Month 9, Week 3 & 4

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

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

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