Picture Post

Grandma W and "Grandma Dad" with Lord B and Lady V their first week home. LR was a little confused by all the Grandmas, so at one point he was calling Grandad "Grandma Dad."





Lord B's first bath with Grandad








Lady V's first bath with Grandma W












LR showing Lord B how this thing works

LR's Adjustment

LR has been amazing with the arrival of his 2 new siblings. I was worried that he'd be aggressive with them and try to poke at their eyes. Instead, he's super gentle. He's more defiant with us now, but he doesn't take any of the frustration of sharing his parents out on them. When they cry he goes over to them and says, "what's wrong, baby?" He tells them "it's okay," and he sings them lullabies. He does snatch their pacifiers from tables and runs around with them in his mouth, but since washing and sterilizing them is easy, I've decided that it's a battle I'm not willing to fight.

His conversation skills have improved and he's sleeping better at night. He's marking his territory a bit with the babies by claiming all the blankets in the house, even those made by Gigi, and Great Aunt BJ for the twins. He's still an amazing social butterfly. He loves gymnastics and our large town play group. He says "hi" to everyone on the street and preys other kids in stores, tracking them as potential playmates.

I promise to get more photos up. We have a ton, I've just been staying busy from feeding to feeding. It's amazing how little I can get done around the house. Laundry, dishes, paying bills, etc. is a challenge. I'm still only getting a broken 5 hours of sleep each night, but N and Grandma Nese are helping out, so sometimes I get a nap in during the day.

More next on our family outings. We finally made it out of the house!

Different From Head to Toe

(The first picture is from the level 2 nursery. Lord B has the oxygen tube in. The second picture is of them on their way home from the hospital. Lady V had already been home, but this was Lord B's first trip.)

Here's a snippet of the conversation both Daddy and I have each had when strangers ask us about Lord B and Lady V.

Stranger: What are they?
Daddy: A boy and a girl.
Stranger: Are they identical?
Daddy: Uh...

We've decided that the best possible response is, "Yes, except for the penis."

Actually, these two are as different as siblings can be despite Daddy's claim that they looked identical when they were on the warming tables. Lady V has a much bigger head than Lord B. Her hair is wavy as if she got a baby perm for her debut. His hair is darker than hers even though they both have brown hair right now. Neither have eyebrows, but she has my shape eyes and he has Daddy's. I know because when Lord B opens his eyes wide, you can see white over the top of the irises and only Daddy has eyes that do that. Right now they give Lord B a "crazy eyes" kind of look.

Lord B has a distinctly long, straight nose while Lady V has the same nose as Hudson. Presumably it's my pre-surgery nose. His lips are slightly more full than hers and he seems to have a tiny dimple in his chin suggesting that he'll have Daddy's small cleft. I also forgot to mention in the post introducing him that he was tongue-tied at birth which means his frenulum, the membrane that attaches the tongue to the bottom of the mouth, extended too far out and was potentially keeping him from nursing correctly. We had the doctor clip the membrane back to prevent any future problems. Luckily, the procedure is painless and bloodless.

As for the rest of their bodies, he has a divot in his sternum that she doesn't have. They both have round little bellies and sticks for legs and arms. I keep waiting for them to gain that chubby baby weight on their thighs, but I haven't seen it yet.

The C-section

C-sections are weird. It's hard to imagine staying awake during major abdominal surgery, so you just try to focus on the babies and not the cutting. I was a little worked up from the pre-surgery routine when they tried 7 times to get 2 IVs running, one in each hand. I couldn't plump up my crappy veins since I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight before the surgery, so the veins just kept collapsing. They finally called in the anesthesiologist to get the last one. Actually, the last 4 sticks wouldn't have been necessary had they drawn enough blood from the first IV. *sigh*

After that I walked into the OR and Daddy stayed behind. The anesthesiologist was waiting and quickly administered the spinal. Then in a matter of seconds they had me down on the table being prepped for surgery. First thing they did was to haul my johnny up to my chest and all sense of modesty was gone. I was completely exposed to a room of a dozen people or more. There were 2 teams ready for the delivery, one for Lord B and one for Lady V. Then there were surgical nurses, my OB, a med student, and the anesthesiologist. When Daddy walked in he was surprised to see a dozen people around the room. I saw him come in and was still weepy from the episode with the IV. He sat in a chair strategically placed next to my head and behind the screen.

When they took the kids to the warming tables, Daddy went over to look at them. When he turned back, it was tough to avoid seeing part of the surgery, but it didn't phase him too much. I think his exact words were, "umm... gross." The head pediatrician came over to show me the babies and to tell me that they were doing exceptionally well for preemies. As he was finishing up, I started getting intense pain in my neck. I turned my head from the side to look back up at the ceiling while calling for the anesthesiologist to help me. He said it was reflexive pain from what was going on in the surgery. It was intense pain, but he eased it with some medication via the IV within a minute or two.

