A Busy, Busy Week

It's been a busy, busy week. I was in Denver for work last week - and before you ask, no the snow really wasn't that bad. Yes, there was about 8" of wet, wet snow that came down fast and furiously. But, for the most part, it came and it went, and the roads were fine for the afternoon drive to the airport.

It seems like the kids had a good time while I was away...here's the story in pictures.

Grandma got here last Thursday. On Friday afternoon, Morgan learned to blow bubbles.



As I mentioned in a previous post, Grandma decided to try potty training. It was a valant effort, but not much success. However, Morgan did make a stinky in the potty late this afternoon - and she was very excited by the whole tube of M&Ms that she earned.



We've talked to the daycare, and they'll continue to work with both kids when they return to school next week.

While I was gone, they had plenty of fun doing the routine stuff with Grandma, including taking baths:




And, when Grandpa got here on Thursday, he was hauling Rufus with him. Rufus is a wooden horse that Aunt Sherry had started for them a LONG time ago. Grandma finished it up, and Grandpa transported him. The kids figured out a way to share the horse. (This is one of my new all time favorite pictures, too.)



I made it home just in time for the school halloween costume party. I'm judging these costumes a success since most people knew what they were supposed to be (especially when they were together).



And, today was really the FUN day for our family. Both sets of Grandparents were here. We started the day at the Deanna Rose Farmstead - a great old farmstead that a neighboring city has set up. It's FREE to the public and very wheelchair friendly. So, it made for a great early morning trip.

Then we came home, and the fun really began. This was Tanner & Morgan's FIRST pumpkin carving. Now, Grandma Crazy Woman (appropriately named) believes in doing things the fun way. And, if you are going to carve pumpkins, you have to get in the spirit. She did so by bringing funky hats for everyone - and a silly ghost that the kids danced with (to the song "I Want Candy").



Then, the fun began. Here is Morgan when she first sees the "guts" of the pumpkin.



Helping Grandma Crazy take out the guts:





All four participants:



Helping Grandma Z:





(Yes, we spent most of the afternoon only seeing Morgan's hat.)

Playing in the pumpkin guts:



Pleased with the results



Tanner & Morgan with their first Jack-O-Laterns:



Happy Halloween!

A Brave Woman

I'm off in Denver for work this week. The kids can be quite a handful themselves, so we decided to have Grandma Z come in & help out this week. Grandma doesn't come out very often - so we decided to take the kids out of daycare for the week. They are staying home with her this week. I think the kids liked this idea. Grandma came in very early on Thursday morning. On Friday, Morgan told us "No, I not go to school. I stay home with Grandma."

Not only is Grandma tackling two 2.5 year olds this week - she decided to tackle pottytraining as well. We started last night - we spent about 45 minutes on the potty pouring warm water over private areas trying to encourage success on potty.

We got nothing but giggling toddlers.

We put on diapers for the 3 minute transport downstairs. When we got downstairs, both diapers were SOAKED.

This morning, same routine. Except after we gave up on potty time - Morgan wet her Elmo panties (and outfit).

I'm told this scene repeated itself several times today.

Grandma is one brave soul.

Twin Halloween Outfits

Ok - we've got our Halloween outfits for this year, but I'm just curious as to what some of our other twin friends out there are using for your twins. And, yes, I totally play into making them a pair!

First Halloween, my kids were pumpkins...not such a wise idea since Tanner had really entered his liver failure at that point. He kind of matched his pumpkin.

Second Halloween - we did a cat & a dog. I made those outfits - I think I had about 60 - 80 hours of time wrapped into them. What was I thinking?

Third Halloween (darn, I can't believe this will be their third Halloween) - we're doing Pebbles & Bam Bam.

So - what are your kids going to be for Halloween?

Fall cuisine

It's fall...and one of my favorite fall foods is caramel apples.

Now, Randy & I are pretty paranoid parents. We both work full time, and quite frankly, we have a hard time keeping up with work, the kids, and general household items - let alone take on some monumental task...like making caramel apples.

Never fear...that's where our neighbors come into play. On Saturday evening, they brought over homemade caramel apples for the kids. And, not just the kind where you buy the pre-made caramel in flat round disk and then wrap it around the apple. The real stuff where you heat up the carmel and then dip the apple into it.

Here are some pictures of the kids enjoying their treats.

