Next time, on House

So the girls are sick with colds again. Kayla first earlier this week, now Megan is definitely getting hit. The pattern seems to be Jenn - Me - Kayla - Megan; hopefully we'll find a way to break the cycle of disease sometime in the next 18 years.

Really though this is just a flimsy excuse to post a couple of pictures of "Babies Fist Rook Game" taken at the end of January at Lucille's, that I forgot on my laptop for a couple of months:





The Great Blizzard of '09 has descended upon us, which got me out of work early today. In all seriousness it is kind of nasty out right now, sleet falling with apparently a bunch of snow to follow. If the girls cooperate and keep napping like they are now, there should be some new videos up on the Youtube site later today.

March Madness

So yeah, girls ended up being a tad bit sicker than we originally thought. Sick babies were sick.





But once we got them over their first sickness, things got back to normal, including gratuitous pictures of girls in KU gear.



Things have actually been semi-busy lately. I had both girls up to Mom and Dad's last weekend while Jenn went to a baby shower, and we were back up this past Wednesday to see Barb, Paula, Linda and the boys. Then Granny Vogts came down Thursday night, and watched the girls Friday, getting this picture as well:



Girls are also at the point where they can use bouncy seats, which we have been taking great advantage of.





As you can see, playing in the bouncy seat can be hard work.

Girls are also well into eating cereals, and this week we started them on carrots as well, to mixed reviews.





Both of them took to rice, oatmeal, and barley cereal right away, but so far the carrots have been a tough sell. Megan did a little better with them tonight, and Kayla will do OK if it's mixed in with cereal of some kind.

Other than that, things are pretty much business as usual. Girls passed 5 months this month, and are definitely getting stronger (they can pull themselves up a little) and more coordinated playing with toys and such. Both girls can now roll over from stomach or back as well, and can make a little forward momentum doing a little pseudo-crawl every once in a while.

KU Girls!

Wow, are we slacking on the updates!

So – a friend of mine mentioned that he hadn’t seen the girls in much KU gear. I forget the exact wording, but it made me laugh. You see, we have a lot of it – and they wear it frequently! But we don’t seem to have a lot of pictures of them in it! So we’re trying to change that.

So let’s try for some KU pictures here!

Kayla in her swing, and Megan, bundled up from a trip one evening out to see Grandma. It was cold that evening. Her little suit is bigger than she is, but she was warm!





It’s a shame we can’t capture a roll-over in a picture, since Kayla is quite good at it now and can go both ways! Megan goes from back to tummy, but hasn’t gotten back over yet. Yes – both girls went “the hard way” first, from back to tummy.



They’re both eating cereal like champs! We’re getting ready to start the vegetables now. Messy babies! But they get so excited about it, they can’t always stop their little hands from grabbing the spoon to help! Then of course trying to fit their hands in their mouths WITH the cereal – and spreading it across their faces. I guess that’s just what babies do! Cereal mask facials at 5 months old.

We still have the sick baby pictures to do. In Mike’s last post, it’s ironic he wrote “if all goes well…” because shortly thereafter, we ended up at the ER with Megan. Her breathing was too labored and she had no voice to cry with at all. Turns out they had RSV. They suctioned out the gunk from poor little Megan. Kayla wasn’t so bad off and didn’t need it. They’re both doing great now!

Now me, I'm over the RSV/cold/flu/whatever -- but allergies are getting the better of me, and I'm off to bed!

Catching up on pictures

Lots happening in February, but first, some new pictures:



Kayla smiling.



Megan smiling.



Kayla playing. They're not quite as steady as they could be in these seats, but they're at the point where they can hold themselves up and try to play with the toy. Both girls have recently been getting better at holding toys (keys, rattles, etc) for a length of time, and trying to get it in their mouth. Somewhat surprisingly, Megan seems to have the leg up on Kayla in this department, but it could just be our imagination.



But Kayla has beaten her sister in another key milestone, rolling over. She's good enough at it now that she'll roll over almost instantly if you put her on her back on a play mat. She hasn't quite figured out how to roll back yet, but does a pretty good job of keeping her head up and getting her arms under herself, and will usually be content for ~5-10 minutes before getting frustrated. Megan hasn't rolled over yet, but then we haven't had her on her play mat very much lately (more on this later), so possible she just hasn't had the opportunity. Megan, however, does win this months "I Can't Believe They Dressed Me Like This" award:



"My names Megan, and I sell propane and propane accessories."

So, February. Lots of first's this month.

