Hey All!
I hope you have had a merry and peaceful Christmas. We are currently in Potomac, Maryland (suburbs of Washington, DC) at Mike's parent's house. We will be here until Saturday evening, December 29th. The girls have been a bit overwhelmed with presents and relatives. Both Mike's sisters (Bridget and Siobhain) and Mike's Brother (Matt) are in with their families. This is the first time in about a decade all four of the Meyer siblings have been together under the same roof they grew up in. We will be posting Christmas pictures, and hopefully, some Christmas video next week. But, in lieu of pictures, we wanted to wish everyone who visits this blog the happiest holiday season. We know that 2008 will bring us more laughter and joy.
peace,
Teresa and Mike
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Communication through signs
We've been working for a while on using sign language to help Lily and Addison build a vocabulary for communication. They both are doing quite well. Following is a video of them making some of the signs they know. No criticism please...we are not adhering to American Sign Language. We are just using what works for us. Here's a description of the signs in the video:
Dog - panting like a dog
Frog - sticking your tongue in and out like a frog (in the video I say Pig, but Lily knew I was looking for frog somehow!)
Cereal - hold your index finger out and motion it up and down across your face
More - touch all of your fingers together a couple of times
Please - rub one hand up and down your chest
Monkey - arms up under your underarms like a monkey would do
Daddy - put your hand to your temple with your thumb touching your temple (like you are trying to make one moose antler)
Eat - put your hand to your mouth like you are putting something in it
Book - palms together, then open like a book
All done or finished - hands together then down and out like you are dropping something
Cat - pinch with the index finger and thumb at your cheeks and go out like stroking a cat's whiskers
Mouse - hands up to your nose and pretend like you are rubbing your nose as a mouse might
Corn - hands at the side of you mouth like you are holding a piece of corn on the cob and twist your hands like you are eating it
Play - hands in a partial fist with pinky and thumb sticking out and shake your hands
Kiss - kiss the fingers of one hand then put them together with the fingers of the other hand (looks a lot like more)
Rabbit/bunny/jump - index and middle finger of one hand "jumping" on the palm of the other
Ball - tips of all fingers coming together like holding a ball
Giraffe - grasp hands together and lift them up over your head like following the giraffe's long neck
Bed - head on the palm of a hand and tilt your head over
Baby - arms crossed and move your arms like you are cradling a baby in your arms
Bird - index finger and middle finger touching the thumb like imitating a bird opening and closing its beak
Milk - not demonstrated in the video, but it is clasping and unclasping the hand like milking a cow.
Enjoy!
Dog - panting like a dog
Frog - sticking your tongue in and out like a frog (in the video I say Pig, but Lily knew I was looking for frog somehow!)
Cereal - hold your index finger out and motion it up and down across your face
More - touch all of your fingers together a couple of times
Please - rub one hand up and down your chest
Monkey - arms up under your underarms like a monkey would do
Daddy - put your hand to your temple with your thumb touching your temple (like you are trying to make one moose antler)
Eat - put your hand to your mouth like you are putting something in it
Book - palms together, then open like a book
All done or finished - hands together then down and out like you are dropping something
Cat - pinch with the index finger and thumb at your cheeks and go out like stroking a cat's whiskers
Mouse - hands up to your nose and pretend like you are rubbing your nose as a mouse might
Corn - hands at the side of you mouth like you are holding a piece of corn on the cob and twist your hands like you are eating it
Play - hands in a partial fist with pinky and thumb sticking out and shake your hands
Kiss - kiss the fingers of one hand then put them together with the fingers of the other hand (looks a lot like more)
Rabbit/bunny/jump - index and middle finger of one hand "jumping" on the palm of the other
Ball - tips of all fingers coming together like holding a ball
Giraffe - grasp hands together and lift them up over your head like following the giraffe's long neck
Bed - head on the palm of a hand and tilt your head over
Baby - arms crossed and move your arms like you are cradling a baby in your arms
Bird - index finger and middle finger touching the thumb like imitating a bird opening and closing its beak
Milk - not demonstrated in the video, but it is clasping and unclasping the hand like milking a cow.
Enjoy!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Lily's first word
We’ve been waiting a long time for the day when Lily would speak her first word.
Admittedly, she’s been saying Moo or MMMM for a long time when we ask her what does a cow say. But yesterday she said her first real word.
And what was it? “Nice” That’s right. Not ball or dog or Dada. (She’s also been saying “Ma” for a long time). Nope it was “nice”. What a pleasant girl she will turn out to be, right?
Well, the background is this. Mike and I are perhaps not teaching Lily and Addison the best etiquette. They have a tendency to pass gas from the attic and the basement while eating their dinner. Generally this evokes a response from Mike or I…such as “ew”, “good one”, “sweet” or “DUUDE!”. Both Addison and Lily find this very funny. On some occasions one of the girls will have such a loud belch or fart that we say “NNNIIIIICCEEE!”. Last night Lily had a beauty of a burp and Mike and I both said “NIIIICE!” And much to our amazement, Lily repeated it.