Tanner, obviously very excited by the apples:



Tanner, trying to figure out how best to eat the apples.



Morgan, trying the apple



But then deciding, that really, isn't the point of all this just the caramel?



Now, the mistake that we made was giving them the carmel apples after supper. The sugar in these here apples kept the kids bouncing off the walls until after 9 p.m. (their bedtime is around 7 p.m.).

Also notice the new haircuts in these pictures...no more hippie babies.

Super Heroes

The last few weeks have had Randy & I feeling somewhat like super heroes.

No, no, no - we aren't donning any capes and playing any funky bedroom games. But, we've learned (at least in the mind of a two year old) that our kisses are enough to make things "all better". It is totally amazing to me how a pile of tears can turn into a smile when mommy or daddy kisses the owie. How the pain is apparently completely resolved with a little kiss. And, it's even cuter to see them kiss each other's owie - or kiss mommy & daddy's owies.

Is it too much to ask that I'll always be able to make things better for them with just a simple kiss?

It's My Favorite Place, Too

We got off to a late start this morning. Instead of taking the kids into the gym, we decided to take them to the park before we did our weekend shopping trips. The park is the kids favorite place to go (remember our vacation to St. Louis), so they were very agreeable to this idea.






As we started to leave, the kids were playing around on the bike rack. It made for some really neat pictures (I won't tell you how many I took to get these two, though).





When I sit here and look at these pictures it's easy to see the joy on the kids' face. The pure happiness they take in the small things - the small pebbles of rocks, the swirly slide, climbing on a bike rack. Their shrieks of delight and laughter are still rolling through my memory. And, that's when I realize, the park is my favorite place, too.

Something's Missing

Tonight was bath night. After daddy wraps them up in their towels, the kids are sent out to be diapered and PJ by me. Tanner was first out tonight, and Morgan was close on his heels.

Morgan watached as I started to put Tanner's diaper on. It was slowed down by the fact that I was fighting an ingrown toenail, and she squatted down to examine his penis closely. She cocked her head from side to side and studied it intently.

As I started to put his diaper on, she stood up, bent over at the waist and started looking at herself... She'd squat a little, look closer, spread her legs, and examine even a little harder. I'm guessing she noticed that something was missing.



(She's going to kill me when she gets older.)

A Fun Age

I'm really enjoying our kids right now....well, beside the inability to control their emotions which results in sheets of tears at simple requests. The kids are able to communicate their needs and wants fairly well now, and they are at the super cute age where they want to do everything that you do.

Like try on your shoes and shuffle around the living room.

Repeating phrases

Crouching down to examine something...just the way that you did.

The funniest thing that I've seen in a little while was our children trying to mimic me winking at them the other night. I would wink, they would blink. I'd wink again, they'd blink harder. You could even see their little brains working...maybe if I lean sideways and blink, that will work.

Their final verdict, covering one eye while blinking seemed to be an equivalent. I just wish I'd had my camera.

Overhead

Overheard this evening:

Morgan: "Daddy, I said right now! Three, four, five, six...."



Hmmm...I wonder where she's heard that (or a slight variation thereof).

Walking for a cause

This weekend, the family & I participated in the 1st Walkapooloza here in Kansas City for the American Liver Foundation. We (as a family) were also intereviewed by the local news station & Randy's mother (Tanner's living liver donor) was interviewed by the local talk radio station.

During my short 30 seconds of fame, the message that I wanted to get across to people is that liver disease isn't reserved for people who have drank or done drugs to abuse their body for a lifetime. Liver disease affects people who have lived a healthy life...and it affects innocent children.

This weekend, our team, Liver Families & Friends, walked for the children who are affected by liver disease. These are the faces of liver disease:



Our son, Tanner - Biliary Atresia, Transplanted 02/2005




Janna - Biliary Atresia, Transplant 08/2005



Alexander - Alpha One, Pre-Transplant




Tyler - Biliary Atresia, Transplant 06/2000



Ali - Alpha One, Transplant 04/1992 (Sorry Ali & Michelle, I realized when I got home that I hadn't gotten a new picture of Ali!)

None of these kids did anything to deserve the sentence they were given - and yet each of them is such a great example of how to take your licks and keep on going. I, for one, felt honored to walk for them.


It was a beautiful, sunshiny, great weather day. Our group totaled 19 people - and we weren't the largest group (I don't think the ALF counted children under age 15 - we had 6 of those). This was the first walk, so there were a few organizational things that were lacking (like a loudspeaker for opening ceremonies) and it was a smaller group than I would have thought.

