First Christmas

Santa didn't come by our home for our babie's first Christmas:) Dan came over for lunch, spent the whole afternoon. It was not cold, so took the girls out for a stroll. We did go see the National Christmas tree in the evening. There weren't that many people, so we could actually take the double stroller by the tree. For some reason, babies weren't too interested in the tree.

We had a big scare with Shruthi on Christmas morning. We put her in her high chair and put on the belt, but forgot to lock in the tray. She pushed herself to the edge of the chair and pushed herself up, lifting the chair off the floor;) It was very scary. We have to be really careful with Shruthi, she is getting stronger.

Chatty Baby

One of our babies is being very chatty. Can you guess who?

Baby Schedule

5:30 - 6 AM - first feeding, hopefully still in their sleep. If they do wake up, they usually play for about 30 mins and go back to bed

• 7:30 - 8am - Wake up
• 8am - 9am - Playtime
• 9am - 9:30am - second feeding
• 9:30 - 10:00 - nap time
• 10:00 - 11:00 - bath time
• 11:00 - 12:00 - Lunch (solid foods)
• 12 - 12:30 - milk
• 12:30 - 2:30 - nap
• 2:30pm - milk
• 3 - 4:30 - playtime
• 4:30 - 5pm - nap
• 5 Dinner (solids)
• 6pm - milk + vitamins
• 6 - 7pm - roll around the living room time
• 7 - 7:30 pm - read books
• 7:30 milk
• 8 - sleep (phase 1;)
• 8:30 - real sleep
• 10pm - milk
• 2am - milk

And of course to just torture their dad, they do sometimes wake up at 4:30am and want to play;)

Checkup

Babies had their development checkup yesterday. The lady said that both girls are doing really well, no issues to be concerned about. They did do things that we didn't know that they could, like picking up small things like cheerios from the floor. Dev Specialist told us to keep them on their tummies, to get them used to crawling, but Vennela doesn't like to be on her tummy, always wants to be sitting up.

Swapna and Remu took them to the pediatricians later, to get their second set of flu shots. Fortunately, they did much better this time around, recovered by the evening.

Trouble Maker

Shruthi is getting to be a trouble maker. Can't leave her anywhere by herself, she starts rolling away here and there. Leave her in a crib and we never know where she will end up in a few mins.

New Lesson

Mom learned a new lesson today, don't keep bowls of food too close to babie's feet;) She was feeding them oatmeal this afternoon and I guess had the bowl of oatmeal close to Vennela's feet. Next thing you know, oatmeal was all over the place. I thought I cleaned up everything, but this evening noticed oatmeal on the walls. Vennela does have strong legs!

Kathy & Gordon came by this evening. Kids were fine with them, they didn't cry. Went back to Old Hickory for dinner. Both babies were great. Put them in high chairs and they were fine, not complaining for one and a half hours. They were very intrigued by the lights.

All Set

Babies got their POI cards yesterday, no need for Indian visas for next 15 years.

Both girls are sitting up well now, they like it better than laying down, something new to try, I guess. Shruthi has better balance than Vennela. If you leave them sitting, they are happy, doing their own thing, till they lose their balance and crash. We have to keep blankets and pillows around them, to cushion their fall.

Both girls are doing a little better, still not out of the woods.

Shruthi's tiny tooth is very cute, can see it when she laughs. She is getting her second tooth. Vennela is getting a tooth too. Shruthi thinks she is all grown up, doesn't want to stay on her back any more, keeps rolling on to her tummy. Both of them are sitting up too. They like sitting more than laying down, must be bored laying down all these seven months. They sit at either ends of our couch, taking up our spots;)

Took them to Union Station on Sat, to see the Norwegian Christmas tree. Margaret and Ole came to our home and we all drove together. Vennela wasn't too happy to see new faces. She kept looking at Margaret and crying, she got over it once we got in the van. They liked being in Union Station, checking out all the lights and people.

We went to our favorite place, Hickory Grill for dinner last night. Both girls were surprisingly good. Shruthi fell asleep and we put Vennela in a high chair. She was happy sitting in her chair, socializing with people. She is like Rags, doesn't like it when she sees new faces in our home but is perfectly fine when we go out;)

Both babies have cold;) Vennela is feeling a little better, Shruthi is not feeling too good. She is having a hard time falling asleep. Hopefully she will recover soon.

Update

We got their ears pierced today! They did cry a lot, for about 15 mins. They are doing fine now.

Swapna thinks that Shruthi has a tooth. It's tiny, but I think it is a real tooth:) Our babies are growing up fast.

Back Home

We got back last night from CA. One week flew by too fast. Shruthi wasn't too happy the first day, was crying most of the time. Both girls were doing ok by the second day. We were busy all the time, not sure what we did for six days;) We did manage to squeeze in a day trip, to Sacramento, a neat town. SriRam and Saket were great with the girls, wanted to play with them all the time, but we wouldn't let them touch the babies:)

Both babies were a bit confused by the time difference. They still kept waking up at 3:30am PST;) They are back to their old schedule now, doing much better.

We got to meet a lot of friends, Uday & Snigdha, Pavithra & Jagan, KT & Karthik and Mandla.

Return flight wasn't bad. We were worried, the row we were in was full and they assigned us seats in two different rows. The flight attendant was really helpful, he moved a few people around and got us a row with the middle seat vacant. shruthi slept for about 3 hours of the flight and was happy playing the rest of the time. Vennela was cranky and didn't want to sleep at all. We had to drug(Benadryl) her to make her sleep, are not really proud of it, but it worked;) After that everyone was happy, the babies, parents and the other passengers.

