Christmas Part 1

First a correction - the boys did not actually get the same tooth in at the same time.  It was all lies (and a faulty memory).  Alex got his bottom left canine, but Zach popped his bottom right.  They have since both gotten in their other bottom one in, so no one's the wiser.  Let's just keep this slip-up between us.

Diaper issues were resolved in time for me to take the boys to the pool before we left for the holiday's.  You could tell they were really confused when instead of asking for just their shoes, I took all of their clothes, too.  Then they had to wear a blue swim diaper.  Once they saw the water and got comfortable playing in it, they had a good time.  We brought some bath toys and a beach ball, plus the pool has a ring sprinkler.

The thing I like most about the pool is that it's zero depth entry.  There's no steps, but a ramp so the boys and I had the option of how deep we wanted to go.  Most of the time we played in only a couple of inches of water, with forays out to knee-deep (for them) to play in the ring sprinkler.  No one in the room could resist their cuteness and everyone stopped by to say hello to them.  They don't get much attention when we go out in Olean, so I think they enjoyed it.

We left Olean around 8pm Friday night, stayed overnight at my parents, and drove the rest the next day.  We've done a few trips with the boys, but nothing like 12hrs during the day.  Jim and I decided on the fly that a DVD player would probably make things go smoother.  We stopped at Wal-Mart about 45min from my parents and picked up a dual-monitor model.  You can't just pull out the big guns at the beginning of the trip, so we packed it away for a later moment of desperation.

I once read a story about a family that followed their GPS onto a snow covered, mountainous dirt road in the hopes of reducing their trip by 20min.  They got stuck in a snow bank for 24hrs until they were rescued.  At the time I thought "How stupid!" but now I understand.  Instead of going the way I've been traveling from Ohio to South Carolina for about 10yrs, I decided to follow the GPS.  Never.  Again.  We ended up on a winding 2 lane road driving west to go south east.  We did this for 3hrs.

The only other thing to note from the trip down was our multiple stops to find a power adapter that was long enough to reach the DVD player.  When I asked if they had a Best Buy nearby the reply was "We don't have no fancy stuff like that 'round here."  Luckily a second Wal-Mart and a dude with AA batteries stuck through both earlobes had my back.

I had worried that being back in SC, in our old house, would somehow psychologically scar the boys.  They just went with it and acted like it was every other place we've moved in the past month.  And really, I have to agree with them.  It doesn't feel like home here anymore.  A full PODS worth of stuff is missing, we're delegated to using the guest bath because the master shower is impossible to keep clean, and all of our baby gates are gone.  It's like living in someone else's house, except I know where everything is (or isn't, as the case may be).

We put up our Christmas tree here, and got some new shatter-resistant ornaments.  Two ball-obsessed boys are not compatible with the glass ones we used to use.  I overheard Jim telling the boys "This is the season where we travel from house to house putting up trees!"  For all they know, he's telling the truth!  Sunday we let the boys open their kitty cars, mostly to stop the "Busses!  Busses!" whining since we left all things yellow and wheeled in NY.

We've had a full calendar of events, which has been a welcome change.  On Monday we met up with J and Ana for a playdate at the Pavilion's Bounce House.  The boys had a ton of fun and it was really good to see our friends again.  They got the boys a play tent with a tunnel, so we set that up as soon as we got home.  They also got touch and feel first words cards and love them.  J made me an awesome photo book of the boys and Ana playing together over the last year.

Tuesday was the boys' 18mo check-up.  I don't have the stats in front of me (they're packed in the van) so I'll have to report the details later.  One surprise was Alex weighing about a half-pound more the Zach.  I guess all of that mouth stuffing is working to his advantage.  Both boys are maintaining their weight percentiles close to normal but have gone up on height.  They both grew about 2in in the last three months.We had the doctor check their iron levels, just to be sure they're still doing fine on diet alone.  The hemo numbers came back in the 10-11 range, so they're right where they need to be.

Teeth, Talking, and Feet

The boys have FINALLY popped a tooth through, after about 4 months of me saying "They're teething."  It also happens to be the first tooth they've gotten in at the same time, their bottom left canine.  The downside is I think we're just beginning.  The first 8 teeth they have came in within two months.  I see that sort of thing happening again, but with some molar action.  Their gums are really red and swollen.  Zach has woken up two nights in a row needing Motrin to help with the pain.  I'll be glad when we're done getting teeth in.

