Thursday, July 30, 2009
You seem older
Blake has been waking up in the middle of the night lately. I'd let him "cry it out" but he makes this piercing scream, and I feel bad for Sadie, Owen, and Tim. Normally, it just takes a little hug and part of a bottle to calm him back down, but the whole thing is confusing to me. He's not teething, he's eating plenty, and he's not sick. I don't understand why he's waking up. But, I secretly like that middle of the night time I'm getting with him. With twins, there's not much time for one on one snuggling. Although I admit I was sort of in a hurry for them to get through those milestones like sitting independently, holding their own bottle, even crawling, now I'm wanting to slow time down and really enjoy and connect with my babies while they're still babies. In the last month, Blake's chunky brick build has thinned out. His hair has gotten long enough that I'm ready to give him his first haircut, he's learned to stand independently, cruise around, clap his hands, and shake his head no. He took 2 steps yesterday. Today he climbed onto a ride on toy and stood on it, holding the baby gate while he shrieked at me as I turned over the laundry. He also climbed on top the roll-a-round jungle toy, standing there on the tree part reaching for the remote that was pushed back on the couch cushion. He's definitely growing up, and I'm feeling a little like I missed something. Tonight, I just snuggled him as long as I could, trying to burn into my memory what it feels like to carry his weight, his small frame, the smell of baby shampoo, his feathery hair tickling my cheek, his warmth. I know it will seem like I lay that little baby in his crib tonight and tomorrow he'll wake up and be four like his brother. And then...well, I don't even want to think about Blake, Owen, or Sadie getting any older than four. There are days like today when I want to get away from the crying, the poop, the constant mess, the incessant wrestling. But then there are nights like tonight when I don't ever want it to leave.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
What was I thinking?!
Owen had been asking to go to the planetarium for a couple of months now. We tried to go yesterday, and I should have taken it as a sign when we rushed up to the door just to find out that the museum is closed on Mondays. Today we tried again, arrived on time (barely), and I pushed the double decker stroller right up next to the star projector just as the 45 minute show began.
Before I go any further, let me explain. You may have already predicted my impending disaster and are wondering to yourself, "Yes, what WAS she thinking? She's taking a 4 year old and two 10 month olds into a planetarium? With other people around? Why would anyone ever do such a thing?" I'll tell you why. I don't want Owen to be lost in the fray of baby-ville. He is so interested in space and science, and I want to encourage that. That boy was so excited about going this morning that he put on one of his space themed shirts without me telling him to get dressed. When the babies woke up from nap, he did a decent job of cleaning up all of his play-doh without being asked so that we would be ready to leave. He got a toy for each of the babies to take with them in case they got fussy. Seriously, how could I NOT take him? My apologies to all other planetarium-goers this afternoon (maybe 10 other people).
We started out fine - great even. Owen was sitting all giddy on my right. Blake and Sadie were eating some Cheerios in their stroller on my left. At first, everyone's eyes lit up looking at the show on the ceiling, and I thought we were going to be fine. We were fine for all of three minutes. Remember how I wrote about the squawking at the library? Well it continues and is now accompanied by screeching. Blake can screech so loudly that I promise some days my ears must be bleeding. Those screeches make Owen go from happy to meltdown in seconds.
To make the screeching and squawking stop, I start shoving more Cheerios into their mouths. It's a successful technique for a while. Then Blake swallows wrong or something and starts to gag. He's fine, but I feel pretty guilty about it so I unbuckle him and put him on my lap for hugs. Those of you who have multiples know that this was a bad idea. At 10 months, they are already so jealous of each other in these kind of situations. Through the darkness of the fake night sky, I see Sadie starting to cry as she grabs at my leg and practically Houdini's out of her buckle. At this point we're maybe 10 minutes into the show, and I have 2 babies on my lap and Owen telling me that I need to pay attention to the ceiling and calling out "It's Jupiter! Oh man, do you see that satellite?"