Admittedly, she’s been saying Moo or MMMM for a long time when we ask her what does a cow say. But yesterday she said her first real word.
And what was it? “Nice” That’s right. Not ball or dog or Dada. (She’s also been saying “Ma” for a long time). Nope it was “nice”. What a pleasant girl she will turn out to be, right?
Well, the background is this. Mike and I are perhaps not teaching Lily and Addison the best etiquette. They have a tendency to pass gas from the attic and the basement while eating their dinner. Generally this evokes a response from Mike or I…such as “ew”, “good one”, “sweet” or “DUUDE!”. Both Addison and Lily find this very funny. On some occasions one of the girls will have such a loud belch or fart that we say “NNNIIIIICCEEE!”. Last night Lily had a beauty of a burp and Mike and I both said “NIIIICE!” And much to our amazement, Lily repeated it.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Pictures!
Hi everyone.
Here are some pictures from the last few months. They include
Hope all of you are well. Love, Teresa
Here are some pictures from the last few months. They include
- Our trip to the Columbus Zoo.
- Our trip to Notre Dame for the ND/Georgia Tech game. Yes that is Lily, Addison and Mike with the Dancing Irish.
- A day outside with the girls wearing skorts, including one with Addison making a funny face and Lily running off the driveway into the street (WHOOOOAH!)
- A visit from Grandma and Aunt Bridget.
- And finally a picture of the girls in their Halloween dresses courtesy of Gram beside their inflatable haunted house.
Hope all of you are well. Love, Teresa
Thursday, October 11, 2007
We are actually alive!
Greetings friends,
I realize that it has been several months since we last posted. Sorry about that. New Pictures will be posted shortly (I am told by the IT staff - Teresa). To get you caught up on things, well...
We went to Park City, UT for a Sheppard family reunion. My greatest concern about the trip was the 3 hour plane ride. The trip out went just fine, with minimal screaming and crying. The girls just loved watching their cousin Coleman, who is a year older. Addison had trouble adapting to the new time zone, in fact, refused to adapt to the new time zone. So a usual 6am wake up became a 4am wake up. Hooray, we are on vacation...yarg. We also think that she had trouble adapting to the altitude, new sleeping arrangements, etc. So, things could have gone better for her...and her parents...Lily, seemed to adapt much better to the change in environment. By the way, the trip back confirmed all my concerns, with two tired crying babies and two tired wanting-to-cry parents. We were a plane favorite.
Needless to say, after being thoroughly exhausted, the idea of putting the girls in the car for a 9 hour trip to Ocean City, Maryland, was less than appealing. So we cancelled that trip and tried to recover.
After a couple of weeks at home, we decided to visit the Columbus Zoo, home of Jack Hannah (the animal guy who is on Letterman and Leno). We rented a hotel room in Columbus so that we could spend two days at the zoo. We originally were going to spend one day at the zoo and another day at the aquarium, but the Columbus aquarium was just one fish tank. This zoo was great. Even though it was hot, almost all of the walkways around the exhibits were shaded. We have a great video of the girls looking at the otters, perhaps we can get that on-line soon.
We are happy to say that both girls are walking, though usually in opposite directions. Addison prefers to chase after Jack (our cocker spaniel) and Lily likes to run around our dining room table. Addison can say a host of words, especially Jack, ball, block, dog, cheese, dada, mama, and others that I cannot remember. Lily is less vocal with different fluctuations and versions of mama, though just recently she can moo like a cow and make some possessed growl with her mouth open. We are teaching them sign language and Lily is especially adept at telling us exactly what she does and does not want.
My mom and sister Bridget came to Athens to help me with the girls when Teresa went to her cousin's wedding in Atlanta, then stayed to work at Screamfree for a few days. The girls thought that Aunt Bridget was the best. They loved spending time with Grandma, but Aunt Bridget was lots of fun.
Hopefully we will get videos up so that you can see how funny and how much fun the girls are right now. Hardly a day goes by that we are not laughing at something that they are doing. It is great that they find burping funny, though I have not taught them the thumb-to-the-head thing yet. I have to consult the baby books, but I think you teach drinking games at age 2.
I realize that it has been several months since we last posted. Sorry about that. New Pictures will be posted shortly (I am told by the IT staff - Teresa). To get you caught up on things, well...
We went to Park City, UT for a Sheppard family reunion. My greatest concern about the trip was the 3 hour plane ride. The trip out went just fine, with minimal screaming and crying. The girls just loved watching their cousin Coleman, who is a year older. Addison had trouble adapting to the new time zone, in fact, refused to adapt to the new time zone. So a usual 6am wake up became a 4am wake up. Hooray, we are on vacation...yarg. We also think that she had trouble adapting to the altitude, new sleeping arrangements, etc. So, things could have gone better for her...and her parents...Lily, seemed to adapt much better to the change in environment. By the way, the trip back confirmed all my concerns, with two tired crying babies and two tired wanting-to-cry parents. We were a plane favorite.
