Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Finally, Addison and Fischer have some "real" shoes. They got their first pairs of tennis shoes yesterday, and they are so small and adorable.  


Fischer is still sick, and now Addison is too. This is to be expected since they share everything.  The Doctor recommended trying some Benadryl since it sounded like allergies. They both got some of that, and it didn't seem to help at all. I'm thinking they have colds rather than allergies, so I'm waiting on a nurse to call me back to see if she has any suggestions for their coughs and congestion. Luckily, they have stayed fever-free, and aren't too terribly fussy. They just aren't sleeping as well because they are so congested.

They are enjoying their time with Grandma and really enjoy getting held more than usual. :)

Here is Addison with her beloved sippy cup, and Fischer taking a little rest from playing in the baby jail. 



Sunday, March 28, 2010

Things are staying busy around here. Scott left for Japan this morning, but my mom is here helping me out!

It seems that Fischer either has a cold, or bad allergies. The pollen has been so bad, so I'm thinking it's the allergies rather than a cold.  He doesn't have a fever, and doesn't seem to feel too bad. His nose is really stuffy, which is also making him cough. He hates when I wipe and suction his nose, so that is making him a little fussy. I plan to call the doctor first thing tomorrow morning to see what I can do to help him.

Addison had a pretty fussy day yesterday. She cried a lot, and was very unhappy whenever I would leave the room. Luckily, today, she was in a better mood.  It seems that her fussiness was due to teething - her 5th tooth is about to break through the gum. It's one of her top middle teeth, which were the hardest so far for Fischer also.

They both continue to do many new things. Addison has started dancing more, doing a sort of side-to-side sway.  Fischer has started copying how I sit on the floor, and putting his little legs in the "indian style" position.  Each day, they do more things that make me realize how closely I am being watched.

We have some fun outings planned while Grandma is here, so I will try to post pictures soon!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I think I mentioned in a previous post that things are a little crazy around here, but I didn't elaborate.  Things are super busy because we are moving! Luckily, we don't have to move until the end of April. Between now and then, we are having a yard sale, Scott is going to Japan on 2 separate trips for a week each time, and we are having visitors. So, things are just a bit busy... and don't forget all of that fun packing we have to do. Add in taking care of Addison and Fischer and my days are pretty much full!

Taking care of Addison and Fischer takes up the majority of my time, but it's also the most fun part of my day! I feel like they might be having a "cognitive growth spurt." It seems like some things are just clicking and they are learning so much.

I mentioned that they can now point to their heads. Well, now they can also point to their mouths!! And, if I say "Oh no" about something, Addison smacks her hand to her head, while Fischer gently touches his. That started yesterday - it is so funny.  They are also both bouncing up and down whenever I say "bounce" to them. Also, today, Fischer kept kissing Addison, so later I said "Kiss Sissy" and he did it again. So, he knows who "Sissy" is. He is also trying to say "Sissy" although it's coming out more like "ZaZa." :)

They are both still walking a lot behind their walkers, and are now going from room to room. They are getting faster with them...sometimes they go so fast it looks like their legs can't keep up with the walkers.

They are still eating well, although our windows to feed them are becoming shorter and shorter. They are wanting to get out of their highchairs sooner now, and become easily distracted. I think they want to go play rather than eat, but they always eat a decent meal for us!  And, they are both completely formula-free now. WOW! Addison is drinking about 18-20 ounces of soy milk a day, and Fischer is drinking the same amount of whole milk. That seems to be working well so far!

I've also noticed that Addison is becoming quite the little copy cat. If Fischer throws food off of his highchair tray (which he does when he's had enough), so does she. If Fischer crawls over to the fireplace, so does she. The list goes on and on, and it's pretty funny to watch them watch each other, then do the same thing. They've also been caught putting food that they don't want on the other tray... they are sneaky little things. :)

More to come soon... need to go pack now!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ready or not, it was time.... to cut Fischer's hair. The back of his hair had grown into a little rat tail, so it was time. I held him, while Scott cut his hair.  It was hard because he is squirmy and active, so given those circumstances, Scott did a great job! He also cut the front, which was a little more challenging because of Fischer's 2 cowlicks. His hair doesn't lay straight, or flat, so it looks pretty uneven. It was about to grow into his eyes though, so at least now he can see.  Next time, we may try to go to a professional to see what they can do with it!

Here are some before and after pictures...




