Ear aches, new beds, and boat races

Greetings!
We have had a long week with runny noses, coughs, and ear aches in the Lysne household. Saturday morning, Dan took Jonas into the walk-in clinic to have his ears looked at. Jonas had been rubbing his ear and pointing at it when we asked him if he had any boo boos. The doctor and nurse were great with him, he was actually smiling the entire time he was there. He does have an ear infection and the doctor prescribed him medicine. Today, everyone is still a little under the weather but we feel like we have turned the corner.

In November, 2008, Grandpa Paul and Dan spent several hours constructing two Ikea cribs for the soon to be arriving twins. How time flies! Dan spent a couple minutes locating the directions and necessary tools and tada--Jonas and Elsa have their first toddler bed! They love it! (We've kept the other crib as a crib until we are ready to fully transition to the beds). As with any Ikea product, there were several minutes of confusion while looking at the directions and holding them up to the actual parts to make sense of the swedish riddle that is all Ikea products.

Elsa and Jonas love to help with laundry. They like to push the laundry basket in from the garage--they also love to get pushed in the laundry basket. See the videos of our most recent "boat" races.

God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Modern Art

Greetings!
Elsa and Jonas had a great week. They took their second outing to the book time at the library. While they didn't participate in all the singing, they had a great time being around other kiddos. As a parting gift they did pick up a little bug and have had leaky noses the rest of the week and weekend.

We did manage to take the whole family out to the Tacoma Art Museum to check it out. While we were there, we got our picture taken to add to the collage of patron pictures on a wall. We are now officially modern art. The picture hasn't been uploaded to their site yet but when it is...we'll post it.

Elsa and Jonas have grown so much in the past months that they were in need of new shoes! They are both very proud of their brand new sneakers...courtesy of the Mall of America! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the stylish trainers!

Elsa and Jonas brought Dan coffee at work two times this past week and it was much appreciated. They were the belles of the ball and got to say hi to many of Dan and Mari's coworkers!

Have a wonderful week!
God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Rock a bye your bear

Greetings!

Elsa and Jonas had another great week. They went to their first library story time and had a great time singing and playing with other kids. They have also upgraded from their high chairs to booster seats!

A daily ritual in our house is to watch a children's program called the wiggles. Elsa and Jonas love them. Mari and Dan like them. The day begins each day with the kids waving their fingers and crying "we we". The videos are of Jonas and Elsa dancing to some of the music. They love a song called "Getting strong". Elsa is flexing her muscles and Jonas is showing off his bicep on one arm in the pictures.

The kids have had several evaluations over the past weeks to see what they qualify for in terms of therapy or support from our various service providers. Each time, they seem to chart a little bit higher and stronger. Go get them!

Pictures: Elsa Getting Strong!; Jonas showing off; The new booster seats. Videos: Dancing; delayed tackle hug; Rock a bye your bear w/ Elsa.

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

We are on the chart!

Greetings! A quick week with not a lot to report. Elsa and Jonas met with an occupational therapist this week and were given an assessment for 25 month olds! They made it on the chart! We will post a bigger and flashier post next week!
God Bless,
Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Happy New Year!

Greetings!

We are really looking forward to a year full of growing, changing, learning, and fun for Elsa and Jonas. They had a great Christmas Break and are really used to having both mom and dad home all the time. It has been a blast for all!

Jonas and Elsa have been trying out all sorts of new words and sounds over the past two weeks. It has been fun to do a double-take and say, "what did you just say?"

Our next big project is to get the car seats turned around. Elsa and Jonas are being promoted to forward facing car seats! We plan on getting them installed in the upcoming weeks and will sadly say goodbye to Mari sitting in the backseat with the kids whenever we drove somewhere.

Happy New Year! (Pictures: Elsa with a soccer ball purchased at the South Africa World Cup!; Jonas playing new year's music; Video: Bath Time Again)

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas

Merry Christmas and Happy Boxing Day!

Greetings!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

What a special time of year! We have had a wonderful week of family and friend gatherings. It has been so special to see everyone!

The entire family visited the NICU with plates of cookies and big smiles before Christmas. Last year, only Dan and Jonas could make it (Elsa and Mari were at one of countless doctors' appointments) to visit with the NICU staff. This year was the first time back for the whole family and it was wonderful to see so many nurses, doctors, and other staff members that took great care of Elsa and Jonas. Two of the nurses that were present when Elsa and Jonas were born and stabilized them for their ambulance ride to Tacoma were there and they clearly could remember the time and day the two kids were born. Jonas and Elsa gave them both high fives.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were time for family celebrations, presents, prayers, and lots of laughing. Elsa and Jonas really got the hang of opening packages although Elsa liked to rip of 1 inch squares of paper which dramatically increased the time it took to open presents.

Celebrate!

Greetings!

Christmas Break is here! Dan is home from work for two weeks and the Christmas celebrations have already began.

Celebration #1: Jonas and Elsa had a speech evaluation for development and they did great! They are using more and more words all the time. Two months ago they qualified for lots of support for their speech and fine motor skills because of their performance on a non age adjusted test. This time around, they may not have qualified for support because their scores were so good. Regardless of the scores though, we are just so proud of them!

Celebration #2: We had our three month check-in with our GI specialist and dietitian. Jonas weighs 23 pounds and some change. Elsa weighs 22 pounds and some change. The GI specialist that we saw this week described Elsa again using the term, "Amazing!" Elsa no longer qualifies as a "failure to thrive" baby.

Celebration #3: Jonas and Elsa are still playing with the balloons from their birthday party.

Celebration #4: We are so excited to have time to see family and friends in the upcoming weeks!

Pictures: New Hats; Watching Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Paul through the window; Santa was not well received.

Videos: Hopping!; and Santa w/o boots visits our house.

God Bless,

Mari & Dan & Elsa & Jonas