am I the only one who has this model of baby? If I had known there was an option for the "sleeping baby" model, I would have ordered it. I certainly would not have ordered TWO of the non-sleeping model.
They are 9 months old. I feel like they should be able to sleep more than 4 or 5 hours at a time. They eat three decent sized meals of solid foods and nurse 4-5 times a day. They have a nightly ritual with baths and pjs and nursing that's been going on for months.
So why did bedtime begin at 7:15pm and end now-ish at 8:45? It's not even really fully over as I can still hear someone periodically shriek from the crib.
I have dear dr. ferber's book and the man would probably be a genius had I had only one baby. even one of the non-sleeping models. But I simply cannot let one baby cry for several hours while the other one is inches away. It gets on her (the other baby's) nerves. And by that I mean, causes her to join in the cacauphony of screams. Which makes me want to run away. literally. I feel like a terrible mother as I am at the point where the crying doesn't make me feel bad, it just annoys me.
I can't move them out of my bedroom since the other bedrooms in the house are upstairs and there is no way on god's green earth that I am going to be dragging my fat ass up the stairs 4 and 5 times a night. I don't even want to do it once a day. There are weeks where I don't venture to that floor of the house at all :)
So I'm tired. and I have no quality of life as I live in fear of bedtime. The whole day could be great with laughs and giggles and fun and when 6:00 rolls around I go into a mild panic about how to get them to go to sleep and leave me alone. so I can have 5 minutes to myself. until petey parks himself on my lap.
Apparently I'm not allowed to have no one touching me.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Sleep, glorious sleep
we are starting sleep training and night weaning. pray for us. or fear for us.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Big Girls Don't Cry
Babies who look cute for Easter DO NOT like having their pictures taken:
In case you wanted to guess, C is on the left and yes, she has gel in her hair as she woke up looking like a rooster. or stegasaurus. Z is on the right and is apparently annoyed that the photo shoot is taking so long. I told her to talk to her sister.
In case you wanted to guess, C is on the left and yes, she has gel in her hair as she woke up looking like a rooster. or stegasaurus. Z is on the right and is apparently annoyed that the photo shoot is taking so long. I told her to talk to her sister. Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Break-out Babies
Tell me this doesn't look like they've just recently escaped...
Or that C is trying to steal Z's toy. 'Cause that NEVER happens here...
Or that C is trying to steal Z's toy. 'Cause that NEVER happens here...
Monday, March 03, 2008
So Long...
My grandfather passed away yesterday morning. To say we will miss him is an understatement.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Pretty pretty Princesses!!!!
I know everyone with boys is jealous now! I also challenge anyone who says they "always know" to tell me which baby is which. Just try :)
Sunday, February 24, 2008
update
We went to visit my grandfather yesterday. He has made a somewhat miraculous recovery and they are talking about sending him directly home, not even to a step-down rehab center. We are not really sure what happened. Even the doctors are shocked. I'll just say thanks again.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Can't sleep
sleep is never a problem for me. I can sleep anywhere. When H and I first met he played on a dart league and I used to go and sleep in a booth in the bars while they played. I've slept through babies screaming and through major construction.
Tonight I can't sleep.
My grandfather is dying. Not in the "we're all going to die; he's 90, etc" sense, but in the very real sense of dying. Minute by minute. His kidneys are no longer functioning, his heart is failing and he's had at least one stroke. Second by second his life is ending. I can't sleep through it.
My grandfather is a patriarch in the true sense of the word. If it weren't for him, my entire extended family would have parted ways long ago. He had four children and four wives. I'm not sure who caused more trouble. His investments helped me buy my house and take 6 months off with my babies. He paid for my room and board my first year at college to make sure I went away to school. He bought me my first car. and my second. He bought me my first diamond earrings and ring. He never missed my birthday, although sometimes he'd remember in October. He had a fantastic garden and grew the biggest squash in westchester county. He would always stop for a hotdog and as late as last year bought me ice cream cones whenever I drove him to the doctor. He basically built my mother's house and just a few years ago, she came home to find him underneath her kitchen sink, fixing the drain. He was 86 and was tightening the pipes by hand. That year he also built her a pool deck.
He told great stories about his younger days. Most of them involved him getting arrested or beating someone up. A few months ago he lamented to H that he could no longer make a good fist, so how on earth was he going to punch anyone. We didn't mess with him. He once pulled the phone out of the wall while my mother was on it. She was a teenager and she talked too much. She still does. He kept us all in line. One year at Christmas my aunt complained that she should get a larger gift since she was the oldest. My mother threw a fit and didn't speak to her sister the entire year. The next Christmas, he gave everyone their gifts and told my aunt hers was more since she was the oldest. She got an extra dollar.
