My Own Cabbage Patch Kid

When I was 6, the Cabbage Patch Kids craze struck. I was no different than the other girls in my class. I was hoping for a special doll with its own birth certificate which would verify that this doll, indeed, miraculously sprouted from a cabbage with an "Xavier Roberts" stamp on its foot. My grandma turned into what I imagined was a warrior, fighting off attackers as she scooped up a doll for me at her local Toys R Us - not once, but 3 times. Within a year I had a boy, a girl, and a preemie boy. If it was a predictor of my future, it wasn't far off. Today I have my very own, live cabbage patch kid. Recently, a friend said that Missy's mouth was squished by her very large cheeks. I took a look, and sure enough, just like a cabbage patch kid. Luckily, there's no stamp on her foot. When she smiles though, the grin takes over her whole face!

A friend of mine came over on Thursday so that we could finally introduce our kids... all of them. We met when we were searching for our au pair. She and her husband live a few streets away. They have a son who is 6 months older than LR and they were due with boy/girl fraternal twins a month after us. We were shocked at the similarities and became fast friends. With the craziness that is our lives today, it's no wonder that it took us this long to get them all together. We tried to get all 6 in the picture, but the older boys were busy playing trains. We didn't plan it, but both girls were in green and both boys in blue. The older boys had matching shorts and t-shirts on as well. It was a little odd. Her au pair is holding J. Frog in the picture while Abra holds her son. I didn't notice until now, but all the babies are looking at Missy in the picture. She's trying to play it cool though.

The Best Present of All

*WARNING* Due to the graphic nature of this post, reader discretion is advised.

I turned 32 today! I did what I set out to do years ago, which was to finish having kids by the time I was 32. At least that was the goal my doctors set out for me back when I was in my mid-twenties. It seemed like such a huge hurdle, but here we are, 3 kids later, and my body is just beginning to recover... well, as much as it can on so little sleep.

We celebrated both Father's Day and my birthday this past weekend by taking the zoo out to eat at our favorite old date spot for lunch. We gorged on Chinese food and fruity rum drinks. It went pretty well. J. Frog slept through much of it keeping the ratio of adults to kids reasonable. Last week was my first week back at work part-time (thus the lack of posts last week) and I was ready for a little down time. I didn't get any, but I was sure ready for some. Maybe next week.

As for my favorite present this year, it was from LR. For the very first time, he pooped on the potty this morning. Unfortunately, Daddy was on a conference call, but Abra and I celebrated with him and I gave him a shiny new Hotwheels truck. Hopefully he won't feel the need to hide behind the couch every time he needs to poop now. *fingers crossed*

Month Old Movie

This movie is a month old. It shows the babies sitting up on the couch and LR skidding around the house on his stroller. It also shows my amazing video editing skills. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvmSFiBN3E8

Bumbo Seat

Missy rolled over yesterday! I walked out of the room for 2 seconds. By the time I got back, she was on her back with Abra cheering. I put her back on her tummy, but she didn't want to do it again.

It's amazing how many people have twins in their family or have a twins (or super twins - higher order multiples) story. Daddy was one of four people from his company who went to the conference last week. 2 of them had a set of twin siblings. Daddy obviously has Missy and J. Frog. Only Daddy's boss didn't have twins in the family.

Gigi and I braved the mall on Sunday. In Victoria Secret, we ran into 2 people who told us they had twins. People were being friendly because both the babies started to scream at the same time while Gigi was out chasing our newly speedy LR. He's getting wheels! So, after lots of staring, a nice woman finally offered to help me by holding J. Frog while I calmed Missy. When Gigi returned a little out of breath, we headed over to Baby Style where both the woman in front of me and the cashier admitted to having twins. Small, small world.

I broke down and got a Bumbo seat (pictured) from craigslist. I had to jump on it because they go fast. I told the woman I had twins and needed to put one down. She took pity and when I arrived to pick it up, she told me she had twins as well. I asked her how old and she said 4. I asked if it got easier and she said she didn't know because one died at 16 months. My heart jumped and I tried to figure out how many insensitive things I might have said in the 5 minutes that we'd been talking. Count that as my fourth tragic twin tale since I've had Missy and J. Frog. One mom I've been working with lost one inutero. One lost her girl at the age of 3 thanks to an unsecured bookcase. One whom I bought a bouncy seat from lost her first son when he was 1 and then had twins. I imagine it has nothing to do with having twins as the grief must be equally intense for a parent regardless.

