Milestones and Family Changes

I have been ignoring the developmental milestone of introducing the twins to eating with a spoon. It was very selfish of me I know, but I think I envisioned it being way too messy and out of control with two...and I was right. I finally gave in this weekend, selfishly, because Steven was home to manage one while I managed the other one. They both did so much better than I imagined they would do. Berkley holds his spoon right handed and is grips it in his fist. Meredith holds her spoon left handed and likes to hold it by the end. It's definitely a skill we're going to have to continually work on, but I'm pleased by how quickly they're picking it up!


We've had a busy week in the Manning household. Many of you have heard me often speak of my Nana, my mother's mom, who has come to visit the twins with my mom nearly daily since they were born. Well, Nana has had a horrible 2-3 weeks. Two weeks ago she suffered from a couple of falls, which is unfortunately typical in someone who is 89 years old, and by the end of the week she could hardly walk. She was hospitalized and found to have a couple of different infections and put on IV antibiotics. Nana was hospitalized for a week and has now been admitted to a nursing home in Washington. It's been a terribly crazy week as my mom has been juggling caring for my Nana at the hospital and my brother and I have managed caring for my dad. I tell you, I have so much more respect for my mom now that I had to manage my dad for nearly a week. It takes an entire hour to feed him, which doesn't count food prep and clean-up and don't get me started on all the pushing and pulling it takes to change his diapers. I'm so thankful for all the aides who come in to serve my dad and I couldn't have made it through the last week without my in-laws, who so graciously kept Meredith and Berkley anytime I asked...which was often.

I have to be honest, I didn't think my Nana was going to pull through this. It was such a shock for me to have had her at my home playing with the twins one week and the following week, being deathly ill. Thankfully, today Nana has shown quite the turn-around. I don't feel like she's completely the "old Nana," but she's getting closer than I thought she was ever going to after the week she suffered. She definitely needs physical therapy for awhile to regain her strength and hopefully with some visits from Meredith and Berkley to motivate her, she'll be back to her old self before long. Keep our whole family in your prayers as we transition to this new phase of care for my Nana.
Here's a recent picture of Nana with Berkley, boy do they love their Nana!