He taught us all how to behave and how to be respectful. You didn't enter without personally greeting him or leave without saying goodbye. He danced at my wedding and complained that I couldn't keep up. He stuck around to see the babies. Actually, we blame him for them being twins. When we told the family last Christmas that I was pregnant, he said, "Good, it should be twins. It's time for more twins in this family". I told him that was a terrible thing to wish on someone. Three weeks later, I had an ultrasound with an extra baby. He thought it was very funny. When the babies were born and they were in the NICU, he made my mother drive him the hour to see them. When they got to the hospital, she offered him a wheelchair since the NICU was in the back of the building and not an easy walk. He made it in on his own two feet and held both babies for almost an hour. We gave him a picture of him holding the two tiny bundles and it's sitting on the table next to his recliner where he spends most of his time these days. He told my aunt that they keep him awake at night; he can hear them crying. So for Christmas this year I gave him a picture of them laughing. It's sitting right next to the first one.
When he dies, there will be a lot of blame being passed around and I'm sure my mother and her siblings will come to blows about who should have done what to help him. But I know he lived a hard life and he's tired. He's been too tired to fight for a year or so now. I don't want him to go. I feel like there are so many things that I want to ask about his life. Stories that no one else will know now. He was the youngest of 10 children. His father came from Italy and carried an anvil in his arms up the train out of the city to start the iron works. His mother was the sister of his father's first wife and she came over to raise her sister's children when she was ill. She married her brother-in-law and had a baby 6 months after her sister's last child. No one talked about it. There was a set of fraternal twins, but I don't know which sister's children they were and I don't remember if they were girls or boys. I wish I could go to the hospital tomorrow with a notebook and write everything down. But it's too late. And I feel guilty that I haven't seen him since Christmas. I feel that I should have done more. Mostly I feel like I ran out of time. There couldn't be enough time to thank him for everything he's done for me. If it weren't for him, I might not have gone to college, I wouldn't have bought this house and I most likely wouldn't have had twins. If I tried to thank him, he'd just shrug it off anyway. As far as he's concerned, that's what you do for your family.
So in honor of my grandfather and his last few days here with us, here are some photos of the man who taught me what family was:
Thank you.
Tonight I can't sleep.
My grandfather is dying. Not in the "we're all going to die; he's 90, etc" sense, but in the very real sense of dying. Minute by minute. His kidneys are no longer functioning, his heart is failing and he's had at least one stroke. Second by second his life is ending. I can't sleep through it.
My grandfather is a patriarch in the true sense of the word. If it weren't for him, my entire extended family would have parted ways long ago. He had four children and four wives. I'm not sure who caused more trouble. His investments helped me buy my house and take 6 months off with my babies. He paid for my room and board my first year at college to make sure I went away to school. He bought me my first car. and my second. He bought me my first diamond earrings and ring. He never missed my birthday, although sometimes he'd remember in October. He had a fantastic garden and grew the biggest squash in westchester county. He would always stop for a hotdog and as late as last year bought me ice cream cones whenever I drove him to the doctor. He basically built my mother's house and just a few years ago, she came home to find him underneath her kitchen sink, fixing the drain. He was 86 and was tightening the pipes by hand. That year he also built her a pool deck.
He told great stories about his younger days. Most of them involved him getting arrested or beating someone up. A few months ago he lamented to H that he could no longer make a good fist, so how on earth was he going to punch anyone. We didn't mess with him. He once pulled the phone out of the wall while my mother was on it. She was a teenager and she talked too much. She still does. He kept us all in line. One year at Christmas my aunt complained that she should get a larger gift since she was the oldest. My mother threw a fit and didn't speak to her sister the entire year. The next Christmas, he gave everyone their gifts and told my aunt hers was more since she was the oldest. She got an extra dollar.
He taught us all how to behave and how to be respectful. You didn't enter without personally greeting him or leave without saying goodbye. He danced at my wedding and complained that I couldn't keep up. He stuck around to see the babies. Actually, we blame him for them being twins. When we told the family last Christmas that I was pregnant, he said, "Good, it should be twins. It's time for more twins in this family". I told him that was a terrible thing to wish on someone. Three weeks later, I had an ultrasound with an extra baby. He thought it was very funny. When the babies were born and they were in the NICU, he made my mother drive him the hour to see them. When they got to the hospital, she offered him a wheelchair since the NICU was in the back of the building and not an easy walk. He made it in on his own two feet and held both babies for almost an hour. We gave him a picture of him holding the two tiny bundles and it's sitting on the table next to his recliner where he spends most of his time these days. He told my aunt that they keep him awake at night; he can hear them crying. So for Christmas this year I gave him a picture of them laughing. It's sitting right next to the first one.
