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.

Year 1, Month 1, Week 2

I added some pictures of the boys from last month on their website (pw: jma&z).  We've reached the end of our professional portraits, so expect the quality to go down.

Well, all it took was for me to say they weren't concentrating on walking to make them refocus their efforts.  Zach will take a few steps from any piece of furniture and either lunge at me, or plop down to finish his journey via scooting.  Alex will happily take some steps into my waiting arms but isn't a fan of walking off into an abyss.

Zach has achieved a seemingly random milestone: he can clap.  This was "supposed" to happen months ago, but both boys would rather clap your hands than their own.  I'm not sure why Zach decided now is the time to clap, but he'll do it a few times then put his hands on his head (kind of like he's clapping it, too).  It's really cute to watch.

The boys aren't ashamed to steal food from the cats if I'm not getting their meal ready in a timely manner.  It's gotten to the point where the cats are only safe if we feed them while the boys are locked down in highchairs.

I've been pretty tired the last few days.  Zach has been getting up multiple times during the night.  Last night he cried for an hour before I went in for a third time and just brought him back to bed with me.  I kept hoping he'd go back to sleep, but neither rocking nor back rubbing helped.  I think he's starting to have upsetting dreams since I can hear him yell right before he starts crying.

After breakfast I read to them, then lay on the floor while they go around the playroom exploring.  After about 10min, I'll see one peek at me over the train table, then start to head my way.  Alex will come over and put his head on mine, cheek to cheek.  He also likes to play with my hair and drive cars on me.  Zach would rather lay his head on my chest and wants me to hold him.  Today he was sliding up and down my legs on his belly.

The boys really, really want to walk while supported.  We used to have them push their school buses around the living room but that's turned into too much of a screamfest.  Zach will scream and try to hit Alex if he gets anywhere near his bus.  Alex will scream and try to bite Zach if he gets hostile.  So the situation just snowballs.  I've been taking the boys for short walks, one at a time, but that just means one boy is happy while the other is jealous.

Tonight Jim and I each took a boy by the hands and let him walk around.  We played a big game of chase and the boys were laughing so hard they were out of breath by the end.  It's going to be so entertaining once they can chase each other on their own.

The boys had their hematologist check-up this week.  Their iron levels and hemoglobin are right on target.  They do not have Thalassemia Trait, since their red blood cells were no longer small.  The technician had a lot of trouble trying to draw blood from Zach again.  This time it was impossible.  I managed to keep Alex happy in the other room but the screaming was terribly hard on my heart.  Jim was visibly sweating from the stress by the time it was over.  They ended up getting what they needed from finger pricks, which makes me a little mad.  If that works, why even draw blood??

Both boys are experts at sitting up on their own.  They can go from laying on their backs to sitting, even with a sleepsack on.  We lowered their crib mattresses so they won't climb out, but not before I found some little teeth marks on Zach's railing.  The downside to this is that once they're sitting up and crying, it's almost impossible for them to go back to sleep on their own.  Like I mentioned earlier, I gave Zach and hour before tossing in the towel.  I tried laying him down and rubbing his back, but he just popped right back up when I stopped.  I think it's just going to take some time (and less nightmares).

Year 1, Month 1, Week 1

Ok, so maybe the post titles are getting a little silly, but I haven't been able to figure out a better way.  hehe

If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have said I thought the boys would be walking by now.  Everything I've read pretty much says that once a baby starts on the path towards walking, it becomes their sole focus until they achieve it.

That doesn't seem to be the case with Alex and Zach.  This week they're continuing to work on other skills.    I've been working with both boys on how to go from their belly to a sitting position.  If they had learned to crawl, this would be second nature, but since they're scooters they bypassed this step.  Every time they end up on their bellies, I help them pull their knees up under neath, then rock back onto their behinds.  Today Alex started doing it all on his own.  Zach will take a bit longer because he tends not to be on his belly as much.

Alex is obsessed with being upside down.  He'll fall over backwards on purpose, hitting his head on the floor, because he thinks it'll make him see the world in this new way.  I'll carry him around with his legs sticking in the air and he just loves it.  He's also started trying to mimic us.  He can say "hat", "hot", and "ouch".  What amazes me is how well he pronounces the "t" and "ch".  Maybe I'm biased, but it sounds perfect to me.

The fight for naps in their cribs continues.  The boys have worked up to sleeping about 1hr per nap most days.  Yesterday Zach wouldn't sleep at all unless I held him.  Today it was Alex, but he was happy just babbling away in his crib for the most part.  It amazes me every day how different the boys are.  Zach will instantly cry when put down for a nap.  If I'm lucky, the cries will slowly slow down until he passes out.  If I'm unlucky, his cries will escalate into hoarse screaming.  Alex, on the other hand, will look around, wiggle until he's sideways, then put his feet up on the wall.  He'll grunt a little until he either falls asleep or doesn't.

