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.

Pumpkins

LR helped Daddy pick out pumpkins. We got one for each member of the family. LR even picked out 2 tiny ones for the twins.






Then he showed Mommy his mad pumpkin cart pushing skills.









And finally he helped Daddy scoop out the innards of Daddy's pumpkin. Such a great helper all day long!

Getting Near to the Groove If Not Into It

LR seems to be completely recovered from his cold finally. This past week we've been trying to get him back on his old sleep schedule with no success. The gate helps to keep him from running out of the room, but it still takes us 30-40 minutes to get him to fall asleep. I, invariable, fall asleep with him and Daddy comes to wake me around 10pm so that I can actually go to bed. Then LR wakes up twice during the night. He used to come into our room, but the past 2 nights he's just called for me instead. I prefer the calling so that I don't have to carry him back to bed. I just can't lift him anymore. The third trimester is going to get tricky since I'm already having trouble half way through the second.

LR's new twin mattress arrives tomorrow and we'll put together his bed first thing on Saturday probably. Hoping that helps with the routine. We'll get his "Cars" sheets on the bed from Papa and Grandma Nese finally. Anyone know why a twin mattress is called a twin? Or double, queen, and king for that matter? I'm going to Google it...

In other news, we had a mouse run across the living room and into the dining room two nights ago. Luckily I had a quarterly visit from Terminix already scheduled for the next day. The inspector set out some glue traps and sprayed for bugs. Hoping that it was a one time thing, but with the cold weather, it's the time for mice to be looking for warmth. Ah, the joys of living in front of the woods!

Pity: How To Make It Work For You

There is a hidden benefit to having twins, pity. As a teen with Lupus, I hid the fact that I had the disease for over a year after diagnosis. I told myself that I didn't want anyone's pity. Turns out I needn't have worried. Everyone in high school is too busy pitying themselves. :)

But over the past week, both Daddy and I experienced the up-side of pity. Daddy had a coworker hand him an enormous bag of baby clothes saying, "take it. You'll need it." I asked Daddy if the clothes were lent or given. He said given. I'm still going to put the coworker's initials in the clothes just in case he wants them back at some point.

Earlier that same day, I met with a foot doctor who said that although insurance would only cover one visit per year, she would see me whenever I needed it and just take care of me. She explained that she has a one year old at home and couldn't imagine a toddler and twins. I thanked her for her pity and slipped my much happier feet back into my shoes.

Today one of my coworkers brought me an infant snowsuit, toys for LR, and extra odds n' ends from her kids. She said they were collecting dust in the attic, but I'm pretty sure she was just feeling sorry for me.

Ear Infection

Well LR's cold lasted long enough that he woke up Friday night after being asleep for an hour with an ear infection. The doc said to give him Motrin and Dimetapp and to bring him in the next morning. I had a game to coach (Homecoming which we won 38-0), so Daddy took him to the doctor where he confirmed our guess of an ear infection and prescribed Amoxicillin. It seems to have already done the trick. Sunday he seemed better, but tired. Today he was pretty much back to his old self and the coughing has finally subsided as well. This cold has been going on for over 2 weeks, so I guess I'm not surprised that it turned into an ear infection. I am happy that it's his first one ever though. He was able to tell me that his ear hurt even though I hadn't missed the dozen times he poked his left ear while trying to fall asleep.

"No Like Gate"

New bedtime strategy! After 3 nights in a row of 10 o'clock bedtimes, I went out on Wednesday and bought a gate for LR's bedroom doorway. I hate the idea of locking his door, but warmed up to the idea of putting a gate up in the doorway and treating his room like a giant crib.

The first night he went back and forth to the gate and opened and closed his door a bunch of times. Each time he returned to the bed where was since there wasn't anywhere else to go. He didn't seem upset by it, just curious. The last time he returned to bed we had a little conversation about the gate.

LR: Open door?
Me: You can open the door if you want.
LR: Open gate?
Me: No, it's bedtime.
LR: Open Hudson's gate?
Me: No, it's bedtime.
LR (under his breath): No like gate.

A snowsuit arrived from grandparents B&W. They've been scouting the Carter's outlet in Denver for weeks, waiting for the winter gear to arrive and finally it did. I opened the box while LR was playing in my car. He wanted to put the hat on right away and admired himself in the visor mirror. He didn't seem to mind the mittens still attached to the top. Thanks, folks!

