These little guys are getting so big that we decided it was about time they got their first real jeans, they looked so cute we decided it was worth a blog entry, check out these classic photos.

and yes, the bug is Felix, the sprout is Hugo :)

It was with a lot of anticipation and joy that we welcomed our Au Pair “Tata” last week from Colombia, already she has made a huge difference to us and most importantly the kids.

Tata comes to us from Bogota through the Au Pair in America program, the whole process was great, we looked up profiles online, talked to her and all agreed to have her come stay.  She is on a J class visa which means the studies for part of the time and lives with us for 12 months.

The boys have done very well with her, luckily I am still on paternity leave and have been able to spend a bunch of time with her making sure she is comfortable with everything in a new house and new country.

It has been a great summer here in Seattle, we have spent lots of time out and about, parks, pic nics and BBQs at home.

This weekend our old friend Swifty visited from New York, he just moved there from Singapore and it was really nice to see him, he spent a few days here and we had a lot of fun.

Hernan and Angela were also here, check out Mr. Hugo with him, don’t they look great.

Lets hope the summer keeps stays this nice, Seattle is really best with a little sunshine!

Last weekend Hugo and Felix went to see their cousin Raiden in Vancouver, although not really far they had to cross a birder to get there.

The boys did great, we set out just after they fed at 7am and headed home just after they fed 7pm, 6 hours driving and 6 hours there.

Here are some shots at Colin and Meg’s house, didn’t manage to get any good ones with Raiden, next time.

Felix with Colin

Hugo, Caroline and Meg

On Monday we went to the pediatrician for the boys 6 month check up, yes, they are 6 months old!

They are now officially on the chart, albeit a little low, around 25 percentile, but they are tracking well for their age. Hugo is now a huge boy at 15lb 8.5oz and Felix is just a little behind at 15lb even.

They are doing such funny things, they started rolling around which is pretty fun to watch, they sit on their play gyms and just roll, take a look at the cute boys today.

They are also starting to laugh out loud, it is such a joy to hear your son giggle, very funny and cool.

The next milestone is finding their feet, I think Hugo is close, he was eying off his big toe and licking his lips.

Overall they are very good boys, calm and chilled out, Felix is still a little grumpy when he is hungry or wakes up, we will see how long it lasts.

Another great bit of news is that last night they both went down at 7pm and didn’t wake up till 5am…yay, we call that heaven, we were in bed at 9.30pm and it felt like we slept in till noon!

More photos and fun facts soon

We are now just 5 days away from the start of my paternity leave, I am taking 2 months off work to beat home and care for these cool dudes.  These last few weeks have been great, the little guys are really starting to make progress holding their heads up and doing all sorts of funny things.

Now they are getting bigger we decided to get one of those bouncy door frame things, check out the fun Felix is having on it.

And then Hugo got on it and had a blast too

Life with twins is busy all the time, the boys have been getting more sleep at night which does help a lot, they go down at 7pm and then do a little feed around midnight and get up again at around 5.30am, way better than every two hours!

Caroline went back to work last week which was a shock to the system, Wanda the trusty doula has been covering at home for a few hours each day and when I am at home she will help me on and off.  All of this while we wait for the new super Au Pair to arrive, Milena or 'Tata' is from Colombia and we are very excited about her coming to live with us, she seems like a really nice girl, hope she enjoys being with the two little guys.

Today Hugo and Felix went out with us for ice-cream and he decided to wear his mother's sun glasses, check out the future rock star in action

Now if the sun would just stay out for a few days in a row, everything would be fantastic!

Yes, Seattle is finally feeling like spring is here, plants have gone crazy, weeds are growing and yes, the BBQ is permanently on.

We have been out and about with the boys going to pic nics at the park, visiting the art gallery and today we are headed to the Folklife Festival.

Check out the boys sitting in their Bumbo, this is a cool seat designed to help them sit upright

For the BBQ we packed them a 6 pack of their own...

Caroline had Hugo in his baby bjorn in the side terrace with Hernan and Angela

This morning the boys practiced sitting up in our bed, when my mum  got them these suits we thought they would never be this big..they are 14.5lb each now, big boys

Check out more recent photos in the album section

Its been a few weeks since I wrote, it's amazing how busy you get with two little ones around...

In the last few weeks, Grandma and Grandpa Horn went back to Perth, we were very sad to see them go, after 3 months with my mom we were very used to her being here and enjoyed every minute of her stay.  As luck would have it, Veronica our new nanny couldn't start last week so it meant that Caroline and I were left alone with babies, fun times specially for Caroline as I have this little thing called work to get to each day, fortunately, our super 'Double Time Doula' Wanda came to the rescue and has been here for a few hours each day.

