A break from the sad

I've spent so much time lately blogging about the sad stuff that I have spent very little time focusing on Micah and Maya. I have to say, they are doing amazingly well! This time has been so hard on them - I'm gone so much, they have been dragged back and forth to the hospitals, and their routines have been interrupted. This week, our new nanny started, so Micah's world is in a bit of upheaval.

So, here is an update on them. Micah is now 20 months old...his language skills are starting to explode, and he is an endless source of joy for me during a terrible time. He is definitely in the midst of the terrible twos - he is stubborn and difficult and throws many tempertantrums. He likes things the way he likes them, and he is not afraid to yell about it. He spends much of his time begging to watch "Elmo, peas." His obsession with Elmo grows stronger with each passing day. He loves raisins, and insists on eating them from the bag. He sometimes likes to eat with a fork, and other times gets mad if we cut his food. Lately, he loves eating whole fruit...the whole apple, or the whole peach - no more "baby pieces" for Micah. He is starting to repeat lots of words - he uses words like keys, nice and mess. When he says "nice" he usually walks over and pets someone on the head. He also knows to point to his shirt or the floor when it is covered with food and say "mess." He is full of love, hugs, and kisses, and will still respond and say "ME" with the most adorable expression on his face every time I ask "who's cute?" He is finally starting to warm up to Maya - he calls her baby, and a few times he has even used her name. He tries to snuggle with her and give her kisses now and again...although he still occasionally bops her on the head or drops a remote on her. He can now point to and identify most of his family members, and he is very well versed in his body parts. I love how he says "mouth," "nose," "teeth" and "eyes." I find it interesting that he can point to his head, ears, chin, hair, feet, hands, elbows and a few other parts, but he never uses those words. I am unsure how many teeth he has as he will not let me anywhere near his mouth to count them. I'd guess he has at least 12 by now, possibly more.

Maya is growing each day by leaps and bounds. Now that she is on Prevacid, she is a fairly easy-going baby (except for about 1/2 hour from 5:30-6:00 pm). She is at a great stage right now - she sits and smiles and chuckles and coos at me all day long. She will go anywhere, and will let anyone hold her. She is not particularly fond of the car, but she seems to be getting a little better. Her eyelashes are getting nice and long, and she is just truly a happy baby. She has been rolling over from belly to back since she was 5 weeks old. She has amazing head control, and I think she can sit unassisted for like 10-15 seconds at a time! I think Micah was 4 or 5 months old before he could do that. At her 2 month checkup, she weighed 10 lbs and measured 22 1/2 inches. She is still wearing newborn sized clothes, but should be in the 0-3 month size soon. Best of all - she is an amazing sleeper. She naps well all day, and she sleeps 10-12 hours a night! Our biggest challenge with her is feeding...she has a sucking/swallowing problem, which makes both nursing and bottle feeding a challenge. Her problem has been diagnosed as "disorganized sucking" - it is a problem most common in preemies who are born before their suck reflex has developed. In short, she has a very hard time figuring out how to suck properly. Her tongue is usually in the wrong place, and sometimes she chokes. She also has an overly strong gag reflex, so that makes everything a bit more difficult. Because of these challenges, she is unable to take a bottle (well, she has taken a bottle on a few occasions, but most of the time she cannot get organized and get the suck-swallow pattern together without choking on the bottle), and she spends a lot of time smacking up my nipples while she nurses. We just got her evaluated by the state program, and hope that they will be able to improve this issue for us.