I've really been enjoying this age.  I can just sit on the floor and before I know it, two little boys are driving their cars over me, playing with my hair, and peeking around my shoulder to give me a smile.  We read books, snuggle, and chase each other around.

Their eating has really picked up.  They split a large bowl of Cheerios with a whole cut up banana, plus half a PB&J for breakfast.  They shared 7 pieces of cheese pizza when some of Jim's family came over to swim.  They'll finish most of a kid's meal at restaurants.  And, on top of that, they're drinking well over a gallon of milk a week.  I don't know where it's all going but they're not starving.  My arm gets tired of feeding them long before they get full.  Luckily they're good at popping cheddar crackers in their mouths.

Year 1, Week 3

Well, the diaper rash just wouldn't stop so we ended up at the pediatrician.  Luckily the nurse didn't laugh me off the phone this time, particularly when I explained there were open sores and bleeding involved.  Here's what we think happened, based on the doctor's thoughts and our ideas.  We all had some questionable Mexican food one night.  Jim and I both had upset stomachs the next day, as did the boys.  While we recovered easily, their diaper rash sprouted a yeast infection.  No amount of butt paste, cream, or salve will get rid of that.  Once we started the anti-fungal treatments (per the doctor's recommendation) and got them on probiotics, there was an immediate improvement.  Today there's barely even a red mark on Alex and Zach is totally back to normal.

The boys have discovered the kitchen cabinets.  For the first couple of days they were happy just opening and closing the doors, but today Zach decided emptying it was also fun.  We moved all of our cleaning supplies to an upper cabinet, so there's nothing that could hurt them.  It's just a big mess if they pull out everything.  We'll have locks on the doors by the end of the week.  hehe  We bought them some little pots and pans, so they sit on the floor banging those while I prepare their food.  Alex likes to lick the mini spatula.

The boys have gone for a week without nursing at all.  I expected to be sore the first few days but really didn't have a problem.  Until now.  It's taken 6 days but OUCH!  Really body, you didn't get the message? I thought I was pretty clear on the whole milk production thing...  I tried the widely touted cabbage leaves remedy.  Other than smelling like cabbage, it hasn't done anything.  A hot shower message just made it worse.  I tried relieving a little of the pressure myself but failed miserably.  Desperate, I asked the boys for some help.  Zach was closest, so I grabbed him and put him in the nursing position.  He looked at me like "You've got to be kidding.  I don't know how to work this." and struggled to escape my clutches.  Meanwhile Alex saw what was up and was yelling, as if to say "PICK ME!!!  PICK ME!!!"  So I did.  He'd probably still be nursing if it was up to him.  There were many tears once he realized it was just a little snack.  It helped, though, at least for a little while.

Since they've been 99.99% breast feeding free for a week, I decided to go the next step and have them start sleeping in their cribs for naps.  Saying they were not happy would be an understatement.  There was much screaming and kicking the walls in anger.  They normally sleep anywhere from 2-4hrs a day in naps.  Today it was about 1hr total.  It's something they're going to have to get used to, and it's not going to be a happy transition.

Their food tastes are shifting again I think.  They will eat most any green veggie, including spinach and collard greens, but chicken is spit out after a few bites.  Fruit is evil, except for the banana in their Cheerios for breakfast (Alex likes blueberries, too).  They won't eat anything in a pouch now.  I might need to try ham or something to be sure they're getting enough iron.  Beef seems like it's still too hard to chew.  They also seem to love pizza, which isn't surprising if you know their daddy.  They each ate a piece and a half, plus black olives and crackers.

They really like sandwiches, especially peanut butter/banana and grilled cheese.  They'll also chomp tuna or chicken salad ones.  I make the sandwich like normal then pinch off bites for them.  Mashed up potato salad gets eaten, too.  They used to like quesadillas but hate flour tortillas now.  Any fork-smashed beans are accepted.  Any whole beans, whole peas, or too lumpy mashed potatoes are rejected.

Both boys have started playing Marco Polo with me.  One will make a sort of grunt and I'll grunt back.  They'll experiment with different sounds and I'll mimic them in response.  They think it's hilarious, like the funniest conversation they've ever heard.  Sometimes I can have them both going at the same time.  I'm hoping eventually they'll start grunting at each other.

I got Zach to take a few steps by himself this week.  He's used to holding onto his school bus or other push toy, so I had him hold a stick with both hands.  I think it made it less scary and he was laughing the whole time. I tried to make it a game.

Alex has no interest in trying to walk by himself right now.  It seems like to me that he's afraid of falling. If he's cruising, he'll ask me to help him sit down, rather than just plopping down like Zach.  If he at all feels unsteady, he cries.  Alex also will only try something once before deciding it's too hard and wanting you to help him.  If you don't help, he bursts into tears.  I don't want to enable him, but I also don't know how you explain to him that he needs to try again.  I've tried, and he'll do like a half-hearted, feeble attempt then look at me like "I told you so."

