4.29.10 ~ 10 months

Another month down. We went on a hike to Heybrook Lookout near Index last weekend and we're starting to take the girls on more outings. We're almost out of our 'quarantine' as illnesses in the community continues to decline. Our favorite 'date' right now is to go to Starbuck's and feed the girls breakfast while we enjoy our coffee. There's also a new coffee shop near our house that we can walk to and enjoy breakfast. As the weather has been getting nicer the girls have spent more time in the yard. I'm happy to say that Avery is no longer afraid of grass :)  We've even had a few friends over for mini play dates. With our increased socializing, we did get our first colds this month. All the girls got runny noses for about 2 weeks, were healthy for a week, and have a second round of runny noses again. They were nice enough to share with Mom and Dad, too. They've been pretty good through all of it, but we had to suck out their noses all the time and they didn't care so much for that.

Milestones:
~sitting: everyone sits now, yay! Camille is even able to get herself from her tummy into a sitting position (at least once on 4/25).
~crawling: not yet, but Camille's close
~talking: Avery signs 'all done' and 'up' and is learning 'eat'. Brelynn signs 'all done' and 'up' sometimes. Camille is content doing what she's doing, but I think I saw an 'all done' sign the other day :)  They all babble and say 'dada', 'mama', 'nana', and 'gaga' but I don't think they know what they mean yet.
~socializing: everyone is smiling and laughing all the time. Brelynn will clap her hands for pat-a-cake, Avery still loves peek-a-boo. The girls like to play with each other, which looks more like stealing toys, poking eyes, and pulling hair. There have been many times where I'll be doing something in one room and I can hear them start laughing at each other in another room. Very cute. Of course when I get the video camera they all stop. Oh, and the're starting to waive 'hi' now, too.
~eating: everyone feeds themselves finger foods. They love anything they can feed themself. Current snacks are banana, pears, peaches, peas, crackers, cheerios, and sweet potatoes.  With their newfound self-feeding ability, their willingness to eat off a spoon is rapidly declining (causing mom a lot of stress). I haven't let them use a spoon themselves yet because I'm afraid of the mess they'll make. And if you've seen my house you know that I'm no stranger to a mess...they're really messy!
~teething: still only 4 teeth, two for Avery and two for Brelynn but many more are coming for all of them. 
~growth: we had a 10 month doctor's appointment for our final dose of Synagis (immunization against RSV) on 4/27 and the girls stats were (for 10 month olds):
     Avery: 16 lbs, 2 oz (4%ile), 27" (15%ile)
     Brelynn: 18 lbs, 1 oz (25%ile), 28" (50%ile)
     Camille: 14 lbs, 10 oz (<3%ile), 26.5" (9%ile)

and your reward for reading all of this...a picture from Haybrook Lookout :)

Interesting facts

In my last post I announced we would be walking to help the March of Dimes raise money to prevent premature births and treat preemies. Today I came across some interesting information about the March of Dimes (thanks to Helen of Three Times the Giggles).

Even if you don't have a preemie, you and your family have benefited from the March of Dimes (MOD).
~The MOD's first goal was to beat Polio, and it was successful
~The APGAR scoring system for infants became standard practice around the world thanks to Dr. Virginia Apgar's work with the MOD.
~The MOD funded the very first bone marrow transplant to correct a birth defect (1968)
~The MOD discovered that alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes birthd efects (1973)
~The MOD funds first in utero treatment of a birthd efect (1973)
~The MOD launched the national campain urging women to take Folic Acid during pregnancy (1995)
~The MOD led the effort to have newborn screening (heel prick) for at least 21 of 29 life threatening, but treatable disorders.

As of right now, Sweet Baby Rays has three walkers and has raised $125. Thanks to those who have already donated. Can we get more walkers or more donations???  The walk is less than one month away, May 15th...

4.15.10 ~ March for Babies

The March of Dimes has a fundraising walk in Seattle on May 15th called the March for Preemies and we`re walking this year with our girls. Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small, and often very sick. We were fortunate to make it to 32 weeks with the girls and although we spent a long time in the NICU, they were relatively healthy. Still, that was a long nine weeks!

We're hoping to raise money to support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. Would you consider joining us at the walk (it's free) or making a donation to the March of Dimes?  You can do both on our team page at http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1379561.  Thank you for helping us give all babies a healthy start!

Camille





Brelynn



Avery



4.4.10 ~ Easter

We had grand plans of taking the girls to church for the first time (well, Avery went once when she was first home then we had to stop because of cold and flu season...too many people), but that didn't happen this year. All five of us are sick with a cold. We had planned to go to church then to Dan's parent's house for a brunch but we figured the girls only had one event in them for the day so we chose brunch. They didn't nap well but were pretty happy with all the excitement of family and dogs. They are finally big enough to fit into the really cute dresses that our friend's mom got for them a long time ago (thanks Betsy!). Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen???

Avery, Brelynn, Camille

Dan with Brelynn, me with Avery and Camille