We made it!

We made it to Fremont in one piece, our minds still intact. Chinni dropped us off at the airport. It was very cold, so we got the girls into the airport first and then everything else. We got there with plenty of time to spare, which was a good thing. The security check was a logistical nightmare;) We had to put all our stuff on the belt first and then we had to put the stroller on the belt, minus girls. IMHO, I think it's a stupid rule. Swapna had to hold both the babies while I dealt with the stroller.

Once we got to the gate we set up shop by the gate, with blankets on the carpet. Both girls were fine, we walked around the airport with them in the stroller and they fell asleep, didn't wake up till we got to the plane and took them out of their stroller. I was worried about them, during takeoff and landing, but we were prepared, pushed pacifiers into their mouths and made sure they kept them there. We made the takeoff with no incidents.

It was a long flight, but both babies did ok. They were fussy for the first hour or so, but then they slept through most of the flight. Shruthi was cool, she had the middle seat and she slept like she owned the plane:)

The whole family came to pick us up. Poor Saket wanted to see the girls but he was asleep by the time we got there. Everyone was tired by the time we got home. Unfortunately, all of us were still on East coast time. Both babies woke up on their regular schedule, 6:30 EST, which is 3:30am PST;)

Great weather in Ca, in the sixties and clear blue skies! Shruthi was fussy the whole day, not her usual self. Either she is not comfortable with all the new people or she is sick. She was crying most of the day, hopefully she will sleep be ok tomorrow.

JetBlue was great, the staff was very friendly and they left the flight was sold out, except for the single seat in our row. Worked great for us, had enough room for all our stuff and one baby(Shruthi:) could sleep comfortably in the middle seat.

On our own...

This is it! My mom flew back to India tonight. We are on our own now. For the first time since March, can't believe it has been eight months when Swapna's mom first came to DC and Swapna was admitted to the hospital the first time.

But, first things first, our big trip with our girls tomorrow, to sunny CA. I hope they will be ok in the plane. Swapna gave them Benadryl this evening, the drug made Shruthi drowsy, but didn't seem to affect Vennela. It's a long flight, 6 hours. Don't know how they will do with the 3 hour time difference and a new place.

6 month checkup

Had their 6 month checkup and third round of vaccinations today. Both girls are doing well, for weight and height. Shruthi is 27 inches and 17lb 14oz (8.1 Kg) and Vennela is 26.5 inches and 16lb 4oz (7.37 Kg). Shruthi is between 75th and 90th percentile for weight and Vennela is in the 50th percentile. Both are in 90th percentile for height.

Both girls are really knocked out by the shots. Don't know if it's the Tylenol or the shots, both of them look completely beat. Hopefully they will recover by tomorrow.

I think girls are understanding some of the stuff we say to them. If we say anything with a serious face and sternly, they do stop whatever they are doing and stay quiet. I was trying to feed Shruthi and she was not at all interested, was just playing. I said No with a serious face and she started crying right away;)

Both girls are completely confused by this one hour DST time change. Their schedule is completely shot. By the time they get adjusted to this time, we will go to CA, with another time change.

Cynthia stopped by this evening. For some reason, Vennela was so intrigued by Cynthia, she was staring at Cynthia the whole time.

Silly & Goofy

The names are official, from now on, Shruthi is Goofy and Vennela is Silly:) We got a new stroller for them, it's kind of fancy. It's all in preparation for their two big trips coming up, to CA and to India. The trip to CA is a trial run, to see if we can survive on a plane with these two. Should be an adventure, for all of us;)

We changed clocks yesterday, both girls are thoroughly confused by the one hour time change. Shruthi is still awake, all tired and not sure what to do;)

Halloween

Their first Halloween. Shruthi was a pumpkin and Vennela was a Chilli Pepper:) Shruthi's costume was a bit small for her. We had to be quick, let them be in their costumes only for about 30 mins, get them into their regular clothes before they start complaining. We took them to Robyn's and Amarnath's.

Diwali

Took both girls to Reshma's Diwali party on Sat. What a disaster it was. They were fine for the first hour, then it was their nap time and feeding time and they didn't want to both. They were cranky and crying. They finally fell asleep in their car seats, but woke up after 30 mins. There were too many people, so the house was too warm. We ended up leaving early. It took both of them a couple of hours after we got home, just to unwind.

I did see Shruthi rollover, on Thur. She did it twice. Now both girls stopped rolling over, just too lazy, take after their mom:)

Their sleep training is not going very smoothly, looks like they made a pact, they take turns with their sleep routines;)

We are going to CA for ThanksGiving! This is our practive flight before our big trip to India in Jan. Swapna is already worried about how we will deal with two babies on the plane. This will be a ver, very long flight;)

News flash - Shruthi started rolling over. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but my mom says that Shruthi rolled over three times today. Swapna may get to eat her Bobbatlu this weekend:)

Swapna has been trying to get the girls to take a nap in the evening. Shruthi finally did take a nap this evening, but Vennela refuses to do so. She just screams and screams, but doesn't want to sleep. If we bring her out in to the living room, she would have a big smile;)

Shruthi Laughing:)

Solids

Swapna started to feed our girls rice cereal for the pasty weeks. What a mess, they probably eat 25% and the rest is on their bibs. Instead of the cereal, they are more interested in eating their colorful bibs;) May be we should just put the cereal on their bibs and let them lick it away:)

Both girls started to hold onto their toes. Now they can pull their socks off;) Took them to Ohio Dr this evening, Vennela was great at following the airplanes flying into National. Today is a perfect Fall day, crispy and cool.

