Overdue Update

Since our last post a large number of events have passed. Jacob, Sienna, Michelle and Kathy have taken a trip to Christchurch on the plane. The kids did well with no major difficulties encountered during this new experience.
Kidzone has been and gone and everyone enjoyed four or five nights sleepover at Kathy and Pauls house during the event. Michelle used her V.I.P status to beat the crowds and was sometimes leaving before the general public was allowed in.
Our regular Plunket checkups have passed without incident and the kids have progressed extremely well having almost doubled their expected weight gains during some intervals.
The Child Development person has visited and is also pleased with their progress with no complications due to Jacob and Sienna being prem.
Teeth have arrived and at the moment both Jacob and Sienna are two tooth's!!
Sienna and Jacob are now fully fledged Catholics with their Baptism being held at the start of August. A big thanks to Trudy and Nathan (Jacobs Godparents) and Janine and Blair (Siennas Godparents).
We have had another training Nanny (Rachel) live with us for a fortnight and help Michelle with the day to day tasks. This has enabled Michelle to do some extra activities that would be taken for granted for singletons. Having two children for social excursions creates some interesting car packing and on occasion while only one car left two were required to carry everything home again.
My wifes committed attitude towards the kids is bloody amazing; at almost 10 months she continues to breast feed both kids. No mean feat realising the extra complications she endured early on. Michelle creates all of their solid meals and even runs a stock take system of meals on hand. Probably the biggest gloat is that Jacob and Sienna sleep a sound 12 hours a night and have done so for months. This helps everyone in the family.
With spring almost here we look forward to some warm days that will allow Michelle and our kids out of these four walls more.

Kidzone Fun!

Jacob clearly loved the snow at Kidzone this year.

Sienna experiencing her first snow at Kidzone 2010.

During the past two weeks we have had our second training nanny. Laura was a big help in the day to day tasks and will no doubt be a confident nanny when she finishes her training. Jacob and Sienna have had Bev and Laurance from Te anau visit during the past week which was great. Great grandad Pirie also stopped in and the kids went to visit Grandad Pirie while he was in hospital with pneumonia.

mmmm Pies

During the week the kids have started on solids Kumara Carrots Pears Baby Rice and apples have been demolished by our two bundles of fun. Carrots seem to be a crowd favourite and the success rate from spoon to stomach is sometimes limited and extra washing created. The kids have outgrown there original sleeping arrangement and are now in independant cots. They have also outgrown their pram and this has been changed to a stroller. Michelle has made several trips to town and is constantly stopped by strangers wanting to have a look at the kids.

Jacob and Sienna getting singing lessons.

Sienna catching up on some R and R

jacob keepin an eye on his super 14 picks.

Both Sienna and Jacob are progressing well. At the last Plunket weigh in sienna had made a large indent in the weight advantage that Jacob held. Jacob has turned into a thumb sucker over the last week and this is suspected to be teeth on the way. Sienna may also be following this path as extra dribbling has started from her too.
We have had a visit from the child development service who routinely see premature kids and all is well in this department.
Both Jacob and Sienna have a extremely active day as Michelle spends her day entertaining them.

mum knows best

Michelle's day to day rituals have paid off for the Pirie Family. Michelle has followed a programme from a book recomended to her by another member of her family with twins and this has paid dividends. Both Jacob and Sienna at five months can now sleep a full twelve hours without waking. This is a great asset and allows Michelle and I a chance to catch our breath and some sleep at nights.
Michelle is still able to supply both kids feeding needs and they continue to thrive. Over the last month or so a number of problems have been worked through and solved contrary to some of the profesionals advice which has gone to show " mother knows best"

The sleep deprivation has arrived! While in hospital and for a short time at home the kids had hardly cried. Not because their needs were being tended to or their laid back attitude but because they didn't have the strength or maturity. I'm happy to reveal we have two strong and healthy babies both with good lung capacity and we have even dealt with the first flu... times two!!
Our Plunket Nurse was amazed at the progress they have made and continue to make. She stated that an average child is expected to gain 20-30g per day. Jacob had doubled this expectation and Sienna was also about average.
Michelle has a firm interest in the mailbox and waits for the mail man every day and has enjoyed the very generous gifts the babies have received (although the mail man will no doubt be tired of coming to the back door with parcels!
There is a slight disappointment that our two children are growing up and the realisation that they will not remain small babies forever has set in! Although there is great delight taken in seeing them progress and develop unique personalities. Lots of smiles, giggles and rolling which make all the hard work worth it!

we are out of here.

On Christmas Eve Michelle Jacob and Sienna had impressed everyone at Kew Hospital enough to be discharged. Even though we had wanted to get home it was a big step to leave behind the exceptional care from the staff at Kew and walk out the doors for home. After a lot of deciding on what was to be worn for the trip home the kids were loaded into their double barreled pram and wheeled out for their last goodbyes to the staff who were on duty. Sadly, not all the staff got to see the kids leave or for us to be able to thank them all but Michelle and I plan to head back to keep the friendships that we have made over our long stay.
Both Jacob and Sienna have progressed well and our lives now seem to work in four hour cycles. Michelle continues to feed the kids well and the only time the kids are bottle fed are at 4am so Michelle can continue to sleep. Dealing with two kids and two bottles at the same time takes some coordination which I'm yet to master completely. I some times wonder if they are absorbing as much as they are swallowing.
The kids routine is amazingly settled and they seem to be able to wake within minutes of their time whether Michelle and I are ready or not. Both kids enjoy their time on the floor together and even look for each other while feeding and playing. Although not alot of work gets done outside of the house, our days seem to be reasonably busy and any time to catch up on some sleep is sort after.