It's amazing how much the boys understand, even if their current vocabulary is limited.  They can follow directions well, especially if it involves bringing me their shoe or taking something to Jim.  I find myself just requesting things from them like I would any adult, and being surprised when I get what I want in return.  They use "yes" and "no" properly most of the time, with only the occasional "no" before they realize they really meant yes.  It's like they expect to say no, and then change their minds once they see what's being offered.

We discovered that even though they call every vehicle "bus" they know the difference between cars, trucks, and actual buses.  They also know what a word represents, even if it doesn't look like the same thing.  They have a book with a cartoon tree.  They know "tree" also means the Christmas tree and will point back and forth between them.

They currently can say no, yes, ball (anything round), bus, bye bye, bye bye to you, thank you, shoe, sausage, uh oh, wow, and nose.  They can identify and make the sounds for a horse (neigh), sheep (baa), pig (snorting sound), dog (bow wow), and chicken (bawk bawk).  They also love to mimic, especially crows, emergency sirens, dogs wining, cats meowing, and even Jim snoring.  We'll be in the van going to the grocery store and the boys will take turns laughing at each other's sounds.

I inadvertently taught them that "wow" means you're impressed or it's something you like.  Anytime they see a car or truck they yell "WOW!"  It can be quite a sight walking them through a parking lot to a store.  Every car, no matter how old or beat-up gets their verbal seal of approval.  They want to touch them, too, but I try to keep them reigned in.  We'd never make it to Wal-Mart if we had to pet each dirty, salt-covered car between us and the doors.

We had our first stomach bug last weekend and Zach got the worst of it.  He threw up and both of the boys had bad diaper rashes.  Alex still isn't out of the woods and we've been trying hard to get his hind end fixed up.  I had whatever it was for about 24hrs and pretty much slept all day.

This round of diaper rash certainly isn't my first, but every time we have this problem, I try to figure out what I'm doing wrong, or what I can do to solve it faster.  This time I think the stomach bug started things off but some apple juice and tomato sauce made recovery that much harder for Alex.  We went to Jim's company's Christmas party Wednesday night.  The boys had a great time but the food was pizza with juice to drink.  I wasn't thinking about the acidity, just that they didn't go hungry.  Alex sucked down a lot more juice and pizza than Zach.

I've also been reducing their dairy, since that can prolong digestive issues.  I don't think they have a dairy allergy or sensitivity, since the diaper issues would never stop.  I switched them to soy milk for now, and have cut out most cheese and yogurt.  I got them probiotic powder (that was fun to find here...) and am trying to be sure they get their vitamins.  Zach is pretty much back to normal but Alex still has an open sore.  It doesn't seem to hurt him and he doesn't cry during diaper changes, though.

It has been snowing most days here, with the temperatures in the mid-20's.  I think we had about 10in-12in total accumulated until it got warm today and melted.  I got the boys and myself snow boots since tennis shoes were leaving us with wet feet.  The boys were scared of the boots initially, and both threw themselves on the ground crying when I put them on their feet.  Eventually Alex accepted them but 6hrs later, Zach was still protesting and yelling "Shoe!"  Sigh.

Every year the bed and breakfast owners put on a Mr. and Mrs. Claus night.  There's both characters, plus horse drawn sleigh rides, hot chocolate, and cookies.  We took the boys over and they had a good time, although neither Santa or his wife were well received.  You could see the steam rising off the horses, and the sleigh ride was surprisingly smooth and quiet.  It's a weird sensation to be gliding across a field in the middle of the night.  Every word out of the boys' mouths was "neigh" and we took them to see the horses after our ride.

Our former pasta haters have become noodle lovers.  They ate so much spaghetti last night and I've been making them all different kinds of pasta.  Zach even seems to like mac 'n cheese now, which is a big surprise.  Their favorite food is bread, though, and they ask for it anytime they're hungry.  They're also not shy about going to the fridge and asking for milk.  It's really nice not trying to figure out what they want.  They get their point across nicely most of the time.

Alex is still scared of the Christmas tree and won't retrieve any toy that ends up under it.  Zach, on the other hand, wants to see how many things he can stick in the tree.  Today he attempted to put one of his push toys in it.  I've come in to find a dirty sock on a branch.  They want the tree and the garland on the stairs to be lit whenever they're downstairs.  They'll ask for one of us to turn it on if they're not.

