Top three updates from the twinmageddon household!

#3: The teeth are here, the teeth are here!  Kat is leading the pack with her two lower teeth having popped up. She tolerated this very well. Tasha, on the other hand, has had teething angst. Generally more prone to crying and lots of pulling at her gums with her fingers. Infant Tylenol has been our friend at night to ease her discomfort.

#2: Kat made another big step in her feeding journey. She has had a thickener (xanthum gum to be precise) added to her feeds to help her with swallowing. The idea is that thickened, slightly gel-like milk goes down the throat more easily. This is one of the big reasons she was able to get off her feeding tube and avoid surgery. As of a couple days ago, we tried feeding her without thickener and she continued to drink like a champ. A wonderful advance for her.

#1: Seeing teeth and ditching thickener have both been fantastic. But I must confess my favorite highlight for January has been watching the girls make each other laugh for the first time. Warms the cockles of the heart, not times two but times 1000. At least. We discovered that Tasha is amused by Kat’s chatter and now cracks smiles her way. She broke into full guffaws when Kat was made to “jump” up and down in front of her. Seeing as Tash is usually the more serious one (i.e. harder to crack a smile out of her), it’s been tons of fun watching Kat provoke grins. Not a huge surprise as Kat smiles at everyone and it’s been said by several non-biased individuals that she has a most contagious smile. We sorta caught part of this on video:http://youtu.be/4TUdJvzMaCI

Sometimes, however, Katarina is not quite as successful: http://youtu.be/L_73JXQP0FY