Cute Things My Kids Do

• When Adam is done nursing before bedtime, he often rolls right off the nursing pillow, flipping onto his tummy on the way down, and falls asleep right there on the futon. He did this tonight tonight, and I couldn't help chuckling :)
• At mealtimes now, I am being offered chunks of food from two little babies at the same time. Both are smiling, just waiting for me to take a bite of their food. But which one to choose first??
• Love when I am sitting, and one of the boys crawls over to me and positions himself so he is on my lap & cuddling me ::)
• Matthew imitates my fake high pitched "scream". Yeah, I taught him to scream like a girl.. but he is the cutest little man with his high pitched squeal :)
• When I am cooling off some food for the boys by blowing on it, both kids are also trying as hard as they can to cool off the air in front of them :) It is sooo cute.

In other news:

• Adam just got over nearly a week of feeling crummy. He already had a cold, but then he got his 1 year shots & got a fever for 2.5 days. Then he recovered from his fever, but developed a rash that lasted a few days. :( The fever he gets after all his shots (but usually just for 12-24 hrs), but the rash was from the MMR shot we feel. He felt better about a day after the rash disappeared. This was the first time he's really been sick, and it was tough. could not put him down, he was a permanent hip attachment Matthew proceeded to destroy the house, he felt a little too good :)
• Now that everyone is recovered, I have found myself amazed during the times when both of them play on the floor without needing much from me. It has made me much more appreciative of their good behavior when it happens :)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Adam!

I can't believe you have gone from this:

5 lbs even at the hospital. Mommy could not believe how tiny you were:
To this: (you are on the right) - 20 lbs 10 ozs

We love you so much! You are our firstborn by 2 minutes, but you don't hold that over your brother's head. You are very sweet and sensitive; you love being held, especially by Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Grandaddy or your Granny Bee.

I secretly think your favorite person in the whole world is your Grandpa. I think you may even like him more than Mommy, probably because he gives you his undivided attention when he comes over! I liked Grandpa a lot growing up too, so I don't blame you!
Your career high number of steps on your first birthday was 5 in a row. You love standing up in the middle of the room and smiling really big. We are just as proud of you! Full fledged walking is not far away!

You love "talking," "reading" books (you love turning those pages and babbling!), eating (you almost always eat more than your brother), giving us big kisses, blowing raspberries on our arms and stomachs, crawling with a toy in your mouth and sharing your food with Mommy & Daddy. Just today you were chewing a piece of bread, and you looked at me, took it out of your mouth, and very generously handed it to me! :) Most of all, you love cuddles and hugs with your parents and grandparents.

We love you so much. Happy First Brithday!

---

Happy Birthday Matthew!

You have come so far in the past year, it has been amazing to watch. From a little guy at the hospital:

5 lbs 3 oz:To this happy little guy: 20 lbs 6.5 ozsYou are our youngest by 2 minutes, but you didn't come in to the world like most babies. Someday Mommy is going to tell you how you were born a special way, being pulled out by your feet by the doctor. I think it's a cool story, but you may not :)

You are a very outgoing and flirty baby. You are ready to give a smile to most people, especially the ladies!

Your career high number of steps at your birthday was also 5. Since then you have started taking more, and your new high today is 13. Full fledged walking is around the corner!

You love to climb, stand in the middle of the room, flirt, make kissing noises at your parents and grandparents, share your food with Mommy (and laugh when when she takes a bite), "talk," "read" books to yourself, and get your back massaged by Mommy.

We love you very much!

Adam & Matthew:

We love seeing the two of you interact together. You can make each other laugh, but also make each other cry. We hope to teach you two to share so you will be best friends growing up. Here is the two of you on your birthday at Chuck E Cheese:

Here is your approximate "one-nap" schedule at 1 Year: (Sometimes you still take 2 naps though, and go to bed later.)

7:30am - Nurse

8:00am - Breakfast

8:30am - Park/Play

11:00am - Snack

11:30am - Nap

2:00pm - Nurse

2:30pm - Lunch

3:00pm - Play

5:30pm - Dinner

6:30pm - Play

7:30pm - Nurse/Bedtime

Happy 1 Year!!

Adam & Matthew are 1!

Adam & Matthew have come so far in the last year. I can't believe how much they've grown! I will post more later. This is a picture video of their first year. (Some of the time stamps are a little off, but I got tired of messing with it ;) )

Identical Differences

People ask me all the time how I am able to tell my boys apart.