The big thing we're working through right now is keeping their feet off the kitchen table, and teaching them not to lean their chairs back by kicking off with their feet.  I wasn't having much success using only positive reinforcement (saying "Thank You!" whenever they removed their feet).  They started putting their feet up because they wanted the praise when they stopped.  I had to add in food removal to get the point across.  I either won't give them a bite, or I remove the food they have in their hands until they comply.  Of course Alex has figured out I won't take the food out of his mouth, so he stuffs everything in there and puts his feet up to relax while chewing.  For whatever reason, they never put their feet on the table outside the house, so it could be a lot worse.

All in all, the boys are doing pretty well up here.  We haven't really developed a rotation of things to do yet, or have any friends, but the grocery store and Wal-Mart keep us busy.  Once the diaper situation is fixed, we're going to head to the pool at the YMCA.  They also have a big room full of things for them to climb on.  Ideally long term, I'll be able to leave them with the daycare people for a little bit in the morning and go workout.  None of us quite their yet, though.

Olean, Town of Wind and Rain

I think I'm done with the robotic count up of years, months, and weeks.  It's getting a bit silly at this point.


Life in the Carriage House

As I type this, the wind outside is howling, blowing leaves across the yard and bending trees to its will.  Rain pelts down, making it impossible to let the boys run around out there.  Instead, Zach is sitting on the floor and pointing out every "bus" in his book.  Alex is working on removing the dirty laundry from the basket, but selectively.  He doesn't want just any pair of old socks.

The day started out with the boys getting up at 5am.  Like up-for-the-day kind of up.  Ugh.  Jim heard us banging around in the living room and came out to investigate.  I took that as a sign I could go back to bed for 30min.  muhahaha

The boys are still adjusting to being in Olean.  After the long van trip, they want nothing to do with their care seats, which makes grocery shopping a bit difficult.  It rained the last time we were here and it's doing the same now.  Goodbye SC sunshine.  They love playing outside here, especially since there's an abandoned truck parked out back they can pat.

Even though we're staying in a bed and breakfast, it's very much a farm-type scene.  There's a giant red barn right outside our windows, and a huge corn field out back.  All of the neighbors up and down Four Mile Road have their own barns and corn fields, too.

The boys also love the couch.  It must be shorter than ours since they're able to climb up onto it with ease.  This is unfortunate for us since there's no way to gate it off.  They've already fallen off it, Alex off the arm onto his head and Zach off the side onto his rear end.


Life in the Cottage

We moved into the three bedroom house across the street and will be here for the remainder of our temporary housing.  It feels really great to be in a place that has separate rooms for the kitchen and living room.  It's actually quite spacious, especially with the second floor.  It's not without its quirks, though.  There's about 3 light switches for lights in the entire place.  The rest are on pull cords.  The bath tub is raised up in a low ceiling room, so the shower head is about an inch taller than me.  There's no sneaking around upstairs with all of the creaking.  An unheated sunroom has become the boys' favorite space, especially since the rain is never ending.  They can watch cars go by, drive their buses, and throw their bouncy balls.

The worst thing is the fleas.  It only takes one to find me and rebuild their civilization, and plenty more than that are hard at work.  I had 37 bites at last count, but it's higher than that now.  I'm so delicious, the fleas were jumping out of the house after me.  I killed 6 that had leapt out onto the front porch while I was standing there.  The boys each have 3 bites, one of which is on Alex's cheek.  I don't think Jim has a single one.  In a way I'm glad I'm protecting the boys.  On the other hand, I'm very uncomfortable (each bite swells and itches) and "flea paranoia" has set in, where I constantly think I have fleas on me (which I probably do).

So after trying a spray that's not supposed to be harmful to kids that didn't work, we've decided to use the cats as flea bait.  My parents got them on Advantage flea drops and we're bringing them back with us as a way to kill all of the fleas without having to coat the place in pesticides.  I'm trying to resist the urge to toss them in the house and then check into a motel for a couple of days.  I hate fleas that much.  I'm also not looking forward to having the cats in such a small space with us, but I know the boys will love having them.


Other Stuff

Thanksgiving was good.  We got here Tuesday night so I was around a little to help with Turkey Day prep.  We brought all of the boys' toys with us, so it "Looks like a toy store exploded in here" as my dad put it.  The boys ate a little turkey and a LOT of bread.  Alex had a few bites of broccoli with cheese.  Both apple and pumpkin pies got the boys' "MMMMM" seal of approval.  Stuffing was spit out and handed back.