When I looked back, the pediatrician was gone. Daddy then left to go to the nursery with the kids while they put me back together. A little while later, I started to get queasy. I told the doctor and she said, "I was just putting your uterus back in place, so that's not a surprise. You don't miss a thing!" Weird. I thought the queasiness would go away, but it got worse, so I asked for a basin and started breathing faster to indicate that it wasn't an idle threat. The anesthesiologist administered another drug and the feeling went away. Later when we talked to Papa about it, he said that that anesthesiology is a "dark art," which seems funny, but definitely rings true.

Then it was off to recovery with my numb legs. The first couple of days recovering were rough, but I had the babies to focus on, so it was manageable. By the end of the first week I wasn't in pain anymore. Vivian and I went home on Monday Jan 21st and Beckett came home on Wednesday Jan 23rd.

Welcome, Lady V!

Lady V entered the world on Jan 17th at 9:39am, 2 minutes after her brother. She was not 10 seconds old when she reached up and grabbed the umbilical clamp being held by the surgical nurse. She wrapped her fingers around so that they were in danger of being clamped and the nurse announced that everyone should stop. My OB immediately stopped and then they pried her fingers off the clamp. Later the OB told me she didn't know how tiny baby fingers would fair if they were clamped. After that she grabbed the nurse's sleeve. The OB said at that point she banished Lady V to the warming table and told the staff to "get this brat out of my sterile field." (In a very sweet way, of course.) At the warming table she first grabbed the blanket and then scored an 8 at the one minute apgar and a 10 at the 5 minute apgar. The pediatrician said they don't usually give newborns 10s and especially not when they're preemies, so he was thrilled with how good they looked. She weighed 5 lbs. 3 oz. and measured 18.25 inches. They showed her to me while I was still on the table and then they took her to the nursery for her bath and evaluation.

She spent one day in an open crib in the level 2 nursery while they evaluated her and checked to make sure she could maintain her body temperature. After that she was moved to the regular nursery. I kept her in my room during the day so that I could nurse her and then they kept her during the night. By the fourth day I was taking her to the level 2 nursery to try tandem feeding with her brother. It worked fairly well and the nurses helped me get them latched on. Around the same time she hit a cold patch and needed a little Kangaroo Care. Then she warmed back up and was ready to go home with me on Monday.

Welcome to the family, Lady V!

Welcome, Lord B!

Lord B entered the world on Jan 17th at 9:37am. He emerged quietly thanks to a mouthful of amniotic fluid. At the warming table he scored an 8 at the one minute apgar and a 9 at the 5 minute apgar. He weighed 4 lbs. 13.4 oz. and measured 18 inches. They showed him to me while I was still on the table and then they took him to the nursery for his bath and evaluation.

Turns out that aspirated amniotic fluid kept him in the level 2 nursery in an incubator for 6 days. He came home on the seventh. The first day he was grunting and laboring to breathe, so they put in an IV for fluids and an oxygen tube to aid his breathing. They monitored his oxygen level with a little sensor taped to his foot. The oxygen tube broke my heart. It pulled at his skin where it was taped to his cheeks and I always thought I was hurting him when I held him. The second day he was still breathing quickly, but he wasn't grunting anymore. We used Kangaroo Care which is skin to skin contact to help him stabilize his body temperature during those first days. He couldn't stay warm outside the incubator.

I was finally able to nurse him on the fourth day when he came off the IV. Around the 5 day mark he was jaundiced, so they adding bili lights to the incubator and covered his eyes with a little mask. Eventually it irritated the bridge of his nose, so they tried variations on the mask to avoid skin breakdown. Then at the end of the 5th day he came off the oxygen and managed to keep his O2 stats at normal levels overnight. That was the end of the oxygen tube! On the 6th day he came out from under the bili lights and the next morning they were able to take him out of the incubator. We gratefully took him home shortly after.

Welcome to the family, Lord B!

Last Day as an Only Child

Since the twins won't be home for another 4 or 5 days at least, LR won't feel the pinch right away, but as of tomorrow he will officially cease to be an only child. N has been preparing him by playing with his baby doll we bought him almost a year ago to go with his stroller. He's never shown much interest in it, but after a couple of play dates with friends who have baby siblings now, LR is much more interested. He named his baby after his friend's baby brother, Cooper. I came home from the hospital yesterday and found N and LR playing with Cooper by counting his fingers and toes, classifying the fish on his stroller, and pointing out his eyes, ears, and mouth. Then LR took him out of the stroller and cuddled him on the couch. I'm really grateful to N for picking up on his interest and reinforcing it. She tries to make sure he's gentle with the baby, but he still sometimes flings Cooper out of the stroller.

This past weekend we had a nice, although quick, visit with Papa and Nese. LR got to go in Papa's airplane a couple of times. He was thrilled to just hang out at the airport a bit. It was a bright day, so the shadows are a little deep in the photos. I'll have to work on that. Before we got to the airport to pick them up, LR informed me that we needed to watch out for the propellers. I was impressed that he remembered the word and my warning from the last time they were here at Thanksgiving.

We also got another snow storm this week. Everything had finally melted from the last series of storms and now we have a fresh 6 inches on the ground. LR is starting to get better at walking through the snow. N likes to take him outside at least once a day and he loves having snowball fights with her.

