Two are Better than One

The only thing better than waking up to one smiley baby in the morning....is getting smiles from two babies when you open their bedroom door. It's bliss!

Caelan

Caelan is such a happy an active little guy...a real boy. He loves to figure out how toys work and will sit for quite some time with one object. Caelan is on the verge of walking on his own, but seems to be quite cautious with respect to taking that first step. He loves to laugh and would eat all day long if I let him. His favorite foods are peas and grapes, or whatever Shaylah is eating at the time. Caelan probably weighs about 20 pounds. He still wakes up once in the middle of the night, but loves to have a good long nap in the day and falls asleep easily. He is definitely a Momma's boy and prefers to be with me at all times.

Update on Ashlyn

It has been a while since I have given a more detailed update on the babies. Ashlyn has had quite a year! She no longer has any feeding issues and has a great appetite for most things. Her favorite foods are cheese and pasta, but she will gladly eat her frutis and vegetables too. Ashlyn is pulling up to stand at the furniture, crawling all over the house and especially loves to practice climbing the stairs. She cries when she has to come out of the bathtub and is the most stubborn of all the kids. She sleeps through the night and has a wonderful 3 hour nap in the middle of the day. She is sweet and gentle and seems to be the favorite of most of her relatives...I think because she is still so little. She hasn't been weighed in a while, but I am guessing she is still under 17 pounds (wearing the clothes that Shaylah wore at 6 months of age).

Visiting Great Gran

Last week we took a visit to Great Gran's house for lunch. What fun we had! Since we will be spending Chrsitmas with Johnny's side of the family, we decided it would be fun to open a few Christmas presents so that Great Gran and Auntie Joan could watch.

Happy Due Date!

The babes are now "officially" one year old!

Thanks Melanie (part 2)

These are my favorites of the babies. You did an amazing job Melanie!

Visiting Great Granny

Do we look alike?

Not too impressed

The babies were not too impressed with dressing up this year, but they were good sports about it anyway.

Snack time at Mother Goose

We attend a Mother Goose program once a week at the local community centre where we sing songs and tell stories. We all love the chance to get out of the house, meet new people and learn new songs.

Vote Life!

YouTube - Da Mihi Animas: Americas Choice 2008: Vote Life!

Time saver

I discovered this week that Ashlyn will feed herself....what a wonderful thing!

Visiting the Pumpkin Patch

The many faces of Ashlyn

Ashlyn

Ashlyn is not yet pulling to stand, but she does occasionally like to stand and play in her exersaucer. Since she has started crawling though, she is happiest being placed on the floor where she can explore and roam. She is getting much faster and stronger and we are so happy that she is on the move!

Big bully.

Caelan is a bit of a bully. In his quest to crawl and climb, he doesn't care what (or who) gets in his way. His favorite place to play is on top of another human being...whoever happens to be on the floor at the time. As you can see, the girls don't seem to mind (yet!).

Standing

Caelan loves to stand. He is standing in his crib when I go to get him in the morning and he stands up any chance he gets throughout the day.

Hanging out with Jackpot

Giggles (video)

Shaylah had Caelan giggling this morning.

What a difference a year makes

Ashlyn 945 grams (2 pounds, 1 ounce)


On August 29 of last year, these two precious babies were brought into the world 14 weeks too early. Here are the first photos taken of each of them.






Caelan - 980 grams (2 pounds, 2 ounces)




Happy Birthday little ones!

Now it's Caelan's turn

Caelan's stats:

Weight: 18 pounds, 10 ounces

New skills: Crawls on his belly, pushes up onto his hands and knees

Number of teeth: Four

Favorite play spot: Outside on the grass

Best characteristics: Big smile, very loving, sleeps more than his sister, great eater.

11 months chronological age: 8 months corrected age

Ashlyn's latest stats:

Weight: 14 pounds, 7 ounces

New skills: sitting and rolling aound the room

Favorite play spot: under the coffee table

Number of teeth: Two

Most exciting event of the month: Her g-tube was removed!

Best characteristics: Easy going (except when Caelan steals the toy she is playing with), sleeps 10-11 hours at night, loves to laugh

Ashlyn has become a thumb sucker

Before!

After!

Many of you know I have been growing my hair for quite a while with the idea of donating it to Locks of Love. I finally did it!

My Marathon of Pumping

I have been pumping full-time now for almost 11 months. We are not talking once or twice a day, but enough times to establish a milk supply and provide enough milk to feed 2 babies for the first few months of their lives (about 7-8 times per day). I was hoping to get both babies breast feeding before leaving the hospital, but unfortunately Ashlyn was not able to orally feed until she was 6 months old. By that time, it was too late to introduce the breast and she would only take the bottle. And so the pumping continues! I made the decision early that I would provide breast milk for her as long as I was giving it to Caelan, because I want them both to have the same benefits that it provides. My views about pumping have changed dramitcally over the past few months though and I no longer hate it like I once did. It is, however, extremely time-consuming, especially since I can't feed the babies at the same time. My routine consists of feeding Caelan by breast, pumping for Ashlyn and then feeding her by bottle. I have been pumping so much that I have actually worn through the motor on my hospital-grade electric pump...I am sure not many people have done that! Luckily it was warrantied and I received a brand new pump. I plan on continuing this routine until they are at least one year old for their corrected age (December), but at least with the introduction of solids last month, I have been able to cut my pumping time in half. I think I am through the tough part and am pretty proud of myself for persevering.

One other note: For those of you that can't breastfeed...many people talk about the strong bond that mom and baby develop as a result of breast-feeding. I just want to say that I do not feel a stronger bond with my breast-fed baby than I do with the one that is bottle fed. The bond is the same and it makes no difference!

Two Heads are Better than One

Crawling soon?

Caelan pushed up onto his knees for the first time this week. I am entering a new era where the babies never stay in the position I leave them on the floor anymore. Caelan usually finds himself trapped in a corner somewhere and starts screaming for help.

Feet

Taken just to show you the difference in the size of their feet. Caelan is on the left, Ashlyn is on the right.

The sweetest thing

Ashlyn remains the sweetest of all my babies. She has been through so much, but she is calm, happy and easy to take care of. She loves getting attention from Shaylah and laughs easily at her antics.

Mr. Personality

Caelan has developed quite a little personality in the past few weeks. He loves to play and laugh, especially with his sisters. He now has 3 teeth, with one or two more about to break through. He still loves to eat, although vegetables are not his favorite thing in the world. He is quickly gaining size on Ashlyn and probably outweighs her by 4 or more pounds.