Twin Love

Twins = Double the Love

These are the sweetest videos in existence :)

Matthew on the left, Adam on the right; showing Daddy some love:

Matthew showing Adam some love:

16 Months - What the Kids are Doing Now

I think we may be getting to the age where having twins, in SOME ways, is easier than having singletons two years apart or so. If I just had one right now, I would definitely be wanting to get pregnant to give my child a playmate, but Adam & Matthew already have each other, and they don't have to wait for a new baby to get old enough to play with them. Of course they are still fighting with each other and stealing. But no more biting (at least none that I haven't been able to stop).

Here are some adorable things the kiddos are doing:

• I have been playing "peek a boo" with them with the shower curtain for a while (which
they love), but now they are playing back. They will pull the curtain back and say "ahhh" and they laugh like crazy when I pretend to be scared.
• During bath time they also love to play with the water coming out of the faucet!
  

• Finding random places to sit, and then carefully backing up and sitting down.(Our laps, steps, random objects, etc.) Very cute!
  (Matthew on left, Adam on right)
  
  
• In the mornings and after their nap, the boys are usually very content to just entertain each other until I come and get them. I try to sneak in quietly to watch them, but as soon as I open the door, they go from looking at each other between the bars of their cribs, to turning/walking towards me with the biggest smiles on their faces.
  (Adam in front, Matthew in back)

• At bed time (not always nap time), when I pick them up to cuddle before putting them in their cribs for the night, both boys now point to their cribs, then themselves, then their cribs, and repeat until I put them in. They are ready for their rest!
• They are saying "uh oh" every time they drop something, which, coincidentally, is quite
  often these days!
• They are (still) reading books to themselves using a made up language :)
• They are more in tune to each other's cries. If I put one twin in time out, his brother will go up to the closed door, and look at me with a very concerned look. Also if one gets hurt, it can make the other twin cry too. (Or if they think an adult has gotten hurt.)
• They can identify their nose, ears, and feet. Also they can be sent on little errands like, "Adam, go bring me your shoes." Love putting them to work :)
• Occasionally they do something so similarly it is crazy. They other day I had to get one of our cats out of their room during their nap, and I went in, and they were both sleeping in almost they exact position (different cribs).

(Matthew)

(Adam.. please ignore the different colored socks. I was very tired, the laundry was in the dryer and his feet were cold. So of course they chose this moment to do something cute! :P)

Coming up in my next few blogs.... how my boys are doing without breastfeeding, and how they are doing at the Kid Zone in the YMCA while I work out (I spy on them to see who they are playing with before I pick them up :P)

Stay tuned....

Day 2

We are on day two of no breastfeeding. I guess this means the boys are "weaned," but I hesitate to use that word in case I just cave and start breastfeeding again. Also my body hasn't completely gotten the message, so I still have a little milk. So maybe in another week or so I will actually say my boys are "weaned." :)

I am surprised by how sad I am that this chapter of parenting my twins is over. The boys were definitely ready to be done, they were only nursing once a day, right before bedtime, and those sessions were only a few minutes long before the boys got distracted and wanted down. They didn't even notice when I took away that last session, they were perfectly content with their sippy cups of milk and their bed time stories.

But I'm not sure Momma was quite so ready. It makes my heart ache thinking how they are not babies anymore, and they don't NEED me at quite the same level.

I told Alan I may just have to nurse them in the morning, and he just signed and rolled his eyes at me :)

Here are the boys and me at Fossil Rim yesterday... such big guys. (Adam on the left, Matthew on the right.)



Final Breastfeeding Count: 16 Months, 0 Days

Why I Don't Think "Cry It Out" is Completely Evil

I just read an anti-"cry-it-out" article, so made me want to post a few thoughts.

I actually have a lot of thoughts on this subject, and I do hate letting my kids cry, but...

One of the boys woke up from his afternoon nap early today, after about an hour, when they usually sleep at LEAST 2-3. (They are down to just one nap.) As he was crying was actually when I read the article, so I was feeling guilty that he was crying.