Blake and Sadie are not calm snugglers. Owen calls them so squiggly wiggly and squirmy wormies. And since we are recently very interested in the texture of each other's hair and how loud we can make our sibling scream when we pull that hair, two babies on the lap lasted oh...I don't know...10 seconds? I am stuck playing the perpetual game of up and down, bounce on the knee, turn around, and take your finger out of my eye socket. Sometime during this 15 minute juggling act, Sadie ended up standing between my knees. Blake was reaching for more Cheerios off of the stroller tray, so I leaned over and buckled him back in. While I was distracted, Sadie had dropped to all fours and...here it is...crawled away! In the nearly black room, my little girl was...? In my mind she had crawled to the back of the room, and I was a horrible mother for not catching her sooner. In reality, her little booty was poking out from under a couple of seats to my right. At this point I was so embarrassed by my own stupidity for attempting this, feeling guilty for interrupting everyone else's trip to the planetarium, and exhausted from baby wrangling. I gave up, told Owen we had to leave, and asked to be let out at about minute 40 of a 45 minute show. Cheers to Owen for not throwing a fit about it.
A few minutes after the show let out, the guy who ran it bumped into us in the elevator. I apologized and told him why we came in the first place. He was very nice and told me to check out the (drawing a blank here) Astronomical Society to see about open nights at the observatory in Lynnville. We'll be checking that out for sure.
As if that adventure wasn't enough for me for the day, I also took the kids to Sam's Club, Target, and the recycling center. To wrap up the night, we went to Owen's swim lesson. It began at 6:00. At 6:10, the sky let loose, drenching the babies and me. (Owen was already wet, so that doesn't count.) I was so worn out, so needing a break, and feeling so unprepared as a mother, all I could do was laugh at the situation. I used the only towel we had to play peek-a-boo during the downpour. Sadie cracked up at her cute little self. Blake chuckled. Owen swam like a fish. I took a deep breath and somehow made it through dinner, bath, and bedtime on my own just in time for Tim to walk through the door and tell me what a stressful day he had.
Before I go any further, let me explain. You may have already predicted my impending disaster and are wondering to yourself, "Yes, what WAS she thinking? She's taking a 4 year old and two 10 month olds into a planetarium? With other people around? Why would anyone ever do such a thing?" I'll tell you why. I don't want Owen to be lost in the fray of baby-ville. He is so interested in space and science, and I want to encourage that. That boy was so excited about going this morning that he put on one of his space themed shirts without me telling him to get dressed. When the babies woke up from nap, he did a decent job of cleaning up all of his play-doh without being asked so that we would be ready to leave. He got a toy for each of the babies to take with them in case they got fussy. Seriously, how could I NOT take him? My apologies to all other planetarium-goers this afternoon (maybe 10 other people).
We started out fine - great even. Owen was sitting all giddy on my right. Blake and Sadie were eating some Cheerios in their stroller on my left. At first, everyone's eyes lit up looking at the show on the ceiling, and I thought we were going to be fine. We were fine for all of three minutes. Remember how I wrote about the squawking at the library? Well it continues and is now accompanied by screeching. Blake can screech so loudly that I promise some days my ears must be bleeding. Those screeches make Owen go from happy to meltdown in seconds.
To make the screeching and squawking stop, I start shoving more Cheerios into their mouths. It's a successful technique for a while. Then Blake swallows wrong or something and starts to gag. He's fine, but I feel pretty guilty about it so I unbuckle him and put him on my lap for hugs. Those of you who have multiples know that this was a bad idea. At 10 months, they are already so jealous of each other in these kind of situations. Through the darkness of the fake night sky, I see Sadie starting to cry as she grabs at my leg and practically Houdini's out of her buckle. At this point we're maybe 10 minutes into the show, and I have 2 babies on my lap and Owen telling me that I need to pay attention to the ceiling and calling out "It's Jupiter! Oh man, do you see that satellite?"
