All the news that's fit to print

So where to begin?? It’s been so long since last our paths crossed dear readers! Our summer has been busy indeed, and I am sure you are assuming that since we last spoke, the girls are in college and have 6-figure jobs pending! Well, not quite. They are, however, 5 months old and are delightfully changing in many ways, both literally and tongue in cheekish.

The Bear and Poo-tato
So anyone who knows Abigail, knows she has a penchant for the dramatic. Well earlier this month, around August 3rd, she decided to start crying. This apparently was a great decision for her, and one that intended to fully commit to, so she did. For 3 full days. Let me tell ya, it was GRAND! And to make matters even better, we were supposed to leave for vacation on August 7 (driving to Colorado-see more specifics on THAT adventure in my next post). Therefore, fearing another UTI, we called the doctor, who squeezed her in (no pun intended, which will make sense after you finish reading this section) to see our most favorite doctor next to our regular doctor, Dr. Jones. (Incidentally, we have Dr. Jones to thank for discovering Monkey’s heart murmur. It was so slight and so erratic, that the other doctor missed it.) They took her temp, listened to her chest, checked her mouth and ears, nothing. However, when she had her UTI last time, everything was normal, too. It was not until they did the urine culture that time that they found that it was so teeming with bacteria, it could have walked out of her urinary tract. (How’s THAT for a visual?) So they did a urine culture this time, nothing…still screaming!! So, as a last resort, he had a tummy X-Ray done. That was a challenge. Bear, who is normally not the wiggly one, decided to channel her sister when getting the pictures taken. Luckily, we got one good one that showed a very clear, very large potato-sized poop on board. So after a little prune juice, a couple of baby enemas, and enough Pampers Swaddlers to fill a small landfill, little Bear has lost her internal tuber, but has gained a new nickname: Tator Tot.

Toofers
All you all who think I am talking about beer, get your minds off the bar rail. Not 2 for 1s, toofers, teeth. The other thing adding to Bear’s discomfort last week was the fact that she got teeth, 2 to be exact. AT THE SAME TIME. What can I say, I have borne an over-achiever. So I guess, in a sense this does pertain to beer and 2 for 1s, in that after her getting 2 at once, I needed a toofer special! To make it even more interesting, I think she is now getting top ones. Stay tuned to see if she is able to cut them mathematically.

All Bear, No Monkey? What’s up with that??
Just so you don’t think that I am preferential to Baby B, here’s the scoop on the Monkey. Baby E is making some strides of her own. She now rolls, rolls well, and rolls A LOT! She also have been seeing a physical therapist for her crooked head. When she was still in the womb, as most of you know, she was smashed up against the wall by the big bruty Bear. Therefore, in effort to get a little room, she slid down the birth canal a bit, which caused her head to be misshapen and her to hold her head crooked. This is an actual condition called torticollis. According to torticolliskids.org (yes there is a website for everything), torticollis is most often caused by a shortening of the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle in your neck. It’s that big one that you rub when your neck gets stiff. The condition is kinda like when women wear high heels all the time-after a while, those muscles shorten up because the aren’t being stretched to their normal length. I read about all the stuff that COULD happen with this condition before her first appointment and there are some scary things out there! Torti-collars, helmets for misshapen heads, surgery, YIKES! Needless to say, I was really nervous for the first appointment. So now, Monkey has gone in for therapy twice, and because her dad has a background in PT and is super diligent, she is much better. When she went in for the first time, she would not turn her head completely to the right. Now she does both and will track a toy from over her right shoulder to over her left. The therapist says that she is very certain that E will outgrow this and will not need a collar or a helmet. Thank GOD! She has special exercises that she and Daddy do, and she is being encouraged to roll all she wants, which is fine by her!
Another super cute development is her vocalization. She never stops talking. She even talks through her yawns. You know how when you exhale during a yawn and make that loud sigh noise? She does that. She growls, she squeaks, she does this thing where she sucks in her breath and makes noise, a little like a gasp but not. She even talks through eating her cereal. Way cute. WAY cute.
The Monkey is also working on teeth, although, having bore witness to Sister’s trials, I think she is a little leery about that eventuality. Can’t stop change, Baby!

Wait for it
So rather than innudate you with everything at once and blow up the system, I will devote a separate entry for the uber-vacay of the century. That way we can all relive it together. Now won't that be fun??!? So until later, courage.