Birthday Party

On Sunday we had a little shin-dig for LR's second birthday. September is busy, so we were a couple weeks late, but he didn't seem to mind. He was still a little under the weather from his croup/cold, but it didn't seem bad enough to cancel the party. I managed to way over order Mexican food, but everyone did their best to help us out from under the mountain of food. Although we asked people not to bring gifts, he received a bunch of really great books and a couple of toys that he loves. He's very into firetrucks right now which explains the firetruck themed party. He loved the hats and made Daddy wear one while playing with firetrucks with him. I bought him a big truck a few weeks ago to help at practice and it's been one of his favorite toys since. My friend A with a 2-year-old in a leg cast and a 3 week old, gave him a smaller friction firetruck which is the noisiest toy he has to date. Thanks A! ;)

Thanks to a few weeks of pretend play where we sang Happy Birthday, blew out fake candles, and ate imaginary birthday cake, LR was a champ at blowing out the candles on his cupcake. I desperately wanted to make some cool cake like my mom made for us when we were kids, but I ran out of time. I was trying to make flame-like cupcakes, but it fell through when guests starting walking through the door. LR didn't seem to care and ate most of the cupcake anyway.

We blew up LR's new bouncy castle for the kids who were there and he and V had a great time despite the fact she couldn't jump. She crawled in and let LR run around her. He actually spent a lot of time crawling around the house with her. Not sure if it was empathy or if he just thought she was playing a game. Anyway, here's a picture of the two love birds. They are adorable together.

It's a Boy... and a Girl!

At the ultrasound on Wednesday, I was sweating bullets after the technician said that Twin A was a boy. A whole family of boys would be fine and, I'm sure, pretty fun, but I was hoping for one girl in the mix. Twin B was sitting cross legged and refused to be identified. The technician came back to Twin B 3 times before saying that she thought it was a girl. When the doctor came in, he took about 5 seconds to determine Twin B was most likely a girl. Hooray! The Y family girl drought is finally over!

Twin A: the boy










Twin B: the girl









You can see in the photos that Twin A is clearer (well, as clear as an ultrasound photo can get) and Twin B is a little fuzzier. That's because they are both in the transverse (sideways) position with Twin A on top of Twin B, bunk bed-style. They were facing each other during most of the ultrasound and it looked like they were punching the hell out of the slim barrier between them. At it already, I guess.

They both look good at 10 oz each and 10 inches long. All systems checked out and we're good until our next visit in a month. I'm up about 15 pounds and just hit the 20 week mark. Starting to get pretty uncomfortable, but I'll keep my complaints in check since there's still such a long way to go. :)

Croup!

My generally healthy little guy is battling his first episode of croup. He'd had a mild cold late last week, but was tapering off with the sniffles. Then late yesterday I noticed his voice was hoarse and about an hour and a half after going to sleep he woke up sobbing and gasping for breath. I took him into the bathroom and threw on a hot shower. He still wouldn't stop crying. Finally I took him out of the bathroom and he settled down. He slept with us the rest of the night and I spent most of that listening to him struggling to breathe.

Around 4am I could tell he was spiking a fever and when he woke up at 6am he had one of about 101 degrees. He tried to take a few quick gulps of water and threw up immediately. After that he calmed down and I managed to get more water and a dose of Tylenol into him. His lungs were still rattling though, so I took him to our pediatrician's daily walk in hours. The doc on duty agreed with me that it was croup, but that he might also have another cold complicating it. She even told me to watch for pneumonia! Scary!

When we got home I tried and failed miserably to get a dose of the medicine into him. The second dose was delivered via juice and that worked well. He doesn't typically drink juice, in fact he asked for water, but I kept supplying pretzels, so he didn't really have a choice. Then a little Motrin and we tried to get him to bed, but he was having none of it. I guess being indoors all day got him very wound up. He did get to bed until just after 10pm. Hope he sleeps in, but by the sound of his breathing, I wouldn't be surprised to have to turn on the shower again tonight.

Quick Recovery

LR had no fever and very little congestion today. It's the fastest cold he's ever had. I gave him Dimetapp just before bed to make sure he slept comfortably, but I skipped the Motrin. He had such a big day today that I'm hoping he sleeps through the night without any problems.

This morning we all went to meet my MOT (Mothers of Twins) Big Sister. She gave me a quick view of life with a three year-old and twin year-old girls. They were adorable and kept both their moms very busy. They had lots of good advice, I just need to remember to write it down before the twins arrive. After our visit there, we ran off to Target to pick up odds n' ends. Then LR fell asleep on the way home.