Here is Ellen Shank, the lady who interviewed Grandma on Wednesday and kicked off the walk on Saturday:



The walk was along the rivers of Brush Creek, better known as Flush Creek here in KC. Pretty, yes. But, when we get a lot of rain, the sewers overflow into the creek, and it ends up being a stinky mess. That combined with the geese droppings everywhere, and well, it really probably wasn't the most sanitary of places for liver transplant patients. But, pretty, yes, it was pretty!



Along the route, they had up different liver disease facts. Some of them hit a little too close to home:



At the finish line, they had pizza & pop ready to go, a great little band from St. Louis, a quiz on the liver disease facts, and a bounce house for the kids. It was really a good time. Here's a picture of part of our group eating pizza & listening to the band (minus about 6 of our walkers).



We knew it was time to go home, when we found this in our stroller.



Special thanks to everyone who walked with our group. Tammy & Janna drove all the way up from Wichita to walk with us. My friends, Bob & Lori brought their kids, Andy & Zoey and walked with us as well. And, our neighbors Sandy & Sidney joined us, too. It means so much to Randy & I that our friends took the time out of their busy schedules to come support our cause. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Cracked my heart

Tanner's transition to his big boy bed has gone fairly well. He stays in bed until we go down to get him up (thank you, daycare!). However, he does have a bit more freedom in this bed.

Case in point...last night. I kept hearing a "thud thud thud". At first, I thought it was one of our younger neighbors driving by with their bass a little too loud. Then, I noticed it happening at frequent intervals. I finally figured out, that this was actually Tanner laying on his bed and KICKING the adjoining wall.

Trip 1. "No Tanner, we don't do that".

Trip 2. "Tanner, what did mommy say - quit kicking the wall"

Trip 3. "Tanner, it's time to go to bed, please do not kick the wall"

Trip 4. "Tanner, mommy asked you not to kick the wall. If you kick the wall again, mommy will have to spank you."

Trip 5. "Tanner, mommy told you not to kick the wall". Spanking.

Tanner erupted into a puddle of tears and sobbed. This continued for about 10 minutes until he finally fell asleep around 9 p.m. (two hours after his bedtime).

About 2 a.m., Tanner woke up sobbing again. I went downstairs, and he got out of bed and wrapped his arms around my neck and sobbed, "I'm sorry, mommy".

Cracked my heart...

I'm sorry, too, Tanner.

Africa & Australia

A while ago, I posted here that we were considering splitting the kids into separate bedrooms. Well, we didn't end up doing it, although there are still some days that I think we should.

But, now, we are making the jump and splitting them up...in daycare. Our kids attend a Montessori-type daycare. Now, I'm not an education person, and we primarily chose our daycare on which one had the best vibe while we were there (oh, yes, and that was clean, would work with us on Tanner's medical stuff, and had a great local reputation). The one interesting thing about this daycare is that they blend ages. They have two classrooms for the little kids (age 12 mos - 2.5 years) and four classrooms for the big kids (age 2.5 years - 5 years). Most schools only have one room for each age group - and the kids would have had to have been together. This gives us the unique opportunity to split them before we hit kindergarten.

I always believed I'd be one of those twin parents who would keep their twins together - and go to the school board to fight if they wouldn't let me. I thought it would be better for Tanner's medical condition, but now that he's normal, well that shot that argument all to hell.

Since Morgan has become much better at speaking, she spends a majority of her time telling Tanner what to do "Tanner eat your food", "Tanner no-no", "Tanner don't say that", "Tanner....". You get the picture. And, Tanner, well, his favorite words right now are "NO!". He really seems to resent the constant direction, and I pointed out to Randy that he may never get married as he's been nagged his whole childhood.

We've struggled with this decision, but a a few weeks ago Tanner had the opportunity to spend the whole day at school by himself. The teachers said he was a whole different kid - talking up a storm (he receives speech therapy, so this was a shocker), playing, laughing, dancing. And, Morgan, well, when Tanner isn't around, she desperately misses him ("where's Tanner", "Tanner, where are you?", "what's Tanner doing?"), but she also needs to learn that she can't boss him around all the time.