The boys are so mobile now that it's hard separating them.  They're like magnets, if magnets had teeth and liked to bite each other.  Zach has a long red scratch on his forehead where Alex scraped him with his front teeth while I was putting the laundry in the dryer.  There are few days where one boy doesn't end up with bite marks on his fingers.  They're really curious about teeth and want to touch their brother's.  They understand "No bite!" but I still get stealth bit sometimes.

The bouncy chairs are nearing the end of their usefulness.  Zach's big enough he can tip his over, so I've had to start sticking one end under the door.  He's going to have to rip it off in order to fall now.  Long term we need to baby proof the bathroom then have one on the floor with some toys while the other is in the play yard.  Mesh netting between them should keep the bloodshed to a minimum while I get a shower.

Don't misunderstand me, though.  They don't hate each other, or wish the other boy harm.  It's the exact opposite.  They are really, really into each other and find their brother fascinating.  They just don't have the skill set to express their affection.  If I'm holding them and they see each other, they do the cutest coo/laugh back and forth.  It's really obvious how much they love each other.

Year 1, Week 2

Even though we didn't do much this week, it was still pretty busy.  We did a Wal-Mart run on Tuesday.  Back before kids, and before the crowds of Myrtle Beach, I loved that store and pretty much did all of my shopping there.  Now I only go there if it has the potential of saving me 3 or more stops if I went somewhere else, like Target/Babie R Us/Publix.  I say potential because their selection has really gone down and rarely does it seem like they have everything I want.  It's always so crowded, and there's no twins-friendly shopping carts.  Everyone looks at us like we're freaks, and the lines are long.  On top of that, ours is in the middle of doing a total store remodeling, so employees are carting around pallets of goods and shelving.

Anyways, we go with me pushing a cart with one hand and pulling the boys in the wagon with the other.  I can't even tell you how many times we got cut off by someone in a hurry, I guess trying to grab that last $5 watermelon or whatever.  Every aisle was packed and we had to wait in line to just get to the other end.  Needless to say, the boys weren't too happy with the situation, especially Alex.  A screaming boy really added to the ambiance, let me tell you!

We're still fighting diaper rash.  I did some lactose intolerance research and they recommend going dairy free for two weeks to see if it clears up.  This won't be quite as bad as that, since they do fine with yogurt and cheese.  I just need to find a milk substitute that's unsweetened and edible on cereal.  Alex's rash was especially bad today, with him bleeding and unable to sit in the tub for a bath.  I really hope milk is the cause, because otherwise I don't know what else has changed.

The boys still love the school buses but prefer to each push one now.  They're also crazy about a Cars Shake and Go car.  You shake it and put it down.  It'll say something then take off.  Both of them can make it cruise across the room, but they also like to just push it around.  The strangest thing (at least to me) is that they always push it forward, like they know which is the front.  The have other vehicles and always push them forward, too.  Jim thinks it's because most of the toys have faces and that's how they can tell.  It just amazes me.  They're into anything with wheels.

We took the boys to the pool for the first time.  I got them some inflatable mesh things that they could sit in.  We did the lazy river and the boys had a blast.  Their little heads were turning every which way, trying to watch all of the people.  The boys were like ducks, calm on the surface and madly kicking underneath.  hehe

We eliminated all nursing before naps this week.  Instead I would give them some whole milk before we went upstairs.  That seemed to work alright, although they tend to wake up more and try to get me to nurse them mid-nap.  So now the only breast feeding is right before bed for about 10min.  Tonight Zach got bored and bit me, so maybe it's time for that to go, too.

Their sleeping has been doing better.  For a few nights now Alex has gone from 8pm to 4am without waking up.  Zach has woken up due to what seemed like bad dreams a few times.  Unfortunately, once 5am rolls around, neither boy will stop crying until I take them into bed with me.  Then they'll go back to sleep until about 6:30am when Jim gets up for work.  I've tried just leaving them in the cribs, but they'll cry for over 30min without letting up.

What I really need to do is bite the bullet and not go in at all when they wake-up at night (per the pediatrician), but it's hard.  My mind jumps to all of these wild ideas of what's going on in there that's making them cry, or I project my own childhood fears on them (I was really, really scared of the dark).  It also sucks for Jim to spend the last 1.5hrs of sleep time listening to screaming in stereo.  Blargh!  Why can't they just sleep all night on their own?!

Zach has started to say "Uh Oh!" when he drops food on the floor for the cats.  Jim tries to explain that you should only say that if it really was an accident.  Alex still hasn't shown much interest in trying to repeat anything we say.  Instead, he'll say "Da da da da da" and laugh.

Both boys have started to show interest in the fork or spoon I feed them with.  They'll grab it and examine it, which means staring at it while poking it with a finger.  If it's a fork, I'll stick some food on the end while they're holding it and they're able to feed themselves a bite.  Of course, when I try to take it away, the tears start, so meals take 3 forks to finish.

