Separated twins well

NEW YORK – Once-conjoined twin boys from the Philippines can do “The Itsy-Bitsy Spider” hand movements, have graduated to crackers from pureed foods and “are well on their way to leading normal, active lives,” one of their surgeons said .

Dr. David Staffenberg, who helped separate the twins in a series of operations that climaxed Aug. 4, said, “The challenges we are now facing are so different from the life-and-death ones we contemplated” before the boys, now 2 1/2 , were separated.

Carl and Clarence Aguirre, who were unable to even sit up while they were joined at the head, are still learning how to stand, and face reconstructive surgery on their skulls, Staffenberg said.