First evening out. Granny and Grandpa Vogts came down the Saturday night before Valentines to give Jenn and I a chance to go out for dinner and a movie. Unfortunately we decided to go to Red Lobster an hour before the movie was scheduled to start, so needless to say we didn't make that. We did do a little shopping though, walked around Barnes and Noble for a while, it was a nice evening.

First night away from the girls. Aunt Karen was kind enough to offer us a night of babysitting, which we took advantage of on Valentines Day. Jenn and I went up to KC that Saturday while Karen, Carl, and Nathan took care of the girls. All went well, mommy and daddy had a good time and didn't call to checkup every hour, and the girls by all accounts were little angels.

First Daddy's birthday. Mom, Dad, and Great Grandma Ruth came down on my birthday to take us out to eat, and watch a little of the KU game. We also got the opportunity to get this picture:



First sickness. Jenn got a sore throat last week that eventually ballooned into a full blown cold, which of course everyone in the house (including Ruth) caught as well. As I type both girls are in their swings, looking to be on the mend though still coughing/sneezing up gunk and running minor bouts of fever every once in a while. Considering what a cold must be like when you're 4.5 months and don't know how to blow your own nose or clear your own throat, girls have handled it pretty well. They get pretty fussy once in a while of course, especially when they're running a fever, but still we can get smiles out of them most of the time. We did get some pretty good "sick baby" pictures that I still need to get uploaded from the camera, probably post them next time.

If all goes well today, I should also get some new videos up on the Youtube site sometime today.

4 months and another Valentine's Day Dress!

I’m obsessed with pink. Yeah, yeah, everyone who knows me knows that. But I just wanted to throw it out there, in case it slipped by anyone. That being said, I love dressing the girls in pink. LOVE it. And Valentine’s Day has offered even more opportunities for obtaining cute PINK clothing. So yes, the girls have more than one Valentine’s Day dress. And while this one doesn't have perfectly arranged dresses, Kayla (left) has the start of a smile, so I'm using it.


This afternoon was their four month appointment at the pediatrician, so I took the day off. I made it a busy day, and the girls and I were out all morning together. We even stopped by Daddy’s office.

The appointment went great, the girls are doing fine.
Kayla is 13 lbs 10 oz and 23.5 inches long.
Megan is 12 lbs 13oz and 24.0 inches long.
They did get vaccinations, and of course cried. So did I.

And this afternoon I held fussy babies. There’s nothing in this world that compares to the absolute adoration I feel that overwhelms me when one of my fussy little baby snuggles in against my neck and falls asleep.

3 Months and Counting

Pictures, pictures, pictures: Let's get some recent ones out of the way first off:


Girls at 3 months. I don't think it was exactly 3 months, but we're calling it close enough. And yes, I have them reversed in this picture, Kayla on the right, breaking with our standard.

A few Valentines-themed pictures:






Also, because I'm a sucker for "bad" pictures, Kayla and Megan: A Conversation.

Dude, they're trying to get me to roll over again.







You're kidding? Well, at least you're not on your third outfit of the day like I am.







Oh please, don't talk to me about outfits, you have no idea.







What? It's a little big around the arms maybe, but I really don't see what's so...
















........Touche.








Things have finally got back into the routine now that the holidays are over. Ruth is our daycare, Jenn and I are both back to the grind of work, and Kayla and Megan continue to grow. Ruth has an old baby scale she brought over, and weighed them both at around 12-13 lbs I believe, with Kayla still ahead of Megan. We have their 4 month appt sometime in the next few weeks, so will get the "official" results then.

Both girls are doing fine. We have seen both of them, Kayla in particular, attempting to roll over from their backs. They'll get about halfway and get stalled, just don't have the strength yet to make it all the way, but only a matter of time. Their legs are getting noticeably stronger as well, able to support more of their weight for a longer stretch if hold them up on your lap. Jenn has also been able to get them to blow raspberry's on a couple of occasions with prompting. They're sleeping through the night almost every night, usually 9-10 to around 5-6; on some occasions longer, both girls still asleep when Ruth shows up and after we both leave for work. We lucked out, big time.

Kayla and Megan's Christmas Adventure

The holidays have come and gone, and somehow we've all survived. Christmas with twin infant girls: interesting to say the least.

We lead things off up in Canton with Christmas for the McMannis side. The girls wore their pink Santa outfits that were entirely too big for them, but cute nonetheless.



We also had the opportunity to take a picture of all the McMannis kids (plus some adults to keep young ones in check), minus only Mary's little ones, but still producing enough cuteness to knock poor Bella over.



