Well, we finally caught the little stinker on tape! Sophia takes a few steps for us on camera. Watch it here:
Monday, January 29, 2007
Friday, January 26, 2007
Curly locks...
Sophi sits still as Aunt Laurie cuts her curls for the first time! While the girls had half of their heads shaved for their surgeries, they've never had an official "first haircut". We couldn't wait to have Aunt Laurie give them the professional treatment! Thanks, Aunt Laurie!!
Rena's making sure she doesn't take too much off!
Aunt Laurie with Rena and Sophi after their first haircuts!! Great job, Aunt Laurie!!! She's at Force 2000 for anyone who is looking for a makeover! Play Date...and just playing!
My friend Wendy is in town as her husband, Major George, is courageously off to work "saving the world" as Debbie tells baby George! The girls had their first play date with George and had a blast!
Sophi gets smooched by sweet Dazzle. Both of the girls LOVE dogs and make the sign for dog and start barking "arf, arf, arf" when they see one!
Sophi says, "Happy New Year!!!"
Ditto! from Rena
Happy New Year!!
He's cutting teeth too!!! Rena enjoys a close-up look of Jaws at Newport Aquarium.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Rena Walks!!
We said we'd post it and here it is!! We're still waiting to catch Sophi. Follow the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-b5zJcVHA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ-b5zJcVHA
One foot in front of the other...
Our focus has certainly been to just keep putting one foot in front of the other this past year as we've watched the girls endure many challenges and slowly meet their milestones...our girls' seem to have picked that trend up as well. Sophi put one foot in front of the other and took her first steps on Thursday and Rena followed on Friday!!!
To many, this might not seem that incredibly exciting, afterall, most kids eventually learn to walk. But to a preemie mom who daily remembers the all so encouraging words of her doctor to the tune of "we'll just have to wait and see", who has fervently been praying for this day for the last 18 months, and for our therapists who have stood by us and patiently tried many different avenues to help with the girls' slow development, it is just so surreal!! Let's have a party Emily, Ericka & Kristie!!! Thank you so much for cheering the girls on and loving them almost as much as we do!!
I still remember the day they told us about Sophi's brain bleed and the many outcomes it could have. Walking was one of our next hoops to see if she would be able to do it. And not only was she able, but she did it with that huge toothy smile and energetic bright eyes! What a joy these angels are to us!
Needless to say, there is a big party at our house!! We're trying to get it on video so we can post it, but the girls love a stage and it seems that when we get the camera out, all they're interested in is seeing themselves in the camera screen!
Next on the list....cartwheels!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Uh Oh!
Well, its been a little while since we’ve reported any new happenings with the girls' speech development so we’ll try to get you caught up. The sounds are sutble and come in batches. The girls will utter a few new sounds and then just kind of wait for about two weeks and then suddenly, again, something new! Something surprising.
So…
About four weeks ago the girls started saying “Eee! Eee! Eee” at breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. They are missing only the “t”. “Mama” was there first word. “Eat” is officially the second. It was funny. Several days ago in the evening Vicki and I had fed the girls about an hour and a half before we decided to eat something ourselves. I asked Vicki, who was playing with the girls, what she wanted to eat. The girls had their backs to me and as soon as the question left my mouth they both turned, faced me, and started saying, “Eee, eee, eee,” signing and crawling. I said playfully, “Who taught these kids how to hear? You two are always eating! Let us eat.” So, for the first time, having daughters that circle our plates like vultures anytime we try to eat, we have to spell it out to each other if we’re going to get into something we don’t want to share. “Hey Vic, do you want to “E-A-T?”
They also make a “ma” sound for “more.” We know this because they often accompany the sounds with the sign it signifies. And when they sign “please,” more often than not it is accompanied by “eeaze.” They’re working on “eyes,” “nose,” and “ear.” They come out “Iy,” “Noo…,” and “eugh” (yeah, use you’re imagination on that one.) Vicki got after Soph the other day and said, “Sophi, No!” To which Soph responded by turning to her, smiling and putting her index finger on the end of her nose. That probably means she’s not hearing the S’s on the end but that’s ok for now.
They also make a kind of chirpy noise, especially when they’re scolding us for taking something away or telling them no. They sometimes sound like Dino from the Flintstones and at other times like Beeker from the Muppets. Its pretty cute.
This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Crosspoint, a church that supports our work in the Dominican and Haiti. We had the opportunity to stay with our friends Page and Christina (we met them when they came down on a short-term trip to the Dominican last July). Page has some dogs that were barking at the girls from outside of a glass door. The girls stood in their faces on the opposite side and barked right back for the first time ever, “ar, ar, ar!” They were outrageously excited by the dogs. Sophi, in particular, was fearless.