When he dies, there will be a lot of blame being passed around and I'm sure my mother and her siblings will come to blows about who should have done what to help him. But I know he lived a hard life and he's tired. He's been too tired to fight for a year or so now. I don't want him to go. I feel like there are so many things that I want to ask about his life. Stories that no one else will know now. He was the youngest of 10 children. His father came from Italy and carried an anvil in his arms up the train out of the city to start the iron works. His mother was the sister of his father's first wife and she came over to raise her sister's children when she was ill. She married her brother-in-law and had a baby 6 months after her sister's last child. No one talked about it. There was a set of fraternal twins, but I don't know which sister's children they were and I don't remember if they were girls or boys. I wish I could go to the hospital tomorrow with a notebook and write everything down. But it's too late. And I feel guilty that I haven't seen him since Christmas. I feel that I should have done more. Mostly I feel like I ran out of time. There couldn't be enough time to thank him for everything he's done for me. If it weren't for him, I might not have gone to college, I wouldn't have bought this house and I most likely wouldn't have had twins. If I tried to thank him, he'd just shrug it off anyway. As far as he's concerned, that's what you do for your family.
So in honor of my grandfather and his last few days here with us, here are some photos of the man who taught me what family was:
Thank you.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Happy 8 Months to C & Z and a happy 2 months to JT (as he is affectionately known at our house).
So far 8 months is fun. However, I have noticed that it is creeping up on my 1 year anniversary of not working. (No, I’m not counting my 2 day a week gig as a real job. I have almost no responsibility and I don’t have to go there everyday). Upon this discovery, I’ve also realized that I’ve hit a new low in SAHM-dom.
I am DVR-ing Oprah.
This leads me to the next more important reason for this post:
The BonTon Pact of 1997
Wherein Susan and I vowed to immediately end the life of the other were she ever to be seen wearing a plus sized sweatshirt with animals or flowers appliquéd to it.
I wish to make a few additions to this pact. I should just call S on the phone since she’s really the only one responsible for putting me (and anyone who can see me) out of my misery, but I am preserving the sanctity of nap time.
1. Should either of us ever call Oprah to give us a makeover…
2. Should I ever require Oprah to give me a makeover…
3. Should I been seen wearing maternity clothes after my children can walk and speak…
…Immediate end of life should ensue.
There, I feel better. It’s hard being this frumpy for this long. I gave myself a year to focus on the babies and not worry about what I look like, but god almighty, I’m starting to scare myself. That said, I will now make another vow, right here on the internet that you can all hold me to:
By my 31st birthday I will go through my entire closet and eliminate every article of clothing that does not fit and flatter whatever shape I happen to be at that time.
This may not seem like such a big deal if you never seen my closet. If you have, or if you have been unlucky enough to try to go through it with me (poor f.fanny may never recover) you understand what an undertaking this would be. It WILL happen. I WILL, by next fall, be less hideous than I am now. It may also involve a haircut. I know, but drastic times…
So far 8 months is fun. However, I have noticed that it is creeping up on my 1 year anniversary of not working. (No, I’m not counting my 2 day a week gig as a real job. I have almost no responsibility and I don’t have to go there everyday). Upon this discovery, I’ve also realized that I’ve hit a new low in SAHM-dom.
I am DVR-ing Oprah.
This leads me to the next more important reason for this post:
The BonTon Pact of 1997
Wherein Susan and I vowed to immediately end the life of the other were she ever to be seen wearing a plus sized sweatshirt with animals or flowers appliquéd to it.
I wish to make a few additions to this pact. I should just call S on the phone since she’s really the only one responsible for putting me (and anyone who can see me) out of my misery, but I am preserving the sanctity of nap time.
1. Should either of us ever call Oprah to give us a makeover…
2. Should I ever require Oprah to give me a makeover…
3. Should I been seen wearing maternity clothes after my children can walk and speak…
…Immediate end of life should ensue.
There, I feel better. It’s hard being this frumpy for this long. I gave myself a year to focus on the babies and not worry about what I look like, but god almighty, I’m starting to scare myself. That said, I will now make another vow, right here on the internet that you can all hold me to:
By my 31st birthday I will go through my entire closet and eliminate every article of clothing that does not fit and flatter whatever shape I happen to be at that time.
This may not seem like such a big deal if you never seen my closet. If you have, or if you have been unlucky enough to try to go through it with me (poor f.fanny may never recover) you understand what an undertaking this would be. It WILL happen. I WILL, by next fall, be less hideous than I am now. It may also involve a haircut. I know, but drastic times…
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Sippy Success!