Needless to say, after being thoroughly exhausted, the idea of putting the girls in the car for a 9 hour trip to Ocean City, Maryland, was less than appealing. So we cancelled that trip and tried to recover.
After a couple of weeks at home, we decided to visit the Columbus Zoo, home of Jack Hannah (the animal guy who is on Letterman and Leno). We rented a hotel room in Columbus so that we could spend two days at the zoo. We originally were going to spend one day at the zoo and another day at the aquarium, but the Columbus aquarium was just one fish tank. This zoo was great. Even though it was hot, almost all of the walkways around the exhibits were shaded. We have a great video of the girls looking at the otters, perhaps we can get that on-line soon.
We are happy to say that both girls are walking, though usually in opposite directions. Addison prefers to chase after Jack (our cocker spaniel) and Lily likes to run around our dining room table. Addison can say a host of words, especially Jack, ball, block, dog, cheese, dada, mama, and others that I cannot remember. Lily is less vocal with different fluctuations and versions of mama, though just recently she can moo like a cow and make some possessed growl with her mouth open. We are teaching them sign language and Lily is especially adept at telling us exactly what she does and does not want.
My mom and sister Bridget came to Athens to help me with the girls when Teresa went to her cousin's wedding in Atlanta, then stayed to work at Screamfree for a few days. The girls thought that Aunt Bridget was the best. They loved spending time with Grandma, but Aunt Bridget was lots of fun.
Hopefully we will get videos up so that you can see how funny and how much fun the girls are right now. Hardly a day goes by that we are not laughing at something that they are doing. It is great that they find burping funny, though I have not taught them the thumb-to-the-head thing yet. I have to consult the baby books, but I think you teach drinking games at age 2.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Has it really been a year?
Hi all,
There are new pictures and videos posted below. If there is anyone left reading this I would be surprised. Okay, let us go back in time. It is approximately 7am June 28, 2006 and I hear "Mike WAKE UP..." With that call to action, the Adventures of Lily and Addison began. Let me be clear, I had ten more days to prepare...but Addison had enough of Lily taking up all the room, and apparently the food as well. This week Teresa and I went back and re-read the beginning of this blog and I was struck not only with the clarity of my memory of events, but of emotions as well. For the record, I panicked...running about the house seemingly aimlessly until Teresa told me to CALM DOWN and take a shower. Now my vast knowledge about birth comes from TV where once the water breaks you have approximately ten minutes, including the commercial break, until children appear, thus the panic. I now know differently, but surely someone should have told me this. I was so sure we were going the full 38 weeks that it never dawned on me that I needed to practice what to do in the event the girls came early. By the way, I still believe panic was the appropriate response.
This year has been full of silly, scary, joyful, absurd, laugh-out-loud, cry, hope, dream, pray, and proud moments. Under Teresa's guidance, the girls are growing independent, smart, funny, strong and loving...in other words, just like their mother. I taught Lily to laugh when she farts and I taught Addison to chase the dogs. We both bring different skill sets to the parenting table.
To start developing our keen sense of competitiveness in the girls, we have been having baby races (you can see some pictures below) with the walkers. Addison tends to cheat sometimes, scraping tires with Lily. We are still trying to teach Lily to finish the race as she will get a big lead and then stop and applaud herself. Addison, on the other hand, has a maniacal laugh when she takes the lead, stopping occasionally to stick rocks in her mouth.
We are off to a Sheppard family reunion in Park City, Utah...then to my parent's house at Ocean City, Maryland in the coming couple of weeks. So there should be plenty to discuss once we get back from these vacations...with an lots of expected tales, pictures and videos. Thanks to all who visit this blog, whether you post a comment or not. With one year in the hopper, the Adventures of Addison and Lily have just begun...stay tuned.
There are new pictures and videos posted below. If there is anyone left reading this I would be surprised. Okay, let us go back in time. It is approximately 7am June 28, 2006 and I hear "Mike WAKE UP..." With that call to action, the Adventures of Lily and Addison began. Let me be clear, I had ten more days to prepare...but Addison had enough of Lily taking up all the room, and apparently the food as well. This week Teresa and I went back and re-read the beginning of this blog and I was struck not only with the clarity of my memory of events, but of emotions as well. For the record, I panicked...running about the house seemingly aimlessly until Teresa told me to CALM DOWN and take a shower. Now my vast knowledge about birth comes from TV where once the water breaks you have approximately ten minutes, including the commercial break, until children appear, thus the panic. I now know differently, but surely someone should have told me this. I was so sure we were going the full 38 weeks that it never dawned on me that I needed to practice what to do in the event the girls came early. By the way, I still believe panic was the appropriate response.