Jim celebrated his 2nd Father's Day this weekend.  The boys and I got him a new GPS and an Xbox game.  I had read in one of the Babycenter weekly things that the boys might enjoy scribbling with crayons now, so I attempted to get them to write Jim a card.  Alex spent the whole time rolling his crayon across the floor and chasing it.  Zach immediately stuck one end in his mouth and bit it off.  Um, I guess we'll try that again later.

Pictures

I've uploaded a ton of pictures to the boys' website (pw: jma&z), including 11 month candids, 12 month candids, and a bunch of birthday photos.  Enjoy!

Birthday Party and Year 1, Week 1

I kind of got off on this whole "A day in the life of the boys" tangent in the last post, which wasn't really my plan.  There's stuff to be covered and details to be discussed!

The week leading up to the boys' first birthday party were pretty hectic.  Actually, the month leading up to it was busy.  We got a canopy for the back patio and had a play set installed.  Jim worked on the yard (although it couldn't really be saved) while I planned the menu and worked on ideas for their cakes.

Out of everything, the cakes took up the most time by far.  I literally had been working on them for months, trying to decide what kind - cupcakes or regular - what style, flavor, etc.  I even made demo cupcakes, to be sure I knew what I was doing and what I was getting into.  In the end I made their barn-shaped cakes and Publix helped with the green field cake for everyone else.  What started as farm animal cupcakes morphed into melted candy animal figures, then into the final ceramic animals.  I don't know why the cakes were so important to me.  Weird.

The decorations turned out better than I expected, with the help of my Mom, Dad, and Lucy.  The fill-your-own-balloons helium tank was 100% the right call, as were the fun streamers.

We had chicken fingers, fruit salad, macaroni salad, chips and veggies with dip, and fries for lunch.  The beverages were iced tea, homemade lemonade, and mint orange infused water.  I bought what I could premade from Publix and my Mom and Lucy helped with the rest.  The parting gifts to the kids were bath books, except for Thomas and Benjamin who got something more age-appropriate.

I was pretty busy wrangling the boys, or trying to get the fries to cook, so I only got glimpses of the party but I think everyone had a good time and there were enough surfaces to eat and visit.  The boys were starving by the time noon rolled around so we plopped them in their seats.  They went to town on the chicken but spit out every piece of macaroni salad.  They just don't like pasta.

After lunch they did a little socializing with everyone.  Around 1:30pm we sang Happy Birthday and let the boys at their barn cakes.  They were excited for a split second until they got frosting on their hands.  Apparently it wasn't a good sensation and they just couldn't get past it.  We also discovered that they don't like cake and spit it out, even when we tried again the next day.  Really red icing for the cakes wasn't the best idea, either, and their little hands were stained pink for a few days.

I think overall, besides the icing trauma, the boys had a good time.  They were wiped out for their afternoon nap and slept a solid 2hrs.  hehe

Wednesday the boys had their 12 month check-up.  Zach weighed 21.56lb (32nd percentile, down from 45th) and was 29in long (26th percentile, down from 47th).  Alex weighed 21.63lb (33rd percentile, down from 34th) and was 29.5in long (42nd percentile, down from 65th).  Looking at them, I really think they're working towards a growth spurt, so I'm not too worried about the percentiles.  Plus they're crazy mobile now and burning the highest number of calories they ever have.

We talked to the doctor about how they're not crawling or sitting up on their own yet.  Instead they're focused on scooting and cruising.  We put the boys on the floor and gave the doctor a demonstration of both.  He wasn't concerned since they are moving and have good muscle tone.  They are physically able to do those things and just don't know it.  If the boys haven't learned to crawl or, more likely, walk in the next two months, the doctor will get us a physical therapy evaluation appointment.

Watching what the boys have been doing over the past week, I doubt any PT will be needed.  Their favorite thing right now is to play school bus.  My parents got them a ride-on school bus toy that also can be pushed from behind.  Alex loves to ride on the bus while Zach pushes it.  We switch them so everyone gets a turn, but you can tell which they prefer.  They'll circle the house forever while one of us steers it for them.  Zach can push it pretty fast, too, but gets sidetracked looking around.  Alex will get impatient and start moving it forward with his feet.

The scooting has gone into high gear, too.  In a blink of an eye, they've gone from one end of the house to the other.  I was brushing my teeth and looked down to see both of them scooting into the bathroom after me.  They think the springy doorstops are fun and sproing them whenever they get the chance.

We also talked to the doctor about weaning the boys from breast feeding.  The magical bonding experience has been over for a while and after a year, I'd like my body back.  He recommended just going cold turkey at night (meaning don't even go in until morning), then slowly dropping the daytime feedings.  They went their first night without milk last night, but I still went in to comfort them when they woke up.  I also cut their morning feeding short due to pain.  I don't really know what's causing it (I had plenty of milk) but Zach hurts a lot more than Alex, and when I pull him off, there's red teeth indents.  I guess that's some additional motivation for us to stop.

