J, M, A, and Z

Christmas Part 1

2010-12-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-13T01:17:00.001-05:00

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

2010-11-27T02:21:00.000-05:00

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

2010-11-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-07T00:29:00.001-04:00

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

2010-08-23T00:24:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-11T21:42:00.000-04:00

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

2010-07-12T21:18:00.000-04:00

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

2010-07-07T00:15:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-28T22:12:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-20T23:25:00.001-04:00

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

2010-06-17T11:59:00.000-04:00

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

2010-06-14T00:08:00.000-04:00

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!

2010-06-13T01:20:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-30T22:01:00.000-04:00

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

2010-05-18T00:21:00.000-04:00

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!)

2010-05-05T22:03:00.000-04:00

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.

Month 10, Week 3

2010-04-26T08:05:00.000-04:00

Up until this point, the boys have only been able to be reactionary to the world around them. If I put them in a toy they don't like, they'll cry. If I feed them something they don't want, they'll let me know. This week, though, they've started to cry because they want something, and it doesn't even have to be in their visual range. Alex has started complaining during meals because he wants a drink of water. I'll get up, get a glass, and fill it from the fridge. You'd think I was about to hand him the best thing ever. He'll wiggle in his seat and squeal with glee, then grab the cup and just about drown trying to drink it.

The downside of this new found decision making is they can get pretty serious about what they want. We had our first major meltdown in Wal-Mart, all because Alex wanted my phone. He screamed at the top of his lungs, tears streaming down his face. I think if he was able to reach the floor, he would have thrown himself down on it and done some kicking. Nothing I did seemed to matter. He wanted the phone.

Out of options (besides just letting him scream the rest of the trip), I gave it to him. Almost immediately Zach reached for it. This caused a whole new round of preemptive screaming. Just in case Zach did manage to get the phone, Alex would already have the complaining well underway. Alex also was holding the phone away from Zach, another new development. Normally they just try to play with whatever item they have and then react once their brother takes it away. In the end I just had to take the phone away. Eventually Alex stopped screaming, when he saw people looking at him.

They seem to be taking different tracks in their motor development. Zach is leaning more towards crawling. He spends a lot of time on his belly after diving for a just-out-of-reach toy. He's also started sleeping on his tummy at night. He still can't crawl, but he does scoot around backwards and has managed to get one knee under him at different times.

Alex, on the other hand, is fully focused on standing and eventually walking. He started cruising this week, doing a side-step around some activity tables we have. If he hits a brother roadblock, he'll try to shove Zach out of the way so he can complete his journey. So far he only seems to go counter clockwise around things, but will also take a few steps towards me or Jim if we're nearby. He's also discovered he can lean into the activity table, causing it to slide towards Zach. Zach will start yelling to alert me that he needs saved, but sometimes I can't get their fast enough and he'll get pushed over.

Zach has a bunch of teeth coming in - top front two and bottom left. Despite this, he slept for about 8hrs straight two nights this week. It's only happened while he was sleeping on his tummy. Alex, who seems to be in a dental holding pattern, continues to wake up every 1-2hrs for either milk or holding.

The boys' wagon came in on Monday and we've used it everyday except one (due to rain). They love it and will happily sit in it for walks around the neighborhood. They sit facing each other and are just barely in reach of heir brother to do some scratching and biting, so I have to keep an eye on them. Alex and Zach know their names and they know what "No" and "Stop" mean. Whomever I address will immediately halt their assault and look up at me innocently.

As far as talking goes, I would consider their first word to be "Daddy". They'll yell it whenever they seem Jim, although they sometimes use it for me as well. I've also heard Alex whispering "Cat" at Frodo as he walks by. By far their favorite thing to say is "Da da da" and they'll use it pretty much non-stop throughout the day, whether Jim's here or not. If it seems like they're asking about him, I'll say "Daddy's at work but he loves you very much."

Month 10, Week 2

2010-04-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

It was a bit of an unusual week for us. We had zero playdates. Instead we worked on getting all of our naps (2) and meals (3) in. The situation with eating hasn't changed much. Both boys want to eat what they can feed themselves.

One glimmer of hope is they're really, really interested in trying what's on our plates. If it's on a plate and we offer it with an adult utensil, they'll at least try it. For Zach, "trying" means sticking out his tongue and testing the edible waters. If it somehow makes it into his mouth and he changes his mind, he'll spit it out. Alex will open wide and seems unable to spit it out, even if he thinks it tastes terrible. He'll complain but keep right on chewing. If its obvious that he really, really hates what he's eating, I'll fish it out for him.

They've been trying all kinds of new things. Chicken quesadilla, yogurt with fruit jam, Cheerios, corn flakes, Rice Krispies, black olives, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, rice, beans, soy/rice cakes, and spinach snack pizza. I also picked up these squeeze pouches of fruit puree. Zach seems to really like them and has sucked a couple of them dry. Alex has been wanting water so I've been letting him drink out of a cup. He's getting pretty good at it and doesn't spill or choke much.

I submitted the paperwork to the HOA for a play set. We decided on a rainbow kit with swings, a slide, and a clubhouse thing. Right now they won't be able to use much of it beyond the swings, but they really love being outside. I bought them a little splash pool, too, for some backyard fun. After dinner in the evenings we've been spreading a blanket in the grass. The boys just sit and squeal with delight. They'll rotate around, watching birds or the cat rolling on the patio.

Sleep hasn't been their strong suit and that continues to be the case. Zach has both a top front left and bottom front-ish left tooth coming in. Alex has a bottom right tooth poked through, and I suspect he's working on some top canines. I can't even remember the last time I got to sleep the whole night without two little boys ending up beside me in bed. This also means Jim spends a lot of time wrapped in a blanket on the floor. We've tried Motrin, but it doesn't seem to help.

I've updated the boys' pictures to their website (pw: jma&z). There's some really great ones this time. We met up with Chii-Wey at Heritage Park in Simpsonville. Unfortunately, about 30min before we got there, Alex threw up all over himself. He kept throwing up for the next three hours. I spent most of the photo shoot holding him (which is all he wanted), although he did perk up for about 5min at one point. Immediately after I took him to the pediatrician. He got some medicine to keep him from throwing up and seemed fine from then on. Can you get a 3hr bug and not pass it on to your brother or mom?

Month 10! (+ 1 week)

2010-04-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

Ok, so where to begin... The boys have sworn off all purees, including fruit. They want to feed themselves and don't want me to help. I can't even get them to taste anything unless I pin them down and force it (which I won't). Luckily they'll try most anything I put on their trays. I've been trying to come up with enough foods that are finger friendly but aren't all carbs. Zach likes green beans from a can. Alex will happily munch on steamed broccoli. Neither like cheese, but they'll eat shredded chicken. Of course they like bread, and these cheddar cracker things. Both ate some little cubes of watermelon, too.

We've also experimented with spinach and artichoke dip (love it!), mac 'n cheese (Alex is ok with it), garlic bread (cats are a fan), and rice krispies with milk (love it!). They're pretty much addicted to cheese curls. Both boys will just about leap out of their chairs when I get the bag out. Zach grabs one and immediately starts biting pieces off. Alex will drive it around his tray then lick all of the cheese off before sucking on the corn puff. I even busted Furball doing cleanup on some pieces that fell on the floor.

Jim and I are going back and forth on whether to get the boys an outdoor playset for their birthday this year or to wait until they're able to fully use one. The pro's for getting it now is that we have some money from my grandma, and the boys really, really like to swing. The con's are that they can't really use much of it and it'll take up a lot of space.

I'd also like to get them a wagon. I think they would really enjoy cruising around in one, based on how much they love the cart things at the grocery store. It would also let them be able to take some toys with them that they could retrieve on their own if dropped. Toys R Us seemed to have one with a canopy that might work.

The boys continue to do well. Both are experts at pulling up and standing. They'll also take a few steps towards me to get hugs, then whip around and go back to their toy. I haven't been able to get them to willingly take my hands in theirs, though. When I reach for them, they'll pull them away. Once I hold them, they'll grab on. I've been trying to get them to give me five or ten, and they think its funny. Part of me worries that they have a tactile aversion or something. Of course this is silly because they hold toys and pick up things all the time. Maybe it's a developmental milestone of some sort, wanting to hold someone's hand.

Each boy is working on a third tooth. Alex has a bottom right nub poked through, while Zach has his top left front showing. It also looks like a couple more teeth might be on deck. This has pretty much destroyed any hopes of the boys sleeping through the night. They're even boycotting some morning naps. I've tried Motrin, in case they're in pain, but it didn't seem to help. On top of teething, they also have runny noses, which results in snoring and even more night waking. Every night for the past week or two the boys have ended up sleeping with me for a few hours.

All in all, the boys are doing pretty well. They seem to say "da da da" and "ma ma ma", plus "oh no no no" with intent. They're scooting around on their behinds a little, and are stuck in reverse when on their bellies. They're really into playing with each other. Alex managed to bite Zach's toes the other day. They'll also lick each other's head, grab hands, and try to hug their brother. It's pretty cute when no one gets injured.

Month 9, Week 3 & 4

2010-03-30T01:12:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the radio silence for a bit. I've pretty much been in zombie mode and that colors my posts towards the grumpy end of the spectrum. I'd rather keep things upbeat and positive than write a bunch of complaints (since that's what it was going to turn into).

Anyways, there's a TON to catch up on. First, the boys went to the Greenville Zoo with their Grandma Pat. While not every exhibit was baby friendly, they enjoyed watching the bigger animals like the elephants and the giraffes. I think they even spotted a couple of monkeys in between their people watching. They weren't too thrilled about their sun hats or riding in the stroller, and we had to do a milk stop part way through, but overall I think they had a good time. It was like going to Publix, but outside and with less food.

The next day we had a playdate at J and Ana's. They have this wooden activity cube thing, with the wire and beads on top. I sat Zach in front of it, thinking he'd play with the stuff on the side. Instead, he just reaches up, grabs the wire, and pulls himself into a standing position. Uh... I guess they're standing now! Alex does the same thing but is more cavalier about it. He'll hold on with one or even no hands. So we went out and got our own cube, plus a crawl and cruise jungle toy. Both boys will hold onto the monkey's ear and play with the other hand. They'll also play this game with me where they'll turn and walk to me (I'll catch them) for hugs, then walk back to the toy. It's only a couple of steps but they seem to be decent at it.

We haven't given up on crawling yet, though. I have them on the floor most of the time now, with toys spread out around them. We've had a number of belly flops when they try to reach for something and fall over. Both boys can spin around on their rear ends, so any item within a 360 degree radius is fair game. This includes the newspaper, a book Jim's reading, and a cat tail that got too close. Zach has been rocking a lot while sitting and has managed to scoot a tiny bit. When he's on his belly, Zach will push up with his arms and slide backwards.

Alex doesn't seem to have the same interest in transportation. If he's on his belly anywhere but our bed, he'll body surf and cry until we rescue him. If all of his toys are out of his reach, he'll just play with his hands (or the carpet), and cry when he gets bored. He's lightning fast in the walker-exersaucer, though. He managed to run Frodo over one day. I think he just prefers to stand and has a bit better balance in that department.

Feeding them solids has gone from a relaxing, fun event to something akin to a food fight. After one or two spoonfuls, Zach will no longer open his mouth unless it's fruit from a jar. Alex wants to eat (and will chomp just about everything) but waves his hands around and smacks the spoon, sending puree flying. Both boys feed themselves puffs and bread now. They really, really don't like yogurt or cheese. Orange food is good. Green food is bad. Fruit is worth sucking the spoon dry. If an adult stands, it means you're available to pick up a boy from his highchair and they get very upset when they realize you're just getting a refill on your drink. Bibs are a creation of evil and must be yanked, pulled at, and otherwise loathed. If you think they're covered in food now, just wait until one has an itchy eye or ear.

We continue to work on their sleep habits. We've made some progress with the "Stuff Them Full of Solids So They're Not So Hungry At Night" plan. Now they'll sleep from about 8pm to 12:30am in one stretch. After that, though, all bets are off. I'm normally up at 2am, 3am, 4am, 5am, and 8am. Why the 3hrs at the end? Because I'm too tried to argue and I take them to bed with me. They've also decided that 2hrs a day of naps is all they need. I miss the iron-deficient 6hrs of naps I used to get... Runny noses and Zach sprouting a top left front tooth haven't helped, either.

So between the lack of sleep and the frustrating mealtimes, I got pretty burnt out on the whole stay-at-home-mom gig. I had a good cry over the whole thing, then my mom (who's been visiting us!) offered to watch the boys while Jim and I went out to dinner. It was exactly what I needed, 2hrs away from the pulling, grabbing, and crying. Of course, we both started missing them during dessert and I was really happy to see the boys when we got home. I'm still not 100% back to normal but my attitude has improved some.

So, like I mentioned, my mom has been visiting. It took a couple of days but the boys have warmed up to her. Zach will even ask her to pick him up and will give her wet kisses. Alex is a little more reserved but still enjoys it when she plays with him. She's been a big help around the house and with the boys. I can leave them to play while I get a shower, and she's there to help entertain them where ever we go. She even rubbed their heads until they went to sleep in the van one day.

So that's kind of our lives in a nutshell right now. I'm still trying to figure out how to get them to sleep through the night, and they're learning to stand. And while I really want them to learn to walk, it's going to open this whole other can of worms. hehe

Month 9, Weeks 1 & 2

2010-03-15T00:39:00.000-04:00

The boys have been doing some pretty cute stuff the past couple of weeks. Zach likes to say "Oh, no no no" and Alex will chime in with "Da da da dat." They don't really know what they're saying. They'll just as happily say "Da da" when sitting on my lap, as Jim's.

Their favorite toy has become each other. Alex managed to grab Zach's arm and bite it before I could stop him. Zach had two red marks for a few days, like he had a run-in with a mini vampire. Zach's not completely innocent, though. Should Alex fall over, he'll immediately try to lick Alex's head, pull his ears, or claw his face. He'll also extend his arm and try to bait Alex into taking it. More than one breast feeding session has turned into a tug of war or arm wrestling brawl.

The boys continue to love the couch. I heard some crazy noises coming from the living room one afternoon. I look in and see Alex sucking on his hand, making a sound that would otherwise be embarrassing to most people. Zach is just sitting there, watching him, and laughing and laughing.

Bath time is a lot better than it used to be. Zach has really started to enjoy himself. He splashes more than Alex at this point, but they are both pretty energetic about it. There's usually water running down both of there faces and the walls by the time they're done. I have to hide behind the edge of the tub so I don't end up equally soaked.

This week Alex fell out of the inflatable tub backwards and bonk his head on the drain. He was reaching for a toy and when he flopped back, he started kicking Zach in the chest. I tried to pull his legs away and he went over backwards. There was lots of crying and the bath was stopped short.

Alex has become an expert puffs chomper. He'll grab one in his palm and stuff it in his mouth. Or, if he's feeling adventurous, he'll use his index finger and thumb to pincer one. Sometimes he'll forget to let go and end up pulling it back out. Occasionally once it's in, he'll decide he really wanted veggies instead and try to spit the puff out. He'll eat just about anything happily, opening his mouth wide for each bite.

Zach, on the other hand, doesn't seem to like eating solids as much. I'll get a couple of spoonfuls in him then he'll start blowing on the spoon, spraying food everywhere. I have to force the food in his mouth and then hold the spoon there for when he spits it out. Normally I wouldn't make him eat, but if he doesn't then his iron make his tummy upset. He'll start spitting up stomach acid. Avocado and peas are no longer favorites. Both boys seem to want fruit like prunes and apples.

The 360 exersaucer has turned into the cats' worst nightmare. The contraption is located near the couch, close enough to create a gauntlet they cats have to pass through on the way to the kitchen. The boys will move into position when they see a cat approach, then run and try to catch it as it races by. Zach managed to run into Frodo once. Poor kitty.

The boys' 9 month pictures are up on their website (see the link in the sidebar). I think they turned out really well this month, even though they were pretty tired.

Month 8, Week 3.5

2010-03-01T22:29:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what to call this week. It's not week 4, but it's not week 3, either. I guess when there isn't exactly 4 weeks to every month, you get hiccups like this.

On Monday we took a day trip to Ikea in Charlotte. Our friends J and Anna went with us. J is a stay-at-home-mom and Anna is a crazy cute 6mo old with tons of curly brown hair. We all piled in our van for the adventure. We arrived around 11am and proceeded to directly to the restaurant. The boys were hungry and had peas for lunch, with some puffs for dessert.

Surprisingly we made it out of the store with only a few items - pot racks, popsicle holders, and a hippo rattle. While we were there, we got to test out Anna's cart cover thing. The boys seemed to like it pretty well. It was definitely a bigger hit than the car seats ever have been.

Tuesday was my Mothers of Multiples meeting. Jim decided to watch the boys by himself. He got home around 5pm. Around 6:30pm he fed them dinner and then got them ready for bed. Since he's not so good at the breast feeding and they won't take bottles, that pretty much left him with some hugs and putting them in their cribs. There was a lot of crying, but in the end they slept better than they have in a long while. I think they only got up to eat maybe three times.

On Wednesday we finally made it to a music class. The boys had a pretty good time. I took a quilt for us to sit on and Zach didn't fall over once. They really liked the jingle bells on sticks. We sang songs and did some dancing (sort of). While we were at Earth Fare I picked up some apples and veggie puffs for the boys.

Thursday we had a playdate with D and her two boys, who are 7 days older than Zach and Alex. One of her boys is already crawling, while the other has been rocking back and forth. I don't really see either of ours doing much like that, but I'm not too worried about it. Once they start crawling, my life is going to get a million times harder. I like how they stay put right now.

Friday was the boys' 9 month check-up. Both boys weighed an even 20lb, putting them in the 45th percentile. Alex is 28.5in (65th%) and Zach is 28in (47th%). Both boys got a couple of booster shots and a clean bill of health.

Their infant car seats only go to 29in and 22lb. So... We went to Babies R Us and bought them convertible seats. I did a bunch of research and ended up going with the Safety 1st Air Protect. They were on sale and we ended up getting a really good deal.

So my babies are growing up. No more car seat carrying. No more Double Snap 'N Go stroller. We picked up a little umbrella stroller so I can transport them around for short trips. Otherwise it's just us and the Bob now.

The boys tried out some egg yolk this week. I think the jury is still out on whether they like them or not. They've also been experimenting with drinking water from a straw. Alex is really into the water and yells if I'm letting Zach have a turn. They both like the veggie puffs, more so than the fruit ones. Zach would probably prefer to eat them instead of anything else.

The boys had their hematologist appointment today. Rather than the finger and heel pricks like at the pediatrician, they had to do the intravenous kind with a needle and vials. Alex was a real trooper. He cried initially when the tech put the rubber band thing on his arm but didn't even let out a peep when she stuck him with the needle. Zach started screaming when she put on the arm band. Unfortunately the tech had a hard time finding the vein. It was sickening, watching her dig around in his arm with the needle. I know it had to hurt because he started fighting her. She had to call another tech over to help hold his arm. In the end she did find the vein and fill the vials, but it was pretty terrible. I hugged and hugged him. Within about 5min, though, he didn't seem to care at all and just wanted to look around.

The initial diagnosis is iron deficiency anemia with underlying Beta Thalassemia Minor. What this means is the boys did have low hemoglobin counts due to low amounts of iron, but they also have a hereditary condition where their red blood cells are smaller than normal. According to the tests, their iron levels are right where they should be, but because of the Thalassemia, their hemoglobin levels will never go much above 10.5 (normal adult is 13-15). This isn't a big deal. There are no symptoms and there's no treatment. In fact, since it's genetic Jim or I must also have the same condition.

Since their iron levels are where they need to be, the doctor reduced the supplement dosage down to 2.5ml. We'll go back for a follow-up visit with the hematologist in June. One thing that was funny was how many of the staff stopped by to see the boys while we were waiting. Apparently word had spread about their cuteness. hehe

Month 8, Week 3

2010-02-21T23:10:00.000-05:00

Really? This is the last week they'll be 8 month olds? But I just wrote about their first week... I don't want them to be 9 months yet!

For a little while now the boys have been "trading" toys. It seems that there's no toy better than the one your brother has. This week marked the first time that the looser in the toy fight got upset. Alex and Zach were sitting on the couch, surrounded by toys and remotes. Zach had the coveted satellite remote and was busy chewing on the end. Alex, unsatisfied by the taste of the Xbox controller, reached out with both hands and procured his brother's. Zach immediately burst into tears. Seriously - tiny little baby tears were streaming down his face. I gave the remote back to Zach but the damage had been done.

Which brings me to a similar topic - their love of the couch. It has become one of their favorite places to play, even more than sitting on the floor. I don't know if it's because they can see around the room better, or it's more comfortable, or it's the only place with a plethora of remotes, or what. One day Jim came home from work to find Zach sitting on the couch in a diaper, while Alex and I played on the floor. Yep, you guessed it. That's the only way (naked and on the couch) that he was happy.

The baby babble continues. Alex prefers "da da daddy" and Zach is all about the "mm mm ma." In fact, they're so set in their ways, I thought I was changing Zach this morning until I heard 10 seconds of "daddy" and realized my mistake. They don't associate what they're saying with me or Jim but it's still crazy cute.

The boys got an inflatable bathtub this week. Up until this point the boys have laid down to take their baths. Over time some problems have developed. For one, Alex constantly splashes Zach, or hits him while doing his full-body flailing, resulting in Zach crying more times than not. They also can't really play or see more than the ceiling while prone. They would get bored and the tears would start. They LOVE the inflatable tub. They're facing each other, have floaty toys to chew on, and seem to think splashing each other is hilarious. What used to be 15min dunk-and-scrubs are now 30min soak fests.

They also got a second toy bar for the van. It's nearly identical to the one we have and was purchased to stave off jealous looks. The worst part about having twins isn't the sleepless nights, crying in stereo, or the diapers - it's having to pick one boy over the other. They get so excited when I pull out that toy bar, I stopped using it at all because of how sad it would make the boy left with a regular toy. I hear happy rattling, crunching, and squeals of glee from the back of the van now.

The boys had their first lunch at a restaurant. We met up with Jim's brother and his family at Sticky Fingers in downtown Greenville. I made them some avocado and packed it on ice. They've also started eating cereal puffs, although I cut them into quarters because I am worried about choking. Our nephews thought the avocado looked like green slime. hehe The boys ate about a half of avocado and I was impressed they managed that much with all of the distractions. Sometimes I can barely get them to take a bite if the cat walks by at home.

Zach really likes the puffs and Alex tolerates them ok. Right now I'm putting them in their mouths, although we scatter some on their trays so they can practice feeding themselves. I don't think either have managed to get one in their mouth yet, though. I held one in the palm of my hand, hoping Zach would grab it. Instead he face planted and licked it off. That boy is a mess. Zach also really likes jarred prunes, while Alex likes the jarred apples. If I switch them, I get a round of sour faces and an instant distrust of the next spoonful.

I wish I could say that we've solved all of our sleep problems but I can't. They still wake up to eat every 2.5hrs and after about 5am they're ready to party. On top of that, Alex doesn't want to nap beyond about 1hr, if at all. He's been acting like his tummy is hurting, although I can't get a burp out of him. He's been throwing up some, too.

The boys have their 9 month check-up this Friday and an appointment with a hematologist early next week. I'm hoping their hemoglobin still looks good. It'll also be interesting to see how much they weigh and how long they are. Their feet are starting to hang over the end of their car seats and I think we need to bump up their exersaucers' height a notch.

Month 8, Week 2

2010-02-14T22:40:00.002-05:00

You can check out the boys' 8th month pictures on their website (pw: jma&z).

This has been another one of those rough weeks, although I don't think it's totally the boys' fault. On Wednesday they had their follow-up doctor's visit about their anemia. Their hemoglobin has gone up about two points, which is a really good sign. They have about 3 more points to go before they're out of the woods. Their platelet count was also up, though. It could be a symptom of the anemia, or something else. We've been referred to a hematologist just to be sure. There's no emergency or anything so it'll be a few weeks before we see him or her.

The boys are doing pretty well sleeping in their cribs at night, until about 5am. At that point they'll both just cry and cry until we go in and get them. Or, I can get them before they cry and they'll sleep with me for another 2.5hrs. We let them CIO one morning and Alex is still hoarse. I also tried CIO for their naps and it was a disaster. They both cried for over 40min before I went in and got them. It wasn't a mad cry, but a sad one. So we're kind of stuck right now on the whole sleeping thing.

The boys have been acting goofy this week. Both thought today it would be fun to baby babble in a falsetto. All. Day. Long. Sometimes Alex would try to squeal so high, nothing would come out (or maybe only dogs could hear him). They're also still really super attached to me. Even if I just stand to walk across the living room, one or both will start crying. I was reading them books on the floor and every few minutes one of them would lean in towards me for a hug.

