Our First Cap ~ July 31, 2009

Mommy went out to lunch with a girlfriend and her daughter yesterday, and afterwards we got to go shopping for a little bit. Mommy found cute Cardinals hats for us, what do you think?

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Security Blanket ~ July 30, 2009

We have started to play more during the day, I am trying to get them to stay awake more during the day so hopefully they will sleep longer at night. But I don't force the boys to stay awake, if they seem tired and cranky, I will let them fall asleep if they want. So far it hasn't made much of a difference at night, but maybe someday...


So a few days after the boys started to play with their hands more, I dug out the toys. I am a little anxious to get them playing on their own I guess. :) Most of the toys are interesting to them, but they can't grab them yet. I did however realize that the security blankets were a little easier for them to handle. It may be wishful thinking, but the boys seem to grab them, and Ryan even brings it to his mouth to chew on. Of course I am not too far away with the camera, so I caught a few pictures of them playing with their doggie blankets.


The picture of Matthew with his blanket is one of my favorites so far. He looks so cute hugging his blankie! Here's a video of him playing with it. It's not much so far, but I sure am excited that he is grabbing things and seems to pay attention to them!

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Yummy Hands ~ July 27, 2009

The boys have discovered their hands, and decided that they taste pretty good. I guess we will soon discover that their hands can hold things, and that everything tastes good. That will be fun!

Ryan has also started "talking" more... at least that is what we think he is doing. It's between a cry and a squeal... and since he usually doesn't look like he's upset, we decided that he's talking. You can kind of hear what I mean in the video below... although he has his hands in his mouth and muffles it a bit.

We also had a great success last night, both boys slept in their crib for the first time since they were three weeks old. We set the crib up in the living room, the upstairs is still a bit warm, and both of them fell asleep pretty well. I did find Ryan this morning lying perpendicular to where he started out, with Matthew's feet on his belly, but it didn't seem to bother him too much. Hopefully we can repeat this tonight!

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Ultrasound and Physical Therapy ~ July 23, 2009

Matthew and Ryan in the "limo" waiting for their ultrasounds

It has been a busy week for us, with our physical therapy and ultrasound appointments, we have been on the go everyday. Both of the boys' hips look normal, so that is good news. They don't really like to do their neck stretches for physical therapy, but I am sure it doesn't feel good. I have to stretch their head to the side (trying to put their ear to their shoulder) and hold that for about 30 seconds, and then turn their heads to the side and hold for 30-60 seconds. We repeat this at almost every feeding. Another exercise we do is pulling up from the boppy pillows.

Matthew needs to work the muscles in the back of his neck, so I pull him up by his hands to a sitting position. Ryan likes to overextend his head when he is on his tummy, so we are working the muscles in the front of his neck, with me pulling him up from his shoulders to a sitting position. It's a lot of work for these little guys, but in a few weeks it will be worth it. The boppy pillows also allow the boys to lay on their backs, and keep their heads to the center. With their torticollis they have been sleeping mostly on the one side of their head... and as you can imagine it is getting a little flat on that side. So another goal of the physical therapy is to try and even out their heads a little, so we don't have to use helmets.

Peanut really loves the physical therapy, since it brings the boys and mom down on the floor with her to "play." She gets a little carried away at times, and drops her ball on the boys... but hopefully she will settle down in a day or so. I still don't think she knows what to think about the boys.

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Missouri Botanical Gardens ~ July 21, 2009

The boys and I went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens today to enjoy what may be one of the last perfect days of summer... before it gets all hot and humid down here. The boys slept through most of the tour... waking only when mommy went too fast over bumps, and when I stopped to take pictures for too long.

Here are some of my favorite garden pictures from the day.

In other news, Ryan has gone two nights now with six hours between feedings, and sleeping most of those six hours. Maybe someday soon I can get back to a more normal sleep schedule, and hope for more than five hours of sleep myself. Matthew has made six hours also, just not as consistant as Ryan.

We have our first appointment with the physical therapist today for the boys' torticollis, and an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow. The pediatrician wants to check both of the boys' hips for any problems that can be associated with the neck problems they have. He doesn't think they will find anything, but wants to be on the safe side. The boys are eleven weeks old already... almost three months!

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Evian Roller Babies ~ July 19, 2009

I don't have anything new to post about the boys, except the updated measurements, but I wanted to share this video. It cracks me up everytime I watch it... maybe the boys can try out for the next roller video. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PHnRIn74Ag

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Rolly Polly ~ July 16, 2009

Ryan has been my squirmy boy since before they were born. He has squirmed out of his rocking chair already, and now has to be buckled in. We knew that since he was such an active boy, he would be rolling in no time. Here he is, rolling from his belly to his back... we are still working on rolling from the back to the belly.

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All-Star Game Excitement ~ July 13, 2009

This year St. Louis is hosting Major League Baseball's All-Star Game at Busch Stadium. The city has gone all out with decorations and family events, so on Saturday Jason and I decided to take the boys downtown to see some of the All-Star attractions. Right outside of the stadium they had one of the miniature arches displayed. There are 6 different arches on display around St. Louis, similar to the "Cows on Parade" that was in Chicago a few years back.

After checking out some of the festivities around the stadium, we went to Kiener Plaza to see the rest of the arches on display. Although you cannot see them in the photograph, there were four other arches on display at Kiener Plaza between the fountain and the old court house. Unfortunately, it was over 90 degrees out, and we had to make our day short, but we had fun on our family excursion. Watch the All-Star game on Tuesday night, on Fox! Go Albert!

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Our trip to Wisconsin ~ July 10, 2009

We had our first major trip out of state over the holiday weekend. The boys traveled pretty well, considering the trip is over 9 hours without stops. We stopped by to see our cousins and grandparents in Springfield on the fourth, and celebrated cousin Ilona's eleventh birthday with her.

After cake and icecream we were on the road for Wisconsin. The boys slept most of the way, waking twice for food. But the trip was worth it, we were able to meet grandpa Peterson, great-grandma and great-grandpa Peterson, and all our aunts, uncles and cousins.

Mommy picked up some bad habits from Uncle Dale though... she had fun making Matthew "talk" to grandma. Listen closely to hear Matthew say "hello."

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Vaccine Time ~ July 2, 2009

Today the boys had their two month check-up and first round of vaccines, so it was a very fun day for the two of them. Overall they are growing great, both are in the 50 percentile for weight, length and head size, so the pediatrician and mom are both very happy about that. Both boys have mild torticollis, which is a shortening of the neck muscles on one side, causing difficulty turning their heads in one direction. It is usually caused by lack of room in mom while they were developing. We have to see a physical therapist to try and work the muscles out and correct the problem, but it should be easily fixed with time.

The doctor also thinks that both boys have acid reflux, which would explain a lot of problems we have had (with Ryan mainly) during feeding. Ryan can get very aggitated during feedings, and spit up a lot, but hopefully the medicine will help with that.

Today was also our first round of vaccines, and so far the boys are doing well. Ryan was a little more cranky than usual tonight, but they are both sleeping well right now!

Let Grandpa Peterson know that we are ready for our first hunting lesson!

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