At my OB's office yesterday, I measured at 44 weeks even though I'm only 35. The kids are still moving and my blood pressure seems to be holding steady. She double checked with me on whether or not I wanted to try an induction and I gracefully declined. I think "hell no" is what I said. She agreed that risking another long induction wasn't a good idea and that twin B, the girl, will be better off with a c-section.

It may be a while until I post again and hopefully by then I'll think of some nicknames to use on the blog for our new additions.

Crack Your Head

I keep forgetting the things I want to blog about, so pardon the random nature of this post. One thing that I find endlessly amusing is that LR has started to pick up some of N's South African phrases such as "you'll crack your head" when he does something dangerous. He's really taken to her and that makes all of us feel good about our new family. Tonight she's putting him to bed for the first time in preparation of next week's craziness. Despite protests from my nephrologist, we're still on for a Jan 17th c-section.

We've decided to get rid of LR's naps. We tried the 3pm naps and the 9pm bedtime, but it wasn't working well, so the past few days we've just skipped the nap. Last night he slept for 12 hours! This child has never slept for 12 hours, so I think we have a winning plan here. Just in time too! Last night he did wake up at 4am and come down the hall. Daddy intercepted him halfway and I heard LR say, "I'm looking for my mommy," as if I were playing hide-and-seek with him. It was cute enough to let him come to our bed and finish the night there. The new schedule has him nodding off at dinner, but he's quickly revived with a bath and then bedtime is smoother and faster.

Sleep has been difficult for me recently. Between the constant need to pee and the tossing and turning, I'm only getting a few hours at a time. Because of the constant interruptions, I've been having vivid dreams, but the one that I've now had 2 nights in a row is that I'm going on a trip with my family and I'm the only one not packed or ready to go. Wonder what that could mean? At least I'm not having the teeth-falling-out dream.

The pics for this post don't really relate to the text, they're just recent ones that I like. Actually, I don't like the one of me, but I've had lots of requests from family to see how big I am. That picture is from 32 weeks. I'll be 35 tomorrow and I'll take the final horrifying pics before the c-section.

I don't like this

LR has been eating a ton of new and different foods. Yesterday I went out to lunch with some ex-coworkers and brought home more than half of my chicken stir fry. LR has rejected most meats since he started solid foods, but for some reason, the chicken was a hit when I warmed up my leftovers for him for dinner. He was eating while standing in his tower at the kitchen island when N came up and was chatting with me about his day. When I turned away, he put a large piece of bok choy in his mouth. For whatever reason, taste, texture, or size, LR spit it back onto the plate and emphatically announced, "I don't like this!" At first N and I thought he was talking about us having a conversation and not focusing on him. Then I realized he meant the food. It's the first time he's said something other than, "no like!" I was worried that his cute phrase was gone for good, but I've heard him say it since then. I'm sure it'll be gone soon though.

He used another great phrase in the car the other day when we past a pond which had frozen over. N asked him if he saw all the ice on the pond and he replied, "much too icy for Hudson." I'm pretty sure he picked up the "much too" from N. He also makes "batteries" a 2 syllable word the way she does. He'll be speaking Afrikaans before we know it. 

New Teeth!

Last week we noticed that the pads of LR's thumb, index finger, and middle finger on both hands were getting so dry that the skin was cracking. For his thumb, we even had to moisturize it and put a band aid on it two nights in a row. (Actually for his hands we need band aids AND medical tape, otherwise, he just rips it off.) I thought it was the dry weather, but then I realized he was sticking his fingers in his mouth a lot. I thought it was awfully late to start sucking his thumb and then it hit me that his 2 year molars were probably coming through. I watched him stick his fingers all the way to the back of his mouth and not gag himself, so that night I asked him to open his mouth while he was in the bath and, sure enough, I saw molars creeping through on both sides. He even let me put my finger in his mouth to feel them and didn't bite me. It felt a little like putting my head in a lion's mouth. I didn't want to push my luck and try feeling the top, so I'm just assuming those are coming through too.

He hasn't complained about them hurting him, so I guess everything is going smoothly. We're moisturizing his hands as much as we can, but the skin is still cracking and last night the soy sauce from his sushi stung, so he ended up washing his hand in my water glass. (Listen people, I'm too big to be getting up just to get a wet paper towel to wipe his hands. I'll just drink water after dinner.)

Speaking of my big belly, the ultrasound yesterday revealed a huge weight gain by both kids. He put on a pound and 3 ounces and she put on a pound and an ounce in just 2 weeks. That puts her at 4 lbs. 11 oz. and him at 4 lbs. 4 oz. He even crept up from the 24th percentile to the 31st. By the time I deliver on the 17th, she should be just shy of 6 lbs. and he may be near 5.5 lbs. All the doctors have finally agreed to the 17th, so I'll be able to deliver at the same hospital at which LR was delivered. So, 14 days and counting!

ABCs

LR has been working on his ABCs for a long time now. He often gets all the way through, but if he's really fixated on something, he'll include whatever that thing is into the song. For example, if he's thinking about cars he'll sing it this way:

"A B C D cars E F G cars H I J K cars L M N O cars..."

