Focusing in on October

Greetings!

Elsa met with her eye doctor again this past week and we have scheduled her first of two cataract surgeries. Cataract surgeries with young kids are a bit different than for adults in that they have to perform the surgery while the child is asleep and that the precision is a bit less. The doctor explained this by saying that hundreds of thousands of adults get cataract surgeries so the base for the math calculations is really good, whereas the number of small kids that get the surgeries is small so they don't have the wealth of knowledge from the previous surgeries as they do for adults. That being said, our doctor is the regional expert and as he put it this past week, "I'm 66 and could retire but I love what I do." We appreciate the passion! The recovery time for the surgery is month with eye drops every two hours for the first week and then gradually down to a couple a day towards the end of the month. We will be turning pro in eye drops.

This weekend was a flurry of events. Jonas and Elsa went to their first PLU football game. And what a game it was! PLU defeated Cal Lutheran, ranked in the top 20, with a host of big time plays on both offense and defense. Elsa loved the cow-bell that she got to wave for a bit and Jonas watched the game intently. It was a great outing and the kids got to see lots of people.

On Sunday we celebrated our niece's birthday. Elsa and Jonas hung out with a house full of kids playing and laughing. (Elsa didn't laugh as much--she was a bit tired). It was a great time!

We are looking forward to a great week ahead and are glad to have the surgery scheduled for Elsa in October.

Pictures: Elsa hanging outside of "Narnia" (hallway closet); Jonas with his gear; birthday party pictures. Videos: Elsa riding the horse (camera work was a bit off).

God Bless,

Dan & Elsa & Jonas & Mari

Dogs and Cats

Greetings!

A great week is in the books. Jonas and Elsa went to the Puyallup Fair this week and had a sleepy and fun time. They saw a cow and talked briefly with her. They loved scones and crumbs were left everywhere as evidence. On the way home from the fair they were also able to swing by Dan's newly built school. Quite an adventure and their naps were well deserved in the afternoon.

Elsa and Jonas discovered the three apple trees that are in our backyard. The trees are not in the best location, a little on the small side, but always produce a ton of small, half-dollar sized apples. Both kids now make a bee-line for the apple tree and try to grab as many as they possibly can. We have curtailed the unlimited grabs and are now limiting them to one apple a day. Once they have their apple, they have a death-grip on it and will only give it up if they have fallen asleep. And then it is still a struggle.

As the kids vocabulary continues to develop, they have taken to making two animal sounds. Elsa has met several cats and now makes a soft 'meow' when asked what a cat says. Jonas has met a couple of neighborhood dogs and will now make a snorting sound like a dog sniffing a hand.

We have a big week ahead with Elsa seeing her eye doctor to schedule some surgeries. We hope the appointment goes well and we can get the eye surgeries done and dusted in the upcoming month.

Pictures: Jonas in the x-box 1.0.; Elsa slow dancing with Mari to Waterloo by Abba (daily ritual).

Videos: Jonas prepping to dance to Mamma Mia (the abba musical);

Go Bless,

Mari & Elsa & Jonas & Dan

Twenty pound club.

Greetings! It seems like only last month that we were getting ready to have a feeding tube placed in Elsa. What a difference a month can make. We had our monthly follow-up meeting with the GI specialist to see how Elsa and Jonas were doing. Last month, he had told us how amazing Elsa was (we really didn't need to be told that but we sure liked hearing it from him). This month, Elsa and Jonas weighed in and both are members of the illustrious twenty pound club. Elsa weighed in at 20 pounds, 3 ounces and Jonas came in at 21 pounds, 3 ounces. Both are on the charts and making progress.

The doctor told us that he has never had a patient that he has consulted on for many many months and then recommended surgery turn it around and not require surgery. Quite an amazing little (big) girl! At the end of the appointment he also said that he didn't need to see us next month...he put us on a three month check up. Way to go Elsa!

Jonas's weight gain has slowed down a bit and is typical for kids at this age. We are going to bulk up his food a bit to give him some more calories.

Both kids continue to do the things they should be doing at 20 months. It is quite a busy time at our house!

Pictures: Grandma Jeanne & the kids at the zoo; Jonas and Elsa playing with their cousin Kate!

Video: Playing with a custom x-box system.

God Bless,

Dan & Mari & Elsa & Jonas

Someone keeps moving my chair

Greetings!

The final countdown of Dan's break has started. He resumes full-time at the school next week. We celebrated the last week with lots of day trips and time with friends and relatives. Our next doctor visits are this week for the twins and we are hopeful that all goes well.