This year has been full of silly, scary, joyful, absurd, laugh-out-loud, cry, hope, dream, pray, and proud moments. Under Teresa's guidance, the girls are growing independent, smart, funny, strong and loving...in other words, just like their mother. I taught Lily to laugh when she farts and I taught Addison to chase the dogs. We both bring different skill sets to the parenting table.
To start developing our keen sense of competitiveness in the girls, we have been having baby races (you can see some pictures below) with the walkers. Addison tends to cheat sometimes, scraping tires with Lily. We are still trying to teach Lily to finish the race as she will get a big lead and then stop and applaud herself. Addison, on the other hand, has a maniacal laugh when she takes the lead, stopping occasionally to stick rocks in her mouth.
We are off to a Sheppard family reunion in Park City, Utah...then to my parent's house at Ocean City, Maryland in the coming couple of weeks. So there should be plenty to discuss once we get back from these vacations...with an lots of expected tales, pictures and videos. Thanks to all who visit this blog, whether you post a comment or not. With one year in the hopper, the Adventures of Addison and Lily have just begun...stay tuned.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Walking!
First a video of a couple of moments with the Meyer family at the beginning of June. We travelled to DC for our nephew Frank's wedding. Kind of crazy that one of Addison & Lily's cousins is old enough to be getting married.
Next some clips from scenes at our house over the last 2 months including some of Lily's first steps.
And last our first go at walker races...
Next some clips from scenes at our house over the last 2 months including some of Lily's first steps.
And last our first go at walker races...
 |  |
| At 10 months in Disney shirts from Aunt Siobhain & Uncle Greg | At Frank's wedding with Aunt Siobhain & Uncle Greg. Greg made Addison laugh so hard she cried |
 |  |
| Girls in their dresses for Frank & Megan's wedding | Lily in her dress |
 |  |
| Aunt Bridget and Addison | The church quiet room where we were asked to stay during the wedding |
 | |
| Addison with her Great Aunt Maeve | |
 |  |
| Tybee Island, GA Addison and Lily's first beach experience | With Gram and Pop |
Saturday, April 28, 2007
The End of Our World As We Knew It
Hi all,
It has been quite a time since we last posted. Please note that there are NEW Pictures AND Videos below this post. Okay, so now I doubt anyone is left reading this, so I will be brief on what has been going on in the lives of Lily and Addison (and their parents). The first major advance was Lily and Addison learning how to crawl. Unfortunately for Addison, she learned how to crawl backwards and that was her only direction for the first week and a half of mobility. This would cause her untold anger as she wished to go towards something only to end up farther away (as a casual observer, it was very funny). You can see this backwards crawling if you look closely at the first of the new videos. She did learn to progress forward and has become much faster than her sister. As you see, Teresa and I have begun racing them, though as you will see in the videos, Jack is still faster than either of them.
After crawling, came the standing up. They have taken to standing most of the time. Poor Addison, she has not quite mastered the art of dismount. She comes crashing down or just stands there crying for fear of crashing down. Lily has been standing longer and has a very delicate dismount to the sitting position. This can be viewed on one of the videos as well. Other cool things they can do now includes clapping and waving, both evident on the videos.
We went for our 9-month visit to the pediatrician (at 9 1/2 months). All was well, but Teresa asked about Lily and Addison's sleeping patterns. Lily was a disaster to get to sleep. At times it would take up to 45 minutes to get her down, causing both parents untold stress. Addison, on the other hand, was quite good at going to sleep, but would wake up at some ungodly hour of the night (2, 3 4, pick one, it was never the same). So Dr. Regan sternly began talking to Teresa about putting them down, going back after 10 minutes, if still not asleep, going back after 20 minutes, etc. Teresa, quickly interrupted Dr. Regan, pointing at me, saying "Talk to that guy, he is the one who needs to hear this..." So, Dad the softee, got a beat-down from the pediatrician. We followed her advice and sleeping for both has been great, though the first night sucked.
Lily had her surgery to repair her cleft palate. All went perfectly. The night in the hospital with Lily was aweful and the next week was almost as bad. Eventually, she began drinking from a bottle again, and all has been clear sailing since then. When Lily came out of surgery she looked like she just lost a bar fight (swollen lips, blood coming from her nose and mouth). Every 4 hours she could have pain medication, and it was easy to figure out when the 4 hours was about up. Once we got Lily asleep, a nurse would come in and wake her. She had to be in arm restraints for three weeks, though once we got out of the hospital, Gram and Teresa came up with much better alternatives that allowed Lily to sleep easier. I could go on about how bad the hospital stay and first week really was, but there is no need. On the bright side, we got a chance to have Gram (Teresa's mom) and Grandma (Mike's mom) stay for a week each.
