Another Week Down

Our apologizes for taking about a week to update you all on the girls. Honestly, we almost forgot how less time seems left when there isn't a snow day to free things up!

But on a good note, outside of us constantly being on the go, everything with the Castellanos is status quo. The girls have assimilated back into day care following their elongated holiday/snow day break without issue. Braelyn is still working on playing with her sister in a gentle manner. As you can see at the top of this post, that sometimes involves trying to tame one of Gwendolyn's cowlicks... Other times, it still could be a bear hug or excited slap. Still, Gwen has even started to that those overly exuberant displays of affection in stride.

And Ms. Gwendolyn Marie is biding her time until March when she's got a series of tests upcoming to chart her progress. If outward appearances are a true indication, we think things will continue to go swimmingly for her.

Until later.

They just keep on keeping on

Sure enough, the continued snow this week meant that Mom and the girls have had an extended time at home together. It really is a blessing that Mom has this extra time alone with them… Not just for obvious reasons either. We mean, you can undoubtedly say that Mom has enjoyed her extra hugs and kisses from the girls. Much to Dad’s chagrin, Mom’s also taken the time to introduce Braelyn to a toy shopping cart in hopes that she soon will be swooning through the aisles of the store picking out just the right purse alongside Mommy.

Still, one of the greatest byproducts of the extra time has been Mom’s ability to focus on getting Gwen’s legs stronger and stronger. Like clockwork, Mom wheels out Gwen’s stander each morning after breakfast and keeps her occupied during this time. We’ve come to find that Gwen prefers this routine but it obvious isn’t practical to haul the bulky stander to day care and back each day. So, we were typically relegated to placing her in it at night time. Needless to say, much like the rest of us, Gwen is more in the mood to wind down in the evenings and not exert extra energy. So, evening time in the stander is often a tug-of-war between Gwen getting the time she needs upright on her feet and not pushing her past the point where she’s so worked up she can’t even settle down and get to bed. Still, that's a much better option that getting her up even earlier in the morning so that Gwen can have stander time before going to day care.

However, with snow days, Mom’s jumped at the opportunity to get extra stander time in during the morning in between breakfast and her late-morning nap. The results have been very impressive. As we’ve talked about in recent posts, Gwen has been showing marked improvement in her leg strength and movement. No doubt, a HUGE reason for this is that she’s been home for a little over a full month now thanks to the holidays and winter storms. To her credit, Mom has been very diligent about getting Gwen in the stander each and every day. Gwen’s confidence is evident now and she even spends “play time” enjoying the activity walker that guided her sister from wobbler to walker (or maybe we should just say slightly less of a wobbler). As you can see, while Gwen’s obviously steadying herself by griping the walker's handle and isn’t yet able to pull herself up there on her own, she really is enjoying the times when she’s able to play upright. While Gwen does have her braces on, she doesn't really require much of a "spotter" to keep her standing at all!

Outside of the excessive snow (with more on the way today and Sunday might we add) another constant is just how amazingly quick our beautiful Braelyn and Gwendolyn continue to grow. Now at nearly 16 months, we often do a double take at just how fast they have grown and matured.

It’s funny in a way. When you have a child, it’s kind of like getting married… Everyone comes out of the woodwork to offer you their pearls of wisdom (no matter if you want them or not). Still, the constant that we kept hearing was that you need to relish every moment with them because of how quickly they grown and move from one stage to the next.

Well, those soothsayers couldn’t have been more correct... While Mom and Dad couldn't be more blessed!!!

Old Man Winter Strikes Again

Somehow, Mother Nature saw fit to give us just enough ice overnight that Mom (and by default the girls) scored yet another snow day. For those of you not keeping score at home, that marks 10 of the last 11 days (be it for weekends, weather related cancellations or because of MLK Day) that Mom has been able to spend the entire day with the girls. With a snow dump in the forecast for later this week, we get the feeling that there will be an elongated amount of bonding time still to come.

Gwendolyn spent her holiday yesterday getting an assessment from a speech therapist. While she’s not significantly behind her sister currently, we want to make sure she doesn’t lag there for long. So, she will be adding speech to her regularly scheduled physical and occupational therapy visits. Speaking of physical therapy, Gwendolyn also had a P.T. session yesterday as well. She did exceptionally yet again. Each day her leg strength continues to increase which is an incredible sign.

Another interesting Gwendolyn development is that she seems to be growing apart from her beloved binky. Of late, Mom and Dad have noticed that in circumstances where she used to rely on it, Gwen has begun actually swatting it out of her mouth if it’s placed there by one of us. That combined with the fact that Mom had to purchase her a “2T” outfit for the first time this weekend, is yet another reminder that they are growing up all too quickly!!!

Poor Braelyn still struggles with the best way to offer affection to her sister (at least we THINK that's what she's attempting to do). Lately, she’s been trying to snuggle up nice and close to Gwendolyn… But more often than not, she gets a little too close and winds up sitting ON Gwendolyn instead. Needless to say, as a result of all that extra time spent at home with Mom, this has happen more an more as Braelyn tries to jockey for Mom’s affection. At the end of the day though it still seems to be Braelyn attempting to show just how much she loves her sister. For instance, whenever Gwen cries, Braelyn waddles over and plops down right next to her, often times trying to pat her head, as if to say “its okay.” This weekend, Dad even noticed Braelyn continually lying down next to Gwendolyn on her blanket when a cry-fest ensued. Who knows, maybe that’s just Braelyn’s attempt of saying “It wasn’t me, Dad. Look, I’m sleeping over here so I couldn’t have done anything to make her cry!”