I had to wake him up 2 hours later so that we could go to our 2 year new moms reunion. What a mistake that was! Too many kids in too small a space. There was hitting, stealing of toys, and a couple of tantrums. LR got slapped for trying to take a toy and then pushed another little girl down a small slide. I was within inches when he did it and apologized a dozen times to the parents. The girl wasn't hurt, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty about it. After that party, we ran to his friend R's second birthday which was much more relaxing and enjoyable. The kids ran around outside and there were more than enough toys to go around. LR introduced a game of hanging off a bar that was part of the railing for the stairs and as a result, all the kids joined in, trampling R's mom's plants. She initially tried to stop them, but was overwhelmed by the power that is 5 little 2 year-olds intent on doing the same thing.

Birthday Fun and Not So Fun

After we blew up LR's gift from us on the morning of his birthday and he crawled into it, Daddy asked me, "are we the worst parents in the world, or the best?" It made me laugh, but I knew what he was getting at. We're trying to walk the line between spoiled and well taken care of. We have the means to provide him with all his needs and most of his wants. Do we turn our house into an indoor amusement park or a place for adults to socialize. We've chosen more the amusement park route and I can't say I'm too disappointed. Being an adult is pretty overrated. Playing with LR in his new moon bounce or pushing him in his beautiful new tricycle from Grandma W and Grandad B or spending family time after each dinner playing with his Playdough factory from Grandma Nese and Papa is some of the best time I've had this week. I can't say the same thing about work.

Unfortunately, the day after his birthday was his 2 year physical which he hated. It was a regular exam and he did well with the weigh-in especially since he got to use the big scale this time and not the baby one. He didn't mind them looking in his ears, but being shut in the room made him crazy. I don't know if it's small spaces that bother him or that he knew being in this room could only mean one thing. Well no shots, but they did a lead test which is a finger stick and then lots of squeezing to get enough blood in the vile. He was unhappy to say the least, but recovered quickly. Then in the evening he started a runny nose and small cough. He was up every hour and by morning was completely congested. I was able to give him Dimetapp for the first time since he's now officially 2! Hooray for 2! That helped, but by mid-afternoon today he had a fever and so we're just crossing our fingers that the Motrin will keep it down and the Dimetapp will help the congestion overnight. We could all use a good night's sleep!

Side Note: LR can pick up the words for a song within a few reps. I sang Daisy Bell for him 4 times in the car (he kept asking for it "again, again") and the next time he joined in. He made it through the main words of most of the lines. Tonight he requested in while in the bath and sang right along with me.

Happy Birthday, LR! You're 2!

A big happy birthday to the little guy that changed our lives 2 years ago on this day. Despite the massive sleep loss, we'd do it over again. Love you, LR!

Monologuing

LR watched part of The Incredibles the other night. I thought it might be a little adrenaline inducing, but I guess no more so than Nemo. He seemed to enjoy it, but I always laugh when Syndrome says, "You sly dog! You got me monologuing!" I think of it every night now when I put LR to bed. Our latest trick to get him to go to sleep is to catalog the events of the day. I start with his morning routine, skip over most of what happened with the nanny other than what she's told me, and then launch into a painfully detailed description of our day. By the end he's usually asleep. Guess it doesn't say much about my story telling abilities, but it works well for Daddy too, so we're pretty happy about it.

The bedtime routine is still close to half an hour, but I'm hoping that gets shorter. Unfortunately, I keep falling asleep with him and then Daddy has to come wake me up to get ready for bed. Last night I really wanted to get a snack before bed, but missed it because I was too busy getting LR ready for bed and then Daddy woke me up close to 10:30. I crawled into our bed after dutifully brushing my teeth and then woke up at 2am starving. The twins were obviously displeased with their lack of sustenance, but I was too tired to go downstairs, so I just tossed and turned for half an hour thinking, "I'm hungry... I'm hungry... I'm hungry. I really should stock our little micro-fridge with ice cream bars. I'm hungry."

Me, Myself, and I

LR started using "I" this past weekend. It was really interesting to hear since we've only heard him refer to himself as "baby" and by his first name until now. He's also singing many more songs. His favorite right now is a Laurie Berkner song about the moon. We belt it out at dinner time as a family and tonight he and I sang it as part of the bedtime routine. Speaking of which... no more bottles! After less than a week of water bottles, he's given them up. I'm tossing the chemical-releasing Avent bottles today!

