Thursday, February 25, 2010

The post wherein I admit I have issues.

This morning when the nanny arrived and we were doing the normal changing of the guard, Elliot made a lunge for me while sitting on the floor and bumped his head. It wasn’t a bad bump, and he only cried for a second, still though, poor baby! But actually, I was sort of glad he did it. Not because I am a sadist. Or because I have Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, but because he lunged at ME! The twins have become a little more stranger-wary recently, but they really don’t seem to differentiate who amongst the people they know well is with them. I was admittedly getting a bit worried that they enjoyed the nanny’s company just as much (or more) than the company of me, their mom (I probably shouldn’t admit these things in public, but maybe this is common amongst those who delegate a portion of childcare to someone else?). So today, when he lunged at ME, while the nanny was sitting right next to him, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Leah has already had a couple mom-please moments, but Elliot really hadn’t. It’s not that I was taking it personally, but fine, I was taking it a little personally. I have been warned that separation anxiety is far worse than infant indifference, but it’s nice to be recognized as The Mom.

And now I will eat his succulent brains...
Photo credit to Grandma Terry.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

When do babies get necks?

Not that he needs a neck to enhance the cuteness or anything...

hi.

Photo credit to Auntie Sarah.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Long Weekends are Indeed That

We had this Monday off for President’s Day. With my parents out of town, we had zero help and 24 hour baby duty for four full days (including my work-at-home Friday). Furthermore, we had a friend visiting from Saturday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. He loved meeting and spending time with the babies, but he was not family so we could not foist intensive baby care upon him, as much as we threatened to do so. While I love and look forward to the time I get to spend with Elliot and Leah, holy crap they are exhausting. And they don’t really even move yet. I feel so beat up by the end of a few days of constant interaction with two 7 month olds. This weekend, I sang through my (embarrassingly vast) repertoire of songs appropriate for children probably 40 times. I picked thrown sippy cups off the floor so often that I have a repetitive motion injury. We read That’s Not My Dinosaur upwards of 60 times, and then my head exploded. When I got to work on Tuesday, I threw my coat over my boss's head, whipped it off and yelled “PEEKABOO” in his face.

Another thing about the weekend is that it reminds me why our nanny is our nanny and I am paid to do something other than childcare. When Lina is home, there is order. There is a schedule, there are children with their noses cleared of boogers. When Craig and I are home, I’m not saying that chaos reigns, but things are just a little more, how-you-say?, loosey-goosey. We do not have the mental capacity to stay in the house all day, so we take the babies out. Sometimes during naptime. The horror! This past Sunday, for example, we took Elliot and Leah to the ICA and then to lunch. Sounds benign and pleasantly cultural, but it coincided with naptime. We drove around for a while once the babies fell asleep after the outing to let them get a nap in the car, but that’s just not the same as a standard 2-hour nap in their cribs. It actually didn’t turn out too badly, but the correlation between good naps and good nighttime sleep is astounding. And the more days they go without excellent naps, the worse they are at night. Monday, we decided to leave the house again (I know, WTF were we thinking?) and took them to Costco (because that’s how we do). They actually ended up with a very good afternoon nap post-Costco, which lasted until 3:30 or so. We decided to forgo the normal nap they get when Craig drives them to pick me up from the train (we emulate this nap even on weekends because it helps the babies make it to their 6:30 bedtime without total meltdowns). This was a mistake. Overnight, we had wakeups at 10:30, 3:30 and then they were up for the morning at 5:00am. Uhg. To prove my point that Lina is good at her job, after one day with her, both babies slept through the night last night. What’s that, Lina? A raise? Of course. Just give me a minute to go sell some blood. Totally worth it.

Other random thoughts:
  •  How does Elliot possibly sleep through the night when he ends up entirely soaked in urine? Am I supposed to change him overnight as a preventative measure? The kid is wearing nighttime diapers. What more can I do?
  • Leah seems to be sprouting a tooth. Nothing is visible yet, but I can feel a protrusion.
  • Elliot’s hair is growing in a mohawk pattern. I sort of hope it continues. I don’t want to be one of those moms who manipulate her kid’s hair into a mohawk, but if it happens, it happens.
  • Toys. We don’t seem to have enough of them. What am I missing that is indispensible for the 7-12 month set?
  • Are the Olympics kind of difficult to watch this year? I feel like I have watched hours of the Olympics, but all that I have come away with is that Bob Costas is very stylish and can fold the crap out of a pocket square. I know medals have been awarded, but I keep missing it happen. Though I caught some of this guy’s short program last night. Insane. Why hasn’t Christopher Guest made a movie about figure skating yet?

You're taking us out during naptime again?  You will pay.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Seven Months!