For Valentine's Day I made foot prints of the boys with red paint. I had the heels overlap so they sort of look like hearts. I thought it would be easy - slap some paint on their feet, stamp them, and done. So I strip Alex down to a diaper, sit him in my lap, and paint the first foot. He immediately grabs it with both hands and tries to eat it. Uhh... We're now both covered in red paint. I take him to the kitchen sink and hose him off. We try again. I stick a gallon bag over the foot I'm not going to paint first. This distracts him enough for me to paint and stamp the first foot. I swap the plastic bag and repeat. He manages to get the bag off and we're now both sporting some red tribal markings. I carry him back to the sink for another ghetto bath. Zach gets the same treatment.

On Friday we met Jim at Cracker Barrel for lunch. On a whim, we have the waitress bring us a high chair. We sat Alex in it and strapped him in. He immediately burst into tears. Luckily we had a second boy who loved the thing. We pulled him up to the table and Zach just went to town. He tried biting the table, eating the menus, grabbing our plates, and flirting with everyone around us. The whole time Alex clutched Jim - a total daddy's boy.

Alex and Jim, with Zach sitting like a big boy

Sunday night after we got home from Poppa and Granny J's, the boys and I piled on the couch to watch the winter olympics while Jim took a chair nap. I had Alex laying next to me with his head on my arm, while Zach was sitting on my stomach. They were alternating between playing with toys/remotes, and laughing at me while I kissed them. It was one of those moments that just melts your heart and you hate for it to end. But they needed to take their iron and eat dinner.

Month 8

2010-02-09T23:45:00.001-05:00

This is a late posting since we were out of town last week. My Grandma was in the hospital where they discovered inoperable stomach cancer. We drove down to Florida to visit one last time. Plus, I wanted her to meet the boys.

Jim, Lucy, the boys, and I left 10pm Tuesday evening for Bradenton. Alex and Zach slept all night, with the exception of 2 stops for food. We checked into the hotel around 8am, unpacked, and everyone took a nap. A little before lunchtime we went to Grandma and Don's house to visit. Grandma was resting comfortably in bed with some oxygen. We took the boys in and she immediately brightened up. She's always loved little kids, so to have two there gave her something to focus on. The boys were on their best behavior once we got the seating arrangements straightened out. They weren't too sure about having my family hold them.

Grandma kept talking about how she had always wanted twins but never got them. She held out her finger once and Zach tried to chomp it. Jim pulled him back at the last minute. Alex was enthralled with her blanket and kept trying to pull it up to his mouth. Both boys wanted her remote SO bad. Jim offered up his cell as a distraction. Pretty soon I hear a faint "Hello?" and realize one of the boys had just called Jim's brother. Oops!

The boys even ate lunch with her one day. We took their highchairs in and put them next to her bed. I sat between them and fed them avocado. They were very careful not to make a mess and seemed to enjoy the attention. It was hot in Florida so the boys ran around in t-shirt onesies. Grandma remarked how soft their skin was and how chubby their legs were (in a good way). She even managed to sort of hug and kiss one boy while I held him for her. Both boys showed off their jumping skills on her bed and shared their toys with her.

The last couple of days we were there she was too tired to see them anymore. She was sort of in a twilight where she wasn't fully asleep or awake, plus she was taking morphine for pain. She could hear them playing in the living room, though, and at one point told my parents to stop talking so she could listen. hehe Typical Grandma, bossing everyone around.

Overall I think the boys had a really good time on the trip. At the hotel they slept with me in one bed while Jim used the other. It was just down the street from the house so we went back there for naps during the day and bedtime around 7pm. We went to Whole Foods in Sarasota and got them avocado, bananas, and mango. I took our little electric chopper thing with us and made them fresh food for lunches and dinners. They tolerated the avocado and didn't really want anything to do with the rest. We discovered that they only really like avocado when it's cold. Room temperature apparently didn't taste as good. Don had never had mango or avocado so we gave him a sample. Thumbs up on the mango, not so much on the avocado.

While we were down there the boys learned some new tricks. Alex likes to stick his tongue out now, especially when he's concentrating on a toy. He's also taken to shaking his head from side to side. We're going to check with the pediatrician, but Dr. Google says it's a normal developmental thing and he'll outgrow it. Zach has started clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. Both boys are becoming excellent sitters. Alex has been rocking on his bottom a little and has fallen on his belly trying to get to toys. Unless his arms are pinned, he can roll over on his back. Zach expects me to retrieve him from his tummy and waits.

We have whining. Constantly. Without end. Alex started first with the "mmmm mmmm mmmm" while he beckons me with arm flapping and hand waving. Zach thought it looked like fun and picked it up soon after. Initially I thought it was cute, kind of like them saying "mom" without the "om" but that was when they did it occasionally. Now it feels like they never stop. Today it was driving me crazy, especially since I was trying to get a couple of things done, like laundry so there aren't two naked boys running around. Alex will even "mmmm" while I'm holing him because he wants me to walk him around.

We're going through CIO round two. The boys are good at going to sleep in their cribs, just not staying asleep there. They want to sleep with me and their level of anger gets pretty high around 4am-5am. Last night I took the baby monitor into the spare bedroom with me so Jim could get some sleep. I also closed their door, which I hated doing because it gets cold in there, but they don't just cry - Zach screams and Alex yells at the top of his lungs.

They also seem to want to eat every hour or two, which is frustrating because I KNOW they aren't hungry. Our trip to Florida and back proved they only really need food every 3-4hrs. On top of breaking those two bad habits, I'm going to start having them sleep in their cribs for naps. If you see me over the next couple of weeks and I look frazzled, you know why.

I posted a few of the boys' 8th month candid shots on their website (pw: jma&z). Alex has such a nice smile and Zach loves to make funny faces.

Month 7 Week 3

2010-01-29T00:34:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Zach woke up feeling warm. By Monday his fever had climbed to 103.4F and we took him to the pediatrician. Near as they could tell, he had caught the same bug Alex had the previous week. It was just hitting him a little harder. Zach usually gets sicker and for longer than Alex, so we weren't surprised. We just didn't like him having a fever for so long, and so high, without being sure.

On Wednesday we were back at the doctor's, this time for follow-up blood work. Primarily we wanted a comparison of their reticulocyte count, to see if the iron supplements were working. Reticulocytes are like baby red blood cells. More iron should mean more are being produced. Once they mature, then higher hemoglobin numbers should follow. Alex's reticulocyte count went from 44 to 128 and the doctor was really glad to see that.

On the other hand, Zach's didn't change. He was still at 44. This is most likely due to his illness. Your bone marrow makes a mix of white and red blood cells. Since he has been sick pretty much the entire time they've been on iron supplements, his body has been using its resources to make the white variety. There is also a visual analysis being done on their blood, and those results should rule out any blood abnormality. We'll get those results either Friday or Monday.

Their next follow-up is in two weeks. I'm not sure what we'll do without the twice-weekly visits to the doctor. Maybe by then the boys will stop associating the nurses with something bad. They've started crying when they see them enter the exam room.

In developmental news, Zach has figured out how to spit out his food. And iron supplements. And medicine. Yay. It's like he's blowing out some candles, but with his tongue sticking out, too. Whatever is in his mouth gets sprayed all over the place, usually on my shirt or in my face. The hardest part is making sure Jim doesn't laugh. I don't want this to be something he starts doing to impress daddy. It's already hard enough to get him to eat his dinner with his favorite person sitting next to him.

What brought this sudden expulsion of food? Carrots. If the boys had arch enemies of the vegetable world, carrots would be it. (Peaches would be their fruit counterparts, FYI.) Wow, do the boys hate carrots. Alex, the boy would eats anything, turns into a steel lockbox at the first sign of anything orange on his spoon. Zach uses them as instant high chair fodder. I tasted them, and they taste like carrots. I don't see what the issue is. They've been eating peas and carrots for like two weeks with no problems.

In general, the boys aren't as thrilled with eating as they once were. They'll get part way through a meal and just call it quits. Half the time they won't even eat their fruit dessert. We've been throwing a lot of food cubes away. On a lark, I bought them some jarred baby food, to see if that would work. It didn't. They're going through some kind of phase (I hope). All they want is avocado and mango.

Alex has started practicing his "B" sounds. He also has started throwing all of his toys out of his car seat. We were at Whole Foods today (buying more avocado and mango), and I had to strap his toy to the stroller to be sure we didn't loose the thing. On the bright side, he doesn't seem to care once he tosses the toy aside. He'll happily sit there with nothing to do, especially if we're in the van. I think he likes looking out the window.

We're also still in the middle of separation anxiety, although Zach has it worse than Alex. Jim's mom came over Tuesday night to help watch the boys while I went to the Mothers of Multiples meeting. It was pretty embarrassing how messy our house is right now. I don't know how many times I tried to clean up some, only to have Zach explode when I put him down. He'll only tolerate the Jumperoo and sitting on the floor to play, and that'll last about 10min. Both boys are also extremely scared of any vacuum, even the tiny cordless one. They just start screaming and have this terrified look.

They're also eating every two hours at night right now, so I'm pretty much just worn out in general. They're waking up more than that, but I'm making them go back to sleep. I am not a vending machine, available for 24/7 snacking. Hopefully I'll be able to catch back up on chores and sleep this weekend since I think we're all healthy for once.

The diaper rash thing seems to be under control for now. After every messy diaper, we're washing their behinds with soap and water (via disposable washcloths). Then they get dried and a layer of triples paste is applied. We spent one afternoon driving all over trying to find hypoallergenic disposable washcloths. For some reason only Publix seems to carry them, and ours was out. Not even Babies R Us had them.

We upgraded my phone and cancelled Jim's. I got one of those smart phones, like the iPhone but with Verizon. It's come in pretty handy, especially having internet when we're out and about. I used it to look up fruits while I was in Whole Foods, and I did a voice search to get the address of the park for our playdate. It also has a built-in camera, which is good for taking pictures of the boys.

Well, I'm going to call it a night here. Hopefully the next week will be less eventful than the previous.

Month 7 Week 2

2010-01-22T07:52:00.000-05:00

It's 12am and Alex is keeping me company on the living room floor. I type as he sits next to me, chewing on books and toys. It's a good arrangement for him, since his cute little behind is supposed to be in bed. But this week "supposed to" hasn't happened much.

Monday Alex was feeling a little warm to the touch but didn't show any signs of illness. He acted completely normal. When Jim got home, he noticed the possible fever, too. I took Alex's temperature and it was around 101F. As the evening progressed, he appeared to be feeling kind of bad, so we gave him some Tylenol. Bedtime was normal but after about an hour, the crying started. I got maybe an hour of sleep that night. Neither boy wanted to be in his crib and they wouldn't go to sleep. The crying would only stop if one of us went in and held them.

Tuesday we had a playdate at our house. I emailed the other mom's ahead of time to warn them about the fever, but we were pretty sure it was from teething. Those second teeth were on the verge of popping through. We had fun with the other moms and kids, although Alex wouldn't leave my lap. He was still warm (101.5-101.7F) and on Tylenol every 4hrs. He also didn't really want to play much, but still loved eating both lunch and dinner.

The previous night's crying was actually night 3 of me (and them) getting virtually no sleep. We were at a crossroads of sorts. On one hand, it seemed like me sleeping with them during the day was becoming the forbidden fruit they couldn't have at night. Both boys are also in the midst of separation anxiety where they freak out and cry if they can't see me or Jim. Even getting a drink from the kitchen can result in two very upset babies. They have a strong affection for us but haven't gotten to the point of realizing we still exist if they can't see us. So to them, every time we disappear, it's like we've abandoned them. I would cry, too, in that situation.

On top of that was Alex's fever and this whole teething thing, plus one crisis after another happening at Jim's work. Even if the boys were sleeping, the phone would ring, waking us both up. We all needed to sleep. So, Jim and I decided to give CIO a break and revert back to the boys sleeping with me if they wouldn't stay down. Normal CIO would resume in a week.

Wednesday morning Alex woke up with a temperature of 102.8F. I called the pediatrician when they opened and they saw us right away (although it wasn't our normal doctor). After three days with a fever, it couldn't be teething anymore but he wasn't showing any other signs of illness. They took a blood sample from a heel prick and test results showed a high white blood count. His body was fighting off something. They did a catheter and got a urine sample, but analysis showed he didn't have a bladder infection. They were going to try to draw some blood but they couldn't find a vein (he didn't get stuck any with a needle). We could either go to a lab and get the blood drawn, or take him home and watch him for signs he was feeling worse. By this point his fever was way down and he was acting normal again.

We decided to take him home and see how he did the rest of the day. His fever mysteriously went away for most of the day, only to come back that evening at 101.5F. He was feeling icky, so we gave him some more Tylenol.

Thursday morning he had a follow-up appointment with the doctor. It was our normal doctor and as he was looking over the previous visit's records, he noticed that besides the high white blood count, Alex's hemoglobin was really low. Alex got another heel prick and they ran more tests. The white blood count was close to normal but the hemoglobin was still really low. They tested Zach and his was also really low. It appeared that the boys were significantly anemic.

The doctor started them on iron supplements. Building their hemoglobin back up to normal levels will take about a month, and getting their reserves in place will take a couple more months beyond that. They showed no symptoms of being so anemic, like not eating, not wanting to play, and being fussy. We're about to increase their solid food amount because they're woofing down what we give them. Both of them spend lots of time jumping and playing everyday. They flap and kick while screaming with glee most days. The fussiness stopped when the teeth poked through. According to the doctor, the transition to this point was so gradual that their bodies were used to it.

When we got home, I did some research into what went wrong. I mean, if they aren't getting enough iron, it's a diet issue and I'm in charge of that. I felt pretty bad that I let them down and they were sick because of me. I knew that low birthweight babies had a higher risk of anemia, but I didn't realize that they meant any baby born under 6.5lb. They just don't have the iron stores from birth to make it to 6 months. If I had known, I would have had the doctor do blood tests at their 6 month check-up.

Also, while we don't eat a ton of iron-fortified cereals, they do eat a lot of foods naturally hight in iron, like avocado and peas. They almost always follow them with high vitamin C, like apples and mango, which helps with absorption. Even avocado alone has a decent vitamin C in it and they've been eating that for lunch for the last month. It also appears that some babies just need supplements, and we probably fall into that category. It makes me feel a little better, but it's still scary to find out that your babies are sick and no one had any idea. Long-term anemia can affect their brain development and ability to learn new things.

While at the doctor's they weighed the boys. Alex was 18lb 13oz and Zach was 18lb 14oz.

It hasn't been all doom and gloom around here, though. Like I mentioned earlier, both boys have a second tooth poked through, while their first tooth is making good progress. Here's some pictures of their new pearly whites.

Alex

Zach

I started brushing their teeth and gums with baby toothbrushes and they really like it.

I think I mentioned last week about how Zach likes to scrunch up his nose and make a funny face now. Here it is.

Zach being ferocious

What you can't tell is that he also breathes really heavy through his nose when he does this, like a baby Darth Vader. hehe

Month 7 Week 1

2010-01-14T21:34:00.000-05:00

After the circus last week, things have calmed down around here. Playdates have started back up and sleep schedules seem to be falling into place. On Monday we went to Donna's house. She has fraternal boys that are a week older than Alex and Zach, but a few weeks ahead on things like sitting unassisted and teeth. Either way, I think the boys had a ton of fun playing with new toys and watching all of the kids around them. There were two other sets of twins and a singleton, so the head count was 5 moms, 6 boys, and 3 girls. I had a good time, too. It had been a while since I had seen anyone from the group and I had missed them.

I broke out the steam mop (my Christmas present to myself) and some non-toxic cleaning wipes this week. I cleaned the floors and wiped down all of the boys' toys to rid the play areas of any lingering germs. This included a good scrubbing of the exersaucers, too. It's amazing how gross kids stuff can get, plus I think someone (I'm looking at you, Alex) has been stealth spitting up on things.

I have a correction to make from the post last week. I thought that both boys were getting the same tooth in but I was mistaken. Alex has the bottom left and Zach has the bottom right teeth poking through. And then already this week they're both getting the other bottom tooth in as well. The second teeth are just bumps right now. The teething has come with a price, though. Both boys want to be held and give you huge hugs. They're happy just sitting in my lap, playing with toys and shooting me funny grins. Yes, it's just awful having to hug the boys all day. hehe

These first teeth have changed their grins. Instead of open-mouthed baby ones, they're doing a more traditional smile and showing off their gums. It'll look more normal once they have more teeth, but for now it's pretty funny looking. Plus, Zach has started scrunching up his nose when he laughs. It's crazy cute.

Another new thing as of this week is diaper rash. Even though we use butt paste and I try really hard to change their diapers at the first sign of needing it, both boys have some level of redness. Alex is actually in worse shape. One night his behind was actually bleeding a little and he has been crying when we gently wipe his bottom. It breaks my heart. I have a three prong plan to get rid of the rash. First, we bought some new triple paste that's supposed to help. Second, I'm trying to actually wash their rear ends with mild soap and water after they poop. Apparently normal wipes don't do a good job of getting rid of the irritating bacteria. Third, I got a shower curtain and flannel sheet for the floor in the living room. I'm going to try to give the boys at least 30min of naked time everyday so things have a chance to dry out. Bacteria can't live without moisture.

I know that diaper rash is more common once babies start eating solid food, but part of me wonders if maybe there's a food that's aggravating the situation. I mean, we've been eating solids for a while now without this level of problem. One thing I did reintroduce was sweet potatoes (but I've since stopped feeding them just in case). I'm not sure if volume matters, but the boys are up to eating 2oz of solid food per meal, and they eat lunch and dinner now. What they deposit in their diapers seems pretty thick compared to a milk only diet, but I think that's normal.

Modified Cry It Out (CIO) seems to have been a success. The boys don't cry at all when we put them in their cribs now, even if they wake up when we put them down. Also, getting them back to sleep during the night is a piece of cake compared to the holding/bouncing/rocking/swaying we were doing before. You just set them down, they look at you and roll over like "I'm tired. You can go now." Jim and I are pretty stunned at how well they both are doing at bedtime. If they do cry or complain (like when Zach had a fever), a little extra rocking helps, or they'll put themselves to sleep within 10min.

This doesn't mean we're issue free when it comes to sleeping, though. They still wake up a lot at night to eat - like every 2-3hrs. They act starved, so I'm not sure how to get them to cut back. And since I'm not sleeping with them around the clock (yay!) they tend to get up earlier now, like 5:30am instead of 7am.

We tried cutting back to two naps and I just don't think they're ready, no matter what the books say. What we need is to get enough sleep during the day so they're not cranky but not too much that they're not sleeping well at night. So far three 1 to 1.5hr naps has been the most successful.

On the days we have playdates, we'll leave early and the boys will take an hour nap in the van. Then we'll do a couple hours of playing and they'll take a second hour nap on the way home. We'll eat some lunch and rough up our toys before grabbing a 1.5hr nap in the early afternoon. On the days we don't have playdates, sometimes the first two naps will get combined into one.

I went to the dermatologist this week about a chronic rash I get on my face and hands. I've been dealing with it for years and the last time I had a flare up, I was referred to an allergy doctor who said it was a reaction to cats. Well, last week I had the worse outbreak I've ever had. My face was swollen, red, very painful/itchy/burning, and covered in blisters. I couldn't kiss the boys because my lips hurt too much, and I had to keep them at arm's length because even brushing my cheek would make me tear up. The swelling was also around my eyes, so I was quite the sight.

Anyways, the dermatologist diagnosed me with eczema, which means I'm super sensitive to anything with scents or dyes. Apparently my face had been attacked by a nice smelling, pretty looking bar of soap. We had sort of figured this out in bits and pieces on our own, so this makes much more sense than a cat allergy. Even though I looked terrible, the boys didn't seem to notice. I got just as many grins and laughs as normal. If anything, they were mildly frustrated I wouldn't let them honk my nose.

Month 7 Photos!

2010-01-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Be sure to check out the boys' website for all of their new photos! (pw: jma&z)

Month 7

2010-01-08T00:56:00.000-05:00

You know those posts where I whined and cried about how hard of a week I had? How the boys wouldn't sleep all night? Man, did I SO not know what I was talking about...

The boys (and the rest of us) have been fighting a cold since a few days after Christmas. Sunday night they started getting worse instead of better. After eating his bedtime milk, Alex vomited all over everything. All I could do was hold him while he repeatedly pumped his little tummy dry. He had thrown up the previous night, too, but had no problems keeping food down during the day. Sometimes if he's feeling bad, he'll use nursing for comfort. The issue is he'll overeat and then throw up, which is what we think happened here.

Zach spent about 15min in his crib before waking up crying. Both boys went to bed with me. Around 5am I woke up and felt Alex's head. He had a fever. I gave him some Tylenol and agreed with Jim they were going to the doctor the next day.

At the pediatrician's they weighed the boys. For the first time, Zach weighed more than Alex. You could also tell that Alex just felt worse. Zach was happy and smiling, although his nose was running something fierce. Alex, on the other hand, just sat in my lap and stared at the doctor. He didn't want anyone but me holding him. His little eyes were red from rubbing.

The doctor gave them a once over and said it looked like they might have sinus infections. There was a chance they would get better on their own, but it was also possible they needed antibiotics to get over what they had. We opted for the medicine since we felt like they had already taken a turn for the worse. He also showed us how to flush out their noses with saline spray.

By Wednesday they were both feeling better. They still had a productive cough but most of the lethargy and runny noses were gone. Alex doesn't mind taking the bubble gum flavored medicine but Zach has figured out all kinds of ways to avoid it. Besides the obvious turning of the head, he'll also stick out his tongue, cough (and spray me with the sticky pink stuff), fend me off with his hands, and generally try to escape from whatever is holding him. He'll also refuse to swallow what's in his mouth unless both of his cheeks are full of the stuff.

I think the antibiotics were the right choice this time. I am not a huge fan of medicine in general, but Jim was suffering from the same stages of illness and he's still hacking and coughing. The boys, on the other hand, just have a little runny nose and the occasional cough.

Wednesday also marked the end of the "Let's sleep with mom!" era. Jim and I decided it was time for them to sleep in their cribs again. Our original method of putting them to bed (milk until asleep, transfer to crib for more sleeping) wasn't working. As soon as Jim would pick one up to move him to the nursery, his eyes would pop open and he would start crying. After some book consultation, we opted for Modified Cry It Out. Basically you put your baby in their crib sleepy but awake. If they cry (ha! like there's an "if"), you wait 5min then go in and comfort them. Once they're calm and sleepy, you put them back down. If they cry, you wait 10min before repeating the process and keep adding 5min every time.

Wednesday night, it took 3 tries before the boys put themselves to sleep (i.e. 30min of crying total). Thursday night they were asleep within the first 10min. I know a number of parents think CIO is cruel, and we own books that talk about how scared and emotionally damaged our kids are, being left to cry. I think it really depends on your babies, though. I know what their cries mean and their reaction to CIO was anger and frustration at not getting their way. At no point was there any "I'm scared!" or "I'm sad!" crying.

They also slept for longer stretches than they have in a LONG while. Alex only got up twice all night, and Zach was at a manageable four times. I did have to put Zach down for a little CIO around 2am but it lasted less than 5min before he was back asleep. They went to bed around 9pm and got up at 7:30am. The bonus? I actually got to sleep in a position other than pinned on my back!

We've had some food adventures this week. On Sunday we went to Whole Foods and picked up the next round of fruits and veggies for the boys. Besides the normal pears, bananas, avocado, and apples, we got mango, acorn squash, and carrots. I've also figured out that both boys will woof down their apples if I add a little cinnamon. I searched the frozen food section for saltless peas and the best I could come up with was a peas and carrots combo. They've been eating that for dinner all week and seem to like it. Mango also seemed to be a hit. I was initially worried since it can be a fibrous fruit, but the blender made short work of it.

Also, on the topic of eating... WE HAVE TEETH! Ok, really we just have tiny little spikes that will be full teeth at some point, but still! This is what 3mo of drooling and chewing have netted us. So, it looks like the first teeth for both boys will be the bottom left incisor. Alex's is a little farther along, but not by much. They're going to look like country bumpkins with one bottom tooth. hehe

In other baby news, the boys have started doing this weird thing with their arms. They'll extend their arm, wave it in a circle, then bop themselves on the head. They'll do it over and over while they're trying to fall asleep for naps. The bead bonk is really light, almost like they're trying to touch their hair but forget exactly where they left it.

Alex has been screaming with glee a lot more, especially during bath time. This scares Zach to the point of tears. Of course, the full-body splashing doesn't help, either. I think Alex loves baths but Zach just tolerates them. Zach turned the tables with some screeching of his own during lunch. You could see the tears welling up in Alex's eyes.