Veronica will start on Monday and all should be well but boy, I am tired :)

The boys continue to develop magnificently, they are now 12 1/2 pounds each, Hugo is still the bigger guy by a couple of ounces but they are close, they are starting to really communicate, laughing, making sounds and generally acting super cute.

Their digestion is still a bit rough with regular bouts of constipation which makes them cry a lot but with trusty prune juice things soften up a bit and they have managed to stay somewhat regular.

Check out the all the photos I posted to the photos section of the site, lots of fun ones and soon I will be uploading some great new videos of the boys, just need some more time to edit them!

On Saturday we changed the time moving forward an hour, it is early but the government decided to save energy by changing the time sooner.

This also means that things are about to get warner and everything will start growing like mad, which brings me to the focus of today's update.

Look at these FAT little ones, the boys have been amazingly well cared for with Mum and Grand Mum keeping the most amazing feeding schedule.

These guys have really started to make some amazing changes, they are trying very very hard to smile, they kind of do it...

Last night they had their bath before dinner, it is a fun time for the boys, they seem to really enjoy the warm water, reminding them of their months in their mum's hot tub.

How cute are these guys!!! The sweetest boys ever, just like their daddy :)

Well it's been a few weeks since I wrote and I have received a lot of questions about how the boys are doing so I decided to write a little...

The boys are the coolest dudes in the universe, they have been growing like weeds, a few days ago they had more than doubled from their birth weight.  Hugo is 7lb 2 oz and Felix is 6lb 14oz and we will weigh them today and expect them to be even bigger.

Check out this photo, they are now big enough to get into their Baby Bjorn chairs.

Over the last few days we have also been getting the little ones out of the house, they got bundled up in their hooded tops ears and all...

Then they got put into their seats and on a frame which is a stroller so we can take them out for a walk...

It's not all good news, the little ones have been having a lot of trouble digesting their milk as we have been adding 40-50% formula to their bottles, they have had some acid reflux and a lot of gas...toot toot, beep beep, the Horn section is active :)

Mum and dad were also very excited to welcome grandmother to the US, my mum arrived just in time literally a day after they came home, this has proven to be one of the smarter ideas Caroline and I have ever had, mum has been great not only to help but to have with us and share this experience, she is cool as a cucumber.

Now the fun really starts, we are starting to get into the routine feeding at 6am, 10am, 2pm and so on every 4 hrs they wake up and start screaming at us...feed me, feed me...the hard ones are the 2am and 6am...all up it means that we sleep in 2hr blocks which has been a challenge.

THE next few weeks will also be fun because I have a couple of work trips to do, a week in Singapore will be the hard one, lets see how mum and grandma do, I bet they won't even miss me.

OK, gotta go get some sleep :)

Over the last few days the boys have been eating well, they both got their tubes taken out and have been on 8/8 feeds without fail so with that final milestone completed...

THEY ARE COMING HOME TOMORROW MORNING!!!

You can imagine mum and dad are both over the moon and petrified all at once.

As I type this and think back first to the last 6 weeks or so we have been at the hospital and then to the last year of our life I am reminded of the amazing journey we have been on and that tomorrow it all culminates with the boys finally arriving at their home, it is truly a special time in our lives.

I am at the same time reminded of the amazing friends and wonderful family we have, to all of you out there reading, we have felt both directly and indirectly your love and warmth along the way

For all the amazing gifts, thank you

For all the home cooked meals, thank you thank you

For all the visits and support, thank you thank you and thank you

For all the love we feel surrounded by the nicest people in the world...I can't thank you enough for that, we love you too :)

Although this will continue to be Hugo and Felix's space I will probably end up updating it less frequently :) the good thing is that the video era is about to begin, I am armed and dangerous planning to film a lot of the progress these cool little men will make as they get older.

See you for the baby arrival party as soon as the boys are ready.

Lots of love, Carlos, Caroline, Hugo, Felix, Frank and Gus

The boys are doing very well and today they are working on their feeding, they are trying to get to 7 today so that they can come home, maybe even this weekend depending on how they go in the next day or two.

Look at this little Buddha, he put on a whole lot more weight last night, he is up to 5 lb 6 oz....huge!

Not a lot really, it could be a spoon full of something, a couple of cigarettes or a pack of chewing gum or the difference between these dudes right now, Felix is right on his brother's heals at 2376 grams and Hugo actually lost a few grams to 2386.

Today the boys are taking 6 feeds so we are very very close to the big day when they come home, they told us they really want to be home to greet their grandmother who arrives next week.

Things are progressing well, they are so cute they are lucky we haven't eaten them yet, there's a high risk I end up swallowing one of them over the next few weeks.