Both girls drank an ounce or so out of sippy cups. I had to help them hold the cups up to their mouths at the right angles, but they drank... water! can you believe it? I barely can.
I have to work tomorrow and H will be home with the baby girls. Good luck to him, I hope it's not too ugly. But now I'm going to sleep. The girls have reverted back to getting up twice a night to nurse. ugh. so tired.
I have to work tomorrow and H will be home with the baby girls. Good luck to him, I hope it's not too ugly. But now I'm going to sleep. The girls have reverted back to getting up twice a night to nurse. ugh. so tired.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Food Fights Revisted
So after much advice both here and from my twinny group, here's the gastronomic update:
Z ate both her breakfast and dinner today. For breakfast we had bananas and apples with a tiny bit of oatmeal mixed in to make it a little thicker. For dinner it was squash and avocado mixed with 1/4c of oatmeal made with formula, but it was pretty lumpy.
So perhaps it's just that she wanted something with a little bulk to it and I've been making everything super smooth.
Also, just in case you cared, they both had gigantic poops today. Poops that could have been made by a much larger child. I'm not sure where all the poop came from. I was a little scared.
I made a batch of bananas and carrots today to feed them for the next week or so. C loves the hand blender so I usually let her chill in the kitchen in a seat while I do it. She's a wierdo
Z ate both her breakfast and dinner today. For breakfast we had bananas and apples with a tiny bit of oatmeal mixed in to make it a little thicker. For dinner it was squash and avocado mixed with 1/4c of oatmeal made with formula, but it was pretty lumpy.
So perhaps it's just that she wanted something with a little bulk to it and I've been making everything super smooth.
Also, just in case you cared, they both had gigantic poops today. Poops that could have been made by a much larger child. I'm not sure where all the poop came from. I was a little scared.
I made a batch of bananas and carrots today to feed them for the next week or so. C loves the hand blender so I usually let her chill in the kitchen in a seat while I do it. She's a wierdo
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Petey Parker Spider Cat
In case you were wondering what Petey has been up to lately:
There's napping:
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Recycling:
Guarding boxes:
And baking biscuits:
As you can see, being Petey is extremely time consuming and would explain why he is currenlty retiring up to his room (also known as the nursery. since no babies sleep up there, Petey has claimed it for his own) for a few hours of napping. But don't worry, he'll be bright eyed and bushy tailed just in time for eyebrow licking while babies try to nurse in the middle of the night.The Great Digestion Debate
We've been doing solid food for a while now and I have some questions. I posed them to the twin club, but I thought I'd get some sage advice here as well.
C will eat most anything, but Z is a bit more discerning re: texture, temperature, color of spoon, etc. They eat two "meals" and I'm wondering what exactly I'm supposed to be feeding them. For "breakfast" they have fruit and sometimes yogurt (well, no yogurt for z. if it's not hot she's not opening her lips. one. bit) and for "dinner" they have two vegis and oatmeal (since neither will eat rice cereal). Is this normal? Should I be giving them cereal twice a day? It tends to bind them up and we had a fun night of screaming while not pooping on Monday that I'd like to never repeat. (You really don't know fun until you've physically removed poop from your baby's butt because she can't do it herself. Ask H. )
They seem to be otherwise happy and still nursing ~5-6 times a day. In other related weirdness, they will only eat cereal if it's mixed with formula and not just any formula, but the premie formula. I tried switching them to plain old similac and no one was having that. Z went on a bottle strike while I was at work and forget eating food mixed with new formula.
Oh and no one will drink from a sippy cup. The sight of the sippy cup makes Z cry and C uses hers as a teething toy. When I put them in their mouths to show them that there's liquid inside, they gag and look at me like I've offended them. I've tried putting plain water, sugar water, formula and breast milk in the sippy cups. Same looks of insanity. What should I do about this? Any thoughts? C knows exactly what to do with the cup; she grabs both handles and stuffs the spout into her mouth, but doesn't want to suck on it. Only chew it. Z wants it to go away and tosses it off the highchair tray. repeatedly. Will they ever learn to drink from a cup? Or will I be sending Z to school with a paper mache boobie in her Dora the Explorer lunch box?
*beware of picture below as it contains graphic images of obvious child neglect. Wherein I put my twins in walkers so that I can get the bathtub ready for them without listening to screams from the other room. I know, what a horrid parent I am.*
This was the other night while I was getting the bath together. Z scooted herself backwards until she could reach out and grab C's hand. They did this repeatedly and are totally fascinated with each others faces and hands now. Today I had Z in my lap and C was in her bouncy and they kept touching hands and cracking up. It's really freakin' cute.