It cracks me up when he does that. Here's a clip of him singing while watching himself in the video camera's screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTADchglxgM = widescreen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7jJM6jzWBY = standard

(I'm still learning about how to create movies, so my first attempt today was widescreen.)

Sympathetic Little Guy

Yesterday LR wanted me to get off the couch to play cars with him, so I sat up. He grabbed my hands in his and said, "getting bigger and bigger!" Had it come from anyone else, it would have earned that person a serious kick to the shins. Instead, I laughed and gave LR a kiss. He's gotten very conversational recently. He'll tell me about his day or what just happened on TV. He's also a little more cuddly which is nice. Sometimes I get a random hug and Daddy always gets a running tackle-hug to the legs when he walks in the door from work.

Luckily, the snow has started to melt, so both Daddy and Noula have taken him for walks this week. Last week it was nearly impossible to go outside as you can see from the photos. His playhouse was half buried in snow. He peeked out just enough for me to snap a photo. The bulkhead was the only island he could get to. Otherwise, he was often waist-deep and struggled to follow Daddy around the yard. Daddy made a great, big snow family and LR helped me poke holes in one of the smaller snowmen.

You can't see how big I am in the photo, but you'll just have to trust me on this one. I'm HUGE. The doctors are debating a Jan 10th delivery vs. a Jan 17th one. The big difference is that if I go Jan 10th, I'll be just shy of 35 weeks which means I deliver at a hospital downtown with a NICU and the surgery will be performed by my high risk doctor. If I deliver Jan 17th, I can have my OB perform the surgery at the same hospital in Cambridge where we had LR. A few days make a huge difference here. They're debating bed rest despite the fact that the labs look fine and I'm feeling okay. (Okay is so relative when you're carrying twins.) I should find out the results of the latest set of labs on Monday.

Christmas Day

Well, we celebrated early, so it's actually the day before Christmas. Corbin and Yanni are with us for a few days and they've been amazing at helping us out around the house. The two new cribs are assembled and in place. Large pieces of furniture have been relocated to make room for the new stuff. LR is constantly entertained by someone and Corbin cooked a wonderful Christmas feast.

We started the day early and opened presents first thing. I wish I had opened my new MacBook (yes, I have officially joined the dark side) because I was able to have a video conference within an hour with Grandma W and Grandad B. Instead of being able to watch him open their presents, I've posted a movie of LR opening his first presents of the day from his stocking. His reaction to each present was pretty fun to watch. I'll get better at editing and uploading movies soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-lZgRvU2jY

Twin Update

Daddy and I went to the 32 week ultrasound yesterday. At the 28 week ultrasound, Baby Girl was 2 lbs. 11 oz. and Baby Boy was 2 lbs. 6 oz., putting them around the 60th and 40th percentiles respectively. Yesterday she measured at 3 lbs. 10 oz. and he measured at 3 lbs. 1 oz., putting them in the 44th and 24th percentiles. We started to worry about 1) the growing difference in their weight and 2) the drop in percentiles. When the high risk doc made his appearance, he assured us that he didn't see a problem on either count. 9 oz. isn't that big a spread especially since Baby Boy has always been behind Baby Girl and twins tend to slow down in their growth towards the end of the pregnancy. Regardless, Daddy has put me on a strict bacon and bon-bons diet from here on.

In other twin news, at 5am this morning Baby Girl decided to have a lightswitch rave while Baby Boy got the hiccups. I think she scared him into getting the hiccups. He gets them daily now. Haven't felt her hiccup once yet.

Sledding Fun

Because I grew up in a warm climate, I don't think I've really been able to appreciate winters in New England. As an adult, they've always meant lots of layers which meant extra laundry loads, cold fingers and toes, hours of shoveling, and cold car rides. But watching LR go sledding today with Daddy gave me a new appreciation for what it means to live where it snows (and snows, and snows).

First of all I learned not to walk in the sled path since there is an art to packing down the run. After searching in vain for a sled yesterday (and missing the last one at Target by moments), Daddy decided to construct his own out of a box and a heavy duty garbage bag. Oh and duct tape. Lots of duct tape. He put LR in the sled and sent him down a small slope behind our house a couple of times. On the third run LR got a little spray of snow in the face and decided he didn't want to do it again. Daddy did a run by himself which LR thought was pretty funny. Then LR was happy to go on a ride with Daddy and had a big smile on his face the whole way.

The rest of the time was spent getting to and from the house with LR stopping ever few feet and announcing, "I'm stuck!" and then making grunting noises as if he were trying to free himself. Daddy carried him a lot of the way because it honestly was about waist deep for the little kid.

I still miss the endless number of beautiful days in San Diego, but mornings like today make some of the frostbite worth it.

Foot of Snow

We had a big snow storm yesterday. Luckily N, LR, and I made it to the mall and back just before the snow started. I saw signs on the highway warning about the approaching weather, so I knew it wasn't going to be good. Luckily, Daddy had done an install the night before and was awake from 1:30-6am, so he was working from home and not out on the roads.