Month 6, Week 3

2009-12-31T01:36:00.000-05:00

As I sit here writing this, both boys are asleep, nestled together on our bed. I can hear Jim snoring from his pile of blankets on the floor behind me. Light shining out between the bathroom doors reflects off two cherub faces at peace with the world. There is little remaining of the complaining, crying, laughing, squealing, coughing, sneezing, grunting, tooting, slurping, and flailing that led up to this point. Three days of family visits have defeated our immune systems.

Contrary to the galavanting we did leading up to the holidays, we've stayed home all week (sans a much needed grocery store run). There has been no naps in the van; no meals perched on foreign furniture. Baths have been taken and daytime sleep has been a primary goal. We're taking 3 - 2hr naps again, at least for now.

We've even managed to get back to chomping some solid food. Peas are a new addition. I still haven't been able to find salt free ones to make my own so they're eating packaged organic ones. They love them, though! We retried apples and discovered Alex will happily eat them if they're still partially frozen (think apple slushy). He'll also grab and lick fresh apple slices. Zach doesn't like them any way, though. It was hilarious watching him back away from an apple slice once he knew what it was. I have never met anyone that didn't like apples.

You can really see their personality differences when they're eating. Alex will try anything and opens his mouth for every bite. You have to almost wedge the spoon into Zach's mouth, even for foods he likes. He'll stick out his tongue to taste what you're offering and makes funny faces when trying something new. He also insists on shoving two or three fingers in his mouth when he's eating. Most of the time the food ends up on them and he sucks it off. By the end of the meal, Alex will have a little food around his mouth and on his chin. Zach will have it smeared through his eyebrows, up his arms to his elbows, and all over his high chair tray. He is the reason they wear bibs.

Alex continues to hone his sitting skills. I can leave him on the floor with a pillow behind him, 95% confident that he'll be in the same position when I return. Zach uses the pillow as an excuse to lay back and be lazy. Both boys want whatever toy I flash in front of them, resulting in many tug-of-war matches. There's no sore looser (at least not yet) and their limited attention spans don't allow for grudges.

Zach has figured out how to whistle. These boys don't like to stick to the normal milestones I guess. He's been experimenting with pursing his lips and while on the changing table today he combined it with some heavy breathing. The result is a soft, light note. Of course I told Jim about it as soon as he got home. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks I make these things up, but sure enough, a few minutes later he got his own mini recital.

A number of the new Christmas toys have really challenged the boys' fine motor skills. They're having to learn how to grab things with an open palm instead of bear hugging it to their mouths. The boys are on the cusp of understanding object permanence, where things still exist even if you can't see them. We have a couple of toys that I can stick their rattles and keys inside. Then we practice opening the doors and getting them out.

Both boys LOVE books and we've been reading to them everyday now. We have some cloth ones that are good for chewing, a plastic bath time one that's apparently good for licking, and then some board ones that are real page turners. The regular ones are with direct supervision only since they enjoy ripping and crumpling paper.

Their old toys haven't lost their appeal, though. They still spend plenty of time exersaucering and jumperooing. Zach has slightly longer legs than Alex, and can just reach the hanging bird on the jumperoo now. Sometimes Alex or Zach will get a little too over stimulated by everything there is to do, so we'll relax in the bouncy chairs.

Their hair has started to come in and it's the most marked visual difference between them. Alex has a cow lick right in the front, so his hair parts towards the left. It also makes some of it stick straight up. hehe Zach doesn't have this feature so his hair just falls forward onto his forehead.

Between the new toys and books, my days are a little easier. I managed to do a load of dishes and laundry, plus eat breakfast and lunch today. My next goal is to add a shower in there somewhere.

The Christmas Post

2009-12-31T00:24:00.000-05:00

Last year at this time, I was pregnant with the boys. I was dealing with morning sickness that lasted all day and trouble sleeping. We didn't even make it to Poppa and Granny J's house for dinner because I was too ill. My, how things have changed!

On Monday the boys and I ventured out to get Jim a gift for Christmas. I had been waiting for blue-ray players to go back on sale, and now was the time. Traffic was terrible. It took us close to an hour to get to the store, which is twice as long as normal. Once we got there, it was wall-to-wall people. I had the boys in their stroller and they were doing ok, but not great. I ask one of the store employees if they have any of the specific player that Jim wanted. He looks around and says they're all out. So here I am, comparing boxes and trying to learn about these things on the fly because we ARE NOT coming out into this chaos again.

Alex starts flipping out. A lady stops by and asks if she could help me somehow, like by holding one. I assure her I have everything under control. I totally don't, but I'm not comfortable with strangers holding them and it hurts my pride a little that they're so obviously upset. I finally pick out a new player and head towards the DVD section. On the way we come across a whole stack of the player Jim wanted. UGH! So we take back the one we have and grab the blue-ray player we came for.

And then I notice the line to checkout. Let's just say that it was so long that a picture of it made the newspaper. No kidding. So I'm bouncing, entertaining, and trying my best to keep the boys from having a total melt down. I get Zach out of the stroller since he's on the verge of crying. Alex sees this and gets mad. I look around in desperation and grab the closest thing I can think of to make him happy - a bag of peanut M&M's. Yes, it was a very ghetto moment, but it sort of worked. I would shake the candy and he would grab it from me and chew on the bag. We got comments from people nearby, so the lack of quality parenting was pretty obvious I guess.

To get everything done that I wanted for the holidays, I had a pretty full schedule for every evening this week. The boys had other plans, Alex especially. It has become extremely difficult to put him in his crib without him immediately crying. Even if he's in a deep sleep, he wakes up and starts wailing. They're also back to their old habits of waking every 2hrs to eat.

Things came to a head about 5am one morning. Zach refused to sleep in his crib, even though he was really tired. I had been working with him for 1.5hrs, feeding, changing his diaper, and holding him. Jim had also taken his turn trying to get him down. At our wits end, we just put him in his crib and let him cry. I felt terrible and he screamed in anger for about 45min before going to sleep. Alex was also put down and cried. After an hour I got him up.

The actual Christmas festivities went pretty well, though. We went to Jim's grandma's for Christmas Eve dinner and present opening. Jim and I were both surprised at how much the boys seemed to like ripping the paper off their gifts and playing with the contents. You just had to get things started then help them along when they go stuck. They got a book, kids keys, and outfits from Grandma Pat. Great Grandmama got them a musical ball and stacker rings that light up.

So, once we got home and put the boys to bed, I decided we should probably have wrapped their presents from us after all. I clad their smaller toys and books in festive tissue paper. We also took everything out of their boxes and had toys assembled for ease of play later on. Patience is not on the list of things the boys are good at. hehe

We stacked all of their gifts in front of the fireplace, while loot from my family occupied the space under the tree. The highlights from us were a xylophone, ball pit, sorting blocks, pop up pals, hand bells, and an activity table. My family got them stuffed animals that sing/count/say the alphabet, many many books (including 2 that my mom recorded herself reading!), balls they can grab, a driving toy, and a piano toy. It took Alex and Zach about 1.5hrs to unwrap everything. It was incredibly cute how they would tear the paper off and put it to their mouths. They wouldn't actually try to eat it most of the time, just feel it with their lips. We would set the paper aside and once a toy was nekkid, each boy wanted to sit and play with it.

Later that morning we headed down to their cousins' house for brunch. We had a good visit and left in the early evening. The next day we all ventured out into the chaos to purchase a new gift for one of the nephews. He had already gotten the car we got him, so we picked him up some trains. It was cold, so we bundled the boys up in hats and blankets. They really don't like putting on the hats, but forget about them once they're in place (unless they fall over their eyes). We have matching mittens but haven't used them due to how much they like to chew on their fingers.

The Sunday after Christmas we met at Jim's dad's house for dinner. Poppa recently had some surgery related to his prostate cancer so he was still in recovery mode. I'm not sure if the whole family plus rambunctious kids were what the doctor ordered. Either way, we opened even more gifts there. The boys got stuffed sheep, a book, a ride-on giraffe, and wooden toys from Jim's brother's family. Jim's sister and her son got them really cute outfits. Poppa and Granny J got them some cloth books, pop 'n blocks, an activity table/exersaucer thing, and most of their new 12mo clothes.

We also found Jacques I! Apparently he had been living on their mantle since Thanksgiving when we forgot him. Jacques II really wasn't the same. His beak was low on the stuffing, he had crooked feathers, and he just wasn't the first toy we had bought the boys. So, now we have two peacocks.

Month 6, Weeks 1-2

2009-12-17T23:47:00.005-05:00

'Tis the season for over achieving. This means that I've been trying to make this post for almost a week now, but holiday things keep getting in the way. A blog can be put off another day; getting your kids gifts for Christmas cannot (since they'll all be shipped). So, I chose the option with the least amount of sad faces. This also means that things haven't slowed down (gifts won't wrap themselves), thus I am doing something I've never, ever done in a blog. I'm giving you lists.

Firsts

Inviting over moms and their kids, then totally ditching them to put the boys down for a nap. Yes, the whining and crying was that bad. I still think people had fun, though.
Attending a kindermusik class. The boys really liked the songs, bells, and scarves. We'll most likely enroll in a 12wk music class in January. This also inspired me to get the boys hand bells and a xylophone for Christmas.
Our first major fall. Zach took a nose dive off his cousins' couch. There wasn't even a red mark on his head but I doubt the guilt I feel will ever go away.
The boys lunging for toys, cats, etc. This is the cause of the previous bullet point and I totally should have known better than to prop up a boy that doesn't know about gravity and sees something shiny.
Zach completely rolling onto his belly in his car seat if he's not strapped in immediately. He wants to lick the animal prints. Ditto for the bouncy chairs and the ruffles along the top.
Alex flapping his arms. I checked the baby books. Flight does not seem to be a milestone.
Zach tossing his head side to side when he's trying to get comfy for sleep. This isn't a cute, gentle shake. We're talking a serious thrashing where his little cheeks make a slapping sound on my arm. Also not in the baby books...
Bananas and pears for lunch and dinner. They love pears more than me.
Our first boo boo. Alex managed to get a paper cut on his finger at Babies R Us. No, I don't know how. I end up in Target, asking the pharmacist if I can put Neosporin on a 6mo old. (The answer is yes.)
Figuring out how to keep Alex from sucking off his band-aid and choking on it. See picture below.
Riding in their car seats without those infant head support things. You'd think being able to turn their heads would make them happier to be in the van. It doesn't.
Loosing a toy. Jacques I, you will be missed. Jacques II is already en route.
Wearing overalls, thermal onesies, hats with ears, jeans, and sweater vests (but not all at the same time).
A lady saying that Zach looks like a girl.
Another lady saying that they're not identical because she can easily tell them apart. One has a redder face (Alex had been crying).
Still another lady saying I didn't look like I had been pregnant with twins. I love you, Wal-Mart customer service.

Second Tries

Weaning from nursing during naps. This is step 1 in my 217 step plan to get the boys to sleep in their cribs during the day.
Sleeping (almost) through the night. Their noses are FINALLY not runny enough to keep them up and make them impossible to put back down.
Figuring out a way to not end up with both boys in our bed every morning at 5am. I still don't know how/why this is happening.
Sweet potatoes for lunch/dinner. Neither boy is a fan but they don't spit them out.
Peas. Apparently only baby food manufacturers have access to legumes that aren't salted. Yes, I'm looking at you, over priced frozen organic brand.
Fisher Price daytime diapers. They leak just as much as the Cruisers. I'm still beyond happy with the nighttime ones, though!
Lotion. I can't begin to describe how much they hate the stuff, but I've managed to sneak some onto their cheeks after a bath when they're not looking.
Bibs. The ones we have are too big around the neck. I got some velcro ones that wipe clean. So far they would rather chew on them than take them off.

Cute Pictures to Distract You

Zach and Alex fell asleep while eating.

Alex wearing a toy sock over his band-aid. Zach wanted that sock SO bad.

Alex playing with a free bear.

Zach and Alex sporting plaid and jeans.

Yes, Alex can put his foot in his mouth (just not for the camera)

Zach wearing some of his lunch in his eyebrows

This is the face of pear nirvana.

Amen, Alex, amen.

(Click the photo to read his shirt)

Six Months!!

2009-12-07T22:12:00.004-05:00

The boys turned six months old on Friday. I seriously don't know where the time has gone. I feel like yesterday we brought them home from the hospital. It's amazing how our lives have changed since June. I wake up every day looking forward to the boys' smiles, even when it's still dark and the clock reads 5:15am. Jim and I also have a lot more conversations about poop than we ever imagined!

While last week led up to the big 6 month mark, it wasn't all fun and games. We caught some serious sinus colds and were miserable most of that time. Alex came down with symptoms first, followed by Zach, then me. There was no fever but the runny nose and sinus headache made up for it. There were a number of rough nights where the boys couldn't sleep because of their noses. We bowed out of all of our playdates since the last thing we wanted to do was make others sick. That left us bored at home, though, so we were sick and grumpy.

By Thursday I was feeling better enough to take the boys out for some holiday shopping. We stopped by Best Buy, then hit up Kohl's and Wal-Mart. At Wally World, we began our mission to buy a blender. The boys' peas aren't going to puree themselves! So here were are in the small appliance aisle. I'm rocking the boys with one hand while talking to Jim on the phone with the other. I needed some urgent Christmasy input from him. From behind me I hear "Ooooo Look!!! Twins!!!" Over walk a grandma, a mom, and a daughter. The youngest is pretty much oogling and cooing at the boys. The grandmotherly lady launches into 20 questions. Are they twins? Are they identical? Do they run in our family? She then begins telling me her family history of twins and how they apparently multiply like rabbits where she's from. I make a little joke about how her family has enough twins to make up for the lack of them in mine. Apparently this is the opening she needed to tell me about her "woman parts" not producing any pairs of her own.

The entire time Jim's sitting on the phone at work, listening to this rabble. I'm holding the phone to my ear, so it's not like they can't tell I was talking to someone. A woman was coming down the aisle towards us, and these ladies were going to have to move so she could get through. I shot the shopper a look of gratitude, since this was the break I was looking for. Unfortunately for her, she became their new target. They had to tell her all about my twins, and of course their family of doubles. I just sighed, got back to my conversation with Jim, and grabbed the nearest blender.

Friday the boys had their six month check-up. Alex weighed 18.06 lbs and was 26.5 inches long. Zach weighed 17.75 lbs and was 26.25 inches long. This puts the boys in the 55th-60th percentile for singletons. Yay for average! The doctor did note that our boys are looking pretty chunky and working on their second chins. He wasn't worried, though. They'll thin out once they start getting more mobile.

These visits always crack me up in that Jim and I use them as our tie breaker. If there's some non-urgent issue that we can't decide, we ask the doctor and he sways us one way or the other. This time the big question was me making their baby food. I've only made one veggie for them so far - sweet potatoes. They weren't ideal since the baby food grinder left little lumps (thus the story about the new blender). I think Jim's concerns are that by making them food at home, I'm pitting my low amount of baby food experience against the big name companies that have been doing it for years. Obviously Gerber and similar brands know the right foods (marked by "stages"), the right consistency, etc. They have teams of people working on this stuff. And then there's me and a potato I got from Publix. Jim just wants what's best for the boys and I totally get that.

I tried to convince him on my own. I think I successfully made a batch of food (sans the little lumps). I also bought a jar of the stage one sweet potatoes. The ingredients on the label were sweet potato and water, which was exactly what I had in mine. So I set up a blind taste test. The jarred stuff was pretty bad tasting, and Jim agreed. I thought I had won, until the doctor's visit. Jim rats me out that I'm making their food. The doctor replies "That's great!" haha This was not the answer Jim expected. Apparently Mrs. Doctor had done the same thing for their first kid. He even recommended a book for me to read.

Jim did win the battle of the ear swabbing (outside only to prevent wax build-up) and we both got support to get them their H1N1 vaccines in a couple of weeks. The boys got their normal round of 4 shots and one oral dose, although one shot was for seasonal flu. They were knocked out that evening and went to bed about an hour earlier than normal. Near as I can tell they didn't have any other symptoms.

On Saturday we went to Babies R Us in search of a tub of Butt Paste. It's been harder and harder to find it in local stores. They're either sold out or only carry the tubes. With two boys and the frequency I change them, a tube isn't going to last long and they're a lot more expensive for what you get. Of course we couldn't find any at BRU, either. While we were there, I saw some of the new Fisher Price night time diapers. I figured since I've tried everything else and they're relatively cheap, we should probably get some. We've used them for 3 nights and there hasn't been a single leak. Not one. I can't even remember the last time that happened. It seems like one of them always pees out the side (they sleep on their sides, so it's easy to do). So far, so good!

Sunday Chii-Wey came over to do the boys' pictures. Do to a miscommunication (I'm looking at you, Facebook), it was later in the day than I had hoped. The boys were pretty fussy and didn't want to do much of anything, especially change clothes. She still managed to trick the camera into capturing smiles. I don't know how she does that. You can check out their Christmas photos and their candids here (pw: jma&z)!

Month 5, Week 3

2009-11-29T21:13:00.003-05:00

We had an action packed Thanksgiving week! On Monday we had a playdate at a local mom's house. Per normal, we were the only ones that weren't sitting up yet. I think most other babies are in the 9mo to 10mo range, so some of them are even trying out crawling and pulling up. It makes our boys a little jealous. They'll try to copy what they see and end up doing face plants. hehe

The playdate went pretty well. At one point I needed to feed both boys, so we took over the couch. I'm sure we were quite the sight. It's hard to cover up much in that situation, especially when the boys like to turn any cover into a fun tent. Later I knew it was time to head home when Zach fell asleep sitting up in my lap. His little head just kind of leaned to one side against my arm.

On Tuesday I had a meet-up scheduled for Herdklotz Park, the one with the baby swings. We got there about 10min late and didn't see anyone else. It was a little cold to do anything outside, really, so the boys and I went to the mall instead. There weren't many people there at 10:30am, but the one I was counting on was - Santa. The boys sat on his lap and got their picture taken. Zach was nearly jumping for joy at the whole thing. I don't think he could have grinned any wider. Alex, on the other hand, would only stare blankly. There was no smile but there wasn't crying, either, so I took what I could get. Looking back on the situation, I think I went wrong at letting the picture lady put Alex on Santa's lap. That seemed to have thrown him and he wasn't going to be happy after that.

We met up with Jim for lunch at Don Pablos. We've been testing out eating in restaurants with the boys. So far it hasn't been too bad. They'll usually end up in our laps, playing with the table or Jim will walk them around to see things. I like when we're given a booth and we can set their car seats next too us, assuming there's enough room to slide them in. There's been a couple of tight fits.

Jim took Wednesday off to hang out with us. We went to Toys R Us to see what potential Christmas gifts were out there for the boys. I've also been trying to pay attention to what they play with and seem to like when we're at other houses. I think they're on the cusp of wanting things like block and balls. Zach was pretty entertained with the stacked ring toy, and both boys were mesmerized with a toy xylophone. Most of the toys they have right now are plush or for teething. There's not much that's fun to just hold and look at.

They've also started being interested in books. I bought one that you can insert pictures into. I thought it might be fun to fill it with photos of the family, especially faces. Tonight Jim and I were reading to them and the boys kept squealing with delight and trying to turn the pages. They only have two books that are safe for them to chew on, though.

Thursday we went to Jim's grandma's for Thanksgiving. It was the first time many of his extended family got to meet Alex and Zach. When we first got there, Zach got overwhelmed with all of the people and noise. He burst into tears. Alex was just silent and staring, like a deer in headlights. They were a bit fussy for the duration but seemed to do ok when others held them, at least for a little bit.

On Friday we went to Lowes. One of our baby proofing projects is to get doors for the fireplace. We got some information but there wasn't a very good selection on display. I picked up some lights to decorate the outside of the house, and some hooks to hang our stockings. Maybe not this year, but maybe for the next Christmas we'll replace our cheap bulb ornaments with shatter proof ones.

Saturday we went to Jim's Dad's house for Second Thanksgiving. Everything was going pretty well on the way down until we had to stop for gas. The boys woke up from their short nap and never really recovered. They were fussy the whole time we visited. It seemed like which ever I held was fine, but the other would start crying. Food and diaper changes didn't help. We managed to get them to sleep on us for about 30min but it wasn't enough.

On the way home, Zach refused to close his eyes and cried off and on. We even stopped to be sure he wasn't hungry (he wasn't). Of course, that caused Alex to wake up. I pulled out all of the stops on the entertainment front and that barely sustained them. Once we got home, I noticed Alex had a stuffy nose. He had a really hard time sleeping and woke up about an hour after we put him down. I tried the normal feeding and rocking. He decided to work on his diaper during this time, so I took him downstairs for changing. On the way he let out a HUGE burp. Once we got down there, I realized he was soaked over half his body and needed new clothes, too. So who knows what woke him up!

Alex's nose still ended up being the ultimate issue. He spent most of the night sleeping with us. I tried multiples times to put him back in the crib but every time his little eyes would pop open. Of course, when you don't get a good night's sleep, you wake up grumpy. It's a vicious cycle.

I'm not sure if it's the cold or teething, but Alex had a rough time today. He didn't want to take any naps, and when we made him lay down, he cried and cried until I would nurse him. He would fall asleep for maybe 15min at a time, then wake up rooting. If he didn't find what he wanted, he would burst into tears. This wasn't hunger - it was comfort nursing.

Tonight when we tried to put him to bed, it was the same thing. He just didn't want to go to sleep and unplugging him from me woke him up. We tried Orajel for the possible teething, and Vic's Rub for the nose. I gave him some Tylenol in case the Orajel wasn't working. He immediately projectile vomited his entire tummy all over the living room floor. That seemed to help and I was able to get him to sleep. He's been in his crib for about 2hrs now without waking.

For dinner tonight the boys tried some sweet potato. I steamed, mashed, and diluted it with water. The looks on their faces were hilarious! They weren't sure what to make of it. At one point, Alex had potato on his nose and Zach was wearing it on both hands. Zach would open his mouth and try chewing it. Alex, on the other hand, would see the spoon coming and close his mouth. He even went so far as to pull his lips in, like I would somehow use them against him. I'd slip bites in when he was grinning at Jim. He wouldn't spit it out, so I considered it a win.

The boys can really laugh now, not just grin and squeal. Jim can get them to do it when he gets their bellies. It's one of the best things I've ever heard. Alex can jump in the Jumperoo pretty well now but it's not his favorite toy. He still prefers the Exersaucers and uses both of them. Zach thinks that he can jump anywhere, not just in the Jumperoo. This includes when you're holding him up to stand.

They have discovered the cats and track them whenever they walk by. You'll see their little heads swivel and they'll strain to watch them. Frodo walked up to Zach once and Zach's face exploded into a HUGE grin. Of course, Frodo could care less and walked away. Later Furball hopped up on the end table. Zach and I were on the couch. I was holding him up to stand/jump. Well, he immediately started trying to take steps towards the cat. I held him as he essentially walked across the couch to get to her. Once he got there, he made a fist and totally clocked her in the jaw. hehe She didn't know what to do and backed away. I guess we'll have to work on the idea of "gentle with the kitty."

I can't believe the boys turn 6 months next week. The time has gone by so fast. It feels like yesterday we brought them home. They were so small and kind of boring compared to now. They just get more interesting and fun everyday.

Month 5, Week 2

2009-11-23T00:18:00.002-05:00

On Monday we went to a Greenville Stay At Home Mom's playdate. For get togethers across town, I leave early and have them nap in the van on the way. This one was right down the road, so I figured it would be better if we took our nap here at home instead. Well, the boys didn't get the memo. We were in the van just long enough for them to get settled in for some shut eye. This resulted in sleepy, harder-to-please babies when we got there.

The playdate was at a om's house with 4 moms total. We were the only twins and all the rest of the kids could sit/crawl, but I expected that. We always bring our own toys to share with the group just in case. The hostess was nice enough to get out some of her baby toys for the boys to play with, though. Alex did some playmat playing while Zach flirted with one of the girls. He would shoot her grins and every time she crawled by, he'd reach out and try to grab her arm. She found him pretty entertaining, too, even after he clamped onto her sleeve, pinning her in place.

We only lasted an hour before the boys' fussiness had reached levels bordering on full-out crying. I started packing their things up and headed home before we ruined the fun for the rest. As soon as we got home, the boys were happy and excited to play. I don't know if they were just bored or what but it was a little frustrating.

On Wednesday we went to the Mother Goose On the Loose program at the local library. This was the thing we tried to go to last month but were too late to get in. Bound and determined not to let that happen again, we were a good 30 min early. Everything seemed to be going ok waiting for the story time to start and we ended up sitting on the floor next to a mom I knew. Each spot on the floor had a book, so the boys and I read through ours. It was a counting book and the boys loved it. I even had to wipe drool off of it a couple of times.