The girls are now into breaking stuff, including themselves. Their fascination with the dogs waterbowl is lots of fun...not really (see video). We can cancel the Father of the Year awards. I was in charge of Addison one afternoon, when I fell asleep on the floor. Addison broke free from our gate and decided to crawl down the steps, not sure how many she was able to crawl down before she began tumbling, but I was awoken to thud, thud, thud...Addison was fine, Teresa was about to sell me to the gypsies (strike that, banish me to the gypsies). A few days later Lily was about to take a similar tumble, but we caught her just before the edge. I have learned to keep the gate at the top of the stairs closed for fear of being deported.
Enough words from me (okay, this was longer than it should have been) . Enjoy the pictures and videos below.
It has been quite a time since we last posted. Please note that there are NEW Pictures AND Videos below this post. Okay, so now I doubt anyone is left reading this, so I will be brief on what has been going on in the lives of Lily and Addison (and their parents). The first major advance was Lily and Addison learning how to crawl. Unfortunately for Addison, she learned how to crawl backwards and that was her only direction for the first week and a half of mobility. This would cause her untold anger as she wished to go towards something only to end up farther away (as a casual observer, it was very funny). You can see this backwards crawling if you look closely at the first of the new videos. She did learn to progress forward and has become much faster than her sister. As you see, Teresa and I have begun racing them, though as you will see in the videos, Jack is still faster than either of them.
After crawling, came the standing up. They have taken to standing most of the time. Poor Addison, she has not quite mastered the art of dismount. She comes crashing down or just stands there crying for fear of crashing down. Lily has been standing longer and has a very delicate dismount to the sitting position. This can be viewed on one of the videos as well. Other cool things they can do now includes clapping and waving, both evident on the videos.
We went for our 9-month visit to the pediatrician (at 9 1/2 months). All was well, but Teresa asked about Lily and Addison's sleeping patterns. Lily was a disaster to get to sleep. At times it would take up to 45 minutes to get her down, causing both parents untold stress. Addison, on the other hand, was quite good at going to sleep, but would wake up at some ungodly hour of the night (2, 3 4, pick one, it was never the same). So Dr. Regan sternly began talking to Teresa about putting them down, going back after 10 minutes, if still not asleep, going back after 20 minutes, etc. Teresa, quickly interrupted Dr. Regan, pointing at me, saying "Talk to that guy, he is the one who needs to hear this..." So, Dad the softee, got a beat-down from the pediatrician. We followed her advice and sleeping for both has been great, though the first night sucked.
Lily had her surgery to repair her cleft palate. All went perfectly. The night in the hospital with Lily was aweful and the next week was almost as bad. Eventually, she began drinking from a bottle again, and all has been clear sailing since then. When Lily came out of surgery she looked like she just lost a bar fight (swollen lips, blood coming from her nose and mouth). Every 4 hours she could have pain medication, and it was easy to figure out when the 4 hours was about up. Once we got Lily asleep, a nurse would come in and wake her. She had to be in arm restraints for three weeks, though once we got out of the hospital, Gram and Teresa came up with much better alternatives that allowed Lily to sleep easier. I could go on about how bad the hospital stay and first week really was, but there is no need. On the bright side, we got a chance to have Gram (Teresa's mom) and Grandma (Mike's mom) stay for a week each.
The girls are now into breaking stuff, including themselves. Their fascination with the dogs waterbowl is lots of fun...not really (see video). We can cancel the Father of the Year awards. I was in charge of Addison one afternoon, when I fell asleep on the floor. Addison broke free from our gate and decided to crawl down the steps, not sure how many she was able to crawl down before she began tumbling, but I was awoken to thud, thud, thud...Addison was fine, Teresa was about to sell me to the gypsies (strike that, banish me to the gypsies). A few days later Lily was about to take a similar tumble, but we caught her just before the edge. I have learned to keep the gate at the top of the stairs closed for fear of being deported.
Enough words from me (okay, this was longer than it should have been) . Enjoy the pictures and videos below.
Updated pictures
 |
|
| Lily before surgery | Lily before surgery |
 |  |
| Lily before surgery | Kindermusik class |
 |  |
| Easter 2007 | Easter 2007 |
 |  |
| Easter 2007 | At 9mos with Grandma |
 |  |
| With Gram | 9 months old |
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Waiting and waiting
Hi all.
Mike and I are in the Surgical Family Waiting area at Children's Hospital. Lily has been in surgery for just over an hour.
We had a bit of frustration with this surgery. The other day when the Hospital called just to confirm things with us, they said Lily was scheduled for her cleft repair and for ear tubes. "No", I said, "Lily doesn't need ear tubes." Of course the admin person I was speaking with could do nothing about that. So yesterday when I talked with the nurse about Lily's history, etc preparing for today once again the ear tubes thing came up. "No", I said, "Lily doesn't need ear tubes." Again she could do nothing about that plan.