N tried to get LR down for a nap, but when that didn't work, she bundled him up and took him out into the snow. It was only a few inches deep at that point and he seemed pretty zoned when he was out there. I could tell he was tired and fighting it. I got a few decent pictures, but the snow got in the way of a bunch of them.

This morning the snow is at least a foot deep and I woke once last night to the sound of snow plows scraping the asphalt and then backing up with a loud "beep beep beep." LR would have loved to watch, but he's sleeping in since he missed that nap yesterday. I keep wondering if he's outgrowing his nap, but then I watch him on those days where he skips it and he's an absolute basket case in the evenings. Yesterday he almost fell asleep while eating dinner and he wiped out numerous times, hitting his head twice. There is no doubt that he should still be napping, but somehow I have to convince him of that.

Adventures in Shoveling

LR was thrilled this past weekend when Daddy let him help shovel the snow off the driveway. We could only find 2 shovels, but they were both light enough for LR to wield. He might have taken a swing at the bumper of the wagon with the metal one, but whatever, Saturns are meant to take abuse like that. It was a toasty 40 degrees which is why Daddy went out without a coat. I still made LR put on a sweatshirt and when the wind kicked up, I added a jacket on top of that.

For a while LR was content to shovel in our driveway, but eventually he decided the lawn needed shoveling and the neighbor's jungle gym should definitely be cleared off. He's a little tentative about his new snow boots because I accidentally let him into the garage on his own with them on for the first time. He tried to negotiate the 3 stairs and fell face first, banging his head (incidentally in the same spot he always seems to bang his head... do kids have a favorite injury spot? I'm going to have to teach him how to lead with his elbow earlier than I thought!) Since then he's been wary about walking in his boots. Can't say I blame him.

In other news, my blood pressure has started to creep up, but I'm hoping we'll control it with medication. It's earlier than I would have liked to see it happen, but since I look full term, it's not that big of a surprise either. The babies weigh about 3 pounds each now and are closing in on 16 inches. I'm crossing my fingers for 6 more weeks. By that point they should be about 6 pounds and 18-19 inches.

Christmas Tree

The first picture for this post is almost 2 weeks old, but it's been a while since I downloaded my CompactFlash card. Funny... it used to be a very big card, but with my new camera, it seems to be a little on the small size. 4 years of technology will do that. Anyway, love the smiles, guys!

N has been here just a week, but already things feel more relaxed around the house. LR is still pushing boundaries and doing his typical 2-year-old thing, but N is making it easier for us to get out the door to go to work or just get things done around the house. Unfortunately, there are many more extra errands we have to run to get her set up. There's the bank account, trip to the Social Security office, a cell phone, credit card, winter clothes (she arrived with a thin fleece during a brutal week of temperatures in the teens), and most importantly, her driver's permit. After we get the SSN, we should be all set to go to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. Then we can officially get her on the road - even if it is on the wrong side.

Today we went to pick out a Christmas tree. It was all very exciting. There were lots of small construction vehicles parked among the trees. 2 fork lifts and a front loader had LR's attention and he was upset that he couldn't climb on them. He wasn't so interested in the size, shape, color, and bushiness of the trees. The place we went had it all down to a science with an awesome "tree shaker" for lack of a better term. It violently vibrated the tree so that all the loose needless would shake free before they netted them and checked you out. It was very efficient and as parents of a toddler, we appreciated that. Unfortunately, when we arrived home I found the stand we had purchased had a broken bit which prevented us from being able to secure the tree. I made a trip back to the store after lunch and the teenager at the cash register was overwhelmed enough to skip the whole exchange and receipt check and just let me swap the stands. *phew* I also purchased some unbreakable balls for the tree, but LR just treated them like all his other balls and started throwing them around the house. Our tree has only the top 3 feet decorated now. Looks kinda funny, but oh well.

Zoo Lights, Papa's Plane, First Snow

The last night the family was here for the Thanksgiving holiday, we went to the zoo lights at our local zoo. LR loved all of it with the exception of a very large polar bear which needed a compressor to make it turns its head and blink its eyes every few minutes. He hid behind Papa's legs. Papa picked him up and you can see LR peeking at the ferocious polar bear from behind Papa's protective shoulder. We moved on pretty quickly, but he loved the rest of the night despite the cold temperatures. The mittens kept slipping off, but he was content to wear them for the most part.

At the end of the twinkling path was a little carousel. LR really wanted to ride, so we got tickets for Daddy and Grandma Nese to take him. They picked a friendly looking horse and tried repeatedly to get LR to sit on it. LR was game, but every time they sat him down he complained. Finally, they realized that the metal seat and pole were way too cold for LR. Daddy gallantly removed his jacket and put it on the horse's back. Then LR sat without a problem and the ride began. He loved every minute of the ride. You can see his immediate reaction to the jacket protecting his temperature sensitive bum in the second carousel picture.