When it was time to start the stories and songs, the librarian went around and picked up all of the books. Alex and Zach got pretty upset when their book went into her bag. I sort of got them settled, but when they realized that her attention wasn't always going to be on them, there was no consoling in the world that would help. She's up there singing a song about "quiet and loud" and all you can hear during the soft parts is "WHAAAAAAA" in stereo. We lasted all of 10min before I was packing their things up.

A mom I didn't know came over and offered to help me take them out of the room. I really hope I wasn't rude or didn't have a look on my face, but all I could think was that I was fully capable of handling my boys and that didn't she have a kid somewhere unsupervised? I guess you could say I was offended. Yes, I had two crying babies. But wasn't it obvious that I could tell that we needed to leave and was doing just that? Of course, I'm sure she was just trying to help. I don't know why I was sensitive about it. If someone I knew had offered, it probably wouldn't have phased me.

So after 2 less than stellar outings, I was pretty scared for Friday's get together. I had invited over 4 moms - 3 with twins and 1 with a singleton. Jim and I worked on getting things ready all week (Halloween decorations are finally down!) and I even managed to make some cookies for the event. Well, the morning of, the boys woke up at 5am. I got them back down for their morning nap by 6:30am but their little eyes popped open at 8:15am. They were ready to par-tay and I could read disaster on their little faces. People weren't going to arrive until 9:30am, right when they were going to start getting tired again. Ugh!

Different scenarios started going through my head. Do I tell them all to just play without us while we go upstairs for a nap? Do I have them all leave? Do I just pretend that they're not fussy and wailing? Compounding things, Alex was already unhappy with things and he had just gotten up! I went to vacuum and he COMPLETELY freaked out. He started screaming at the top of his lungs while staring wide-eyed like he was beyond scared. Now, he's been around a ton of vacuuming, so I really don't understand, but I couldn't just stop. We were going to be playing on the floor.

I got the boys semi-calmed down when the doorbell rang. It was J with her 3 mo old daughter, Ana. I hear suspicious silence from the living room. We go in and the boys are just staring at Ana. The more people that arrived, the happier the boys got. The love people to begin with, and combined with all of their toys, they just didn't have the chance to get bored. Alex got a little fussy at one point, so I rocked him in the bouncy chair. He just closed his eyes and took a 30 min nap! Once he woke up, Zach did the same thing! Who were these babies?? Had aliens taken over their bodies??

Everyone seemed to have a good time. The 2 month olds played on the playmat or on the couch. Alex, Zach, and Ana tried out the exersaucers and jumperoo. The older 10 month olds practiced pulling up and generally had fun exploring the living room. The moms ate cookies and swapped war stories. I don't think it could have gone much better. It was the ego boost I needed after Wednesday.

On Saturday we stayed in and watched the Clemson game. Normally I don't allow any tv but we make an exception for football. They love watching the movement and will let out the random yell of glee. Jim sits down on the floor with them and tells them what's going on. They don't get to see an entire game due to naps, but seem to love what they can get.

Sunday it was cold and raining but we went out for a little bit. We drove over to see the Big Load, a power generator part that's slowly being transported across the state to NC. It was stopped in Greenville for the weekend. It was pretty big, although Jim expected it to look more massive. Afterwards we went to Swoozies and ordered Christmas stockings for the boys. We got them monogramed with their names. One of the girls behind the counter was at the last Moms of Multiples meeting. She's over 30wks pregnant with identical boys. I cannot imagine working at that point but she seemed to be doing just fine.

We got home, turned on the Christmas music, and put up the tree. Yes, it's a little early but we figured the boys would enjoy the lights. Naturally, they seem to have cared less about it. hehe They were much more interested in the cats walking by. They just discovered their furry friends a day or so ago, and stare them down whenever Furball or Frodo come near. The cats still don't have any interest in them, though.

Alex has almost gotten jumping figured out. He can bounce once or twice before stopping to stand in the jumperoo. Zach jumps like a mad man, but I'm not worried. I don't recall "Jumping" being on any of the developmental charts. Alex makes up for things in the exersaucer. He can work all of the toys and can get 99% of them in his mouth from brute force alone. He's also really good at standing and using his arms for balance.

We've stepped up things on the boys eating solid foods. They get rice cereal when we eat dinner at home. Alex tries to thwart me with his tongue but once it's in his mouth he'll eat it. Zach will open his mouth and let me shovel it in. They ate most of a bowl of cereal the other night. We're trying to decide if we should do oatmeal cereal next or just move on to something with taste, like sweet potato. Honestly, the cereal is pretty icky in my opinion.

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving this week and seeing the family. Hopefully everyone will be healthy.

Month 5, Week 1

2009-11-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's been kind of a quiet week, especially compared to the craziness that was the last one. Last Saturday we went to the local apple farm with the Mothers of Multiples group. Who knew we had one about 15 minutes out the road? I guess not us! It was sunny but on the cool side. The boys seemed to have a good time looking at everything.

Jim and I have been working to come up with a schedule that works for us. This week was the first test. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the boys and I have things to do during the day. Then on Tuesday and Thursday we would go out in the evening. That way the boys get their out-and-about time but things are kept in moderation. We also got them two new toys to keep them from getting bored: Jumperoo and a walker.

The Jumperoo has been a big hit with Zach. It took him a day or so to get the hang of jumping, but now he just bounces and bounces. His legs were a little short so I put a blanket underneath. Even when he's tired of being in it and complaining. he still doesn't stop jumping. It's rather funny to watch. I have to stand there, waiting to pick him up, until he holds still long enough for me to grab him.

Alex likes it well enough but seems to prefer the Exersaucer. He's happier much longer in it than the Jumperoo, which is just fine with Zach. Alex has been getting into shouting matches with the purple toy on the Exersaucer, though. I can't identify exactly what animal it's supposed to be - a purple hippo with leopard spots and a rhino horn? Either way, Alex wants to chew on it. Unfortunately it won't reach. So after getting frustrated, he started yelling at the top of his lungs, right in its face. He's done it a few times now and I have to hide in the kitchen so he doesn't see me laughing. Even Zach will stop jumping and stare at the spectacle.

The walker hasn't been an instant new favorite because our boys are too short to reach the ground. hehe

Jim got us a book about what it's like to grow up as an identical twin. It's a compilation of interviews by an author that's an identical twin herself. I'm about three-quarters through and it's not what I expected. It's much more of a cautionary tale than an optimistic take on things. I knew we had a challenge ahead of us, being sure to treat them as individuals, but I didn't realize the details.

One thing that has already rang true is to resist the urge to label them. Labels, like stereotypes, mean you feel like you know someone without actually getting to know them. We get it all the time from strangers. Zach is very social, so he tends to smile and coo a lot when getting attention. Alex does the same thing with us, but not with people he doesn't know. So we get "Oh he's the happy one and he's the serious one." I don't want either of them growing up trying to live up to a label, or trying to disprove it.

There's also an emphasis on doing things separately with the boys, be it one-on-one with a parent, or two-on-one while one boy stays with others. We need to get to know them as individuals, basically. We've done a little of that, but mostly we travel in packs. I think once they're a little older and can do things, it'll be easier. Right now I'm not sure they'd know the difference if we had one or both with us.

The boys played on their first playground on Friday. We went to a park that had little kid swings. Here's a picture of the extreme cuteness:

Jim and I got the H1N1 vaccine Saturday at the health department. Since the boys are under 6 months, we qualified for the nasal spray. That saved us about 2hrs of standing in line for the shot. The slight downside is the nasal spray contains a weakened live virus, instead of a dead version. Jim and I both ended up with "The Nose Flu", which is just a runny nose. I also got a mild headache and a bit of a sore throat, neither of which lasted long.

We arrived at the health department around 11am and people that had gotten there at 7:30am were just getting their shots. The line wrapped around the building and around the rear parking lot. Some people brought lawn chairs. Kids were climbing all over the decorative trees planted around the perimeter. We were given numbers 1005 and 1006 for the shot, but when we switched to the nasal spray line, our numbers were in the 245 range.

We mounted our megatron tv to the living room wall on Sunday. This is our first major step towards kid-proofing our house. We ended up doing the installation ourselves, saving about $400. It wasn't particularly difficult, just time consuming to be sure everything was done correctly.

In developmental news, the boys have started hugging around the neck. They also like to cup your face in their hands and plant kisses on your cheeks. We're all quite wet and slobbery by the time we're through.

They're going through a phase (I hope!) where they don't want to sleep as much. Naps this weekend were a struggle and even then they were only down for about 30min at a time. They're also getting up every 1.5hrs to eat during the night, and ready to start their day at 5:30am. It's been hard and a little discouraging since this obviously isn't the direction I was hoping we'd go in. I was really hoping by now they would only be getting up once or twice during the night.

Alex has decided that he still likes the playmats but Zach doesn't want much to do with them. They've ogtten really good at playing with Jacques and Freddie (the firefly version) in the car. I'll hear "Crinkle, crinkle crinkle." until they fall asleep - usually holding onto their toy. They have little difficulty grabbing things and sticking them in their mouths.

Not Pink, and the Social Babies

2009-11-09T02:21:00.002-05:00

Apparently I still have more to say. I'd like to think you're surprised by this but I know better.

Having boys and 4 nephews has made me realize the amount of pink kids clothes at any given store is severely disproportionate to the amount of non-pink. I can easily find 5 pink, flower-encrusted, girly outfits that I just LOVE for every 1 boy one that I don't hate. My dreams of purchasing similar-but-not-identical clothes for the boys are gone. I'm lucky if they even have two of the same thing in the right size.

So, when Melissa posted about her husband's blog about resisting pinkification, I pretty much had to read it. Go team blue!

There were two developmental items I forgot to post about last night. The first is that Zach now likes to hug me around the neck. He'll just reach out and wrap his little arms around me. The downside is sometimes he likes to also grab on with his hands and gives me a good pinch or hair pull. I'll take what I can get, though.

The second thing is that the babies now expect people to stop and say hi to them when we're out. They have begun preemptively greeting strangers to help the process along. How, you might ask? They can say "Hi!" or "Hey!" No, really. I'm not making this up. We were in the grocery store the other day, walking down the pop and chips aisle. I had Zach in the baby carrier and a woman was coming towards us. Zach yells "Hi!" and the woman, without missing a beat, says "Hey!" and keeps on going. I'm not hearing things or reading into their baby babble if strangers think the same. The boys might not know what "hi" means specifically, but they know it's something you say to people to get attention.

Something similar happened on our Best Buy trip. We went to the customer service desk and Zach did his "Hey!" thing to the Geek Squad guy behind the counter. The guy responded in kind and Zach just grinned and grinned. Tonight Jim and I were talking about their desire for attention. Jim mentioned that he kind of feels bad when we don't get stopped, since the boys love it so much. I didn't realize it until he said it, but I feel the same way. I don't like sticking out in public or drawing notice to myself, but the boys just beam and chat up anyone they come across.

Month 5, Day 3

2009-11-07T00:14:00.006-05:00

It's been an interesting week. Tuesday morning Zach came down with a fever and stuffy nose. I meant to check Alex's temperature but forgot before I put a new diaper on him. So I lay him in his crib, strip him back down, and start the temperature taking. He figures this is a good time to pee. Well, I've got one hand on his legs and the other holding the thermometer, so all I can do is watch as he does his best impression of a frantic fountain. He hit just about everything in a foot radius. Another new diaper and fresh clothes get applied and I start a load of laundry. On the bright side, he's fever free.

We went down for our usual morning nap. Zach woke up with a diaper leak. I take him downstairs to change him, then strip the bed. While trying to remove his clothes, I manage to smear poop clear up his back, into his hair. It's also all over the changing table. I give him a ghetto bath via some wipes and start my second load of laundry. It's not even noon yet.

The day got a little better until Alex also came down with a fever. Both boys were kind of sluggish and wanted to be held. We took a long afternoon nap together and that helped some. I wiped little noses and tried to baby them as much as possible. Tuesday night was more of the same. Both boys were up every hour or so. They HATE stuffy noses and wake up a ton every time they're sick. Finally around 5am I brought Zach into bed with me. Jim fetched Alex the next time he cried and I held him, too. Jim did what he could with a comforter and the floor.

Wednesday Chii-Wey came over to do their 5 Month Photo Shoot (pw: jma&z). Despite their colds, both boys were in really good moods and we got a bunch of smiles. Unfortunately Alex scratched his face the night before, so he has a red mark on his cheek in all of the pictures. Jim even came home for lunch so we could get an updated family photo (see left!). We got 40 pictures this time. I think that's a record! Happy babies equals good photos I guess.

Wednesday night was similar to Tuesday but worse. I couldn't get Alex to sleep by himself for more than 30min. So it was me and three boys in the bed again. By this point my neck, shoulders, and back aren't happy. I'm not designed to lay motionless all night, every night.

Thursday the boys and I met up with Melissa and Amber at the Swamp Rabbit Trail in downtown Greenville. It's a paved, mile long path that winds along the Reedy River. We ended up walking the entire thing and the boys were somewhat behaved. I ended up putting one in the baby carrier for half then swapping them out. Hopefully at some point they will love the stroller, but I'll take limited toleration over immediate crying any day. At the trail head is a children's garden. The boys and I plopped down on a blanket while Melissa and Amber fed their kids. Alex and Zach really loved looking at the tree overhead and the sky.

I put them back in the stroller (in prep to head back to the van) and looked around. Melissa and her girls were ridiculously cute, all piled up on a bench, nom nom'ing some bottles. Amber and her kids were having fun eating Cheerios and laughing. Then I look over at my babies. This is what I see.

Zach is trying to fit all of Jacques into his mouth and Alex is on the verge of a total meltdown. We weren't very cute - more like animalistic. This should have been a sign to not meet Jim for lunch. We went to Cracker Barrel where both boys had total and complete breakdowns. Jim stood outside with one wailing boy while I held the other and woofed down what food I could. Oh, well.

Friday I managed to catch the boys' cold. Yay. Jim came home from work at lunch so I could get a break and drown my sorrows in a box of tissues. It's amazing how well rested I was after only an hour nap WITHOUT THE BOYS! I love them with all of my heart but apparently 3.5 days attached at the hip with no break is my max.

We're in the early stages of toddler proofing our house. The first step is getting the megatron tv mounted to a wall. We went to Best Buy Friday night on a scouting mission. The boys LOVED that store. They were literally drooling all over the place, staring at everything with big eyes. They enjoy tv (even though I'm mean and they don't get to watch more than Clemson football), so their little minds nearly exploded with glee at a whole wall of them. They're definitely our kids.

Afterwards we decided to tempt fate and go to a Chinese buffet for dinner. After the previous day's experience, you'd think we'd be gunshy. You'd be wrong. hehe We only had one minor crying episode when I accidentally bonked Zach's head on his car seat handle. Other than that, both boys sat on our laps, bellied up to the table, reaching for plates and toys. Zach was totally busted flirting with some girls at another table, too. He'd shoot them smiles and they'd giggle and wave.

In developmental news, I sure hope they're teething. Otherwise, I don't want to see the amount of drooling that'll happen when they are. Both boys are voracious in the gnawing. They'll grab anything they can get their hands on and jam it in their mouth for chomping. This includes but is not limited to your arm while you're changing their diaper. They bite down pretty hard, too.

We sort of tried them out on rice cereal. They each got maybe one tiny baby spoon full total. The whole situation wasn't planned very well and they were really tired of being in their high chairs by the time I got the food ready. Zach did what I expected and ate most of what I gave him. Alex was really perplexed and you could tell he was trying to decide whether to spit it out or not. He chose the former, which was good. I'm planning on trying it again later this week and seeing how it goes.

I think we're pretty much done with the play mats. They're just not as fun as they used to be. Zach will take two toys and smash them together, but really they just lay there, looking around. I've tried changing out the toys, and we do have two mats, but none of it seems to peak their interest. They just want the exersaucer. I'm hoping they'll also like the jumpster but so far they don't really know what to do with it.

Jim weighed the boys this week. Alex is 16.8lb and Zach is 16.4lbs. You can't overfeed nursing babies, can you?

Month 4, Week 4

2009-11-03T00:51:00.002-05:00

Ok, this is going to be another one of those mega posts. You might want to grab a snack. This could take a while. If you'd rather get a pictoral version, I've updated their Fifth Month Candids and added Halloween shots (pw: jma&z)

Waaay last Saturday was Preston's second birthday party at Wayne and Nina's. There was something in the water because none of the babies would take naps that day. Our boys were pretty cranky most of the time, with brief periods of happiness. They slept pretty well on the way home, though.

Monday was our first official playdate with other babies. We joined the Greenville Stay at Home Mom's group at their organizer's apartment Melissa G). There were 5 other babies besides our two. A few could sit, one was experimenting with crawling, and two were in the same boat as us. Alex and Zach attempted to make friends by sharing their toys. Jacque the Peacock was a fan favorite and two other moms said they had one at home. Initially I held Zach while Alex worked on his shyness from his carseat. Once Alex seemed more sure of himself, I got him out and Melissa held him.

Melissa's two boys are older, in the preschool to kindergarten range but she was hosting the playdate to be sure all of the GSAHM members had something to participate in. Her boys were particularly interested in Zach and Alex. The littlest one would try to play with them by bringing them toys. At one point I had Zach sitting in a recliner beside me. I hear talking and look over to see Melissa's oldest boys just chatting away with him. He was telling Zach all about how he knew these other twins and how they were friends. It was very cute, especially since Zach was transfixed on him.

The playdate went really well with only a little fussing here and there. I got to talking to Jasmine, mom to Annika. Her daughter's about a month older than the boys and crazy cute. We kind of hit it off and will probably try to get together in the future. Alex liked staring at Annika. I think he was jealous of how much hair she had.

Tuesday was the Mother of Multiples meeting. Jim dropped me and Alex off, and took Zach to the mall. Alex and I had a pretty good time. We sat together during the Bellies and Babies part, then went picnic style on the floor for the actual meeting. I met Melissa A and her two girls, Bronwyn and Aeralind. They were so tiny at 7 weeks old. It's hard to remember the boys being that small but they were. I held one of the girls while Melissa held Alex. I think we were both surprised. I felt like I wasn't holding anything, while Melissa was probably getting a workout. I can remember the early days with all of the bouncing and holding - feeling like my arms were going to fall off. That's nothing compared to the mini-beasts we have now!

Jim reported that the mall trip went pretty well initially. Zach really liked looking at all of the people and the window displays. They stopped by Panera and Zach's cuteness scored Jim a free coffee. They covered both floors before Zach started to get fussy. This is where things stopped being much fun. Zach started crying and wouldn't stop no matter what Jim did. To make matters worse, Alex and I had all of the good toys with us. I didn't think they'd need them at the mall.

Jim called me and I could hear screaming in the background. Alex and I packed up as fast as we could and headed for the entrance. I got the in van and held Zach until he calmed down. I'm still not sure what got him so upset. He wasn't hungry and his diaper wasn't bad. I wonder if he just missed me, but I don't know if he's even capable of that yet. I thought they were still working on object permanence and once something was gone from view, it no longer existed.

So, we've tried Jim watching both boys, and me taking one. Neither option has been successful. For the next meeting we're going to attempt both boys coming with me and see how things go. In theory it shouldn't be much different from our outings together but they're usually much more cranky in the evenings. I can't nap/feed/go as easily.

Thursday we went to Bouncing Baby Boo Bash at the downtown Greenville Library. Amber (with Gabe and Graycen) and Mellissa (with Bronwyn and Aeralind) met us there. It was a costume party with stories, songs, and dancing. Ninja Alex and Pirate Zach just kind of looked around. Bat Gabe and Ladybug Gracen had some fun with bubbles and musical instruments. Pumpkin Bronwyn and Bunny Aeralind held a blanket down, but they did it in an extremely cute way. We were there for about an hour before heading home for naps.

Saturday was Halloween. We hosted a family party at our house, per tradition. This year it was more kid-centric and we didn't do a separate adult party. The whole week pretty much led up to the party, from decorations to food prep. It was right before Halloween last year that we found out I was pregnant, so that's added another memorable aspect to the holiday. The nephews came over for Trick Or Treating and cupcake decorating. We had finger foods that everyone seemed to enjoy. Nina told Thomas that the punch was Magic Potion. I warned him that it would turn him into a frog if he drank it. When he asked if I was kidding, I admitted that I was. It would really turn him into a newt. muhahaha

We all went Trick Or Treating while my sister manned the door. Jim held Alex while I carried Zach. We didn't have buckets for them, since they couldn't eat candy and we didn't need to be eating it either. Mainly I just wanted to watch the nephews go from house to house. It was the first year I went with them. Weird, I know.

I'm still recovering from Halloween. I wonder how long it will take to get a letter from the home owner's association about our decorations still in the yard. Packing things up takes so much more energy than unpacking.

In developmental news, the boys have been hard at work learning new things and perfecting the old. They've gone from punching their toys to opening their fists and grabbing them. I looked over at Zach on the play mat the other day and he was slamming two toys together. This also means you can't stuff things into their hands to be held indefinitely. They can let go now. Um, not that I've been doing that with rattles... hehe

Alex likes to hold out his hand for kisses. I'll plant a big, squeaky one on it and he'll pull it back quickly. He'll do this right before falling asleep for his nap. It's funny watching him laugh at the kisses but complain about the nap in between them. He's been really Hold-Me-Love-Me this week. He just wants to sit in my lap and snuggle a lot of the time. I don't really even need to do anything while he's there. He's content to just sit. The bouncy chair and swing are liked less and less everyday.

Zach has started holding his left foot with his left hand. I've taken advantage of the situation and have him hold his own leg for diaper changes. He does pretty well and really tries hard not to let it get away from him. When it does, he gets big eyes and tries to catch it. I don't know why, but I find it really funny.

Zach also has started squealing with glee. We pulled out the exersaucer this week and Zach just goes to town in it. I never knew one kid could have so much fun. He yells and squeals at all of the toys, at Alex, at me, and at anything he thinks might need it. The downside of only having one exersaucer is Exersaucer Envy. One boy will look wistfully at the other while he plays. I'll usually hold the non-exersaucering boy up to the side of it so he can play, too. I've looked on craigslist and there's plenty of used ones for sale. I don't want to wear out the magic of that toy. though. I try to pace them as we rotate through their toys so they don't get bored too fast. Taking turns makes the fun last longer.

Both boys have taken chewing and drooling to the next level. A number of people have commented that they must be teething. I don't see any red gums or increased crankiness, but it's possible. Zach has been having a tougher time sleeping at night. They're really ferocious about the gnawing. They'll grab anything and stuff it into their mouths. They'll just turn on you and start sucking on your arm or hand. If no toy or parent is available, they always have at least one finger in their mouth and spit running down their chin.

Along with that, I think we're going to try rice cereal soon. They have a strong interest whenever we eat and have been reaching for out plates during dinner. Jim once joked that we'd know they were ready for solid food when they snatched the pizza off our plates, and it's just about getting to that. hehe I may try to set up the video camera for their first food attempts. I expect wide eyes and lots of spitting.

Month 4, Week 3

2009-10-24T02:20:00.002-04:00

Whew! It's been a busy week around here!

Last Sunday we all went down to Wayne and Nina's for a visit. The boys were pretty good for the first couple of hours but their tiredness caught up to them. Both were crying and my only option was to put them down for naps. I felt bad to leaving Nina with all of the nephews, but I knew the crying wasn't going to stop. We hijacked their bed for over and hour while the boys slept.

I thought there was a Mother's of Multiples meeting on Tuesday. Everyone brings a snack, so the boys and I went to Publix to get chips and the materials to make dip. This was the first time I took the boys anywhere by myself and it went pretty well. Now, we were only in the store for about 15min and I fed them before we went, so I had stacked things in my favor.

When we first walked in, one of the deli workers was leaving. She saw the boys and got this huge grin on her face. She stopped and asked me if they were twins (yep!). I was kind of worried that standing and talking to this lady was going to make the boys fussy, so I started pushing the stroller forward a little, to kind of rock it. I guess she understood (or thought I was in a hurry), so the next thing she says is "I'll walk with you!" Uh... Ok. hehe So here I am, walking through Publix with her while she asks me questions about the boys. Apparently a co-worker is expecting twins, so she wanted info I guess. The whole thing was pretty funny.

We made it through the whole trip with no crying - not even any grouchiness in the van. I was surprised. When we got home, I put the things away and we took a nap. About 2hrs later, we got up and started making the dip. I put the boys in their bouncy chairs and stuck them up on the island in the kitchen. I showed them all of the utensils I was using and talked them through the chopping and mixing. They really liked the red bowl I used and gave it big, wide eyes every time I held it up. We also sniffed all of the ingredients (except the onions!) and talked about what color they were. I don't think they like parsley much.

