9 Months Old and Blue Blankets

First- can you believe that they are 9 months old? They are so much fun right now. Ben is a crawling maniac and Jack does 'the worm' to get where he needs to go. He does get up on all fours, but he prefers his own style of moving. Ben is pulling up to stand... on just about anything. A coffee table, a chair, my legs, Jack, whatever he can find. I will walk in and find Ben with his hands on Jack's head so he can use Jack as a prop to stand up. Jack is pretty good about it, but it's probably not the best thing for him.

Both babies are saying, "Mama, mama," which I love, of course. Every once in a while, we get a 'dada' out of them. They also wave, babble, and blow raspberries. They are constantly getting into trouble- but very cute trouble! They have to be together, and if one is awake and the other is sleeping, the awake twin crawls around and I swear he is looking for his brother.

Mairead is so good with them. When she comes down in the morning she says, "A Jack, a Ben. Here's your brothers." So sweet!

Anyway, Monday was their 9 month appt at the doctor and while they are doing well overall, it wasn't my favorite appointment.

They look big to us, but they are still on the small side. Jack is 18lbs 10oz and Ben is 18lbs 11 oz. That is about the 25th percentile. Jack is 27 inches long, (about 17th%) and Ben is 27 3/4 inches (25th%). Their heads are in the 25th percentile, too. They are very proportionate, which is good, but I thought they would start to get above the 25th percentile by now. The doctor is not concerned at this point, so I guess I just need to be patient.

Neither baby sits unassisted very well, and Jack cannot roll back to front. This is a concern to me and to the doctor, so we have decided to have them re-evaluated by Early Intervention. Even as preemies, they should be sitting better than they are, so we'll look in to that. I love the EI program and I hope we have great results in Lowell like we did with EI on the South Shore. I was just hoping to hear that they are totally 'normal' and that there was nothing to worry about.

Jack has an ear infection. Totally fixable, but he is less than thrilled about this and is not a very patient patient.

Last but not least, Ben has a heart murmur. I know that lots of people do, and that it is probably nothing to think twice about, but it's just one more thing for us to worry about. It was not detectable until now, so it is not a congenital malformation or anything, so that is good. The doctor said we will just keep an eye on it.

We are very grateful for the health of all of our children, but we still get frustrated by appointments like this. All three kids look wonderful and healthy to us, but we can't forget about Mairead's stroke, Jack's respiratory issues, Ben's murmur, or both boys' prematurity.

Twins are so much fun and we wouldn't trade them for anything- but they are a lot of worry, too. Preemie twins tend to 'catch up' by 18-24 months, but that seems a long ways away! We just want the best for them and we can't wait for appointments when we are told that they are 100% healthy.

I belong to a group of twin moms, and they are really helpful about this kind of thing. They have all been through the twin/preemie experiences, and many have had much worse health scares than we have. I try to keep things in perspective and focus on the positive. But when it comes to her kids, every mom wants a clean bill of health every time!

Anyway, on to cuter things. Like blue blankets. The Donahue's (Christin and Josh's mom and dad) sent these really soft, plush, blue blankets for the boys when they were born. We brought them out when the weather turned colder and they LOVE them. As in, I can barely get them away from the boys to wash them. They MUST have them to sleep, and if there is only one around, they both make a mad dash for it and try to steal it from the other one. It is amazing how attached they are!

Jack was relaxing in his car seat with his blue blanket, so Ben tried to get in the carseat with him to snuggle.

One was in the laundry, so they shared this one while watching Baby Einstein.

Jack, who is known for refusing to nap, actually fell asleep on the floor with his blanket the other day. He chews on the edge and snuggles right into it.

Thanks to the Donahues for making our boys so comfy and happy with their favorite blankies! I am going to try to buy two more so that I can always have a clean one on hand!

Thanks to everyone for reading- I know this was a long post. Keep sending positive thoughts and prayers for three healthy kids-- we thank you for them!