When it was time to take the family to the plane, LR came with me and barely stayed awake on the way to the airport. It was near nap time, but he was glad he stayed awake because he got to see Papa's plane. Grandma Nese hopped into the cockpit with LR and let him put on a headset. From his seat he could see other planes and jets around him. He was in heaven. I'm surprised I got him out of there at all. Since that day, LR has asked to see Papa's plane every day. He tells me he wants to take a ride in the minivan to see Papa's plane. I tell him that we will the next time Papa comes to visit. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold him off though. We might have to make a trip to Logan just to watch the planes take off. It won't be the same as sitting in the cockpit though, kiddo!

This morning we woke up to our first decent snow of the season. When LR woke up, I brought him downstairs. He caught a glimpse of outside and said "snow!" I took him to the window and asked him, "what is that?" "It's Christmas," he said. I guess the books about Christmas are the ones where he sees snow most often. Cute kid. He also thought the neighbors' house was like a train because of the smoke coming out of the chimney.

Curious George

First of all, we have a lovely new camera which was a gift from Grandma W and Grandad B. It is awesome and doesn't have the nasty delay our old camera had. It's the perfect thing for when the twins arrive. It's also better with those indoor photos and since winter is here and the twins are arriving soon, that's probably where most of the photos will be. We had tons of opportunities to test it out during the holidays and I got a few good pictures of LR with the family. Unfortunately, LR got a little cold during their stay, but it cleared up after only a couple of days. He got to go see their plane when they left and he's been obsessing about seeing the "big jet planes" since. Speaking of obsessions... LR has a new favorite show. Curious George is awesome. We went to a George themed birthday party of a friend of his a few months ago. He left the party with a goody bag of George stuff which he didn't appreciate at the time, but he does now. The best is a big foam yellow hat. LR can pretend he's the man in the yellow hat now.

LR's imagination is growing every day. Grandma Nese bought LR some adorable Gymboree gloves. They are raccoons with the thumb creating the bottom of the mouth and in between the main part of the mitten and the thumb is an extra piece of red material which is the tongue. LR was standing in his tower eating some grapes when I grabbed the raccoon mittens and started making the raccoon "eat" the grapes. Of course, with no where to go, the grapes had to go back into the bowl, so I had the raccoon spit the grape out while saying "bleh." LR thought it was just about the funniest thing ever. He wanted to put on a mitten and play too. Aunt K and I took turns playing with him and the game must have lasted at least 20 minutes. He laughed so hard that Aunt K and I couldn't help laughing along with him. We made our raccoon characters spit the grapes out for various reasons, but the basic retching sound got the biggest laughs. We had been having a hard time getting LR to keep his mittens on outside, but not anymore!

NOTE: The au pair arrives today! I can't wait to meet her in person. We'll call her N for now.

Ouchie

The following is an excerpt of a conversation I had with LR yesterday after he walked into a door frame during a game of chase with Grandma Nese.

Me: Did you hit your head?
LR: Hit head. *sniff*
Me: Where did you hit your head?
LR: On the wall.

Then LR got off my lap and walked over to the wall to show me where exactly he had hit his head. He and the wall recovered quickly.

Hair Cut

This post is way overdue, I know. So in recent news, LR got a professional haircut for the first time in a very long time. I was tired of chasing him around with the Norelco razor three nights in a row to get a crappy version of a buzz cut. I could never get around the ears or the neck! Last time I took a divot out of the top of his head and I realized one of the plastic tines had broken and was scraping his scalp with each stroke. Nice. On the recommendation of a friend, I took him to Snip-its, a kids only barber shop. Imagine a Disney barber shop and you're pretty much there. Each cutting station has its own TV where they show a relatively lame Snip-its branded cartoon with Snips the Scissors, the head of the Snip-its gang. Anyway, when he first sat down he got to play with bubbles. Then she brought out the razor and he started to freak out. Then he cried. I gave him a lollipop, which they have a huge stash of, and immediately realized my mistake as it was quickly coated with hair clippings. *blech* So I held his hands to keep him from reaching up and getting cut and tried to talk to him about how well he was doing. At one point I said, "I know... it's torture," to which the nice lady cutting his hair replied, "we don't use words like 'cut' or 'torture' so that the kids will want to come back." While I understood the reasoning, 1. LR doesn't know the meaning of the word, 2. he wasn't paying any attention to what I was saying, 3. it was like torture since I had to restrain him during a scary procedure. Anyway, it was worth the premium I paid for a fast, nice looking haircut. For a few days afterward, he asked about whether or not we were going to get his hair cut again. I reassured him by saying that his hair was nice and short and he didn't need another hair cut for a few months. Now I catch him saying "nice, short hair" every once in a while.

So the first picture in this post is of Daddy playing "we're snails" with LR. LR always wants to chase Daddy when he gets home from work. Daddy is almost always accomodating, but on this particular night, Daddy was pretty tired. Instead he told LR they were going to play "snails." LR sat down next to Daddy and mimicked him. When Daddy started to scoot toward Daddy, "chasing" him like a snail, LR jumped up and ran away. Daddy had to convince him that snails don't run, they scoot. LR came back and played for another minute, but lost interest quickly. I laughed the entire time at Daddy's attempt to keep play time quiet. Commendable effort though!