Apple Picking

We had a busy weekend, went apple picking on Sat, with Rajesh and his family. It was fun, but there were too many people and I don't think the girls enjoyed it. They were in their stroller most of the time; they would rather be laying down on the grass, looking at the trees. The weather was perfect, great day to be outside, perfect Fall day.

We took our girls to Amy's home yesterday. Shruthi was too hyper, must be all the light and the trees. She was just too happy.

Swapna has to go to work this whole week, she has a training class. Will be the first week that both of us will be out of the home the whole day.

Rollovers

Not the SUV kind. Vennela started rolling over last week. I wasn't home when she first did it, had to take my mom and Swapna's word for it. But yesterday, I have seen her rollover three times! Shruthi is trying ot, but is getting stuck halfway through. Swapna is waiting for when Shruthi starts rolling over, so she can eat her Bobbatlu:)

Swapna had a cold and cough the last two weeks, she is over it now. We were worried that the kids would also get it, but they did surprisingly well, no cough and cold, no matter how hard Swapna tried:)

Passports!

Both girls got their passports today. It was very quick, we applied for their passports only last Sat. Their passport pics are really cute:)

Empty House

Everyone left, almost. My in-laws went back to India on Thus and my dad on Sat, mom is still here. House looks empty, sort of. I think Shruthi misses them, she has been a little quieter and cranky for the past few days.

Niagara

Girls got to spend the whole day with their mom. I took both sets of parents to Niagara Falls for the day, left at 6:30am, and got home at 11pm. Swapna got to take care of the girls by herself for a whole day. She said both girls did great, no complaints, ate, played and slept.

Don't know what all the fuss is about Niagara Falls, wasn't impressed at all. The whole place was tacky, to put it mildly. The best part of the whole trip was Sarada's 'perugu vada':) I wanted to eat Buffalo Wings, since we were in Buffalo, but didn't get a chance;)

They took the girls shopping today, to Costco and WalMart. Apparently they liked being in the store, kind of - Shruthi fell asleep and Vennela was busy checking out all the toys.

4th Month Doc's visit

Took them to the doc's office for their 4th month checkup and vaccine shots. Shruthi is at 14lb 9oz and Vennela is at 13lb 5oz. Doc says they are doing fine, in the 50th percentile for their age group.

They got their second set of shots today, four each. We had a new nurse, looks like we were her first patients, ever;) She took a long time to give the shots, and for the fourth shot for Vennela, the needle got bent. So, she had to go and get another set, all the while Vennela was crying hard, not pausing even to take a breath. Don't know about Swpna, but I was close to tears. Both girls had a little fever. Shruthi seems to be doing better than Vennela, but both of them are beat. Hopefully they will get over it by tomorrow morning.

Anna Prasana

Swapna's dad is here too, so girls have all four grand parents here. Girls are getting spoilt.

We did a puja(Rudrabhishekam) for the girls in the temple today. They were very well behaved for the whole duration of the puja, all one and a half hours. They finished their milk and fell asleep. Eric and Lis came for the puja, brought along Leo. Leo was great, he was quiet all through the ceremony.

Don't know what it is with our girls' pujas and storms, today it was Hanna, dumped too much rain, around 6 inches of rain today;) Last tie when we did tha Naakaranam ceremony, we got hit with a massive thunderstorm, with hail and tons of rain, lost power for a while.

Well, the new bottles did the trick, both babies are doing fine with their feedings these days, without complaint. Shruthi is getting very chatty, very sociable, wants to talk to everyone.

Checkup

Girls had their first check up with a developmental specialist today. She says both girls are doing fine, right on schedule. She is puzzled by their not wanting their milk. She doesn't think it's reflux or acid. She suggested we try different bottles. Got some Dr. Brown's bottles this evening. Let's see if that makes a difference.

Tree guys cut down the Oak tree in the back yard today. Looks a whole lot different now.

Arboretum

Went to the arboretum yesterday. The weather was perfect. We got to go check out the Bonsai exhibit. Some of the bonsai are amazing. As usual, girls had a lot of fun. They even took a nap in the park.

They did well on Sat, got up to 20+oz but yesterday and today, they are back to normal. They are not at all interested in feeding. But they are playing well and seem to be fine. Not sure what's going on. Swapna says she will talk to the doc tomorrow.

Vennela loves the red balloon. I brought out the balloon yesterday and her face lit up like a 1000 watt bulb:)

One More Balloon

Mom got them a big red balloon yesterday. Should have seen the girls, they were giddy, too excited, won't stop laughing:) Our girls don't need toys, all they need is a balloon:)

Update

Vennela is doing much better today, is back to being her usual demanding self, active, screaming and playing. Shruthi still looks tired.

Swapna is away from the babies for the first time, out on a business trip in Roanoke. She will be back tomorrow. Don't think girls are missing their mom that much:)

My parents came in late last night from CA. We have a full house! Girls look so much different than what they looked like two months ago, when my parents last saw them.

Both babies lost weight in the past couple of weeks;) Dresses that used to be a tight fit aren't anymore. I hope the docs figure out what the problem is.

Doc's visit

Swapna took the girls to the doctor. Doc says the girls probably have acidity. She gave them some medication. We started the medication this morning and they seem to be doing better. Let's hope it works. Poor Vennela looked all beat yesterday. She looks a little better today.