I can't imagine why they think this would be an issue ;)

But there are have been times I have had to pause and look, and even some instances when I have gotten it wrong. I feel horrible when I get it wrong. At the same time, their genes are the same, so when they have a difference, I wonder why. But I am very grateful for those differences.

I do believe each has their own "look," but that is hard to put in to words.

One definite difference is Adam's face is fuller & wider, while Matthew's is longer and slimmer. Another difference is Adam has a birthmark on his upper right thigh, Matthew does not.

Their unchanging, proven difference though, is on their right ears.

Adam's Ear

Matthew's ear.

Notice Matthew's "point" on the helix of his ear, where Adam's helix is just smooth.

I researched this difference for this post, because I didn't know what to call this "point". Apparently it is called a Darwin's tubercle because Darwin first discovered/named it. Apparently there is a dominant gene for this feature, and it occurs in 10% of the population.

Wait. A dominant gene, but my two identical boys don't have the same feature??

Well, apparently this gene has "incomplete penetrance" meaning "those who possess the gene will not necessarily possess the ear tubercle." (All quoted from Wikipedia.) Case in point, my two identical boys with different ears.

Interesting, no?

Poopgate the Trilogy

The Original

One Monday morning, I awoke to the sounds of Adam & Matthew "talking" to each other & playing in their cribs. This is how I wake up most mornings, and since they sound pretty happy most of the time, I tend to squeeze in 10-15 minutes more of lazy time/cuddle time before going in to their room.

Alan had watched them on Sunday for the first time while I worked, and he had even put them to bed before I got home, so he was excited for me to see the babies again. And no doubt to tell him what a fabulous job he did, since the babies were still happy, breathing, etc. He used formula before before putting the babies to bed since I was out of breast milk in the freezer. He had actually gone to the store & bought some because the babies were acting so tired. He had given them 8 oz each, since they had sucked down their 6 oz of breast milk all day.

Back to Monday morning, 10-15 min later I got out of bed & went toward the nursery. With Alan following me, ready for his praise. "You haven't seen them for over a day!" he said. "I put them to bed before you got home!" he exclaimed proudly, "Do you miss them?" We opened the door together, and just looked in horror for a minute.

Poop.

Poop everywhere! In both cribs, on the rails, on Adam & Matthew's hands, their bodies, their faces. Most disturbingly, right by their lips. And Matthew was smacking his lips like he had just finished Thanksgiving dinner.

Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.

"How could it be this bad?" Alan asked.

"I don't think it was just the formula." I said, "It was the amount of formula." My "girls" may have grown, but they have never had 8 oz of milk in them, ever, I can almost guarantee that.

Alan helped me put the boys in the tub, then just about danced out the door for work (it was time for him to go), leaving both cribs for me to clean.

Later chat between me & Alan:

July 18

9:36 AM Alan: were you able to combat poopgate?

20 minutes

9:56 AM me: haha

the battle of poopgate is complete.. the war for the nap is about to begin..

;)

9:58 AM but yeah I wiped off all the bars and everything

9:59 AM the sheets are currently drying

10:00 AM Alan: cool

and lucy didn't try to spread the madness?

10:01 AM me: nope the door was closed

And so the term "poopgate" was coined. (Lucy is one of our cats)

Poopgate the Sequel:

After naptime, I thought I heard the babies wake up, but then no noise for about 30 minutes. 30 minutes! I assumed they had gone back to sleep. When I heard another noise 30 minutes later, I went in to their room to find:

Poop.

Poop everywhere!

Adam's diaper was off, and both boys were playing in the poop. I think I saw some lips smacking. I refused to think that this could have possibly been going on for 30 minutes. (We really need a video monitor.)

Later email from Krystal to Alan:

July 21

Poopgate the sequel just occurred, even more exciting than the original.

Poopgate 3

That would be this morning. The monitor was turned down so low, I didn't hear the babies wake up. (Who turned it down will remain nameless.) When I woke up at 7:30am, I looked at the monitor, and the red lights were indicating noise, but I heard nothing.

Uh oh.

I turned it up, and the boys weren't happily playing, they were crying. I rushed to their room to find...

Poop!

Poop everywhere!!

(surprised??)

Only in Adam's crib, but his diaper was off, and there was no poop IN his diaper, but there was plenty on the sheets, on the rails, on Adam's fingers & face. Into the bath he went.

Later chat between me & Alan:

Aug 8

Alan: were you able to clear out poopgate 3?