;)

The girls are beginning to enjoy eating outside of their highchair more and more. The older they get, the better they seem to be at keeping their food on their tray or in their mouth. The dogs don’t seem overly thrilled with this new development. Still, outside of our scrap-hungry dogs, Mom and Dad are pleased to report it’s made multi-tasking much easier. Whenever we aren’t all confined to the kitchen for snack time, it affords us the chance to fold laundry or vacuum while they eat.

Ah, the simple pleasures of parenthood!

Pass the Tissues Please

Unfortunately, the recent snow dump not only kept Mom a prisoner in the house for the initial four days of the week, but the close quarters also meant that the Castellanos swapped a bunch of germs.

Braelyn started things off again and each one of us has subsequently succumbed to it in one form or another.

This morning poor Gwendolyn resembled a bubble blower. Regardless of the number of times we wiped her nose, a steady stream of snot-bubbles soon manifested.

In the grand scheme of things it could be worse. As you can see, even with their level of comfort lower than normal due to the colds, at least the girls are still flashing their smiles!

Here’s hoping the long weekend will help us all get right again!!!

Slow Down Lightweight

Apparently you can also add drinking from a sippy cup to the list of things Braelyn enjoys doing while (at least partially) inside her new tent.

Hey, what’s in this juice anyway!!!

;)

Someday Our Prince Will Come

Thanks to a glut of snow, Mom and the girls have got a snow day today.

Luckily, it was the perfect opportunity to try out the new castle that Uncle Kyle and Aunt Susan got them for Christmas.

While it took a little prodding at first, Braelyn and Gwendolyn eventually got the general concept of their castle tent. In fact, it has suddenly become the perfect local for peek-a-boo and to look at books.

Given the fact that this snow storm isn't suppose to let up until midnight, we get the feeling that this new hideaway will be getting quite a lot of use this week!

Stay warm out there!!!

Time for a Makeover!

We figured it was about due time to change things up a bit. Hopefully you like the change! Thank you so much to those that follow our blog. As always, your friendship and support means so much. ;-)

Love,
The Castellanos

Winter Blues for the Castellano Girls

Unfortunately, we wanted to post an update that Braelyn isn't quite as much done with her cold as we initially thought. Or maybe more precisely, she seems to have contracted a virus just as her cold was subsiding. So, Mom got to take an unexpected half-day yesterday to bring her to the pediatrician. Luckily, it doesn't sound like it's serious. (Save for the doc's comment that Braelyn had a "curtain of mucus" lodged in her throat... Now that can't be too comfortable). We’re just going to keep monitoring her for now and they didn’t feel medication was necessary.

Needless to say, when Braelyn doesn't feel well, she's sure to let you know. That's why we love the above picture of her. Remember how we mentioned earlier that one of her favorite pastimes now is reading books? Well, it's actually just reading period... Not necessarily books but apparently holiday greeting cards as well. We can't think of a better photographic representation of the term "oxymoron" than Braelyn in the middle of a virus-induced meltdown holding a greeting card ablaze with the word "Joy" on it.

Gwen's suffering from some frustration at the moment herself. That’s because she’s advancing to the next level of learning how to eat and not horde her food. This morning was an interesting exercise in patience for Mom and Dad. We only cut her breakfast toast into long strips to so she had to take bites of it as she ate it. Well, first Gwen tried stuffing the whole thing in her mouth as usual (which made Dad chuckle because he remembered that when the O.T. suggested this method, she specifically stated that "It isn't like she'll just try to put it all in her mouth at once."). Then, after a few times of Mom fishing the large toast strips out of her mouth, Gwen got the biting part down. However, she still couldn't quite grasp that in addition to biting on the toast, she needed to also pull it away so it broke off in her mouth. So, baby steps there but Gwendolyn's getting better and better in that avenue.

That’s it for now… here comes the weekend!!!

The last of our Holiday leftovers

We just came across a few holiday shots that we wanted to share but somehow slipped through the cracks… ENJOY!

Cousin Madison and Gwen show off their holiday dresses

Gwen: “I’m so stuffed up that I don’t think I’ve even got a nose anymore.”
Braelyn: “Yeah you do, it’s right here.”

Wow, look what Uncle Kyle and Aunt Susan got us... Our very own castle tent to play in!

The Castellanos show off their Holiday best (even if Braelyn & Gwendolyn were too tired to actually smile at the camera).

Another Wednesday Wrap

Wow… We can’t believe it’s been a full week of inactivity since our last post. It is amazing how little free time there is around the Holidays.

Braelyn and Gwendolyn are still doing well. Gwen’s continuing to work nightly in her stander and with her braces. You can see her gaining strength each and every day. In fact, last night she stayed in her stander for over a half hour before her initial “please take me out of this contraption” fuss surfaced. She was quite the trooper indeed. You could see her starting to tire and tilt her head early on but she still toughed it out.

Braelyn still has the walk of a drunken man… Of course the main culprit at work most of the time is that she’s wearing pajamas with feet that can easily slip on our laminate floors. Most of her wobbly trips are taken from one parent to her “book box” where she collects a new treasure to have Mom and Dad read to her.

Every now and then when neither parent is available, she enlists the services of her sister to be a fill-in reader.

Luckily, the rash of colds that swept through the family over the past couple of weeks has crested and is nearly subsided. Of course, the temperature this weekend isn’t supposed to be very high. The only reason that’s of consequence is because Mom and Dad will be taking in the Chiefs playoff game this weekend... So hopefully we don't kick start another run on the cold merry go round!