New Cousin!

Big news! We are happy to report that our girls have a new cousin! Peter Charles was born on June 1 to Lara (Dan's sister) and Charlie at a whopping 9 lbs 2 oz. Lara had been a little bit past her due date and when she went to her doctor's appointment they decided it was time for him to come out! He came pretty quickly! What happy family news!!

Lara, Charlie, Dane and Peter

Dane is a big brother!
As I mentioned in the previous post, Josie can swallow safely! After the swallow study, I brought Josie to a feeding clinic. It was a team consisting of a child psychologist, OT, nurse practitioner, and a dietitian. They were all impressed with how healthy she looks and how happy and strong she is. That's a good feeling! Josephine has been practicing her bottling ever since we got the green light. She usually gets in 2/3 of her feeding, and has even finished a couple bottles. It is a big adjustment, so we have to be very patient. When she doesn't finish a bottle, we just tube feed the rest of the feeding. Once we haven't used the G tube at all for 4 months, we can finally take the G tube out. I was shocked at how long this waiting period is, but apparently once you take it out it is hard to put it back in. I can't tell you how good it feels to be able to bottle her. When she's crying out of hunger we can finally give her that feeling of instant gratification instead of her having to wait to feel full from the tube.

Me feeding Josie.


Josie grasping a rattle!
Madeline is doing great as usual! She is still such a character. Even though Madeline and Josie are technically identical, they are so different! Even their smiles are different- Josie's is full of dimples and Madeline opens her mouth wide with her smile. All three of the girls love to hold the rattle when we put it in their hands. They bring it to their mouths and everything. They bat at the hanging toys under the Einstein mat and their coordination is improving enough to actually grasp the toys (where as before they'd miss a lot!) Before we know it they will be stuffing every item in sight into their mouths!

Madeline eating her rattle.
Sofia is great too! Another fun milestone is their giggling. When they are in the right mood we can get REAL giggles. There is nothing better than a baby's giggle. Also, when we have them face each other they really love to make noises and smile at each other. This is only the beginning; we're going to have so much fun watching them interact and play together.

Sofia with her phone rattle.

I had to get a pic of daddy with his girls. I took a bunch, but this one is so cute because Sofia and Madeline are enthralled with Odin (who looks huge, by the way). Odin is really good with the babies. Speaking of Odin, yesterday (Friday) was his birthday! He turned 2!! I wonder if the saying "Labs chew 'till they're two and shed 'till they're dead" will hold true. I doubt it- he hoards and chews sticks and raw hides like none other. He didn't really do anything too special yesterday besides getting a nice family walk. A lot of times on family walks, he attracts more attention than our babies!

Dan with Josie, Sofia, and Madeline...and don't forget Odin!


Odin is 2 yrs...98 lbs of craziness!All for now! Enjoy the weekend!