All is good in the hood...

Logan had his echocardiogram on Tuesday, and everything was fine.  He was quite interested in watching the monitor, and was incredibly well behaved. The technician liked how he kept trying to grab the ultrasound wand.  She kept saying that he’s going to be the next famous heart surgeon. He really had a grand ole time at the appointment.  (And Riley was happy to have solo time with Mema)

Next month he will be seeing a physical therapist for torticollis (the muscles on one side of his next are longer than the other, so he tends to look right). Apparently this is very common in multiple births because of the cramped quarters in the womb.

Riley HATES getting his medicine and screams the whole time, but man has it helped! It went from being a struggle to get him to eat 3 oz to him downing 4 ½!  Now maybe he’ll be able to catch up to his brother.  Kind of hard to gain on him weight wise when he wasn’t willing to eat!

The boys are both adorable and are talking up a storm! They have hit that really awesome stage where they smile a lot and are always cooing. The more you talk to them the more they talk back. They are even starting to laugh. They were cute before, but we are really enjoying this age. They are so interactive and so much fun. They love to grab things and have started playing with toys. Right now they both prefer Jacques the peacock and the plastic ring of keys. I am thinking that if they like the same toys at 12 weeks, we are going to have two of EVERYTHING when they are bigger.

Pacifier thief

Talking to Daddy

Just being cute!

2 month doctor appointment

June 6th

At 11 weeks, the boys had their 2 month appointment. (Yeah, scheduling appointments with twins is a pain in the butt.) The good news is that both boys are growing nicely. Logan is now 11lbs 0.6oz and 22 ¼ inches long. Riley is still the smaller brother, weighing in at 10lbs 4.8oz and measuring 22 inches long. Although he still has the bigger head (while his height and weight were around 10^th percentile, his head size was above the 25^th!)

The nurse and doctor seemed very happy with the boys’ development. They’re starting to sleep a little longer at night (6 hours) and vocalizing a lot. Logan and Riley like to smile and coo a lot when we talk to them and sing to them. On the bad side, the doctor heard a soft murmur in Logan’s heart, so he’ll be going for an EKG next week to make sure everything’s okay.

Oh, and the boys did not like their vaccines. Neither seemed to be a big fan of the oral rotovirus vaccine, but that was cake compared to the two injections each had to get. Talk about some big needles! They got the DTaP shot in one leg, and before I could comfort them, they got the remainder of the vaccines in the other. Poor little boys. There was some serious screaming and crying for a good minute or two, but that was about it. They weren’t really fussy at all last night.

Riley got his first prescription for zantac to try to help with his reflux. We’ve been having problems feeding him for weeks, and had been in contact with the office two or three times looking for advice. It’s a bit annoying that it took this long, but my fingers are crossed that this will help him out. He’s definitely not a fan of the medicine, but it’s got to be better than the pain he seems to be in while he eats. 

Baptism

On Sunday, June 3^rd, we were baptized! Our families were impressed with how well we were behaved during mass – we didn’t make a peep! After mass the baptism began.  There were two other babies being baptized, both girls. We totally won baptism…. We had WAY more people there to support us than both of those other babies combined! I guess that happens when you have Italian and Irish Catholics for parents!

We were so well behaved during the ceremony. First this guy put some sort of oil that smelled like salad dressing on our chests. Then he poured more water on our heads than daddy does when he gives us a bath! Riley’s clothes got all wet. We thought it was a little weird to take a bath somewhere other than our bathroom, with our clothes on, while Aunt Lynda and Kimmy held us, but we didn’t complain. Then while Uncle Anthony and Uncle Chris held us, that guy put more smelly stuff on our heads!

After we took a million pictures (because man we looked good) all 46 of us went to a restaurant. We think between both of us, we were held by about 38 different people there. We just kept getting passed from person to person! Everyone loved us so much because we were so relaxed – we didn’t complain once, even though no one gave us a piece of our own cake!

