The Burkett Bundle

In honor of Karyssa and Kyran's 16 month-day, here are 16 random facts about them at this stage (this would have been posted yesterday, but #15 will explain why it wasn't):

1.  They are both wearing size 3 diapers, and probably will for a while.  Aside from a few Huggies we were given as part of a diaper cake, they have been exclusively Pampers babies, and they work very well for them.

2.  Speaking of diapers, I've calculated that if we've changed an average of 12 diapers a day between the two of them, just since they came home from the hospital, we have changed over 5,100 diapers already!

3.  I noticed a while back that whenever I would say "I don't know", Kyran would shrug his shoulders with his palms up.  I guess I do that a lot!  Now whenever we ask him a question he doesn't know the answer to, he does that!

4.  In the past, at restaurants, I've gotten a little of my water in my straw, and dropped it into their mouths to drink.  Last night at dinner, Karyssa started sucking on the end of the straw.  I decided to see what would happen if I gave her the straw in a drink, and she is now a champion straw-drinker!

5.  Kyran has started blowing kisses!

6.  Karyssa is now saying "more" and in the past two days has signed two two-word phrases.  Last night at dinner, she signed "want" and then "more" and today, she signed "want" and then pointed at Kyran's occupational therapist Sherri, to say "want you".

7.  Kyran's vocabulary is getting better by the day, and he repeats so much.  Today he said "shh" for the first time!  He is saying mama, dada, duck, quack, ribbit, hi, bye bye, I love you (more like I la ya), Bella, and a few more that I'm forgetting.

8.  Karyssa, a couple of times, has put her finger to her mouth when I say "shh".

9.  Kyran is our little "mechanical genius".  He loves to figure out how things work, mainly figuring out where to press to turn on the music of all of his toys, and he uses a trial and error method to figure it out (first the tummy, then the hand, then the head, etc.)  He's going to be the one to dismantle our DVD player to figure out how it works one day!

10.  Karyssa finally feels comfortable using our walker at home, and trotted around the living room, back and forth, with a big proud grin on her face yesterday afternoon. 

11.  Kyran is still a huge flirt.  He no longer does his shy look-away smile, now it's a big smile with great eye contact and a twinkle in his eye.  He still has his deep laugh, but is also starting to giggle sometimes.  On Tuesday night, we were in the kitchen and Jason said something that made me throw my head back and laugh.  He picked up on it right away, threw his head back and said "ha ha".  He did this several times, and has done it a few times since. 

12.  Karyssa has started smiling a little more at people she doesn't know, but still just loves to stare at people and take it all in.  She loves to laugh and smile at home, though!  Her favorite tickle spots are her neck and underarms. 

13.  They still prefer baby food fruit, but other than that, they won't touch the stuff.  They are now eating broken up sandwiches for lunch (bread, deli chicken and cheese) and whatever we eat for dinner.  They like chopped up green beans and the mixed vegetables from the can only.  For an afternoon snack, they usually eat yogurt, veggies and cheerios.  There is nothing wrong with their appetites, but they are definitely getting pickier.

14.  Kyran is still doing occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech therapy.  Karyssa has dropped down to one PT session per month and speech therapy each week.   Their early interventionist is now seeing them every other week on alternating weeks, which means she comes each week for one hour, instead of two. 

15.  I spent a few hours last night at the children's ER with Karyssa.  She had been up most of the night before coughing and crying, and started wheezing a little yesterday evening.  I called the nurse who said if she was wheezing at all, I needed to take her in.  Three hours and a large co-pay later, we walked out of there with instructions to use a humidifier to help her get rid of her viral cold, but also a peace of mind that let me sleep better last night. 

16.  Last night confirmed my belief that there is something off with the scale at our pediatrician's office.  On our scale at home, Kyran is between 19.5 and 20 lbs, and Karyssa is usually around 18.5 lbs.  At the doctor's office last Monday, they were 18 lb, 11 oz and 17 lb, 11 oz, respectively.  Last night, Karyssa weighed 18 lb, 9.9 oz, which is much more in line with their growth (based on how their clothes fit) and what our scales say. 

Don't forget, the March of Dimes walk is Saturday!  We'd love to see you there!