And here is a picture from yesterday - Happy 13 Months!!


Monday, March 22, 2010

Well, we had an eventful weekend with several more "firsts" for Addison and Fischer.  To start, Fischer is completely formula-free for the first time! Addison is just getting 1 ounce of formula per feeding, and should be formula-free by Wednesday when we will most likely run out of formula.  It's so strange!

On Saturday, we went downtown to walk around and enjoy the near-perfect weather.  We decided to take Scott's car now that he has 2 car seats of his own! Also, in his car, the seats are facing forward. So, Addison and Fischer got to ride facing forward for the first time. They seemed to love it, and I loved being able to turn around and see them so easily.  In my car, they are still rear-facing, and we have the mirrors on the headrests, which is how I see them.  The doctor gave us the OK to turn the seats around, but I wanted to wait another month (until the end of March) to give Fischer a chance to bulk up a bit more. :) So that means soon, we'll be turning the seats in my car around too.

Here they are in the seats... Fischer was much more excited than he appears to be in the picture.




Saturday night, we were all playing in the kitchen.  Scott and I have been trying to get both Addison and Fischer to take some steps by holding their hands and encouraging and/or bribing them to walk.  They both normally sit down and crawl to us instead.  Saturday night, however, they BOTH took steps while we held their hands for a little extra support.  Fischer was the first and took about 3. Addison didn't want to be outdone, so she took around 10 steps! They are also both showing much more interest in their walkers, so I think it's only a matter of time until they have enough confidence to take some steps on their own!

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Addison loves playing with Scott's hats...






I can hardly believe that Addison and Fisher are 13 months old today. I feel like they are looking more and more like "kids" instead of babies everyday!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Along with Addison and Fischer's latest developments have come some challenges.  Some are potentially dangerous challenges, and some are funny challenges. It's all entertaining though, and keeps me on my toes for much of the day.

I'll start with a funny one... Now that Addison and Fischer are much stronger, they pull up on anything and everything. This obviously includes legs... one day I was wearing some pajama pants that were a bit too big. Addison and Fischer both started pulling up on me, which caused my pants to be pulled down (not all the way, thankfully!). Those pants have since found a new home at Goodwill. :)

Addison and Fischer's strength has also made them want to climb things, which can be dangerous. Addison, especially, is trying to climb anything and everything. I see her trying to put her leg up and over things all the time.  Fischer even tried to climb out of his crib the other night. Thankfully, they can't quite do that yet. Wednesday, I was getting something out of our refrigerator. Addison decided she wanted inside so she tried to climb in by getting one leg on the freezer door handle (our freezer is the bottom drawer pull-out style). I had to pry her hands off of the bar in order to stop her from falling backwards onto her head! She's quite determined to become a little monkey in the very near future.

Fischer has started getting very frustrated with things lately. I think he wants to be more independent, and gets frustrated that he can't quite do certain things yet (like walk). In order to let us know he's frustrated, he has started throwing himself down on the floor (from the sitting position) and crying, and sometimes even banging his head on the floor. Most of the time, I try to ignore him and he will eventually stop. But sometimes, when he is REALLY frustrated and banging his head hard, I have to make him stop.  He does this a lot when he sees us getting his breakfast, lunch or dinner ready because he usually wants to eat NOW!

They have both started making diaper changes harder. Sometimes, I feel like I've just wrestled an alligator trying to change a diaper and/or clothes, and then I have to turn around and do it all over again. After "wrestling" with Addison the other day, I was actually sweating by the time we were done!

Oh, and I have watched Addison undo a child lock on the cabinets in our kitchen twice now. She shoves her tiny hand in the tiny opening of the cabinet door, pushes down the latch, and opens the cabinet. She must have watched us do it, then figured it out for herself. This is why there is never a dull moment around here. :)

These are just a few of the new challenges we are facing.  Each day brings a new challenge, but it's so fun watching them grow and develop!

Here they are showing me their heads... Fischer taps his very lightly on the side, while Addison excitedly slaps her hands to her head.




Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! :)




It's pretty much impossible to get a picture where Addison and Fischer are sitting together and actually looking at the camera. They have better things to do. :)

Here they are a year ago!! So much changes in a year!


