11 Months Old

WOW! Where did the time go? The boys are now 11 months old and are doing very well. Alex is up to 18 pounds and Anthony is tipping the scales at 21 pounds. Alex decided to crawl for the first time on Election Day, November 4th. He has now mastered the art and is crawling all over the place. Anthony is watching him and is starting to rock back and forth on his hands and knees so he isn't too far behind. He is determined to crawl now as Alex has gotten into the habit of crawling up to Anthony, taking the toy he is playing with and crawling away with it. I told Alex to be careful as Anthony is much bigger than him so when he does start to crawl, watch out!

We spent the twin's first Thanksgiving at my Mom's house and had a great time. The babies tried homemade mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes for the first time. Their taste buds must not be up to par though as they preferred the Gerber brand sweet potatoes over the homemade stuff, oh well in good time I guess. There was a lot to be thankful for this year having these two boys with us. I thought back to last Thanksgiving, laying in the hospital and not knowing their fate many times during the day. Thanks to all of the prayers, we are very fortunate to have these babies in our lives today! They have brought all of us so much joy. "Grammy" mentioned them in her toast and got teary eyed. They truly are a blessing and have made the Thanksgiving holiday mean more to us than ever!

Well we are in the final stretch of our first year! The boys will celebrate their 1st Birthday on Christmas Eve, December 24th! Hard to believe... We will post another update after the big Birthday. Happy Holidays! Love you all, Tricia

Anthony and Alex

Anthony

Alex

10 Months Old

The boys are doing great and so are Mom and Dad.  Anthony is now 21 pounds and Alex is 18 pounds as of their last checkup.  Alex has also started crawling and this should motivate Anthony to get up and moving as well - he has a bit more girth to navigate.

The boys celebrated their first Halloween last weekend and we dressed them up as roosters to reflect the early morning risers that they tend to be.  Enjoy the photo of them in their costumes (this was taken before a neighborhood parade and we had to wake them up early from their nap - they were still half asleep when the photo was taken).

Almost 9 Months Old

The boys will celebrate their nine month birthday in a couple of days.  Both boys now have a couple of teeth - they are growing up so fast. Here are some of their latest photos.  Thanks to our friend Mike for taking some of them. 

Alex & Anthony

Alex & Anthony

Anthony

Alex

Anthony enjoying bathtime

Alex is not so sure about the pig towel... he thinks the pig should be Anthony's

7 Months Old

Quick Update... The boys are doing great and are now over 7 months old.  Anthony is 17 1/2 lbs and Alex is 14 3/4 lbs.  They are really enjoying their summer and meeting all of their relatives.

Anthony & Uncle Thomas

Alex snoozing

Dad's Team

Brotherly Love

Fratini Home Cooking

Alex and his cousins

Anthony & Grandpa

Anthony's first meal

Alex's first meal

At Browns' Training Camp (they hated it... wanted to see the Bengals instead)

6 Months Old

The boys are now 6 months old - wow... we made it a half a year.  Tricia and I were looking at pictures from when the boys were born and we both felt like it was years ago.  Both boys are doing very well and are really starting to interact with us (a lot of smiling, cooing, and laughing).  They are also now rolling over regularly and seem to really like sleeping on all sides of their bodies (back, side, tummy) - we never know in what position we will find them in the morning.

Their personalities have also emerged.  Alex seems to be the quieter one and is very content most of the time.  Anthony is much more social and is not happy unless he is around others or being held.  It is obvious that Alex takes after Tricia and Anthony takes after me.  Alex has taken a real liking to his fleece blanket and Anthony loves his stuffed monkey - these are invaluable in keeping the boys in peace.

They boys were baptized two weeks ago and we had a wonderful party for our families.

We wish everyone a terrific summer and have added a couple of new photos for you to enjoy.

The Boys with Cousin Karen and Grandma

Alex with "Blankie"

Anthony with "Monkey"

Alex with his Godmother (Aunt Kathy)

Anthony with his Godmother (Aunt Angie) and Cousin Katie (aka Peanut)

5 Months Old

The boys celebrated their 5 month birthday last week. They also visited their pediatrician last week as well. Alex is up to 12 1/2 lbs. and Anthony is now 15 1/2 lbs. The doctor is very happy with how the boys are developing. With the nicer weather, we have been able to get the boys out to some family and holiday events. They love being around people and they have been known to spit up on people they really like. Watch out!

The boys napping in their bouncy seats

The boys hanging out

Boys with Aunt Mary

Alex flashing a grin

Anthony loves his diaper changes

Anthony with his buddy

The boys relaxing in their blankets at Uncle Thomas' lake house

Alex all worn out by a busy day

Anthony all toasty warm

Enjoying a nice sunset over the lake

Uncle Frank & Alex

Aunt Mary and a hip Anthony

Alex, Cousin Ella, Anthony

4 Months Old

The boys are 4 months old today and doing great.  With the weather warming, we have been able to take them on some short walks around the block which they love.  They boys are also starting to sleep more consistently and longer during the night which is a big relief for Mom & Dad.  Below are some pictures of the boys enjoying their activity gym.

Mommy & the Boys

Anthony & Alex

3 Months Old

Today is the boys' 3 month birthday... Happy Birthday Boys!!!

We need to apologize for not updating the blog any sooner, but the boys are quite a handful and we have been just too tired in the evening to do very much of anything.  The good news is that the boys are doing great and are growing like weeds.