Vennela is at 12.5Lb and Shruthi is 14Lb today. We thought Vennela was catching up to Shruthi, guess not;)

Elephant's BDay

Took the girls to the zoo yesterday. Waipang came with us too. Zoo had an elephant special. It was one of the elephant's 60th b'day. It was very cool, we all had fun, not sure about the girls, they just slept through the whole thing;) Zoo was packed with strollers and kids, it looked as if having a stroller was a prerequisite to get into the zoo.

Both girls are still not doing well with their milk. Vennela was really bad yesterday, didn't even finish half her regular amount. We have to check with their pediatrician tomorrow.

New Schedule

Swapna started the girls on a new schedule, feedings every four hours with 5oz each time. They seem to be doing fine today. Let's wait and see if they can keep this up.

Silver Balloon

Girls have a new favorite toy, one of those shiny helium balloons:) They both are transfixed by this shiny, floating thing. We tie the balloon to their leg or hand and they are happy just looking at that thing:) Both girls are starting to smile and laugh now, but it's still random.

Swapna had both girls dressed up in boys clothes on Fri, for Varalakshmi Vratham. They did the puja and everything:)

They have been fussy about their feedings for the past 10 days. Not sure what happened. They used to complain and scream even if we were a few minutes late with their milk, but now even 30 mins after their feed time, they don't want anything to do with the milk. I hope they get over it and get back to their normal schedule soon.

New Crib

Vennela got a new crib today, another hand me down, got it from Madhu & Rajani's. Hope to get it fixed and set up by the weekend.

Arboretum

Has been a slow week, not much going on on home front. Girls have been to DC last two weekends. Took them to the Potomac last Sun and the Arboretum yesterday. Man, they are just happy and excited if we leave them laying in the grass. Luckily, this Aug has been very unusual, instead of the usual hot, humid and hazy weather, we have been having wonderful weather, ordered specially for the girls:)

Shruthi is getting to be very talkative these days. She keeps chatting away about who knows what. Girls are still sleeping through the night, still not getting up for their 3am feed.

Eric, Lis and Leo stopped by yesterday. Leo is cool, he was just happy, playing by himself. He loved the swing. I guess Eric has to get working on setting up a swing in their yard, quickly:)

Uploaded new pics, the first picture is one of the girls(can anyone guess who it is:) dressed as Gandhi, with a pacifier:)

I will start my new job tomorrow, should be busy busy for the next few weeks.

Girls have been sleeping through the night this whole week, not waking up for their 3am feed. Since I had part of the 3am shift, I'm off the hook! We all look a little less tired these days:)

Shopping

Swapna took the girls shopping, to Toys'R Us Fri evening. Apparently, both girls didn't like being inside the store, screamed all the while they were inside the store. So, they like going outdoors and to restaurants but not stores!

Madhu, Rajani and their kids stopped by yesterday. Kavya had too much fun feeding the babies, shw didn't want to leave. Rajani was complaining that our girls don't have any jewelry on. Sorry, my kids don't need any jewelry, they are beautiful just the way they are:)

Babies went to their first birthday party this morning, to Shiva's son Aditya's first. They were asleep by the time we got there and slept for an hour, all through the noise, commotion and kids running around. Woke up after an hour and were happy just staring around. They were good for about 2 hours before their patience ran out.

Dining Out

Vennela has been throwing up the last three nights, once every night, after her 9pm feed. She likes her mom so much, she always throws up on her mom:) Waits for Swapna to pick her up and then and only then she throws up on Swapna.

Took the girls out to eat this evening, to Lahori Kabob, their first time out eating. Well, they weren't eating, they were watching while we ate. Scott and Robyn came along. Shruthi slept through the whole thing, but Vennela woke up and started crying in the end. It wasn't bad.

There was a tragic accident on I-66 ramp this evening, a tractor trailer filled with Budweiser beer flipped over, spilling the beer bottles down the hill. The whole area smelled of beer. At least it wasn't good beer.

Waterlilies

We have the unofficial weights, ~11lb & ~12lb. They both are still gaining weight at the same rate.

We went to see the waterlilies today at the aquatic gardens. Cool place. It was very warm and humid. Shruthi slept through the whole thing, but Vennela was awake now and then, sleeping whenever we were moving and awake and checking out things whenever we stopped.

New Strategy

Swapna came up with a new strategy to get the girls to sleep early, after their 9pm feeding. She gave them both a bath at 8:30pm. And of course, both girls were wide awake after that;) They finally fell asleep around 11:30pm. So much for new strategies, our girls are night creatures;) They are sleepy during the day time and are wide awake during night.

I think we scared off Robyn with last Sat's incident. She hasn't shown up to feed the girls ever since:)

New Pics

I posted pics from last two weeks on Fotki.

Vennela was being her usual fussy self this evening, guess she was hungry. I took her out to the back porch to watch the thunderstorm and she was happy! The lightning and thunder didn't scare her at all. She was busy, turning her head all over the place, trying to follow the thunder and lightning.

Busy Weekend

For the past few day, both girls have been sleeping through the night. They are finishing their milk without even waking up. Both girls got into a rhythm these days, they are happy and quiet from 10:30pm to 3pm. They start getting fussy around 5pm. It's a mystery why they get fussy in the evening. They are fine if we take them out for a walk or put them in the hammock.