So this morning we went through the same thing with the nurse who helped us get settled and checked Lily's weight, etc. Finally our plastic surgeon came in and wanted us to sign our consent for the surgeries...the cleft repair and the ear tubes. Again, Lily doesn't need ear tubes. She hasn't had an ear infection and her ears have been clear every time they've been checked. So our plastic surgeon Dr Ruberg said he'd have the ENT Dr. Kahn talk with us before putting the tubes in. Finally as we were walking Lily back to the OR, Dr Kahn appeared. Fortunately he agreed wholeheartedly that Lily did not need the tubes and felt good enough about the decision based on her history that he didn't even feel the need to take a look at her ears. Thank you Dr Kahn!
And now, here we wait for the call to let us know that Lily is out of surgery. I'm sitting nervously, anxiously. Mike is sleeping. The waiting area has recliners and Mike is taking full advantage. He knew early on that he'd have no problem hanging out in the waiting area...there are Strawberry PopTarts in the vending machine.
At some point we'll have pictures from our adventure here. I was busily taking pictures of Lily as we got her into her hospital scrubs and as she was playing like she was in jail in the metal crib, when Mike asked if I had missed the sign that said "No cameras." Oh well.
Many thanks are owed to my mom (AKA Gram) who is back in Athens taking care of Addison, Denuen, Peoopee and Jack. So far she has survived a night with a 1a and 5a waking. Lily had no problem sleeping in the hotel room last night...she sure does take after her father!
More as things develop.
Mike and I are in the Surgical Family Waiting area at Children's Hospital. Lily has been in surgery for just over an hour.
We had a bit of frustration with this surgery. The other day when the Hospital called just to confirm things with us, they said Lily was scheduled for her cleft repair and for ear tubes. "No", I said, "Lily doesn't need ear tubes." Of course the admin person I was speaking with could do nothing about that. So yesterday when I talked with the nurse about Lily's history, etc preparing for today once again the ear tubes thing came up. "No", I said, "Lily doesn't need ear tubes." Again she could do nothing about that plan.
So this morning we went through the same thing with the nurse who helped us get settled and checked Lily's weight, etc. Finally our plastic surgeon came in and wanted us to sign our consent for the surgeries...the cleft repair and the ear tubes. Again, Lily doesn't need ear tubes. She hasn't had an ear infection and her ears have been clear every time they've been checked. So our plastic surgeon Dr Ruberg said he'd have the ENT Dr. Kahn talk with us before putting the tubes in. Finally as we were walking Lily back to the OR, Dr Kahn appeared. Fortunately he agreed wholeheartedly that Lily did not need the tubes and felt good enough about the decision based on her history that he didn't even feel the need to take a look at her ears. Thank you Dr Kahn!
And now, here we wait for the call to let us know that Lily is out of surgery. I'm sitting nervously, anxiously. Mike is sleeping. The waiting area has recliners and Mike is taking full advantage. He knew early on that he'd have no problem hanging out in the waiting area...there are Strawberry PopTarts in the vending machine.
At some point we'll have pictures from our adventure here. I was busily taking pictures of Lily as we got her into her hospital scrubs and as she was playing like she was in jail in the metal crib, when Mike asked if I had missed the sign that said "No cameras." Oh well.
Many thanks are owed to my mom (AKA Gram) who is back in Athens taking care of Addison, Denuen, Peoopee and Jack. So far she has survived a night with a 1a and 5a waking. Lily had no problem sleeping in the hotel room last night...she sure does take after her father!
More as things develop.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
And it all happened in February
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay in posting, we had many intentions of posting earlier and more often, but have we told you we have twins? As you will see in the video, we started swimming lessons this month. Okay, so we paid $60 for the ability to be at the Ohio University aquatic center with other parents of infants and have some oddly pierced 20-year old stand there doing nothing. The payment seems to ensure that we actually go twice a week. The girls seem to like it and Me and Teresa seem to always get into a splash fight, using the girls as shields.
We had the good folks at Help Me Grow (an Ohio state program) come and evaluate the girls development. We had some concerns about Addison's motor skills since she has decided to stop rolling over--we know she can because we have a video of her doing it, she just decided to no longer do it. So after about an hour assessment, both girls were given top marks. And, Addison has decided to roll over again, and again, and again, oh crap, where did she go?
Lily has most recently figured out how to get back up to a sitting position from lying down. Lily is about as close as you could get to crawling without actually crawling. She gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, then dives forward, sometimes going backwards. She has mastered a belly crawl, though.
Both girls are jabbering, though Lily seems to like saying MaMaMaMaMaMa...and Addison DaDaBlahAahJwahMdadahuihag. So, Addison tends to go on and on with the jabbering, though I take great pride when I hear a Da in the midst of the extended jabber session and pretend she is saying something to me.