My mom wanted the boys to try eating off of little plates.  Alex was the first to get his taken away for banging it on the table.  Zach thought a plate was like a cup, and would tilt the entire thing until the food slid down into his mouth (or more often, his shirt or into the floor).  Watching them at the table, I think I should be giving them utensils so they can practice scooping and stabbing.  Maybe we'll start with forks. They already take the fork out of my hand and feed themselves.

Alex got another case of bad diaper rash.  He had a dirty diaper in the middle of the night and we didn't realize it until morning.  I should have known something out of the ordinary was wrong because he kept waking up and crying.  I just thought it was his teeth.  His bottom canines are on the verge of popping through.  Instead I sent in another nomination for Worst Mother of the Year.  Sigh.  It's getting better now, though, and he doesn't cry when I change his diaper.  On the bright side, he tells us when his diaper is dirty, so I have two boys with this skill now.

Originally when this whole "Let's move to Olean!" thing came about, I was concerned how the boys would take it.  Luckily they're still young enough that they accept their current reality without comment (unless you count their loathing of riding in the van).  We were in Greenville, then we were in the Carriage House, then the Cottage, and now my parent's house.  It's been a busy two weeks and I've tired of living out of suitcases.  I haven't had time to unpack us at the Cottage yet.

Also in housing news, we go in on Monday to sign the papers on a house in Allegany.  We saw it on Monday and went back Tuesday for a second viewing.  It was a weird situation where we met the entire family that lives there and knew they were running out of time to sell.  They want to move 3 miles away so the mom and triplet daughters can have a horse farm, but have to sell their house first.  It's been on the market for almost a year.  Now there's another family that is interested in the horse farm and are scheduled to go back for a second viewing on Sunday.

On thing you'll notice if you click on the link to the house is there's zero pictures of the upstairs or basement.  This is because they need work, especially the bathrooms.  They still have the original 1970's pink and green sinks and toilets and they are ugly.  The basement just needs some carpet and paint.  The family that lives there completely renovated the 1st floor but didn't have time to get to the others.

We talked them down quite a bit on the price.  They modified our offer by wanting the hot tub and playset to go with them.  Jim joked that we should have countered that they had to take the above ground pool with them, too.  I'm not sure what we're going to do with that thing.  I won't keep it unless it can be 100% kid proofed, and I'm not convinced that can happen.  I also don't want to have to take care of it.

One thing that was a bit of a surprise is that the house doesn't have air conditioning.  It doesn't even have ducts that you could tie one into.  It operates off of hot water baseboard heat.  Neither of us have lived in a house like this, so it should be interesting.  Near as we can tell, most people buy window air conditioners for their bedrooms and only run them a couple of days a year.

With the layout of the house, it's possible the boys will have a play area on every level (unless Jim decides the basement is his "man cave").  The dining room, kitchen, and den are all in a row which makes it nice to keep an eye on the boys.  The house is bigger than the 2,200 sqft listed.  For whatever reason, the houses in this area don't count finished basements in the total.

We're planning on coming back to Greenville the week before Christmas and staying in our house.  In fact, we still have the boys' 18mo check-up scheduled with the pediatrician there.  hehe  I'm not sure what going back there will do to Alex and Zach.  I guess they need something to tell the therapist later.

Year 1, Month 4, Week 2

I made this post back on October 24th.  I'm not sure why I didn't publish it then.  Perhaps I felt like I'd have more to add to it.

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Ok, I'm such a bad mom, I don't even know where to begin.  Somehow I totally missed writing about the boys for a month.  A.  Month.  It's certainly not because nothing has been going on.  It's really quite the opposite.

Both boys love clapping now.  I know I mentioned Zach clapping before, but that was for like a two day stint.  This is perma-clapping.  One boy will start and the other will join in until the giggling gets to be too much.  They'll also give me five, not so much via a verbal command but just because I have my hand out.  Alex likes to slap my hand but Zach prefers to be stationary while I hit his.  I can see "Hot Hands" being a fun game for them in the future.

"Shoosh shoosh shoosh!" is shouted in excitement when I mention "shoes" or bring them out.  They don't know if I mean we're going somewhere or just playing in the backyard but they're ready to go!  "Shoosh" can also mean "sock" or "shirt" but then it's asked as more of a question while holding said object.