It was a busy weekend. Deepak, Ponnu and Arya stopped by Sat for lunch. They are moving to IL on Tues. Sad to see them move from the area. Looks like everyone we know is moving away from DC. Robyn stopped by to see the girls in evening, I immediately handed off one of the girls to Robyn and headed out to Costco. We thought it was going to take about an hour for the whole trip, didn't take into account the lines in Costco on a Sat evening;) It was two hours by the time we got back home. Poor Robyn, she was still waiting at home for us. NRao and his family are also waiting for us. Haven't seen them in a while. His son, Sri Harsha is almost as big as NRao.

We took the girls out to see Margaret on Sun. Margaret seems to be recovering well from her surgery. Got to spend only about 20 minutes there, had to make it back home before the 12pm feeding time.

Shruthi started doing pushups, late in the evening, instead of going to sleep.

Pedialite

Shruthi gave us a little scare today. She threw up all her feeds from 3pm - 9pm, three times in a row. She looked all tired and sad. We called our pediatrician and he asked us to give her Pedialite and try different formula. She did fine with the new formula. Not sure if we have to continue with the new formula or continue with the old one.

The transformation is complete, I sold the Miata;) It was sad letting it go, had it for 12 years exactly.

Picnic

We took girls out for their first picnic Fri evening. We planned to go to Ohio Dr, by the river, but the road was closed, so we ended up on the other side, by the Tidal Basin, overlooking Jefferson Memorial. It was a nice, pleasant evening. Everyone enjoyed it, except for Shruthi;) She hadn't been feeling well for the past two days, think she has a cold. A few minutes after she finished her feed, she threw up everything, all over me. We made it back home just in time for their next feed.

Roy and Cassandra stopped by this afternoon. They stayed till the evening. I impressed Roy with my baby handling skills. Cassandra was good with Vennela, she made Vennela stop crying and made her sleep. She almost had an accident, I thought Vennela was gonna throw up on Cassandra, but it was just a small burp:)

Outdoors...

Our girls like being outdoors. They will be quiet and staring at random things if we take them out into the back porch or into the front yard. We just have to watch out for the mosquitoes.

Both girls had fever by Mon evening, because of the shots. Vennela wasn't that fussy, but poor Shruthi was just beat. Aunty said that Shruthi cried so hard, they hadn't seen her cry so hard, ever. Seeing Shruthi cry so hard, Swapna started crying too;) We gave the kids Tylenol. By night, their fever went down. They slept fine during the night and by yesterday morning, they are back to normal. Now we know what to expect for their next batch of shots.

Remu, the new nanny is good. She is good with the babies and seems to be flexible. The only problem is the language, she speaks only Hindi;)

2nd Month Doc visit

Went to the doc's for 2 month check up and vaccination shots. Doc said they are doing well, gaining weight. Vennela still has the cold, Shruthi seems to have recovered. Both recovered from their ear infections. Shruthi is double digits now, she weighed in at 10lb 8oz and 22 inches long. Vennela is at 9lb 8oz, 21.5 inches long. They are still maintaining their 1lb difference.

When it was time for the shots, Shruthi had a big dirty diaper and it was leaking, courtesey of new diapers from Costco;) We haven't gotten used to the new diapers yet, hopefully we will get there before there are too many accidents. They got four shots each, two in each leg.

New nanny, Remu started today. She is from Nepal. Swapna says she is pretty good with the kids.

Chaos

If you think our girls are always cute and happy, check this...

Nanny

Teja, our nanny started on Tue. Everyone realized by the end of the day that this will not work out. She has no idea how to handle little babies. She is nice and does whatever she was told to do, but she is not cut out to be a nanny, and she knew that too. We told her when we hired her that the first week will be an evaluation period, for both of us. So, yesterday was her last day.

We interviewed another nanny yesterday - she is from Nepal. She has some experience taking care of kids. Hoping this would work out.

Vennela was being fussy past few days, not finishing her milk and crying for no reason. Swapna took both girls to the doctor yesterday. Diagnosis - Vennela has ear infection;) He gave antibiotics for both of them. Not sure why he gave the medication for Shruthi, she doesn't have the ear infection.

We have to do another trip to the doctor on Mon, for their two month check up and their first set of shots.

No Nanny

So much for a new nanny. She called yesterday evening and said she can't make it in today. Hopefully she will show up tomorrow.

Swapna starts 'work' tomorrow!

Both girls are sick for most of this week;) They caught the cold from Swapna, not sure where she got it from. Shruthi seems to have recovered from it, but Vennela is still having lots of trouble breathing. She is a lot better today, compared to Fri. Hopefully she will recover soon. Shruthi did well, she just slept through the whole thing, for two days, waking up only for her food. That must have really helped. Poor Vennela, she tries to sleep but wakes up unable to breath;)

Rajeash, Poornima and kids stopped by yesterday. Their kids are good, well behaved. They were very excited to see the squirrels and the birds:)

Think we made another big step in the parenting/baby process, took Costco membership. Swapna and her mom went there this morning, leaving both girls with me. Girls were fine, by the time they came back from Costco, I was done feeding Shruthi and was almost done with Vennela, truly a proud moment in my parenting career.

Swapna starts work tomorrow. She is not actually driving to work, planning to work from one of the bed rooms:) A nanny, Teja starts work tomorrow. She is a student at Stafford, is from Vijayawada. She says she is ok working with kids, but we told her next week is a trial period, for both of us, see if she is really comfortable dealing with these tiny babies. Hopefully it will work out. We got a lot of responses to our ad in Sulekha. Got a lot of responses from Nepalese women, and everyone was a preschool teacher back in Nepal;)

Amy, Jim and Tommy came by to see the babies this evening. Tommy is growing fast. I think he is taller than Swapna now. I'm sure next time we see him, he will be taller than me, and he is only 7 now;)

No More Grand parents

My parents left for CA on Mon, it' back to us three to try and hold down the fort. Both girls caught the cold from Swapna, poor things, they are very uncomfortable. They had a hard time falling asleep.

