Housekeeping

I realize I haven't given any good general updates lately - so here are a few housekeeping bits...

Walking - EVERYWHERE! The girls have decided that walking in the preferred method of transportation in most circumstances. They walk across the living room, to toys, to me, to the dogs here - most everywhere. A first attempt by walking is usually made to travel, and if they fall down, sometimes crawling is still the fall back method. More often than not, they stand back up and try again. I have to say that Natalie seems most delighted with her ability to walk. She seems to persevere harder and does so with a huge grin of satisfaction.

Eating Not so much. *big sigh* Feeding has been a real challenge. The last few weeks have been pretty bad. We have weighed them weekly and have seen either minuscule gains of an ounce or two or, worse, a loss of an ounce or two. I don't have my records here, but I suspect they have only gained about 3 ounces in the last month. This is very, very bad.

I'm not sure exactly what the problem is. They have even turned up their noses at the old standby - fat-filled greek yogurt. I even tried it with chocolate syrup. Abby liked it, but Natalie didn't seem to. And by liked it, I mean ate about one ounce. They are eating less and less pedisure* and not liking their solids. They do still beg like puppies to eat anything we are eating, so they still have interest in food. They just only want 4 or 5 bites and are finished.

* I'm not sure I mentioned, but we have switched from formula to Pedisure. Their one year adjusted birthday was August 20. Usually you transition to whole milk, but the pedisure has a more complete nutrition - and I think more calories. They seem to like the chocolate a good bit, so I mix it with the vanilla. The downside is that it stains their clothes quite a bit. I do a lot more spraying and soaking now!

So - what to do. We are trying benecalorie, a nifty soluble that looks a bit like watery sour cream. One and half ounces has 350 calories in it. I mix it in their food and their bear-straw cups. (I've discovered it clogs up the nipples of their bottles). Because it has such a high fat content, it can be overwhelming to the system, so we can only mix a little at a time. Also because of the high fat (probably due to the oil), it is very slick and also stains. It's also much harder to get out. It's like pouring olive oil on your clothes. I've also been adding whole whipping cream to foods and their bottles. Oh, and Duocal. And butter where appropriate.

Today was one of their best eating days in weeks. They drank their morning bottle well and then ate a great snack at Poppy's. I made macaroni pasta with Alfredo sauce. I also added Benecalorie, whipping cream and duocal. The little 4 oz container I made had about 450 calories. Hey, at least the pasta was whole wheat. They loved it. It's hard to know how many calories they actually ate, but more than zero, so that's a step forward. Plus, at Walmart, I discovered this yogurt drink with a fruit juice blend. I'd never seen it before, but they LOVE IT! It's 110 for 4 oz. I add 2 tablespoons of cream for another 100cal. So, about 40 calories an ounce! They drink it up! I put it in the honey bear straw cup. Today, Abby grabbed the thing, hung on to it and sucked down at least two ounces almost without stopping. Woo hoo! After their non-nap, we had more yogurt juice and pasta. Then Natalie ate 160mls before bed and Abby drained her 180ishml bottle. She may have eaten more, but 180mls is all it holds. We've never had them eat that much before! Hopefully, their midnight bottles will also be successful.

If you noticed before, we are returning on a Thursday. This is because we have peds appointment Friday for their 15 month check-up. There will be shots, but there will also be weighing and measuring and discussion of how much weight they have NOT gained. I'm really quite worried about it. I'm not sure what else we can do at this point. Other than a feeding tube, their just isn't anything else to do but keep trying. I definitely don't think we are willing to try the g-tube unless presented with some evidence of some pretty dire consequences if we don't.

Teeth I may have forgotten to mention that the girls finally have teeth. Well, Natalie only has one, but still. She has one little bottom tooth, and I swear, I have seen the other one trying to poke through. Then it retreats and hides again. It's very strange. Abby has four teeth! The bottom two and the top center two. She can really take a chunk from an apple - or your finger or arm or...She actually only bites down if you stick your fingers in her mouth, and then, who can blame her. I think I've seen her try to bite down on Natalie's arms when she wants her to move, but so far, she hasn't really. It's only a matter of time I am sure. The girls actually spend a lot of time sticking their fingers in each other's mouths. I guess when they start chomping down on each other, they'll figure it out.

Misc I just thought I'd mention what a funny little giggler Natalie is. She gets in these moods and just giggles and laughs. Yesterday with Poppy and Nanny, they said she started laughing and giggled for 30 minutes - all the way home. When she falls down - she giggles. When she bonks her head - she giggles. Sometimes she and Abby will look at each other and start giggling. It's really funny - and very sweet.

Okay - that's enough for now. I still have some back-posting to do about some trips and such, but those involve pictures and have to wait until I get home. It's baby feeding time and then nite-nite for Mommy. Sleep tight!