* C is on the left and, yes, that is a phone book under her feet since the height doesn't adjust any lower and she is just a touch too short. thankfully, neither has really figured out how to move the walkers around too much. I fear the day of mobility*
C will eat most anything, but Z is a bit more discerning re: texture, temperature, color of spoon, etc. They eat two "meals" and I'm wondering what exactly I'm supposed to be feeding them. For "breakfast" they have fruit and sometimes yogurt (well, no yogurt for z. if it's not hot she's not opening her lips. one. bit) and for "dinner" they have two vegis and oatmeal (since neither will eat rice cereal). Is this normal? Should I be giving them cereal twice a day? It tends to bind them up and we had a fun night of screaming while not pooping on Monday that I'd like to never repeat. (You really don't know fun until you've physically removed poop from your baby's butt because she can't do it herself. Ask H. )
They seem to be otherwise happy and still nursing ~5-6 times a day. In other related weirdness, they will only eat cereal if it's mixed with formula and not just any formula, but the premie formula. I tried switching them to plain old similac and no one was having that. Z went on a bottle strike while I was at work and forget eating food mixed with new formula.
Oh and no one will drink from a sippy cup. The sight of the sippy cup makes Z cry and C uses hers as a teething toy. When I put them in their mouths to show them that there's liquid inside, they gag and look at me like I've offended them. I've tried putting plain water, sugar water, formula and breast milk in the sippy cups. Same looks of insanity. What should I do about this? Any thoughts? C knows exactly what to do with the cup; she grabs both handles and stuffs the spout into her mouth, but doesn't want to suck on it. Only chew it. Z wants it to go away and tosses it off the highchair tray. repeatedly. Will they ever learn to drink from a cup? Or will I be sending Z to school with a paper mache boobie in her Dora the Explorer lunch box?
*beware of picture below as it contains graphic images of obvious child neglect. Wherein I put my twins in walkers so that I can get the bathtub ready for them without listening to screams from the other room. I know, what a horrid parent I am.*
This was the other night while I was getting the bath together. Z scooted herself backwards until she could reach out and grab C's hand. They did this repeatedly and are totally fascinated with each others faces and hands now. Today I had Z in my lap and C was in her bouncy and they kept touching hands and cracking up. It's really freakin' cute.
* C is on the left and, yes, that is a phone book under her feet since the height doesn't adjust any lower and she is just a touch too short. thankfully, neither has really figured out how to move the walkers around too much. I fear the day of mobility*Monday, February 04, 2008
Who's right?
Extra Points to anyone who know's who's who and if they are telling the truth with their T-shirts.Thursday, January 31, 2008
Routine
In response to Kerri, I am pretty sure that Z sounds just like baby stewie in her own head. Also, I believe that Petey plays a role in her mad schemes. And in response to Kat, my babies are made entirely of peanut butter. it's a cheap source of protein so I can afford to spend money on organic avocados and other baby food crap.
Someone over at the twin mommy club I belong to posed the "What do you do with your twins all day" Here's my response in case any of you are just consumed with needing to know what it is exactly that I do all day long... Today was actually a really good day. No one screamed in my face. For the whole day. WooHoo! Anyway, here's what we do:
5-6ish: Feed babies and hopefully get H to change them before he goes off to work. Fall back asleep while telling self to get up and do things like laundry.
8ish: Finally haul self out of bed to giggling babies who are slapping each other in the crib. Get them up and start getting breakfast together. I get them into high chairs, heat up frozen fruit cubes and shovel it into babies faces. Or around babies faces. Or near their faces. After they eat, we head back into the bedroom to get clean clothes (and diapers). Once they are cleaned up I nurse them both and they usually take a nap as it is now close to 11am.
11-12 glorious glorious nap time!!!
After naps I change them again and we journey out to the living room to either chill out in bouncy seats or play on the play mat with some toys. Usually they will nurse again around 12 or 1 and then again between 3 and 4. I try to put them down for a nap after that second afternoon feeding, but sometimes (usually) this doesn't go so well and they just crash out in their bouncy seats. Today, however, they both slept from 3 to 5.
Someone over at the twin mommy club I belong to posed the "What do you do with your twins all day" Here's my response in case any of you are just consumed with needing to know what it is exactly that I do all day long... Today was actually a really good day. No one screamed in my face. For the whole day. WooHoo! Anyway, here's what we do:
5-6ish: Feed babies and hopefully get H to change them before he goes off to work. Fall back asleep while telling self to get up and do things like laundry.
