H-Town Adventures - Part 3 (postscript)

While in Houston, we did manage to get out a bit, even if it meant just going to BJ's Pizza.

Never too young to learn a good party trick.

We also made it out to Kemah for the boardwalk. That included a trip to a restaurant that had an aquarium. (Or was it an aquarium with a restaurant. No sure.)

Awake with the fishes. Grandpaw and the boys observe.

Even when we didn't go out, we entertained ourselves in the hotel with games like old-fashioned peekaboo.

Mom and Dad only made one excursion alone while there. But they made it count.

The brewery tour is a must for beer nerds.

H-Town Adventure - Part 2

The therapy went very well. We could tell a difference already by the end of the first week. Both boys were showing signs of being stronger and more active. The workouts seemed to paradoxically tire them out and energize them. When he wasn't working out, John-Raven couldn't seem to be still. That included some nights, too.

John-Raven: "Sleep=No. iPad=Yes!"

The boys worked hard. William sometimes worked SO hard...

...that he didn't even make it back to the hotel before going to sleep.

One day, he even decided not to wait until therapy was over to go to sleep, yet still kept working for a while. That's dedication, people.

Asleep? Yep. Still working? Incredibly, yes.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience. The boys' regular PT, Nancy, is really amazing and makes great strides with the boys in the hour that she gets to work with them each week. But it's hard to overemphasize the value of getting two hours of therapy per weekday for three weeks. The boys definitely made improvements in strength and stability, and we hope to capitalize on that to push them further in their therapy goals.

We would like to say how fantastic the therapists and staff are at Pediatrics Plus Therapy Services in Houston. Trisha and Carla did great work with the boys and had a real gift for reading their reactions and motivating them. We can't thank them enough!

H-Town Adventure - Part 1

So, we never got around to posting this on the blog beforehand, but we just spent three weeks in Houston for an intensive physical therapy program for the boys. October 3 to October 21, we were camped out at the Staybridge Suites, and the boys engaged in an intense 2-3 hour therapy session each weekday. 

John-Raven made a fuss sometimes, but often enjoyed his workouts. 

The purpose of the intensive therapy is to give the boys an opportunity to really push their development. Normally, they get half an hour of PT twice a week. With the intensive, their two hours of PT five days a week means they're getting more workout time in a few weeks than they'll get over the next several months. Think of it as boot camp for developmentally challenged kids.

William is obviously a little tired here...but quite a trooper!

Getting the intensive PT doesn't mean they'll suddenly jump ahead developmentally, but it does push them to get stronger and improve their sitting up, rolling over, propping, etc. William suffered a little hiccup when he got sick after the first week. We took him to a local CareNow and got him some medicine. He missed a day of therapy as a result but got back on track after that.

William works much better with some motivation. In this case, a mummy that dances and sings Thriller.

I must say, the program was fantastic. Very professional, with excellent physical therapists who got a good sense of the boys' individual personalities and what they were capable of.

When they weren't working their little butts off, the boys enjoyed the experience.

The first week, there was only Dad to look after them until Aubrey (nanny extraordinaire) arrived as reinforcements toward the end of the first week. It didn't take long for the boys to get in a groove and adapt to the routine. Dad, however, had a bit of a rougher time of it. See, William tends to have some sort of nightmares that turn him into a squirming, screaming zombie of his usual self. When this happens, he is extremely difficult to wake up. It takes noise, bright lights, and sometimes a cold wet cloth on his face to wake him up. Once he's awake, he's pretty happy. We've noticed a correlation, though. William tends to do his little night trick more when he's hitting a developmental stage or otherwise working really hard to do something new. Our guess is, he's dreaming about struggling to do the thing that he just can't quite do. We've all probably experienced this in a dream, the kind when you're trying to run but feel like you're moving through mud. Naturally, during his therapy, he had a LOT of these. Practically every night. And they were worse than normal, which meant an hour or two of middle-of-the-night issues. Regardless, he still managed to tough it out through his workouts during the day.