Dip in the fridge, we took another nap and woke up just as Jim was getting home. The plan was to divide and conquer. I'd take one boy to the meeting while Jim took the other to the mall. We got everything packed up and headed to the Greenville Hospital (they use a conference room there). Jim dropped me and Alex off. I head to the room and it's empty. Ugh. I come to find out I was a week early. I called Jim to come get us. Alex had a good time looking around, though. We headed to Target instead, our default destination when plans go awry.

Jim and I increased our life insurance policies so the boys are covered if either or both of us get mowed down by a turnip truck. To be sure we're not playing the system, they sent over a nurse on Wednesday to take some samples. The boys were on their playmats and were streeetching their necks to see her. It was pretty cute.

Thursday was a big day for me and the boys. Publix earlier in the week was kind of a practice run. This was the real deal. I took the boys to the mall by myself. We met another mom there who had 9mo boy/girl twins. We walked around for about 30min while the babies chilled in their strollers. After that we met up with the Greenville Attachment Parenting group, who were also walking the mall that day. All in all, we spent 2hrs walking around. Both boys were pretty good. I got some minor fussiness from Zach about 1.5hrs in. By then Alex was asleep.

I was really surprised at how well they behaved, considering they had been up for about 4hrs total before we headed home. Normally they start getting cranky after 1hr at home, but I guess there's not as much fun stuff to see here. We also walked briskly, which they prefer to slow grocery store walking. We were quite the sight, too - a caravan of about 5 strollers and 8 kids doing laps. Luckily there's not much traffic on a Thursday morning.

We're on week 2 of The Bedtime Routine. They know that a bath is coming and as we walk towards the tub they get all squirmy with excitement. I fill our garden tub with a couple of inches of water, put a towel down, and stick them both in. Their initial reaction is to give me big eyes and pee. hehe After getting used to the water, they'll kick and splash around. Tonight Alex got fired up and really went for some full body flailing. He ended up splashing himself in the face, which stunned him. The look on his face was hilarious, like "Who just did that?!?!"

They both still cry during the post-bath diaper/moisturizer/dressing part. Man, do they really hate moisturizer. I've read all of this stuff about baby message and it's obvious they weren't talking about our boys. They LOVE having their heads and cheeks rubbed, but apparently that's their limit. Zach even took it up a notch with some good screaming tonight as I tried to rub him down.

The next step in the sleepy time saga is getting them to sleep in their cribs for naps. I wanted to get them back to their normal sleep schedule first and we're almost there. Hopefully Jim will be able to help me kick start crib napping this weekend. In other sleep news, they've started waking up at 4am-5am and not going back to sleep unless I hold them. After rocking them for 30min, they still pop their eyes open when I try laying them down. So... I take them back to bed with me and Jim is banished to the floor. This needs to stop before it becomes an expectation.

They've been working on their development to-do list. Zach has decided that sitting is his preferred method of contact with the floor. Laying down is for babies. He's been practicing all week with a Boppy pillow around him for when he falls over. I'll sit in front of him with Alex on my lap. They'll just coo and laugh at each other, although Alex does try to reach for his face. After a few minutes, I'll switch their places so Alex can practice. They're getting ok at it but still tend to lean on an arm or two for support. They expect to be able to sit up anywhere, so there's a lot of grunting when they try to sit up in their car seats. The bouncy chairs have lost some of their fun since they don't want to lean back as much.

Both boys have also been working on their outside voices. I had them on the bed, facing each other this afternoon. They were only about 1ft apart but you would have thought it was a mile with all of the yelling. Alex will just let out a big, gleeful yelp every once in a while. Zach was practically shouting in return. They find each other HILARIOUS and constantly laugh. Like I mentioned before, Alex will try to reach for Zach and I'm careful he doesn't grab his face or anything.

Alex in general likes to reach and grab for things, while Zach likes to just look at it for a bit first. Someone told me that Zach is the one to watch out for - he's a planner. hehe Both boys will grab and chomp toys pretty well now. I gave Zach his peacock toy this afternoon. What I got in return was a much wetter version. While Zach munched on it, Alex was watching with a sort of jealous look, even though he had a toy of his own. When I swapped their toys, he still was watching Zach's toy more than his own. I don't think this was full on jealousy, just a grass is greener situation.

Both boys are almost constantly chewing on a hand. Alex is up to 3 fingers at a time, while Zach prefers 2. They'll suck their thumbs but not very often. A game Alex likes to play is to hold out a fist. Jim or I will give it a big, squeaky kiss. He'll laugh and pull it back for a minute before extending it again. They also love having their cheeks kissed. Sometimes it's a way to get them to stop crying, even.

I've been telling them the story of the Three Little Pigs. I considered having the Big Bad Wolf catch Swine Flu at the end, but Jim thinks that'll mess them up once they go to school. hehe

Month 4, Week 2

2009-10-17T01:52:00.002-04:00

It's been a rough week. My parents headed out on Tuesday and I think I was a little shell-shocked. My "here-can-you-watch-him-while-I..." option was gone. Long gone.

I think parenting is a little like operating in a fog. Every once in a while the mist lifts and you see things for what they are. For me, the boys' sleep schedules (well, lack of them) came into full view this week. We used to follow the sleep-eat-play method where you feed them right when they wake-up. This works great because they don't associate eating with sleeping, so in theory anyone can put them to sleep. Then they started crying when it was nap time. The easiest way to quiet a crying baby? Feed him!

From there things just snowballed. I found myself pinned to the bed Tuesday. One baby was literally on top of me, nursing while sleeping, the other at my side, doing the same thing. They had been nursing for an hour, with 45min of that on auto-pilot while they snored softly. Cute? Yes. Painful for me? Also yes. I tried unplugging one boy. He immediately started rooting around with his eyes still closed. When he couldn't find his human pacifier, he woke up screaming. This woke up the other boy. The crying got so loud that I had to get them up and focused on something else, even though they only had half of their nap. The constant nursing needed to stop. I wanted my sleep-eat-play back.

I spent Tuesday evening reading a book Jim got me about sleep schedules. I felt trapped, not only by the excessive nursing but because they require me to sleep with them during the day. So I decided to try to get them to sleep in their cribs with the Cry It Out (CIO) method. It sounded easy the way the book put it. I don't know what I was thinking, trying to make two major changes at one time...

Wednesday morning Jim gets a call at work from me. I'm bawling. I made it through 15min of CIO before I broke down. It wasn't the crying that bothered me. Zach was giving us his angry/stubborn cry and that doesn't phase me at all. I can do stubborn, being good at it myself. It was Alex. He was just laying in his crib, giving me a heart wrenching sob. When I bent over to comfort him, the little boy tried his hardest to smile at me, even with tears running down his face. He just wanted held and loved. I burst into tears and didn't know what to do. The book doesn't want you to pick them up. Jim, the voice of reason, told me to forget the book and get those boys to our room for proper holding. Tired from the crying, they almost immediately went to sleep. Alex was sure to give me more smiles and some snuggling first, though.

I'm still working with them on the no nursing to sleep thing. There's lots of crying involved for naps, but it's all the angry type which is loud, but ok. We've also started them on vitamins for vitamin D. Zach makes a face but eats them. Alex cries and tries to spit them out. He'll also cough them in my face, so I'm covered in yellow goo. More tummy time is on my agenda, but I think I'm already at my quota for crying.

Wednesday night was also miserable. The boys were exhausted so we tried to put them to bed earlier. You'd get them to sleep, put them down, and their eyes would instantly pop open. Then they would start crying. After the 2nd attempt at putting them down, we couldn't find anything to calm them. Not even walking them around the house would help. Alex ended up crying himself to sleep in his crib. Once they finally passed out, Jim headed for some wine while I hit the ice cream pretty hard. We had aged about 10yrs in the last half hour.

So... Add to the list establishing a bedtime routine! Thursday I was supposed to go to a Mom's Night Out and Jim's mom was going to come over to help watch the boys. With what happened the day before, I didn't think it would be the best thing for the boys if I was gone for bedtime. Jim's mom still came over, though, and brought his sister and her son with her. It was nice having the company but I was still in my PJ's and hadn't found the time to shower yet - at 5:30pm. Luckily the boys were all about the grins and babbling, so they were distracted.

The bedtime routine is a work in progress. The idea is to get them calm and sleepy so the crying is minimal. Combined with the amount they spit up during the day, I thought a nightly bath might be a good option. They'll tolerate the bath but get upset once we take them out of the tub. Their hatred of clothes is well known, and it doesn't get better when you add in being wet and cold.

Today went fairly well. Alex has accepted that there is no more nap time nursing. Zach has not and cries every time. I've been trying to pay closer attention to when they should go down for a nap. According to the book, if you try to put them to sleep when they're just getting sleepy, there's less crying. Apparently if they're rubbing their eyes, they're already overtired. I look for that kind of staring off into the distance thing, then I take them to bed. This happens about 45min after they wake-up. That's not much time to change, feed, and play with them.

They've really started getting into their toys, especially any that rattle or have crunchy fabric. They'll grab the toy with both hands and try to stuff it in their mouth. Jim calls it Dino Chomp. They'll also wiggle and squeal with glee when they get excited. Zach was practicing his outside voice in the van tonight, while Alex is working on his yelling. Both boys have become expert grocery store babies. The last two trips have been cry free, even including the van ride.

I had to adjust the straps of Alex's car seat today. He's gotten taller and they needed moved to a new shoulder slot. I guess he has a longer torso than Zach since they're the same total length.

I have prints of the boys' 4mo pictures. I just need to meet up with everyone to pass them out. There wasn't a good (i.e. both babies smiling) shot of both of them, so I combined two individual pictures. That's what you get with one being grumpy.

Month 4, Day 7

2009-10-11T21:25:00.001-04:00

Well, we discovered the reason they went through their 3-6mo outfits so fast (and they've moved into size 3 diapers). They grew 3.25 inches in two months! Wednesday was their 4mo check-up. Alex is 15lb 14oz and Zach is 15lb 4oz. They're now officially average height and weight babies, as compared to full term singletons!

The doctor's visit was a good one. He said the boys were doing remarkably well. The only thing he dinged us (well, me, really) for was not enough tummy time. They should be doing more like 15min per day, not 5min. So... I guess tummy time will start to follow every play mat session. He also recommended they start taking a multivitamin, mainly to be sure they get enough vitamin D. Unfortunately the drops taste really bad, to the point Alex even cried the first time. When I tried them on Zach, he coughed most of it back in my face. Mmmm, I love the smell of vitamin goo in the morning!

The main downside to the check-up was their booster shots. They got the same round as month 2, so two shots in each thigh plus a liquid they had to drink. Their reaction was worse this time. Their fever was a little higher (but not dangerous) and lasted longer. It was hard on our hearts when we would pick them up and they would whimper because their legs were sore. They sobbed for about 30min before falling asleep Wednesday night. Around 4am Alex woke up crying. I held him until his Tylenol kicked in. Their fevers didn't break until mid-way through the second night.

My family came to visit for the past week or so. My parents came down, followed by my sister for a few days. It's been really good watching them get to know the boys. The last time they saw them in person was the week after they were born. Needless to say they've changed a lot! They're pretty good at telling them apart already, though!

Jim's grandfather, Red, passed away this week. He had been battling cancer. He was a really wonderful person, and as Jim told me, the world is a bit dimmer without him in it. He got to see and hold the boys over the past few months and I'm grateful for that. I only wish they could have spent more time with him.

Chii-Wey finished their 4 month pictures and sent them our way. You can view all of them here (pw: jma&z). I was a lazy mom and only did one set out outfits. They were a little grumpy to begin with, but by the end I managed to coax a couple of smiles out of them. I also uploaded their month 3 and 4 candids, earning me a second worst mom award for not only being late with them, but also not taking many pictures because the camera was full. You can't tell, but I'm hanging my head in shame.

We spent a couple of hours at Fall for Greenville today. I'm hoping the boys will learn to like the new stroller but so far they prefer to be held via the baby carriers. My mom and dad wen with us and ended up pushing an empty stroller while we bounced babies down Main St. The event was pretty fun and we got a few "Oh, are those twins?" comments. I was standing in line for a sandwich and the couple in front of me was expecting twins, too. I was holding Zach most of the time, and his main focus seemed to be covering my shirt completely in drool. He reached 85% completion before falling asleep.

Like I mentioned in passing, the new stroller did finally come in. I really, really like it and it's crazy easy to push around. The boys enjoy it if the conditions are right. I've been able to walk them around the neighborhood for 45min at a time with no crying or fussiness. The grocery store didn't work out quite as well. There was much back arching and gnashing of gums by the second aisle.

They're getting better at tolerating things in general, though. Crying in their car seats is at an all time low. Our last Publix trip had zero crying and they loved looking at all of the pretty food on the shelves. I can entertain them, or as Jim calls it, Babytain them. They're just starting to smile at Peek-a-Boo, rather than giving me wide eyes of surprise when I suddenly appear from behind a burp cloth. Alex loves to reach for things, while Zach prefers to stare at them. Both like to taste whatever they can get their mouths on.

Month 4, aka The Big Update

2009-10-07T01:36:00.002-04:00

Ahhhhh! How did I miss 3 weeks??? Where did the time go?

Most of that time the boys have been either getting sick, being sick, or slowly getting better. We still have a bunch of stuffy noses going around. For the most part they've taken it in stride but they've been having a harder time sleeping at night. Jim set up their humidifier to add a Vicks scent and that's helped some. Zach's been sicker than Alex. I've spent a number of nights just holding him while he slept, to help his breathing.

In developmental news, I think the boys went through a serious growth spurt. They are already stretching their 3-6mo outfits to their limits. We had to replace them with 6-9mo ones this week. I guess when Nina said they wouldn't be wearing them long, she wasn't kidding.

A couple of days ago the boys saw each other for the first time. We had just woken up from a nap and they were laying on our bed. Zach looked at Alex first, and started laughing and cooing. A few seconds later, Alex turned and did the same in return. They laid there for a few minutes, giggling at each other. It was really wonderful to watch. They're not constantly aware of each other, but kind of catch each other's eye and enjoy moments here and there together.

Tummy time has continued to be forced upon them and slowly they're lasting longer before crying. The record is Alex rolling over 3 times. He's also been trying to roll from his back to his belly but hasn't quite pulled it off. Zach prefers to move laterally. We'll put him down on the play mat or in his crib, and it's only a matter of time before he's turned 45 or even 180 degrees. He also managed to nearly pull the whole play mat down on top of himself by tipping it with his feet.

I don't see any signs of teeth coming in but chewing is going full force. They'll try to snag burp cloths when you're dabbing their faces. After his bath tonight, Alex grabbed the towel with both hands and went to town. They'll suck on toys, hands, and even Jim's arm. Their tongue thrust reflex keeps them from really getting much into their mouths, though. It's all surface gnawing and drooling.

We've had a number of adventures this month. The first was a mom's night out for me. Grandma Pat came over to help Jim watch the boys while I spent a couple of hours at a paint-you-own-pottery place. The boys now own a frame with the world's ugliest sheep on it. Things went well, with only a little fussiness before I came home.

This was the success that Jim needed to boost his confidence at watching them. When the Mother's of Multiples meeting came around, he decided to watch them solo while I went. The boys were sleeping when I left, but it was only their 30 min evening nap. Unfortunately after that, they spent the rest of the time crying. They wouldn't eat the bottles I pumped for them, nor would they settle down. Both wanted to be walked around, which is impossible to do by yourself. Jim tried everything but nothing would work. About 5 min before I got home, the boys passed out from exhaustion. I felt really, really bad. The boys don't hold grudges, though, and greeted Jim with giant smiles the next morning, just like always.

Mornings really are the best time with the boys. I'll hear them stirring around and go in. From their cribs I'll get big grins, then squinty eyes when I turn the light on. One will lay there and coo at his mobile while I change the other one. Jim will stop in to say good morning, garnering tons of grins and laughs. The boys will wiggle in delight when they see him coming. Then we'll all head downstairs. Jim will eat breakfast and make his coffee while we play on the mats.

The boys still sleep a lot, more than they're awake. They'll be up for 1.5hrs before taking a 2hr nap during the day. At night they've worked up to sleeping 3-4hrs at a time. That doesn't give us much time to do things during the day.

On Saturday we went to the Simpsonville park as part of a Mother's of Multiples playdate. The boys were missing a nap to be there and got fairly grumpy. At home, their grouchiness doesn't bother me, but it seems like when we're out, it really stresses me. I'm not sure what my problem is, but I need to stop getting like that. It doesn't help the boys, and it certainly doesn't make the trip pleasant for anyone else if I'm snapping orders.

We ran into the same problem at a friend's birthday, too, where I kept comparing our boys to the other baby there. The other baby is a month older and a lot calmer than ours. While Alex and Zach were demanding to be walked around, Eli just happily sat there in his car seat. Sure, the boys are known to sit in their bouncy chairs for 5 to 10 min, but not anywhere near as long as Eli did. I need to get over this idea that our boys will ever be anything other than what they are, which is energetic and cute.

Well, I have more to write but I'm going to call it a night here. Hopefully their 4 month pictures will be ready soon and I'll finish the mega update!

Month 3, Week 1

2009-09-16T22:05:00.002-04:00

I attempted my first outing with just me and the boys today. The local library has a Mother Goose on the Loose book reading every Wednesday. My goal was for us to attend. I was pretty nervous and kept going over different scenarios in my head last night, stressing myself out.

The boys woke up from their nap at 9:45am, pretty much the perfect time. I fed them and plopped them in bouncy chairs while I took a shower. They think the bathroom is so cool, probably since we never have them in there. Afterwards we went downstairs, changed some diapers, and headed out. There was a little initial Zach fussing when I put him in the carseat, but otherwise they were happy. The library is about 15min from our house. By the time we got there, Alex was asleep, so Zach and I voted him as the carseat baby. I put Zach in the baby carrier and we all headed in.

Unfortunately, there's a limit on the number of people that can attend and they were full. I managed to get a shower and have two happy babies at a place 5 minutes early and we were turned away! I'm STILL disappointed. I went ahead and got a library card in prep for lots of baby book reading in the future. By now the boys are looking at me (still happy!) like "Now, what?" I called Jim and we picked him up for lunch. So the trip and the stress wasn't a total loss. I got to eat lunch with my favorite boys.

Dispite the lack of actually getting to participate in the event, just practicing getting the boys up and about was good for me. I feel a lot less trapped in the house. If I need to, we can always pack up and go somewhere. I'd feel a lot better if my stroller would come in. Supposedly it'll be here early next week. I've heard that twice now, though.

In less Marcie-centric news, Alex and Zach continue to hone their toy batting skills. Both are able to pick out a dangling toy and hit it with either hand. It's hilarous watching them get all focused and intense on a blue jingling elephant, then reach out tentatively with a fist. Sometimes they miss and hit another toy, or they get too excited and the fist they weren't watching will fly out and hit things.

We've started rigorous tummy time training this week. Each boy gets 5min on a playmat. Zach is really good at holding his head up high, but tends to get tired pretty quickly. He'll just lay there like a splat, waiting for the time to run out and for me to pick him up. Alex is able to roll onto his back once before getting too tired. By the time they're done, they're so exhausted that they have to take a nap. hehe

Alex will practice sitting while I support him but Zach only wants to stand. Neither want to sit in the baby tub for baths (that I do by myself now). I have to keep one hand on their mid section and say "We sit in the tub." about a million times. Maybe eventually they're get it.

Zach is close to discovering his feet. He likes to stick his legs up in the air so I think it's only a matter of time. Normally the boys wear footed sleepers but we've been doing some diaper time during the day, too, which they love. There's so much kicking and arm waving when they're in their skivvies.

Both boys try to do an open mouthed kiss when you smooch their cheeks. I'll do an exaggerated kiss then hold my face still while they slobber all over it. hehe I've also been doing raspberries on their tummies during diaper changes. Theiy're not sure what to make of it. I just get surprised, wide eyes.

I went through all of their baby clothes the other night, sorting out what they can't wear and getting what they can fit into organized. I have the 0-3 mo clothes from Nina and Stacy ready to go back to their respective owners the next time we see them. It was so sad, packing away their little clothes. They were so small and contain such good memories.

Month 3!

2009-09-07T22:32:00.002-04:00

The boys turned 3mo old this past Friday! Chii-Wey came over for their photo shoot. Right now the boys have semi-predictable eating and sleeping schedules, so we were able to get some good smiles in. This was MUCH less stressful than the last two times. You can view their pictures here (pw: jma&z). I hope to have their 3 month candids up there soon.

I've already mentioned that the boys graduated into size 2 diapers, but over the past few days their clothes have also gotten tight. We broke out the 3-6mo outfits yesterday and they fit much better. Target was having a baby sale so we stopped by today and got a few more sleepers.

We also decided that they've pretty much reached full capacity on the co-sleeper. It holds 30lb and combined they're at 27lb (Alex 14lb, Zach 13lb). They've also started waking each other up in the co-sleeper. When one of them gets fussy, they like to lift their legs waaay up in the air then slam them down, causing the entire thing to shake. A couple of those and you've got two boys trying to bring the house down.

So tonight we moved them into the nursery. I'll admit that I'm a bit sad to see them go. I like having them close by and have been known to just sit and watch them sleep. It'll be a good thing, though. The boys aren't quiet sleepers and this should give Jim better rest for work. Likewise, sometimes Jim's snoring startles the boys. I'll probably be the only one that doesn't improve their sleep. hehe

So... Our little boys are growing up. I know they're still small, but for some reason I expected them to stay really small a lot longer. Goodbye Dino On The Loose outfit. We barely knew you.

In other baby-related news, I officially quit my job last Thursday. I left on good terms and my boss wants me to give him a call when I want to get back to engineering again. I'm now a stay-at-home mom, a sentence I never thought I'd type. It feels good, though - far better than the alternative. I'm pretty passionate about the boys. I can't say I ever felt that for any of the engineering jobs I've had.

I started on the boys' Halloween costumes this week. Alex is going to be a ninja and Zach is going to be a pirate. I'm making them out of fleece so they can wear them over normal clothes and be warm enough. I think they'll turn out ok. I'm not the best at sewing but they should at least hold together long enough to go around the neighborhood.

We ordered a double jogging stroller last week and I hope it comes in soon. I have no problems with taking care of the boys 24/7 but I'm starting to climb the walls around. One weekly grocery trip isn't enough non-home time for me. With the stroller I should be able to at least walk around outside for a bit. I'm hoping (and praying) that the boys like it. They enjoy the outside and watching things go by, so it has a chance to work.

Trips in the car have gotten a little easier. I can shake various toys and the boys will stop fussing to watch them. The toys we have for this are pretty limited, though, so I ordered some car toys from Amazon. The first "toy" is a set of wrist bands and striped socks that rattle when the baby moves. They love eating their hands so I hope they like these, too. I also got a activity bar that clamps on their carseat and a peacock that's supposed to be good to chew. hehe

In baby development news, the boys have been honing their chomping skills. Fists and individual fingers get gnawed on a lot. Alex spent some time today just staring at his hands, tasting them, then staring some more. Zach has started sucking on his hands before going to sleep. They have also become more particular about things. Alex refused to nurse in the cradle hold, and would only start eating when I moved him to the football hold. It looked pretty silly feeding one baby like that, but whatever works I guess. Zach will fuss and fuss until I'm holding him just right to go to sleep.

One last tidbit. I came across this picture the other day. It's me when I was 3mo old. I think the boys look a little like me, especially in the no hair department.

Month 2, Week 3

2009-08-26T23:26:00.002-04:00

It's been a rough week around here. On Monday both boys and Jim came down with a cold. They had sore throats and runny noses, but luckily no fevers. Zach was up most of the night last night, angry at his stuffed up nose. He'd just drift off to sleep and a loud snort would wake him back up. When he did sleep, Alex would be awake and generally grumpy. They really didn't like the suction bulb (much screaming in angst) but it seemed to help some.

Along with the stuffed up noses has been extra spitting up (which also makes them mad). We've gone through just about every outfit they own, plus a ton of burp cloths. Zach managed to projectile vomit while breastfeeding, creating an interesting ricochet of milk.

Jim took half the day off work to try to rest up. I don't think he succeeded with the babies being extra fussy in the afternoon. I think the worst of it is behind us, though. Tonight their breathing is much improved, although around their eyes and their little noses are still red.

In baby milestone news, both boys are able to concentrate on a toy and bat it. It's really cute watching them make a fist and swing it at the dangling bug toy. Zach especially loves it. He'll lay on the playmat and just chatter away while trying to hit it. Alex is more somber, prefering to concentrate with less noise. Both also love sucking on their hands, sometimes really loudly. They've experimented on their thumbs but seem to prefer their whole fist instead.

They have also started having opinions about where they are and what they're doing. They'll cry until you've figured out what they want, whether it's in the bouncy chair or being held face out so they can look around. They also recognize me versus Jim. I was holding Zach when Jim came in the room. Immediately Zach saw him and started squirming. I handed him over to Jim and he was happy again.