Tuesday, March 16, 2010


You may wonder why I put a picture of formula on here. It's because this is Addison and Fischer's last can of formula... ever. I can hardly believe it. We've been buying formula for almost 13 months, so it seems strange to not have to buy anymore!  On that note, Fischer is now up to 6 ounces of whole milk, and Addison is up to 5 ounces of soy milk and both are doing great. By this time next week, we will be completely formula-free!

Today was an exciting day! This morning, Addison kept putting her hand on her head, so each time I would say "head."  A little while later, I said "Where's your head?" and she put her hands on her head! And she did it several times throughout the day, so I know it wasn't a fluke. :)  I tried to get Fischer to do it, and each time I would ask him, he would clap.  But then tonight after his bath, I asked him again and he put his hand on his head too! It's so fun when things like this happen.

Both babies have become clapping machines lately. They clap when I say "yay" or "good job." They also clap a lot for no reason at all. It's so cute, and I love watching how excited they get when Scott and I clap too!

I can't wait for more fun things to happen!!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

 We had a nice day today, complete with some time spent outside. We went out to Freshfields Village at Kiawah Island (where I used to work) and walked around. Addison and Fischer even got to try some ice cream, and of course, loved it. Then they got to work off some of that sugar by playing in the grass.

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from the past few days!

Addison and Fischer love turning the TV on and off now, and here they are doing it as a team.

Fischer is being nice and "helping" Addison out of Bo's crate. They still love playing in it!

Fischer is making one of his many loud noises, and showing off his top teeth.

Addison is happy to be standing with her walker.

It is not uncommon for Addison and Fischer to want to use the same toy, even when they have their own that is the exact same... here they are trying to use the same walker.

Daddy giving Fischer a ride in the "motorcycle basket." He even gets to do jumps in the air!

And now it's Addison's turn...

Addison enjoyed eating some leaves while we were outside today!

And Fischer enjoyed practicing his modeling poses.

We even tried to get Addison to walk.

It took Fischer a little while to get used to the grass, but after a few minutes, he loved it!

Friday, March 12, 2010

We are hoping for some nice weather this weekend - I think we are all feeling a little trapped. Between our sicknesses and the rain, we haven't been outside much. I think (I HOPE!!) we are all on the mend... I had to go to the Doctor on Wednesday because I thought I had Strep throat. That test came back negative but the doctor said it was only a matter of time before it became Strep so I'm glad I got on some antibiotics. I can't imagine how it would be with babies having Strep throat - thankfully they seem OK!

Just a few updates:

Fischer now has his 7th tooth! It's on the bottom next to his middle teeth. Addison is holding steady at 4 teeth.

I have thought for months that Addison would walk before Fischer. I even thought she would walk before her first birthday.  Her birthday has come and gone, and she isn't walking. And now, I think Fischer will walk first. He seems more interested in it and seemed to want to take a step today... he did manage to move his right foot just a little bit when we were trying to get him to walk to Scott!

Addison has started giving us kisses when we say "I love you" to her. She comes at us with her mouth wide open.  She has also started kissing her toys and stuffed animals more and more.

Addison and Fischer have now discovered how to turn our TV on and off, and it has become their favorite thing to do. Hopefully our TV doesn't blow up from being turned on and off so much.

I will be sure to post some pictures this weekend since it's been awhile!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Just when I think there won't be anything new to write about for the day, Addison or Fischer (or both!) do something new, so of course I have to share! :)

This morning, Scott was leaving for work and telling the babies bye. Addison said "bah" a couple of times and it sounded like someone with a southern accent saying "bye."  Then, she looked at him and said "bah bah." It was so obvious she was telling him bye-bye. It was so cute!!

Tonight during bath time, they were getting a little fussy. I had Addison on the changing table and Fischer was in his crib. I decided to sing "If You're Happy and You Know It" to try and get them to stop crying. Lately, they've been clapping when I get to the "clap your hands" line. Tonight, Addison started clapping as soon as I started singing, and Fischer quickly joined in. And lucky for me, the crying stopped.

We've been loving this warm weather and trying to spend some time outside! It makes me excited for Spring, but I'm not quite ready for the Summer heat.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Things are a little busy for us right now so I may be a little slower with the posts for awhile. I did want to share a few updates though.

Today, we increased Addison's soy milk to 4 ounces per feeding, and Fischer's whole milk to 5 ounces per feeding.  Just a few more weeks and we'll be completely formula-free! Hopefully soon after that, we will be Zantac-free also!