8ish: Finally haul self out of bed to giggling babies who are slapping each other in the crib. Get them up and start getting breakfast together. I get them into high chairs, heat up frozen fruit cubes and shovel it into babies faces. Or around babies faces. Or near their faces. After they eat, we head back into the bedroom to get clean clothes (and diapers). Once they are cleaned up I nurse them both and they usually take a nap as it is now close to 11am.
11-12 glorious glorious nap time!!!
After naps I change them again and we journey out to the living room to either chill out in bouncy seats or play on the play mat with some toys. Usually they will nurse again around 12 or 1 and then again between 3 and 4. I try to put them down for a nap after that second afternoon feeding, but sometimes (usually) this doesn't go so well and they just crash out in their bouncy seats. Today, however, they both slept from 3 to 5.
Dinner happens around 5 or 5:30 and consists of a delish mash up of vegis, oatmeal and formula. I shovel this into C as fast as possible (she would prefer a funnel) and then spend 10-20 minutes negotiating with Z. Who moans and or cries the whole time. while still eating. she is an odd duck. Usually at least one baby poops.
Then it's bathtime. C is very into getting as much water out of the tub as possible. Z just enjoys being naked and kicking her feet around and lifting her butt up in the air. They get into their PJs with the heavy duty fleece diaper covers and I nurse them and plop them into the crib. Sometimes they go right to sleep. Sometimes we play "shake, rattle and roll" for a little while. We are still swaddling them with one arm out a piece since they've started sucking their thumbs and frankly it keeps them quiet at night. They usually konk out around 8pm, but the last two nights we've bumped that up to 7-7:30.
Then C is up sometime around 4am. Sometimes I feed them both. Sometimes I let Z sleep. It depends on how tired I am and if she's really soundly sleeping.
Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Just in case you all were interested. which I know you are, because, seriously, this shit is fascinating...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Under Pressure
I'm trying to formulate a post about the pressure to be the perfect mother. I'm not quite sure what I want to say, but it's so unfortunate that I feel a lot of times like I'm not enjoying them as much as I should becuase I feel this pressure to be doing the "right" thing. For example...
Playing:
I friggin' hate eduational toys. There are no educational toys for a 7 month old. they are babies. They want to chew on shit and see stuff that lights up and plays doofy melodies... they don't want to learn french or calculus. they want to chew shit. well, mostly C. Z wants to take over the world.
Food:
Food is one of these areas where I feel like I need to make sure they are getting the right nutrients in the right balances and that more of it gets in then on them. Like if they eat bananas too many days in a row, they will be missing some key ingredient in oh, say, sweet potatoes that will make them Mouth breathers instead of Mensa members. this is absurd. There is no way that my mother could have possibly put this much thought into my food intake. The woman can't remember where she put her cell phone down after hanging it up. (this happened twice today). I'm reasonably intelligent. And look at H. he's pretty damn functional considering the bizarre inedible food product his mother likley served. (I reference the rosh hashana brisket/stewed cauliflower/corn on the cob debaucle of '03)
then there's the organic, free-range, hormone free hoopla. I know for a fact that my mother didn't buy organic vegetables when she made her baby food. Granted, there may have been fewer pesticides, but then again, it was the late 70's, so it was probably worse. People were less concerned or less aware of the crap on their food. I wholly buy into the organic fear mongering. I can't afford gas some weeks, but I am buying organic locally grown apples. At least I've down graded my own dairy from organic to "hormone free". Personally for myself I could give a shit about bovine growth hormone, but I went through puberty early and lord knows I don't need them with boobs at age 7. I have enough problems on my hands with identical twins, at least one of which may be an evil scientist.
The thing is that I feel like we are all driving ourselves crazy. You have to do what works for you and what's best for your life and your family. Do I think it would be better if I didn't have to rely on gadgets to keep my children from screaming so loud the dogs across the street bark? Yes. Is it likely to happen? Um, sure. If I cloned myself and hired a chef and housekeeper. I am doing the best I can with what I've got. I've got two well attached babies who are growing almost perceptively and need attention. We read books, we sing nursery rhymes, we eat two meals a day of organic fruits, vegis, oatmeal and yogurt. They have started taking naps in the crib in the morning and they go to bed every night by 8pm at the latest (we are working this up to 7 as I think they need more sleep and frankly I need less cranky babies at night). But that pressure is still there to measure up to some unatainable goal. I have gotten myself off the hook lately by thinking "maybe that would be possible if I only had one baby..." but I have a feeling there's only so much one woman can do.
Unless you are my mom. Who literally is a super hero. When I was a kid, she brought me roses after a show and signed the card "Super Mom" as a joke. Except it's true. Tonight she came by after work to watch them while I went to the doctor. Then she stayed to help feed them dinner. Then she gave them both baths and while I nursed them to sleep, she put away the bath stuff, did my dishes and cleaned my kitchen. Then she went to play bridge. But she called me from the car to say she couldn't remember who's house the bridge game was at. At least she could find her cell phone.