On the lighter side, LR is starting to enjoy interacting with his siblings. He sings to them whenever they cry. He tells them "it's okay baby," if I can't get to one of them fast enough. He even shares his toys. He's going top love their company as soon as they can reciprocate a bit.

Visit From Gigi

Gigi was kind enough to arrive last Wed and stay through today while Daddy was at a Ruby on Rails conference in Portland, OR. Papa also attended the conference while Grandma Nese toured the area. Gigi got to experience first hand the craziness that is our house. Abra left on Friday morning for a weekend in Chicago, so Gigi and I were on our own for 3 whole days.

Of course, the first night after a week of good sleep, the babies had a rotten night. The second night was worse, so I finally decided it was time to Ferberize them. I read a couple of blogs on twins that recounted their adventures in Ferberizing. Sounded relatively simple, and it worked for LR, so on the third night I put Missy down and listened to her cry for half and hour. J. Frog was awake from a long afternoon nap, so I didn't try to put him down during that. I finally picked her up, soothed her, and put her in the crib. She cried for another minute and then fell asleep. I put J. Frog in with her later and they slept decently, but not amazingly well.

The fourth night I put them down together in the crib. J. Frog slept through the first 40 minutes of her screaming and then joined in for 5 minutes before Gigi and I went and got them. It took another hour to get them back to sleep. I figured that would be my last try until they were 6 months old, but miraculously, they slept through the night.

The fifth night was the night Daddy came home and he and Gigi took apart and reassembled the second crib. With each child in their own crib for the first time, I put them down the way I normally do and they were up and down ALL night. It was awful. So, tonight I let them scream together for a half hour, soothed them for another half hour, and finally put them in bed unswaddled for the first time. I know I keep switching up tactics, but something is bound to work. My hope is that Missy finds her hands to suck on when she wakes up and J. Frog stopped freaking out when he breaks out of the swaddling ~ which he's done every night for the last 3. Since I go back to work next Monday, I really hope something works soon.

I think Ferber might work for J. Frog on his own, but I'm afraid Missy is one of those kids that it just won't work for. She showed no signs of slowing on any of the nights. That will make it hard for J. Frog. Gigi was a champ and helped talk me through all the screaming. Not sure what I would have done without her. (Thank you, Gigi!) Maybe they'll continue to be decent sleepers with occasional hiccups.

Things I Never Thought I'd Say

"HEY! We don't pee in the air vent." ~ to LR while he's standing over the air vent with no diaper on.
"Stop poking your sister in the eye while she's eating." ~ to J. Frog while tandem nursing. He's gotten really aggressive about poking her.

"Gassy Girl!" ~ every time I have to pick up Missy during the night just so that she can fart. It's Ferber time!

Feeling the Love

Had a nice visit from Uncle Corbin this past weekend. Kids cooperated so we could take this picture. LR couldn't get enough of Corbin and occupied most of his time.

I couldn't resist buying the kids very soft little blankets because I thought they looked so familiar. Here is Missy and her Duck blanket.

And here is J. Frog and his Tiger Blanket.

And here is how they love their blankets.

Blue Eyes

J. Frog and Missy had their 4 month checkup yesterday and it looks like J. Frog is definitely going to be blue-eyed like me. Missy has the same blueberry blue eyes that LR had at this age and while Dr. Nick thinks they will stay blue, I'm thinking that they're going to change to the same olive green color as LR's.

J. Frog weighed in first at 14 pounds even. That puts him around the 25th percentile for weight. Missy weighed in at 14 pounds 5 ounces which is the 60th percentile for her. I thought she was at least a pound heavier than he, but apparently J. Frog makes up for it in length. The good news is that she's already caught up with her non-preemie peers. He's still got some ground to make up and probably won't do it anytime soon since he's still not taking a bottle. That may be a problem since I've started interviewing for part-time jobs. I've got new bottle nipples on the way, so maybe we'll find something that works soon.