The second picture is of me pointing the camera straight down after Daddy asked LR where the babies are. LR definitely knows where they are! I have so many pictures to post, but I'm going to let them come out with a bunch of follow up posts. I need to cover his new Curious George obsession, his Raccoon mittens, and his nice visit with the family over Thanksgiving.

Big Bedtime Success

So it's 6:39am and LR is still not awake yet. Daddy's still not awake either. The only reason I'm awake is because when I woke at 5:15, I was so excited that he was sleeping through that I couldn't get back to sleep. And I started thinking about baby names and then it was all over.

Daddy put him to sleep last night and he hasn't been out of bed since. *smile* This is the first time since we moved him from the crib to a big-boy-bed that he's slept through the night - and it's all thanks to our new bedtime routine. Frustrated with the hour long struggle to get him to sleep and knowing that the au pair and the twins are coming soon, I was trying to figure out an alternative. Daddy was convinced we'd need to lock his door and let him scream it out. I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I looked online for suggestions. On babycenter.com I found a little article describing how to put kids to bed without using fear. I think the line that interested me most was the one that described fear as having unpredictable results. Would he hate being in his room at any point during the day if we locked him in? Would he get angry and resentful around bedtime? Even though I knew it would "work," I didn't want to put any of us through that.

So the article went on to describe a bedtime game where he has to have his head on his pillow to receive a goodnight kiss and a tuck in. Then you leave the room. He obviously will follow and you have to turn around and take him back to bed. Then you act surprised that the bed is empty. Well in practice I had to alter the game slightly, but LR giggled his way through the routine 2 nights ago. He played sometimes and tried to figure out ways to get me to come back without having to get back in bed, but after and hour and a half at 10pm sharp, he fell asleep on his own. It was huge victory and he only woke once during the night. There was no screaming or crying and even though I was exhausted by the end, I knew we were headed the right direction.

Last night it took an hour instead of an hour and a half and LR was asleep by 9:15 instead of 10. I talked to a friend yesterday who was doing something similar with her 2 year-old and she said that after a week they could tuck him in and he would stay. The article also indicated that a week was all it would take. Crossing my fingers, but it's 7am now and he's still asleep...

Where are the babies?

Note: Finally was able to post pictures in the Halloween post. See below. The picture at the left is of LR playing with a ticklish card that Gigi sent for Halloween.

LR has definitely figured out where the babies are. I can't remember if I blogged about it before or not, but we have a game we play in the evenings sometimes with his stuffed bunny, Rye the Bunny. LR runs out of his room, picks imaginary vegetables from the floor in the hallway, runs back into his room and feeds Rye. He picks carrots, lettuce, and corn typically, calling out what he's feeding Rye as he does it. He also makes the noise of Rye eating for him.

Well, 2 days ago while Daddy and LR played "tow truck, dump truck" on LR's rug, LR decided the babies needed milk. I was sitting in the glider watching the fun when LR ran out of the room, picked imaginary milk from the floor, and ran back in to feed the babies by poking me in the belly. He made eating sounds and then ran back out to pick carrots, then lettuce, then corn. The babies were very hungry.

Team Support

There is a tradition at Tufts where students paint the cannon on the hill. Often it's for an event or celebration. Groups carefully stake out the night of the planned painting, check around campus to see who else has made noise about painting the cannon, then paint and protect the cannon the rest of the night. The rugby team decided to do just that the other night in honor of making it to the D3 final 4 and managed to get a few pictures of their stellar work.

In the second picture you can see they painted "Kara Jr." on the back of the cannon. I picked up the photo from one of the team member's postings on Facebook. The caption said, "represent the babies." I love my team.

Dirty Cucumber

LR has started to get a little sensitive about food and dirt. Like his cousin Bud, he's started asking to have his hands wiped when they get sticky or dirty while eating. For that reason he's getting better with a fork and spoon. He still gets frustrated and goes back to shoveling food in with his hand and then wiping it after each bite on his shirt. Recently we've been giving him cut up cucumber which he loves. When he finishes his portion, he'll ask for some from the salad bowl which typically has dressing on it. The vinaigrette that we've been using has spice which to LR looks suspiciously like dirt. He inspects each piece I fish out for him, announces that it's dirty, and makes me wipe it off. I keep telling him it's spice and not dirt, but he clearly doesn't believe me.

Yesterday Daddy took LR to the doctor since on Sunday he complained that his ear hurt. The doctor said there was some fluid behind his ears, but that they're not infected. We have to go back in a month to check them again. I just want his cold to be over soon. He's better now about having his nose wiped because the constant dripping makes him uncomfortable, but he still doesn't love it. The cold weather doesn't help either. When we go outside he's like a faucet because of the cold air. With rugby finished we're not spending quite as much time running around outside, but then he's not wearing out as quickly as he should and bedtime is still an exercise in patience.

Halloween

We had a great time trick or treating and LR really got into the swing of it. We practiced during the day with his pumpkin basket. We'd knock on the door to the garage and then I'd pretend to open it. He's say the right words and I'd put a lollipop in his basket. Then he took it out and ate it. For that reason we only practiced twice.

