January 22, 2010 to January 28, 2010 – Two Years Old Today

Dearest Katelynn & Daria,

It almost does not seem possible you are both two years old today!  Not only have you beaten the odds, since you hovered dangerously near the limit of viability (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viability_(fetal)) when you were born, but you have both blossomed into my vibrant and beautiful girls.  Many people have been touched by the story of your lives and, to this day, the prayers for you to thrive and grow continue to pour in.  There is not one day that passes that I do not take a moment to tell God how thankful I am to have you in my life. 

Katelynn, your Mommy and I worry quite a bit about you.  You have this amazing ability to melt the hearts of everyone you meet with your sweet and loving personality, and we have seen you skillfully use this to your advantage.  Still, I know my Katelynn and that stubborn fighting spirit that brought you where you are today.  Just ask Mommy how many times you have thrown a left cross to effectively transfer your food from the spoon in my hand to my perfectly clean shirt.  It really seems you are getting stronger each day and we are thrilled to see you pulling yourself up to your feet.  We do know that the road to reaching the full potential of your mobility will be long and tough, as you are affected with excessive pronation (http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/pronation-supination.php) of your feet.  As I took you in to see the Certified Orthotist today to be fitted for DAFO 4 braces, I was grateful to hear that your pronation was not terribly severe.  The brace, which is also known as a supramalleolar orthotic, is a custom fitted support device that will help you strengthen your muscles as you learn to stand with proper alignment in your ankles and feet.  Our prayers have also been answered, as insurance has agreed to cover the full cost of the braces.  So in roughly two weeks when the DAFO 4 is ready, we will begin working on getting you up on your feet.

As much as we want to get you up and walking, you are perfectly content as you immerse yourself in a pile of books.  Lately, you have also been very vocal in your speech and your repertoire seems to have expanded significantly to include words like bush, gosh, much, batch and bench.  Now if we can only get you past the challenges you have chewing and swallowing food, we would be ecstatic.  There have been some definite improvements in your gag reflex, but I think Mommy and I are just worried that pushing you too hard with tougher textures will only cause you to throw up all the calories we work so hard to get into your system.

Daria, your Mommy and I worry about you even more so than your sister.  The only fear you seem to have is when a stranger picks you up, which, in reality, is a fantastic safety mechanism.  Even when we found you up on the second floor the other day when we had accidentally left the gate on the stairs unlatched, you seemed a little more comfortable that you probably should have been.  Your fun and bubbly nature perfectly compliment the adorable way you say “hi” to anyone that walks through the door.  I will need to make sure to have the video camera standing by more often so we do not miss these fleeting moments that may never come back the same way again.  We also noticed recently that you have been standing in the cutest posture, with both of your hands behind your back, when you are trying to make an observation or peer into a sack of groceries.  I just do not know how I can grab my camera quick enough to capture this, as you are literally up and running in a flash.

Like your sister, you also have not been shy in communicating.  What Katelynn has in terms of the breadth of her vocalizations, you seem to make up in volume and inflection.  Your favorite phrase is “Here you go,” which either means you want to share an item in your hand or you want someone else to share an item with you.  Of course, you also happen to do combination phrases such as “Here you go,” immediately followed by “Uh oh,” when you decide to take the newly acquired item and purposely drop it to the ground.  This is only funny and cute until it happens while you have a face of food while you are seated in your high chair during a meal.  We still fight with a resistant bout of indigestion that is causing you pain, especially during your afternoon nap.  With the feeding clinic coming up in the not so distant future, hopefully we will figure out what needs to be done to make things more comfortable.

There is still so much more to talk about when it comes to the two of you, but I wanted to let you know that we actually celebrated your birthday a little early this year on Saturday, January 23. Your Auntie Christina was able to come back from the Bay Area with your soon-to-be-Uncle Ryan to celebrate your birthday at a family dinner we planned.  Unlike last year, we wanted to keep it small and decided to throw it at the newest California Pizza Kitchen downtown.  The funny thing is that the location was actually a last minute decision because your Mommy and I went there the night before for a date and enjoyed it so much that we thought it would be great for a celebration.  The highlight of the evening was when the waiter came over to refill water glasses.  Grandpa Owyang decided to reach over for Grandma’s glass, and somehow she thought he was going to drink out of it.  Normally this is fine, but Grandma had a cold, so she nearly tackled Grandpa to keep him from catching her illness.  The waiter jumped aside and Grandpa only scared the poor guy by explaining that Grandma had the flu.  Of course, he said this as the waiter already had her glass in his hand.  You should have seen how quickly Grandma moved that night and also the expression on the waiter’s face.  I ended up trying to reassure the waiter that Grandma might only have a cold, so I think we can safely return there without much embarrassment.

Well, my sweet daughters, you are now officially two years old.  You have come such a long way from your long and intense stay in the hospital for the first three and a half months after your births.  The past year has been full of answered prayers and accomplishments, and there is so much to remind me to take a moment to just quiet my heart and be thankful.  I look forward so much to the day when I can sit each of you on my lap and tell you the stories of your precious lives.  Happy Birthday to my sweet angels, Katelynn and Daria.