The Life and Times of Lily and Lola

Looking bigger in their baskets, huh?

Post double-time feeding

Pre-double time feeding

Lola with a hat she wore in the NICU. Remember how it covered all of her forehead and ears!

Lola with the hat she wore on the 4th of July, not yet one month old. Fits a little different now!

Lily with 4th of July hat

Lily with NICU hat, sweet girl

Lily playing, she really is enjoying herself, honest!

Lola playing, look at those sweet eyes!

Very effective tummy time. PT/OT/ST friends, I swear I did not leave Lily (on right) with her hips out like that :)

Well this week has included a lot of firsts for the girls and their parents. Last Friday, I loaded both girls in the car for the first time by myself to go through the Starbucks drive-thru. As soon as I loaded Lola in her car seat, she spit up all over her car seat straps. I no sooner cleaned it up and she did it again. Nevertheless, we all made it there and back in one piece. I did stop in the parking lot at Starbucks to make sure everyone was still breathing :) Remember, I am a first time parent.

The girls also began to go on a major increase in hunger and feeding volume. They now are taking between 3.5 oz. and 4.0 oz. every 3 hrs. It is hard to believe at one point we counted their feedings in milliliters! They really do pretty well. Lily actually eats more than Lola on a consistent basis. I was nervous that increasing that much was going to cause major reflux issues again, but they were just so insistent on more formula that I had to try. Thankfully, not a major increase in reflux, although Lola still fights that more than Lily.

Lily and Lola both are raising their heads from tummy position. Lola has also raised her chest off of the ground from tummy position. This is a big deal for them, because although they are a little over 9 weeks old, their "adjusted" age for development is actually not quite 2 weeks old. So, it isn't expected that they would be doing any milestones greater than their adjusted age for now. It all catches up eventually anyway...

Lola and Lily both do a great purposeful smile, albeit inconsistently. It makes those long nights worthwhile to see those sweet grins.

We are trying to go longer than 3 hr. feedings in the middle of the night. So far, we inconsistently make it to 4 a.m. from a midnight feeding. Very, very anxious for that to stretch out to more humane sleeping for Mom and Dad. We still more or less feed the girls individually, but back to back, so when we get up for a feeding it takes about 45 minutes to complete both with diapers, burping, etc. etc. So if I feed them at midnight, I get back to bed just before 1 a.m. and then get up around 3:45 a.m. to ensure I am ready before pandomonium sets in. It is not a very good thing if both wake up hungry at the same time and you are not ready. Lola has a very good set of lungs and she is second in feeding order. We do sometimes feed them at the exact same time, which is above picture on Boppy pillows. However, it just doesn't work so well all the time. I can't lull anybody back to sleep when I have both out. I have been able to rock both at the same time and pick up both at the same time, which is good. So, we may be getting there someday.

The girls continue to show sides of their personality. Don says Lily is very cerebral and Lola is very visceral. I think that is really funny, but true. Lily constantly looks like something is on her mind and she wants to say something. Lola goes from "I am the happiest baby in the world" to "I am going to scream bloody murder until you change something for me" in 2 seconds flat.

Lily loves to watch sun through the blinds, toys with flashing lights, 4 oz. bottles and terry cloth feety pajamas. Lola loves to be held, toys with flashing lights, and when 2 people are talking she loves listening to two different voices at the same time.

Both girls love being in the bath and hate the time just prior and just after bath when naked.

Both girls love music and are partial to Mom singing anything by the Indigo Girls, Dixie Chicks, and American Pie by Don Mclean.

Again we thank all of our friends and family for their support with help and food. Having two newborns is not easy and we really feel fortunate to be so supported. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!

Love, Mel