Have you missed us? Yeah, things have been crazy as usual with seemingly no time to sit down and write out a blog entry. In fact the usual author of this beloved blog is at work today but Heather has the rest of the week off so your stuck with me again!
It's funny that in a household with twin girls so much changes while so much stays the same. Everything is still good on the health front. Gwendolyn has been smooth sailing lately. We've continued with our visits from OT, PT, and Speech. Gwen has made remarkable progress in all areas. Her speech has really taken off lately. She will repeat almost anything she hears. So be careful what you say around her. (We have learned that one the hard way) ;) Her favorite words right now seem to be "taco" and "cupcake". Leave it to our Gwenner to be that obsessed with food. She's also starting to put more sentences together. Just the other night I was in the living room and she was in the kitchen eating dinner with her sister. I hear her yelling from the other room, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" I said, "Yes Gwendolyn". And she yells in that sweet little voice of hers, "I Lu you!!" Man, I love that girl. Brought tears to my eyes immediately. Another huge development in her little life is the arrival of her very own walker! You may remember the loaner walker we had before. We affectionately referred to it as "big pimpin" because it was this wonderful platinum gold color. Well, we just recently got the walker she gets to keep and it's a more toned-down silver color. But of coarse my girl deserves a bit more pizazz if she is going to work as hard as she does to get herself around in that walker. So, getting some inspiration from other SB moms, I ordered some decals to "glam" up her mode of transportation. So as you will see in the pictures, we went with the pink argyle.
Check her out. You know you're jealous. ;)
One other huge milestone Gwendolyn has mastered this weekend is to finally separate herself from her beloved binky. It was our goal to wean her of this crutch when she turned two. I have to say that it was probably my personal fault that didn't happen. I think I was more afraid of beginning this process than Gwen was. I know a lot of kids rely on this comfort, but that small piece of pink plastic got our girl through some pretty traumatic times in her life. It was there for her when even we couldn't be. From being taken from our arms to go to surgeries, to nights in the NICU when we physically couldn't be there for her. Through sleep studies and urodynamic tests etc. etc. That binky was something she could always rely on. It kind of broke my heart to take it from her. But I also knew that it really was time. And hopefully, oh hopefully, she will not have any more of those times when we can't be there to hold her hand if she's going through something difficult. So.....how did we do it you ask? Well, it was Daddy's fault really. ;) Honestly, it started as a misunderstanding. We had already only allowed Gwen to have her binky while sleeping and riding in the car. When we got back from Florida a few weeks ago I had taken away her car binky. That really only caused 2 days of crying to and from daycare (and uncountable rounds of the Happy Birthday song which was the only thing that would temporarily stop her crying. Don't you dare sing Happy Birthday to Mama either. It ONLY works if it's Gwendolyn's birthday song. Just sayin...) Anyway, I digress. (hee...hee...that was for you Chuck) Back to taking away the night-night bink and the misunderstanding that started it all. We were putting the girls to bed and I just told Chuck not to give her the binky. In my mind I was telling him to just lay it in her bed and see if she needed it, but you and I both know how terrible husbands are at reading our minds, so he just took it and put it in the bathroom. I said, "What are you doing?" And he said, "You told me not to give it to her!" "Yes, I guess I did....but you and I both know that's NOT what I MEANT!!" So, that's what started it. Remarkably, she only whimpered for a little bit and then fell fast asleep! That was last Friday and still no binky.
Now on to Braelyn. Oh, my dear, dear, Braelyn. That girl is spunky!! She knows what she wants and when she wants it. But she doesn't always have the words to tell you what that something is. Her speech has gotten pretty good lately too. She loves to scream, "Mom! See? Mom! See?" Her favorite things right now are her babies and putting them "Nigh-Nigh" and playing in her kitchen. She loves getting out the pots and pans and stirring things with spoons. Braelyn also likes to pretend that she is a baby again. She wants you to hold her in your arms like a little baby. I have to say I love it. :) But for some reason she thinks babies cough a lot. If she asks to be a baby she will immediately start fake coughing. Covering her mouth and everything. Not really sure where that came from but it cracks us up every time.
She has also had a pretty big milestone of going potty on the potty. (or "poppy" as both girls say). She sits on the potty 3 times a day and goes pretty much every time. We are still working on losing the diapers but have a feeling that may be awhile. ;)
Well, I think that should catch everyone up for awhile! Really, I like getting all the cute stuff my girls are doing written down so that I can go back and look at it later. This blog has been wonderful for that. My favorite is going back to look at pictures especially from the first few months of their lives. Wow! We have come a LONG way baby!! Thank you for following our family these past few years, and from our family to yours.....
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Mom and Dad decided to bring Braelyn and Gwendolyn to the pumpkin patch this weekend. In fact, we convinced Grandma McKee to come along too. It really was an enjoyable visit and one that once again gave us quite an education (by "us" we really mean "Dad").
1) Just because they say that the pig race will start at the top of the hour, it doesn't mean they actually begin the race then. There's apparently an elongated program that proceeds the swines making an appearance. It isn't nearly as entertaining as Dora (or so I'm told) and that renders two-year olds cranky. You can only exclaim "Oh, here come the pigs!" unsuccessfully so many time before your children are pretty sure you are a flat-out liar. Save yourself the headache and enjoy the sights on the farm for another 30 minutes. Oh yeah, as a special note remember that a pig race only last a few seconds!
2) Wet grass (or any type of wetness for that matter) and Braelyn are not fast friends. In fact, once she gets her knees wet, she'll spend the rest of the time pointing in disgust at them until her pants dry. (Side note: Don't let the kids get too dirty on Dad's watch... Unless the Dad in question is in charge of the laundry duties... Sadly, this Dad isn't!)
5) Gwendolyn Marie would have been content even if she was on the deck of the Titanic as it sunk into the ocean. For the majority of the day, she sat in her stroller with her hands folded wearing a big smile across her face... That is until she saw the donkey at the petting zoo. That elicited an excited "There it is!!!" as her finger excitedly jetted in the donkey's general direction. (We still aren't sure why, of all the animals she saw, the donkey was the day's big winner. For his part, the donkey stuck out his tongue in her direction. Other than that and an occasional tail-swat at the flies, the donkey was pretty lifeless.)
Enough about the pumpkin patch. As most of you likely remember, October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month. Just like last year, our friend Cassie, who pens the "Beyond Measure" blog, has taken the opportunity to spotlight some very special kiddos throughout the month. This past weekend, it was Gwendolyn's turn. I encourage you to 