I think I see the beginings of them holding their arms up when they want picked up. Their control isn't all that good just yet, but it seems to happen more than what I'd consider coincidence.

We've been able to put them down to sleep at 10pm in the evenings, fairly consistently. That's an improvement over holding them all evening and gives us a few hours to get things done around the house (or relax if it's been one of those days). My over protective side kicked in, though, and they now wear baby beepers at night. It's this little thing that clips to their diaper and detects their breathing. If they don't breathe for 15 sec, it vibrates. If they still don't breathe for another 5sec, an alarm goes off. We've ha d a couple of false positives on the vibration (Alex knocked his off one night) and even that seems enough to wake me up. The downside happened Monday night when Jim's phone kept vibrating for low battery and I thought it was one of the boys.

The mothers of multiples sale is this Friday. The plan is for me and Nina to meet up somewhere for dinner then head over there. I'm hoping to pick up a few things, like 3-6mo sleep sacks. It'll be nice to get out of the house, mainly. Jim's going to watch both boys, his first time attempting it. Hopefully they'll be good.

Month 2, Week 2

2009-08-20T14:37:00.004-04:00

It's day 3 of me staying home with the boys solo. Things have been going pretty well so far - no major breakdowns of them or me. Our normal day consists of them waking up between 6am and 6:30am. They get fed and their diapers changed. Jim will help out with one before he heads off to work. Once he leaves, me and the boys settle in for some cuddling time between 7:30am and 8am. They'll normally sleep another 3-4hrs with a snack break in there. Jim has been coming home during lunch and watching them while I get a shower and eat. The boys will stay up for another couple of hours and take a nap around 2pm.

Both boys really like the swing and bouncy chair now, which makes things SO much easier for me. It's to the point where sometimes they want one of those instead of being held. Right now I'm bouncing Zach in the chair. He cried and cried until I stuck him in it. Alex is sleeping on me, though, so at least one baby still wants me around. hehe

In milestone news, the boys have become ticklish under their arms. They laugh and coo whenever you get them there. They've been spending a lot of time on the floor, either on the playmat or resting in the boppy. Both are really good at following a rattle now. They have also graduated into size 2 diapers. They really seem to love breast feeding. I have to careful they don't overeat and throw up. Zach especially likes to drink himself to sleep. Neither wants a pacifier anymore, which is good because I think we've lost most of them.

I spoke with my boss on Monday. Things at work are a better (they're back to 40hrs per week) but it's all little projects. He couldn't tell me what I'd be working on if I came back next week. Things are that much in flux. I brought up the idea of taking at least a year off and he thought that would probably be a good thing, both from a business perspective and his personal feelings on raising kids. He's going to call me next week to finalize everything.

I think this is the best option for the boys right now, with swine flu, regular flu, and RSV seasons coming up. I also don't like the idea of someone else taking care of them. Financially I've drawn up a budget and we should do fine until they're ready for kindergarten or so.

Month 2, Week 2

2009-08-13T21:43:00.002-04:00

Well, it's been a busy week around here. The boys have discovered that licking things is fun. They'll lick their hands, whether it's their hand, their brother's, or if it has a sock on it. They also like to lick the shirt of the person holding them. I was wearing a Clemson paw print t-shirt and Zach tasted each toe print just to be sure they weren't food. I got out a teething toy and they've enjoyed licking it during diaper changes. There's no real gnawing or chewing - just licking. hehe

Another big step for them is I've started breastfeeding them. With Lucy going back to school next week, anything that makes things easier on me during the day is appreciated. I was a bit worried they wouldn't know what to do or get frustrated like before, but besides a little irritation at being on their sides, they've done great!

LG's HR called yesterday to be sure I knew I only have 2wks left of maternity leave. I'm supposed to go back August 27th. I called my boss and left a message to that effect. I was hoping to find out how things are going, like if they're still on reduced hours and what their project workload is like. I guess I'll try him again tomorrow.

Jim and I have been going back and forth on whether I should go return to work or not. There are pluses and minuses on both sides. I think the main deciding factor so far is I don't want to leave the boys with someone I don't know.

Second Month Check-Up

2009-08-07T11:58:00.005-04:00

The boys had their routine doctor's visit yesterday. They got weighed and measured, poked and prodded. Alex came in at 12lb 6oz. Zach was 11lb 11oz. Both boys were 22in. Alex still has Zach on head size. The gains in weight shot them pretty far up the percentile rankings. Alex went from 29th to 65th, while Zach jumped from 22nd to 48th. Unfortunately they're still behind in length, hovering around the 15th percentile. I guess we have short, chubby babies.

The nurse practitioner seemed to think that the boys should be eating less frequently and sleeping for longer stretches. Both boys still get up every 2hrs or so. She wanted them to go 3-4hrs at night. I'm not sure how we're supposed to change that. Personally I think this is one area where their 3.5wks prematurity comes into play. I'm going to just wait a little and see if they switch on their own.

Along with their visit was 5 vaccinations, and only one was oral - so 2 shots in each thigh. Alex got upset at the liquid vaccine and kept trying to spit it out. The nurses were really fast and had them done at lightening speeds. The boys were troopers and calmed down pretty quickly. I hugged them and wiped away their little tears.

Afterwards we went to Publix and got them some infant Tylenol. Sure enough, even with the medicine they ran a low fever most of the night. They weren't too cranky - mostly sleepy. Zach needed a lot more holding and rocking than normal, too. Even this morning both boys are a little on the tired side. What normally takes the a minute or two for them to wake up and announce they're hungry, took 15min today. They would whimper a little and fall back asleep. hehe

The boys have taken the concept of grinning and run with it. Here's a couple of pictures from yesterday before we left.

Zach in the swing

Alex getting ready for the doctor's

Month 2!

2009-08-05T10:53:00.002-04:00

The boys officially turned two months yesterday! We celebrated by going to Wal-Mart, meeting some friends for lunch, and getting their pictures taken. After the first two adventures, the boys were pretty cranky when it came time to say "Cheese!" Luckily Chii-Wey managed to get some good shots. I also updated their candids AND added a video of Zach enjoying the changing table window. You can view them all here! (pw:jma&z)

In other news, Zach had his first non-routine visit to the pediatrician's last Thursday. He woke up with yellow crustiness on his right eye. It also didn't seem to be draining correctly. Tears were running down his face. A quick Dr. Google search brought up "eye infection". Yikes! So I called and Dr. Jones (hehe) saw him right away. Apparently he has a narrow tear duct that will fix itself as he grows older. We just have to keep it clean with a soft cloth and water, and message the duct. Almost a week later, it seems to be fine.

We went to Poppa and Granny J's house for dinner on Sunday. Poor Alex had a diaper blow-out on the way and got his carseat messy. The boys were awake most of the time but did pretty well. Wayne held one while Jim ate and the baby kept grinning at him. Red was there and held them on his own for the first time. Just as everyone was getting ready for a tractor ride, the boys fell asleep. They love the outside, so I was a bit sad for them that they missed it. I think they would like the sound of the tractor and watching things go by.

The boys really like being rocked, especially outside in the evenings. The problem here is that the sun sets in their faces if we're on the back patio. There's also no roof over the swing, and explaining to a baby that it's raining is difficult. So we bought some rocking chairs and they were delivered yesterday. Aunt Lucy was nice enough to put them together for us last night.

Also on the rocking front, we tested out the glider a Poppa's to see if the boys liked it. It appeared that they did, so we might get one. They also liked the rocking recliners, so that might be an option for the living room.

Month 1, Week 3

2009-07-29T13:31:00.002-04:00

Things are going pretty well for the boys. We weighed them yesterday and both were over 11lbs. I knew they were getting heavy, but not that heavy! They have the cutest cubby cheeks now, which makes them harder to tell apart. I've added a couple of new pictures to their website (pw: jma&z) so you can see.

Overall it's been quiet around here since the last post. No major trips or anything. In fact, I think our last adventure was Publix on Saturday. It was Jim, the boys, and me. Lucy had the day off to do some shopping and movie watching. The boys were fussy the entire time pretty much. So what was supposed to be a normal trip ended up being stressful. I took them out to the van while Jim went through the checkout line solo. As soon as I got outside, they were happy as clams, though.

They continue to do ok during the night, with their good days and bad. A highlight was Alex sleeping from about 11pm to 5am one evening. Unfortunately it hasn't happened since. A low point was when Zach woke up every hour crying because his belly hurt. Around 6am he found the solution, but the bed and I ended up getting hit in the process. Normally when the boys wake up at 1am, 3am, and 5am they barely even open their eyes, though. They want food and back to sleep. Once they can see that it's light outside, it's a different story. We have room darkening blinds but light still seeps through the cracks. I'm thinking we need drapes over those. Maybe they'll sleep longer, to like 8am. The 6:30am thing is kind of early.

This week they've started turning their heads towards sounds and tracking things. Jim was holding one of them when Furball made a clanging sound as she drank from her water bowl. The baby turned his head to see what was going on. They'll also respond to rattles and squeaky toys when playing on the floor now. Just this morning, Alex was transfixed on me while in the swing. Wherever in the room I went, he would follow me with his eyes and turning his head as needed. They're becoming a lot more aware of their surroundings!

The discussion continues on whether I stay home with them or go back to work. Jim's work is supposed to have a "Town Meeting" this week to go over their plans for the future. There are rumors of another month-long layoff happening this fall. The idea of living off one income in this economy makes me nervous. Neither of our friends that were let go a month ago have found jobs yet. One isn't limiting himself to this area, either. Part of me feels like if I have a job, I would be stupid to turn it down, even if daycare costs a big chunk of the take-home pay. Then if Jim did get laid off, or worse, we'd still be covered.

That being said, I really haven't been able to warm up to the idea of a stranger essentially raising our boys, along with 3 other kids at the same time. They're still really little, so it's not a socialization situation yet. There's also the germs. Our pediatrician recommends waiting until they're at least one year old before starting daycare if you have the option. That ways their immune systems are developed enough to deal with all of the bugs they'll come in contact with.

Lucy goes back to school in 3 short weeks. I guess at that point I'll get a good taste of what managing 2 babies is like. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit scared at the prospect. Right now the only way I get things done is to have her hold both of them. I guess they're going to have to learn about disappointment, patience, and how to take turns. hehe

Month 1, Week 2

2009-07-20T12:46:00.002-04:00

The boys have been busy bees this past week. We made a second trip to Ikea but this time the Charlotte one. I had forgotten to get them a changing table when we stopped in Atlanta. The boys did well on the drive up but once we got there Zach had a mini meltdown. He was tired of being in his car seat and when Aunt Lucy took him out to burp him, it was very difficult to get him back in. We cruised around the entrance area until he settled down, then went to get our loots.

With all of the stuff we've picked up at Ikea, the living room needed an overhaul. Otherwise people would be sitting in a forest of baby equipment, barely able to see each other or move around. Lucy and Jim took charge of the situation and furniture began to fly. It's surprising how big our living room is with the couch against the wall.

Jim's family has a lot of July birthdays so we all went out to Sticky Fingers to celebrate en masse. There were 14 of us, with 6 being kids. That's a lot of ribs and BBQ eaten. hehe Our boys behaved themselves but Zach did start to get upset when Preston did. I guess he's just sensitive to crying in general, not just Alex's. Most of the family came back to our house for dessert. As the evening went on, our boys got fussier and fussier. This has started to be the trend lately.

In general, most babies get fussy in the evening but no one knows exactly why. We've been trying to figure out ways of keeping them calm and happy (or at least not crying). The Moby's have come in really handy. We have two now, so Jim and I each wear a baby. It's a lot like being swaddled to one of us. We also got a new swing that seems to be able to keep them asleep. The poor pack 'n play just doesn't work anymore.

Being outside also helps, so we've done everything from swing with them on the back porch, to take them for a walk around the neighborhood. Both of them love looking at the sky. We've been lucky to have cooler-than-normal temperatures so being outside isn't too bad.

Part of their discontent seems to be related to tummy pain. We started them on gas drops yesterday and they seem to help. They still grunt a lot but it doesn't seem to hurt them like before. I also brought out The Happiest Baby on the Block book for Jim and Lucy to read. We've had a couple of harrowing nights while I was napping and I think they've gotten good tips from the book. I need to reread it and get some myself.

I've posted some candid shots of the boys from the past two weeks. You can check them out on their website (pw: jma&z). I wish I hadn't left the camera in the van for the wedding, but oh well.

Addendum

2009-07-15T16:04:00.002-04:00

DNA Solutions just called with the results of the boys' test. Alex and Zach are identical! While this doesn't actually change anything, it's nice to be sure when people ask us. It also is good to know from a medical standpoint, although if some condition were to develop where one boy would need to help the other, a more in-depth DNA test would probably be done. We just had 8 markers tested.

So even though we have Pumpkin Head and Skinny Head running around, that's most likely the result of their mild Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Environmental factors will always play a part to make them unique in their own ways. This also means that the chance of having another set of twins is as low as it was the first time, should we ever decide to expand our already pretty full family. It's not something that's hereditary through me.

Month 1, Day 11

2009-07-15T10:12:00.002-04:00

Well, we survived the Chattanooga trip. In fact, the boys were surprisingly good. Zach slept the whole way there while Alex split his time between a little sleeping and a lot of looking out the window of the minivan. We left home about 10am and made one stop for diaper changes and burping around Atlanta. The boys are big enough to eat while in their carseats so that saved us some time. We got to the hotel around 2:30pm to change into our wedding clothes. Feedings, burpings, and diapers ensued so we didn't make it to the wedding until about 2min before it started. While I was getting ready, one of the boys threw up down J's dress shirt. Luckily you couldn't tell once he put on his tie and jacket.

The wedding was held in the bride's parent's house. It's a really large home that dates to the pre-depression era. They didn't have air conditioning back then, and the one they installed after the fact had a hard time keeping up with so many guests. even the babies were sweating. The boys slept through just about everything, including a baby grand piano playing directly behind us. The boys were quiet except for a little whimper from Zach mid-ceremony that was quickly silenced with a bottle.

J and I held the boys rather than trying to deal with carseats. It worked out ok and would have been better if it wasn't so hot. I felt like I was going to give Alex heat stroke and I don't know how J survived in a full suit the whole time. The babies' little faces were red and everything felt sticky. That didn't seem to slow down their admirers, though! Tons of people made their way over to see them. They get some attention when we're out, but nothing like the ohhs and awws they got there. I'd say they were the next biggest hit behind the bride and groom. It didn't help that they were sleeping with their little angle faces going full force. Unfortunately I left the camera in the car, but I'm hopeful that we'll get to see the pictures the photographers took of them.

We stayed the night in Chattanooga. J and I were wiped out by the time we got back to the hotel. He went and got us some dinner and brought it back to the room. The boys didn't much like the idea of being put down in the pack 'n play so we could eat. I guess they had gotten used to all of the holding. Taking care of them that night was rough since we didn't have the ideal setup like at home. I also didn't get my normal 2-3hr nap, so I was pretty tired. I think I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep, even now.

We left about 11:30am Sunday and headed for Ikea in Atlanta. We got the boys some furniture for their clothes and other items in the living room. I also got the frames I wanted for their monthly pictures. J would watch the boys in their stroller while I'd go around getting the items we needed. I'd look over and see all of these women around him, wanting to know about the babies. Who knew twins could be such a chick magnet? hehe

We got home around 7pm that evening, just in time for the boys to explode in anger at being trapped in their carseats for so long. I went to bed while J and my sister had to deal with the crying monsters the boys had become.

J mentioned to me last night that he thinks the boys are capable of being bored now. It seems like if we have them in one room for most of the day, by evening they are tired of it and want to see something else. Unfortunately their only way of communicating this is by crying. J and my sister have had some rough evenings figuring this out the hard way. Last night I think it was Zach that was bored. On a whim I took him from J and we went to check the mail together. A soon as we went outside, he stopped fussing and stared around in wonder. When we came back in, he started up again so my sister took him to the backyard for some swing time.

It might work out in my favor, though, because I'd like to start taking walks around the neighborhood in the evenings. If that matches up with their need for new scenery, then that's good motivation. J and I put on our Moby wraps Tuesday evening and went for about a 30min walk to the end of our subdivision and back. The boys were passed out but happy as clams.

Their need for holding has been pretty high, too. The Moby wraps (we have 2 now) came in handy. I held Alex while I put their furniture together from Ikea. J held Zach while we worked on my computer, replacing the motherboard. As I'm tying this, Zach is sleeping on me and Alex is passed out on my sister. They wake-up within a few minutes of putting them in the pack 'n play. The swing lasts a little longer but there's only one. We ordered a second one but it won't arrive until early next week.

Month 1, Day 6

2009-07-10T23:40:00.004-04:00

This is just a quick update on the boys since it's late and we have an early day ahead of us. J and I decided to go to his friend's wedding tomorrow in Chattanooga, TN. It's a 4hr drive with two small kids. I'm not sure if that makes us adventurous or stupid. hehe We're allowing a couple of extra hours for feedings and changings since previous attempts to feed them while in their car seats have failed. The wedding is at 4pm and we're going to stay over Saturday night.

This will be their first trip outside of Greenville and the first time they've slept anywhere but here or the hospital. We're taking the pack 'n play even though there's been a lot of resistance to sleeping in it during the day. The swing has become a big hit, though, to the point we're going to get a second one. Right now we're stuck taking turns. There isn't much love for the bouncy chair, though.

I don't think I've seen these "milestones" in any book but the boys now hold onto you when you hold them. They don't have a super grip but they try to hug you back by grabbing onto whatever they can. For me, it seems like they go for my arm. For my sister, they latch onto her shirt collar or necklace. When in doubt, they go with the spread eagle, bear hug style of holding on.

Part of this new hugging is they'll latch onto anything they can get their hands on. My hair became a fun toy to pull on, so I got it cut shorter. The monkey on their play mat almost lost an arm to Zach earlier. They'll also nab burp cloths and whip them around during diaper changes, as if they're surrendering via a white flag.

Another new trick is they cry with tears now. Up until this point it's just been dry crying but little tears have started running down the sides of their faces. I tried to explain to them that the screaming, contortions, and red faces were already plenty of motivation but they felt that going for the heartstrings gave them an edge.

They've been snacktime babies this week, opting for small hourly munching instead of big feedings. This is pretty much the opposite of what we would prefer, especially since they don't like picking the same time to eat. Luckily their cuteness still outweighs their bossiness.

So hopefully I'll have some fun pictures to post next week of their Tennessee wedding adventures. I got them some cute polo rompers to wear.

Month 1, Day 3

2009-07-07T16:02:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy time here around the Knox house. The boys celebrated their 1 month Birthday last weekend. We had most of J's family over for the 4th of July so it worked out well. The nephews enjoyed the pool while our boys soaked up all of the holding and attention.

The next day our friend, Chii-Wey of Say Chiis Photography, came over to shoot their one month photos. The boys had a good night but were fussy pretty much the whole time she was here. It didn't seem to stop the cuteness, though! She got some really great shots of the boys!

Our plan is to make this a monthly thing so I went ahead and set up a place where friends and family can see their pictures, plus any that we take around the house. So from here on out you can always find the latest digital versions of Zach and Alex at http://alexandernzachary.shutterfly.com/ The password is jma&z to view the site. I'll also be putting my favorite shots up on Facebook, but Shutterfly will have all of the pictures for viewing.

You have the option to download the pictures to your computer or buy prints through Shutterfly. If you let me know which you like, though, we have a prepaid 4x6 package and can get prints for you. I've added a link to the boys' site over on the left. I'll post here when I make updates so you don't have to check more than one place, though.

On Sunday afternoon J's mom and husband came over to visit them. J's mom got to feed both of the boys and spent the entire time holding one or the other. They love the attention and got spoiled. There was no way we were going to be able to put them down in the pack 'n play after that!

The boys had their 1 month check-up today and man have they grown! Alex is now 9lb 3oz and 20.75in long. Zach is 8lb 14oz and 20.25in long. That means they've jumped from less than the 10th percentile to over the 20th. Alex has also passed Zach in length. Right before we left for the doctor's office both boys had wardrobe malfunctions so they ended up wearing newborn sized t-shirts. Their bellies were sticking out, so it was obvious they had gotten bigger. hehe

They also got their HepB booster. The nurse that gave it to them was a pro but they still got upset for a minute or two. Normally their cries during diaper changes and the like don't bother me, but to see them crying due to pain was upsetting. I teared up and had to struggle to keep from crying myself. J thought it was sweet but I felt pretty silly.

The nurse basically said to keep doing what we're doing. The only thing she'd like to see for our sakes is the boys sleeping longer through the night. She said to expect that to happen when they reach the 10lb mark. On the bright side, they're pretty easy to put back to sleep at night so I don't mind. Their next check-up is in 4 weeks!

Week 3, Day 6

2009-07-01T12:39:00.003-04:00

From what I've been reading in the "What to Expect the First Year", I knew it was coming - less sleeping and more eating. I tried to enjoy their just born sleepiness while it lasted. Both boys have gone from a 3hr eating schedule to a 2hr one. They also have begun to get fussy in the evenings for no reason, which is normal.

Our routine has become 1hr to feed, burp, and change both boys, followed by 30min to pump. That leaves me with 30min to sleep until they wake-up again. In the past I'd get 1.5hrs of sleep before the next groan of hunger was heard. The change has been swift and severe. I had to wake up my sister at 7:30am to take Zach and his bottle downstairs. I just couldn't operate I was so tired. Alex and I chilled upstairs until he became hungry. Then we both went to he living room, me to crash on the couch for a couple of hours and L to take over caring for baby 2.

All of that being said, I still enjoy taking care of them, even if we're on the 5th diaper at the same changing.

Week 3, Day 3 - Due Date

2009-06-28T21:58:00.004-04:00

Today is the due date for our boys, giving them real age of 3 weeks and 3 days but an adjusted age of 0 days. This really only should come into play with things like weight percentiles. In extreme cases where babies are really early, like a couple of months or more, their adjusted age is used for milestones, too. I don't really see that happening with us, though. The boys seem to be doing what they're supposed to.

And what they're doing is getting big. Alex has moved up to the next size diaper (size 1, 8lb to 14lb) and has started wearing 0-3mo clothes. Zach is finishing off the newborn diapers since his belly isn't quite as big. It'll probably be a week or so before he switches to the bigger clothes, though. He's just not built the same as Alex. Zach is longer and skinnier. Alex has a big belly and is more compact.

The night after my last post, Alex's umbilical cord came off. Both boys got a bath in the blue tub today. It's kind of hard to judge when to wash them but I'm shooting for 2 or 3 times a week. Of course Zach threw up all over himself and J about 2hrs later. hehe

They have dry skin on their faces, hands, and feet still. I've been trying to put moisturizer on them daily and it seems to help some. The skin seems to flake off and doesn't hurt or leave the skin underneath red.

They also got their first nail trim. When they were first born, their nails weren't anywhere close to the end of their fingers. Within the last couple of days, though, they've gone from soft baby hands to razor sharp talons. I cut them while they were asleep in my lap. No blood was drawn and neither woke up. One down, 5 million to go!

Alex and Zach's newborn days of sleeping quietly are over. They're now big boys and want to do big boy things like grunt and fuss if they're not being held during the day. Zach's taken to waking up crying even though we can't find anything wrong. Right now he's passed out on me and Alex is resting on J's chest while we both surf on our laptops.

I don't mind the neediness, though. It's kind of nice holding them. It just gets a little much when it's both of them requiring your full attention. J and I have both learned how to hold and carry both of them at the same time. I've also bought a Moby Wrap so I can wear one baby around hands-free. I'm still learning the correct tightness but it seems to instantly put a fussy baby to sleep the few times I've tried it. J wants me to get another one so we have a 1:1 baby to wrap ratio. hehe They're only $40 and work up to 35lb.

One nice thing, at least for now, is they don't need someone to hold them at night. We do our normal feed-burp-diaper-feed-sleep routine without any variation. I've continued to half-swaddle them from the chest down, mostly for warmth. They're also wearing socks on their hands to keep them warm. The entire house is set to 72°F but the ceiling fan in our room makes a little breeze.

Zach seems to be sensitive to whatever Alex is doing. If Alex is upset, Zach starts getting cranky, too. If Alex is grunting to make a dirty diaper, Zach joins in. Alex coos and Zach coos in reply. On the flip side, Alex doesn't seem to care much about what Zach is actively doing, but when it comes to sleep time, Alex reaches out to touch Zach. Even if we switch which side each is on, Alex will reach out with just the hand closest to Zach to be sure he's there.

Next weekend is the 4th of July and their unofficial 1 month Birthday. Our plan is to have J's family over for a cookout and some pool time. I'll have him call around with the details early this week.

