Wow at such young ages what a difference a month makes in development! At the girls one year check up their Pediatrician told us both girls were developmentally on track with that of full term babies which was nice to hear because since they were six weeks premature doctor's go by their adjusted age so right now it would be 10.5 months instead of 12 months. Even though they're 12 months old they still have to make up for the shortage of time in utero that they would have been developing physically and mentally. Hearing that they're already on track is wonderful because it can take up to kindergarten for that to happen.
Both girls do sign language all the time - things like fish, more, crackers, all done, food and milk. Rasa recently started signing "come here" when she wants me to come over to her. They say the words Mum, Mom, Mommy, Mama, Dad, Daddy, Dadda while pointing to either Royce or me. Adia loves to say while pointing to something "wha's dat?" it's so cute! They say yum, yummy, hi, book, yes and are repeating a lot of words right after us.
The girls fight over toys and books a lot and they look to me to make things fair. They are working together a lot, not in my favor however, as they are teaming up to do things they shouldn't. They work together to knock the baby gate over and also race into their room and barricade the door, no lie. I can't get in when they're sitting against the door and they giggle like it's the best thing in the world that they have locked Mommy out.
Adia!One year ago at Children's:
Now:
Adia is still slightly smaller than Rasa in both height and weight. She's in the 25% for weight and up from the 25% to the 50% for height. At her 12 month appointment we found out that her hemoglobin has remained unchanged for almost two months at 10.5 despite the massive amounts of iron supplementation we've been giving her daily. The level 10.5 is considered mildly anemic and because she's not responded as well she should have we've been referred back to the Hematologist at Children's for more testing. They will need to determine if she's losing blood somewhere or if and why her body doesn't want to absorb it.
Adia understands "all done" means no more in all kinds of situations. She will sign all done if she's done eating but also if we're somewhere she doesn't want to be. I'm fascinated by the ways babies brains can develop right before your eyes and just the complexity of them!
She is starting to be more and more shy in new places yet when company comes to our house she is very outgoing. At first she will act shy but five minutes later she'll be climbing all over our guests. She LOVES making people laugh and loves hearing people laugh and joins right in even though she usually has no clue why we're laughing. Her personality is very outgoing and bubbly. She's silly and smiley and has the ability to put me in a great mood no matter what. Adia's my tiny precious angel. She's back to being very busy and independent so I've resorting to scooping her up and giving her hugs and kisses while she squirms to get away from me! I have to be quick but I can't help myself, she's so adorable I could eat her!
She is a climber! She now pushes toys in front of the couch or the baby gates and uses them as steps to climb up onto the couch or halfway over the gate. She would get all the way over if I wasn't watching her like a hawk! When she does get up on the couch she dances up and down and gives a victory scream. I pray I don't go through with her what my Mom went through with my brother (lots of broken bones) because she's got that daredevil "I can fly" mentality my little brother did when he was a tot. Yikes. Adia will put her arms up and just jump not caring or being aware that nothing is there to catch her.
She is so sweet and loving. She's filled with giggles and joy almost all the time. She is my little sunshine who brightens my days and makes my heart bubble over with joy. I am so in love with every single inch of her inside and out I could squeal out loud just thinking of her.
Rasa Bea!One year ago at Children's:
Now:
Rasa tries so hard to say belly button but it comes out like bubbabum. If I ask her "Rasa where is Mama's belly button" she will pull up my shirt and point to it. Something I thought was cute until I realized I will be apprehensive about doing that for most people because I'm not a fan of flashing my belly! We are now working on "where is Rasa's belly button" :)
She's becoming more adventurous. We brought her to an indoor play area that had climbing mats and a ball pit and she was all over it! She zips around so fast! She's taken her first steps and walks holding onto something with one hand but she prefers the faster method of movement - crawling. I see that she's coordinated and goes through obstacle courses quickly and with ease. She may have her Father's athletic ability. She can climb up the twenty stairs from our main level to the second in less than 5 seconds - literally. She loves being chased while doing it and screams with excitement.
She LOVES food! LOVES food! This is why she's in the 50% for weight and has the chubbiest most edible looking thighs I've ever seen on a baby. Both girls are eating off of our plates mostly now and anytime Royce and I are eating or snacking Rasa will drop everything and hurry over and hold out her hands while bouncing up and down saying Nummm. She wants to try everything and she ends up liking almost everything too. Her favorites are Annie's bunny crackers and rice cakes for snacks, she loves pizza and couscous and goes absolutely bonkers for hummus (YES! my fav!). She loves tofu and bananas and prefers soy yogurt to regular dairy yogurt. I don't recall if I ever mentioned in my blog that Rasa had another milk allergy test done a couple months ago that came back clear so she is able to eat dairy now although prefers soy which is what we usually buy anyway.
Rasa is very attached to both Royce and I. She wants to be close all the time and is so cuddly. Sometimes I have to coax her off of my lap so I can get up but I swear she would sit on my all day if I let her. It's so sweet and I do treasure these days because at some point her tiny body will grow too big for my lap and I will miss her so badly. She stares up at me with her huge blue eyes and gives me a look and smile like we're just the best thing that ever existed together. I am so deeply in love with her with every cell of my being. I really do love her so much it hurts.
Reflecting each month over the past year has given me great joy. The girls have grown so much each month and I can see that we have too. I know how blessed I am to have been given the enormous responsibility of growing these two magical beans. I promise to live in the present with them knowing that each day is a gift, to grow them with love, kindness, a sense of peace, humanity and the knowledge that God has a very special plan for each of them.
I am personally living in the promise that I would be blessed more than I could imagine and it's been pretty great to say the least.
I love you so very much Rasa & Adia, with all of my heart. Before you were born I would dream about you and never in my wildest imagination could I have ever dreamt up such amazing and wondrous little girls.
Gramma had a Photographer, Jennifer Sime, come to my house to do a 1 year photo shoot of the girls a couple weeks ago (Thanks Gramma!). Jennifer is a lot of fun and her pictures speak for themselves. Rasa seemed to kind of get into it and had fun. Adia started to have a meltdown about a half and hour before Jennifer came so I was worried how she was going to do. Even though she cried nearly the entire time (thank you teething pain) somehow Jen managed to get a grip of picture of her without tears! 
After almost three weeks of waiting for Adia's Hematologist to come back from vacation (Hawaii, how nice) we were told to bring Adia back to Children's Hospital Hematology for further testing this Thursday. In my 12 month update I told you that her hemoglobin went up initially from 7 to 10.5 but stopped rising at that point despite the enormous amount of iron supplementation we've been doing. Although it's better she is still considered anemic. 
