Nov 26, 2007 - 04:05:44 CST
FARGO (AP) - Belle Carlsen lightly touched her ear, a small gesture designed to draw attention to the glittery daisy in her ear lobe.With encouragement from her father, Abby Carlsen did the same. "Where are your pretties, Abby?" Jesse Carlsen said, and she tapped her ear. "You look so pretty."
These days, newly pierced ears are as exciting as it gets for the Carlsen twins, who turn 2 on Thursday.
If the first year of Abby and Belle's lives was marked by extraordinary events, their second has been noteworthy only for its normalcy.
The girls don't speak in sentences yet, but use "thank you" and "please" without prompting from their parents. Belle calls her sister "B," and Abby uses Belle's full name.
The twins were flower girls in their uncle's wedding. They dressed up as kitties for Halloween. Their parents read them "Potty Time with Elmo" in hopes that the toddlers will absorb the story's lessons.
The Carlsen twins, of Fargo, were born conjoined. Doctors separated the girls in May 2006, and their story captured the attention of people across the region.
This past year passed in relative quietness.
Amy Carlsen returned to work in mid-September. A licensed practical nurse at MeritCare South University's rehabilitation unit, she now works six shifts every two weeks. Abby and Belle spend the hours at a home daycare in south Fargo.
At Kids in Kami's Kare, the girls play in a basement decorated with colorful posters of shapes and the ABCs. To help Kami Ryckman, the daycare provider, identify the girls, Amy tries to dress Abby in pink and Belle in purple.
Even so, the girls demand their individuality. Each girl gets mad if a parent accidentally puts the wrong-colored hat on her head. Abby, who tends to be more headstrong, has earned a few time-outs, Amy says.
"But I've never given Belle one," she says.
The girls have built their share of travel miles, visiting family in Washington, Montana and New York state, plus taking several road trips to Rochester, Minn., and the Twin Cities area.
Some days the girls are just silly. Their dad recently taught them how to stick Mr. Potato Head lips over their own.
The girls' annual checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where they were separated, revealed no major medical concerns, their parents said.
The only addition to their care is that now Belle wears a small plastic chest protector when she's outside or running wild with her sister. Part of her heart protrudes out of her reconstructed chest wall, where she and Abby once were connected.
Like any toddler, Belle doesn't like to wear the extra layer. Her parents plastered it with kitty stickers as an incentive for the busy youngster to wear it.
As Abby and Belle continue to grow and become more independent, their parents have found more time and energy to share the girls' story publicly.
Amy and Jesse have spoken individually and as a couple at several events, including fundraisers for the Ronald McDonald House, a place where families can stay when their children receive medical care, and the Perry Center, a home for unwed mothers.
Sometimes they talk about their faith and how it grew after the birth of their daughters. Sometimes they tell the story of Abby and Belle, from the day the ultrasound showed that the girls were conjoined until they were surgically separated.
"We're just proud parents talking about our kids," Jesse said. "Who wouldn't want to do that?"
Their daughters, however, are more recognizable than most.
This summer when the family was at the Minnesota Zoo, a woman came up to them, introduced herself and said she had sent Amy a mother's necklace while the girls were at Mayo.
Another time a woman stepped up to the Carlsens' table at Space Aliens in Albertville, Minn. Her young daughter had made bracelets for Abby and Belle while they were in the hospital.
Amy remembered both gifts. "It was so nice to say thank you in person," she said.
blessed wrote on Nov 26, 2007 11:50 AM:
mary says wrote on Nov 26, 2007 11:07 AM:
ksd wrote on Nov 26, 2007 9:49 AM:
JT wrote on Nov 26, 2007 9:45 AM:
Comments are reviewed for taste, tone and language before posting.
Some comments may be used in the Tribune's print edition.
We value and respect your privacy, but The Bismarck Tribune might
disclose certain information to governmental entities if served with subpoena.