Quite a crew! Next up, three days later we were in Canton again, this time for Christmas with Granny, Grandpa, Linda, Shane, Jordan and Jalen. The four cousins were kind enough to stage a Cuteness Battle Royal, though at the end of the night there was no clear winner.



Christmas Eve and Day we had Grandma Bingham, Karen, Carl, and Nathan over to our house.



Daddy ended up sleeping most of Christmas Eve, having a little bit of a cold (as well as about 4 hours of sleep the night before). I am told, however, that both Kayla and Megan's cuteness continued unabated.

Finally, the day after Christmas we headed up to KC for the Vogts Christmas at Aunt Kathy's. Here we see Aunt Linda apparently telling Kayla shocking stories of what I was like as a big brother.



This trip also featured baby's first hotel stay, baby's first out of state trip, and perhaps most important of all....baby's first KC Masterpiece! Who knew they made Burnt End flavored formula?

Anyway, that was our late December. We also had a last minute, impromptu KU bowl game watch/New Years Eve party at the house with James, Tricia, Ron and Justin, as well as an "End of Day of Gaming" get together over at James' last night.

As far as day to day life, my time at home is now officially over, and Ruth is now our day care. Girls seem to be doing fairly well for her, she hasn't quit yet anyway. We're also coming up on 3 months, end of next week I believe. They're both doing great, starting to become more and more aware of their surroundings, talking to us some, sleeping through the night more often than not. The amazing continues everyday.

Sleeping Miracles

(I’ll let you guess who’s who in the pictures – answer below!)

There’s nothing quite like a sleeping baby.

Anyone who knows even part of our story knows what miracles we have in our two little ladies. So is it any surprise that there are times I can look at one of them, and merely thinking about their existence brings tears to my eyes?

Last night was a big night for the babies. It was the first time they BOTH slept through the night. Both of them have done it on their own before, but never with their sister. I’m convinced they’ve plotted against us to keep us from sleeping through the night. We think they’re just cooing and chattering, but really, they’re deciding which one will get us up that night and which one will sleep through!

Our bedtime routine is bath, bottle, swaddle in crib -- lullaby CD plays, humidifier runs, and they go to sleep. We can put them down drowsy but awake, and they’ll drift off to sleep. If they’re too awake they’ll squawk for a pacifier, but if they don’t “ask” for it, we just keep one nearby. (We’re not encouraging them and hoping to break them of the paci habit soon). Last night I turned out the dresser lamp while they were sleeping. I wonder if that had something to do with it?

I think we’re pretty lucky that both of them cooperate so well in going to bed. I hope it lasts, but I doubt it will. I only watched my nephew Nathan a couple times at night several years ago, but I remember him peeking around the corner for the umpteenth time, and taking him back to bed. I have visions of two little heads peeking around corners in the future, just like cousin Nathan did.

They usually break out of the swaddle, and sometimes I’ll rewrap them back into a baby-burrito while they’re asleep. Usually I can do it without really waking them up, and they sleep better that way. I wonder if I would sleep better if Mike would swaddle me! Megan is still wrapped up in purple in the first picture. Kayla has broken free, wrapped in pink in the second picture.

I like to go in and look at them while they’re sleeping. Not to check if they’re still breathing, (okay, sometimes I do check.) but just to look at them. It can literally bring a tear to my eye. How am I going to going to explain that one to my little miracles down the road:
“Mommy? Why do you cry when you look at us?”
“Because I love you.”

Couple of pictures

Of the girls smiling:

Megan


Kayla


Also, Kayla on her tummy:


I got lucky getting shots of happy babies the other day, who didn't mind lying on the couch while daddy flashed bright lights at them with that big black box he's always carrying around. Pictures also do a good job of highlighting the "identical" in identical twins, now that I look at them together.

Babies in Chiefs gear

Jenn indulges me.



Kayla


Megan


Daddy and his girls


Also, there are a couple new videos up at the Youtube channel.

Girls had their two month appointment yesterday. Kayla weighs 10 lbs 13 oz, and Megan 9 lbs and 13 oz. Megan was a little low on the percentiles for length and such, but is still growing at an expected rate, so all is well. Kayla was around the 50th percentile, for singleton, full term children. Doc found no other problems, they got their shots with minimal fuss and have not shown any negative effects, and all is well.

Jenn went back to work today. Little tough on her, but to be expected, she handled it well. In her stead, I'm taking three weeks off from work, through the 29th, to take care of the girls. Should be interesting; today was pretty uneventful though. Girls slept most of the day, perhaps a little hangover still from their shots.