However, I could tell from his cry that he wasn't in pain, and that he was still tired. When my kids have gotten enough sleep, they wake up happy, and bouncing in their cribs. I also know from experience that once I go in their room, nap time is over. They bounce up with a huge smile on their face (usually also waking up peacefully sleeping brother), and both promptly forget about being sleepy. If they would go back to sleep after I comfort them, that would be my first choice. But it just doesn't happen, and then we all pay for it for the rest of the afternoon with fussiness and tantrums. And whining. Fussiness/tantrums/whining = avoid at ALL costs!

So I let him cry (I think it was Adam, but we don't have a video monitor), and he cried/whined for about 25 minutes (usually they only wake up for about 10, and go back to sleep). I took a

shower after about 15 minutes, and told myself if he was still crying when I got out I would go get him. But guess what? They are both now sleeping peacefully, and we will all be happier this afternoon.

And that is why Crying-it-out is not completely evil. It's all about learning YOUR kiddo, and what works best for him (or her :P).

Here are the little cuties getting ready for bed two nights ago:

Biting

T0day while I was getting the boys ready to take their bath, I noticed a bite mark on Adam's back AND on his arm :( Both bite marks had cut through the skin.

Poor Adam.

Or that was my first thought. Then I remembered how much he loves to steal his brother's toys, and it seems Matthew has found a defense against this.

In fact as I was reading them their bedtime stories, Adam tried to steal a book from Matthew, and Matthew acted like he was going to bite him. So, Adam put up a hand to defend himself, and I broke them up before it could escalate.

We think Matthew may have bitten Adam while they were playing in the play room by themselves, because neither me nor Alan saw the actual bite.

I am reading a book that says biting can happen when a child is over-socialized and frustrated. Does it count as over-socialization to have your identical twin (with very similar wants and needs) trailing you everywhere, and wanting your toys? The book suggests a different environment, but I don't see me separating the boys in the house. I think I will just have to be more proactive about not allowing stealing or biting.

So to sum it up we have:

1. A biting problem (Matthew)

2. A stealing problem (Adam)

3. A discipline problem. We need to nip this in the bud!!

Nice Morning

(This pic was not taken this morning, but is the most recent pic I have of the boys. Taken this weekend with their Granny Bee. (Matthew in blue, Adam in red.)

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There are some days that are everything you always imagined Motherhood would be.

Yep this morning was one of those day.

Which probably means this afternoon will not be. But that's ok. I am going to enjoy it for now.

Here are some highlights from this morning with my boys:

• Slept in until 8 (That one is important)
• They played with my hair and my face while they nursed
• I made them home made playdoh and showed them how to mold it and press imprints into it in their highchairs. They proceeded to try every method of eating it, peeling a piece off and eating it, grabbing a whole ball of it and biting into it. Every time they would shudder and spit it out. (Very salty stuff). Eventually they actually played with it (for about 2 minutes) before doing the "all done" sign. Sigh, I don't think they are at the age for playdoh yet. But the upside is it made me feel like a real mom ;)
• Me and Adam played the game where he opens the door, pokes his head out, and tries to scare me. A few times I pretended he knocked me down with the door. The last time I was laying on the floor, and Adam walked over to me, sat on my stomach, and then laid on me and gave me a big hug. It was so precious.
• During story time, both boys were sitting on my lap. I was reading "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" (a favorite) and both boys would bump their heads with their hands as I was reading "one fell off and bumped his head". (I have been bumping their heads myself for a few weeks while I read this, but now they have taken over, haha)
• I can ask "where's you nose/ears/foot" and the boys point correctly to them. (Actually a few days ago, we asked Adam where his nose was and he just stared at us, so Matthew pointed to Adam's nose for him.)
• I ask "Give mommy a kiss" and both boys will kiss my cheek, and then pull their lips away very dramatically with a big "mwah" sound. (That's how I kiss them, so I guess that's where they learned it. Or maybe daddy taught them, because they did it to him first. So sweet!)
• I skipped nursing them before nap time and they were okay. Yay! (My goal is to get down to 2 times a day (morning and night). Then drop the morning nursing, and just do the night feed until we are all tired of nursing. They seem to love their cup of milk almost as much, so I think we will be okay.