They're both drinking a lot of whole milk now from a straw cup.  They finished a half gallon last week, plus most of one of those big containers of yogurt.  They've been getting some diaper rash, though, and I'm worried it might be dairy related.  I'm going to try a milk free day tomorrow (Alex loves water more anyways) and see if that clears things up.

We went to Carter's today to get the boys 18mo pajamas.  The 12mo ones were getting waaay too short. It was like doing origami to get their feet in and their wrists were sticking out about an inch.  hehe  While I was there I got them a bunch of new shorts and a couple of t-shirts.

I've ordered a gate to help block off the downstairs bathroom, stairs, dinning room, and office.  That will essentially leave the other half of the house available to the boys.  I think it will make things a lot easier for me since any non-kid friendly things (like all of the cats' stuff) will be out of reach and the boys won't be too far out of my sight.  In an ideal world we would be able to kid-proof all of the 1st floor but I just don't see that happening.  I also got a gate for the top of the stairs and netting for the railing so they can scoot around on the 2nd floor without too much issue.  Right now I have to close them in rooms to grab something from the laundry room, which freaks them out.

This whole standing and cruising thing is pretty exciting, and I'm looking forward to when they can walk.  Carrying +40lbs of baby around all of the time gets old, although this is the nicest my arms have looked ever!

Year 1 is Done!

Unlike most of my other posts, you're not going to see any whining and teary eyes here.  Oh sure, it's a bit scary to think that the boys are no longer babies but these mysterious "toddlers".  And yes, I do miss them being small (for the 30sec that they were).  But right at this very moment Alex and Zach are by far the most fun and enjoyable they've ever been.

I enjoy waking up to their faces crying at me to get them out of bed every morning, and how as soon as I do, they switch to happy grins.  Then the excited arm flapping starts when they realize we're going to pounce on Daddy until he wakes up.  While Jim's getting his shower, the three of us snuggle in bed together.  Zach likes to roll onto his tummy and check on the alarm clocks while Alex sits up and wrestles with the covers.

Then we all go downstairs for breakfast.  The boys have been eating rasinless bran cereal with whole milk, some banana, yogurt, and bites of whatever I'm eating.  Drinking from straws is totally the cool thing to do and the boys take turns seeing who can down the most milk.  Then it's off to work with Daddy, sometimes with tears and upset boys, but we all have to get our day started.

If we have no where to be, the three of us will usually lounge around in our jammies until after lunch.  They're still taking two naps a day, usually from 9am-11am and 3pm-5pm, give or take 30min-1hr.  On Monday's the cleaning people come, so we get our first nap then meet Daddy for lunch.  This ensures the boys avoid the scary vacuuming.  The cats aren't so lucky.  We'll normally try to multi-task while we're out and get in a shopping trip at Whole Foods or Babies R Us.  Then it's home to meet J and Ana for a playdate (they're in town every Monday for swim lessons).

After a lot of "No, don't pull her hair!" and "Please, don't slap her!" Ana escapes mostly unscathed and we go down for second nap.  Once we're well rested, it's time for a quick snack and Daddy to be home.  You should see them when they hear Jim come in the door.  I've witnessed everything from them completely bursting into tears of joy, to Zach falling over from too much excitement, to Alex pushing his brother out of his way to get to Jim.  Either way, it's been a long time since Jim hasn't had to hold both of them the moment he's inside.

While some serious guy time is happening in the living room, I'll start dinner.  The boys become instantly famished between 5:30pm and 6pm, so I'm racing against the clock.  I normally start them off with bread, then their main course (which is hopefully a meat, starch, and 2 veggies), black olives, and cheese puffs/cheese duck crackers.  Lately refried beans have been my go-to since the boys LOVE them and they mask just about any veggie.  One night they had refried beans mixed with lima beans and peas.  I also do something similar with mashed potatoes.

After dinner we go out back and do a little swinging.  Zach likes the baby swing but Alex only has fun if he's swinging on my lap.  The it's time for our evening wagon ride.  Other than when they're sleeping, this is about the only time during the day that the boys are silent.  They're so busy looking around that you won't hear a peep.  We walk to the end of the houses (turning around before the vacant lots) and go down every cul-du-sac.  Most nights the grey neighbor cat, Killian, will come out and meet us on the sidewalk for some petting.  He has a boy of his own so tail pulling and fur grabbing don't even phase him.  Alex and Zach get so excited to see him.

Then it's home (usually met with lots of complaining) and upstairs to bed.  I hold them both in the glider while Jim gets their PJ's ready in their cribs.  Then he changes one boy while I brush the teeth of the other.  We swap babies and then all settle in for story time.  The boys like to sit in Jim's lap, so I usually end up holding the book and turning the pages while Jim reads.  For whatever reason, we always dress Alex in Zach's crib and visa versa.  I don't know why.  Then it's off to our bed for night night milk, some burping, and they drift off in their own cribs.

