A Hot One!

It sure was a hot weekend here in Chicago! Almost felt like we were back in Texas. We spent most of the days on the balcony enjoying the sunshine and letting the girls splash around in their pool.

Nudey Booty's!

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Fun!

Splish Splashin'

Taking a walk with mama

Caroline was whooped after all the activities.

She fell asleep in her exersaucer.

Yesterday we went to Aunt Kari's to celebrate her birthday.

Happy Birthday , Aunt Kari!!!

With Grandma Diane

All the cousins

They only sat still for that one nano-second.

Toysss!

Gimme that!

We love daddy.

Videos:

Caroline doing Eskimo Kisses with mama


C practicing her "walking"


Olivia


One more of C

Cardiology Follow-Up & Another Visitor

Yesterday we took Olivia in for her follow up Cardiology appointment, to check on her heart murmur and the progress of her PFO. If you remember, she was diagnosed with this back in February. Since a lot of you have asked, here's a general definition:

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a relatively common and often asymptomatic heart defect that is present at birth (congenital). During fetal development, the heart’s two upper chambers (atria) are connected by a hole through the wall of muscle that separates them (septum). This hole, along with a blood vessel
connecting the pulmonary artery (artery going to the lungs) and the aorta (the main artery going to the body), must be present in the fetus in order to detour blood away from the lungs. This hole is called the foramen ovale, and it normally closes shortly after birth. When it remains open after birth, it is said to be “patent,” which is another away of saying “open.”

Olivia had an EKG and those results came back normal. The murmur and PFO are still present, although not as prominent now so it's progressing nicely. The Cardiologist ordered another echocardiogram for her in 6 months from now and is optimistic that the hole should be closed on its own by that point. Yay, Livi! We also had the doc take a listen to Caroline, since a slight murmur has also been detected in her heart as well. It's there, but we'll have to wait and see what becomes of that.

Here are a lot of pictures I took at the appointment:

Liv getting her blood pressure taken

All hooked up for the EKG, she did so good!

Liv conversing with Dr. V.

Caroline's turn!

All done!

Back home and playing with our new toy!

Video of Caroline playing, and Liv losing interest



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And Cousin Meridith came over to play!

Visitor

My good friend from back home, Iliana, is in town and stayed with us last night. This was the first time she met the girls and had so much fun with them. She's always told me, "oh, I wish I had twins!" So she got to see first hand the challenges of having two, but the girls were behaving pretty well so she didn't experience their wrath known as "Double Trouble". Thanks Nana for helping with the babes, and for all the awesome gifts! Come back and visit us anytime!

The hats Iliana gave Rob & I =)

Cute Stuff

Our cuties before their Saturday morning walk.

The girls and daddy watching cartoons.

And my cutie-patootie's this morning. This was right when I got them out of their cribs and their bed-head was out of control.

Just crawling away...

On the go...

Now that the girls have mastered crawling, they are on the go all the time. The Baby Jail? Hah! They'll only sit in there if an adult sits in there with them... and they pretty much get tired of the confinement within a few minutes and cry to be let out. They LOVE just roaming the open spaces of our (tiny) apartment, climbing up on anything they can grab onto. It's plain exhausting. Here's a few pictures of them in jail yesterday before they got tired of it.

Liv in the darker pink

Let me out, mom!!!

And a video of them playing, notice how every single thing

goes right into the mouth.

And me and a happy Caroline after her bath last night.

9 Month Pediatrician Appointment

We had the girls' 9 month appointment yesterday. Everything checked out really well and Dr. Ray even said that they are total "super stars". The girls are both hitting every milestone that 9-m0nth olds should and are no longer being adjusted for prematurity since they are all caught up. They both had to get one shot but took it like champs and hardly cried at all. They were so cute showing off their smiles and giggles to all the nurses, and loved getting the attention as usual.

Now for the stats.

Caroline (aka Pipsqueak)
Weight: 16lbs, 5oz - 10th percentile
Lenght: 27 inches - 25-50th percentile

Olivia
Weight: 18lbs, 9.5oz - 50th percentile
Length: 27.25 inches - 25-50th percentile

Liners still lags a bit behind her sister, which I'm sure Reflux has played a role, but as the doctor reminds me: she is just different from Olivia and grows at her own pace as any idividual does. I feel awful constantly comparing them to each other, but they are identical twins, so unfortunately this will be the continuing trend in their lives.

As for their development up until this point...

Like I've mentioned before, the girls continue to amaze us by hitting every single milestone within only days of each other. If one starts doing a new trick, her sister is always close to follow. Both girls are now doing the following:

• crawling so well, we often have baby races
• pulling up to a standing position
• gets into everthing!
• finger feeds with puffs/cheerios/yogurt melts
• getting the hang of a sippy cup
• shakes head "no"
• imitates sounds and gestures
• waves hi/bye
• eats pretty much anything
• can say mama, dada, baba
• sleeping about 11-12 hours on average

Our girls are getting so BIG! Sorry for not having any new pics to share. Grandpa Richard & Grandma Linda are coming to visit this weekend so I'm sure we'll have lots of new ones to post in a couple days.