On the 5th our friend is coming back over to shoot their 1 month photos. I wanted to do a sort of 4x6 frame collage thing on the living room wall with their monthly pictures but haven't had much luck finding frames. One company sells pretty close to what I want for $350. I went to the craft store and the smallest wooden frames they have are 5x7. Target will sell me 4x6 frames for like $25 ea. I'm not sure why this is so difficult and expensive. You'd think with so many digital cameras and printouts you'd be swimming in 4x6 frames.

Here's some pictures from this week.

This baby thing is easy!

A Moby'd Zach

Week 2, Day 5

2009-06-23T12:32:00.005-04:00

It's a bit different doing this blog now, with less doctors' appointments and the like. I'm not saying I miss them. Oh, not hardly! It's just a bit more free form now. hehe

Both Alex and Zach continue to do really well. They have really good appetites and are getting plenty of sleep. Alex's umbilical cord is STILL attached, which makes it difficult to get his baths in. It'd be much easier if I could just hose him down in the little blue tub. It doesn't seem to be any less attached since last week, either. According to the internet, it could take 3 weeks or more to fall off, so it's not really an issue at this point. This is just a downside of having twins - it's really easy to compare one baby to the other and then worry something's wrong.

We had some friends over on Saturday to see the babies. The boys pretty much slept the entire time, with the exception of a quick diaper change. One friend brought her camera and took some photos of the boys. I've posted them below and think they turned out really well. In a stroke of luck, I got an email from the company I ordered their birth announcements from saying 2 of the pictures were blurry. This meant I had time to substitute this much better photos. Maybe someday I'll figure out how to work my point-and-shoot camera...

J's sister and her son also came over on Saturday. She got to spend some time with the boys while J played with our nephew. Unfortunately it was extremely hot outside by this time, so J's options were limited. She also brought us a roast and we've been working on it ever since. I think there's only a little left.

Sunday was Father's Day. J's dad was sick so we ended up just hanging out around our house. Normally I like to do something for J when it comes to holiday's. My plan was to get up after the 6am or 7am feeding and make him breakfast in bed. Alex had other plans. I was up with him from 3am to after 5am just trying to get him settled down. Then he woke up at 6:30am all fussy again. I had J hold him while I handled some Zach related issues. J (the genus that he is!) commented that Alex seemed fine as long as we held him. It was once we put him in the co-sleeper that he'd get worked up. I wasn't looking forward to holding him the rest of the night, or what was left of it, so I tried the next best thing - swaddling.

We had stopped wrapping them in blankets about a week ago because they seemed frustrated at having their arms pinned down. It seems like we've come full circle now and it's their flailing arms that are getting them worked up. Within a couple of minutes of being swaddled, both babies were passed out. Their mommy soon followed and all dreams of breakfast were dashed. So the new daddy ended up getting me breakfast in bed on Father's Day, plus letting me get a few extra hours of sleep. hehe

Yesterday the boys, my sister, and I went on a shopping excursion to Target then Publix. Target was fairly uneventful until the boys woke up hungry. We made ourselves a little camp in the corner of the snack bar. The boys had bottles and the adults had hotdogs. I took them one at a time to the bathroom for diaper changes. It worked out fine and the babies got lots of complements on their cuteness.

I think at this point I could handle both boys at home by myself since we have a good system going during the night. Going out, especially any place that requires pushing a shopping cart, still needs two people. The snap 'n go stroller is great but I can't push it with one hand. hehe

Alex

Zach

Week 1, Day 6

2009-06-17T11:02:00.005-04:00

The boys have been busy since the last post. On Saturday a number of family came over to see them. It's really nice having visitors, especially now that I'm not couch-bound.

Sunday was warm but overcast. My parents wanted to visit the Reedy River Park before they left so we decided to all go. The boys ate just before we left so they slept the entire time. We strolled around and looked at the flowers. My dad brought his bubbles and pretty soon there were kids gathered around him, trying to pop them. We sat in the shade most of the time and watched people swimming in the river. Their first park trip was a good one.

Monday was my OB check-up. There's not much to report except my incision looks good.

Tuesday was the boys' second pediatrician visit. It was nearly identical to the previous one. They checked their weights, eyes, ears, lungs, heart, and tummy. Alex weighed in at 6lb 10oz, a 5oz increase over his birth weight. Zach was a hefty 6lb 6oz, an increase of half a pound over his birth weight. He's fast closing in on Alex, with the difference going from 8oz to only 4!

Alex's umbilical cord is still about half attached. While we were at the doctors, the nurse looked at Alex's stump and decided it needed some treatment because of some oozing. She used a silver nitrate stick to cauterize the wound. Immediately Alex started screaming. I was pretty irritated and picked him up as soon as she was done. She should have asked me if first before causing him pain, or at least warned me so I could try to distract him. I'm not sure that was even a necessary procedure since it still is weeping and looks exactly the same.

After the doctors visit, the four of us went to Publix. The boys were passed out as I strolled them up and down the aisles. Loud noises and the store music didn't even phase them. The only time they reacted was to jump when a lady threw some frozen veggies in her cart with a bang. This was their first trip there and the first time in about 3 months since I'd been there. Needless to say I probably bought too many things.

The boys have been practicing their tummy time during their awake period in the morning. Both can roll from their tummy to their back, although Zach does so with less fussiness. It's really cute watching them work their arms and legs, all the while grunting in mild frustration. Speaking of grunting, during our 6am feed/diaper ritual, Alex grunted so hard while trying to make a dirty diaper that it woke J up. hehe

Zach has become what we call a song bird. When he's trying to go to sleep he'll make very cute little sing-song sounds. He's also generally more vocal than Alex at this point. It's kind of like a coo but with his mouth closed. Alex, on the other hand, seems to love having his face gently stroked, especially his cheeks and chin. He'll close his eyes and sigh in contentment. Neither boys likes their hat and makes a scrunchy face when we adjust them.

I'm able to keep up with their milk needs now, and can even be slightly ahead at times. Right now we have a couple of bottles in the fridge and I need to go pump soon, too. We've stopped charting their eating and diapers since it seems like they're doing really well all on their own in that department. Plus whatever keeps me from doing math at 3am is a good thing. hehe

My mom and dad left this morning to head back to Ohio. My sister will stay with us until about mid-August. We all sat down last night and watched the video J had taken at the hospital. My mom and J both teared up a little when we came to the boys being born. I think during the actual event, J was too busy trying to take everything in to be emotional, but it was sweet to see him be so happy like that.

The boys got J an early Father's Day present - a digital frame for his desk at work. I gathered up pictures from all the different cameras and loaded it with the best shots. They also got my mom a digital photo keychain for helping us out so much. This way she can keep the boys with her wherever she is.

The pictures they had done in the hospital arrived a couple of days ago. Unfortunately neither pose was the one we picked out. One wasn't too bad, so I decided to keep it but the other - Alex looked like he was crying. Who would want that? So I called them company and they've already shipped the correct pose. Hopefully it will be here soon.

Week 1, Day 4

2009-06-15T11:30:00.003-04:00

Quickie update...

Zach's umbilical cord fell off yesterday. I was trying to decide if he was ready for tummy time or if we should wait on Alex. While I was putting moisturizer on Zach's back, this is what he did:

That's not an action photo. He was holding it there for about 30 sec at a time. So my mom got out the play mat and he practiced some more for about 5 min.

Week 1

2009-06-12T12:48:00.003-04:00

This has been a pretty big week for us and the boys. We went to their pediatrician on Tuesday. Alex weighed 6lb 2.5oz, which was only 2.5oz less than his birth weight. Zach weighed 5lb 12.5oz, so he also had 2.5oz to catch up. There's no reason to worry unless they haven't caught up by 2wks post birth. From a percentile standpoint, they're really low because they're being compared to 40wk babies. The nurse said not to worry about those numbers. She did say that Alex was a little on the short side, though.

One thing I thought was funny was head sizes. Both of them are in the less than 10th percentile for weight and length but Alex is in the 25th percentile for head. I guess me calling him a bobble head wasn't far from the truth. hehe

The rest of the week has gone on pretty smoothly. We're getting better at changing diapers, knowing when they're hungry, and burping them. I did have two bloopers with them, though. Both have managed to projectile poop onto my shirt. I've learned the hard way that if they appear to be concentrating, it's best to just wait it out.

Zach seems to be a bit of a momma's boy. When he's fussy, it only takes about 5min of him laying on my chest and he's passed out. When I try that with Alex, he props himself up on his hands as if to say "Yeah, right" and keeps on crying. J can calm him with a gum massage, though.

I see a lot of J in the boys. All three of them make little snorting noises when they sleep. The cutest thing was when I went for a 3am snack and asked J to keep an eye on them for me. They were a bit fussy and would reach atomic status if their paci's fell out for too long. When I got back, all three were asleep and gently snoring. My heart just about melted.

Today we had a free in-home nurse visit as a sort of follow-up that the hospital does for new moms. She checked their hearts, lungs, bellies, and weights. Everything looked good! Alex is now at 6lb 6oz and over his birth weight. Likewise, Zach is at 6lb even and also over his birth weight. This is excellent news and gives us reassurance that we're feeding them enough. She also checked me but substituted "incision status" for "weight". My tummy is healing up nicely. I stopped taking my pain medication yesterday so I figured as much. I did lose an instant 20lb having the boys and my tummy is getting smaller. I only look about 3-4mo pregnant. hehe

On the topic of feeding, I think I've decided to stop trying to breastfeed them. They latch on but end up just getting really angry and frustrated. It's not that big of a deal to pump, especially since they're eating more than I can provide anyways. I'm probably supplying about 50% to 75% of most meals and making up the rest with formula.

One not-so-good thing is that J's paternity leave has been cut short. This week his work did a reorganization and let a bunch of people go. Both of our friends that worked there have been laid off. Also J's boss was fired. They're starting up a production line this week and some of J's area of responsibility have been having problems. So in a nutshell, they asked him to come back to work early and postpone his leave until a later date. I know he doesn't like leaving the boys but we're lucky that we have help via my mom and sister.

My dad is flying down today to visit for about a week. It'll be good having him here and I'm sure he'll love the boys. Both he and my mom will be heading back to Ohio next week. She has a few things to do at home before going to visit my brother in Japan. My sister will be staying through the end of the summer, though.

I've added a new thing to the blog, mostly so J can keep up with the boys' happenings while he's at work. Zach and Alex now have a "Corner" on the left side of the page. I'm going to try to post bits and pieces of what they're doing throughout the day. If you follow this blog via a reader, just add http://twitter.com/AlexNZach to it!

Week 36, Day 4

2009-06-08T13:35:00.002-04:00

Well, where to begin? We got up last Thursday morning, got dressed, and got ready for the hospital. We stopped by Publix on the way to pick up some snacks. We learned our lesson that food after 6pm can be hard to come by if you don't want to leave the hospital. The check-out girl asked when I was due. We laughed and said today!

Once we got to the hospital they checked us into a Labor and Delivery room, but it was only for the pre-operative prep work. They took my vitals, checked the babies' heartbeats, and gave me an IV. Since the spinal can cause nausea, they also gave me a cocktail of anti-stomach acid medications. Unfortunately that made me feel kind of bad, but only for about 15 min. J donned blue paper scrubs, a mask, and shoe covers.

My nurse, Sarah, (whom I've had at least during two previous visits) held my IV and wheeled me into the operating room. J had to stay outside in the hall until me and the room were ready. I sat with my legs off one side of the operating table while the anesthesiologist gave me a spinal injection. There was a brief kind of pain or burn at the injection site that shot down my back, but otherwise it wasn't bad at all. By the time they administered the shot and had me lay down, my feet were already numb.

My arms were kind of spread eagle on two support platforms. In my left arm was my IV, with a blood oxygen monitor on my finger. The other arm had a blood pressure cuff and a hand available for J to hold. The operating room was amazingly cold. The nurses piled 3 layers of warm-from-the-dryer blankets on my arms and upper body. Meanwhile other nurses worked on getting my belly sterilized and ready for baby extraction. They put pressure cuffs on my calves to help maintain blood flow.

Once everything was ready and a blue sheet was in place by my head, they let J in to sit near my head. About this time I was feeling kind of weird. My body from the chest down was numb to pain but I could still feel pressure. I started to get kind of freaked out that I couldn't move my toes, even though I could sort of feel them. I just had to stop thinking about it and get a grip.

Before I knew it, they were making the incision. Baby A, named Alexander James, was delivered at 2:30pm. He weighed 6lb 5oz and was 17.5in long. He immediately started crying and peeing. I could hear the nurses laughing as they tried to dodge the flow. The wailing was soon made a duet when Baby B, named Zachary Kenneth, was delivered at 2:31pm. He weighed 5lb 14oz and was 18in long. Just like his brother, the pee flowed. While the nurses were dealing with that, Alex peed again while being weighed. There was all kinds of baby comedy going on. hehe

The time it took the OB to sew me back up was much longer than it took to have the babies. During that time my blood pressure went low and I started feeling dizzy. The anesthesiologist was quick to respond with some medication to get it back up. Another side effect of the spinal was my uncontrollable shaking. It was pretty strong in my arms and looked like I was freezing, even though that wasn't the case.

J had the video camera out and was trying to capture everything going on with the babies. Both of them continued to cry at the top of their lungs until the nurses bundled them together. Immediately they went silent and were content. Our greatest hope was realized when both babies got a clean bill of health. Neither needed to spend any time in the NICU or nursery. We were going to the Mom and Baby Room as a family! J got to hold the babies (still sharing the same blanket) while they got me ready to be wheeled to the room. For the actual journey, though, I got to hold them for the first time. It felt great to have them in my arms, but a little scary since I was still shaky. J and I were both stunned at how much they weighed together - over 12lb of baby is a lot!

We spent about 30 min in the room together while the nurses finished their inspection of the babies. The only thing of note was that Alex had a little low of a body temperature. He was placed in a warmer to help correct it. Later I held him skin to skin and finally got his temp control working right. We also did our first breast feeding then. It went well and both babies seemed to get some milk.

Pretty soon family was allowed in, including all of the nephews. It was fun watching everyone holding them and getting to know the newest additions. I was on a couple of pain medications plus the residual spinal so the exact details of their visit is a little hazy. I took the time to kind of relax while everyone else was tending to the babies. After the last family member left, the nurse came in and gave the boys a sponge bath and washed their hair. They didn't much like the first part, but the hair washing was a big hit. hehe

Over the next 3 days, J and I learned all about swaddling, diaper changing, breast feeding, pumping, and general baby maintenance. While the boys did do a lot of breast feeding in the beginning, it soon became obvious that they weren't really ready to handle that. We spent over an hour trying to get them to suck - the latching on was easy. A lactation consultant helped us get on a schedule that involved continuing to try to get them to breast feed while supplementing them with formula and pumping/feeding them what colostrum I could produce. The boys eat every 3hrs or sooner if they look hungry. They seem very happy and healthy with this set-up.

A pediatrician from Parkside came to evaluate the babies every day we were in the hospital. While they look pretty identical to me, except that Alex is a little bigger, the main difference the doctor found was that Zach has a dimple at the base of his spine, where his behind starts. It's no concern medically, though we do have to be sure it's clean during diaper changings.

We all came home on Sunday, 3 days after they were born. During the day they sleep in a pack 'n play in the living room. We've been changing them on the coffee table and generally hang out with them on the couch and chair. At night they sleep in the co-sleeper in our room. We change them on the bed. Our routine is that I'll take the hungriest looking baby and check his diaper. If it's dirty, I'll change him. Then I'll try to breast feed him. If it looks like it's working, great. Otherwise J starts making up a batch of formula. I pass the first baby off to J for feeding and get started on the second one's diaper. Our boys love to eat, so J is normally finishing up with the first one's burping by the time the second one has a clean diaper and is ready to go. I'll start pumping while the second one is eating. J helps me at the end of pumping. The whole process takes us about an hour, giving us around 2hrs between feeding sessions to sleep, eat, or take a shower.

This has been a mega-length post but I wanted to add some cute pictures, too. While they were in the hospital, they had their first pictures taken. You can view them here, with the option to buy (Password is R0T5L9V8S8 if you need it). Be sure you use the dropdown box to view all of them. Half are under Alexander, while the rest are listed as Zachary.

I need to go pump now but will be back later to add more pictures!

Week 36, Day 3

2009-06-03T15:58:00.002-04:00

We went in for the amnio this morning. The original plan was to test Baby A's fluid. Unfortunately, he's so buried under Baby B and his bubble that there was no way to get to him. hehe So Baby B got to be the guinea pig. The initial poke hurt about the same as a normal needle but when they went through the uterus wall, my entire belly clenched up. That was the part that hurt. Otherwise getting the sample was uneventful.

After the amnio they put me on the baby monitors for about 30min. They wanted to be sure that the procedure didn't put me into active labor and that the boys were fine. Nothing seemed to phase the babies. In fact, Baby B took this opportunity to take a nap. Delayed stress plus a really big belly aftershock did make me sick, though. Leaving the office, I felt like I had just finished a marathon.

A few hours later we got the news that the test was positive! The babies are ready to be born! After talking with the MFS and discussing the potential complications of a vaginal birth, we've decided to go with a C-section. I'm scheduled to go into the OR tomorrow at 1:30pm. We need to go into the hospital 2hrs ahead of time to get preped. I'll have at least an hour of recovery after the surgery. As far as everything else goes, we'll just have to wait and see. I want J to stay with the babies (if he's allowed) while I'm doing my post-op thing.

So we're pretty excited! I'm especially looking forward to being able to hand these boys off to other people to carry for a while. hehe

Week 36

2009-06-01T16:06:00.002-04:00

We just got back from the regular OB. Everything is still looking good for both babies. Baby A continues to cause problems with the ultrasound tech. He' pretty much hiding under Baby B with only his head sticking out. Neither boy has given my ribs much of a break, though. I had to hold Baby B at bay during the ultrasound. I think we'll all be happier once they're out and have more room to stretch.

The only new news for today is that I'm about 2cm dilated. The OB called this "a nice start" and again seemed surprised that I have lasted this long to begin with. I think the key is that I don't sit up much anymore. I spend almost all of my time laying on my side. I'm lucky I'm able to do this.

So my regular OB and the MFS are supposed to figure out what the ultimate plan is if the babies have good lung development on Wednesday. The OB seems more of a "let nature take its course" type, while the MFS has a "if they're ready, get them out" stance. Hopefully they'll reach a middle ground. Personally, I'm ready to be done with this whole pregnancy thing. J's been asking them every day if they're ready to come out an play. hehe

Week 35, Day 4

2009-05-28T16:20:00.002-04:00

We just came back from our latest MFS check-up. Both babies are doing really well and the tech said she was surprised we hadn't already delivered them. Baby A weighs 6lb 8oz and Baby B weighs 5lb 9oz. Initially we were a little worried with the babies being almost a pound apart. The doctor said that the real situation is that Baby B is where they would expect him but Baby A is on the large side. They're actually more focused on Baby A since bigger babies develop slower. All of that being said, both are doing really, really well. They're practice breathing all of the time, squirming around, and have excellent cord flows.

The current plan is to have my next check-up on Monday at the regular OB. Wednesday we'll go in to the MFS for the ambio to check for lung development. If the test is positive, I'll most likely be induced or scheduled for a C-section the next day. They also gave me paperwork for over the weekend, should I go into labor before the test. I get the impression that they're taking bets on how long I'm going to last. hehe

Week 35

2009-05-27T00:40:00.002-04:00

So far 2 of the 3 doctor's visits are done for the week. Because of the holiday this week, we had to go to the hospital for yesterday's check-up. Once Baby A woke up, both got the seal of approval to head home. Heartbeats and movements were right where they were supposed to be. I only had 3 contractions during the hour or so.

Today we went to the regular OB for my check-up. They had a really hard time finding Baby A's heartbeat. He is so J's baby. hehe It took the doctor, an ultrasound machine, and a tech to find even a glimmer of the baby. Apparently I'm sporting double-decker babies now (one on top of the other). The machine just wasn't strong enough to see through Baby B to Baby A. Hopefully that won't be an issue at the MFS on Thursday for their growth scans.

At this point I'm off both contractions medications and the home monitoring. The upside is the yuckiness they made me feel is gone. The downside is that the babies are awake a lot more for extra kicking and hiccups. It's very hard to move around and I've been spending a fair amount sleeping. If I'm not sleeping, I'm either laying down or eating. hehe At the doctor's today I was approaching the 50lb mark, which is really good.

Week 34

2009-05-18T17:36:00.002-04:00

There's not too much to report this week. The babies continue to do really well. Their fluid looks great and they're all about the practice breathing.

For me, things have gotten rougher. I ache most everywhere associated with the babies. Even the couch is uncomfortable now. J set up the air mattress in the living room so I'm not stuck in bed all day. Luckily I don't have too much longer to go.

Week 33, Day 4

2009-05-14T16:17:00.005-04:00

There wasn't too much to update from the doctor's appointment. The babies are doing exactly what they're supposed to be. My regular OB said she didn't have any issue with trying to deliver them vaginally when the time comes, as long as they're both head down.

The fun part about today, and the reason for the bonus post, were the cute pictures we got from the ultrasound.

Baby B

Baby A

Baby A Conveying a Message to the Ultrasound Tech

Week 33

2009-05-11T14:56:00.003-04:00

This weekend was full of people coming over and good food. On Saturday we had a few friends over for a potluck dinner and a game of Cranium. My mom made a salad and bruschetta while J got some cakes from Strossner's. Our friends brought an Asian noodle dish, a chicken curry concoction, and a cheesy Greek lamb entree. I held down the couch. Cranium turned out to be pretty hilarious.

On Sunday it was Mother's Day. J claims that it counts for me since the babies could technically do fine on their own at this point. I'm not so sure. Either way, I got a really sweet card from Baby A and B plus a dozen roses. The nephews also got me a card, complete with custom artwork on the inside. We had most of J's family over for a cookout. Our littlest nephew fell asleep on me while clutching a plastic penguin. What people couldn't see was Baby B kicking him. hehe Luckily it didn't wake him up.

Word at the doctor's is that the big countdown has begun. At our check-up today the MFS outlined the plan. I have one more week of the home monitoring. This is also the last week that they would throw me into the hospital to stop the contractions. From 34 weeks on they'd only use turbutaline to try to slow them down. No more magnesium sulfate! At 35 weeks I can stop taking procardia, the muscle relaxer I've been on for months now. No more setting my alarm for all sorts of weird times to take that medication.

When we clear the 36 week mark, the MFS wants to do an amnio. This won't be anything like the one I had before. Instead it's just a regular one where they take a very small sample of fluid. They use it to check for lung development. If their lungs are ready to go, then I'll go ahead and have the babies that week. If they still need more time, we'll give it to them. The biggest risk at this point is that the placenta stops providing them with enough nutrients, so they want them out as soon as it's safe.

We'll continue the twice weekly doctor's visits to check for practice breathing, movement, and general feistiness. Today's check-up went really well. Both babies were awake and moving around. Their practice breathing has gotten a lot stronger than last week. Before you could only see a little movement in their bellies. Today their bellies were really pumping. Fluid levels were great. Baby B had his legs pulled up close to his body and had his head laying on Baby A's chest.

Week 32

2009-05-05T15:59:00.002-04:00

On Friday I had a quick check-up at the normal OB's office. Both babies were doing their practice breathing and squirming around like normal. The promise of no more cervix checks was a lie. I was still at 0cm.

On Saturday J's mom and her husband came over. It's really nice to have visitors, especially since I'm pretty much on lockdown. I think people on home arrest get out more than me. hehe She brought over a roast with veggies. We managed to contain ourselves while they were there but about 10 min after they left, J was in the kitchen digging into it. It was very tasty and didn't last long. My mom also made bread and chocolate chip cookies that morning. Saying we're spoiled is an understatement.

Sunday night I got an 8 on my contraction count (the limit is 5). They had me take a turbutaline and remonitor. I got a 3 on the second try but I think the babies and I had a rough night. I know Baby A got the hiccups pretty bad and we were all jittery. On Monday Baby A wasn't moving like normal. He would kind of squirm every once in a while, but no kicking. Baby B took advantage of the situation and was kicking and flailing all around. I did my normal monitoring and talked to the nurse about Baby A being lethargic. She recommended drinking a big glass of juice and seeing if he perked up. He squirmed a little more, but I was still worried. Long story short, we went into the hospital just to be sure he was ok. When they hooked him up to the monitor, his heartbeat was a little low at 135 but within a few minutes he was in the normal 140-150 range.

