Three year-olds!

Okay, I'm about a month late on this :)

The boys turned three on the 27th of June.  They are doing GREAT.  We had a pretty healthy winter, with the exception of a stomach bug or two.   We've only seen a few doctors since the last post:

- Dentist:  The boys will need braces some day, but no surprise there.  They have narrow palates and will probably need the palate expander in a few years to give the permanent teeth enough space.  I'm sure the prematurity contributed to this, but I had one as well so it could just be genetic.  Otherwise, their teeth are coming in fine and are not discolored.

- ENT:  The boys have had fluid in their ears the past few check-ups, with no other outward symptoms of ear infections.  Both have one tube from their last set of tubes still hanging in there.  The doctor recommended another set of tubes and adenoids removed for both of them - however, given the fact that they were not in pain, no fevers, the fluid wasn't infected, etc, we decided to wait. I did not feel comfortable putting them through another surgery without real evidence that they needed it.  It was a good decision (I think) as the fluid was gone at their 3 year check-up and everything looked fine.

- 3-year pediatrician check-up:  Everything looks great - they are growing well, talking very well, running and walking well.  William (32lbs) is about a pound heavier than Aaron now, and less than half an inch taller (37 1/4 inches), putting them both in the 50th percentile for weight and height.  William did not pass the depth perception test, though.  I'm not sure if this is was a fluke- holding up cards with 3-D pictures, the nurse asked him to "Point to the card with the letter E" and all three times he pointed to the wrong card.  While he can recite the alphabet and knows several letters, I'm not sure that he understood exactly what he was being asked to do since he each time he did point to the blank one.  The next eye doctor appointment is in October, so we'll find out then.

Their little personalities are staying true to the past :)  William is such a love bug when he's happy (and a grumpy bear when he's overtired or hungry), and quite the little performer.  Aaron is super smart and cute and makes me laugh.  They are not potty trained yet but we're getting there (hopefully).

We've been very blessed/lucky/thankful for their outcome given the rocky starts.  I still hope that their story is providing hope for other people going through similar situations with their preemies, especially with the brain bleeds.  Have faith :)

A few random videos of their silliness:

William makes up his own funny songs...this one had more verses, but this is what I was able to get on video:

Anna is sitting here as if nothing is going on because she had to finish her dinner in order to get dessert :):

A few pictures from the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk:

William, Anna, Aaron

Reading together (Aaron, William)

Happy New Year!

 (If I had time to send Christmas cards this year, this would have been it!)

Updates
The boys have been released from Early Intervention - their assessments in September and October placed them in the 26-30 month range, and they were 27 months at the time.  They are right on track!  They will still be monitored every few months per my request, but we have no expected developmental issues.

William is wearing his glasses more consistently, which helps with the right eye that likes to turn in.  We switched back to our original pediatric ophthalmologist who believes that we should continue with glasses before patching the left eye, now that he's in the right prescription :)  He's still just slightly farsighted, but also has astigmatism, so he will be wearing glasses or contacts for life.  Aaron is still solidly nearsighted, but his vision has actually improved.  He does really well wearing his glasses.

They're both running, jumping, and speaking in sentences now.  They can count to ten and sing their ABCs.  They know many songs by heart, and their favorite is "Jesus Loves Me".  William is still more of the wild man - very loving and full of spontaneous "huggies" and "I love you's", but also more prone to temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way and when he's overtired.  He is also super independent and whenever we try to do something for him (even get his milk from the refrigerator), we are met with a cry of "No! I need to can do it!".  Aaron is still more laid back and easy going and pretty much the model child :)  I can tell he'll have the witty sense of humor when he gets older.

The boys are constant entertainment.  They have their fair share of fighting already, but also love each other and wake up every morning talking to each other or singing with each other, and share the occasional unprompted "I love you brother" with a kiss.  They have their own funny conversations and are fun to just watch.

Other than monitoring William's eye, we have no preemie-related appointments in the future.  I'll update when I can to show their progress, or if anything new arises.

Happy New Year!

Bigger picture of the Little Men:

William & Aaron

2 Years Adjusted!

 Weight Check
Both boys are around 28 lbs

Updates
The boys were due October 5, 2011...we've come a long way since then.