Daddy came home just in time to go out. LR was ready to go in his skeleton costume that Daddy picked out for him. The weather was perfect in the high fifties, so the costume kept him just the right temp since it was sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Only when we got outside did I realize that an all black costume at night was a bad idea so near a busy road. Daddy and I stuck close by his side though, so it wasn't a problem.

At the first door, LR tried to back out, but Daddy rang the door bell and our lovely neighbor and mother to our baby sitters opened the door. LR changed his mind as soon as he saw her, climbed the steps and said "trick or treat!" She put a candy in his pumpkin and when prompted he said "thank you!" Then he wanted to go in her house. We got him to go back out to the sidewalk by lighting his way with flashlights. We each had one. LR with his little plastic one, me with an LED, and Daddy with the Mag light. I think he was just thrilled to be walking around in the dark.

We hit about 6 houses and LR did the right thing at each door. He definitely tried to grab more out of bowls that were held out to him, but otherwise did okay. The only other glitch was when we saw a house with spooky decorations. LR wanted to see what was going on, but halfway up the long staircase he heard the audio recording playing and turned into my legs claiming "scary." I picked him up and said "Don't worry. We won't go to the scary house," and turned and walked back down the stairs. The rest of the night he fixated on it. Right up until bed time he was saying "Don't worry. Go scary." I assured him each time that we would not return to the scary house.

All in all, we had a great time. LR wanted to break into his candy as soon as we got home, of course, but it was bath and then bed time.

The Difference Between Twins and Singletons

Here is a picture of SwingDaddy and Lady M's Halloween pumpkins from this year. They are expecting their second child a few months after the twins. Their pumpkins are very happy pumpkins.



No joke. These are our pumpkins from this Halloween. Daddy's is the bigger one. See the difference?






Tomorrow I'll blog all about LR's Halloween adventures.

First Try on the Potty

Looks like LR is ready for potty training (and as expectant parents of twins, not a moment too soon as far as we're concerned). We've had 2 potties in 2 different bathrooms for around a month and showed him how to sit, but it's mostly been a toy and a stool for him. Last night Daddy took his favorite bath toy, a large rubber dinosaur with a hole in his belly, and had him "pee" in the potty for LR's entertainment. At that moment it clicked for LR. He absolutely had to have a turn on the potty and if he hadn't just peed in the bath before getting out, he would have been successful. He sat down on the potty, tucked himself behind the special, boy splash guard that these potties have now, clenched his teeth and little hands, and really tried to pee. We were halfway between laughing and applauding his efforts.

In other news, LR is getting into coloring more. We inherited an Ikea table and chairs from a neighbor and now it's his designated coloring table, although he really enjoys coloring on the couch with Daddy most of all.

Scared

LR has been using the phrase "scary part" to describe an upcoming part of a movie he doesn't like for a while. For example, he's not a fan of the marionettes in The Polar Express. I have to fast forward through them every time. Recently, he's started using the word "scary" every time he goes into a room without the lights on. He stops at the edge of the light and runs back into the room I'm in, grabs my hand and drags me to the dark room, declaring (loudly), "scary! Scary!" It happens more now that we're losing light so early in the day. Luckily, it doesn't seem to apply to his room at night.

Speaking of LR's room, we finally have his crib converted to a double bed and he loves it. I love that I no longer have to heave myself off the floor at night after putting him to sleep. After he recovered from that last cold, he was waking up only once at night. I was finally starting to get some decent sleep again. Then, on Saturday night he was up every half hour. I suspected the start of a cold and sure enough, his nose was runny on Sunday. He didn't seem to mind although he's figured out how to wipe his nose on his sleeve. I've convinced him to let me wipe his nose now although I have to tell him to blow. Last night we gave him Motrin now that Dimetapp Cough and Cold has been deemed useless. He slept better, but was still up 3 or 4 times. Today he's more congested and coughing a bit. Crossing my fingers that croup doesn't show up again.

In the meantime, not sure what to do about practice on Tues. My normal sitter can't do it and I can't leave him at a playdate since I don't want other kids infected. Yes, our season has been extended unexpectedly. The ladies made the first round of playoffs, won in a tight and rainy 7-5 game against St. Michael's College, and made it to the semi finals for our division. We'll be meeting a team we lost to already this season, so I don't have high hopes, but any given Saturday... Here's the kicker. Not expecting to win the game, I told the team I'd name a twin after the high scorer if we won. The young woman who scored the only try AND kicked the conversion is named Kara. She said if Kara Jr. is too awkward, I could use her middle name Ann. Funny, I have no problem with Kara Jr. which is good because that's what the team has been calling her since then.

The twins continue to grow quickly. Last Wed, twin A (boy) measured 1 lb 4 oz. Twin B (girl) measured 1 lb. 5 oz. They both seem to be right on track for singletons. This time, he was underneath and she was on top. Her head and his butt were right under my right ribcage which explains the pressure I was feeling last week when I breathed. They both kick in distinctly different areas, so when people ask me if it's different to carry 2 vs. 1, I can say, yes. The kicking is more constant, came earlier, and is clearly from 2 different little animals.