More to come. Stay tuned...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

New Bed Means Naptime Fun

Now that we have our big boy bed, there are a few new challenges. Not being separated means we don't always maintain our personal space.

Graduation!

Off to big boy beds!

Needing a Break!

J taking a much needed brake in his busy social life.

GI Joes

Soooo we're getting ready for a little GI procedure for testing purposes to see how bad the boys' reflux is affecting them, if much at all.

Looks like we've graduated up from the purple gowns to the blue ones. Guess that's what happens when you're growing this much.

Chillin' after Workout

Because it's nice to relax after a round in our crawler.

CobbQuad Blog is Moving...Sortof

Somebody set up us the blog!

The CobbQuad is now on Tumblr!

We aren't shutting down our BlogSpot, but we are supplementing it on Tumblr, which is better and easier for short posts (AKA micro-blogging). We'll continue to use the blog located here, but for more frequent posts, go now to cobbquad.tumblr.com.

WARNING: Now Entering the Terrible Twos

So the boys turned two on May 1st. Yay, boys! Hard to believe, really. They're around 27 pounds now and definitely aren't having any trouble gaining weight. We no longer have to go to a gym for a strength workout -- these days, we just pick up the boys.

A few shots from the birthday bash:

(Thanks to Mandy Hennebury for the Awesome Cake. Thanks to her husband Matt for the awesome sliders and hot dogs. Thanks to everyone else for...being awesome.)

If you look closely, you'll see that the boys did get a little taste of the cake icing.

And they had some help from the neighborhood kids opening presents.

We attended a Harris Methodist NICU reunion today and saw some familiar faces. (Sorry, didn't get any pics there. If anyone reading this has some to share, let us know.) We realized we haven't been to Harris with the boys since they first left the NICU. Seems like yesterday we were there. Yet another example of how time flies.

William and John-Raven have been working hard, and it's paying off. Their progress isn't speedy, but it's progress nonetheless.

Have I ever mentioned we love mirrors?

We have no idea whether the boys are really about to enter their "terrible twos" or not. Most people comment on what good attitudes they have. And they're right -- most of the time, the boys are happy kiddos. But trust us...they have their moments.

Springing Forward

Ah, spring. Aside from the itchy, watery eyes, the layer of pollen that turns our vehicles yellow, and the looming anxiety of another brutally hot Texas summer, we love spring around the CobbQuad household. Not that Winter was all that bad. We manage to stay happy even when it's cold outside...

...but we're definitely ready for the warmer weather and are already enjoying geting outside more. And now that we know their congestion issues have been due to adenoid problems rather than allergies, we're a lot more comfortable getting the boys out.

Speaking of adenoids, the surgery seems to have done the trick. Since then, they've had fewer congestion issues, which means easier breathing, less snoring, and fewer gag-triggers. Plus, it was one of the easiest surgeries they've had so far. They handled it like champs, as usual.

We all enjoyed a morning out at the recent Deep Ellum Arts Festival. Unfortunately, the boys were determined not to keep their eyes open during pics.

Their development is coming along, and they're getting stronger (and bigger) every week. We recently purchased a crawler to help the boys work on those crawling skills.

Early on, they HATED the crawler, mostly because it made them work. But the work is paying off, and as they get stronger, they don't mind as much. John-Raven even does a pretty good Superman impression from time to time.

In fact, John-Raven is probably leading brother in strength and overall physical tolerance. He can sit up for short periods (with a little assistance), and his core strength is improving. He even handled his time in a grocery cart pretty well (not that you can tell from his expression...I think I have that same expression when I go grocery shopping).

But William is getting better, too. We think the main thing holding him back is his personality rather than his ability. He's our resident lazybones. He'd rather smile and look cute than actually work.

So as we cruise into the warmer months, we look forward to some more outdoor time as a family. As the boys are getting bigger, we're all looking for a chance to get some air and stretch out a bit. Or just hang out in our pajamas.