It's been a couple of days since I updated the blog.  The boys have done well and are starting to show signs of improvement on the feedings.  Hugo is up to 5 feeds today and may even break 6 when we go back tonight.  He is now 2394 grams or 5 lb 4 oz.

The big news is Felix, he is on the come back passing the 5 pound mark and nearly catching his brother at 5 lb 3 oz or 2353 just 41 grams behind, go Felix go.

Here is the little man and his mother, cheeks, love those cheeks.

Hugo Mr Tape face was looking around a lot when I fed him too...

And check out this photo of Felix yesterday, his cuteness is hard to explain...here look for yourself.

The boys are doing great again today eating well and gaining weight, they are still in the Intensive Care area but this time its because they have so many fans over here, the nurses seem to like them soooooo much that they don't want them to leave.

Today little Felix has to get a suppository because it's been a couple of days and there's been no action in his nappy...time to help the little guy out before he gets too full.

Check out their cuteness...Hugo closest to the camera...

It's raining in Seattle so we are spending a nice gray day at the hospital with our dudes...

The boys are legal, today their Social Security cards arrived.  From this point on no matter where they are in the world they will have to pay taxes to the US of A.

And the best new of the day is that Hugo is now over 5 pounds, they have been eating well and trying their hardest to increase their number of feeds but they get tired at night and can't take that 4th feed.

So after expecting to move to the pediatrics section yesterday we never got there, the boys are still stuck on 4 out of 8 feeds and the doctor considered it better for us to stay here a couple more days.

Yesterday we also got to complete our CPR class which is one of the requirements of taking the boys home, they teach you a bunch of very good practical skills including how to perform CPR on new borns and small infants.

The overall list is getting filled up though, check out the check list we have to complete.

Not many to go we actually have a pediatrician, completed the CPR and the baby class...

Now all we have to do is keep increasing those feeds...

Today we were told that we would be moving out of the Intensive care area and into pediatrics which is a nice step on the road home, the room is also closer to the front door so it means we can escape any time without people noticing.

The boys moved up to 4 out of 8 feeds today and have coped well with the increased pace, they don't drown on the milk any more.

Overnight Felix put on some additional grams to hit 2074 and his big brother Hugo us racing ahead at 2154, we are getting closer and closer to 5 pounds which is wonderful.

Hugo's bottom is still a bit sore but it's getting better every day, he had some air time today which is one of the funniest things ever, imagine him face down with his bum sticking up in the air with no nappy on, not the most flattering for the poor child so I decided not to take any incriminating photos and post them online, it would definitely come back and haunt him when he decides to run for President of the USA.

Hugo in 2038, get your votes in early!

Today we are celebrating the 2kg party, both boys are now turning into miniature sumo wrestlers, well, not quite but they are certainly looking nice and cheeky. Hugo is 2112 grams or 4lb 10 oz and Felix is 2044 or 4lb 8oz.

The fun continues with attempted feeding, they are both having to work hard because as their weight goes up the quantities go up too, today Hugo is on 42cc and Felix is on 40cc, when we started they got 8cc each...5 times increase...

Hugo's nappy rash continues to be a bit of a pain in the behind...he is pretty uncomfortable and fussing a lot of the day, the poor guy, hope his new ointment fixes things soon.

The Horn twins can officially hear!

Today both Felix and Hugo passed their hearing tests, what? what?  They both had a series of sensors attached to their scull and a device put in their ear to see if their brains responded to sounds, and guess what, they did, they even have the certificates to prove it.

The boys were very naughty last night, in an instant while we were looking the other way they both pulled their feeding tubes right out, this is not fun because the tube goes all the way down to their stomach but it did give us a rare opportunity to take some photos of them without those ugly tubes and tape on their face.

Now these are good looking babies, and I know I know all parents say that, but can you dispute it...these ARE good looking babies :) and  if you think I am wrong I really don't want to know.

Happy Monday

Today the boys are at their original 34 weeks of gestation a fairly important milestone because it's usually from here that they start getting the whole suck, swallow and breathe reflex which will let them get more bottle and breast feeding in.

So far their progress has been great, over the last few weeks they have learned to maintain their body temperature, remember to breathe, keep their heart rate steady and look cute, now the final test is to get them feeding so they can remove their tubes.

They are still getting their lattes in the morning to help them along but that is not much of an issue, they sometimes even send babies home with a small caffeine prescription.

Overnight they gained weight again, Hugo is now over 2kg by 14 grams or 4 lb 7 oz and Felix got to 1954 or 4lb 5 oz so all is well on the eating side, in fact their pooping has gotten a lot more solid and definitely stinky!

Just after feeding the boys like to take a little nap...in fact nap is all these boys seem to want to do :) I would love to be able to sleep 22hrs a day...