Later that night one of us dropped something and said, “uh oh.” Rena, for the first time and clearly as can be, looked up and said “Uh oh.” She did it again and again for us but I’m sure that when the time comes to show her off to our therapists she’ll clam up just for fun. (I had to come back and add this part: as I was writing this Soph started saying “Uh oh” just as clearly as Rena!!) How cool is that! Thanks Page for the awesome hospitality and all of your love for the girls!
And thanks to all of you who check this so frequently out of the same love for our girls. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.
Grace and Peace, all
So…
About four weeks ago the girls started saying “Eee! Eee! Eee” at breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner. They are missing only the “t”. “Mama” was there first word. “Eat” is officially the second. It was funny. Several days ago in the evening Vicki and I had fed the girls about an hour and a half before we decided to eat something ourselves. I asked Vicki, who was playing with the girls, what she wanted to eat. The girls had their backs to me and as soon as the question left my mouth they both turned, faced me, and started saying, “Eee, eee, eee,” signing and crawling. I said playfully, “Who taught these kids how to hear? You two are always eating! Let us eat.” So, for the first time, having daughters that circle our plates like vultures anytime we try to eat, we have to spell it out to each other if we’re going to get into something we don’t want to share. “Hey Vic, do you want to “E-A-T?”
They also make a “ma” sound for “more.” We know this because they often accompany the sounds with the sign it signifies. And when they sign “please,” more often than not it is accompanied by “eeaze.” They’re working on “eyes,” “nose,” and “ear.” They come out “Iy,” “Noo…,” and “eugh” (yeah, use you’re imagination on that one.) Vicki got after Soph the other day and said, “Sophi, No!” To which Soph responded by turning to her, smiling and putting her index finger on the end of her nose. That probably means she’s not hearing the S’s on the end but that’s ok for now.
They also make a kind of chirpy noise, especially when they’re scolding us for taking something away or telling them no. They sometimes sound like Dino from the Flintstones and at other times like Beeker from the Muppets. Its pretty cute.
This weekend we traveled to Nashville to visit Crosspoint, a church that supports our work in the Dominican and Haiti. We had the opportunity to stay with our friends Page and Christina (we met them when they came down on a short-term trip to the Dominican last July). Page has some dogs that were barking at the girls from outside of a glass door. The girls stood in their faces on the opposite side and barked right back for the first time ever, “ar, ar, ar!” They were outrageously excited by the dogs. Sophi, in particular, was fearless.
Later that night one of us dropped something and said, “uh oh.” Rena, for the first time and clearly as can be, looked up and said “Uh oh.” She did it again and again for us but I’m sure that when the time comes to show her off to our therapists she’ll clam up just for fun. (I had to come back and add this part: as I was writing this Soph started saying “Uh oh” just as clearly as Rena!!) How cool is that! Thanks Page for the awesome hospitality and all of your love for the girls!
And thanks to all of you who check this so frequently out of the same love for our girls. We appreciate it more than you will ever know.
Grace and Peace, all
Connexin 26 is not the title of an old Alias Episode...
We finally have discovered the root of our girls’ deafness. The girls’ genetic test results came back and it turns out that it is as we suspected, Vicki and I are carriers of a rare recessive gene for deafness.
So, above is our Punnett Square. Remember those from science class in highschool. Remember thinking, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” Well it just goes to show that you never know what might prove to be useful in your life. Anyway, as I said, Vic and I are carriers which means that our hearing genes are Rr (R=Typical Hearing, r=hearing loss and/or deafness). So combine the two above and we’re left with the 25% chance to have a child with typical hearing who is not a carrier of Connexin 26, a 50% chance of having a child with typical hearing who is a carrier of Connexin 26, and a 25% chance of having a child with significant hearing loss/deafness.
So, there you go. And so what’s the bottom line you ask? Well, quite frankly, we’re a family of X-Men! So all you regular o’le humans, don’t be haters!!
For more info check out the new link to the left “What is Connexin 26?”
So, above is our Punnett Square. Remember those from science class in highschool. Remember thinking, “When am I ever going to use this stuff?” Well it just goes to show that you never know what might prove to be useful in your life. Anyway, as I said, Vic and I are carriers which means that our hearing genes are Rr (R=Typical Hearing, r=hearing loss and/or deafness). So combine the two above and we’re left with the 25% chance to have a child with typical hearing who is not a carrier of Connexin 26, a 50% chance of having a child with typical hearing who is a carrier of Connexin 26, and a 25% chance of having a child with significant hearing loss/deafness.
So, there you go. And so what’s the bottom line you ask? Well, quite frankly, we’re a family of X-Men! So all you regular o’le humans, don’t be haters!!
For more info check out the new link to the left “What is Connexin 26?”
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