We have set up little desks and chairs for Elsa and Jonas to focus on their work each day. Each desk has a couple of books, crayons, and a coloring book nearby. Jonas has taken to his new job and loves to sit at his desk reading the books and coloring. Elsa isn't so much into the independent work yet. She does like to move the chairs around a bit and occasionally revels in the loud crash that they make when she tips them backwards.

Jonas and Elsa were able to play with several small kids at a get together we attended this weekend. It was great to see them interacting and having a great time with our friends' kids. Elsa and Jonas were very successful at 'borrowing' the pacifier from a one year old resulting in much crying and reteaching.

It was a great week and one of the last of the year for their swimsuits (see pictures).

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Good Friends, Food, and Fun

Greetings!

Elsa and Jonas had another great week! In what is quickly becoming a favorite day trip, we took Jonas and Elsa to the zoo to see the budgies. As per the norm, the kids seemed a little more interest in the action of the people at the zoo than the animals but this changed once we entered the budgie cage with a feed stick. Jonas was actively trying to grab the parakeet and was nearly successful. Birds careened through the branches down towards us and Elsa seemed to enjoy them too!

We also had a chance to get together with our other most favorite December baby and let the kids play for several hours. What fun! It was sweet to see the three kids running and playing and laughing! Elsa's boyfriend loved to call out her name and she blew him kisses. We will monitor the situation. Jonas ate more than we have ever seen while over at our friends house--he just kept going and going. WOW! It was really neat to see the kids playing and learn about sharing. The three had a blast together.

During the week we had a visit from Mari's dear friend who just had a baby girl! Jonas and Elsa were quite taken by the pea pod and tried desperately to wake her during the entire visit. It was strange to realize that our kids are toddlers and not tiny babies anymore! Way to go Jonas and Elsa!

Dan has returned to a gradual work schedule leading up to the start of school. Mari is preparing for the transition to having one adult during breakfast and lunch again. Food fights may be in the future.

We have a follow-up appointment with Elsa's GI specialist to monitor her weight and we are hopeful for a good appointment.

Pictures: constructing the water table; Uncle Ron reading to the boys; Don't wake the baby; summer fun; the zoo and a mountain (in the background somewhere); Budgies!

God Bless,

Mari & Elsa & Jonas & Dan

Hot!

Greetings!

Summer has arrived again in Washington. We had some early summer heat and then it seemed like a month went by before the temps started going up again. They are back now with a vengeance...temperatures yesterday were around 100 degrees. Elsa and Jonas have a small wading pool in our backyard that they have been cooling off in. Last time we had it out, Elsa wouldn't step foot in it. Now Jonas doesn't want to go in as much and Elsa can't get enough!

Elsa and Jonas's great aunt Jane and great uncle Ralph visited from Arizona this past week. Jonas and Elsa took turns driving them around Lake Lawrence (Grandpa Paul occasionally drove too). Elsa has added to her skill set of grabbing glasses and is now also equally skilled at grabbing necklaces.

It was a great week! We are planning out the last couple weeks of our summer vacation and trying to find some really fun adventures for the kids.

Pictures: Backyard playing in new swimsuits; Jonas and the "motor-bike"; our kids love to read/throw books.

God Bless,

Dan & Mari & Elsa & Jonas

A cow says moo and a pig says oink

Greetings!

Last Friday we had mentioned that Elsa had her g-tube surgery cancelled due to her two pound gain in the last seven weeks. We had emotionally prepared for this week for a long time and it was a bit surreal to be footloose and fancy free instead of at Mary Bridge for the week. Instead of a hospital room and cafeteria food, we chose to run with the sun and take advantage of the fleeting summer.

We did receive multiple calls this week leading up to the scheduled surgery date from various departments in the surgery wing. The cancel note from our surgeon didn't make it to everyone. These calls were pleasant reminders that Elsa had done it (for this month at least:)) and wouldn't need the extra feeding help with a tube.

So what did we do? Elsa and Jonas went to a farm! They played with their good friend Joshua (our good friends' December 12th baby). Elsa now, when asked and if in the proper mood, will make the sound of a pig. She picked it up herself and just started doing it whenever we said 'pig'. Very cool! Jonas played and ran and watched the bigger kids. He really liked seeing what everyone was doing and is picking up all sorts of new skills all the time. Joshua said "Elsa" all the time at the farm and Jonas is hankering to do it too!

We had so many great calls/emails/visits/texts of celebration this past week and are thankful for all the thoughts and prayers leading up to what ended up being a week of thankfulness!

Pictures: Arriving at the farm; swings!; looking at the pig; Jonas, Elsa and Joshua at the fire hydrant--fascinating!; taco night.
Videos: Jonas dancing to Dan's 80's music in honor of Dan's high school reunion

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas