Finger Foods

Believe it or not, Braelyn McKee and Gwendolyn Marie are now only a month away from turning one. That's amazing when you really sit down and think about it. Time flies when you're wiping runny noses and changing diapers we suppose.

As is the constant case with babies, the girls continue to hit milestones in their development. For instance, now when we go out for meals Mom and Dad typically can "share" some of our healthier choices with the girls. Last weekend, the twins were both big fans of sucking on cucumber slices off of our salads.

Another hurdle that Braelyn is meeting head-on is starting to get weened her off her bottle. We began the process recently by introducing water into some of her meals. While she fought it early on, now she's begun to master using her sippy-cup. She's still a big fan of her bottle but unfortunately for her, those days are numbered. Soon she'll be a "big girl" and will be drinking regular milk out of her sippy-cup. (Yet another sign that kids grow up too quickly we suppose!)

Hopefully after her next swallow study, Gwendolyn will get authorized to have liquids again herself and we can get her up to speed on the sippy-cup as well.

We guess that's you update on the girls for now. Talk to you all soon!

Splish, Splash

One thing's for sure, bath time for Braelyn McKee and Gwendolyn Marie is always full of its challenges... But at least the girls have fun with it. These photos have quickly become two of Mom & Dad's favorites

Happy Friday one and all!!!

Brae Bear is always ready to randomly stick out her tongue and get a laugh!

The Gwenner loves her some bath Mohawk!!!

Stand By Me

There’s been a whole lot of moving and shaking going on in the Castellano house of late.

We officially got the ball rolling on ordering Gwendolyn a stander. What is a stander, you ask? Well, we figured out after trying to answer that question a few times for family and friends that it really is easier to show you a stander than it is to try and explain it. With that said, here’s an example of exactly what we are talking about:

As you can see, this particular stander is pretty neat because it not only promotes Gwen being in an upright position, but it has wheels that allow her some mobility at the same time. The obvious need for Gwendolyn is that she's getting to the age where most children are beginning to pull themselves up and stand while holding onto something. And while Gwen isn’t at the stage where she can do that all herself yet, we want to be sure that her body is getting used to that sensation of standing. That way, her legs and joints can continue to mature in a more normal fashion. Hopefully, as she continues to gain strength in the muscles she does have use of; she’ll render the unit unnecessary. Unfortunately, the ordering process takes about eight weeks to complete so it won’t be until well into the fall before Gwen can begin to use her new stander.

We’ve also got to take Gwen into Children’s Mercy soon to have molds made of her legs so that she can get her first leg braces made. Luckily, that process sounds pretty easy and her braces should be complete in only two weeks. Where the stander only comes in the color red for the version that Gwen will use, we’ll have a multitude of options for her braces and can’t wait to finalize that process as well.

Speaking of standing, Braelyn has been using her legs quite a bit. Unfortunately, she’s begun to pull herself up on her crib. Luckily, she hasn’t made a habit of it yet but while she gets a kick out of it, Mom and Dad shutter at her new-found "ability." She’s also in her little activity walker quite a bit and has taken to strolling down the hall or in the kitchen to check in with Mom if she’s feeling left out. Watching her little legs pump is something right out of a Fred Flintstone driven car.

Mom and Dad continue to miss the girls very much while at work but the twins still seem to be enjoying their new daycare. Other than that, there really hasn’t been a whole lot going on... Talk to you soon.

Bed Head & Big Bird

A hearty, happy Wednesday from Braelyn McKee and Gwendolyn Marie. Good news, the girls (or more precisely Mom & Dad) are surviving their return to day care just fine thus far. So, lieu of a blethering blog about nothing in particular, we decided to post a couple of our favorite photos instead... ENJOY!!!

This one of Braelyn cracks Dad up every time... Needless to say, our oldest isn't quite a morning person!!! Then again, Dad's never been too excited by early-morning wake up calls either.




While it's true that Gwen's first love is Mr. Binky (and he can even be found in this photo), a close second is her Big Bird doll. Whenever Gwen sees it, cooing ensues almost immediately!

Don't be a jerk... Just "snap into it"

Once again, we offer a blog entry that has a culinary theme. (And this time you won't ever guess the item that our youngest is "eating"!)

Gwendolyn went to Children’s Mercy Hospital last week for a routine visit with the occupational therapist and nutritionist. Nothing too earth shattering came from that meeting but we did get some updates.

The one negative result is that Gwen won’t have another follow-up swallow study until after the New Year since she’s already had a pair in her short life. As a result, she’ll maintain her button feeds of formula at least through that time. However, Gwen was authorized to begin getting a steadier stream of solids that can now be served by mouth at refrigerated temperatures. So, a couple of times a day Gwen can partake in a helping of food much closer to that of her big sister's. The one caveat is that the nutritionist was concerned that regular baby food has too much water in it. She wanted to be sure that Gwen doesn’t miss out on the full nutritional value she could be gaining. In stepped Mom to save the day!!! Thanks to the help of her latest kitchen gadget (a little baby food blender that perfectly purées) both Gwendolyn and Braelyn are now getting fresh fruits and veggies at their feedings. In fact, Dad’s getting jealous that the girls are starting to eat better than he does. No shock that the twins each seem to be big fans of this new twist to their feeds… Just ask our little Brae Bear!

A strange request that came from this hospital visit occurred when it was suggested that Gwen have beef jerky or slightly stale licorice sticks (so they aren’t too floppy) from time-to-time. The idea is to give her a new oral stimulation that continues to force her to work and strengthen her tongue. Few sights cause as much laughter in the Castellano household these days as watching a nearly 11-month old gum on a piece of jerky. Luckily, "The Gwenner" is a big fan and typically works on her Slim Jim until each end is nearly flattened. More often than not, her face is saturated in drool by the end of this process. Yesterday, Gwen sat on the couch with Dad watching baseball and working on her latest piece of jerky. Now that’s a sight right out of a Norman Rockwell painting, ‘aint it? Anyway, here's a "keeper" photo for the baby book... Our Gwendolyn's first Slim Jim:

On a sad note, today marked a return to daycare for the girls. As we said earlier, it’s nice that Gwen shares so many commonalities with the daughter of their new daycare provider. But it’s never easy to drop off your bundles of joy with an “outsider.” Still, we suppose that’s a normal emotion that plays out for parents in many other locals. The combination of sadness and guilt that you can’t always be there with your kids is an awfully strong tug.

Well, before we get all misty, it’s probably best if we sign off for now. Talk to you later in the week.

soup du jour

Today's Soup: A hearty helping of Baby Bouillon!

Seriously, these are a couple more of our favorite pictures from Braelyn & Gwendolyn's last photo session.

We can't believe it's already time for this mid-week blog update. Gwendolyn had a routine follow-up visit at the hospital with the occupational therapist and nutritionist yesterday. We’ll give you the skinny on that visit in this weekend’s blog entry.

Talk to you then!

Worth the Wait?

Wow... We are so very sorry. Somehow it's been a full week since our last post. Luckily, we've got a "we missed you" treat in store. Since there really isn't much new going on with Braelyn and Gwendolyn, we thought we'd take this opportunity to post some of our favorite shots from the twins' last photography session. We hope these help makeup for that long wait. Enjoy!!!

August Already?

Wow, time does fly by indeed... We can't believe its August already. We had a busy weekend without accomplishing much again. On Saturday, Braelyn and Gwendolyn attended Cousin Madison's fourth birthday party. Then on Sunday, it was off to Grandma McKee's for our traditional family meal. In between, Dad tackled the yard while Mom cleaned house… Unfortunately a mere 24 hours later, neither looks like it’s been touched in months. Oh well!

We wish we could share some really unique activity we tackled but unfortunately it was more of the same for the Castellanos... That is unless you count the fact that the girls now have hair that's long enough to be put in pigtails (a favorite hairstyle of Dad's)!

Hairdo's aside, the twins are doing well. Gwendolyn's vocabulary is continuing to expand each day. She and Braelyn often break out into a "baby babble" conversation now. It is great to see the girls interact more and more especially with The Gwenner catching up to her older sister developmentally. They are pretty cute when they have a “play session” and then start talking back-and-forth to one another.

At one stage of the weekend, Mom snapped the above photo of Braelyn. Dad's decided that our little contortionist might have a future in gymnastics… What do you think? If nothing else, she picked quite the precarious position to fall asleep in. That's our little Brae Bear!!!

Well, we'd better go. Have a good week one and all...