New Names

It's time to give the babies new blog names. Lord B and Lady V were just place holders until I got to know them a little better. Now that 3 months have gone by I'm pretty ready to rename them. Lady V has a ton of nick names around here. N calls her Miss V, Miss Miss, and Missy. I hear it so often that I've started using it sometimes. So, "Missy" it is. She still smiles on command but is a little more fussy than she's been in the past. Have I mentioned that her lower lip quivers when she cries. It's adorable.

Lord B is a little tougher. He's shown so much personality in the last two weeks. He actually laughs for N when she cuddles him. I keep trying to get it on video, but he stops abruptly whenever I turn the camera's power on. He's like the Michigan J. Frog of babies. For that reason I'm calling him "J. Frog."

Speaking of new names, it's high time I gave N a name other than her initial. She has a magic touch with the babies and she can always make LR laugh. She said that while she's on duty, she just imagines that she's 10 years-old and that makes it easy to play with LR. She's South Africa's Mary Poppins. We'll go with "Abra," short for Abracadabra.

LR, Missy, J.Frog, and Abra ~ that's much better.

And here's the video of their birth. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CURzGfmht0

3 Nights in a Row!

For the past 3 nights the babies have slept from 8 or 9pm to 5am. It would be amazing except that LR usually still wakes up at least once during the night. When LR was 3 months old he was waking up every 2-4 hours. This is such a different experience. My friend Amy says that God only gives you as much as you can handle. That's why she supposes that her second child is a good sleeper. Her first was like LR and didn't sleep well at all. Since we're not big church goers, I don't know who to thank for getting two good sleepers, but I'm still really grateful.

The first time around, nights were the worst, but the day was great. We were able to watch LR's development in detail. I watched him sit, roll, crawl, coo, wave, make faces, giggle, etc. This time the nights are obviously better, but the days are a crazy hamster wheel. N and I juggle babies, do laundry, pick up after LR, cook meals, have play dates, go to classes with LR, play outside, and change ALL their diapers. There's not a free minute to breathe, much less enjoy every moment of their development. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing out, but then I have to burp a baby.

Warm Days Ahead!

It got up to 75 degrees yesterday! I don't mean this as an ice breaker. I mean that we were able to open the doors wide, turn off the heat in the house, crack the windows, and take the kids - all of them - outside! (You can't imagine what life with LR is like when cooped up all day.) We spent hours outside yesterday. Grandma Nese, who is staying with us while Daddy is in the Philippines this week, bought LR a crab sandbox and six heavy bags of sand. LR had a ball. He helped pick a spot for it and set it up. He even "helped" me wheel the wheelbarrow full of sand. Then he helped Grandma Nese plant flowers for the deck. It was pretty easy to put him to bed last night.

Things I tell everyone over the phone, but forget to write in the blog:

Lady V loves the mobile and can even put herself to sleep under it if left long enough. She is the more content, easy going of the two. She rarely cries unless hungry, but recently has had a nasty bout with gas. She has super strong legs and likes to stand. Her cheeks are HUGE and get comments from passers-by.

Lord B loves to look around. Hold him over your shoulder to get him to stop crying so that he can see out a window. He's been able to hold his head up on his own since he was about 6 weeks. We still get head-butted on occasion, but he's pretty good now. He is far more sensitive about being changed, but has stopped screaming quite so much on the table. He collapses at the knees if you try to make him stand. He's more alert in general with wide-eyes whenever awake.

Wanna Play?

Warning: This post is all over the place.

Check out our very cool new stroller. (Actually, I bought it used, but it still kicks ass.) LR wants to ride in it and rarely asks to be let out. That's a first! The twins have lots of room to recline, so they tend to sleep in it every time we go out. When I talked to other moms with the same configuration of kids, they said this stroller helped to redirect attention from the twins to the toddler.

Every person who walks into our house is asked by LR, "wanna play?" It always makes me feel bad. I think I must be neglecting him... and I guess I am. Now that our grandparent help is gone, N and I are on our own. She and I do what we can with LR when the babies are sleeping, but they rarely go down at the same time. LR definitely has to play by himself sometimes, but it certainly won't harm him in the long run. I take him to gymnastics, playgroup, and music class during the week and every time we get back into the car to go home he announces, "I don't wanna go home." I know, Kiddo. Sorry about that.

On the plus side, the last few weeks they've started sleeping really well. They only get up once during the night. They were waking up every night between midnight and 1am, but now they wake up closer to 3am. Daddy and I get up to feed, burp, and re-swaddle them. Then we put them back to bed. Usually they stay there until at least 6am. It feels like a full night's sleep at this point, so I'm pretty rested. This is far better than LR was at this point.

So finally a bunch of pictures. Sorry for the delay in getting them out. They have, of course, changed a ton already. Enjoy!

Mommy cuddles with Lord B.








LR cuddles Lady V.









LR sports the latest in Easter accessories.












V chills out her own way in the swing. What would we do without those swings?






N holding Lord B the only way that keeps him from fussing.







LR hams it up.







Look, Ma! Smocking!