Logan's godparents, Aunt Lynda and Uncle Anthony

Riley being baptized

Logan being baptized

Riley being dressed

Visitors, visitors, visitors!

Found this blog entry  that was written about a month ago, but was never actually posted....

Visitors, visitors, visitors!

We have had countless visitors since we last posted about it. The Spirkos, the Capriolis, the Bradshaws, Jenn Mack, The Dudkowskis, and Mommy’s coworkers Tammy, Maureen, Danielle, and Alayna  all came to see the boys. We got repeat visits from the Hoods, Sarah, Jenn, Michelle, Lisa, and our familes of course. Here are a few photos of our visitors:

Our neighbors, TJ and Emily

Mommy's coworkers (looking at the professional photos of us)

Maureen was the "Riley whisperer"

Our cousins, the Hoods

Mammy, our great grandma

Danny and Jill

Our neighbor Jen

In addition to the visitors, we’ve been getting out a lot! Our first trip out was to the Promenade shops at Saucon Valley. It was a gorgeous day, so mom and dad decided to take advantage of it! We walked around and visited all the stores mommy and daddy normally go to with Penguin. Everyone commented on how cute we are (like we don’t know). Penguin was a very good puppy and we can’t wait to go back!

We have gone with mommy and Mema out to lunch a bunch of times. One time we had a crowd gathered around us at the Olive Garden! I guess we are okay with going, but we still get stuck drinking from a bottle – they never give us any food from the table! We have gone to the mall a couple times too!

2 months update!

Yesterday the boys turned two months old! They are constantly changing …

Size

At one month, Riley was  7lbs 14 oz  according to our scale at home. He is now 9 lbs 14 oz, which is double his birth weight! He has grown out of the newborn clothes for the most part (some things run large) and is even starting to grow out of the smaller 0-3 sleep’n’plays and the Gerber onesies. Pants are still ridiculous on him – he will be in newborn pants for a while. He will also be in 0-3 Carters onesies for quite some time.

Logan is long out of the 0-3 Gerber onesies. Some brands fit him perfectly, but carters is still a bit big. He is growing out of some of the 0-3 sleep’n’plays too. He has a very long torso, so he is too small for 0-3 pants, but they don’t go up to his nipples like they do on Riley! According to our scale at home, he is was 8lbs 8 oz at one month, and is currently 10 lbs 8 oz.

They both gained exactly 2 lbs this month!

Fussiness

The formula switch has helped, and while they still fart, it’s a more normal amount. Logan is back to being the easy going one, but he has his fair share of cranky days too. They are not overly fussy, but they can be a pain in the butt to feed. I had never seen a kid screaming crying WHILE they are being fed before. Riley does this at least once a day. They eat about 3-4 oz at a time every 3-4 hours (occasionally longer at night). Sometimes it takes 40 minutes to feed Riley 3 oz. He bats the bottle away, moves his head, and cries, whether we are feeding him, not feeding him, or burping him! Logan did that once, but thankfully that hasn’t become a pattern. We tried calling the doctor, and he recommended a certain bottle, but it hasn’t helped.

We gave them pacifiers for the first time around March 24^th. We could not calm Logan down one night and gave in. Pacifiers are a godsend and a curse. On the one hand, it keeps them calm, on the other, they cry when they drop them, which is ALL THE TIME! When we put them to bed at night, we have to go back in several times for dropped pacifiers before they fall asleep. This is a pain because they are sleeping in their cribs now. They are still usually waking up about every 3 hours, but they often have one longer stretch during the night and have gone up to 7 hours between feeds. If only that was consistent! The longer stretch is usually 4 – 4.5 hours.

Appearance/ personality

Both Riley and Logan are growing hair like crazy. It’s dark on both of them and looks a bit funny because it’s longer in the back. (They are working on their first mullets!) Mommy loves their soft baby hair and is amazed how quickly it’s coming in. Logan has a bit of a flat spot on the back of his head. It’s not for lack of us alternating how we hold him or lay him down. He prefers looking to the right and will opt to look at a wall rather than a room of people!