The first tooth has pierced the gum line for Lily, though Addison's gums and general demeanor suggest that teeth are well on their way. Lily's cleft correction surgery is March 21. As we get closer to that date both Teresa and I are becoming more and more apprehensive. We have not exactly had the best experiences at Children's Hospital, but maybe they can get their act together by March 21.
Below is a video and pictures from February 2007. We hope to have more sooner, but we will do what we can.
The video may take a little while to download...sorry.
Sorry for the delay in posting, we had many intentions of posting earlier and more often, but have we told you we have twins? As you will see in the video, we started swimming lessons this month. Okay, so we paid $60 for the ability to be at the Ohio University aquatic center with other parents of infants and have some oddly pierced 20-year old stand there doing nothing. The payment seems to ensure that we actually go twice a week. The girls seem to like it and Me and Teresa seem to always get into a splash fight, using the girls as shields.We had the good folks at Help Me Grow (an Ohio state program) come and evaluate the girls development. We had some concerns about Addison's motor skills since she has decided to stop rolling over--we know she can because we have a video of her doing it, she just decided to no longer do it. So after about an hour assessment, both girls were given top marks. And, Addison has decided to roll over again, and again, and again, oh crap, where did she go?
Lily has most recently figured out how to get back up to a sitting position from lying down. Lily is about as close as you could get to crawling without actually crawling. She gets up on all fours, rocks back and forth, then dives forward, sometimes going backwards. She has mastered a belly crawl, though.
Both girls are jabbering, though Lily seems to like saying MaMaMaMaMaMa...and Addison DaDaBlahAahJwahMdadahuihag. So, Addison tends to go on and on with the jabbering, though I take great pride when I hear a Da in the midst of the extended jabber session and pretend she is saying something to me.
The first tooth has pierced the gum line for Lily, though Addison's gums and general demeanor suggest that teeth are well on their way. Lily's cleft correction surgery is March 21. As we get closer to that date both Teresa and I are becoming more and more apprehensive. We have not exactly had the best experiences at Children's Hospital, but maybe they can get their act together by March 21.
Below is a video and pictures from February 2007. We hope to have more sooner, but we will do what we can.
 |  |
Addison on her side. Lily up. | Addison |
 |  |
Addison | Lily (left) Addison (right) |
 |  |
| Lily | Lily |
The video may take a little while to download...sorry.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Clips of January 2007
Hi all!
We are back with video of the girls at random events from this past January.
The girls experienced their first snow. We forced them out into the cold and stuck them in a snow bank while we took pictures. It was windy with snow falling while we were doing this and Lily provided some indication that she really would have preferred to be in by the fire. Addison could not have cared less about the whole event.
We had an appointment at the Cranio-Facial Clinic at Children's Hospital in Columbus as a final evaluation before Lily's surgery slated for March 21. That was six hours of our lives we will never get back. The ENT doctor was surprised that Lily had no ear infections, the speech therapist said blah blah blah, the orthodontist is kind of creepy and the surgeon who will perform Lily's surgery was way too cheery for someone who made us wait three hours to see him. On a positive note, both Addison and Lily passed the time having a ball crinckling the paper on the examination table. Both girls were in amazing spirits given the fact that they missed two naps. The ride home was silent.
Enjoy the video.
We are back with video of the girls at random events from this past January.
The girls experienced their first snow. We forced them out into the cold and stuck them in a snow bank while we took pictures. It was windy with snow falling while we were doing this and Lily provided some indication that she really would have preferred to be in by the fire. Addison could not have cared less about the whole event.
We had an appointment at the Cranio-Facial Clinic at Children's Hospital in Columbus as a final evaluation before Lily's surgery slated for March 21. That was six hours of our lives we will never get back. The ENT doctor was surprised that Lily had no ear infections, the speech therapist said blah blah blah, the orthodontist is kind of creepy and the surgeon who will perform Lily's surgery was way too cheery for someone who made us wait three hours to see him. On a positive note, both Addison and Lily passed the time having a ball crinckling the paper on the examination table. Both girls were in amazing spirits given the fact that they missed two naps. The ride home was silent.
Enjoy the video.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A Brand New Year
Hi all.
It has been quite a while since we've posted up here. Sorry about that. I actually wrote up a post last week, but somehow managed to not save it.
We spent a quiet Christmas and New Year at home. Mike has just about recovered from the devastating loss of our beloved Irish to the LSU Tigers.
Mike returned to his regular schedule of teaching the first week of January. Taking care of Addison and Lily while he is gone for 8+ hours is a bit more hectic now that the girls are eating solid food. This means getting cereal, veggie/fruit and bottles ready for both girls usually when they are STARVING.
For a while Addison would only eat her solids well if you allowed her to guide the spoon. Fortunately she is very good at hitting the mark. Unfortunately she likes to go so fast you don't have time to scrape up what comes sliding out of her mouth before she is ready to shovel more in. Generally she ends up with a pool of food around her neck. Yuck. But lately she's allowing her minions to feed her. Lily has always been willing to let her minions feed her.
