Doctor Visits and Milestones

We took the girls to their one year appointment last Monday. They only cried a little when they were jabbed! Shots are no fun! We are always so nervous about getting their weight checked. We work so hard at feeding them a lot and fattening them up, but they are always so small. Violet weighed in at 14 pounds and Lily at 14 lbs. 11 oz. We were sure Lily would weigh 15 pounds, but she's pretty close. They've pretty much tripled their birth weight, which is expected at a year. Dr. Cox wanted us to take them in to see a dietitian and wanted us to take Violet to physical therapy since she's not crawling. We also want to check her head shape. That's a lot for this mama to take in! 

We went to the physical therapist two days later, on Wednesday. She showed us a lot of ways we can help Violet strengthen her arms, many of which we were already doing. She also measured her head because it's a little flat on one side (only I notice, of course). She thinks it will round out as she grows so we don't need to worry. She wants us to go every week, but with insurance not covering until the deductible is met, we'll see how she progresses and then go from there. 

We worked on the play/exercises and so did Mary at daycare. By Friday, Violet was able to go from her tummy to sitting up! Woo hoo! She's been so close for so many days, and now she's finally done it! I'm so proud of her!

We started a food journal on Sunday because we had an upcoming appointment with a dietitian on Wednesday. It was hard to figure out how much food they actually ate! We had to subtract what was left on their face, in their bib, on their tray, and on the floor! Their appetites were a little smaller too, we think because they're both getting their top teeth in. Oh well! We took the girls to the dietitian on Wednesday, and she started by weighing and measuring them. Violet is still 14 lbs. and Lily is 15 lbs. 4 oz.! We think the old-school scale at Dr. Cox's office was wrong on Lily's measurement! Margaret, the dietitian, compared their weight to their height. I really liked this comparison because it doesn't take into account their age, just their weight and height. Lily is at 91% of her target weight (90-100 is the goal), and Violet is at 80% of her target weight. We knew she was a string bean! We always offer her the same, or even more food, as Lily. She eats slower and is a little pickier. Margaret made a lot of good suggestions to help them gain weight. We're already doing a lot of things we should! That's nice to hear. The biggest change for us will be to make sure they do not have any milk between meals and to wait 3-4 hours between meals so they're really hungry. I'm going to try to wean from nursing in the next month or so, too. They need to fill their bellies on high-calorie foods and drinks, and I don't think the milk I produce is very fatty. We're going to put some heavy cream in their cups of milk and butter on their crackers! We'll keep trying to fatten these girls up! We have a follow-up appointment in April, but Margaret said we can call her anytime we need to.

After school on Thursday, I went to Mary's to pick up the girls. Mary was thrilled to tell me that Violet crawled to a toy! I started jumping and screaming, I was so happy! All the kids stopped playing and looked at me a little scared. Haha! I'm just so proud of my little Vi-Vi! At home she showed off her crawling skills some more! She's pretty slow and careful, but she is definitely crawling. She'll go about two paces and then sit. That's a great start. She's also able to pull up to her knees, almost to standing! We're pretty sure we're going to cancel the other physical therapy appointments now. She's met most of her goals in 8 days! I'm not so worried any more! We're so lucky Mary and Val are on board with everything. They've been working with Violet on her arm strength and tummy time, and have always supported us with any diet changes we've needed to do for the girls. They always say how much they love Violet and Lily. They spend so much time with them each day, they're like family! 

I'm so proud of both my little girls! Today they were standing at the coffee table, playing side-by-side, and I couldn't help but think how lucky I am! 

First Birthday Girls!

Wow! We all made it to ONE! We had a fun birthday weekend. Ryan took a half a day off on their birthday. After the girls' afternoon nap, we went to the planetarium. Violet and Lily loved standing at the ball contraption and watching it send the balls all around, even on the ceiling. We looked at all the models of the planets and at the meteorite samples. Our favorite part was walking on Mars and on the Moon! Violet LOVES walking (holding on to mama or daddy) and she did great over the bumps and rocks! Lily wanted to crawl all over, but it was not the best place for crawling! 