Both boys started making cooing noises about two weeks ago. They smile a lot, but we don’t think it’s intentional yet. Every once in a while I’m not so sure. I can’t wait until they are on purpose! As it is, I call them Riley pants and Smiley pants because Logan is constantly smiling. I got really excited when we took their 2 month pictures yesterday because for the first time Riley turned and looked at me when I called his name! They also started noticing the toys on the activity gym about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Riley started it first and Logan wasn't far behind. They love to swat at and kick the toys and just kick their feet.

Likes:

Riley: His chair, his pacifier, hitting or kicking toys in the activity gym (especially the chimes), being swaddled, laying on someone’s chest (especially mommy), being held, laying on his side, being talked or sung to, and sleeping with his arms straight up.

Logan: Eating, his pacifier, sleeping with his arms spread out, laying on his side, being held on his side, his chair, being talked or sung to, being carried around (he is curious and likes to look around), and being swaddled.

Dislikes:

Riley: Waiting for food, having gas, eating (sometimes), tummy time and not having his pacifier

Logan: Waiting for food, not having his pacifier, tummy time

2 months!

Riley and Logan are two months old today!

 2 month update to come! In the mean time:

 cute outfits from Jenn!

Plus, here is an update from Mother's Day weekend. It was a weekend to celebrate!

On May 12^th, the boys took their second long car ride (the first was to Steve’s department picnic in Wilkes-Barre) as we went up to East Stroudsburg to see their Uncle Chris graduate college! 

 Here is Logan with his ticket to go in.

The boys were very well behaved and did not cry during the whole ceremony! It was very tricky to feed them because it was quite warm in the gym where the graduation was held, which was putting the boys to sleep.  

Uncle Chris graduates!

After the graduation, we took pictures outside. When Chris took pictures with the boys, he clued us in that he really just took a while to graduate because he was waiting until the boys could be there. :) It was definitely a day to celebrate and eat too much food. We are all so proud of Uncle Chris!

On Mother’s Day, Steve, Logan, and Riley let mommy sleep in, which was much appreciated. (My mom gave Steve and I the gift of 8 ½ hours sleep on Thursday night which was a fantastic Mother’s Day present). Steve and the boys bought me a ring that has two aquamarine stones (the boys’ birthstones). It is so pretty and is the perfect 1^st mother’s day gift.  I had a very nice first mother’s day – we got a visit from Steve’s parents, Mammy, Lynda, and Alex and that evening we took a walk and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

One month Dr. Appt (a little late!)

I have been awful about keeping this blog updated… but on April 27^th the boys had their one month check up and got their 1^st vaccines. I was surprised how little they cried! They both started shrieking, but Riley stopped in 1-2 minutes, and Logan in 2-3! They were not irritable at all that day either! Here’s to hoping they all go that well! The boys are doing very well and the doctor was very pleased. We talked a lot about their incessant gas. When they started drinking mostly formula, they got crazy gas that would wake them from sleeping. They were so miserable and we felt completely horrible for them! We tried gas drops, but they had no effect. We switched them to the fussiness and gas formula and things got a lot better. When we told the doctor that with the switch they seemed a lot less upset but were still farting quite a bit, he told us to try the soy formula and gave us some sample container. Not only did it not make them fart less, but it made their farts smell AWFUL! Like sulfur! Anywho, at the doctor’s appointment, Logan weighed 8lbs 15oz and Riley weighed 8lbs 9 oz. They have grown like weeds that day – when Steve weighed them the other day Logan was up to 10lbs and Riley was 9lbs 5 oz! PS  Logan’s fussiness was very short – we gave in to the pacifier and he reverted back to his easy going self. Riley on the other hand, is back to being fussy. He’s not too bad except when we are trying to feed him. He is the only baby I’ve ever seen who will scream while being fed!