Splish, Splash, Sploosh

I just can't resist taking bath time pictures of my babies! When they are older they'll probably be embarrassed that I took all these photos, but for now I just think they are adorable in the tub.

When Evie really gets going in the tub, I call her "Splashy McSplash:"



Gavin was not in a splashy mood:



This is not bath related but it's Evie newest thing - walking and standing with her hands behind her back. Grandpa Cermak says she looks like she's "walking at ease" like he did in the army.

Grandma's Surgery Day

After enduring eight months of chemotherapy and successfully beating colon cancer, Grandma Cordes is having surgery today to "put herself back together." It would be great if all our legendary readers out there could say a prayer for her today. The twins can't wait for her to get home and get better so she can pick them up again (she'll have a weight-lifting restriction for about 6 weeks - and even Evie is too heavy)!

Here are some pictures of Grandma and the twins from the last couple of weeks:

Daddy Time

One day last week, the twins helped Francis get ready to leave for work:



Gavin was in charge of the lunch bag:

While Francis was gone, the kids played with their chime garden toy and pointed out the body parts they are learning: Evie said, "Here's my heart!" and Gavin said, "Here's my tummy!"

Later it was time for a story with Daddy. This is a rare shot of the twins "sharing" one of us and not fighting about it!

Little Babies Again

The other day they twins did the cutest thing - they just laid on the floor together. I know it sounds simple but they rarely do this at the same time and they were adorable:



"Psst, Gavin - let's pretend we're little babies again lying on the floor like we used to lay on our playmat!"


Francis thinks they are saying "Wonder twins, activate! Form of...the number 5!" (Well, maybe - we're not quite sure what they are forming! Maybe it's a character from their secret twin language.) Anyway, here is the whole series of pictures:

New Fun and Games

The game that Evie and Gavin invented most recently goes like this: When they are sitting in their high chairs, they reach out as if they are going to hold hands and then Evie suddenly pulls her hand away and they both laugh hysterically. Here they are in action:



The twins also decided to revisit a previous play idea of sitting in their bookcase drawers/bins:


"It's a lot of fun in here, Evie!"

"Hmm, how did Gavin get in here?"

"There's gotta be a way!"

"Sigh. For now, I'll just put this toy on my head."

Later in the day, Evie successfully climbed into the bin! Maybe she just needed a bath to energize her...she is very determined!

Can both twins fit? Not exactly, but they look cute trying!

New Games

Here is the game the twins invented last week (I am behind on my blogging). Gavin hands Evie Dad's watch (it's an old one that he gave them to play with) and she flings it to the floor, then they both giggle and Gavin picks it up. And repeat! In the video, Gavin threw the watch himself a few times, and let Evie throw it a few times too:



Later that day, the kids got very interested in their suction-table-top toys (actually, just the bottom parts.). Here is Gavin "arranging" them (for lack of a better word):



And it didn't take long for the watch game to translate to the "table toy" game!



Watch this space for the game they invented this week! (It's kind of like "keep-away.") There is never a dull moment at the Cermak house!

More Peek-A-Boo

When I took the twins to their 15 month physical, their pediatrician said to give them more table food. So Evie is now eating spaghetti-o's and mac-n-cheese, but Gavin won't. He acts really suspicious of new foods (taking after his dad, maybe?) so I will have to work on sneaking new flavors into his diet. He is eating a whole yogurt every day, though - seems any flavor is OK with him (at first he would only eat Dannon peach)! Evie loves her yogurt so much that I have to spell it out because she gets SO excited when she hears me say it!

Last week all of you in blog-land got to see Evie playing peek-a-boo with Nana Cermak. Gavin has gotten the hang of it as well!







The kids also love to play peek-a-boo with a blanket:

Gavin & Dad's Lunchbag

Gavin has been very interested in Francis' lunch bag lately. A few days ago he decided he was going to pack a lunch for Dad.

"Let's see, I'm giving Daddy my sippy cup so he doesn't get thirsty. Hmm, what else does he need? Oh, yes, I gave him the letter "U" because he says he always uses something called spellcheck."


"I think he needs our new cell phone because sometimes his phone battery dies. Do you think that's because Evie and I drooled on it so much?"



One last sip to make sure Dad's water is tasty, and then it's time to pack it up! Francis was very appreciative of Gavin's help.

Hugs and Cuddles

The twins have been really cuddly lately, especially Gavin. He loves walking over to us for a quick hug and loves to sit in my lap and drink his sippy cup. Evie loves to be held and sit in my lap too - in fact, when Gavin gets up to play with a toy, she usually makes a beeline for me and climbs right in.


Over the weekend, Evie started hugging her "Tickle Me Elmo." (Uncle David got Elmo several years ago when it was the "hot" toy of the season! Now it's on permanent loan to the twins. Thanks, Uncle David!)




Gavin gave Evie a hug, but she wasn't too happy about it...




He needs to work on not grabbing her face! But the effort was adorable and priceless. Gavin, we know you love your sister!

Below, Gavin tries to kiss Evie's hand... or bite it... maybe just hold it?. Either way, she thinks it's hilarious.

Evie decides that maybe this "hugging" thing isn't so bad after all and gives it a try. It turns into a total gigglefest though.

Playing With Grandma

Happy Martin Luther King Jr, Day, everyone! We have been staying inside watching the snow and staying toasty warm.

Here is Evie sitting on Grandma Cordes' lap after waking up from her nap. Evie says, "I heard you're going to have surgery soon, too, Grandma. Don't worry - we'll both be fine. I've been through it twice already, so I know all about it!"

Evie and Grandma play with the pop-up toy (both Evie and Gavin can open two of the squares by themselves):

"Grandma, I'd rather talk about the upcoming historic inauguration than play with this toy."

"Me! Three cheers for Gavin, future President!"

