Sweet baby giggles...

 

It is official.  I am a comic genius! Well at least in the eyes of my children and that is all that really matters right? I spend my days dancing around the room (hot dog dance anyone?), making random noises, and telling stories about stuffed animals.  They both love to be tickled and I love the giggles.  I wish I could bottle up the laughs so I can have then forever… I have been taking tons of videos at least.  The other “noise” in the house sounds a lot like “DADADA,” but I have been ignoring that “noise.” (Kidding).  They both love to babble and talk to each other.  Riley even has an official “angry noise” that she has busted out a few times when she was mad at me, like when I got out the vacuum.  She recently developed a fear of the vacuum and I had no idea until I got it out one day and she started “yelling” at it and crying… ooops. No more vacuum in front of her.  (UPDATE: After I wrote this, a miracle happened.  I had my back to her at the time because I was changing Landon, but Riley said “MAMAMA” as she was crawling across the floor towards me – I call that a win)

They are both extra busy and moving all around the house.  Landon preferred method of movement is rolling and he has become quite good.  He can be across the room in a matter of seconds.  Riley “army crawls” her way across the room – also very quick.  Nothing is safe! This morning I left the room for 2.5 seconds and came back to find they had spilled my drink into my slippers.  I had to laugh – and I should have known better.  Supposedly Riley can crawl on all fours and does so at daycare, but I have yet to see it.  She thinks it is because the other kids will get on the floor and crawl with her.  Needless to say I have been crawling around on the floor like a fool and NOTHING! The hubby and I set up what we call the “baby cage” in the livingroom.  It is one of those large multi-colored playyards, but we bought the extension kit as well so it is a bit bigger- allowing room for both he and I and the babies to be in there playing together.  We have also had a lot of play dates lately and they love being able to play with their friends - and mommy and daddy like being able to get out of the house as well!

  The babies love to eat and I am happy that they do not seem to be picky eaters thus far.  Well, Landon makes some pretty awful faces with carrots and spits them back out, but other than that they have been great.  (Neither one was a fan of the potatoes this evening, but I think it might have actually been an issue with the thicker consistency.  I tried to step them up a little, but they apparently weren’t ready. ) Some of the favorite combinations are avocado/banana and pumpkin/pear.  I have pureed some of my own veggies and fruit for them, but we also purchase food as well.  We aren’t doing anything they have to chew yet – they still are not the greatest at sitting up and I want to master that before I am handing them food.  Landon can sit up for a decent amount of time if you put him in the sitting position.  Riley does not like to sit because that means she is sitting still and she much prefers to be all over the place.  She is also so stiff when she sits that she topples right over – again, complete opposites.  Landon is a little extra “floppy” and Riley is stiff as a board.  Guess they are trying to balance each other out?! 

Some of the favorite toys of the moment:  jumpers, almost empty packages of wipes, remote controls, $2 stacking cups, the rings from the ring stacker – and often chewing on the stacker, and things that light up when a button is pushed.  Riley has decided a few times that she wanted to trade out her toys and got a new out of the basket herself.  They have become very entertaining over the past few weeks.  We have lots of visitors coming in the upcoming weeks and some “firsts” for them including their first attendance at one of daddy’s long bike races – we will see how that goes! 

Sorry for the sideways photos! I can't seem to figure out how to keep them turned!

Jasper wanted in on the photoshoot

 

Research?

I have been doing extensive research. By extensive I mean that I have talked to several other parents of twins – which is about as extensive as my time allows. Ha ha. My conclusion is that not a single one of them liked when someone compared their children! Whew! I thought I was feeling something out of line when I become emotionally charged when someone comments that “He likes the swing and she likes the bouncer.”  I will admit that I probably feel too much emotion at this point as mentally I am thinking “You don’t know my kids like I do, what makes you think you can jump to that conclusion? Sure, he likes the swing today but yesterday he was screaming his head off in the swing. Why is there even a need to make this type of comparison? Are you trying to prove something to me?”  Rational right? I acknowledge that it is a bit “extra,” but honestly this has been my biggest gripe as a parent of twins thus far.

I don’t need to know that “He doesn’t like to stand as much as she does” or “He doesn’t like to move as much.”  I KNOW this. I watch this heartbreaking activity and lack there of on a daily basis.  Several times a week I am brought to tears with the worry I have about my son.  I have to remind myself of all of the advancements he has made and the things he can do.  He is making great progress in physical therapy.  He rolls back and forth now and loves to be rolling around on the floor! This weekend he sat up for a few minutes – I sat him up and he was able to stay there and play with a toy until he weebled over. He laughs, he smiles, he cries, he takes toys away from his sister – he just does it while staying more centrally located. 

