So… we were at the Zoo this weekend with mom and dad and, to our surprise, we were told we were about to get ice cream! But there was one catch: we needed to take a “nice picture” together. We weren’t totally sure what this meant, but found ourselves in this position (yes, I’m wearing pink and proud of it):

It was a big hit. Mom calls it our prom pose. Needless to say, we like it too (see below)…

So… after 5 days in the hospital, I’m breaking free! I’ve still got to be on oxygen at night (good luck keeping oxygen on a 3-year old!), but other than that – and the steroids that are still running through my system – I’m in good shape! A couple things mom wanted to share as “memories” from this hospital stay:

–my nightly wakings in the middle of the night asking “where’s cooper?”
–”mama bear” also kicked in quite regularly when she would feel the need (very regularly) to explain to the onlookers wondering why the nut job running the halls was in the hospital that “yes, he’s high energy, but it’s exaggerated by steroids!”
–cooper’s nightly visits to the playroom. mom said it’s CRAZY how easy it is to have each of us alone… confirming the twin effect of us egging each other on and getting into more trouble when we are together!
–sleeping with mom is a huge treat since we NEVER sleep in mom/dad’s bed at home… mom was laying down with me one night (pretending to sleep so I would) when I took her face gently into both of my hands and kissed her lips, nose, then forehead. She never opened her eyes so I didn’t know she was awake, but it is one of her favorite Quinn moments of all time.

I’m putting this all behind me and just want to get ready to start school next week!

Later Skater!
Quinn

Here’s my theory: Why wait for school to start to begin the year of sickness! I mean, we’ve known this time was going to come (of Cooper and I catching and spreading every germ known to man), but I figured why should I wait until next week when preschool starts?! I may as well start the drama now.

Mom took me into the hospital Friday night with 104 temperature and labored breathing. An x-ray initially showed some early stage pneumonia, but doctors have since changed the diagnosis to “severe respiratory distress.” Sounds better to me. I’ll take that over pneumonia any day of the week.

The coolest part is I got to take an ambulance ride from one hospital to another… while I didn’t think it was cool at the time, I sure do now.

My days have been spent in the hospital playroom hyped up in a HUGE way on liquid steroids (much stronger than the inhaled ‘roids I took daily for almost 3 years) – so basically I start running like a maniac around the pediatric unit the second I wake up and literally don’t stop until I crash at 10 pm. That’s when the problems start (though mom and dad would say me going on one steroid binge after another during the day is quite problematic!): at night, my saturation levels (oxygen in my blood) drops to unsafe levels, requiring me to have oxygen through a nasal cannula. I thought my days of this lung stuff was over, but am told that even though I am a total stud and continue to grow strong lung every day, I still do have “compromised lungs” from my premature delivery.

So, back on the juice I go. Coop and I thought we were drug free forever back in June when the doc took us off the daily steroid inhaler, but given this little stint, and given our upcoming germ-filled school days, they’re taking no risks! While other kids will be carrying lunch boxes with the Hulk on them, I’ll just look like him. Rock on.

Q-doggy-dogg

So… the pressure was on. Before August 6, we were sporting diapers all day with no diaper training interest whatsoever. That’s until mom and dad realized we needed to be potty trained for preschool on Sept 2. Let’s just say, they got down to business!

Mom went out and bought calendars with star stickers and an enormous jug of animal crackers (which we call alphabet cookies) ready to take on the world.

As you may recall, we’ve been down this road before back in February where we teased mom and dad by being potty trained for a month, just before regressing to diapers after the novelty wore off. Well… that’s not an option this time. Or at least that’s what mom says.

In hindsight, the calendars were genius. We get to show mom and dad at the end of each work day how great we were (or not) on the potty and it’s quite a production! We love looking back at our calendars full of stars. Quinn’s is full of blue stars and mine full of red (naturally, our favorite colors).

We still have accidents every now and then, but are at about 90% success rate, so that’s pretty solid!

Peeing machine,
Cooper

We’re charming enough without the temptation that swimsuits bring… just think of the game we’ve got when we’re at swim class!

Pier and Piper are the best swim partners ever… just wish it could last. :( School schedules are getting in the way of our pool fun, but we’ll just have to hitch a ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to see our ladies at THEIR pool. Yeah, we know how to pick ‘em!

Quinn & Coop