Fischer has really started liking books.  He will hand them to me over and over, and actually sit still while I read to him. Once I finish, he will grab the book, then hand it back to me to read again. This ususally goes on for quite some time.  Addison, on the other hand, would much rather take the book out of my hands and put it on the floor or chew on it.  Fischer has also been getting more and more shapes into their correct holes in a shape toy that they have. We always make a big deal out of it whenever they get one right. He gets frustrated after a couple of tries though, and will hand the shape to me to do it for him. I will then show him where it goes, and hand it back to him to try again. It's amazing to see these things "click" with them.

Addison has started doing the "crab walk," where she puts her hands and feet on the floor, with her butt up in the air. She will take several steps this way.  I'm wondering if this is her way of transitioning into "real" walking... I guess time will tell! Both she and Fischer took a few steps with their push toys today.

Fischer has started pointing to (with his whole hand) and wanting everything around him. At dinner, he wants whatever is not on his tray. While playing, he wants whatever toy is just out of his reach. He will make a little sound while pointing to let us know that he wants something.

Addison is becoming quite the busy-body. She is constantly moving, talking, laughing or climbing (almost).  If I sit on the floor with her, she is immediately on my lap telling me some sort of story. She also likes to feel my ears, eyes, nose and hair. She's very curious!

They are both still eating very well and getting to try all kinds of new things.  So far, Fischer doesn't like mandarin oranges. I'd say we are pretty lucky to only have come across one food that they don't like between the two of them!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Who needs toys when you have magazines and socks?!


Thursday, March 4, 2010

March has been kind of crazy so far! We are all still trying to get rid of our colds, and on top of that, our house is finally under contract. It's been on the market since May so we are excited and a little nervous that things are actually happening now.

Although Addison and Fischer have had runny noses, they seem to feel pretty good otherwise.  Scott and I have been busy trying to keep them entertained while getting over our colds. That's a tough task! I tried to have some art time with them. For their birthday, I bought one of the Crayola Wonder kits, where the markers only write on the special Crayola paper. So, I taped a picture onto their highchair trays, gave them each a marker and waited for their inner artists to come out. That didn't happen.... they refused to touch the markers to the paper, and only wanted to chew on the writing side of the markers. So, I put the caps on and let them chew for a little while before calling it quits. I know they are a little young for it, but wanted to try anyway. We'll try again soon!




Addison has been busy trying to climb. She has started standing on some of her toys, and she is starting to pull her knee up on things to try and climb over. She hasn't had success yet, but I know it's only a matter of time. They still aren't showing much interest in taking a first step, but we are still working with them on that. We encourage them, and even try to bribe them a little bit, but so far they are content with crawling. They will, on occasion, take a few steps behind their push toys though.

They are still doing well with their whole milk/soy milk transition. It's amazing how much longer a container of formula is lasting now.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

One year ago, we got to bring the babies home after 8 days in hospital. We are so lucky that they only had to spend 8 days, but it still seemed like a long time.  We were also so relieved that neither baby had to come home hooked up to anything. They were tube and wire free for the first time.  When we brought them home, Addison was 4 pounds 3 ounces and Fischer was 4 pounds. It was pretty scary, but also very exciting.  We couldn't wait to come home and begin our life as a family of 4!

Here we are, right before leaving.

After we got them dressed, the nurse agreed to let us take a picture of them together - it was the first time they were reunited, and they kept touching each other!


Scott is carrying them inside to their new home!


And here they are napping for the first time at home.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Last year, we were told that we could "possibly" bring the babies home the next day. They were doing well with their bottle feedings, maintaing their body temperatures and slowly gaining weight. They had both passed their 90 minute carseat test, and Scott and I had taken Infant CPR. But, we tried not to get too excited when we were told that their homecoming was in our near future because we knew how quickly things could change. It was also still up in the air as to whether Addison would have to come home on a monitor. At this point, they were leaning towards no, but wanted to monitor her in the hospital a little longer.

This year, we are still battling this cold. Addison seems almost back to normal, and Fischer doesn't seem too far behind. Scott and I still feel pretty blah though.  For Addison and Fischer, we are spraying saline into their noses several times a day, as well as having to suction when necessary. Addison is pretty patient and lets us do what we need to do. Fischer hates it... he doesn't let us even get close to his nose without a fight. I just wish he understood that it only takes about 2 seconds!

Hopefully tomorrow we'll all be back to normal!