Swapna put together the second bouncer, no need to put both the girls in the same bouncer at the same time anymore.

Had my share of full drenching on Mon, was trying to burp Vennela, she was almost done with her bottle. She tried burping, but ended up throwing up all the milk, all over me.

One more week before Swapna goes back to work and my parents leave for CA on Tue. We have to find a nanny and do it quickly. I did the night shift last night and it's not fun. It will be interesting once we both start working, doing night time feeding and then trying to stay awake at work the next day.

Took the girls to DC on Fri, wanted to show Haupt gardens to my mom, but they close at 7pm;) We walked around the mall, it was a nice day for a walk. And of course, Swapna wanted to go to PotBelly and as luck would have it, they closed at 7pm too;)

Swapna is sick, has cough and cold and a little fever(98.5 and she says she has a fever). Hopefully the babies won't catch the cold.

Girls are being fussy this week, they finish about half their feed and take forever to finish the rest, and most of the time they are not finishing it. They haven't increased their feeding amount in about two weeks.

Madelline from across the street stopped by and brought gifts for the mom and mom's mom. It's very nice of her, she is 80 years old and living by herself.

New Crib

We have a second crib now, got it from Saritha's this weekend. We flipped a coin for the new crib and Vennela lost. She got the new crib. All of us went to Fredericksburg to pick up the crib, leaving Swapna with the girls. We left at 10am, planning to be back by 3pm feeding, and then Potomac Mills happened;) They first wanted to go to Corning and then they saw IKEA. I had to practically drag them out of the store. We finally made it back at 5:30. Swapna managed fine without any of us, Robyn helped her out for feedings. The girls were also well behaved, she says, just ate and slept, didn't bother their mom at all.

Babe Mobile

Got new wheels on Thursday, a minivan;)

Girls made the first out of state trip yesterday, took the whole gang to DC in the new van, took a walk along Ohio Dr, along the Potomac and the tidal basin. They fell asleep as soon as we put them in the van and slept through the drive, the walk and the drive back:) We just left them in their car seats in the living room and they woke up 10 mins before their 9pm feeding.

Daily Quiz

This is like a daily routine, Robyn comes by in the evening and we ask her to say the girls names and of course she gets them wrong, every time! May be she should do a George Costanza and do exactly opposite of what she thinks.

I'm doing ok with them now, can tell who is who correctly, with confidence. My mom and dad get them wrong, mom more than dad. Mom got them wrong twice yesterday, 5 mins apart, and they are wearing different outfits:) Swapna's mom got them wrong too. Their excuse is that the girls keep changing their complexion;) Swapna is the only one that still hasn't 'openly' admitted to getting confused between the two girls.

We weighed them today, Vennela is 6lb 13oz(3.09 Kg) and Shruthi is 7lb 8oz(3.4 Kg).

Weekend

Weekends are exhausting! I'm getting more tired on weekends than on weekdays. I don't know how Swapna, her mom and my parents are doing it everyday. Especially Swapna, don't know how she is dealing with everyone telling her what to do and what not to do, the whole day.

We changed the girls feeding times, moved it one hour later. Now it's 6, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9 and 12am. Don't know about the girls, but this timing is working better for me. I can do the 6am feeding since I'm up at that time anyways, but as always, so are my parents and Swapna's mom;)

Girls are moving their hands now, and they are quick too, can knock off the feeding bottles from our hands.

Tired

Giving Bath

We changed their daily bath schedule to evening from morning, the theory being they sleep well all through the night if they had a nice warm bath in the evening. The theory isn't working as well as we thought. One good thing about the evening schedule is that I get to give them a bath once I get home. Both of them love getting a bath, they look so relaxed and happy sitting in the warm water.

Doc's Appointment

Went to the pediatrician this morning. Girls are doing very well, Vennela is at 6lb 2oz and Shruthi is at 6lb 15oz, almost 7lb! They didn't get their Hepatitis shots today, doc said to wait for the 2 month appointment and get all the shots at once, not looking forward to that day;)

Girls are starting to look more like each other every day. Shruthi was in the living room with us, Swapna's mom was so sure that it was Vennela, she wouldn't believe us;) A few weeks more and I'm sure no one can tell them apart.

Walk in the park!

Tara left for CA this afternoon. She missed the babies first trip outside in their stroller! We put them in their double/twin stroller and walked up and down Rosemary Ln. They seemed to like it, fell asleep right away. We took them to visit Robyn&Scott and Amarnath&Jessee.

Todd&Cassandra and Tracy stopped by in the evening. It doesn't look like Todd&Cassandra will move back to the States after her Malawi contract is over in about 6 months.

Namakaranam

Yesterday was the first Puja for the girls, their Namakaranam (naming ceremony). Tara came from Fremont in the morning, caught a red eye flight. Dad and I went and picked up the Pujari from the Lotus temple, was a pain finding the temple, because there is no temple yet! Girls were all dressed up in their fineries, silk dresses and jewelery, looked really cute. Girls did great, they stayed quiet and slept through the whole ceremony. They even slept through the huge thunderstorm that rolled through in the afternoon. So glad for the thunderstorm, cooled down things a little, more important because our A/C unit died yesterday;)

Saritha & family stopped by this afternoon for lunch. Didn't know that Saritha hasn't been to India in more than 5 years! Both of her kids had been to India, but not her.