Friday Night with the Boys

John-Raven and Dad hung out on Friday night after brother went to bed. (Because SOMEBODY refused to go to sleep.)

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Update: Adenoidectomy This Friday

Quick Update: I posted last time about our trouble with congestion and how our allergist referred us to an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor, right? The results are in: the ENT doc said William's adenoids are very enlarged and need to come out. Knowing the boys' tendency to mirror each others' ailments, we took John-Raven in too. The not-at-all-surprising results? His adenoids need to come out too. So both boys are going in this Friday for an adenoidectomy. It's a day surgery and should be one of the easiest they've had to date. Recovery shouldn't be too bad either (the biggest trouble with recovery after adenoidectomy or tonsilectomy is that eating is difficult with such a sore throat, but the boys are tube-fed, so that won't cause any trouble).

So, wish us luck folks, and we'll keep you posted on the outcome.

-The Cobb Quad

Congestion is Snot Fun

One of the things keeping us busy in recent months has been, in a word, snot.

The sinus fairy blessed the boys with powerful and persistent congestion problems back in the fall. Though not among the most dramatic challenges we faced in 2010, the problem certainly has been frustrating.

And we haven't really identified a source yet. In the fall, we assumed it was allergies. Then we thought it was a cold. And since both boys have been teething so much (I'm beginning to think they're part shark), that seems to be adding to the problem.

It's been snot city around here. Remember this scene from Ghostbusters?

Kinda like that. (Just don't call William as "an ugly little spud" even if he does slime you. He will revenge pee on you.)

One of the ways we've been combatting their congestion is with breathing treatments.

Most of the time, breathing treatments don't annoy William too much.

The sinus drainage also tends to set off their gag reflex and cause them to vomit (which they're more likely to do being tube-fed kids), so we've fought hard to hold back the slime. We've done the allergy medicine thing and the cold medicine thing and the breathing treatment thing and we've used teething stuff to help with that. We recently went to an allergist who did skin tests and showed that apparently, they aren't allergic to anything except lack of attention, which they react violently to.

Over time, John-Raven seems to have shaken most of his congestion. William's has lingered, and a bout with some sort of cold in December didn't help.

William took a few days to fight off his cold (complete with high fever, inability to keep anything down, etc.) I always hate to see the boys feel so cruddy, but they usually keep a good attitude. And they support each other, too...

Solidarity, my brother!

Since the allergist ruled out allergy issues, we're next taking William to an ENT (ear nose throat) doctor. Since William has almost always had a tendency to snore, I have suspicions that he has some other issues going on. Here's hoping we get some answers.

Wait, it's 2011 already?

Seems like only last month it was 2010. Crazy how time flies...

But seriously, time HAS been a beast these last several months. I realize I've been slacking on my blog responsibilities. I was looking at my Google Tasks list just the other day and saw the entry for "Update blog with boys' recent measurements."

I thought to myself, "Okay. I can do that." Then, because I was curious, I checked the date to see when I was originally planning to post that info.

August 22, 2010.

Nice. Clearly, I'm on top of things.

Despite a couple of false re-starts, I'm trying (once again) to get back on track. Will I really really really honest and for true actually start keeping the blog up to date again? Only time will tell for sure, but you can help keep me in line. If you notice I'm slacking, break out the whip and crack it by sending a message to cobbmatt (at) gmail.com, where I reads the emails from the Interwebs.

Now on with the show...

Since I've been so sloppy with my updates (and since I know you might not be reading this if it weren't for the pictures), I'm just going to drop some pics below.

Over the holidays, the CobbQuad has an early morning appointment and stops by the Galleria afterward for breakfast.

At Gammy and Granpaw's house, John-Raven tests out a carrot. It didn't excite him.

William calls it a night a little early.

Mom and John-Raven decide it's time to call it a night, too.

Our little superheroes. World's finest!

I hope that holds you over for a few days. I hope to have another update soon.