Sunday, August 17, 2008

8 months old

Happy 8-month birthday to my beautiful twins. Here is an update on each:

Owen Michael
18 lbs. 8 ounces

Owen is a little bit humor, a good bit flirty, and a whole lot of hungry.



He continues to eat and sleep well, while getting loads of playtime in between. He has moved on to solids happily, and laughs while he's eating his oatmeal in the morning and his green vegetables for lunch. All of this while drinking upwards of 30 ounces of milk a day!

Owen loves people, and he loves to smile. He rarely wakes up screaming in the morning; he just gets up, and talks to himself - progressively getting louder and louder and LOUDER until I surrender my own rest, and walk down the hall to get him. Then he flashes his big, beautiful smile at me, and no matter how early it is, I always end up smiling back.

Owen is officially in to everything now, and he has to be watched very carefully. Anything within his arm's reach goes directly into his mouth - from my hair to Elie's feet. Yesterday I was holding him, and I turned my head to warm his bottle. When I turned back, he was munching on a receipt from the drycleaner.

Despite his recent mischief, he is a joy to be around - so easygoing, so adaptable, so interested in the people that surround him. He impresses everyone with his development - bearing all weight on his legs, doing strong push-ups, and entertaining all with his hilarious babbling.


Eliot Makenna
15 lbs.

Eliot is a little bit stubborn, a good bit princess, and a whole lot of attitude.



She laughs, cries, and eats on her own time. We continue to struggle with her feeding, but have her involved in speech and occupational therapy a few times a week now. She is making progress with her solids - but it's going to be a VERY slow process for all of us. Unfortunately, the end of her feeding tube is nowhere in sight.

Eliot is the perfect mix of beauty and grit - think Grace Kelly meets Mia Hamm. She can melt you with her big, expressive eyes, and then turn and punch Owen in the face so hard he cries.

"Raspberrying" is her favorite form of communication these days, and she is not afraid to use this technique when she is unhappy, fearful, or bored. At appointments, a doctor can merely enter the room, and Elie Mak will inhale fiercely and let him or her have the "mad razzes." In the middle of the night, she sings her "raspberry song" until Mike picks her up (he's such a sucker). It makes me laugh every time - even when it's 3am.

Despite her sass, she still remains an inspiration. With all of the bad things that torment her throat right now (damaged vocal chord, feeding tube, painful reflux), she still continues to explore her world - happily focusing on faces, colorful art and fabrics, and her boyfriend, Buggie.

When you can catch her smiling (and it's never when I have my camera), it's with her whole face - lips, eyes, forehead, everything. But, when she's in a bad mood, all she wants is Michael. She will be a daddy's girl, for sure. And that fact has pretty much made Mike's life complete.

Eight months old. Hard to believe. So much good behind us; so much good ahead . . .


Happy Birthday, babies!

6 comments:

Rachael M. said...

They look SO SWEET!

I just want to squish 'em!

Anonymous said...

They are SO cute...I love checking in on them! Sounds like things are going well.

Take care,
Stephanie
Grayson and Tatum's mommy

Anonymous said...

I am so jealous of Buggie. Yer babes are ADORABLE! It's hard to believe that they're already 8 months old.

Anonymous said...

Guys, they are beautiful babies :) So happy that everything is going so well.
Love Carissa

Anonymous said...

They are beautiful! Glad they are doing so well.

Can't get over how much Owen looks like Mike and Elie looks like you. Perfect combination!

I love catching up on them.

Jill

Anonymous said...

Buggie the boyfriend. Hee hee! Awesome update... looove checking the blog! They are beautiful as always!