Month 11, Week 3 & 4

The boys have been hard at work on honing new skills.  Zach is now a master at pulling up and doing his leg/behind scoot maneuver.  He can go from sitting to standing using just about anything - my leg, the wagon, the couch, etc.  His scooting might not be the most efficient way to get around but he doesn't have a problem going from the play room to the living room and back again after a ball.

Alex is getting really good at cruising. He'll take my hands and we'll go for walks around the house.  When he reaches where he wants to go, he'll plop down and start playing.  He prefers to be in near constant motion when standing, so he'll cruise on me or Zach to get around any obstacle.  With both boys I've been playing Up and Down, where they'll crouch down and I'll say "Down!" and when they stand back up I'll say "Up!"  They think it's hilarious.  They've gotten to the point where I can say "Down!" and they'll crouch.

Zach has started trying to mimic what we say.  The first time I noticed was after I said "Ut oh!" and he replied "Uh Oh!"  We've been working on "Mommy" and I get "Nomma" in response.  I tried the same thing with Alex but instead of "Mommy" I got "Dada!" nearly shouted back.  hehe

Zach has all 8 teeth poked through (4 top/4 bottom), while Alex has been working on his top ones.  He has numbers 8, 7, and 10 in and you can see the beginning of number 9.  So, his pattern of not following the rules has continued.  He has this gap on the top because he hasn't gotten his front left tooth in.

Also this week the boys have discovered their nose and that they can put their finger in it.  They're not actually picking it but seem to thing it's something fun to do.  The boys have learned that pictures in books look like real things.  They have a book of animals that I read to them some times.  They don't show any interest in the pictures until we get to the one of the orange cat.  They'll both reach out to pat it and they don't want to leave the page.  We also have a grey cat down the street that will come out to meet them when we take walks in the evening.  Both boys have managed to grab his ears and tail but he doesn't seem to care.

I took the boys over to our friend J's house this week and they played with her 10mo daughter, Ana. We ate lunch then went swimming in their kiddie pool.  Both Zach and Alex went to town splashing, while Ana concentrated more on the toys.  They live on a farm, so the horses and dogs watched the kids play.  The boys had SO much fun cruising around on all of their furniture.  At one point Zach started running his hands down their air return grate.  It made this washboard-type noise that Zach loved.  Alex joined in with some bells.  All we need to do is teach Ana to blow on a jug and we'd have a nice country band going.

Another development this week is Zach is scared of anyone that isn't me or Jim.  It started when our house cleaners came before we were ready to head out.  We normally leave since the boys are scared of the vacuum.  Well, the cleaners came in and Zach was so scared he couldn't move.  He just cried and cried, with his little body shaking.  I had to peel him off the train table and hold him.  A few days later J and Ana came by.  Now, we see them about twice to three times a week.  Both boys will go to J and normally get excited to see them.  Well, this time Zach was petrified.  I picked him up and held him until he realized J wasn't going to do anything to him.  Then he was back to his normal self, laughing and playing.

I'm not sure what this is going to mean for their birthday party coming up.  We witnessed sort of thing about 3 more times during the week, so I don't think it's a fluke.  The worst was when a former co-worker came over with her little girl, Amy.  Zach burst into tears, which startled Amy and made her cry.  Alex then got upset that Amy was upset.  In a matter of a few seconds we had three babies bawling uncontrollably.  This was Amy's first play date ever, so I felt kind of bad that we started out on a bad foot.

It hasn't helped their moods any that I'm trying to reduce the amount of breast feeding they're doing.  I would like them to stop altogether within the next month, but they've shown no signs of stopping on their own.  In fact, it's been quite the opposite.  They were getting pushier and wanting more than they used to.  They expected milk before, during, and after every nap, plus about 3 other times during the day, before bed, and about 5 times during the night.  If I didn't move fast enough, they would help themselves.  I was getting Alex into position when Zach pulled himself over, lifted up my shirt, and latched on.  Talk about making me feel like a dairy cow...

So we're down to 2 milk sessions during the day, one before each nap, and about 3 during the night.  They seem to be adjusting well.  Neither even asked for milk during their naps today (day 3).  The first day I tried it, they wouldn't go back to sleep after they wanted milk during their naps, so they only slept 30min instead of 1.5hrs.  Their eating at breakfast, lunch, and dinner has really picked up, too.  They're actually eating, instead of nibbling and throwing most of it on the floor.  We've been giving them water whenever they want it, and whole milk with meals.  Zach likes milk but Alex doesn't, so he gets water most of the time.  If they start getting a little cranky in the afternoon I'll give them a snack.

Both boys are getting pretty good at drinking out of straws.  I think I'm going to get them some straw sippy cups so they can have a drink whenever they want it.  I'm most worried about dehydration as we wean them off breast milk since they're not used to relying on water or cows milk.

We tried some new foods this week - baked beans, fruit smoothies, cheese crackers with peanut butter, tomato and cheese sandwiches, and some new fruit/veggie pouches.  We're going through a phase where Zach will eat just about anything but Alex is acting picky.  Usually if I make him try something a couple of times he'll eat it, though.  He still doesn't know how to spit things out, so I use that to my advantage.