The boys do "Bye bye" complete with a single (Zach) or double (Alex) hand wave.  Zach prefers his to be an even "Bye bye!" while Alex goes for the sassy "Buh bye!"  They also think it's awesome that sheep say the same thing, even though I've tried to explain the nuances of "Baa" versus "Bye".  And if sheep say it, horses must, too.  Both boys now announce when they're leaving one parent to go visit the other in the next room.  They also have an uncanny ability to detect the end of a phone conversation and will start yelling "BYE BYE!!"  Speakerphone with Jim is good times!

Today in the van, Zach was experimenting with different syllable combinations.  He took the standard "bye" and converted it into "bath" for a bit.  Then he went with "bass", and tried dropping the "b" for a bit.  It was all Jim and I could do to not laugh during his 10-15min of "bass ass".  That's all I'd need to encourage and have to explain at the grocery store.  hehe

Zach understands the concept that I need something and that he can get it for me.  Mainly I use this when I'm trying to put shoes on Alex and one is out of reach.  If I ask for it, point to it, then hold out my hand like I want it, Zach will happily go and fetch it for me.  It's an amazing feeling that I can communicate an abstract idea and he understands!

Most of my days are filled with answering an endless stream of "This?"  They love to point at everything and want to know its name.  They know and can point out hair, ears, nose, and mouth - on themselves, their brother, or anyone else that ventures nearby.  They are curious about eyes, fingers, hands, arms, and bellies.  I identify car wheels about 10k times a day, too.  They've discovered that they can put their fingers in their ears (or ours) and it makes things sound funny.

Dancing is another new found skill.  Any music, or just someone singing will cause them to bust a move.    There's the baby bounce, where they just bend their knees and stick their tush out.  At Wayne and Nina's they watched a Mickey's Clubhouse and learned to do a sort of tween side-to-side sway.  Alex likes to mix it up with his version of the Twist, and they both shake their heads as a grand finale.

Year 1, Month 3

Well, as busy as we were in the last post, we were the opposite the following week.  Runny noses turned into full blown sinus infections with lung congestion and fevers.  The boys were back on antibiotics, this time a high dose for 14 days.  Ugh!  Sometimes I'm not sure what's worse, having an infection or having diaper rash due to antibiotics.

I tried to be really proactive about the diaper rash potential.  I coated their bottoms in Lotrimin and Desitin. And when both boys STILL ended up with patches of rash, I switched them to 7th Generation diapers.  We did baking soda baths every other night and gave the boys lots of naked time in the evenings.  I pumped them both full of banana every morning, too.  Alex spent about 12hrs with a rash on his bottom.  Zach had a little rash but it was gone by the next diaper change.  I consider that a success considering the last time we spent days dealing with it.

The last week as been rough on Alex.  The first incident he tripped while walking on the hardwood floor.  He was carrying his kitty car at the time and landed face first on it.  The car is rounded but still managed to catch his lip and rip his frenulum (the skin that connects the upper lip to the gums).  At first I didn't even realize he was bleeding.  I was already comforting Zach when Alex fell, so I just scooped him up into my lap, too.  The fall was totally normal looking.

But Alex wouldn't stop crying.  I looked at him and noticed what appeared to be bruises on the side of his face.  Then I realized it was blood.  His mouth was full of it, and there was red down the front of his shirt and on my shoulder.  I tried dabbing it with a wet paper towel but ended up rinsing his mouth out over the sink so I could see what was bleeding.

Once I saw it was a torn frenulum, I grabbed my phone, called the pediatrician, and told them we would be there in about 5min.  I called Jim on the way to tell him what happened.  Luckily I had showered and put on real clothes that morning but the boys were still in their PJ's and shoeless.  I didn't bother with any strollers but grabbed them both and carried them in.

Alex was fine and the bleeding had stopped.  His lip was swollen but none of his teeth were loose.  Since he was already on antibiotics, there wasn't much to be done.  The doctor assured me that he would be totally fine in a couple of days and to just avoid salty foods until then.  Within an hour Alex was happily chomping his lunch, happy that Jim had come home to check on him.

A few days later I accidentally shut Alex's finger in the pantry door.  Luckily there's a small gap between the door and the door jam but it still squished his index finger and he cried.  Then today he was walking with a sippy cup and tripped, cutting his lip.  There was blood all over the place again, to the point I thought he had reopened his other wound.  I rinsed his mouth the best I could.  We gave him some Motrin for the pain and I soothed him until he fell asleep in my arms.  (It was nap time.)