Blake and Sadie are not calm snugglers. Owen calls them so squiggly wiggly and squirmy wormies. And since we are recently very interested in the texture of each other's hair and how loud we can make our sibling scream when we pull that hair, two babies on the lap lasted oh...I don't know...10 seconds? I am stuck playing the perpetual game of up and down, bounce on the knee, turn around, and take your finger out of my eye socket. Sometime during this 15 minute juggling act, Sadie ended up standing between my knees. Blake was reaching for more Cheerios off of the stroller tray, so I leaned over and buckled him back in. While I was distracted, Sadie had dropped to all fours and...here it is...crawled away! In the nearly black room, my little girl was...? In my mind she had crawled to the back of the room, and I was a horrible mother for not catching her sooner. In reality, her little booty was poking out from under a couple of seats to my right. At this point I was so embarrassed by my own stupidity for attempting this, feeling guilty for interrupting everyone else's trip to the planetarium, and exhausted from baby wrangling. I gave up, told Owen we had to leave, and asked to be let out at about minute 40 of a 45 minute show. Cheers to Owen for not throwing a fit about it.
A few minutes after the show let out, the guy who ran it bumped into us in the elevator. I apologized and told him why we came in the first place. He was very nice and told me to check out the (drawing a blank here) Astronomical Society to see about open nights at the observatory in Lynnville. We'll be checking that out for sure.
As if that adventure wasn't enough for me for the day, I also took the kids to Sam's Club, Target, and the recycling center. To wrap up the night, we went to Owen's swim lesson. It began at 6:00. At 6:10, the sky let loose, drenching the babies and me. (Owen was already wet, so that doesn't count.) I was so worn out, so needing a break, and feeling so unprepared as a mother, all I could do was laugh at the situation. I used the only towel we had to play peek-a-boo during the downpour. Sadie cracked up at her cute little self. Blake chuckled. Owen swam like a fish. I took a deep breath and somehow made it through dinner, bath, and bedtime on my own just in time for Tim to walk through the door and tell me what a stressful day he had.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Dressing Alike
I've been asked a couple times in the last few days if I always dress my twins alike. Yes, for the most part, I prefer that their outfits coordinate. It's just so much cuter when their stuff matches. I'm not going to expect them to dress the same forever, but for now I really don't think it's an issue. Here's the thing, I struggled with the idea of having twins. I was expecting to add one baby to our family, give Owen one sibling to play/contend with, be able to keep my life pretty much the same. Having TWO babies changed my plan dramatically. I had to quit my job because it costs too much money to pay for 3 in daycare. I was on partial bed rest by the end of my pregnancy and felt like I missed out on a lot of quality play time with Owen. The time, money, and strategic maneuvering that twins require was a hard thing for me to wrap my mind around.
Blake and Sadie are two fabulous babies. I love them more and more every day. Now they are beginning to play peek-a-boo over the edges of their cribs and laugh at each other when they knock a toy back and forth. It's sweet, and I can finally see what people mean when they say that twins are so much fun. At the beginning, though, it wasn't. I didn't like not being able to spend that special time rocking a sleeping baby because the other baby needed me too. I didn't like not getting to know every nuance of my newborns' movement because I had to take care of so many other things. For me, having two newborns at one time was difficult and stressful. Dressing them in cute little matching outfits each day made me smile a little. It made me appreciate having such adorable little bundles. It was one of the only parts of those beginning months that I would consider "fun".
Now I can't imagine dressing them in outfits that don't match, so I keep doing it. I probably will until they have their own opinion about it. Their personalities are already strong enough that I don't think some cute little clothes are going to stifle their individuality anyway.
Blake and Sadie are two fabulous babies. I love them more and more every day. Now they are beginning to play peek-a-boo over the edges of their cribs and laugh at each other when they knock a toy back and forth. It's sweet, and I can finally see what people mean when they say that twins are so much fun. At the beginning, though, it wasn't. I didn't like not being able to spend that special time rocking a sleeping baby because the other baby needed me too. I didn't like not getting to know every nuance of my newborns' movement because I had to take care of so many other things. For me, having two newborns at one time was difficult and stressful. Dressing them in cute little matching outfits each day made me smile a little. It made me appreciate having such adorable little bundles. It was one of the only parts of those beginning months that I would consider "fun".