I'm looking forward to their birthday party.  I hope the boys have fun.  Jim's worried about them not diving into their little cakes, but I would be surprised if they didn't.  It seems like their hands are into just about everything now.

Month 11, Week 1 & 2

I'm tired.  The boys are working on teeth and trying to get over some bad colds.  They've had fevers, run-down-your-face noses, sinus pressure, and congestion.  They spend most of the night coughing (as does Jim), and just want to be held.  During the day they're cranky from the lack of sleep, and don't want to eat since they can't taste anything.  At one point the three of us just climbed into the green chair and rocked while a Thomas and Friends episode played on the tv.  They didn't have the energy to do much else.

Right now Zach has 6 teeth that have poked through - 3 top and 3 bottom - and a top and bottom one on the way.  If you go by the dental numbers for teeth, he's gotten them in this order: 25, 24, 9, 8, 23, and 10.  Numbers 26 and 7 are about to come through.  Alex, on the other hand, likes to concentrate on the bottoms first.  He has 4 teeth: 24, 25, 26, and 23.  Number 8 is just about to come in, though.

I find the order they get their teeth to be interesting.  Zach is pretty much a text book case, while Alex is bucking the norm.  But neither of them have gotten the same tooth in at the same time.  Not a single one!  I guess genes don't play a big part in it.

You wouldn't know from the teeth count, but Alex has pulled ahead as our biter.  He wants to chomp anything that gets close enough.  I don't know how many times a day I have to keep him from biting Zach.  He bit me this morning when he got mad that I made him stop rolling and go to sleep.

I've mentioned before that Alex likes to talk in a falsetto sometimes.  Zach has developed his "Donald Duck" voice, which is kind of like a hoarse whisper.  He'll just chat away, switching from normal to DD.  It's pretty funny.

Beyond being tired from the teething an colds, I've been having trouble sleeping.  On Mother's Day we found out that friends from college lost their B/G twins at 22wks due to an incompetent cervix.  They did everything right and just couldn't stop them from arriving.  It's really shaken me up.  That could have easily been me, and honestly I can't tell you why it wasn't.  We were so close to loosing the boys so many times, but for some reason it didn't happen.  I had just sent my friends all of our old twins-related equipment, too, which probably makes it worse, sitting around, being a reminder.  I've been worried that even just talking to me would make things worse for them.  No one should have to go through what they are.  I feel terrible and there's nothing I can do to fix it.

Ok, back to the boys.  Alex has developed a willful side.  He'll arch his back and just about throw himself on the ground when he's not getting his way.  Diaper changes have become screaming and kicking matches.  I have to physically bend him to get him in his high chair sometimes.  He also gets frustrated when I can't figure out what he wants.  He grabbed and yanked the cat's tail the other night, causing Frodo to yelp.  When he's cruising, he wants to be in constant motion and gets irritated at Zach for standing and playing.  He'll try to remove his hands, or push him out of the way.  Mostly, though, he'll grab onto Zach's shoulders and cruise on him to get around to the other side.

Alex gets very jealous of whatever toy Zach has, even if he has a duplicate of his own.  He'll try to grab the toy from Zach.  And if Zach wants his toy, Alex will hold it out of reach, even rotating his body around so his back is to him.

Alex is easy to make laugh.  When he wakes up from his nap, he'll roll onto his belly, pop his head up to look at me, and just grin from ear to ear.  I can touch my nose to his for lots of giggles.  He's very curious about my nose, mouth, and teeth.  He thinks it's funny when I gently blow in his eyes and loves it when I stroke his face.  He likes to sleep on his side and back.

Zach also has a touch of willfulness, mainly when it comes to changing his diaper.  He wants to kick his legs and gets mad when I hold them.  Otherwise he's pretty laid back.  I've been letting him pick out his shirt in the morning.  I hold up two and he grabs the one he wants.  Lately he's been choosing what are normally Alex's shirts.  This has been causing Jim and I a lot of mix-ups.  hehe

He's starting to realize that Alex wants his toys, and will cry when he reaches for them.  I spend a lot of time extracting his toys from Alex and giving them back.  Zach is getting pretty good at taking walks with me holding his hands.  He likes to cruise the couch and hold onto my knees.  When he's trying to figure something out, he'll tilt his head to the side.  Zach has started to play peek-a-boo with blankets and was experimenting with drinking from a cup by himself in the bath.  He knows what "Sit!" means and will sit down in the tub.  He likes to try to pull up on the sides a lot.

At lunch Zach has started to spit out things without even tasting them.  He also likes to drop food over the side of his high chair, hoping the cats will come sniff it.  He chews really fast and doesn't spill much when he drinks.  Zach likes to break his cheese puffs in half before eating them.