The best we can figure out is he was just tired and wanted to sleep most of the day. They couldn't find anything wrong but checked my cervix again just for good measure (still 0cm!). I felt a tiny bit silly for dragging my mom and J to the hospital for apparently nothing, especially since I had a doctor's appointment the next day. I would have felt much worse if something had really been wrong and I ignored it, though. Today Baby A is back to his normal punching and kicking self. I should have enjoyed the break while I could. hehe

Today we had our normal check-up at the MFS plus our growth measurements. Both babies looked excellent. They met all of their criteria for practice breathing and movement. In fact, I don't think Baby A stopped the whole time we were there. Baby B was in a weird position, like he was trying to hide behind my belly button. Baby A weighed 4lb 15oz and Baby B came in at 4lb 10oz. They're in the 65th to 75th percentile for a singleton baby's weight. The doctor said that at 32 weeks for twins, he'd consider normal to be around the 25% percentile, so they're definitely big for their situation.

This was the largest difference in their weights so far at 5oz. The doctor said that's pretty normal and they're within 5% of each other. Apparently that's all that matters. They won't get concerned until they're more like 15% different. I was surprised that both babies are closing in on 5lb so fast. I've been holding steady at 34lb over my pre-pregnancy weight for weeks now. I guess it's just a redistribution of what I already have.

The only other news that's sort of baby related is J's layoff/furlough has been cancelled. They called at 9:30am on Friday to tell him he needed to be at work on Monday. They got a big order in from a sister plant that morning and need to start up a production line. A 1.5hr layoff is pretty funny. While I know he was looking forward to being at home for a bit, we both feel better about the change in plans. J prefers to have a paycheck and I like that he can save his vacation time for after the babies arrive. If he thinks this will get him out of the to-do list I've drawn up, though, he's sadly mistaken. hehe

My mom will continue to stay with me through the month of May since the earliest they'll restart her plant is June. It's weird how things seem to just work out.

Week 31

2009-04-28T17:17:00.002-04:00

We had our MFS appointment today and it was one of the better ones. We may have solved the mystery of why the babies seem to get the hiccups so much. They are practicing breathing now. It was really cute watching their little bellies go in and out. I bet their sensitive diaphragms are getting triggered from that.

Baby A was all about the breathing and squirming, but initially Baby B seemed to be asleep. The ultrasound tech spent about 15 minutes trying to wake him up. It was funny because everything she did just made Baby A squirm around more. The breakthrough was when I turned on my side so Baby A was on top of Baby B. Apparently that was the last straw and he finally woke up. A few seconds later he showed us his breathing skills.

Our normal MFS doctor had the day off but his fill-in seemed really good. I asked him a number of questions. The long and short of it is that from here on out they're going to monitor the babies twice a week. They're looking for the babies to be moving, kicking, and practice breathing. These are indicators that the placenta is working properly and they're still getting the nutrients they need. If a check-up shows lethargic babies that don't get spunky after some prodding, it'll be time to get them born.

The immediate milestone is getting to 32 weeks. At that point they shouldn't need a level III NICU if they're born. We can have them at St. Francis. After that our goal is 34 weeks, when the doctors will most likely stop trying to stop the contractions if I start having a lot of them. Week 36 is when they'll be done cooking. If we make it to 37 weeks, I'll probably be scheduled to have them. So the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.

Week 30

2009-04-28T15:51:00.002-04:00

Even though I'm late, I wanted to recap week 30 before delving into the current one.

An unexpected baby milestone this week was they both learned to hiccup. Baby A started them first on Thursday and they lasted about 5 minutes. A couple of days later, Baby B joined in on the fun. They both seem to get them at least once a day. I feel kind of bad since they've probably gotten their sensitive diaphragms from me. I tend to get the hiccups a lot and any little thing sets them off. Poor babies.

On Saturday we met up with some of J's family at a fish restaurant. It had been about a week since my last visit to the hospital, and predictably my contraction count that night was high. I took a turbutaline and that helped. The next night was the same thing but by Monday, the pills stopped working. I was sent to the hospital.

The upside of having turbutaline pills is that they kept me at home for 2 more days. The downside is that eliminates the shot from the list of things they will try once I get to the hospital. So, they put me on magnesium sulfate by IV. They also started the first round of steroids for the babies' lung development. This sealed my fate for at least a 3 day stay. By this time I was contracting about every 2 minutes.

The first time I had the magnesium, that week in March, I just felt lethargic. This time it made me sick. I spent the night failing at keeping anything in my tummy, even though I was really hungry and thirsty. The last thing I had successfully kept down was breakfast on Monday.

By Tuesday morning I must have looked pretty bad since the first thing the doctor did was turn the magnesium down. He also prescribed me an anti-nausea medication. That seemed to help a lot and I ate lunch. It's unfortunate that they didn't think to give me anything during the night before, but I don't think they expected me to react that way. The contractions still hadn't slowed down as much as they liked. I was still having them every 5 to 10 minutes.

By Wednesday they had dropped to 1 or 2 per hour. They took me off the mag and IV but kept me overnight for observation. Thursday morning I did my monitoring strip and waited for the doctor to take a look at it. This was around 9:30am. Unfortunately my normal OB was stuck in a surgery. My MFS was also out of contact. Finally around 5pm, the nurse got ahold of him. He wanted me to do another strip. It didn't turn out very well because I'd missed lunch, thinking I'd be going home. Luckily the doctor let it slide and released me.

Even though I've been taking it easy for months now, J and I decided it was time for me to do a more strict bedrest program. My little trips to anywhere but the doctor are over. No more making myself a snack or climbing the stairs more than once a day. I pretty much just sit on the couch or lay in bed now. Hopefully this will work and I won't need to go back to the hospital until it's baby time.

Week 29

2009-04-14T18:19:00.002-04:00

Lots of things have happened since my last post. Last Friday my contractions were high again, in the 11 per hour range. All of the water I could drink didn't make a difference. So we had to go into the hospital around 7pm to get them stopped. I expected to just be there for a couple of hours but they ended up admitting me for the night.

Since my reaction to turbuteline has been pretty bad, they tried giving me a different type of relaxer. It didn't help but did make me sleepy enough that when I did get the shot, I didn't get sick. I woke up at 11pm and was ready for dinner. J had just gotten comfy in the pull out chair. hehe Long term they gave me turbuteline pills to help stop contractions from home.

I was released at 10:30am the next morning, which was lucky since I had our baby shower at 2pm. We got home, got showers, and got dressed for the party. My mom and sister were staying with us and had helped clean up what we couldn't get to, with the hospital visit and all. Everything looked great. J and his mom went to the grocery store to get some last minute things. Our sister-in-law arrived soon after to finish setting up things for the party.

It was really great to have people over. Even though I do get out some, like a weekly trip to the grocery store, it felt like forever since I actually got to talk with people. All of the nephews were here, plus some of their friends, running around and having fun in the back yard. It was a really fun gathering and I think people enjoyed themselves.

We had our MFS appointment today. I think the growth check-ups are my favorite. Baby A is 3lb 9oz and Baby B is 3lb 8oz. That puts me at about 7lb of baby, up from about 4.5lbs 3 weeks ago. No wonder my belly has been sore! Both babies continue to be ahead of the growth curve for singletons, with Baby A at 85% and Baby B at 77%. 50% is average. According to calculations based on their current size (and if they were singletons), they would be born sometime between June 14th and 16th. hehe

Their fluid appears to have reduced back to normal for both babies. The only thing I've changed has been my diet, so I'll continue to keep up with the low sugar thing. I don't have to test my glucose levels anymore, though. Yay! My cervix seems to be holding fairly steady with only a slight shortening in length. According to the doctor, it's to be expected. In a stunning turn of events, the doctor said he didn't need to see me for two weeks!

So things are still looking good for the babies. I just need to keep the contractions under control and off my feet to ensure continued cervix participation.

Week 28

2009-04-06T19:56:00.002-04:00

I went in for my weekly MFS check-up today. My mom is in town for a couple of weeks so she went with me instead of J. I think it's fun to watch the babies on the ultrasound, especially since you can see them move. Both babies had good heartbeats and were squirming around pretty well.

They also had about the same amount of fluid, but according to the doctor, it's now too much on both. He suspects that it's sugar related, either because of my diet or that I've developed gestational diabetes. For the first one, I'm supposed to only eat low sugar foods. My days of bread and pasta are over for a while. Concerning the diabetes, I have to measure my blood sugar for a few days. The results will tell them if that's the case.

If they can't figure out the trigger, a last resort is another amnio fluid reduction. It's the same situation as before where the excess fluid causes contractions. Those contractions will eventually lead to preterm labor. We've seen an increase in contractions on the home monitor over the past week or so. Drinking water only seems to keep me just under the threshold.

I'm kind of feeling neutral on the whole situation. I'm not surprised that something else has popped up. It seems like whenever we get something behind us, there's a new thing to worry about. If I have gestational diabetes, that just means another pill added to the happy herd of them I take daily. My major concern in all of this is that the blood sugar testing was going to hurt. The silver lining is that I'm good at bleeding, so the prick I need is so small I can't even feel it. It's nothing like the thing they jab you with at the doctors.

Another bright side is at this point I've officially started the third trimester. My goal is 10 more weeks of baby growing. There's starting to be a dim light at the end of the tunnel now. At some point the doctors will run out of time to prescribe me new and wonderful diseases. Instead two cute little boys will arrive on the scene. And according to the ultrasound today, they'll both have a good amount of hair. hehe

Week 27, Day 3

2009-04-01T19:45:00.003-04:00

A number of things have happened since my Monday post. So much for a mundane week. hehe

Yesterday it was announced that J will be on furlough, or temporary layoff, for the month of May. Initially this may sound like a pretty bad thing but it's not. He'll be able to use his 2 weeks of vacation for part of it, plus I'm still getting a decent paycheck. We've also saved up for a rainy day, so financially we're doing just fine. We'll continue to be covered on our insurance, just like normal. On the bright side, J will be home to take care of me during my last few weeks of pregnancy and also have time to finish all of the baby to-do things. The only downside in my mind is that I wish he would be home the month after the babies were born instead.

Today I had a regular OB appointment. Before I went in, I did my hour of home monitoring. The result was a 6, over my threshold of 5, and pretty unusual for a morning reading. Those ones are normally 0-1's. The monitor people wanted me to retest but I didn't have time or I'd be late to the doctors. So instead she called the doctor so I could do my retest there. I drank about 30oz of water in the van on the way, hoping it was just another hydration issue. It wasn't. I was contracting every 3-4min. They checked my cervix and nothing had changed. Bacteria in my sample led them to believe that a UTI might be the cause of the contractions. In my rather large state, any little irritation can set them off.

So the doctor wrote me a script for an antibiotic and told me I had to go to the hospital to get the contractions stopped. This was not the news I wanted to hear. Luckily it was only going to be a day visit - no admitting. Unluckily it involved not one but two shots of turbuteline. Each one made me just as sick as the first one weeks ago. J got there in time to witness the ickiness that was the second shot. That seemed to do the trick, though, and stopped the contractions. I was allowed to go home. Yay!

I had a pretty lengthy talk with the head nurse while she was hooking me up to the monitors. What I'm going through is typical of a twin pregnancy. They start you out on the lowest, easiest to take meds first but over time your body starts resisting them. They then either step up the dose or switch you to another medication. In my case, I'm on the higher dose of procardia now. If I keep having to go back to the hospital, they'll consider sticking me on a turbuteline pump. Eventually I'll start resisting the pump and they'll have to "reset" my body with a magnesium sulfate treatment.

So at this point I'm hoping the UTI was the cause of my contractions, and not the failing of the procardia. Turbuteline makes me feel pretty terrible and magnesium is even worse. It's painful, makes me feel ill, and requires hospitalization. On the bright side, the home monitoring did what it was supposed to do, alert us that something unusual was going on. Also, the babies are still doing just fine. In fact, they swapped spots mid-monitoring and threw the nurses for a loop trying to track them down again. They'd get close enough with the device to get kicked, but then the babies would move a little more. hehe

Week 27

2009-03-30T23:31:00.003-04:00

Since I posted last, I've had mostly low contraction numbers, in the 0-3 range. J and I have figured out that I can handle brief outings to the grocery store and Target if I ride on an electric scooter. He needs to be there to reach things for me, though. This let me to finally update our baby registry, which was my plan to do the day I had to go into the hospital. hehe We also got some outdoor things for the kids at the baby shower. Who knew they made scented bubbles?

We had one minor hiccup last Thursday when I had a series of mildly painful contractions right in a row. I talked to the contractions monitor nurse and she said it was probably the babies going through a growth spurt. I've been more tired than normal, so that seemed pretty logical to me. They haven't come back since then.

Today at the MFS appointment the doctor said that both babies seemed to have gained a little fluid. He seemed to think that was a initial indicator that I'm eating too much sugar. Long term high sugar will lead to excess fluid and really large babies. He wants me to go on a protein, fat, and vegetable diet for now. My one treat a day is gone. No more juice or carbs that help with my acid reflux. J got a gleam in his eye, though, since now the ice cream bars in the freezer are all his. hehe

Both babies had a good check-up. They were feisty and had heartbeats in the 150's like normal. Baby A went back to his usual spot on my right side but opted for the head up position. I'm really, really glad to see him keeping up with his brother when it comes to moving around. He had me worried for a while.

So things are pretty much the same as last week, minus the removal of fun things to eat from my diet. I'm looking forward to the baby shower in a few weeks. The cats aren't much for conversation. hehe

Week 26

2009-03-23T21:07:00.004-04:00

It's still pretty early in the week but we had our MFS growth check-up today. Everything with the babies is looking really good. They are both 2lb 2oz, which puts them in the 60th percentile for weight. Yay for being above average, even for singletons!

Bladders, stomaches, and fluid all looked great. Baby B was in his "treehouse" and curled up under my ribs. Baby A actually switched sides. He's never moved from his spot before so we were pretty excited to see that. Both babies are starting to get chubby cheeks and behinds, making them look less like aliens.

The MFS seems to think that even if everything goes smoothly from here on out, we're probably looking at a 34-36wk delivery. It's even possible they could arrive as early as 30wks, but we're hoping that's not the case. My contractions have been under control enough that right now the doctor isn't pushing for me to get a terbutaline pump. It's a lot like a wearable insulin pump, but a different drug. This isn't something I really want to go through.

This week I hit the 30lb over prepregnancy mark. From here on out I'm supposed to gain 2lb per week to produce healthy babies. It's already maternity shirts or nothing, so I'm not sure how another 15-20lbs is going to look - probably bad. hehe

My cervix has stopped funneling but remains short at about 2cm. The ideal length is 4cm. While it will never be that long again, it's a good sign that it's stable. I go back in another week for a check-up.

Here are some cute chubby cheek pictures.

Week 25

2009-03-17T16:21:00.002-04:00

After all of the excitement from last week, I wanted to give a mini-update just so everyone would know that things are just about back to normal around here.

Thursday evening I started having contractions again. At my request they hooked up the IV again to be sure I was getting enough fluids. They also reattached me to not only the contraction monitor but also both baby ones for the night. For the record, this isn't a comfortable way to sleep. They also gave me a relaxer/sleep medication. I pretty much looked like roadkill (mouth open, tongue hanging out) until about 5am when it wore off. hehe

By Friday morning the contractions had nearly stopped so they let me go home. J and I got some lunch on the way and I took a few hour nap once I said hello to the kitties. The at-home monitor and the nurse to show us how to use it arrived later in the evening.

Basically twice a day for an hour I strap myself to this little box. It records whatever it is that's going on, then we transmit it to the monitoring company. Within about 15-20min of getting my data, they give us a call with the results. If I have 5 contractions or more they will ask me to retest. If the second test is also at or over 5 contractions, they will call my doctor. I also have to measure my bloodpressure and pulse once a day.

Friday night they called to report "a lot" of contractions, apparently to the point that they stopped counting. I was instructed to drink as much water as I could for 20 min then retest. I barely passed with a 4 the second time. Saturday went much the same way with one retest after a 7. It seemed like if I chugged enough water before the test I could score a 4 and squeak by.

Barely beating the monitor during 2 random hours during the day doesn't seem like a good system to ensure healthy babies long-term, though. So when they called with my results Sunday morning (another 4 after downing about 1.5 liters of water), I asked them how much I should be drinking ALL of the time. She recommended 10oz every hour from when I get up until I go to bed. If I take a nap during the day, I needed to make-up the amount I missed.

So I started drinking that much Sunday afternoon. Sunday night's reading was a 3. Monday was two 1's. This morning I had a 0. I was so excited I called J at work with the news. This doesn't mean that I won't end up with contractions again, but at least now we feel like there's something we can do about them.

I had a normal check-up with the MFS on Monday. Both babies have been kicking me a ton since I got home and you could see their feet aiming for the ultrasound probe. There was one cute moment when they had their heads together, probably planning their next assult on my ribs. Their bubbles looked really good and for the first time the membrane between them was moving with the babies, instead of pulled taunt around Baby A's area. Bladders and stomaches were all full and looking good.

My cervix hasn't changed since before the fluid reduction. It's not as long as it used to be, but it's hanging in there. Next week the boys will get their growth measured again. Those are my favorite appointments.

It's taken me a few days to either get over whatever meds I had at the hospital or adjust to the higher dosage of procardia they have me on. One of the side effects of the procarida is lower blood pressure. Unfortunately this means my pulse has to increase to make up for it, and that makes me feel kind of out of it. Today is the first day that I've began to feel normal and able to concentrate on more than the tv.

I felt kind of down over the weekend with the high contraction numbers but now I'm feeling pretty opimistic again. We still have a long way to go before these babies are done cooking and I'm hopeful we can make it.

Week 24, Day 3-4

2009-03-12T09:16:00.002-04:00

Well, things are looking pretty positive at this point. I only had 1 contraction all night. The rest are just random irritation. My MFS came in first thing and took the belly strap off. I'll only need to be monitored periodically with it. Baby A immediately stretched out and kicked me in the ribs. Baby B also got fired up and has been poking around.

Later today once my last dosage of antibiotics is done, I'll be leaving the IV behind. I've also been "ordered" to take a shower. hehe No complaints there! So by this afternoon I should resemble any number of humans you might pass on the street. Yay!

The plan is still for me to stay another night for observation, I guess under normal habitat conditions. If I can behave, I'll be released on Friday with a follow-up visit to the MFS on Monday. The MFS will come back by tomorrow, I assume to check on me and give me any additional restrictions I should follow. I would be kind of surprised if there wasn't some sort of at least partial bedrest condition. The contractions have stopped but I'm not sure if the funneling has eased up due to less fluid or not.

There is a possibility that the excess fluid will return around Baby A. If/when that happens, I'm not sure what the procedure would be. It depends on what problems it causes and how far along the babies are at the time.

But right now they seem happy stretching, kicking me in the ribs, and generally goofing off in there.

Week 24, Day 2

2009-03-11T08:23:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was a pretty busy one. I spent the night on magnesium, which helped reduce the intensity of the contractions but didn't seem to slow them much. Around 10am my MFS came in to check on me. There really wasn't anything else to try except doing a fluid reduction from Baby A's bubble.

They started prepping me for the procedure around noon. They gave me a medication to help speed up the babies' heart valve development (for the same reason as the steroid shot earlier). I also got a dose of pain killer and a local numbing agent applied to the injection site.

There are two main concerns when doing a fluid reduction - the bubble bursting or the placenta separating from the uterus wall. We had neither occur. Yay! Everything went really smoothly and about 1 liter of fluid was removed, making Baby A's bubble a normal size. Both babies are just as squirmy as before and have good heart rates.

For me, the pain killer was really strong, on top of the fuzziness I feel from the magnesium. I was awake for the procedure but couldn't keep my eyes open. I felt like I was drunk. Everything that people said made sense to me but what I tried to say came out kind of garbled. The first needle was too short but the second needle worked well. It felt like a normal needle pinch, nothing more.

What's left is a bit of a bruise that I can only feel when I'm moving around. The contractions dropped off sharply from about 1 every 10min to 1 every 30min-1hr. The plan as it stands right now is to wean me off the magnesium and back onto the pills I was taking before. If everything goes well I should be released on Friday.

Week 24 Day 1

2009-03-10T01:38:00.003-04:00

I wanted to post a semi-quick update.

I went in for my normal MFS check-up this morning. My sister was in town so she went with me instead of J. After all, it was just another in a long line of "stable" appointments. First the good news: Baby B has more fluid this week than previously. This couldn't be better for him and really makes us happy. Also, their heartbeats continue to be strong and they're not shy about moving around in there.

The not so great discovery is that I've started funneling, meaning my cervix has gotten shorter from the inside. I am not dilated, though, so the exit is still blocked. They also found that I'm still having "irritable" contractions despite the medicine I've been taking. The only option was for me to go to the hospital so they could be stopped.

I checked in around lunch time. They put me on an IV and gave me a dosage of the same medicine I had been taking. They took the edge off the contractions but didn't stop them completely. They also gave me a steroid shot to help improve the babies' lungs should they need to be delivered. Don't let this last part worry you. It's one of those things that they do as a precaution since it takes at least 24hrs for the steroid to be effective. It's not something they could do in an emergency later.

Around 10pm they called the OB on call for further instructions. He ordered some additional testing and for them to start a magnesium sulfate treatment. This was the second stage at stopping the contractions. The side effects didn't sound that bad, but I could tell J was worrying about me. The look he gets on his face... That's worse than anything the nurse could do.

The first 30 min of the treatment was not pleasant, but I tried to keep a smile on my face. I think it helped me as much as it helped J since it gave me something to think about besides the pain in my arm. Over all it hasn't been as bad as the stuff the MS gave me a few weeks ago.

So it's 2am and the nurse is going to slip me some sleeping meds if I don't at least lay down. I won't be going home until Wednesday at the earliest since the magnesium treatment takes 24hrs to complete. On the bright side, an IV is far easier than the bottles of water I've been having to drink at home.

Week 23

2009-03-06T11:41:00.003-05:00

Today it's been a month since the last time I went into work. I had a dream the other night that I was allowed to go in for one day and I messed everything up. hehe

This week it snowed. My MFS appointment was on Tuesday but they were still trying to catch back up from Monday's cancellations. This meant our appointment happened in record time. Everything looks good. Baby A is 1lb 7oz and Baby B is 1lb 6oz. This puts them above average on weight. Heartbeats were still in the 155-160's and they were just as squirmy as normal.

My cervix is closed up tight. I'm at almost 26lbs over my prepregnancy weight. My belly has been doing a lot of stretching, with a couple of sore days this week. Within the next month the boys will experience a growth spurt. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.

At the regular OB's office, they ran their normal tests. My iron looks good but my sugar and protein were high. For the sugar, it was probably the rootbeer I had with lunch. The last vice I have is gone. It's only water, milk, and juice for me now.

The doctor thinks the protein might be an indicator of a bladder infection. Apparently one of these while you're pregnant is typical and doesn't have the same symptoms as a normal one. I feel fine and can't tell the difference. I'm supposed to go back in next week for a follow-up.

Next week is a big milestone for the boys. It's when they become officially viable, meaning that if something were to happen, they could be born and have a chance to survive. For me, this means I'm going to be put on a home monitor for contractions. I'm still taking medication to stop them but I think they're just being extra cautious.

We had our first 2 Multiples classes this week at Greenville Hospital. They pretty much take you through the whole pregnancy and birth process as it relates to having two babies. There are 2 other couples in the class and it's boys all around. hehe Last night we watched a video of 3 different women going through 100% natural labor and birth. J grabbed my hand in the middle of it and we gave each other the "uh, I think a c-section looks mighty good about now" look. hehe

I think J is leaning back towards wanting to have the babies at Greenville Hospital. We haven't officially signed up at either one, so it's not a problem if we change our minds. He feels like the quality of people might be better, even if the rooms are small. I'm sure the built-in Chik-Fil-A and Starbucks aren't hurting his opinion of the place, either. I think either location would work fine.

There weren't too many pictures of the boys this week. Here's the best one, of Baby B resting his head against Baby A.

Week 22

2009-03-02T11:47:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the late post. My mom was in town last week. Plus it was pretty quiet on the baby front.

Monday I had my follow-up MFS appointment. After the previous week's good times, I was expecting the worse (in terms of the poking and proding). Luckily things were quick and relatively painless. The boys have good heartbeats and I'm still locked up tight. Baby A still prefers to huddle down at the bottom, headbutting the exit whenever possible. This leaves a huge empty area that Baby B would love to have access to.

At this point it's just a waiting game. As long as neither baby is in distress, the doctor is going to put off doing the amnio fluid reduction. I'm showing no signs of prelabor due to the extra pressure, so that's a good thing, too.

This week I'm at 23lbs over my prepregnancy weight, and exactly where I should be on that front. Both boys are late night kickers. They are pretty quiet during the day but come about 11pm, the rolling and double kicking begins. They're getting feisty compared to only a week ago and I can feel Baby A a lot more.

We took a CPR class at St. Francis. We thought it was going to be kind of boring but the program was really good. It covered adult, child, and infant CPR, plus choking strategies. Another girl was there that was due about the same time as me and she was barely showing. I was jealoous. hehe