Year 1, Week 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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