Bath Fun

Elena is helping shampoo her hair

Bath time!

The girls like to eat, hence the girls get at least one bath a day. 

Elena is very close to walking - she takes little steps and is loving it.  Elena is getting more social by the day and loves to be with her parents.  She is starting to cry when we leave her at school or the church nursery, which is a good thing.  She snuggles and cuddles more now and is actually sitting still long enough to read books.  She likes sitting with us at the table and can feed herself very well with a big-girl spoon.

Juliana is scooting all over the place but not actually crawling yet.  Juliana can now raise herself into a sitting position and can sit for about 30 minutes without support. 

Wedding

My cousin Jeremy had a wedding.  It was outdoors and a bit hot, but it was a short wedding.  Kelly got to go *dancing*, which was was the highlight of the evening for her.

Elena with her aunt Helen

"I will smite you!!!"      Aaaah!!! Who gave the baby a sword?!?!?    Really - it is just the wedding program / fan on edge to the camera.....  

aunt Helen, Juliana, and aunt Meg

Ezra and Elena dancing

Helen and Elena dancing.  Elena likes to spin around fast.

Kelly and Juliana

Juliana at school

Since I have good photography skills, Juliana's teacher had me take pictures of all the children in Juliana's room today so that she could use them for "who came to school today" and other activities.  Here is Juliana's picture. 

Back to school....

I am sorry it has been almost a month since the last update.  Life has been hectic, but fun.

The girls started going to school last week.  Kelly and I work at the same place and we can take the girls with us - if we want to check in on them they are just down the hall.  Both girls seem to like it and aren't showing separation anxiety.

I saw one of the girl's passport photo the other day.  I was taken aback - when you are with them every day it is easy to lose track of how far they have come in a short while.

We have played several times in Ezra's parent's neighborhood pool.  Elena has learned that she can't swim yet and can't breathe underwater.  She is loves being in the pool but clings very tightly to her parents (which is a good thing).

We are starting to feed Juliana more cereals and are starting her on vegetables.  Yes, we did get some carrots in her mouth.

The ever-so-rare-both-girls-in-the-same-picture-having-fun shot.

Elena is almost fully recovered from her cleft-palate surgery.  She isn't allowed to eat hard foods yet, but is otherwise on a normal diet.  She has figured out how to use the TV remote control.  She also loves to grab objects, hold them to her ear, and babble non-stop (i.e. using a cell phone).

Juliana is so close to crawling she can taste it.  She can get to objects she wants by rolling over.  She can also bow up like a banana and paddle vigorously with her arms to drag herself where she wants to go.  She hasn't figured out arms and legs at the same time.

One of Elena's teachers at school likes to put her hair in pigtails.  We think she looks super cute!

Beware the cute!

So we started the day bemoaning our lack of pictures of the girls.  We remedied this by dressing the girls in cute outfits and taking their pictures quickly before they could get the clothes messy.  Blah Blah blah here are the pictures.

This is probably the best picture we have taken of Juliana

We wanted a shot of the girls propped up together showing their sisterly love.  Something like "Precious Moments" that would be so sweet that just viewing the picture would give people cavities.   Alas, such was not to be.  When we put Juliana in Elena's lap, Elena pitched a fit and tried to kick her off the sofa.  So we put the girls side by side.  Elena had this exasperated "why oh why are you making me sit next to her?" air to her, as is visible in the picture.  Juliana loves to watch Elena and tracks her movements and is very interested in her big sister.  Elena loves to try and thump Juliana on the head (we are working on "nice touches") and is very jealous of any time, toys, or feedings given to Juliana.

13.4 lbs and NO MORE OXYGEN!!!

Juliana saw her cardiologist today and took her off oxygen.  She is still on 2 medications and we will let her body grow out of them.  She is also up to 13.4 lbs.  She was 11.5 when we first got her.  This girl has been eating us out of house and home but she is growing and oh so active.  Today at the doctor's office she was all over that table trying to flip and flop to eat the paper.  She jabbers all day and blows bubbles.  She has made so much progress and I just love watching her every move. :)

Of Pools and Spoons

Elena having fun in her grandparents' pool.  A giant bathtub!  What fun!

She didn't want to stay in the boat - she wanted to be IN the water.

She loves it!

Starting Juliana on baby food - she says "Gimme dat food!!!"

Such pretty eyes!

Such a cute smile!  Messy, but cute.

June has been a blur.  We have spent the entire month at hospitals or doctors visits.  All the major surgeries (that we know about) are over and both girls are recovering nicely.

Elena still has arm restraints on often to prevent her from putting her fingers in her mouth (oral surgery) and is on a liquid diet.  It is very pitiful - she knows we are eating better food than her Pediasure milkshakes.  She will start making "om-nom-nom-nom" chewing faces when she sees and smells food, and will point at our food and sign "more" and "eat" but to no avail.  It will be great when we can move her back to mushy food and then back to solid foods.  Elena is a foodie in training and so having her choices be reduced to 1) Vanilla  2) Strawberry has been hard on her.  She knows she is not supposed to put her fingers in her mouth.  If we catch her with her fingers in her mouth, we fuss at her and put her arm restraints (her "no-nos") back on.  If she catches herself putting her fingers in her mouth, she signs "no" and "stop" to herself and will try to put her "no-nos" back on.

Juliana is recovering nicely from open heart surgery.  She has a big lump at the incision site, but the surgeon said this was normal considering how little nutrition before.  The surgeon was thrilled with how well she is progressing.  Juliana "talks" and babbles a lot more.  She eats a lot better and is getting stronger by the day.  She is still on a little bit of oxygen for her pulmonary hypertension.  Keeping the oxygen in her nose is a constant battle, as she delights in yanking the cannula out of her nose.    Even when it is taped down to her face, she still pulls it loose. She is close to crawling - she can flip over and roll to objects she wants.  She is getting better at sitting in a formed chair.  Her other hobby is yanking Kelly's hair.  She will wrap Kelly's hair in her soft little baby hand and then clamp down like an industrial vise.