Anna and Alex's first Christmas, Ben's last Christmas

Our last visit to see Ben was on Christmas Day. He passed away 2 weeks later. I will forever remember his face as he looked into the eyes of his Great Grandkids, my son and daughter and made faces to make them laugh. I am sad that they will never get to know there Great Grandfather, but was so happy that their funny little faces were able to bring him such joy, when he was in such pain. It is a day I will treasure forever.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

This past weekend we all traveled down to Annapolis to celebrate my Grandfather Ben's 99th Birthday. Ben has been a bit under the weather the last while, feeling tired. He rallied around and manged to have some nice conversations, eat some cake and sign his book for a few people. After 99 years of living Ben published a book. Wow!

It was lovely for Anna and Alex to be able to be there for their Great Grandfather's 99th birthday. They wont remember it, but pictures were taken that they will one day get to look at, and we will be able to pass on Ben's Yarns to them.

5 month update a little late

The babies had their 5 month Drs appointment last week. All was well. They didn't need any shots this time, so that always makes the appointments more plesant. They had again gained 1 pound each over the month and are up to 12 lbs (Alex) and 13 lbs (Anna). They are still little peanuts. I worry that they aren't growing quickly enough, but the Dr isn't concerned, so I guess I shouldn't be either.

We discussed things with the Dr and were given permission to stop steralizing bottles, to use powdered formula instead of the concentrate and to start introducing a little rice cereal. What a time saver being able to just wash and put bottles away, no need to boil any more. Also the powdered formula , while also being cheaper, is much more convenient and quick to use. The boiled water is already at room temperature, so it is just a matter of pouring a bottle, adding the powder and giving the bottle a shake and PRESTO, good to go.

I am still pumping a few times a day, so they also get some of that. I have decided to stop pumping gradually over the next few weeks and to pack away the pump in the New Year. Pumping isn't plesant and I am proud to have made myself do it for 6 months. I will not be sad to see the last of the nipple squeezing horned monster though. I will forever be disapointed I didn't get to experience the beauty of real breast feeding with these two, and that my memories of it are of being proded and poked by a series of lactation consultants and nurses in the NICU, and of my babies screaming in frustration.

If I ever do this baby making thing again I know to start on the Domperidone, Fenugreek and Blessed Thistle right away to get my milk supply going (Once I was on these and pumping 8 times a day I had more than enough to feed one baby, just not two) and to yell at any nurse who comes near my baby with a soother or a bottle. I never gave them permission in the NICU to start them on bottles (they both started off being tube fed), but somehow it happened anyway. One nurse said we weren't going to bottle feed them as I wanted to breastfeed, the shift changed, and while I was napping they were given bottles. I will always wonder if they hadn't gotten used to the speed of the bottles if I would have managed to breast feed them. The debate rages on about nipple confusion....

Playtime!

Anna and Alex love to play now. They are such fun. They grab toys and chew on them, or stare at them. They love kicking it up on their playmat. Both have rolled over both ways now, from tummy to back, and from back to tummy. They love bouncing on our knees and being tickled. They both have great laughs.

What cuties...

4 months

Anna and Alex were 4 months yesterday. It is hard to believe that time is passing so quickly. The last month has been much easier. They both sleep through the night now pretty much every night. They go down for the night sometime between 7 and 8:30 and sleep for 9-10 hours. Occasionally they think 4 is morning, but more often than not they make it past 5:30. I felt the haze of sleep deprivation lift, and am doing fine on that front as long as I remember to go to bed early enough. No late nights for us anymore. Sleeping in the next day just isn't an option.

They had their 4 month shots on Tuesday which was crappy They were crying and screaming and just not in good moods for the rest of the day and the next day. Their poor little legs were so sore. Alex threw up all of one of his feeds and didn't want to eat much. It was not a fun experience. They don't have their next shots until January, so we have a while before we have to deal with those again.

Halloween was last weekend, and they got to go trick or treating for the first time. They looked so cute in their little costumes (pictures to come later). We went in their stroller to our neighbours and then took them around in the truck to a few of our local friends. It was a lot of fun (mostly for us- they didn't know really what was going on.) It will be even better next year when they are able to understand a little better.

This month has been a lot of fun watching them change. They are both meeting lots of the 3 and 4 month milestones. They both smile and laugh like crazy now. They have both rolled over from front to back, and Alex is getting really good at it. Anna has great control over her upper body and has been doing pushups for a while. Alex started doing pushups last week. Alex is really vocal and chatty and will have "conversations". They are such fun!

Three month photos (a little late)