Exciting times around here. Lily is on the verge of crawling. Mike's installed one gate at the bottom of the stairs going upstairs. Now we just have 2 more to get installed!
Addison continues to be rather content either on her belly or her back. She has rolled belly to back a few times in the last week, so we're hopeful she's starting to get motivated for locomotion.
Lily continues to be a wonderful sleeper. She sleeps 10-11 hours straight every night. I don't want to jinx things, but last night Addison slept 10 hours straight and we are praying this is the beginning of the end of night feedings.
We've started giving Addison 2 small bottles of food everyday. At first we tried to make it formula, but she'd have none of that. We've now gotten her to take 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula, but her mother is concerned that it isn't sitting well on her stomach as she seems to spit up afterwards.
Both Addison and Lily continue to grow nicely. As of Tuesday this week Lily weighed 16lbs 3oz and Addison weighed 15lbs 12oz.
Next Tuesday we will make a family trip to Columbus. We are going to Children's Hospital to meet with the doctors and staff at the CranioFacial Clinic to have them check Lily's status and discuss her surgery. Currently her surgery to repair her cleft is scheduled for March 21.
This past weekend we travelled to Washington DC to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Meyer. The girls also met their cousin Frank and his fiance Megan, the Pattersons, their great aunt and great uncle Maeve and Bob, and our good friends from Notre Dame Michelle Pfeifer and Michele Spring. It was a busy weekend and to top it off we had car trouble. Some speedy repair work from Gerry's guy (and master mechanic), Tom, and we were only delayed by 6 hours returning home. Denuen who continues to recover from her knee surgery joined us. After some initial territorial squabbling, Denuen got along well with Grandma and Grandpa's dogs, Murphy and Tara. For some reason, I was a total slacker with regards to photos and videos. We've got very few from the weekend.
Here's some pictures to keep everyone up to date on the girls:
It has been quite a while since we've posted up here. Sorry about that. I actually wrote up a post last week, but somehow managed to not save it.
We spent a quiet Christmas and New Year at home. Mike has just about recovered from the devastating loss of our beloved Irish to the LSU Tigers.
Mike returned to his regular schedule of teaching the first week of January. Taking care of Addison and Lily while he is gone for 8+ hours is a bit more hectic now that the girls are eating solid food. This means getting cereal, veggie/fruit and bottles ready for both girls usually when they are STARVING.
For a while Addison would only eat her solids well if you allowed her to guide the spoon. Fortunately she is very good at hitting the mark. Unfortunately she likes to go so fast you don't have time to scrape up what comes sliding out of her mouth before she is ready to shovel more in. Generally she ends up with a pool of food around her neck. Yuck. But lately she's allowing her minions to feed her. Lily has always been willing to let her minions feed her.
Exciting times around here. Lily is on the verge of crawling. Mike's installed one gate at the bottom of the stairs going upstairs. Now we just have 2 more to get installed!
Addison continues to be rather content either on her belly or her back. She has rolled belly to back a few times in the last week, so we're hopeful she's starting to get motivated for locomotion.
Lily continues to be a wonderful sleeper. She sleeps 10-11 hours straight every night. I don't want to jinx things, but last night Addison slept 10 hours straight and we are praying this is the beginning of the end of night feedings.
We've started giving Addison 2 small bottles of food everyday. At first we tried to make it formula, but she'd have none of that. We've now gotten her to take 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula, but her mother is concerned that it isn't sitting well on her stomach as she seems to spit up afterwards.
Both Addison and Lily continue to grow nicely. As of Tuesday this week Lily weighed 16lbs 3oz and Addison weighed 15lbs 12oz.
Next Tuesday we will make a family trip to Columbus. We are going to Children's Hospital to meet with the doctors and staff at the CranioFacial Clinic to have them check Lily's status and discuss her surgery. Currently her surgery to repair her cleft is scheduled for March 21.
This past weekend we travelled to Washington DC to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Meyer. The girls also met their cousin Frank and his fiance Megan, the Pattersons, their great aunt and great uncle Maeve and Bob, and our good friends from Notre Dame Michelle Pfeifer and Michele Spring. It was a busy weekend and to top it off we had car trouble. Some speedy repair work from Gerry's guy (and master mechanic), Tom, and we were only delayed by 6 hours returning home. Denuen who continues to recover from her knee surgery joined us. After some initial territorial squabbling, Denuen got along well with Grandma and Grandpa's dogs, Murphy and Tara. For some reason, I was a total slacker with regards to photos and videos. We've got very few from the weekend.
Here's some pictures to keep everyone up to date on the girls:
 Lily under the tree |  Addison under the tree |
 Mike, Lily, Murphy, Tara, Grandma, Grandpa and Addison |  Grandma, Lily, Grandpa and Addison |
 Lily and Addison peeking over their highchair trays |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