Hours later his lip is still swollen but he wouldn't eat a popsicle or let me put an ice pack on it.  He ate dinner just fine, though, and doesn't act any different.  I'm not sure what to do.  They're both tripping a lot these days, more so than when they first learned to walk.  The issue is they just don't look down, so they trip on everything from the carpet to toys.  They also need to learn to drop what they're carrying and put their arms out.  I'm hoping these things will come with time.

There's been a lot of good stuff, too!  Zach is fascinated with other people's noses.  He'll walk up to me, pat mine, and laugh.  He calls it "Gnome" or "Gnomey".  hehe  Zach has also discovered that by bending over and looking through his legs, he can make himself upside down.  Alex saw what he was doing and started doing it, too.

We installed a gate at the top of our stairs and baby proofed most of rooms we use on a daily basis.  Having the stairs open and available to be fallen down was really freaking me out.  I was using closed doors to corral the boys but as soon as I'd open one, they'd try to shoot out and make for the stairs.

Now I can let them loose and they love running back and forth across the bridge.  They avoid their nursery like the plague since they associate it with "Ni Ni", though.  After their baths we let them run around up there and air dry.  They roll on the carpet in their nakedness, enjoying how it feels.

They also have started fake falling.  Alex did it first, doing an exaggerated slap on the floor then sliding down onto his belly with an "Oh!".  Zach loved the idea, so now I have two boys flopping down everywhere (as if the amount of real falling wasn't enough!).

I've given their buses back and so far they've been able to share.  I think they realize that there's two of just about everything, so if one gets stolen the victim will look around for a replacement.  They've also started trading toys.  One boy will get bored and offer his toy to his brother.  About 9 times out of 10 the brother will take the toy and offer the first boy his in return.  Unfortunately that 1/10th of the time usually results in slapping, scratching, and me yelling "NO BITE!!  NO BITE!!"

We cancelled our cleaning service this week.  Other bills have pretty much drained the extra money we had for it.  Jim and I spit up the chores and have been working on them.  This has given me the opportunity to try cleaning without potentially harmful chemicals.  Today I cleaned the bathrooms with vinegar and one of those magic erasers.  I was surprised at how well of a job it did, although I did use Windex on the mirrors.  We have been using a steam mop on the floors, too.

The boys have their 15 month check-up this week!  I'm interested to know how much they've grown.  I also wonder what the doctor will say about their big bellies.  hehe

I got ambitious and tagged 2 months of photos, then uploaded the good ones to the boys' website (pw: jma&z).  Enjoy!

Year 1, Month 2, Week 2

The boys and I had a really busy week.  On Monday we went to Costco with J and Ana to get the boys some chicken patties.  We were looking for something to do while the cleaners were here and that was the best we could come up with.  Afterwards we ate lunch with J, N (her husband), and Ana at McAlister's.  It's funny how I'll order an adult and kids meal but the boys will eat half of mine (in this case a baked potato) and I'll eat part of theirs (hating mac 'n cheese is their loss!).

Jim and I have found the ultimate solution to eating out with the boys.  Honestly I don't know why it didn't occur to us sooner.  Buffets.  There's no wait to get the boys food, so I'm not stuffing them full of cracker just waiting on their meal to arrive.  They eat for free since they're under two.  This might not sound important but Alex and Zach combined eat about the same amount as an adult.  We've had to order each of them a kid's meal a few times now, and at $5 a pop, it adds up.  No left overs!  Again, this might not be obvious but our boys really, really don't like eating the same things in a row.  Very rarely I can cover something in cheese and fake them out.  So leftovers sit, then I have to throw them out.

Tuesday we went over to H and B's house.  H is 28 weeks along with fraternal boys and B is her 17mo old son.  She's on 100% bedrest and stuck in a gap where help from friends ran out but her mom isn't due to arrive for a couple of weeks.  Her husband works during the day but does what he can.  We took a turn helping and watching B.  I made them a broccoli casserole and peach/raspberry cobbler, since meals can be rough.

The day was much more exhausting than I expected.  I guess I thought one more boy would be a little harder, but still reasonable.  What I didn't know was their playroom was too small for all of us to comfortably fit.  They also have two really big dogs that our boys were petrified of.  I'm talking literally unable to move and bursting into tears every time the dogs came into view.

We made due, though.  The kitchen chairs were too small for the boys' booster seats.  So, I fed all three boys in the living room, with Alex and Zach's chairs up on the couch, and B's high chair pulled along side.  I had to get them off the floor or the dogs would have jacked their food and given them permanent emotional scars.