Playing:
I friggin' hate eduational toys. There are no educational toys for a 7 month old. they are babies. They want to chew on shit and see stuff that lights up and plays doofy melodies... they don't want to learn french or calculus. they want to chew shit. well, mostly C. Z wants to take over the world.
walkers/exersaucers: toy of satan or fun for twins who chew on everything? In order to eat dinner, or make baby food for the ravenous teething twins, I occaisionally have to stick them some where other than on me. The bouncy seats are no longer cutting it, but the girls still haven't mastered (or don't care to) the art of sitting. So for a few minutes a day they get plopped in a walker or exersaucer. C chews on whatever is in front of her. Z attempts to dismantle hers while moaning her evil plan to her henchmen. I lock the basement door and put a chair in front of it. I don't know why, their little feet barely reach the floor... but I took a header down basement steps at my 1st birthday party, and well, we've seen what that does ;) Anyway, does this make me "worst mother ever"? I hardly think so, but if I read one more dumbass book that equates these toys to burning your child with cigarettes, I may lose it.
Or how about teething rings? Why can't I freeze them? C wants to eat the fridge. Or the cat. If he were frozen. My mother found a teething ring in her fridge that was most likely Ed's if not mine. It's probably made of liquid lead. C loves it. no, that's an understatement. they are eloping next friday.
Television: See above re: walkers. Sometimes we are needing some Noggin' around here. Like this morning when I had to pump and babies did not want to chill on the play mat or read Don Quixote in the original Spanish. So we had a double no no: babies in walkers watching telelvision. Child protective services should have just walked on in and skipped the pleasantries. I mean, what an unfit mother I must be to allow my children to stare blissfully at big-eyed bugs on Miss Spider while I hook myself up to have a rendezvous with Felipe. So. They. Can. Eat.
Food:
Food is one of these areas where I feel like I need to make sure they are getting the right nutrients in the right balances and that more of it gets in then on them. Like if they eat bananas too many days in a row, they will be missing some key ingredient in oh, say, sweet potatoes that will make them Mouth breathers instead of Mensa members. this is absurd. There is no way that my mother could have possibly put this much thought into my food intake. The woman can't remember where she put her cell phone down after hanging it up. (this happened twice today). I'm reasonably intelligent. And look at H. he's pretty damn functional considering the bizarre inedible food product his mother likley served. (I reference the rosh hashana brisket/stewed cauliflower/corn on the cob debaucle of '03)
then there's the organic, free-range, hormone free hoopla. I know for a fact that my mother didn't buy organic vegetables when she made her baby food. Granted, there may have been fewer pesticides, but then again, it was the late 70's, so it was probably worse. People were less concerned or less aware of the crap on their food. I wholly buy into the organic fear mongering. I can't afford gas some weeks, but I am buying organic locally grown apples. At least I've down graded my own dairy from organic to "hormone free". Personally for myself I could give a shit about bovine growth hormone, but I went through puberty early and lord knows I don't need them with boobs at age 7. I have enough problems on my hands with identical twins, at least one of which may be an evil scientist.
The thing is that I feel like we are all driving ourselves crazy. You have to do what works for you and what's best for your life and your family. Do I think it would be better if I didn't have to rely on gadgets to keep my children from screaming so loud the dogs across the street bark? Yes. Is it likely to happen? Um, sure. If I cloned myself and hired a chef and housekeeper. I am doing the best I can with what I've got. I've got two well attached babies who are growing almost perceptively and need attention. We read books, we sing nursery rhymes, we eat two meals a day of organic fruits, vegis, oatmeal and yogurt. They have started taking naps in the crib in the morning and they go to bed every night by 8pm at the latest (we are working this up to 7 as I think they need more sleep and frankly I need less cranky babies at night). But that pressure is still there to measure up to some unatainable goal. I have gotten myself off the hook lately by thinking "maybe that would be possible if I only had one baby..." but I have a feeling there's only so much one woman can do.
Unless you are my mom. Who literally is a super hero. When I was a kid, she brought me roses after a show and signed the card "Super Mom" as a joke. Except it's true. Tonight she came by after work to watch them while I went to the doctor. Then she stayed to help feed them dinner. Then she gave them both baths and while I nursed them to sleep, she put away the bath stuff, did my dishes and cleaned my kitchen. Then she went to play bridge. But she called me from the car to say she couldn't remember who's house the bridge game was at. At least she could find her cell phone.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Why am I not sleeping?
