Ashlyn is Two!

Ashlyn is my delicate little girl. She is constantly coming to me to kiss her "owies" and to make everything better. She is becoming more easy-going as she gets older and loves to laugh. She is quiet in her bed and I only ever know she is awake if I hear her moving in her bed....she never cries or makes noise, unlike her loud brother. Ashlyn loves to sing (songs that she makes-up) and bounces to the music whenever it is on. She is learning new words weekly now and has even started to put 2 words together. She has come to me a few times to let me know that her diaper needs changing, so I guess potty-training will be in the very near future. While she is still unsteady on her feet, she has amazing climbing abilities. She weighs 21 pounds and is wearing size 18 month clothes and size 4 shoes.

Calean is a BIG boy now!

Caelan has become such a big boy these days and he seems to be growing up overnight. He loves to cuddle, wear his mother's shoes, carry a bag around to put all his treasures in...and generally just wants whatever Ashlyn has in her hands. He goes to bed easily for his naps, but likes to talk to Ashlyn for quite a while before succumbing to sleep at night. He enjoys picking up rocks when we go for walks, he loves to be chased or tickled and he thinks the game of keep-away is the funniest game ever. He is wearing size 24 months clothes and size 5 shoes and weighs 27 pounds.

Both kids love to be tickled! (videos)

Just an update

I have no pictures to post because our computer has not been working for the past 2 weeks...we are hopefully getting it back today in working order! I thought I should write a little update on the kids so that I don't forget this stage they are going through. They will be 2 years old in only 2 weeks and I am not sure where the time has gone!

Ashlyn - continues to amaze me. This is a little girl that had a grade IV intra-ventricular hemorhage at birth and she is now walking and talking. Grade IV means that the bleed was so large that it leaked out of the ventricle and caused further damage to the white matter of her brain. There are no higher grades. We were initially told that she would be profoundly impaired and that we may need to make decisions surrounding "life vs quality of life". I am so glad that God chose another path for her. There are definitely signs of of her brain damage, but she continues to surpass all my expectations. She is still quite unsteady on her feet and falls frequently...she has more bruises and scrapes than any child I know, but it does not slow her down. She gets right back up and keeps going. Her strengths are definitely in her fine motor skills and cognitive skills. Her favorite phrase lately is "Oh No!" and she says it very frequently. Other new words include, shoes (for which she continues to have a fetish), milk, juice, nose, and others that I can't think of at this moment :). She finally knows the difference between her g-tube scar and her belly-button, she likes to give kisses and hugs and she is starting to walk up and down the stairs instead of crawl. She is becoming a very sweet little girl.

Caelan - is definitely all boy. He has become a bit of a bully toward his younger sister lately, which does not make me happy. He wants whatever she wants and pushes her out of the way to get it. He laughs if I scold him and he thinks everything in life is a big joke. He loves it when he sees a plane in the sky or hears a train. He now says "wooda" for "What's that?" and "hi", but the rest is all jibberish. He walks up and down the stairs, loves to rough-house with his big sister Shaylah and loves to eat. He is becoming such a big boy so quickly and has a very fun personality.

New discoveries

Things we learned this weekend.

1. Caelan hates being dirty

2. Ashlyn loves being dirty

3. Caelan will not wear a hat no matter what you do

4. Ashlyn asks to wear a hat...but it has to be the one that she (not you) chose to wear

Raspberries

As with everything Ashlyn does, the raspberries went down much more slowly and neatly than her brothers.

Ashlyn's stats:

Weight: almost 21 pounds

Favorite foods: pasta, berries

Favorite game: Peek-a-boo

Favorite book: anything with animals

Personality: independent, fiesty

New skills: walking, talking

New words of the week: More, banana, night-night, Ashlyn, book, balloon

Hates: when someone tries to help her do something

Favorite activity: climbing

Caelan loves raspberries (almost!) as much as his Mama does.

Caelan's latest stats:

Weight: 27 pounds

Favorite game: Chase

Favorite foods: Fruits and Vegetables

Hates: Long sleeved shirts, wearing shoes

Personality: Very affectionate, loves to laugh, easy

New skills: walking up and down the stairs, starting to run

Language: lots of pointing and vocalizing, but no words yet