Now I can't imagine dressing them in outfits that don't match, so I keep doing it. I probably will until they have their own opinion about it. Their personalities are already strong enough that I don't think some cute little clothes are going to stifle their individuality anyway.
Here are a few of my favorite matching outfits so far: 
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sweet Harmony
Every once in a while my kids take a break from ScreamFest in the van and sing together. Well, I mean the babies babble and Owen makes up some noises to go along. It almost sounds like some a capella 3 part harmony of AHHHHHHHH's and babababa's and daa!'s. Still noisey but music to my ears.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Precious moment
The twins were napping. I was worn out and trying to doze off for a minute. Owen kept crawling on me and being wiggly, and I was getting pretty annoyed because I just wanted a few minutes peace. He started sniffing me, so feeling kind of erked, I asked him what he was doing. "You smell," he said. Great. Thanks.
"What do you mean, Owen?"
"You just smell so good like a mom." Then I got a big hug and kiss. Awwwwww! Does he HAVE to grow up?
Other moments from the last couple of days?
"Mom, I don't like those black awfuls you're eating." (olives)
"You always love me like God."
"What do you mean, Owen?"
"You just smell so good like a mom." Then I got a big hug and kiss. Awwwwww! Does he HAVE to grow up?
Other moments from the last couple of days?
"Mom, I don't like those black awfuls you're eating." (olives)
"You always love me like God."
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Owen-isms
Owen says the cutest stuff constantly. Here are some from today:
"Um, I think I just want Cocoa Pupps for breakfast. Okay? Yeah. You just need to feed me Cocoa Pupps, Mom. And chocolate-milk-so-I-can-drink-the-chocolate-milk-part" This has improved because it used to be Popo Pupps. We are still stuck on the 10 word synonym for chocolate milk.
"Maybe after swim lessons, if I can't have nachos, we can go to Pizza Hunt. " I love the extra "N's" he puts into words. (chicken nungets)
"No mom, you don't have three kids; you have four." He counts on his fingers. "Me, Blakey, Sadie, and George. Don't forget George. He's your kid too." To clarify, George is Curious George who is a curious little monkey imaginary friend. George is the one who gets chocolate pudding on the wall and "shrinks up the sink" to flood the bathroom.
Seriously, how is it possible my little boy is this sweet?! All of that in one day.
"Um, I think I just want Cocoa Pupps for breakfast. Okay? Yeah. You just need to feed me Cocoa Pupps, Mom. And chocolate-milk-so-I-can-drink-the-chocolate-milk-part" This has improved because it used to be Popo Pupps. We are still stuck on the 10 word synonym for chocolate milk.
"Maybe after swim lessons, if I can't have nachos, we can go to Pizza Hunt. " I love the extra "N's" he puts into words. (chicken nungets)
"No mom, you don't have three kids; you have four." He counts on his fingers. "Me, Blakey, Sadie, and George. Don't forget George. He's your kid too." To clarify, George is Curious George who is a curious little monkey imaginary friend. George is the one who gets chocolate pudding on the wall and "shrinks up the sink" to flood the bathroom.
When it is just starting to rain. "I think someone just got the biggest sprink-u-lar on the planet. There's a sprink-u-lar as big as the earth." To me, it just doesn't feel right to say sprinkler anymore.
I'm on the phone with a friend. "Mom, can I call to her? I wanna call to her." ...and repeat until mom gives in.
"Mom, one thing I know. You're just adorable. You're adorable, Mom." Gotta love him.
Tim explained that he was taking medicide for his heartburn. "If I took that and it got on my heart, it would burn me, and that would be really bad because my heart's just gotta love everything."Seriously, how is it possible my little boy is this sweet?! All of that in one day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)