9-year-old Naperville twins to be Cubs' honorary bat kids

Lifelong Cubs fans Charlie and Grace Wallin of Naperville are about to make their best baseball memory yet.

On Sunday, through the hospital where they spent the first 121 days of their lives as premature babies, they get to be honorary bat kids for the North Siders' afternoon matchup against the Texas Rangers.

Twins Charlie and Grace are 9 now and developmentally normal with no learning disabilities or long-term health effects from their tiny start as only 1 pound 4 ounces each, their parents Joel and Ann Wallin say.

They've been to a couple of Cubs games before, beginning on one really hot summer day when they were 5 or 6. But this time, they get to tour the dugout, step on Wrigley Field, watch batting practice up close and even get a baseball autographed by players.

"A lot of times (Cubs Manager) Joe Maddon comes out and talks with them as well," said Cristina Enea, marketing coordinator for Advocate Health Care. "It's a really cool experience for the kids and the families."

"Cool" might be an understatement for the Wallin kids, who say they're surprised, excited and thrilled to meet their favorite players - Jake Arrieta for Charlie and Jon Lester for Grace.

Their 8-year-old sister, Ava, gets to come along for the fun, too, and after all the pregame festivities, the family will watch America's pastime from their seats sponsored by Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove and Advocate Health Care.

It was at Good Samaritan where the tiny twins were born in December 2006. And it was there the duo stayed, getting twice daily visits from their parents for four months until they were strong enough to go home.

Grace was born first. ("She actually kicked Charlie out of the way," her father says.) But both babies were born after only 24 weeks. They were 12 inches long, easy to hold in the palm of a hand.

"My wedding ring actually fit up both of their arms onto their shoulder," Wallin says.

For them to leave the neonatal intensive care unit after only one surgery each - to fix an eye condition that otherwise could have damaged their vision - is remarkable, the family knows.

"We were lucky. We had nothing major even with them being that little," Wallin said. "There were no major issues along the way."

The Wallins have stayed in touch with the nurses and doctors who cared for their firstborns in the neonatal intensive care unit, which is part of why their twins were chosen to be Sunday's honorary bat kids.

In 2009, they served as the DuPage County ambassador family for the March of Dimes, which supports research to prevent premature births.

Each summer, they attend a reunion of other families whose kids were born premature. And each December, they deliver cookies to the unit's staffers and books to parents of newborn preemies.

"The nurses encouraged us to talk to them and let them hear our voices," Wallin said. "We thought reading to them could be something fun to do."