I realize that I am more or less comparing apples to oranges at this point.  I have been made aware by the physical therapist that my daughter is “advanced” for her age with her developmental abilities. She is crawling on all fours (I have yet to see but daycare has reported it), she army crawls everywhere, and has been pulling herself up on things (couches, baskets, tables).  She is apparently a very strong baby – which is ironic all on its own because prior to her birth I had myself convinced that she was going to be this tiny little thing.  :) 

I just don’t want my children to ever think that they aren’t good enough because they can’t do something that their sibling does.  I already try very hard in my language to make sure that I am not making a comparison between them.  I honestly think that will be one of the toughest aspects of parenting twins – making sure they feel equal.  It is hard to have two children (that should be) at the same developmental milestone.  Two children with the same wants and needs.  People have told us that they “know what it is like” because they have two kids.  Here is where I get some of those “rational” thoughts in my head again.  “You may have had two children, but did you have two at the exact same time? Two that both need held, fed, rocked, and soothed in the same manner? Two at the same milestones in life (TEETHING!)?” Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t all bad. You also get to hear two babies laughing and giggling at each other. You get to watch them play and learn together.  You get to watch them develop individually and together all at the same time.  It is an amazing experience thus far and my heart smiles just to think about all the fun we will have in the future. 

7 month update

Watch out world, they are on the move! Riley is ALL OVER THE PLACE and Landon is not too far behind.  Last week Riley started getting up on all fours by backing herself up against something (like a table leg) and now she has advanced beyond that and can get up on all fours without any propping help.  She gets up, rocks back and forth a few times, and comes back down.  Her new favorite trick though is to extend her legs when she gets up on all fours and do a little baby yoga. :) Landon has this rolling thing down now and can roll in both directions, especially in an effort to get what he wants.  He is much better about spending time on his tummy and likes to be able to prop himself up on his arms as well to play.  He is making the efforts to get up on all fours and does use his legs to propel himself across the floor as well.  Officially, Landon is diagnosed with Hypotonia (low muscle tone) which is causing some “developmental delays.”  He has shown a lot of progress in physical therapy and we are confident that this won’t be a permanent issue.  It is fairly common in twins as they are more compact for space on the inside, so one or both is not getting the “exercise” needed by kicking mommy.  It is pretty interesting actually, a baby’s muscles begin development in the womb by kicking and hitting the uterine wall- the wall provides the needed resistance to develop the muscles.  If they are not overly active or cramped for space, it can lead to low muscle tone and they will just require some additional work on the outside to teach the muscles to fire.  Both the Hubby and I work with him daily so we are confident he will "catch up" soon.  His DocBand is going well also.  He doesn’t seem to mind it anymore – until Riley grabs at it.  He still has several months left of wearing it, but he is already showing progress and I can’t believe the difference in the shape of his head already. 

Ready for the Valentine's Day Party at Daycare... (also the helmet before it's amazing paint job)

After - we went for an Illinois theme with representation of the Cubs,the Bears, the Fire, Sears Tower and Superman (Metropolis, IL)

They grab and touch everything, especially faces.  I have learned to wear earrings that are a “quick release” in case they get a hold of them.  My hair, however, is not a quick release and that is their other favorite thing to grab at.  They like to play in the jumpers and after some room arranging the jumpers are side by side so they can talk to each other as well.  We also set up a play yard area for them to play – the playpen just didn’t have enough space for them to roll around.  They seem to like their new play area and… the big news is that they now play with each other! Well, there is some battle for the toys that requires an intervention at times.  Riley is a bit of a toy hoarder and Landon gets a bit upset when he loses all the toys.  I love that they now talk to each other and interact.  They both do a lot of talking and laughing and have the cutest smiles.  Landon now has both of his bottom teeth and he loves to show them off!

I have really enjoyed being able to spend more time with them by staying home two days a week.  It can be hard as I still have responsibilities to work and I am trying to work as well as take care of them at times, but it is worth it.  On an average week day, I only really get to play with them for about an hour before it is time to feed them and start the bedtime routine.  Now I get two entire days to play with them in addition to the weekend and I feel a lot less overall pressure.  The weekend has always been so busy with cleaning the house and grocery shopping that I felt stressed out by it all.  Now I am able to find some time to relax and I have also learned to do some of the cleaning each night after they go to bed instead of saving it all for the weekend.  After seven months, we have also finally got a hold on this nap thing and the babies are taking consistent naps during the day most of the time) and they are asleep at the same time (again, most of the time).  They are getting “real” food twice a day now – cereal and fruit at breakfast and veggie/fruit combo at dinner and I plan to add lunch soon as well. 

The babies have been the subject of many photos lately! We had our friends next door take some pictures to document 6 months and a friend also wanted to practice her photography skills with babies, so of course I agreed! We were also finally able to take their 7 month photos….