I was also freaked out that I was supposed to feed B hotdogs for lunch.  There's few things that our boys have never had and this is one of them.  The choking hazard issue is just too much for me to chance it.  I watched B like a hawk and cut each doggy disk into tiny pieces, determined he wasn't going to croak on my watch.  Luckily he survived.

The house wasn't super baby proofed (but props for gates on the stairs!) so just keeping an eye on 3 boys was a challenge.  I didn't really appreciate it before, but our house's kitchen/living room/playroom/bathroom are all in a line, giving me a distinct advantage when it comes to monitoring little kids.  This house was more L shaped, so if I was dealing with a boy at one end, I was blind to the other.  The idea us of having another kid seemed a whole lot less appealing by the end of the day.

Wednesday we went to another H's house, but this one has two 10mo boys, L and L.  I'm so used to our boys and their identicalness, it's fun to be around obvious fraternals.  L1 is blond haired, blue eyed, and a flirt.  L2 is brown haired, brown eyed, and more reserved.  L2 is also visibly bigger than L1.  M and her two 11mo identical girls, A and B, were there, too.  So it was 3 adults and 6 little kids.

Initially I was worried that our boys (being the only walkers) would maul the others but that wasn't the case.  Everyone was standing and cruising, and the only incident was between Zach and Alex.  It was over a toy and Alex ended up with two bite marks on his elbow.  Sigh.

I don't know how to say this without sounding like a snob.  Sometimes I get so caught up in doing what I think is best for the boys, I sort of loose track of what's normal.  Mostly this centers around food.  We do the whole grains, no corn syrup, little sugar, low sodium, selectively organic dance at the grocery store every week.  I've been known to carry boxes from the "normal aisle" to the "natural aisle" to compare labels.

At H's house she provided sandwich materials for lunch - white bread, prepackaged meat, individually wrapped sliced cheese.  There was also salad (the three of us can't chew it) and crackers.  Her kids ate some jarred baby food.  For some reason I felt incredibly liberated.  She just bought normal stuff and they ate it, and we were, too.  She didn't look like she felt guilty because the whole wheat bread she researched didn't still contain some evaporated cane juice.  There was no agony over whether her boys' love of salty foods should be enabled with pretzel sticks or abated with low sodium crackers.  She just grabbed what everyone else does and her kids were perfectly healthy.  The occasional chicken nugget probably won't stunt my boys.

Friday we went to J and Ana's, but a little late.  I put the boys down for their normal morning nap at 9am.  They slept about 30min and woke up in crazy cranky moods at 10am.  Ugh.  I figured we'd all lay down on our bed until their attitudes adjusted more towards happy.  We all fell asleep for another 2hrs.  Sigh.  We were supposed to eat lunch at J and Ana's.  It was noon and the boys were starving.  Somehow I managed to feed them, change diapers, and get us all out the door in 30min.  (Ok, so I cheated and made them eat Cheerios in the car on the way.)  To make things worse, I when I call J to tell her we're really late, I find out she tried to get a hold of me and was imagining us all dead along the road somewhere.

We ended up having a good afternoon anyways, and stayed until after 5pm, making us late for dinner.  I guess I was just having one of those days.

As if this post wasn't long enough...  hehe  Zach has figured out how to stand up from the floor, ending about a week of frustration that Alex could do it but he couldn't.  Zach now happily pops up from anywhere.  Alex has discovered that heavy breathing through his mouth is fun.  It's like a mini Darth Vader walking around.  Zach makes car noises for anything he's driving around, be it a car, train, or a pop bottle.  Both boys have figured out how to hum into a kazoo.  Anything long and skinny gets hum tested, just to be sure it's not a kazoo.  If it turns out to be one, much laughing follows.

Throwing things has become a big issue around here.  So far no one's gotten hurt, but it's only a matter of time.  We ditched the inflatable tubs.  I just fill up the garden tub and toss in the boys.  They can stand or do whatever, unless it's playing with the blinds or trying to climb out.  Alex immediately went to work trying to evict all of the bath toys.  Zach practiced falling on his rear end, causing massive splashes.  Jim and I were soaked.

Jim and I decided to not only open a can of worms, but invite them for tea - we've been showing the boys how to climb the stairs.  Zach can go from bottom to top under his own power.  Alex likes to pretend he's stuck so we'll help him.  At Granny J's today they learned how to go down her one step into the living room.  Hopefully this will replace their previous method (falling off face first).  Stairs are not something I can do solo with them.  Too much gravity and not enough arms to catch them.