Sent at 10:06 AM on Monday

me: yep

not pretty at all

the diaper actually had no poop in it at all

Sent at 10:38 AM on Monday

Alan: lol

Sent at 10:44 AM on Monday

me: lol

I am actually writing a blog now about the poopgate trilogy

Sent at 10:49 AM on Monday

Alan: possible quadrilogy?

I would like to think not, but probably much, much more to come...

3 Handsome Boys

Love this pic in front of our newly bloomed sunflowers this morning. (This time both sunflowers are bloomed, and everyone is wearing clothes (although Matthew is trying to remedy that ;) )

You Should Read this Book if you Have Multipes, or Multiple Little Ones.

This morning around 9am we received a package from Amazon containing the book Loving the Little Years, Motherhood in the Trenches.

By 4pm I was d.o.n.e. It was that fantastic. Also it was a short, the author does have 5 kids under 5 after all! Including one set of twins.

In a nutshell, it is a candid book full of honest and often funny examples about the challenges of raising multiple little ones at the same time, and she gives great, practical teaching tools for little

ones and ways for Momma to cope with the intensity of it all.

I love this book because it constantly reminds you that your children are your priority (after your husband), not your house, not your perfectly clean floor. Not that I don't care about those things, but when I have swept for the 5th time, and mopped for the 2nd time that day, and the floor gets messy again, I need someone to tell me it's ok, just play with your kids for a minute :) Basically exactly what I need to hear at this stage of my life.

I love this book because it orients you towards seeing raising kids as a spiritual calling, that we are sacrificing our time, our bodies and our restful nights (especially at the beginning!) to bring up these little people. There is no higher calling than laying down one's life for another.

-----------

Here are a few of my favorite quotes (I admit I read this book with a highlighter in my hand):

"The state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender."

"We tell our girls that their feelings are like horses[...] But they are the riders [...] The goal is not to cripple the horse, but equip the rider."

(This quote is great for those that have strong willed kids.)

"...lying down and whimpering about the tasks does not get them done. It makes them harder, slower, and more difficult in every way."

(Yep, gotta admit that has been me)

"Sacrifice your peace for their fun, your clean kitchen floor for their help cracking eggs, your

quiet moment for their long retelling of a dream that a friend of theirs allegedly had. Prioritize your children far and away above the other work you need to get doen. They are the only part of your work that really matters."

(This one made me cry. I'm a softy)

"Our essential self is not back in the intro, waiting to be rediscovered. Who you are is where you are."

"Imagine yourself as one of your children. Try to really examine what life for them is like"

"You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you."

-----------

The book really inspired and encouraged me. I recommend it to all moms of one or more little ones!

My 3 boys ;) :

We are at 35 days of 100 + degree temps, so my (little) boys can often be found wearing just their diapers :)

Sharing

To share or not... it seems to be a perpetual inner battle, a recurring question my two 11 month old sons struggle to answer. To share or not to share?

More often than not, the answer is the latter. Especially if the object in question is a bright new toy. Such as their toy airplane, that only one child can (safely) push at one time. It wouldn't matter if we had two, because they would indefinitely go after their brother's toy. So we have to place one child (Matthew,below, being pushed by Adam) on the passenger seat:

Food is no better. If I give one child a bite of watermelon, his brother will soon be upon me:

If I hear a random scream when the kids are seemingly playing together happily, it is often because both boys were pushing around this toy (below), Adam tripped & fell, and Matthew kept going, somehow mowing over Adam in the process. Adam will either be underneath the toy, or crawling after is as fast and furiously as his four little limbs will move him.
This evening, though, was different. As I was putting the boys to bed, I gave Matthew his sippy cup, which Adam promptly swiped and took for himself. Nonplussed, I just gave Matthew the other sippy cup, which Adam swiftly stole as well. Sighing, I took the first sippy cup that Adam had discarded and gave that cup to Matthew. Quickly, Adam took that cup as well! This went on 5-10 times.

I felt sure a breakdown from Matthew was imminent, but he soon began laughing, and actually offering his cup to Adam, which of course Adam took, and I would give the other cup to Matthew. At this point, both boys were laughing (no doubt thinking this was a game).

And then, the unthinkable happened.

Adam (having both sippy cups) offered one to Matthew to drink from.

!!

Matthew drank from the outstretched cup, and then both boys were laughing again. And so was Mommy. So then, Adam offered the cup for me to drink from as well.

Ahhhh, I am just going to let that sweet moment sink in, to prepare me for future challenges :)