The Fraser Family: September 2010

August seemed to fly by! I can't believe it is almost fall. Simon took his MCAT a few weeks ago and he took it again today (September 9th). He took it again because this is the last chance he has to take the MCAT if he wants to start fall of 2011 and he will not have his score back until September 15th. He figured it couldn't hurt to take it twice and he will just take the best score! So.. fingers crossed and lots of prayers!! It has been a lot of fun having Simon around. He has been able to do lunch with the kids, go shopping with us, lots of pool time, going to the zoo and park. We have defiantly had some wonderful family time!

August was a big month for me because... hold your breath.. I was able to leave the kids for the first time overnight with my parents! Simon and I had been talking about going downtown, having a nice dinner and staying in a hotel. I knew the twins would be fine, but for some reason I just felt guilty so I would make up excuses on why we couldn't go! I know, I'm a freak.. but I did it and we had an amazing time. We met up with the Rossmans (our friends we met in the NICU) had a wonderful dinner at Marcellas, had a few drinks and then retired back to our hotel and called it a night. It was the first time I went to bed not looking at a monitor. I missed Brynn and Mia like crazy, but it was so nice getting a restful night of sleep and sleeping in until 8:30. You know you are getting old and have kids if sleeping in is 8:30!

Brynn has had a very good month! At his developmental evaluation they had him at 11-12 months. They were so elated with this because they said it is so amazing that he is progressing so well without being mobile and exploring things on his own. He is such a strong little boy and we are so proud of him!! He is now constantly saying "mama, dada and baba", and for the very first time when a lady at Garth's office was holding him.. he started to cry and reach for me. This has never happened before and I was excited because it just shows he growing into a little boy.. finally starting to express what he wants. Brynn has also made great progress now that both hernias are repaired. He leaned forward and touched his toes for the first time! He has never been able to do this before because his hernias blocked him from leaning forward! He is also able to now move his legs in a bicycle movement. Brynn has also started to go to one of the Developmental Disability schools that is associated with the organization Help Me Grow. They have a treadmill that has a harness attached. Brynn walked in it last week for 4 minutes! The look on his face was priceless! It was the look of.. "Finally! I have wanted to do this forever!" So Brynn is going to start going once a week to walk on the treadmill and then they gave us a walker to bring home, so we are able to work on his walking at home as well. And one more exciting thing.. Brynn is starting We Joy Sing this month. It is something that is just going to be Mommy and Brynn time, so I am very excited about that. Lastly, we went and got a second opinion on Brynn's hips from a doctor at Children's Hospital. He said the same thing our original Orthopedic Surgeon said... they want him walking around before they would consider doing the hip surgery. He said he could put his hips in place, but feels it could and probably would make him tighter. It is not just his hips that are the issue but also the muscles surrounding his hips. They're hope is.. when Brynn is walking his hips will be loser and will also have more range. With that being said, we are still taking Brynn to see another Orthopedic Surgeon at Rainbow Babies in Cleveland on September 13th. We just want a surgeon to tell us the same exact thing that does not have the capability to look in Brynn's chart and read all the past notes another surgeon wrote.

Mia has also had a wonderful month. At her developmental evaluation they had Mia at 15 months. This was so exciting because that was 2 months ahead of where she would be if she was born on her due date! She is doing so well and we are so proud of her! My oh my.. she is growing into quite the young lady with a very strong personality! Mia has different looks now that she gives. If she isn't happy, she will crinkle her eyes and give you the death stare! She even understands how to play tag and keep away. It is so cute!! Mia will hold her cup up to the refrigerator wanting to put water in her cup and she also now gets into the cabinets and will get out her crackers or cereal. Such a smart little girl! She now says "Hi, up, thank you, bye bye and night night". She had her toes painted for the first time and of course they were hot pink.. her favorite color! Mia also loves giving kisses. She will hug and kiss her toys and still enjoys kissing on Brynn. We have also discovered that Mia loves cleaning. When we go to the park, she will clean off the stairs before she crawls on them. If there is a leaf on the driveway, she will pick it up and give it to us! She even grabs towels or wet wipes and cleans off her chair, table, shopping cart. You name it and Mia has cleaned it! Mia has also learned to get on her tip toes. She is so very proud of herself when she is able to reach stuff she is not supposed to have.. cell phone, pens, glasses.. One of my favorite things that Mia does is when you say "Summer Salt" she stands and puts her head on the ground and waits for you to flip her over. When I saw how much she enjoys this and the amount of energy that she possess I decided it would be a good idea to sign her up for gymnastics. So mommy and Mia have a set date Wednesday mornings for gymnastic class!