We've also been doing a fast walk while holding their arms.  It looks like their taking these giant steps very quickly towards the nursery.  Other things I wish we hadn't started include tossing them in the air, letting them play in the fridge, and showing them where I hid their school buses.

Year 1, Month 2, Week 1

Ok, I have no idea where the last 3 weeks went.  Everything is a blur.

Both boys are officially toddlers and prefer to walk everywhere now.  They've walked into the grocery store a few times and get mad when I put them in the race car cart.  I'd let them keep walking but they move like tiny old men and have to stop to look at everything.  I didn't even think we'd make it into the store at all last trip because a car alarm went off and Zach couldn't look away.  If I let them clomp around in their new shoes, it would take about 12hrs to get our shopping done.  hehe

Of course this means the wagon has lost a lot of luster.  They'll happily push it around but don't really want to be strapped in it at all.  We got them real walking shoes so we could practice balance more often and I wouldn't have to carry them as much.  At the Stride Rite store I bet you could hear the screams 15 stores away.  It sounded more like a foot amputation than a foot measuring.  They also hated wearing them the first day and refused to walk at all.

Now when I pull out the socks and shoes, they grab them and either hand them to me or try to put them on their feet by themselves.  They get really excited because they know it means we're going somewhere and walking is involved.  The initial resistance, followed by an especially funny high-step gait, is gone.  Shoes are happy times!

Their new-found walking skills have also brought around an unexpected surprise.  They can now navigate and steer the push toys by themselves.  No more lassos or tethers.  They just grab a bus or whatever and take off.  Sadly, it hasn't stopped the fighting over the same toy, though.  I guess that would be asking too much.

I've been feeling guilty lately about the stuff they've been eating.  There's been meals of just chicken nuggets and fries, or pizza.  About the only meal I feel good about is breakfast.  Cheerios with fruit, peanut butter on whole wheat, or eggs with turkey sausage are reasonable (and the only time I can get Zach to eat fruit).  I need to come up with some better lunch and dinner options.  It doesn't help that they won't eat the same thing twice in a row, like lunch leftovers for supper.

I tried making my own refried beans today, all 8 cups.  I've never been good at judging portion sizes.  They turned out alright and the boys happily ate them.  I've been reading about BPA's in canned food, so I figured I could try this and freeze the extras.  Plus, you can't beat $1.50 for 1lb of dried pintos!

We've developed a good routine for naps and bedtime, maybe too good.  Alex has discovered crib jumping and Zach thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen.  One morning they were laughing and giggling for over an hour before going to sleep.  I'll also hear them pressing the paws on their dogs.  I'll think they're asleep until I hear barking followed by laughing.  I'm not complaining (who doesn't want 2hrs to get things done?) but it can be tricky getting naps in if we have to be somewhere in the late morning.

The boys now associate sleep sacks with going to bed.  They'll take off as soon as I pull them out.  I have to chase them down and combat the heavy complaining.  Once they're wrapped up, they'll just lay on the floor, play peek-a-boo, and laugh at each other.

Alex and Zach give really, really good hugs.  They'll walk over, grab you around the neck, and hold on. They'll also use their hands to tilt your face to theirs for a kiss from you.  It's crazy sweet.

I got braces a few weeks ago and quickly learned they weren't boy compatible.  I've had numerous busted lips and the last one has taken over a week to heal (until Zach reopened it this morning).  The dentist didn't have much by the way of options beyond just covering my lower brackets with wax.  Early on the boys would try to get me to open my mouth so they could see the braces.  Zach especially wanted to touch them and try to pull them off.  Now they don't even notice them I don't think.

Jim's dad passed away since I made my last post.  He had prostate cancer and will be missed.  The boys didn't get much time with him and never did make it on a tractor ride unfortunately.

We also took a mini vacation last week.  Jim's mom rented a house in the Smoky Mountains and invited us and all of the boys' cousins (and their families).  There were 7 adults and 6 little boys running around.  Alex and Zach had an absolute blast.  They stayed up late just about every night playing with their cousins.  It was also good for them to spend time with their grandma, aunts, and uncle.  It really helped them be less afraid of strangers.  They haven't cried at people since we got back.

We took them to the aquarium and they loved the stand alone tanks but not the walk-thru shark part.  I just don't think it was as brightly lit for some reason.  Zach bonked his head trying to look behind one of the jelly fish.  They ate their morning snack with the sting rays.  We let them walk everywhere and didn't even take the wagon out of the van.