First Post Ever

Well, we decided to join the world of the blogs. This is partly due to the fact that I've recently enjoyed reading our friends' blogs and getting to "know" their kids. I think that it helps me feel connected, even if we are far away. The other reason to blog is that Elsie and Jess's grandparents would definitely like to see more pictures of their little grandchildren -- so I am trying to oblige and will attempt to have lots of pictures of the little rascals on here.

So, let's start with a little catch-up on where we are:

Me:
I am still working at The Childrens Hospital in Denver, finishing up my Pediatric Cardiology fellowship. For those non-medical people, this means that I've already completed my 3 year pediatrics residency and decided to go on for more training in Cardiology for children. I will be done October 4th, as I extended the fellowship due to maternity leave, and although it will be scary to be on my own, I'm ready to move on. As of my last count, I have only 16 calls left where I have to stay at the hospital all day and night, which is nothing after 7 1/2 years of in-hospital call. Starting in November, I will be working three days a week, which means I get to be a stay-at-home mom for the other four. I can't wait. I love being home with the kids and watching them grow and change and explore their world together.

Trev:
He is in his 5th year of General Surgery residency, which he has extended to 7 years since he did a two year fellowship research. When he is done, he will likely do another 2 year fellowship in Trauma Surgery, but that's not set in stone yet. If that seems like a long time to be in training, it is. But, on a good note, he will be done before he's forty (39 to be exact), which should give him some good years to practice before he retires. Seriously though, he loves being a surgeon, and he will likely have a job that is perfect for him when he is done.


Elsie and Jess (the ones you really care about):

They are now 14 months old, and growing up fast.

They have never been apart, except when one has been sleeping and the other one is awake, and they really seem to love each other (most of the time at least).

They frequently give each other kisses and hugs, and they are usually not in a different part of the house for more than five minutes. The other day I had them in the same crib and I walked in to find Jess on his back, and Elsie on her tummy on top of him blowing kisses on his forehead, with both erupting in giggles.

They also love to give kisses and snuggle with us, which is absolutely wonderful.

Their favorite toy is usually whatever toy the other one has.

Sometimes this can bring out the not-so-nice part about being twins, with Elsie biting, and Jess bopping Elsie over the head with his fist -- but it's all quickly forgotten.

They frequently have competitions, such as taking turns to see who can throw things the best, or make the loudest yelling noise or the best spitting noise. This often happens at naptime, when they really should be trying to go to sleep.

They have always slept in the same room, and for the most part they don't wake each other up. One can wake up screaming in the middle of the night (thankfully this is rare) and the other one won't stir. Going to sleep is sometimes another story (see above).

They love to go for walks in the stroller, and can't wait to ride in the trailer behind Trevor's bike. If you ride alongside, you can hear them laughing and shouting when they go over bumps or when Trevor swerves.

They can say mama, dada, hi, yum yum, and do sign language for milk, more, and all done. I also think that Jess tried to say his name today when he was looking in the mirror, but I'm not quite sure...

Their favorite food is berries, any kind. A close second is clementine oranges, and then any other kind of fruit after that. They also love cheese, pasta, and yogurt. But vegetables, other than peas, and meat are a hit or miss. Actually, to be honest, I should say that their favorite food is ice cream, just like their daddy, but I don't want you to think that we give it to them every day...

They LOVE to throw food from their high chairs, which makes me really wish we had a dog to clean it up.

Frequently they will refuse to eat any more food on their high chair tray, but as soon as I put them on the floor they quickly crawl over to eat all of the food that they've thrown down there. I've thought about throwing food on the floor so that they'll eat it, but I won't actually admit to having done that :)

They each have four teeth, with a couple more on the way. This does limit what food I can give them so far.

Their least favorite activity is getting their fingernails cut, which makes it my least favorite activity as well. This usually ends up being a two day process, since cutting all 20 nails in one day is almost impossible. I think that I need some form of sedation for them before I try it again... (just kidding -- don't report me).

Elsie can walk, but won't walk without holding on to your hands. I think that she got scared when she did a face plant and cut her bottom lip on her teeth, but she'll forget about that sometime, won't she?

Jess is taking his time learning to walk, but sure loves to walk around furniture and holding on to your hands. We're just happy that he does the normal crawl now since he did a form of the belly crawl that my friend Sandi nicknamed "the wounded soldier crawl" as he only used one arm and his legs to propel himself.

Elsie loves her fuzzy blankies, and Jess is getting attached to one as well. He still wants his pacifier when he's upset or sleeping. We're trying to wean him from it, but that's not quite that easy. Elsie frequently will pull it out of his mouth and dangle it in front of his face, giggling as he tries to get it. Sometimes she even puts it in her mouth and crawls away quickly, looking back to see if he's going to chase her. Jess sometimes thinks this is funny, and sometimes not so funny. This week though, when Jess got upset about something and started crying, Elsie crawled into the nursery, found him a pacifier, and crawled back into the living room to stick it in his mouth. I thought that was sweet.

Both babies really like the water, and bathtime is almost always a fun time for them. They like to rub the shampoo in each other's hair, and to see how much water they can throw outside of the tub.

Like all babies, they also love to empty things out, such as the pantry, the refrigerator, the dishwasher. With two of them, they can wreak havoc on a place pretty quickly. Last week I let Jess out of my sight for three minutes, only to find him in the nursery with the top of the diaper pail open, chucking dirty diapers over his shoulder with glee.

Neither one is breaking records for being a big Dutch baby, but that's okay because I can still manage to bend down and pick them both up at the same time. My best estimate is that Elsie weighs 19 and 1/2 pounds, and Jess weighs 22 and 1/2 pounds. Elsie has been around 10%, and Jess around 25% for height and weight. Both of their heads are around the 95th% though... I try to tell myself that this just means that they're smart, although I know there's no medical basis for this.

Both have been very healthy so far, which has been a blessing. Jess got one round of the stomach flu in January, and Elsie has a cold at the present time, but that's been it so far.

If we have to guess at their personalities, we think that Elsie is going to be the one encouraging the trouble-making, and that Jess will follow along with her. There's just something about Elsie that makes you think 'mischief'.

We also have Abby Bosscher as a member of our family right now. She is our nanny who lives with us, and whom the kids love. She'll be staying with us until July, when she'll be moving back to Michigan, hopefully to start law school. We'll miss her when she goes.

That's enough of a catch-up for now. Future posts will be much shorter, I promise.