We had a pediatrician appointment today and the boys got good marks from their doctor.  Alex is now 8 lbs. 5 oz. and Anthony is a whopping 10 lbs. 9 oz.  The boys have essentially tripled in weight from their birth weight.  The doctor is very pleased with how they are growing and their motor development to date.  We are so happy that the boys seem to be doing so well.

Tricia and I are also doing well, but we could not of imagined how much work these two guys are.  Unfortunately, the boys need to eat so much so frequently that we have to get up usually at 2:oo am and 6:00 am to feed them.  It is really playing havoc on our sleep but we are getting by.  We have begun to see some improvement in their sleeping and we think they may be able to sleep 6 hours straight in a few weeks.  That will be a welcome change.

We have had a few visitors, mostly family and a a couple of friends, but we are still following our doctor's orders to minimize visitors until the weather really warms up.  We will have to keep the boys cooped up in the house until the end of May.

Below are a few pictures of the boys.  Some of them are a couple of weeks old, but they are pretty fun to look at.  Enjoy!

Albie & Tricia

Anthony & Alex

Alex

Anthony

Homecoming Day

Big News!!!!

Alex was released from the hospital and we brought both boys home yesterday afternoon.  Grandpa and Grandma Fratini were here to help celebrate the occasion and to help pack up all the stuff from the hospital.  Grandma O'Grady came by later with a delicious dinner for us.  The boys had a good night and seem to be adjusting well to their new home.

Much more information to come as we get settled in.

Sweet Dreams for Valentine's Day

Anthony - Dreaming of the day when newborn sized clothes fit.

Alex - Dreaming about going home...

7 1/2 weeks old

"Look Mommy, no oxygen!"

Quick update on the boys:

Anthony, who was released from hospital care last week, is doing great. He has been staying with Mommy in the hospital until Alex is ready to be taken home. Anthony is up to about 6 1/2 pounds and keeping his brother company. We took Anthony out of the hospital for the first time yesterday for visits to the eye doctor and pediatrician (of course it had to be the day of a snow / ice storm). He passed his eye exam and the pediatrician said things are also looking good.


Alex is also making great progress and the doctors are beginning to plan his release. He has been off all breathing assistance for several days now and seems to be tolerating completely breathing on his own fairly well. He has also been eating all his food by mouth and his feeding tube was taken out several days ago as well. His last hurdle is to go five days without a heart rate drop. He had one drop two days ago so the doctors are watching him closely to see if he can make it until Sunday without another one. It sounds like he may be released on Sunday at the earliest and the doctors may send him home with a heart rate monitor if they are still worried about future heart rate drops. Alex is up to about 4 lbs 12 oz.




Tricia has been essentially living at the hospital for the last nine days providing all of Anthony's care while also taking care of Alex as much as she can. Most nights have been rather rough as it seems like one or the other boy is fussing at all times during the night - mostly it is Anthony who is the fussy one - he just really likes to be held. As a result Tricia is hardly getting any sleep.


We will see how the next few days turn out, but we may have both boys home very shortly!!!


Albie & Tricia

Good News

Hi everyone!  Tuesday was exciting day for us, after 43 days in the hospital and on my Mom's Birthday,  Anthony was released to go home!  After some thought about leaving Alex at the hospital while taking Anthony home, we decided against it.  We wanted to bring the boys home together.  Afterall they were "womb-mates!"  Since they are twins the hospital gave us an option to board at the hospital with the discharged twin until the other one is released so that is what we have been doing.  I have been there since Tuesday afternoon taking full care of Anthony while still assisting in Alex's care.  The first night was an adjustment but the boys and I sort of figured out a "groove" pretty quickly.  

Albie, being the awesome husband he is recognized I was lacking in the sleep department so he offered to stay with the boys tonight so I could go home to rest.  But if you notice the time I am posting this you will see I am still wide awake.  Anthony has brought me back to my old flight attendant red eye days by staying up half the night, two nights in a row. Hopefully he is behaving better tonight for Daddy.

Alex is making great strides every day!  His oxygen level has been reduced to 24 percent today. The room air we breath is approximately 21 percent so he is getting there!  They guess by the end of the weekend, he will be there and then the next step will be to take the nasal cannula off all together.  He is off all of his medications as of today so once his cannula comes off they will start a 5 day countdown with him being off of everything while still being monitored.  If he gets through that period without any heart rate drops on the monitor, he too will be released!  So if all goes well we could get the boys home as early as next Friday!  

The boys nursery at home is still in progress but their bassinet, car seats and other necessities are good to go!  Daddy and Grandma painted the room a very cool blue, I picked out all of the decorations and slowly but surely it is coming along...stay tuned for updates and pictures.  Love to all of you and we will post more soon!  Tricia    

Superbowl Sunday

"Hmmm, I wonder what Alex is doing?"

"Listen, we can hang out as long as we're quiet."

"Ohhh...quit laughing so loud Alex, the nurse is coming!"

"She heard you! Do something quick! Act like you are crying!"

"GEEZ not so loud, maybe act like you are sleeping instead!"

"Is she gone yet??"

"Oh no, don't tell me we're in trouble Anthony!"

"Listen Alex, stick with me and you will never be in trouble!"

 Pictures and captions compliments of Mommy...