I am tired. really tired. babies are waking up several times a night with hurting teeth. But I'm not asleep. why? because I am trying to have recapture some semblance of a normal life. Normal people don't go to bed at 10pm. But then normal people don't have teething twins.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Giving Thanks
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the girls’ birth. Mostly this has been coming up since I’m now working at the hospital where they were born. Mostly because of the hand soap.
When you go to the NICU, you get an education on hand washing. They are very strict about it. And the smell and feel of that soap is something I will never forget. Now that I am working here, every time I go to the bathroom, I have a NICU flashback.
I am incredibly grateful. That is the understatement of the year. There are no words to express how I feel about the fact that my two tiny little peanuts who didn’t even tip the scale at 5 lbs, now eat cereal and fruit like it’s going out of style and have learned to turn the mobile on and off in their crib.
They are scooting themselves around on their backs and almost rolling over and sitting up (sounds like puppies, right?) and in those first few days they couldn’t even eat. C sometimes forgot to breathe.
One night while they were still in the NICU, a night or two after I had been discharged, I woke up panicked and made H call to check on them. C had stopped breathing for a few minutes, but ‘don’t worry,’ they said. ‘She only needed a little mild stim and she came right back’. Which part was scarier, that she had stopped breathing or that if she had been home, I wouldn’t have known what to do? How did I know she needed me?
I chose my OB/GYN based on proximity to my house and where they delivered. Before I was even pregnant or planning it. I did my research; I knew the NICU reputation, before I knew I was having twins. I stopped working at 24 weeks and went on restricted activity not much after that. I stuffed myself to make sure they could gain enough weight (ok, that part was fun). I did everything right. They still came 6 weeks early. 3 weeks before I had anticipated them (being they were multiples and likely to be born early). They even switched their birth order. They had their own agenda.
I am not going to obsess about food intake or milestones or even poop anymore. I’m retiring the log books. I am just going to be happy and grateful that I have two beautiful, healthy, (if you don’t mind some snots now and then), happy and funny baby girls. Last night I literally got down on my knees to thank god that they are here and they are who they are.
And I’m buying scented hand lotion to keep in my desk drawer so I can stop tearing up every time I wash my damn hands.
When you go to the NICU, you get an education on hand washing. They are very strict about it. And the smell and feel of that soap is something I will never forget. Now that I am working here, every time I go to the bathroom, I have a NICU flashback.
I am incredibly grateful. That is the understatement of the year. There are no words to express how I feel about the fact that my two tiny little peanuts who didn’t even tip the scale at 5 lbs, now eat cereal and fruit like it’s going out of style and have learned to turn the mobile on and off in their crib.
They are scooting themselves around on their backs and almost rolling over and sitting up (sounds like puppies, right?) and in those first few days they couldn’t even eat. C sometimes forgot to breathe.
One night while they were still in the NICU, a night or two after I had been discharged, I woke up panicked and made H call to check on them. C had stopped breathing for a few minutes, but ‘don’t worry,’ they said. ‘She only needed a little mild stim and she came right back’. Which part was scarier, that she had stopped breathing or that if she had been home, I wouldn’t have known what to do? How did I know she needed me?
I chose my OB/GYN based on proximity to my house and where they delivered. Before I was even pregnant or planning it. I did my research; I knew the NICU reputation, before I knew I was having twins. I stopped working at 24 weeks and went on restricted activity not much after that. I stuffed myself to make sure they could gain enough weight (ok, that part was fun). I did everything right. They still came 6 weeks early. 3 weeks before I had anticipated them (being they were multiples and likely to be born early). They even switched their birth order. They had their own agenda.
I am not going to obsess about food intake or milestones or even poop anymore. I’m retiring the log books. I am just going to be happy and grateful that I have two beautiful, healthy, (if you don’t mind some snots now and then), happy and funny baby girls. Last night I literally got down on my knees to thank god that they are here and they are who they are.
And I’m buying scented hand lotion to keep in my desk drawer so I can stop tearing up every time I wash my damn hands.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
After Much Anticipation
Here are the Xmas out takes. It's only a month late :)
Look how nice and smiley we are... such good babies....
Bleahahaha.... says Z. C is not amused.
And Finally:
Oh! Snap!
Look how nice and smiley we are... such good babies....
Bleahahaha.... says Z. C is not amused.
Are we still doing this?
Really? Still?
And Finally:
Oh! Snap!
Friday, January 18, 2008
Picture Post
I know I haven't had anything profound to say in a while, or ever... so here are some pics from the past month to show what we've been up to. See if you can guess who's who...
We've been cute:
We've been playing with toys:
We've been cute:
We've been playing with toys:
We've been hanging off of poor mommy:
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