Happy Halloween!

Maddy and Milo prepare for the big Halloween parade on Coast Guard Island.


About 5 minutes into the parade...

16 Months!

Milo - 17 October 2009

Madeline - 18 October 2009. It's very tough to pose Maddy now. She pretty much just squirms down like she did here. This was actually the best of about a dozen similar shots.

M&M at the Oakland Zoo, seen above parked on the Hayward fault - 18 October 2009

M&M hanging out with the giraffes.

Maddy greets the day.

Milo takes a (brief) walk.

Another Step Forward!

It's not walking, but it's a break through nonetheless -- and it's a good start.

Above: Maddy (at 12.5 months corrected age) bravely crosses the room on foot, ably assisted by a fancy Melissa and Doug "Deluxe" Walker (and no, I'm not getting any kick-backs from the toy companies -- though I'm not above taking some). Milo actually does even better, but he kept refusing whenever I started the cam. Hopefully they'll be doing complex math in time for tax season.

By the way, you may have noticed I've added some nice new features to the blog. If you look on the left-hand side, you'll notice I added a search feature as well as some other functionality. A few parents have mentioned that they use the M&M blog to look at the various issues the twins have faced, and I figure this will spare a frantic parent some time hunting. All ideas I've stolen from Loki Sky's blog (see our friend's blogs).

Yet Another One Year Mark & the Big Reunion!

You've all probably noticed a lot of one year marks on the blog of late, and this week we can add yet another. Maddy celebrated one year home yesterday (October 2nd). For comparison, I went back and dug up a photo that I took just a few minutes after we got her in the house last year, and then I staged the same basic photo today. Pretty amazing difference, eh? (By the way: For an interesting comparative read, take a look back at the posts a year ago from about September 25th to October 10th, 2008)

Maddy - 3 October 2009. Current dimensions: 29.75 inches long and coming up on 21 lbs; she has roughly 3.5 teeth; and she wears size 4.5 shoes.

Maddy - 2 October 2009. Dimensions (then): A little over 7 lbs.; no teeth; socks only; and looking a lot less robust.

It's hard to believe that the car seat is actually getting too small for Maddy now. A year ago she practically disappeared in the thing, and we needed to tuck blankets around her to keep her snug. In fact, we bought new car seats today for M&M.

To celebrate this latest milestone, Maddy and Milo got a little something extra with dinner. What else? Madeleines, which the kids obviously liked since they contain the dietary staples sugar and chocolate.



So what was Milo up to a year ago? As you may recall, Milo decided to hang out with the nurses and docs for another 15 days after Maddy went home. But for posterity, here's the comparison.

Milo: 3 October 2009. Weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 ozs. (including a lot of edema) and sporting a nasal gavage tube for feeding. Looks like a whole different baby. The amazing thing is that the little guy had every right to cry and whine about everything, but he was almost always all smiles all the time.

Fast forward...

Milo: 3 October 2009. Weighing in the high 18 lb. range. Along with a much healthier disposition, Milo has developed a bit of a temper -- which he clearly gets from mom since I was a perfect child. Above he is seen throwing a little tantrum while I was trying to photograph Maddy. What would his nurses think? To be fair, he's just getting over a fever, and he's got two new teeth coming in. All in all, he's still a pretty happy little guy.

In other news, we attended the Alta Bates NICU reunion last week. It was a great chance to return and visit with the all the great folks who were so vital in getting Maddy and Milo so healthy and strong. And we also got meet up again with other friends and alumni families.

Left to right: Elaine, baby Ruksana with mom (Preema) and dad; Nurse Janet; Dr. Espinoza (in the shades); and Jesse & Kat.

Janet and Milo and Madeline. We were hoping to get pictures with Annette, Aneko, and Dr. Kao, but they snuck off before I got out the camera.

Krista & Molly hanging out with Elaine and Milo. You may remember Molly and family from earlier posts. Molly overlapped with M&M at the NICU.

Dr. Espinoza, Baby Loki, Janet, and Jesse and Kat (Loki's parents). Kat and Jesse have kept a great blog about Loki, which you can - and should - check out here: http://babylokisky.blogspot.com/. It's definitely an amazing story - Loki is a 24-weeker who was born at Alta Bates the day after Milo went home. Highly recommended!

Elaine & Milo, Preema and Dad with baby Ruksana. Like Loki, Ruksana was another 24-weeker born right around the time M&M came home.

A rare moment. Maddy sits still in the grass without tearing her hat off.

Parting Shot...

Since Milo got pretty short shrift in this post, it seemed only fair to end with a nice shot of him not having a tantrum.