So, in the next week and a half when the kids are moved up to their new classrooms, Tanner will be moved into Australia (the classrooms are named after the continents) and Morgan will be moved into Africa. The rooms are adjacent to each other, and the kids will be able to see each other during recess (which is three times a day). It'll be intersting to see how they change.

All Grown Up

Tonight, Tanner is sleeping in his Big Boy bed for the first time (he's done naps previously, but not an all night stent). We'll see how long it lasts.

Morgan - she prefers her crib. When we offered up her big girl bed, she said "No, Morgan sleep in crib". So, she's in the crib surrounded by her stuffed animals.

I know you aren't supposed to compare kids, but it's so difficult when you have twins who are the same age, and experiencing the same stuff at the same time. It amazes me that Tanner loves his big boy bed, while Morgan is terrified of it and wants nothing to do with it. Yet, Morgan is starting to show some interest in potty training, and that isn't registering with Tanner yet.

So, we will see if it lasts all night. This means that we'll have to be extra vigilant to wake to a crying child, and to go to their room at the first sign of mayhem. Darn, and I was just getting used to my sleep.

How can it be that my little guy is already this grown up?

Vacation Wrap-Up

Thursday afternoon, we drove out to Faust Park after a relatively long nap by the kids. Because they had napped longer than we had originally attended, we ended up getting caught in a bit of traffic jam, and did not make it to Faust Park until about 4:15 p.m. The Carousel closed at 4 p.m., so we didn't make it this time. But, it is one attraction that is inside and will be open when we come back in February. We'll try it then.

The kids didn't seem to mind at all, as there is a huge beautiful playground here, too. They just couldn't get enough of the playgrounds.

They slid:



And slid some more (notice the nice static effect on Tanner's hair here):



Climbed a rock wall:



And just ran around on the cool playground mat:



They were worn out from all the playing, and got to bed at a much more normal hour than they had been this week.

Good thing, because we started out early this morning at the zoo again. Morgan's favorite thing at the zoo is the "Tiger". So, of course, she had to ride the tiger (again) on the carousel. Can you see the pure joy in her face?



Then, deciding not to fight it anymore, we took them back to the zoo playground so that they could (what else?) slide some more. This time, they also played around on the hippo in the playground. Here is Tanner imitating the hippo, while on the hippo:



Now, the hot thing at the St. Louis Zoo right now is the baby elephant. Everyone was talking about it, so we decided we'd feel a bit foolish if we didn't take time to catch a peek. We headed in that direction around 9:45 - we were astonished to see that there was a sign about 1000 ft from the baby elephant that said "the line starts here". Thankfully, there was no line today, and we were able to see this magnificent little guy.



Tanner has loved the elephants when we've seen them, so it was no suprise that when we headed off to Build a Bear to make our souverneir, that he quickly grabbed on to the elephant. And Morgan, well, she chose a tiger of course!

Here is Tanner giving his Elephant it's heart:



And, it's test hug:



We named the elephant Ross, after Dr. Shepherd who is Tanner's main GI in St. Louis. And, appropriately, the elephant got a pair of scrubs to wear home.

Now, I don't have pictures of Morgan at Build a Bear, because about the time that Tanner was giving his elephant a hug, some lady with a double stroller ran over Morgan (literally). Morgan ended up with a small cut at the outside of her eye, and we couldn't get her calmed down enough to enjoy the Build a Bear experience. Daddy and Tanner filled her tiger, and Tanner even put two hearts in it for her.

After all that, we headed home...it's been a long vacation.

Grant's Farm

This morning we visited Grant's Farm. I would highly rate this as one of the best attractions yet. The zoo is great, but this was just a wonderful experience. It's mostly backed by Anheuser-Busch, and they have really made that place beautiful and convenient.

The day starts with a Tram ride through their wildlife preserve area. It has lots of different deer, zebras, buffalo, Canadian geese, Texas Longhorn steer, elk, turkeys, and lots of other animals. Tanner ate this up:




Along the way, we also passed by Ulysses S. Grant's original homested which is also in the park. It's only open to tours a few times a year - and this wasn't one of those times.

Morgan was even a show-stopper while on the Tram...she dropped her sippy cup off the tram, and they had to stop it to pick it back up.

Once inside the actual farm, there are all kinds of animals that you can see. Birds, kangaroo, tortoises, and baby goats that you can feed. We grabbed a few bottles of milk, and let the kids feed the goats. They didn't quite know what to think.