Zach is obsessed with our alarm clocks and tries everything he can to look at them when it's time for a nap.  I'm constantly rolling him back over and pulling him closer to me so he doesn't go off the side of the bed.  If given the chance, he'll pull my hair.  He likes to have his forehead and cheeks kissed before going taking a nap.  Zach likes to sleep on his side or belly.

Month 11!!! (Only one more to go!)

First, how can it already be Wednesday?  You'd think with more daylight I'd have more time, but I don't.  If anything, we've been trying to jam in extra fun stuff.

Our big event this past week was getting a train table.  While the boys are too little to play with trains, the table is ideal for cruising.  It's just the right height and has a lip they can grab onto.  Best of all, we can cover it with their toys for playtime fun (or throw-it-on-the-floor-then-cry-until-someone-gets-it-for-you-then-throw-it-back-on-the-floor fun).

Since train tables can be pricy and it's not like a spoon or anything they would put in their mouth, I searched Craigslist for a few days trying to find a deal.  I found one "like new with just a little tear in the corner" for $45.  I called the lady and we went over to her house to get it.  Now, I hate haggling.  If I think the price is fair, that's what I'll pay.  If it's unfair, I don't even bother.  I could kid myself that I will talk someone down, but I know I won't.  I just didn't get that gene from my dad.

We get there and everything looks fine, although the table is a bit shaky.  Jim goes to load it into the van and it totally falls apart.  He's left holding one board while the rest is in pieces on the ground.  We look at each other.  Well, this isn't good.  We get the pieces home and I do a closer inspection of the table.  A lot of the screws are stripped out and some are missing altogether.  I replace the missing ones and move the brackets so we can use new screws.  Everything seems fine and Zach goes to town "dancing" with the table.

Fast forward 4 days.  I go to move the table so it's better centered on the carpet and one end falls off.  The new screws I put in were starting to come out.  Three were laying on the floor already.  I put it back together for the short term (and keep an eye on it) but I've officially written it off.  This table is going in the trash and we're getting the boys a new one.

At lunch we met Jim at Toys R Us and bought the boys a new table.  It's held together by bolts and nuts, not tiny wood screws.  Plus it seems to be made of wood, not particle board.  The lip on it is better for holding and it comes with a drawer.  Zach "dances" with it to his heart's content and it doesn't budge.

Alex is able to cruise both directions now but strongly prefers counter-clockwise.  Zach doesn't like to turn corners but will when he runs out of toys on his side.  The boys have tried to go double wide so Alex can pass Zach, but it ended with one boy on his rear end and the other with a bonked head.  Alex sort of knows to wait on me to move him around Zach, but that doesn't keep him from trying to push his brother out of the way.

I was in the kitchen this morning, trying to get their breakfast ready when I hear a "Uhh  uhhh...  waaaa!"  I look into the living room and only see one boy, and he's not the one making noise.  Alex, who was cruising the train table, is missing.  I walk around the table and see two little feet sticking out.  Somehow he managed to fall and land under the table on his back.  He wasn't hurt, just didn't want to e under there.

Couch time is officially over.  Zach was playing with my phone and dropped it over the side.  Before I could get to him, he went over the end of the couch after it.  He landed on his head/face and cried for a long time.  You can barely see the bruise two days later and he doesn't act like it hurts, but it pretty much freaked me out.  I held him for a long time, until he was pushing me away so he could go play.

The boys have been eating anything and everything.  I'll make them some food for dinner but most of the time they end up mostly eating what we are.  The hardest thing right now is to be sure they get enough veggies.  I got these potato and spinach cakes from the store and they seem to like them.  They're expensive, though, so I'm going to try making my own.  That way I can control the salt and which veggies are in there.

If I offer the boys something new that they like better than what's in the mouth, they'll try to spit it out to make room for the new food.  I have to be careful to keep them focused on one thing at a time or they end up not eating much.

I've been working a little with them and straws.  They're not very good at them and really just like chewing on them.  One day I was drinking some punch out of a to-go cup and the boys were going crazy for it.  I told them they could have some if they used the straw.  Of course, Zach immediately sucks up a whole mouthful of punch.  Red liquid is running everywhere.  I can't not let Alex try and he does the same thing.  Red is all over their shirts.  I dump out the punch and replace it with water.  They could care less about it now and go back to just chewing the straw.

We've been working this week to move our computer stuff to the front room and convert our office into a playroom.  I think that's the best option because that room can be quarantined with a gate and it is sunny in the afternoons.  It's been slow going due to the tons of junk we've been storing in there.  Plus we need to have a tech come out and move the DSL line to the living room.  I see an Ikea trip in our near future to get a couple of rugs for in there.

The boys birthday is coming up in a month and it's bittersweet for me.  I can't believe how fast they've been growing!  It seems like yesterday when we brought them home, although if you ask me at 4am when they're crying for milk, it feels like years since we did.  hehe  They're getting really good at walking while holding onto someone's hands, and they don't fall much when cruising.  I don't think it'll be too long before they're trying to walk.