Today is the Clarendon Cup races, the first time that I missed the races in 10 years;)

Nurse Visit

Nurse came by this morning, for her second visit. She gave the green light for the babies to take a bath! I can't call them stinky babies anymore. I think my mom and Swapna's mom are more excited about the news than the stinky babies, they can't wait to give the babies a bath.

Shruthi was trying to put her hand in the mouth this afternoon(they do that when they are hungry), but somehow she managed to put her thumb in her mouth and started sucking on it!

Shruthi weighed in at 6lb 5oz and Vennela weighed in at 5lb 10oz. They are making pretty good progress. I had to go to Sales Goals project party this evening, so missed the 5pm feeding, made it home by 7:40pm, both girls greeted me with big screams. They both were hungry, at this rate, they will be ready for Old Hickory pretty soon.

Missed a big messy accident this evening, was feeding Vennela, and she started making noises, thought they were from the bottle. Boy, was I wrong, she was pooing and of course her overjealous grandma put on her diaper very delicately;) I missed the mess by a few millimeters.

Happy Birthday

Today is Swapna's birthday and of course I completely forgot about it;) Mom reminded me as I was leaving for work. I made up for it with a Mocha cake from German Gourmet and a mango milkshake from Elevation Burger:)

Baby Shower

RMS folks at work had a surprise baby shower for me. Brenda came by my desk around 3pm saying we have to go to the Dept meeting. I didn't have a meeting in my calendar, so I just slid over to Vidya's desk and checked his calendar, and of course, there it was, Surprise Baby Shower for Gopi! Well, I had to act surprised when I walked into the conference room:) That was really nice of everyone for doing the baby shower.

I think both girls still have the cold. They were fussy all evening. I put Vennela on her tummy, she complained for a while, but finally fell asleep. They were really unhappy after the 8pm feeding, finally fell asleep around 10pm, just in time for the 11pm feeding. I had the privilege of doing the 11pm feeding, Shruthi did fine, but Vennela was too tired to finish her food.

Full House!

And more visitors! Margaret came by in the morning, she was all amazed by the babies. Ravi and Veena drove up from NC in the afternoon. They got stuck in the infamous I95 traffic for about 2 hours. I showed off my baby handling techniques, think I scared them a little.

Got a big Edible Arrangement from Amy, Jim & Tommy. It is beautiful. Have enough fruit to last for at least a week!

And of course the big visit is from my parents, they came in from Doha, on Qatar Airways. All of us went to pick them up, and of course we were late and dad already called our cell phones and home by the time we got to the airport. Ravi & Veena left after dinner.

Emergency Doc's Visit

Had to do an emergency doc's visit today, luckily, it was a minor thing. Swapna noticed that the girls are breathing heavily and weren't finishing their feedings, she looked it up on the web and of course it talked about some virus that premature babies are susceptible to. Doc said that it is just a common cold and there is nothing to worry about.

I was 0 for 2 today, got the babies identities wrong twice today;) I was so sure this evening that Swapna was just playing with me, I checked their nail polish;) This will only get harder as they grow older. I have to come up with something other than the nail polish to tell them apart.

Did a ton of shopping today, Trader Joes, Safeway, Target, Babies R Us and the Korean Store! I don't think we had ever gone to this many stores in a month, let alone a day!

Robyn came by for the 8pm feeding. She got the babies wrong too! A slight consolation for me.

Doc's Visit

Went to our second docs visit yesterday. It was less uneventful than the first visit. Both girls are doing well, gaining weight. Shruthi weighed in at 5lb 2oz and Vennela at 4lb 7oz. While waiting for the doctor, we fed the babies and I was trying to burp Shruthi, she moved her head off the burp cloth and promptly threw up on my jacket;)

Both girls were fussy yesterday. They were feeding fine, but were only calm as long as someone is holding them. It was hard, we weren't sure what the problem was. Both of them finally fell asleep around midnight. I suspect they were just gassy. Hopefully they will feel better today.

More Visitors

The girls are very popular. They had more visitors in a week than we had in a year;) First was Robyn, she came by and fed one of the girls. Nikki and Lisa stopped by in the evening, on their way home from Shenandoah. Moole and Narasimha stopped by later in the evening, haven't seen either of them in four years.

Vennela was not comfortable the whole morning, she was happy only when we were holding her, Swapna thinks it's because of her umbilical cord. She seemed to have recovered by the evening. We finished the 8pm feeding by around 9 and put them in their cribs, we went back to check up around 9:30 and both girls were wide awake, looking up with their big eyes. You can't get them to wake up when they are feeding, but when it's time to sleep, they are wide awake;) They both started crying around 10pm, one hour after their last feeding, both were hungry already. We have to increase their feeding amount. Pretty soon we will have to start using big bottles!

Nurse Visit

Shruthi gave us a scare yesterday morning. She pulled her hat over her mouth and nose and started crying. Good thing we caught it in time. No more hats for Shruthi! Elizabeth, the nurse came by yesterday evening. She weighed the babies, Vennela was at 4lb 6oz and Shruthi at 5lb 1oz. They seem to be gaining about 1oz per day, good progress.

I got the night shift duty for the weekend, 2am and 5am feedings. Got up at 2am and fed Shruthi, she did well, finished her feeding in 45 mins. I set the alarm for 5am, but forgot to turn it on;) Luckily Swapna and her mom were on top of things, so the babies didn't miss the 5am feeding.

