for me in no time. I thought it was very sweet how my little man just wanted to spend time with his Daddy.
Just so we are clear...by no means does this mean Caden wanted to get away from Mommy. She is definitely his favorite person. It is just he spent all day with her and had not yet seen me.

Caden's First Ear Infection

Amy and I knew Caden and Caroline have not felt great the last few days. They have both been congested and would wake up in the middle of the night because of it. Caroline has stayed about the same but Caden has gotten a little worse. Today, Amy decided to take Caden to the doctor. (I'm so thankful we have good health insurance.)

After the doctor scraped all the wax out of Caden's ears, she saw our little guy had an ear infection. She decided to check Caroline's ears and thankfully they were fine. The doctor prescribed some medicine for Caden that should take care of his ears. Also, both kids have minor eye infections. We have a goopy gel to put on their eyes to help clear them up.

Both kids were weighed at the doctor visit. Caroline weighed in at 14 lbs 12 ounces (wearing a very heavy/wet diaper) which was up from 13 lbs 6 ounces a month ago. Caden weighed in 13 lbs 7 ounces (with a dry diaper) which was up from 12 lbs 11 ounces. Caden had been catching up but it looks like Caroline is starting to pull away again.

Despite having an ear infection, Caden was a delight tonight. He jumped in his jumperoo for a good 45 minutes while we made and ate dinner. I should have videoed our sick child having all that fun. With the whining coming from Caroline, you would have thought she was the sick one.