Here are the kids playing with their "cars." They haven't had as many crashes as I first thought, and when they are both pushing them around, Gavin will stop and wait for Evie to catch up with him.

Evie's Next Surgery (and Peek-a-boo!)

Yesterday we took Evie to see her cardiologist. Earlier in the week, we had been given a surgery date of February 12... but when we first got to the doctor's office yesterday, her pulse-ox (i.e., her oxygen saturation level) was about 65. That is really low! (The last time she visited the doctor with a level that low, the doctor sent me to the ER with her and she was admitted.)

The nurse kept checking her pulse-ox, and as Evie calmed down (she was crying at first) her stats rose to 75 and her color got much "pinker." Luckily, no trips to the ER, but her doctor was concerned enough to move up her surgery date to February 5th, and maybe even sooner if the hospital has an opening.

The surgery will be another unifocalization procedure (check out these previous two blog entries for a refresher on unifocalization, MAPCAs, and an explanation of Evie's heart defect). There is one MAPCA remaining in her body, and her surgeon will use a shunt to detach that MAPCA from her aorta and attach it to the existing shunt on the right side of her body. This will help lower the pressure of the blood flow to her lungs. This is necessary in order for her to (hopefully) be a candidate for the next surgery (The "Glenn" surgery, the one we thought she would be having now).

Her surgeon will also put in a stent to fix one area of an artery on her right side that has narrowed quite a bit and is restricting blood flow.

While he is working on her, he may also change her existing shunts to larger ones, if needed. The shunts do not grow with her, so they may need to be replaced over time.

Last weekend Grandpa and Nana Cermak were over and Evie started playing peek-a-boo with Nana! She's always giggled at others doing peek-a-boo, but has never done it herself until now.

Giggles and Tackles

It is so true when people say that twins have their own language. Evie and Gavin have conversations all day long! Even their pediatrician acknoweldged last week that it makes sense that they aren't saying words yet, because some of their communication needs are already met through each other. Then it is not so frustrating to them if they can't say the words that Francis and I say.

Many of their discussions are actually giggle-fests. (I never get enough of watching these!) Here is Gavin, laughing so hard at Evie that he falls over:

Evie has gotten more agressive in playing with Gavin lately. She'll pull on his shirt, pull his hair, or hit his head - all of which he thinks are funny, but I have to remind her to be gentle because if their roles were reversed she'd be screaming. Here she is tackling him:

Stacking Rings

Evie and Gavin have been doing so many new things lately that I could post even more blog entries than I do now! They just won't stop being adorable amd making up new games. I can't wait to show you all what the newest game is... it involves lots of giggles and flinging things onto the floor. More on that in a future post!

Last week at their physical, the pediatrician said that their next milestones would be fine motor skills and vocabulary. Now, Evie and Gavin have gotten the hang of putting the plastic rings back on their ring stacking toy... before, they just took them off. Evie was able to put them back on a few weeks ago, and now Gavin can, too.

All that stacking was hard work. Gavin decides to take a break and chomp on his squeaky clam:

Bath Time!

When the twins outgrew their Bumbo seats, I was stumped on what to do at bath time. (I am not ready to put them both in the big tub at the same time!) I tried putting one in the pack-n-play or in their crib while I bathed the other, but whichever one wasn't with me hated it and screamed the whole time. Then I tried to time the baths when other people were here to watch whichever twin wasn't with me, but that didn't always work out either.

Then I hit upon the idea to put one twin in our single umbrella stroller in the bathroom with me while I bathed the other one. That way they were strapped into something and could also see me. They balked at the stroller at first (because it wasn't moving) but now they are fine with it.

The key with Evie is to keep her in just her diaper in the stroller. Here she is giggling while Gavin gets his bath:

Gavin fiddles with the leg rest while he waits his turn:

Feeding the Birds

The twins love to watch Francis refill the bird feeder in our backyard:

They like to wave at him and imitate him. Here they are stomping and trying to jump:

And here is what we get in return - up to twenty birds all eating at our feeder! Evie and Gavin know the word "birdie" and will go look for them if I ask.

Spitting, Shrieking, and Doctors, Oh My!

I took the above picture yesterday morning, before going to the pediatrician's office. Evie had just walked over to Gavin, unprompted by me, and hugged him. Ahhh, so cute!!! I LOVE having twins!!!

We were at the doctor's office for a lot longer than I expected, and the kids were getting hungry and tired. Grandma Cordes was there to help me, thank goodness, because the twins were resteless. The office had a nurse out sick, and then there was some confusion over one of Evie's shots, so we left at 11 am and that is when they usually take naps! The good news is that we got home, fed them and got them asleep by noon. Whew!

You can see their updated info in the "Twins in a Nutshell" on the left of your screen. Gavin remains steady in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th for weight. Evie is still not on the chart for weight, but has moved up from the 5th to the 10th percentile for height! For those of you wondering about their head size, Gavin is in the 75th percentile and Evie is in the 5th.

Here are a few videos from the week. Gavin is enjoying the sound of his own voice shrieking:


Evie is enjoying spitting:



And the twins' new game for this week involves throwing three plastic balls onto the floor and then chasing them and throwing them again:

High Chair Silliness

Evie and Gavin are 15 months old today! I am taking them to their physical in the morning and hope to have the blog updated with all their new info by Friday morning.

There is always a lot of silliness happening at our house. On Monday, Evie just couldn't stay awake after her lunch (you can click on any picture for a larger view):

"My sister may be tired, but I'm not!"

Later, during dinner, Gavin was holding onto the frozen washcloth I had given him earlier. Then he decided to put it on his head:

He's quite pleased with himself!

Evie has learned to move her tongue around in her mouth and make silly sounds. Gavin is also enjoying shrieking lately - more on that in a future post!