Peace in the house...

Elyse and Gavyn recuperated from their cold/flu. I brought home some bug in mid-October. Elyse went from cool to burning hot over night.

Combating Elyse's sickness timeline

• Day 1 - 102 temperature
• Day 2- Temp still high and she was tired. Called nurse hotline.
• Day 3- Visited ped
• Day 5 - Visited ped at 430p. Doc suggested to go to ER to rule kawasaki's infection. 2 docs confirmed Elyse's fever is due to a virus. We need to wait for the fever to run its course
• Day 6 -Visited ped who confirmed the diagnosis
• Day 7 - temp finally went down for a period of time and her energy returned.
• Day 8 - her temp elevated after playing for hours. After a night, her temp went down
• Day 9 - Finally, her temp remained normal!

What we learned?

• Not all fevers require immediate medical attention. A prolonged fever of 102 is problematic when it lasts for more than 3-4 days.
• We need to develop a better parent network. Getting tips from other parents would have been helpful.
• The ER visit could have been avoided if we asked more questions at our day 3 visit. What time should we return on Day 5? What will you do if Elyse still has a fever on Day 5? The issue was our doctor felt we didn't have time to visit the lab and xray by the close of business.

Elyse's First Temper-Tantrum

Yesterday, Elyse threw a fit when Mom told her  NO to pulling on the blinds. Mom placed herself between Elyse and the most appealing toy ever, the blinds on our sliding glass door. Elyse broke out an ear-wrenching cry coupled with some big tears. Mom literally stood her ground. I was on our porch grilling steak. Oh, I love to grill.

What was Gavyn doing during Elyse's outbreak? Laughing. Well, we interpreted it as laughing. He broke out in laughter while looking at his big sister. Actually, both of them do this when the other is crying. It's quite funny to us.

After a 10 minute stand-off, I came inside to go to the kitchen. Elyse followed me. I picked her up, and she stopped crying. I think that I've started a bad precedence...

Latest twin activity

• Gavyn is crawling, soldier style.
• Elyse is standing on her own in her crib, TV, chair, or just about any object
  

I enjoyed my First Father's Day as a father. I was looking forward to "my day". Tiger Woods was playing his final round in the US Open. The Lakers and Celtics were playing in game 5 of the NBA finals. In short, I was looking forward to some good food, company, and downtime. I hit 2 out of 3. Peta quickly alerted me that Father's day wasn't a free pass to do nothing. That's for Mother's day! Oh well, I tried.

Peta, the twins and I headed to our friends house in San Jose to celebrate Father's Day. We had great food. We played Nintendo Wii. I even recieved some gifts from Peta and the twins, a wallet (with no money) and a belt. Both items were very much needed to replace my old, worn-out items.

As the kids grow older, I beginning to understand what it means to be a father. I thought that after the kids were born, viola -- instant Dad. Fortunately, it's a gradual process. They don't need help with homework or advice on relationships. Now, they need clean diapers and food-on-demand.

9 month check-up

Elyse is 16 pound and 6 ounces (15th percentile). Her length is 27 1/4 inches (45th percentile). Her head diameter is 45 cm (75th percentile). Elyse is developing fine. She has a slight diaper rash. Our doctor suggested using a 7th generation diaper, sounds expensive. We treated her with Desitin a few weeks ago and it went away. We will be resuming that treatment plan

Gavyn is 15 pounds and 1 1/2 ounces (below the curve). Her length is 26 and 3/4 inches (10th percentile). His head diameter is 45 cm (50th percentile). Gavyn is really having a hard time with teething at night. It takes extra soothing by both Peta and I to put him to bed. Our doctor suggested 1) cold pacifier or 2) cold teething ring. I co-worker recently told me about a herbal treatment that can be found at Safeway of all places. The thing is, everytime I go to Safeway I forget to look for the item.

Elyse is definitely ahead of the pack. She is standing when propped up against something. She began clapping. She's really opened up, smiling a lot more. Many people are put off by her demeanor, she is slow to warm up to strangers. Not a problem for Gavyn.

I can tell that Gavyn really looks up to his big sister. He's started to clap as well. When they are in their car seats, he often looks towards her to see what she is doing. Usually, Elyse is doing something.

Both Elyse and Gavyn are crawling, soldier crawl style. They have their favorite "hiding" spots within our living room.

6 month checkup

The twins had their 6 month checkup on 2/28

Gavyn is 24 3/4 in (10 percentile), 12 lb 7 oz (3% percentile) and his head circumference is 42 3/4 cm (25% percentile).  He does have food allergies. He breaks out after having rice cereal and oatmeal. It disappears after an hour. Our pediatrician wants him not to eat solid food for two weeks. His eczema is being kept in check by daily applications of Cerave. We've switched him to regular milk based formula, but we may have to switch him to a more mild formula.

Elyse is 25 1/2 in (45% percentile), 14 lb 2.5 oz (20% percentile) and her head circumference is 43 1/2 cm (40% percentile). She is healthy. She drinks regular milk based formula. She has developed a skin rash on her chest due to her excessive drooling. When we told our doc about his drooling, he barely acknowledged us. When Peta picked her off the examination table, everyone saw the pool of drool that she left. Our doc stated that she needs a few ounces of water a day to replace the fluids depleted by her drooling.

They are both beginning to teeth, nothing drastic.

Blogged with Flock

6 months!!!

Gavyn and Elyse have reached the 6 month milestone! Both kids are happy and healthy. Gavyn was sick twice with a cold. He caught a cold in January and February. A trip to Dr. Lionel and few days of cleaning his nose, and he was fine. Meanwhile, Elyse only had a sniffle.

They rolling over...laughing...pushing up while on their stomachs...cooing...very alert.

They are great babies. I can say this after their third month when they finally slept through the night. Our Pediatrician, Dr. Lionel, gave us great advice. Take the time and train them to sleep in their beds while they are young (2 months). It was a rough two weeks while Peta and I.

They have their 6 month well baby visit on 2/28. I'll get their weight and height at that visit.

Blogged with Flock

The kids go to Fry's Electronic

Today, I took the kids to Fry's Electronics. For those who don't know of Fry's Electronics, it's an electronic store similar to Best Buy or Circuit City. However, the owners have managed to pack junk after junk into the store. You can buy a curling iron, iron, vacuum cleaner,  laptop, and much more.

Peta didn't feel like going outside. It was one of those rare winter days in the Bay area, sunny and warm. The twins love to go for walks or car rides. I figured that I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so Elyse, Gavyn and I hit the road.

We went to the park first. As long as the sun doesn't hit their eyes, they are fine. Thank goodness for the movable shades on their car seats.

After a pit stop at home for a bottle feeding, we headed to the mecca of all things technology. Imagine a Walmart superstore, that's how much store area is jammed under a single roof. We spent a good two hours walking down every aisle. They didn't complain, too much. When I gawked too long at a particular item, either one of them would fuss. Which turns out was good for me, I never had a chance to dive too much into one item, hence I didn't buy it. It also doesn't help that I my "shopping cart" (i.e. stroller) is full of kids and car seats, so there is little room for big gadgets.

Mom called to make sure we weren't lost. I didn't tell her that I was planning to spend so much time there. Hey, it was a lot to see, and I didn't want to deny the kids the opportunity to see all those wonderful colors and shapes. They loved it or at least I think they did.

In the end, I walked out of there with a paper shredder, keyboard, and post it notes. Each item we definitely needed...I think I have found a new money pit. Not good :)