The only doctors' appointments we've had since the last post were the neurologist and the ophthalmologist.    The neurologist spent time with both boys and was not concerned with development for either of them :)  At the last visit, he still saw the Babinski sign with Aaron, which is a potential indicator of upstream neurological issues when still present after age two.  Aaron is now two...and it is gone.  The doctor did talk to us about an increased risk for ADHD when they are older and a few other general preemie potential issues, but didn't see any indicators currently.  As a result...we have been released from yet another specialist :)

Aaron's vision is holding steady at a very strong near-sighted prescription.  He does really well with his glasses and asks for them when they aren't on.  The eye doctor didn't see a need for action right now with William's strabismus.  His right eye does turn in frequently, but he still didn't see it during the appointment and wanted to see if the glasses have any effect.  William is wearing his glasses on a regular basis now (finally), and also asks for them when they are off.  For the most part, his eyes are straight when he is wearing them.  I do still see the turning in enough to foresee that some action - whether it's surgery, patching, or eye drops - will be in his future, but we're not quite there yet.

The developmental therapist through Early Intervention is still seeing the boys once a month.  Their yearly evaluation is in progress now, and it looks like we may just be monitored going forward, but we'll find out next month.  I don't want their services to be completely dropped just in case something comes up, but it does feel good to know that they are meeting all milestones of a full-term two year old.

Personality

No personality changes since the last post :)  Aaron is still the more laid back of the two (actually, of all three), and William is the more excitable.  Here are a few cute stories....

Within the last month William has really started to conversate- he has full sentences, not always grammatically correct, and most of which start with "I want":  I want more milk please mommy, I want scoot up please, I want more crackers please, I want, I want, I want!  At least he's polite about it :)   He also sings - he will repeat choruses of songs and sings "Elmo and I know it!".  I sang "Jesus Loves Me" to the boys last week for the first time in a long while, and he became very excited and made the sign for Bible and sang "Bible" and "Me! Me! Me!" along with me.  I'm not sure if they are singing it to him in Sunday School or daycare, but it was super cute.  William is also Mr. Helpful - if there's something he thinks he can do for you, he'll do it.  This is more information that I need to share on the internet, but I'll share anyway because I think it's funny - if I say I need to go to the bathroom he gets excited and will walk me in there, try to pull down my pants, hand me toilet paper, flush the toilet, and then will pull out the stool to the sink and wash his own hands.  We're not officially potty training yet but trying to give them exposure...he's not interested in doing it himself, but he understands the process, haha.  He also tries to wipe Aaron's nose and change his diaper.  William is also very loving.  Anna started Kindergarten last month, and he yells after the bus "I love you, Anna!" after she leaves every morning.  When he's in a good mood, he's great entertainment.

Aaron is definitely quieter, but he's more of the thinker.  He seems to grasp and verbalize concepts faster than William even though he's not stringing the thoughts together in sentences the same way.  He does have a few 3 word sentences like "I'll get it" and definitely has the vocabulary for things, he just isn't as vocal.  He has the sweetest smile and really is generally an all around good kid who is easy to parent.  The only thing that really makes him angry is when someone else has something that he wants :)  The kids all have personalized place mats for the table, which are exactly the same except for the names.  The other day, William brought Anna's place mat to his spot and put it under his bowl and cup that were already on the table.  Aaron took one look at it, shook his head and got upset and pointed at Anna - "No, Anna's!  Anna's!".  He's so smart :)  Also, we almost always grace before dinner at home, but one night when Stephen wasn't home I forgot...Aaron reached his hand out to me and it took me a second to realize he was saying "Amen? Amen?" reminding me to say the blessing...also super cute.

They are definitely interacting more with each other, and with Anna, these days.  I watched the boys have a whole conversation with each other tonight that consisted mostly of random thoughts like "Anna, bus!" and "No more! All gone!" but they seemed to be enjoying the talk.  They like to do things together around the house....like rearrange furniture and push the kitchen chairs across the room, sneak into the office and take all of the books off the bottom shelf and then look angelic when they tell me they're reading, open the few cabinets to which we allow them access and pull out every single thing in them....life with two two year-olds is fun!  It actually is more fun now to be able to take them more places.  They require an adult per kid just because they refuse to sit in the stroller and both are always on the move, usually in opposite directions when we're out and about.  We have a busy fall - we've been to the State Fair, Field Days of the Past, Touch-a-Truck, and a reunion, all within the past month...and have the pumpkin patch, their great-grandma's 100th birthday party, and hopefully a few other things in October....very busy!  Because of that, and because I don't foresee any need for any type of developmental update, it'll be a few months before I update again.

Pictures
Mostly random pictures taken within the last few months

What does the fox say, William?

Aaron gives the firefighter statue a hug.

Aaron & William

Aaron, our hired lawn help

Aaron & William

Anna - the obligatory Kindergarten 1st day photo!

William & Aaron

Cookie Monsters, William & Aaron

William & Aaron, waiting to walk Anna to the bus stop

William wearing my jacket