Gosh, it feels like it's been a really long time since I sat down and wrote a proper post. It's kind of like when you haven't cleaned your house in so long, that when you finally have time to do it there is so much to do that you don't know where to start. So then you get discouraged and just give up all together, which just makes it that much harder next time! You know?
We've finally gotten into a (sort of) comfortable routine with me back to work and the girls in preschool. The last couple of weeks in particular have been busy, with preparations for Halloween, the upcoming NICU fashion show, and me obsessing over election coverage and political issues. I am obviously happy with the outcome of Election 08 for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that it gives me hope for a
brighter future for my kids. So, I guess we'll be
sticking around for now;)
Preschool is going swimmingly well for both girls. I am really happy with the girls' teachers and Eden's one-on-one aide. They all have really positive attitudes and are very open in listening to my concerns and being generally helpful. It really is so much better than it could be, and I am oh so grateful for that. I volunteer in the classroom once a month, and either John or my mom will volunteer once a month as well. Today was my second time and I helped at the pet rock table where we actually made pet rocks and wrote little stories about them. It was quite fun. The girls get a kick out of calling me "Ms. Billie" when I am at school and it is so funny.
Both girls know all of their colors, shapes, numbers up to 10, can spell their names, and can recognize most letters of the alphabet. They are learning the letter sounds, and seem to be pretty on track with verbal learning for their age. I'd say they are near the middle of the class in terms of what they know, which is great considering that if they'd been born on time they wouldn't even be four yet, and there are some 5-year-olds in their class. They are definitely behind in terms of fine and gross motor, so their writing/drawing skills are probably the lowest. Holland can write the first four letters of her name (very large), and Eden can write the letters E, M (for Mom), O, and T. Writing is going to be hard for both of them, but hopefully with practice we'll continue to make progress.
The biggest issues we have had at school are with getting a proper car seat on the bus, and getting a swing on the playground that Eden can use. You'd think these are pretty simple things to do, but seeing as how they STILL have not happened, I guess not. We are making due for now with a
STAR Seat (which I actually think she sits pretty good in), but we've been told that the district is going to get her a more supportive seat for the long term. We'll see. As far as the swing goes... I ended up taking a
Little Tikes swing that she uses at my parent's house two weeks ago. They didn't try it until today when I was there, and it worked out great. So hopefully they'll use that in the meantime (and not just when I am there!).
I bought Eden a new chair, called the
Child-Rite, that is like a Bumbo but bigger. It's a little big for her, but she is going to get a lot of use out of it. The best part, and what makes it totally worth the money, is that she is able to get into and out of it by herself! We could use two more of them (one for school and one for upstairs) if they weren't so darn expensive.
Eden also got a
new potty recently (this one was covered by insurance), and it is working out pretty well. We're still hit or miss with the potty training, but it's going...
We celebrated THREE! years of hearing for Eden on Halloween. She is doing so awesome that it's really unbelievable. Over the past 6 months we have seen her language skills grow in leaps and bounds. She asks and answers questions, tells us what she wants and needs, sings songs, tells stories, and remembers details from conversations that we had weeks ago. People still can't understand everything she says all the time, but it is definitely coming and the gap between her actual age and her hearing age is steadily closing. It is truly a beautiful thing and makes my heart burst with pride. The cochlear implant is amazing, and certainly one of the best things we have ever done for Eden. I cannot say enough positive things about it.
Holland had an appointment with the ophthalmologist a couple of weeks ago. The good news is that with her glasses on she is seeing equally out of both eyes. The bad news is that her prescription has gotten stronger again and we had to get new lenses. She is now at -3.5, +1.50, 100 in her right eye, and -8.75, +1.00, 055 in her left eye. That's pretty heavy duty. But, on the bright side, it can be corrected with glasses, she can see great up close, and we're back to patching just 2 hours a day (as opposed to SIX). Plus she's just so darn cute with her glasses on.
Both girls are doing great eating. They are telling us when they are hungry, eating a great variety of foods, and seem to actually like it. Our biggest problem with eating right now is that neither of them will really feed themselves, and we frequently end up hand feeding them like babies to get them to eat enough. Both are growing in length, but their weights have been at a stand-still since July when we dropped the bottles. Honestly, there is nothing more I can do than what I am doing now because I refuse to go backwards to consider bottles or feeding tubes at this point, so I just have to focus on the positive. They have recently been pretty healthy, have a ton of energy, bright eyes and happy smiles, and are developing a positive attitude toward food. We have made so much progress. What more can I ask for? They're just going to be small. Period. I have to preach it to myself all the time!
Well, we literally got the last ornament on when I heard two loud cracks and the tree starting falling! We ended up having to undecorate the tree and take it down. I had to buy a new tree stand, and about a week later I finally managed to get the tree back up and redecorated. Now don't get me wrong, I do love the finished product, but having to go through the whole process of actually getting it up TWICE was not my idea of fun.
The second test of my holiday spirit was during our visit with Santa. The girls had been prepping for weeks and knew exactly what they wanted to ask for. Holland was asking for "The Mickey Racetrack" and Eden was asking for "Aurora and the Horse." They were both very excited. As I was helping Eden onto Santa's lap I mentioned that she might need a little support sitting. Santa was cool with that. Then he looks at Holland and asks what she wants for Christmas, and she replies "The Mickey Racetrack." Then, still looking at Holland, he asks "And what does your sister want for Christmas?" 