Swapna had fun feeding the babies this afternoon. We wanted to get the babies used to breast feeding, so didn't give them bottles for their 2pm feeding. The babies weren't happy, both of them started screaming, Swapna kept busy, swapping them. Now we know how to make them breastfeed, wait till they are hungry.

Learned a new trick to wake up the babies, putting a wet towel on their tummy seems to work all the time.

Babies had a lot of visitors today, first came Tracy, then Robyn & Scott and Amarnath & Jessee. Jesse got us a boppy pillow and Robyn got the babies a pink bouncer. Ann and Dave also stopped by in the evening.

Pink Pink & more pink;)

We didn't buy any clothes in 'P' size for the babies. Day before they got released from the hospital, I went and got a couple of dresses for them. We thought they didn't need many P size dresses and the tons of new born size would fit them fine. Poor things, the new born size dresses were so big, they look like they were floating in them. Felt sorry for them, so went to Babies R Us to get them some P size clothes, and I was in for a shock - the only P size dresses I could find are either in pink or blue or much worse - Barbie styles! I hate pink! Which marketing genius made the decision that girls should always wear pink and boys always blue.

The nurse came by today, to check up on the babies. She took all the info and said that she would come back tomorrow to do the checks. We are glad the nurse is coming by to check up on the babies, makes us feel more secure.

Got home in time for 5pm feeding. Shruthi was fussy after the feeding, very unusual for her. She was awake and was crying, stopping only when we held her. We thought may be she still was hungry. It took us two hours to figure out the problem - her diaper was wet, so was her dress and the blanket. Lesson learned, if the babies are complaining, first thing you do is check their diaper;)

First Docs Appointment

Had the first pediatrician's appointment this morning, 7:45am! The docs office is close by, but they kept the office too cold and asked the babies be completely undressed. Both babies weren't too happy, to be unwrapped from their comfy, warm clothes in a cold room. Swapna got stuck doing the paper work, so I ended up changing both screaming babies. Shruthi weighed in at 4lb 12oz and Vennela came in at 4lb 2oz. They are back up to their birth weight. Doc said both are perfectly healthy. We have to go back to the pediatrician next week.

Vennela wasn't finishing her quota of food today. I hope she is fine and this is a short term effect of her moving from hospital to home.

Tara booked her tickets for 5/31. We decided to do the Namakaranam on the same day, at home.

Babies Are Home!

Today is the big day, babies come home today. I went to work and stopped by the hospital on my way back. Swapna got there an hour earlier, got a ride from Jessee. Terry, the NNP was great, she sat down with us and explained everything to us. I think the nursing staff at Virginia Hospital Center was the best, everyone we dealt with, Roccio in labor & delivery, kanika in post-partum and Terry, Martina, Vladka, Jamie and Kizzy in NICU were amazing, the NICU staff in particular. The NICU staff made us feel very comfortable leaving our precious babies with them.

Got a bunch of goodies as parting gifts from the hospital. Babies got to wear their brand new outfits, Shruthi got the green alligator outfit and Vennela got the elephant one, so cute. Shruthi got the nail polish, the purple one. If we ever lost track of who is who, look for the purple nail polish! The babies were fine on the drive home. Both were fast asleep. Vennela slept through everything, but Shruthi woke up 10 minutes after getting home threw up and started crying, poor thing. The drive must have upset her. That freaked Swapna out a little. Vennela was goofy, slept comfortably in her car seat, with both hands up in the air, as if someone was pointing a gun at her. Swapna was busy preparing dinner and aunty and changed the diapers and fed them. Both are resting comfortably in their new digs, the crib from Linda. It should be an interesting night, with feedings and changing diapers every three hours. Hopefully, changing of the environment won't stress them out too much.

Went to the hospital for 11am feeding. The doc had a big surprise waiting for us - she said we can take the babies home tomorrow! The babies are doing exceptionally well, so there is no reason for them to stay there anymore, she said. The doc called our babies and a second set of twins in the NICU 'the fantastic four', because they were doing so well. Exciting, the little ones will be home tomorrow. And scary too, we don't have the home ready yet.

Went out this evening and finished the rest of the shopping, hopefully we didn't miss anything. It's been raining like crazy today. This has been a very, very wet Spring. Looks like we are making up for last year's drought.

Going to work tomorrow, made chocolate dripped strawberries for work. Milk chocolate came out well, white chocolate was a dud, not sure what I did wrong.

Baby Visit

We went to the hospital for the 11am feeding. Vennela was being lazy, didn't want to breastfeed, but finished her bottle in one big gulp. They changed the baby formula today. Both babies are upto 35ml each feeding, and we don't think it's enough for them. We put both babies in one crib and took pics. When they are next to each other, its hard to tell them apart. Shruthi is a little bigger, but other than that, it's hard to tell them apart;)

The head nurse, Terry says that the babies are doing very well and she thinks that the babies will probably go home by the end of next week.

Robyn surprised us with a balloon tied to the front porch. We are all inside the home, but she sneaked up and tied the balloon without any of us noticing it.

Big surprise when we went for the 5pm feeding, the babies are in a bassinet! The bassinets are less intimidating. Vennela was great with breastfeeding this evening, with the football hold.

Swapna is Home

Swapna is home today! But the little ones are still in NICU;) They are progressing nicely. They are off the heated incubators today. When we went for the 11am feeding, both girls were fast asleep, finished their feeding in their sleep.