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.