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.