Sleep

For a while now, the girls have been staying awake late into the night, usually until 12:30 or 1, and usually featuring a final two hours of crankiness. This is unlike them the rest of the day, when they are typically smiling, happy and content. The good part of this night-owlness is that their late night habits give Mom and Dad lots of exercise as we log laps to and fro on the bedroom floor to soothe the little ladies. A small tread is growing in our path. As last week progressed, with each night growing later than the one before, the girls apparently decided they would see how far they could take it, and Friday and Saturday night, they willed themselves past midnight, past one, and yes, later, until on Friday (or was that Saturday morning) they saw the moon all the way through until 2:30 a.m.

It was time for Mom and Dad to re-think their strategy or risk losing our marbles.

So the past two days, we have tried a new approach, which is to move the entire day's schedule up two hours sooner. It would seem this would have been obvious, except it required all sorts of other logistical switches (never mind the details) and that at least the first day of the new schedule (yesterday) the girls could stay awake for at least 8 hours straight. They didn't disappoint, as our little babes, not even six-months old, were up nine straight hours, with nothing more than a 20-minute nap once along the way, and perky and pleasant the entire time. We double-checked and, no, neither of them has yet learned how to use the coffee grinder.

When night came, the hours ticked toward midnight, and we wondered what would happen. Would they melt down like never before? Would they stay awake until dawn? No, for at 11:30, the girls finally crashed -- which means so did Mom and Dad -- earlier than in weeks, months even. It was like daylight savings time had come early.

Tonight, so far, so good as well. We have promised the girls Ferraris for their continued cooperation, and are hoping they like fine automobiles.

Meanwhile, most importantly of all, more pictures coming soon. They are getting BIG.

Weighing In

The girls are starting to talk up a storm, and we think it won't be long before they say their first word. They're certainly trying.

They're smiling like crazy, when they're not wailing approaching midnight, just to make sure Mom and Dad get their exercise pacing the bedroom floor, which we are glad to do (see "smiling like crazy").

Yesterday, our latest visit to the pediatrician told us how much our little girls are growing. They seem to have gotten heavier in our arms, and seem about ready sometimes to leap to the ground their legs are so strong. Well, they have both gained two pounds since the last doctor's visit. Rory is up to 10 lbs 13 ounces, while Danni is up to 8 lbs 6 ounces. In the doc's words, their weight gain "is fantastic." Now, to some, these weights for babies at five months and a week may seem small. But to us, who have seen their weights practically triple in that time, they seem like giants. Glorious giants.

Meanwhile, two weeks ago they had their latest, and it turns out, final preemie check-up at the ophthalmologist. The final trimester is when the retina forms, so special care has to be taken to ensure a preemie's eyes have fully and properly formed. The doc gave the girls an "A" report and said he was no longer concerned about the development of their eyes. This is good for more than one reason, because the test is tough to witness, let alone for the girls to experience. The doc has to hold each of their eyes open with a tiny metal speculum for about a minute each while he presses and prods on the eye itself with another special device, and peers into the pupil with what might as well be a glaring headlight stuck to his forehead and studies all corners of the retina. It was all we could do not to scoop up our babies and race out of there, but they stuck it out courageously and soon it was over. For many reasons, we are quite sure that their first word won't be ophthalmologist.