Catching Up, Part 1

Hello everybody!! We are still here. It has been a while. I actually had to hesitate when entering my login name and password. I am going to attempt a series of posts aptly named, "Catching Up," in order to do just that. Both Wyatt and Parks are doing great. We missed posting updates on their 4th and 5th month birthdays. Here is a snipette of a drafted post from their four month birthday that never got posted and an update on their size now.

"Parks & Wyatt turned four months old yesterday, September 15th. I can hardly believe it's been that long since they were born. We have come so far in such a short period of time and we have so much to be thankful for! Wyatt has been completely off his meds since the beginning of the month and we no longer have to check his blood sugar. He now weighs over 11 pounds, almost five times his birth weight. He is an extremely happy baby, smiling and laughing constantly. The painful weeks after he came home from the NICU are a distant memory. He doesn't even seem like the same baby. Parks is doing great as well. He now weighs 15 lbs."

I am happy to report that on October 15th, Wyatt now weighs 13 pounds and Parks is probably close to 17 pounds. They are now only a couple of inches apart in overall length and are looking more and more alike than ever. Parks' hair is starting to turn darker, and his eyes have turned hazel. Wyatt appears to be bald his hair is so blonde, and his eyes are now a very bright blue. Parks is around the 50th percentile for his weight unadjusted. If you take his prematurity into account he is well over the 90th percentile. Wyatt has finally broken through on the growth chart for weight. He is in the 5th percentile unadjusted and 25th percentile adjusted, but his overall curve is trending about as vertical as you can get. We have had a few doctors appointments over the last month and a half, but I will post about those later. Here is a slide show of some random pictures over that time to get everyone reintroduced to our little men.

Anniversary

Today...four years ago...Randi and I exchanged vows surrounded by granite, stained-glass, and smiling faces. It was an Auburn football off week. All the old friends we got to see again, all the family members we were meeting for the first time, its was a blur.

I do have a few inescapable, frozen memories of that day. There was the Colonel's scrambled dog, pictures on the front steps of the church with Dante, the stretched Navigator surprise, the nod and the wink, missing out on not only our own dinner but also the leftovers, the band, the dance, the limo ride to Atlanta, and the flight the next morning with my new bride to explore not only a new part of the world but also each other.

After over a year of dating and several years as friends, the past four years have drug on and flown by all at the same time. If I had to describe each of them in one sentence, they would be:

Year 1: I get to live with you now...no, seriously I really get to live with you.
Year 2: Wow, are we really moving again?!
Year 3: So, what do you want to do now?
Year 4: Oh crap, we are having twins!!
Year 5 Prediction: Big changes are afoot and growing boys under foot.

Thank you to all for helping us make it through this last year. It was a tough one for both of us.

Dogs And Hams

Here are a few pictures from the last couple weeks we wanted to share with everyone. We would also like to send out our prayers for Holly, Katie and the triplets that are coming on Friday. We pray that everything goes well for all of you.

First, the ham...Parks LOVES mirrors. It's hard to pull him away.

Wyatt and Parks getting some floor time on the activity mat.

Dante getting some floor time on his back.

Dante not sure what to make of this situation, but odds are he'd rather Wyatt be somewhere else. Notice how big the bone is compared to Wyatt.

Wyatt ready for the game. Before you ask, he was posed and did not actually watch three hours of television. There will be enough sports to watch for years to come.

And The Answer Is...

It's Parks, all 14 pounds of him. He is now in the 25 percentile for his age and 90 percentile adjusted for his prematurity. They really are starting to favor one another, even though we are almost positive they are not identical. If we start having to paint their toe nails to tell them apart, then we will go get the DNA test. Wyatt is now 10 pounds and is starting to shoot up the growth chart.

Wyatt had two doctors' appointments today. The first was to a physical therapist. We have noticed recently that he is only looking to one side. It's hard for him to track object to his left or follow your voice. This is a condition called torticollis to where the muscles to one side of the neck become shorter and the other side elongated from him heavily favoring one side over the other. It makes perfect sense. Randi and I can only think of a couple times in six weeks at the NICU that he was rotated. It's onset can also be attributed to him being Saran-Wrapped in the uterus in an awkward position. Furthermore, this has also caused some plagiocephaly, which causes some deformation in the head due to constant pressure being put on one side over the other. One ear is slightly more forward than the others. We are hoping that the physical therapy will correct both conditions without us having to put him in a corrective helmet.

On a much, much brighter note, Wyatt also went back to the endocrinologist today. We have been able to successfully ween him off of all medications for his hypoglycemia. So, no more steroids and no more pricks in the heels. He has really been doing well regulating his blood sugars, and we are glad that his feet can finally start to heal. We only need to monitor any behavior out of the ordinary and we will have his cortisol levels tested before he has his hernia repair. This will tell us if his body can handle the stress of surgery.

We have more pictures, but its too late and this post is getting too long. I will post them soon.