General Pruetz Family Goings-On

This weekend marked a lot of "firsts" for our family. And frankly, it's about time.

For awhile now, the twins have been saying, "Mama" and "Da-dah," with the occassional, "Deh-deh" thrown in (something I assume is their version of "Devin"). But, like all babies, sayings and habits come and go and they dropped these words for the most part (dire cases like 3:00 a.m. bad dreams or the need for a toy that's rolled under the couch brought the words back out). Because of this, I've become very frustrated in recent weeks.

See, Devin was very advanced in his speech. He started using multiple signs by about nine months and had about a 500 word vocabulary on his first birthday. Very early on, I knew Devin's needs and was over the "Why are you crying? What do you want?" stage of mommyhood much earlier than most. Devin being my first, though, made me think this was all very normal.

The girls, however, are on the opposite end of the spectrum. First, being preemies works against them -- for at least a few years, they'll be behind in just about everything.

Second, being twins is also a strike. Twins tend to learn to communicate with one another before anyone else and they very often stick with that method of communication. I've known of twins who didn't speak until they were six because their twin talk got them where they needed to go.

This is certainly the case already with my girls. They hold entire conversations in some language I've never heard. We often call it, "Speaking in tongues."

And third, my history works against me My first kid talked early. So my second and third should do the same.

All of this spells a lot of, "You're 14 months old! Why are you crying all the time???" Even if i don't say it, I think it very often.

But this weekend, we made a breakthrough (yes...I'm finally getting to my point).

On Friday morning, as we were having breakfast, I was feeding the girls their usual bananas. They love bananas and will take them any way they can get them. First was from a jar, then was mashed up on their trays and now it's just dump a few pieces down and back away quickly before you lose a finger.

As they were finishing up with their first round, I was asking out loud, "What else do you want?" trying to come up with something to give them some variety in their diet.

Grace looked right at me and said, "Manna..."

What? What did you just say?

Then she did the sign for "Please" by patting her open hand to her chest. And once again said, "Manna..."

I nearly died. I called Todd.

"It's happening! It's finally happening! They're communicating with me!"

You'd think I'd just won the lottery.

And doesn't it seem that when one thing happens, it opens a floodgate? Thoughout the weekend we had a number of "firsts" from both girls. Gracie learned to play Peek-a-Boo without our help -- hands over the eyes and "Where's Gracie?" from Mom or Dad. Then she uncovers her eyes and grins with all three teeth.

Three teeth? Hey look! One of Grace's top teeth is coming in!

Then it was kisses from Grace -- big, open-mouth, slobbery kisses, right on the kisser.

Faith wasn't left out either. She's begun with please, like today when she was sitting on the floor, crying and, once again, the "You're 14 months!" thought went through my mind. Before I could ask her to try to tell me what she needed, she did the sign for "up" by holding both hands in the air. I said, "You want me to hold you?" Her reply? The sign for "Please."

At dinner tonight was what I think may have been the sign for "Thank you."

Finally. Thank God.

Moving On...

Today was Devin's 4th check up. I'm proud to say that it went great. He weighs 38 pounds and is 41.5 inches tall. That puts him at 75% for weight and 55% for height. Larger than 75% of the population of boys age four, and yet the kid is as thin as a rail. I guess that's just how boys are. It just ain't fair.

He did great with his Denver study, being able to point to and do all of the things he was supposed to do. Ahead of the curve as usual.

His hearing test went well, but his vision test showed him with 20/40 vision. We'll be seeing an eye doctor soon to get a complete exam and see what's going on.

Lastly, though, were his four-year shots. I told him ahead of time that he'd have to get shots and while he didn't seem to dwell on it all day long, he did ask about it a few times during the exam. And finally, the nurse came in and the wailing began.

Because he's such a big boy (*sniff*), he got the shots in his arm. I sat in a chair with him on my lap. I wrapped my legs around his, my arms around his and held his head still with my chin. Polio vaccine in the left arm.

Screaming.

Second shot (don't recall which one) in the right arm.

More screaming.

Measles/Mumps/Rubella in the right arm.

My child turned into Satan.

Apparently, the MMR shot is a doozie and boy did it hurt him. The poor guy just screamed and screamed. After it was all done and the bandaids were administered, I held Devin to my chest and rocked him back and forth. Even as a baby, this wasn't something he loved to do, but today all he wanted was his mommy. Even in such a horrible situation, it still warmed my heart. He'll always be my first love.

As a special treat, we drove through our local Krispy Kreme and got a doughnut for Devin (okay, one for me too). He also requested a Sprite. Against my better judgment, I acquiesced, and minutes later sticky soda was all over my minivan. I guess it wasn't truly a mom-mobile until that happened.

And now, without further ado...

Here are the photos I promised in my last post:

Devin turned four on July 11, 2007


Devin and across-the-street neighbor buddy, Reid, at Devin's party at Inflatable Wonderland


Brother-in-law, Brian, and my nephew/Godson Brendan, doing their impression of a super hero


Best friend, Sylvia, and her son/my other (but no less important!) Godson, Drew


Action shot of Addy and Presley on the big slide at Inflatable Wonderland


All other photos of Devin, when he is quietly smiling for the camera are posed. This is the real Devin, in his truest form


Pa-pa (my dad) bounces Gracie on the side of one of the inflatable attractions


Macy, Dale, Reid (across-the-street neighbors) and Devin sporting their Bubba Teeth from their goodie bags. How could I resist handing these out?


Not at all related to the birthday party, but worth a mention nonetheless. This weekend, all was quiet upstairs. Too quiet. When I went to check on what Devin was doing, I noticed that his hair was wet. I asked why and he said, "I was washing it so you would be proud of me getting clean all by myself." And to make matters worse: He used handsoap. And no water.