We were up at Granny and Grandpa Vogts on Monday, took the girls up to the grade school so mom could show them off to everyone there. Then just kind of hung out for the evening; dad and I babysat while Jenn went shopping in Mac and mom went up to a school play for a bit. Sounds like we'll be seeing them sometime this weekend as well, mom's coming down to go shopping.

Other than all that, it's pretty much business as usual. Girls are starting to become more aware of their environment it seems, we can get smiles out of them once in a while, they will follow toy keys somewhat, etc. Kayla in particular seems to be fascinated with chewing on her fists as well, discovering that she has them I guess. Megan has been her usual diva-self, always wanting held.

Holidays are big times for babies

First up, a couple of more recent pics:




Thanksgiving was kind of an interesting time this year. Wednesday night before, the girls were particularly fussy, keeping Jenn up all evening, which was particularly inconvenient as she didn't get any nap that day. So I ended up getting up around 3:30 to give her a break, and staying up the rest of the early morning. We were due to be in Canton around noon, so I woke Jenn up around 10-10:30, we got around, and ended up getting up to Canton only an hour late. Both of us running on empty, sleep wise.

Thanksgiving up there was good, we didn't have to hold the girls much at all obviously, and I totally forgot to take any pictures of aunts/cousins with the girls. We stick around for supper, head home around 8 or so I think, get home and start getting ready for lunch tomorrow, which is going to be Jenn's side over here. Well, Jenn starts getting ready anyway, as I go to bed and sleep for 5 hours or so. And again, I get up around 4 or 5 I think, and let Jenn get a little sleep before lunch. Lunch with Jenn's side went well too, as did the afternoon, I assume, as I had taken some muscle relaxers (tweaked my back a while back) that hit my kind of hard for some reason, and took a nice 4 hour nap.

So after two days of being fawned over by relatives, what do we get from little girls? That's right: fussiness. Last night Megan especially would just go beserk any time we tried to put her down, until we finally figured out she was just hungrier than she normally is. Babies eat more as they get bigger: who knew?

So that's Thanksgiving. For Christmas, we're going to be headed up to Canton for my side like the week before (I think, Jenn has a bead on all this for sure), here with Jenn's side on Christmas day, up to KC for the extended Vogts side the day after, and the McMannis side....some other time? No idea here. I'm sure the women in my life will tell me where to be and when.

In other news, I'm basically taking the month of December off from work. Jenn goes back to work on Dec 8, and I'm going to start 3 weeks leave to stay home with the girls, through Christmas. Witnessing Jenn's sleep schedule, or lack thereof, the past couple of months, I must admit I'm a little nervous, but it should be great. Hopefully they'll start sleeping for 8 hours a stretch starting December 7. Or, I'll just continue to make judicious use of the DVR for late night TV viewing.

Girls continue to do great as well. Next week is their 2 month checkup at the pediatrician, it will be interesting to see how much weight they're up to.

We were someplace around Barstow...

...on the edge of the desert when the formula began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit poopy, maybe you should drive..." And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge pacifiers, all swooping and screeching and diving around the crib, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the rail down to Las Vegas.

The diaper bag looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of cheerios, seventy five boxes of Animal Crackers, five sheets of high powered Fruit Rollups, a salt shaker half full of Pixie Stix, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored Skittles, M&M's, Nerds, Runts....and also a quart of apple juice, a quart of Kool-Aid, a case of formula, a pint of raw GoGurt and two dozen apple slices. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get locked into a serious snack collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the GoGurt. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a baby in the depths of a GoGurt binge. And I knew we'd get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.

The greatest picture I have ever taken

I'll probably get in trouble for posting this picture, but I couldn't resist. Kayla's hair has been going all Super Saiyen on us lately, so I decided to try and document it, then lucked out and got a great "crazy eye" pose from her as well.

Who Am I?

Daddy's sleeping, and Mommy's trying to sleep. I just want to play! So let's play a guessing game.

Can you tell who I am?

Mommy covered my hair with the hat for this picture, because sometimes people can tell us apart by our hair. One of us has more hair that's a little darker than the other. Mommy also put me in a sleeper that's too big for me, because sometimes people can tell us apart by the way our clothes fit. One of us is about a pound bigger than the other.

Mommy says it's easy to tell who's who when we're together, but not as easy when we're not side by side. She can almost always tell us apart in pictures, but in person she keeps calling me by my sister's name! I'd tell her who I was if I could talk. Daddy does a better job of telling me apart from my sister.

So can you tell who I am?




















I'm Megan Rae!