I started looking through some of my old posts and was dismayed to see that I'm averaging only one post a week. Not only that, but I neglected to post dozens of pictures of grandparents helping out with the babies as newborns, especially during the month of Feb. Not sure what happened there. Sleep loss, no doubt. So the pics in this post are from Feb, not May.


This was a funny moment because LR wanted to kneel down like Gigi for the picture, foiling her attempt to get down to his level for the shot.

Papa and Grandma Nese master the tandem feed.

Yanni joins the clan for an end of the month visit.

J. Frog News

J. Frog rolled over today! He's always had great head control. Yesterday he was able to play on his tummy without any strain. His neck didn't seem to get tired, so he wasn't nodding like a bobble head doll anymore. Today, while our friend D was over watching the FA cup finals between Portsmouth and Cardiff, I put J. Frog on his tummy on his play mat and within a few minutes, he let the weight of his head carry him right over onto his back. It didn't even spook him the way I remember LR's first rolls did.

In other J. Frog news, he's refused the bottle for the past 5 or 6 days. At first I just thought he was being particular, but now I'm afraid we have a problem. I can't produce quite enough milk for both of them for the entire day, so Missy is getting a little short changed. She's taking more formula so that I can feed him more often. He's also feeding more often because he's not getting a ton at every feeding. Daddy read up online today and apparently it's not unusual for babies around this age who have been successfully taking the bottle to refuse it for a little while. They say the key is to keep trying it until the baby takes it again. We'll see if Abra has better luck with him next week.

Picture Post

Sick Again

It never fails. 3 days after a birthday party at an indoor gym and LR has a cold. He must be licking the equipment. We had the worst night's sleep last night. LR was up every half hour or hour crying in his sleep, but not waking enough to tell us what the problem was. Then Daddy's phone was ringing with some sort of work crisis ~ you know, the type where a machine fails in a forest and no one hears it. Then J. Frog and Missy were up for a 3am feeding and awake for good at 6am.

Yes, we love the couch photos, but they've just started using the exersaucers, so you'll start seeing more interesting photos soon.






Missy started a Bill The Cat impression contest.







LR answered.







I killed 20 shots trying to get J. Frog to do the same thing.

Synchronized

People talk about how twins do funny things at the same time. I'm curious if that is nature or nurture. Does is happen more to identical twins since they have the same genetic make up, or does it happen to fraternal twins like J. Frog and Missy just because they're so often in the same place at the same time. When they were younger and learning to nurse they used to somehow know when it was time to unlatch. Like red ants, they would both bite down at the same time which would send me though the roof. Lucky for me, they've stopped doing that. Now when they unlatch, if they're both awake, I give them a few minutes to look at each other. This past weekend, they started cooing and talking when they made eye contact. It's far more fun than constantly trying to breakup the poking fights they usually have.

Just now they were sitting in bouncy seats in the kitchen while Abra, LR and I ate lunch.
We heard bubbling from J. Frog and then grunting from Missy and we realized they were participating in synchronized pooping. Abra and LR are now giving Missy a much needed bath and I decided it was just the sort of thing that needed a blog post.

How Quickly They Change

So after 2 and a half months of screaming, J. Frog is finally all smiles. Abra discovered that he is ticklish. There is nothing like a baby giggling. Today I managed to make him laugh by blowing raspberries in front of his face.

You know, I didn't think I'd be one of those mothers of twins who puts the kids in matching outfits, but after receiving some sets as gifts, I'm really starting to get into it. Now granted, it never lasts long. One is bound to mess up his or her outfit within a few hours, but I've managed to get a couple of good pictures out of them anyway.

You can't tell, but Auntie H has a perfectly round belly for J. Frog to sleep on. She's due in a few weeks with a playmate for Missy. Finally another girl!










Thank goodness Aunt K stopped by for a visit.













This was when J. Frog had just started to learn how to smile.







LR loves to visit with the babies while they're in the swings. And they love watching him!






LR is telling them about the bicycles on their outfits.






awwwwww (Styling courtesy of Grandma W. She couldn't resist the outfits and neither can I.)








AWWWWWW (Actually the hold on Missy turned into a bit of a headlock by the end of the photo shoot, but she's gonna have to get used to that.)





J. Frog: I'm too sexy for this sleeper.

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.