Today the wee chicken and the big bear turn seven months old!  And what feats have they undertaken?  A list:
  • They can sit totally unsupported (still with pillows around them to break their occasional falls).
  • They can get themselves into a sitting position from lying on an incline (like in a boppy).
  • They have recently started babbling, a lot.  Elliot loves his "b" sounds "bwah, bwah, bwah".  They both have "p" sounds too.  We're working on "m".
  • Leah is getting closer to crawling every day.  She can get up on her hands and knees whenever she wants and has begun to rock in an attempt to make forward progress.  Backwards progress generally results, but hey, progress nonetheless.  Elliot is close behind, but still does the swimming on dry land motion when he's trying to move. 
  • They are focusing on individual toys and are really playing with them how they are meant to be played with (Leah has been doing this for some time). 
  • They have some success with sippy cups (when the stars are perfectly aligned).
They have become quite the squirmy little babies.  I have to pin Elliot down to get him in his PJs at night.  I distract Leah by giving her a toy.  They really don't like being immobilized though and will contort themselves to roll under any circumstances. 

So we have two awesome little seven monthers now.  When I think about all the awesomeness that is to come as Leah and Elliot continue to grow and learn and gain new skills, my head hurts (in a good way).  It's almost too much to think about.  I can't wait.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

If you aren't blind from the photo in my last post...

...then here is some adorableness to gouge your eyes out with.

So, guys, what is it you do with Lina while I'm at work?

I see.  And whatcha watchin'?

Chickens.  Duh.  Why did I even ask?


Two Pump Chump

I'm down to two (full) pumping sessions a day!  (Wait, what did you think I meant?) That is two sessions (plus one mini session at work so I can keep access to the pumping room for reading purposes - shhh) from three to four recently, but over the past seven months I have pumped up to eight times per day, including waking up at least once in the night to pump in the beginning (I stopped that when the twins were around 4 months when Craig and I were away for a night at a wedding.  I passed out from, er, dancing so much, and did not wake up until morning.  Delightful morning engorgement followed, but that was the end of pumping overnight.).  I have mixed feelings about being finished with breastfeeding.  I am very happy to give up the pumping (hopefully entirely in the next month or so).  And I am very proud that I was able to provide Elliot and Leah with breastmilk for seven months of their lives (close to 100% of their consumption for the first months to about 25% now).  But it is bittersweet.  I never established a real nursing relationship with my babies.  That makes me a little sad.  When I could have been feeding the babies directly, I was hooked up to a pump (a slick hospital grade pump that I love like a triplet, but a pump just the same).  It is kind of a bummer, when all is said and done, but it is what it is and looking back on what I did wrong when the babies were little (not treating my thrush aggressively enough and nursing through the pain + accepting too much help feeding the babies, for example) is not particularly productive.  Now I am just excited to be done so I can (a) bleach my teeth (b) chemically straighten my hair (c) drink multiple greyhounds in one sitting.  


In other news, I now have a JWOWW-style paint job on my toes from letting my pedicure grow out for so long while trimming my nails.  I really miss grooming.  


This is totally the TMI-iest post in my short blogging life.  

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Picture Time!

Both babies slept through the night last night!  In honor, how about a group photo:

Or not.  Let's do these instead:


Babies (and parents) get some culture at the Museum of Fine Arts:


Sippy cups!

One more try on those group shots, kids?


Forget it.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Mother knows squat

Friday night was a rough night.  A terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night.  Elliot was up and screaming for a good portion of it.  This was by far the longest crying jag we've had in our house.  And Craig and I were especially unhappy about it because on Saturday we were leaving our supposedly perfect and well-behaved babies in the care of my parents, Nanny and Papa.  I warned them that they should expect little to no sleep that night and that we had tried everything to get the Bear to sleep to no avail.  My mom flippantly declared that she was going to try to let him sleep unswaddled and I laughed and laughed (in my head, obvs).  That will NEVER work!  He can't handle arm-freedom and all the flailing and flapping about it entails.  Trust me.  I'm his mother.  Yadda, yadda, yadda…  He slept through the night.  Unswaddled.  Color me an unintuitive ninny.  Then last night, Craig fed Elliot and put him in the pack-n-play with a sleep sack and… wait for it...  Not a peep until 6:30 this morning.  I respectfully ask, WTF, Elliot?  WTF?  So the moral of the story is that I haven't a clue what I am doing.  
In other news, Leah is like this close to crawling.  She is getting up on all fours and trying so hard.  She can also do the backstroke at an amazing clip, and therefore cannot be left alone on elevated surfaces (like our bed).  I'm betting crawling will happen in mere weeks.