Mama and the birthday girls!

Proud Daddy!

The big birthday party was the next day, Saturday, January 4th. We put up First Birthday banners the night before and Ryan picked up the balloons that morning. First Yia Yia (Grandma), Ted, and Isaac came. Yia Yia was so excited to see the birthday girls! Andrea, Matt, and Addy came, as well as some friends: Amy & Sam, Cathey, and Sarah, Rob, Maddie, & Charlotte. We had pizza, salad, fruit, and CAKE! It was some yummy carrot cake! The girls ate a big lunch of avocado and banana, some chicken noodle soup, raspberries, and grapes. We opened presents, well I opened presents and Violet sat on my lap while Lily crawled around. They got some clothes, books, toys, and puzzles. The card from us has a mirror in it and Lily kissed herself just like we thought she would! Then it was time for cake! Violet cried when I put the birthday hat on her. (They had the hats on earlier and didn't cry, so I thought I'd put them on again.) We sang the birthday song and blew out candles. Lily dug right into the cake and loved it! Violet stopped crying when I put some cake in her mouth! Haha! (Ooo, this is good!) They ate A LOT of cake and were so happy! Grandma was cleaning the floor and Lily threw cake on her head! Twice! Naughty girl!

 Cutting the cake!

 Yummy!

 

 

After everyone left, they had some milk and went down for a nap. They only slept a little more than an hour! Maybe all the sugar kept them from sleeping longer.

We went to The Dodo for dinner. We usually take our purple high chairs that hook onto the tables, but this time we tried the wooden ones. The girls were so good! Lily ate so much! She at some of my bruschetta topping, tomato soup, turkey from my sandwich, some wheat bread with avocado on it, plus the food we brought for them! We used the pink place mats that have a pocket hanging over. A puff rolled into that and she laughed her little laugh. Ha ha. Violet ate about half as much as Lily, but still tried everything. She was more into being social and smiling at EVERYBODY around us! She kept turning in her high chair away from daddy. She was entertaining everyone at the tables around us. They were soooooo good! What a great day! Now they are officially one!!

First Birthday Eve

Tomorrow is my daughters' first birthday! I can't believe Violet and Lily are going to be ONE! They are my sunshines and light up my life every day.

The last few days Ryan and I have been reflecting on our year and talking about what life was like for us a year ago. I was super-huge pregnant, and we were so excited and scared about our new adventure. A year ago, we didn't know what would happen after delivery since our little Violet's growth had slowed and we couldn't get a good reading on her cord or placenta. We were sure she'd be in the NICU and thought her twin sister, Lily, would be there too since they were coming a month early. We were worried we'd be leaving the hospital without them. After all the doctor appointments, non-stress tests, and ultrasounds we finally knew their birthday would be Thursday, January 3rd. I'd be having a cesarean delivery since Violet was breech and Lily was transverse. I've never had a surgery before and I was terrified. There were so many questions racing through my mind about how healthy they'd be, about the surgery and recovery, about how I was going to nurse and care for TWO babies! I didn't need to worry though. The delivery went smoothly and my girls were so strong and healthy that they didn't spend one minute in the NICU! Unbelievable! They weighed in at 4 lb. 11 oz. and 5 lb. 2 oz. Hearing their first cries changed my life. I became a mom! Me! A mom!

The past year has been incredible, overwhelming, exhausting, amazing, full of smiles and milestones, and most of all, full of so much love. I never thought I could be so happy! Tomorrow we celebrate your first birthday, my beautiful ladies!

One year ago! The day before their birthday. Whoa belly! I measured 43 weeks!

My first time holding Violet!

 

 My first time holding Lily!

 

Our first family photo! Daddy with Violet and Mama with Lily.

 

Lily and Violet, my beautiful sunshines!