At the Playground, You know?

It is beautiful here today and I thought, if I only had Mairead, we would SO be at the playground today. And then I thought, screw it. I'm doing it. I'm taking all of them by myself. One very challenging toddler, a walker, and a crawler...And I did! No injuries, no sunburns, no meltdowns and I remembered all three when I left. Yay me!

Anyway, I brought them from the car to the actual playground area with M walking and the boys in the stroller. This little boy ran over and told me, "Those are two babies!" I said, "Yes, that's right. It's called twins when you have two babies." "Twins?" So you have two babies?" I said, "yes, two babies." He replied very matter of factly, "I don't understand."I thought, I don't understand it myself sometimes! He was super cute.

The kids had a great time. The whole place is like a giant sandbox, so the kids got to use the fun sand toys that Grandma and Grandpa sent for Easter!

One Year Ago Today...

The boys were reunited when Jack finally came home after 25 days in the hospital. This picture was taken in the first few moments after Jack arrived at home. It was amazing to see them together and to see how at peace they were when they were finally together. Jack was so much smaller than Ben!

Jack is still a bit smaller and he has a ways to go before he will be as physically strong as his 'little brother," but they are doing great. Sometimes, I still can't believe I had two babies at once! They are so funny to watch together... even though they are getting more mischievous. When they are in their cribs, I can hear them giggling at one another and throwing toys and blankets out of their cribs to entertain each other. It's so amazing how close they are, and so wonderful how they will always have a built in best friend!

Archived Footage

I have been remiss about taking pictures of the kids lately (I never have a free hand!) so I thought I'd post a video from the boys' birthday party. If you watch until the end, there is a very cute moment between the boys.

Things with us are busy as usual. Mairead had her first session with her speech therapist today. She did really well and the therapist was happy to see her following directions well and using some great language. I do see her making strides every week and her therapies are really helping with her progress. The downside is that she seems a bit overwhelmed with all that we are asking her to do. We are pushing her all the time and making her do or say things that are difficult for her. Part of me wants to just ease up and make life easy for her since I know she is working so hard, but I can't give in to that too often. I know that all this work will pay off for her eventually.

The other hard part is that while we focus on her successes and we are so proud of her for all she is doing, it is very difficult to watch her struggle, and it does make me sad and scared to see how far she has to go. There is so much that she doesn't know or understand. I wish we could see into her brain and really get a picture of what she understands and what she is thinking, but that is obviously impossible.

The boys are doing great. Ben is walking almost exclusively now-- crawling is so yesterday. Jack is working really hard in PT and we do his exercises and stretches to help him get stronger. He is more purposeful and deliberate than Ben. For example, Ben babbles non-stop in his 'alien language,' but Jack says more distinct words with must less babbling.

Ben is becoming a bit of a bully with his newfound speed and mobility. He takes toys away from Jack and often pushes my hand away if I try to get him to do something. It's funny- he has always been the more laid back one, but he definitely has more of a temper! Try taking something away from him- he gives you the saddest face in the world and turns on the waterworks and whining.

Jack loves cars and trucks. He will happily entertain himself by pushing his truck around saying, "Vroom, vroom' for extended periods of time while Ben is a whirlwind, rushing from one toy to the next.

We are getting ready for Easter this weekend, along with some birthday celebrations for a certain aunt and uncle. I hope to get some good pictures of the kids all dressed up!

Walk the Walk!

After taking a few steps for the first time last week, Ben is full-on walking! He sort of does a side-step thing and it's really cute!

He looks so funny because he just seems too small to be walking, but there he goes!