Mama and Dada

Since our last Kid's Team visit, we have been working with the babies on their consonant-vowel sounds: "Ba-ba"; "Ga-ga", and of course the ones coveted by every devoted parent..."Da-da" and "Ma-ma".

I've been saying "Da-da-da" more with them as it's supposed to be easier to grasp and the first one they typically pick up. Brent - the hopeless romantic and always the most sentimental of the two of us (surprised?), has apparently been hard at work on "Ma-ma"...apparently...

This evening as we were winding down play time, discussing our days over "I want" noises and rattle sounds, David put his arms around me (he was getting fussy) and while burying his head in my shoulder said it...that golden sound that likely has little to do with me and everything to do with simple expression..."Mama". He said it a few more times - enough to make me completely misty eyed and silly grinned while Brent said proudly, "we've been working on that."

My gosh - something I never knew I wanted so badly to hear has suddenly filled my world with rainbows and butterflies - all things sweet and cuddly - with a dash of snuggly on top. Seriously - it was that good.

Physical therapy went really well today. Mary Louise and David's case worker tagged along during the appointment to re-certify them - as it has to be done every 6 months. I love to hear the comments made by people who maybe saw the babies once in the NICU or saw them (in this case) 6 or so months ago. She sweetly gushed at their progress, and massaged my Mommy ego a bit saying what a good job we've done with them (I can't help but wonder what other peoples' homes in this situation are like as they seem to mentally compare ours to theirs).

We had a good laugh at how blissfully unaware I am about their status. Staying so isolated does have quite a few perks...the main one being that we can have our little Utopian world and never really be faced with comparing or opinions or anything else for that matter. The fact is, this is our normal. We don't know anything other than raising 2 micro-preemies. Staying home with them and getting to know them so well has built our (both Brent's and mine) confidence and allowed us to form our own system - what works best for us- with very little outside influence. So, when the case worker asked me what my concerns were with Mary Louise and David, I really didn't have any - and I don't have the words to properly describe how good that felt. We are ok - better than ok - right now, in this moment, we are fantastic!!

Anyhow, the babies "performed" beautifully and we agreed that a speech therapist should evaluate Mary Louise in particular to ensure proper progress with her eating and work a little with me on their fine motor skills (stacking blocks, etc.). This is in effort to stave off any future issues by catching them early.

...and finally, I am getting very excited that the end of RSV season is upon us - and to date, we've had NO SNIFFLES, COUGHS, OR COLDS!!!! Keep proving your momma over-protective and crazy babies. I don't mind - and after 3 years of growing healthy lung tissue, I will breathe a little easier (pun intended) knowing that we've done absolutely everything we can to give you the best start possible. Again (we can't say it enough) many thanks to our friends and family for being so respectful and understanding.

Happy Weekend to all!
xo,
Heather