So my friend Kirk gave me some grief about writing about ER the other week. He said I have run out of things to write about. So I’m done with my ER tirades. I know, it’s Thursday and you are expecting me to bash that show, but no, I’ve moved on. Besides, Abby’s preemie baby is probably 5 years old on the show now and probably is in the Jr. Olympics or something crazy like that.

So instead I’m going to write about poop. You can thank Kirk for everything poop. We started Cole on his constipation medication yesterday. We’ve had several blow outs of epic proportion. Yesterday he hit his minimum intake for the first time in months. Concidence?? Today he pooped twice and is on his way to making his minimum intake again. Again, coincidence?? Since we were so focused on Cole, Paige got a little jealous. So jealous she decided not to poop for a few days. You could set your watch to her daily poops. But nothing! Of course this evening as we were changing her diaper because it was wet, we heard a few sonic booms. Minutes later, we had 3 diapers full of the brown stuff (poop). I was going to post some pictures of said poop, but Tobie, my wiser half put a stop to that.

Okay I can’t talk about everything poop. Cole has started to show us a new emotion, jealousy. If you are playing with Paige in his view he gives you this look like what the…I’m sure we are going to have a rough time as they get older and next one gets here.

After Cole’s speech therapy appointment today, Tobie met me for lunch. We found a nice secluded patio and had a lovely time. I know, 2 times in a week. Our peed would say that’s the start of a trend. I sure hope so.

We are also picking up Cole’s glasses tomorrow. Woopee! And once again, thank Kirk for everything poop in this post, I know his mom would be proud!

Another month, another Pulmonology appointment. Cole’s lungs sounded great. In fact he was satting at around 98 on the pulse ox. They also said we are done with his apnea monitor. While this provides us a little comfort when he is sleeping, he has never had one apnea episode since being home. This is a big deal because Cole is a mad man in bed (or so the ladies tell us, hehe). He’s always moving around, never getting too comfortable in one spot. He’s on his side, he’s on his back, he’s on his stomach. We never know where we are going to find him in his crib. As you can imagine, with a monitor hooked up to him, he was rolling so much in bed it would get all wound up around him. A very scary situation to be, but we don’t have to worry about that anymore. We were even told to have all our air products (monitors and O2 tanks) picked up. Time to let go of our former life!

Cole was also weighed again today. Are you ready for the weight update? Cole is now a whopping 13 pounds 15 ounces. Isn’t that amazing? Oh wait a minute, Cole was 14 pounds at our last appointment last month. Yep, he lost an ounce between monthly visits. That totally blows. He’s not gaining weight. In fact our nutritionist gave us the boot and is letting GI handle everything Cole. He’s eating okay, not great, not good, just okay. Let’s just say I know kids in the NICU and fresh full term babies that eat more than our big guy. We’ve decided to stop his Reglan (which was the drug we weren’t crazy about). It really didn’t have a positive or negative effect on him. Our new Cole theory is he doesn’t poop enough. He has mastered the hold your breath and push technique when it’s time to do the deed. He needs some help I think. Our GI doctor gave us a prescription for some Lactulose to treat his constipation. He does poop normally (normally for Cole that is), but it’s definitely not as consistent as Paige. So I guess this is our last silver bullet before the tube talk again. We have a GI appointment Monday. So we are hoping he really starts pooping and eating lots more between now and then so we can buy ourselves a few more weeks.

Oh and always, Paige is going great! (how could I post and not mention our lil girl’s name??)

So Cole is teething and teething bad. He’s not handling it well at all. Take a look at the pictures above, his keeps his tongue out to help with the pain. If your hand gets anywhere near his mouth, he’ll chomp on it like a zombie looking for brains! It’s funny how both babies are handling the teething process differently. Well not really funny, but you know what I mean. Oooh, see the outfit Cole’s wearing? I actually bought that last November for him. He’s finally big enough to wear it. I’m hoping these pictures help him get into the University of Arizona in 17 years. Now if it were only basketball season. If you follow the Wildcats, you would know exactly what I’m talking about.

And now for the big news. Last night I volunteered to get all feeds for the babies because Tobie was extra tired. I know, best husband ever. Anyways, both babies ended up sleeping through the entire night for the first time ever! Do you not realize what a breakthrough this is for us? It gives us hope! On the downside, Cole would have met his minimum intake for the first time in months if he would have woken up to feed. Oh well, that’s life.

The weather is finally starting to cool down here in AZ. I’m in shock that it’s snowing already in other parts of the country when it’s consistently above 90 degrees here in AZ. We decided to take the babies for lunch today. We found a nice restaurant with a big patio so we could try to be free from germs. Believe it or not, this is the first time we’ve been out in public (minus a doctor’s appointment) with the entire family. We found a nice secluded spot in the corner of the patio. Of course the only two toddlers in the restaurant somehow see us and migrate over to the babies! We had a nice time out and we hope we can do it again. The great thing about AZ is it will be a cool 80 degrees for most of winter, so there will be plenty of opportunities to go out!

Paige had another tooth come in and 2 more look like they will be cutting through soon. Sweet more crankiness on the way!

Cole had his fitting for his glasses the other day. His glasses should be here within a few weeks. Let’s just say, he isn’t going to be a happy camper wearing glasses.

I think this is the first week since we got home from the NICU where we do not have any doctor’s appointments, only therapy sessions. What are we going to do with all our free time?

Tobie’s last day of work is Thursday then she is an official SAHM (stay at home mom). That’s going to be weird. But that’s hot, right?

Lastly, Paige started checking Cole out for the first time. She was feeling his face kind of mesmerized by his devilish good looks. Then she squeezed her hand and pinched his cheek so hard, he now has a welt. They are becoming the best of friends!