We saw the elephants perform, and then had a unique chance to feed their three camels which are known as The Three Amigos. Morgan absolutely loved doing this (go figure that feeding the goats scared her, and she loved feeding the camel who could literally have bitten her fingers off).



We finshed the morning by touring the Bauernof (German for barn). It was built in 1913, and surrrounds a courtyard where you can feast on brats and (free) beer. Ironically, we forgot to get beer.




It's where a few of their horses are kept, along with some of the Budweiser show wagons, harnesses, and awards that the Busch families have won over the years. It was absolutely gorgeous and really neat to see.

We then hopped back on the tram, and headed back to the main entrance. Near the main entrance is the Clydesdale Stables. We had a family photo taken with one of the horses (sorry, we haven't scanned it yet), and then did a tour of the stables and farmyard. The Clydesdale, also known as the Gentle Beasts, are huge, but so friendly. They were absolutely gorgeous animals.

This time, Morgan was afriad, but Tanner wanted to pet the horses. He was so funny pointing at all of the horses and yelling "horsey!".




Needless to say, all of that excitement has left us with two exhausted kids. They are napping now. We've switched up our plans a bit, and we'll be heading out to Faust Park this morning. We're going to let them run on the largest playground in St. Louis County, and hopefully ride the carousel as well.

Tomorrow, we'll visit the zoo, including the carousel and playground there, do Build a Bear, and head home. Hopefully we'll be home by late evening and we can all enjoy a good night's sleep. As much fun as we're having, I think we're all looking forward to getting back home.

New Theme: How Many Parks Can We Visit in 5 days?

The kids took a late and long nap on Tuesday afternoon. So, we decided to do something prior to supper, and stopping at a park seemed like a great idea. We went to the Turtle Park, which is part of the Forrest Park. The kids had so much fun, climbing on the turtles:



And, they had even more fun throwing rocks at each other in the "Turtle Nest" complete with Turtle Eggs (some even hatching).



Unfortunately, we were out late, and the kids got to be later than normal. Which meant that we had crabby babies for Tanner's doctor's appointment. Tanner's Prograf was redrawn (despite the very low level, his liver was still very happy) and we'll wait to see how the level was.

The summary of the doctor's appointment - "NORMAL". Dr. Shepherd mentioned several times that Tanner was "normal" now, we should expect him to lead a "normal" life, and that the odds of him experiencing a major rejection or bile duct issue had subsided. They were pleased that he had not yet contracted EBV. They told us that he will probably develop it at some time, but the further out from transplant and the lower his suppression level, the less dangerous it will be for him (EBV is a virus that can lead to PTLD - a cancer in post-transplant kids). It's truly amazing to hear a doctor who has seen lots of very sick kids lament on how far Tanner has come...he remembers that little 10-pound boy with a big belly and stick arms, blue eyes in a sea of yellow. And, today, he got to listen to a 2.5 year old shreiking, climbing, and acting like a typical boy. We'll go back in February for Tanner's 2nd transplant anniversary and some more extensive studies - including a kidney study.

This afternoon, we went to the Magic House. It was a pretty good time for the kids, but the place was aimed for a little bit older kids. They did have a toddler area that the enjoyed. It included playing in the sand:



And, their favorite, playing in the water:




Afterwards, we found yet another park. In the grand scheme of things, it's amazing that seemingly their favorite thing to do is the least expensive. They absolutely love the playgrounds. We've hit the Columbia Cosmopolitan park, the Forrest Park Playground, Turtle Playground, and now the Kirkwood Park. No plans for a park tomorrow (although Grant's Farm may have one), but we are planning on hitting Faust Park on Friday.

Here they are riding the little springy animals:





And, sliding...Every time that Morgan would get off the slide, she'd hold up her pointer finger and say "I'll be right back". And, she'd go down the slide again. Repeat about 10x.



Tanner just liked marching around on the playground equipment. This one had several different platforms connected by bridges, arches, and tunnels. He would march back and forth....to and fro...he is our little explorer.



Tomorrow we're headed to Grant's Farm (where the Budweiser Clydesdale's reside) and back to the zoo (or another park) in the afternoon. Friday morning we'll go back to the zoo and ride the carousel, make a bear at Build a Bear, and head to Faust Park (for another carousel ride). Hopefully by then, the kids will be worn out and we'll have a peaceful drive home.

Until then, enjoy the pictures!