No More Midnight Milk

So we've finally altered LR's bedtime routine. I figured it was all in shambles with the transfer from the crib anyway, so I decided to try to get rid of the milk. LR used to take a bottle of milk before bed and the routine was simple: bottle, blanket, books, bed. If he woke up during the night, he put himself back to sleep. Then when he went to the mattress on the floor it was bottle, blanket, books, bed... followed by a little bit from the bottle each time he came wandering into our room, once or twice per night. I really started to worry about his teeth in a way that I hadn't before. After fretting for a week someone (I can't remember who) suggested replacing the milk with water. Brilliant! Genius! He noticed the change, but didn't put up a fuss. He drinks much less now and I imagine we're not far from getting rid of the bottle completely. I'd really like to do that before the twins arrive.

Pictured above is Daddy's fix to our gate problem. Now LR can't let himself out of the yard. Unfortunately, they're even a little tricky for adults to open, so we'll keep looking. In the meantime, we can keep LR a little safer.

It's All About the Ladies

Saturday morning we had a play date with friends D & M and their daughter C, who is just 3 months older. They hadn't seen each other for a very long time, so it was good to see them interact well together. C got cuddly toward the end and we're pretty sure LR thought he was getting a big 'ol dose of cooties.

After they left we spent the rest of the afternoon at a big block party on our street. LR loved seeing so many kids and had a ball running up and down the street. We got lots of compliments on LR and congrats on the twins from our neighbors. I think we also got a lot of pitying glances... Found out that there was something in the water years ago when everyone had girls. There are more than a dozen girls from ages 5 to 18. We thought LR was the only boy, but I guess someone poisoned the well, because now there are 4 male 2-year-olds on the block. Awesome! Lots of friends for LR!

Sunday we took it easy since I had to do a 24 hour urinalysis. Daddy did the grocery shopping and took LR to the park while I tried to catch up on a bunch of rugby World Cup games. Just in case you were curious, the USA did not get slaughtered by England. I believe it was the least number of points the US has ever lost by in a world cup game. Go Eagles!

Monday we had a play date with LR's girl, V. They chased each other around both inside and outside the house. V's mom and I tried to rest since she's due with baby #2 this week and I'm starting to look like I'm close. (It's not that bad, but I'm getting bigger by the minute!) Also got my AFP test result back which test for Down syndrome and we're in the clear with both babies. That was a relief. Am becoming more comfortable with the idea of a C-section. It just looks like that's the direction that twin deliveries are going now-a-days thanks to a study which says the second twin delivered vaginally has lower APGARs and spends more time in the NICU. Might as well do what's best for both of them.

LR started his gym class today and Nanny C reported that he loved it. She said she thought the trampoline was his favorite and he has a hard time doing group activities because he wants to do his own thing. Not a surprise. Hope I get a chance to go to one of his classes.

Finding His Voice

LR has learned a new skill, singing! He's got the ABC's down for the most part, which he often sings while strumming the grill above the fireplace. Not sure what he likes about the sound it makes, but it's music to him. The past few days, he's picked up Ba-Ba-Blacksheep, Jack and Jill, and Old MacDonald. We sing at home and in the car. As long as the song is long enough, he will start to join in. He really liked Old MacDonald yesterday and even suggested animals. It's nice to feel like I haven't been singing to a brick wall for 2 years. He was actually absorbing a lot of it, just waiting for the connection to the mouth to develop, I guess. Very cool stuff.

Oh, and his favorite new bedtime show is Sleeping Beauty. I'm really enjoying the old Disney movies. The scary scenes are far less scary and adrenaline inducing than more recent Pixar movies. The music is wonderful and LR is soothed by it. I'll have to pick up a few more. So far Dumbo (it has a train!) and Sleeping Beauty are hits. Alice is Wonderland is okay, but probably his least favorite of the three.

First Day of Practice

LR came with me to the first rugby practice of the season last night. He mimicked the players as they stretched during warm ups, touching his toes and sinking into deep squats, and chased them while they ran laps. He showed off his somersaulting skills and they whooped and hollered for him. He was a little star. He gave lots of high fives and was told often how cute or cool he was. Speaking of, his new phrase is "how cool!" Guess that's a little of me rubbing off on him.

Despite all the attention and having a new fire truck to play with at practice, LR became a major distraction. When I held him during instruction, he overpowered me with car noises, "vroooooom, VROOOOOOOOOOOM!" The team thought he was hysterical, but we couldn't get much accomplished. Now I'm going to need to find a babysitter during practice. *sigh*

The picture is of Daddy and LR playing their new favorite game "jump truck." The rug is beautiful and apparently Nanny C has already had to learn the game. LR calls out the name of the vehicle and also the color. He really loves the rug. Thanks Yianni and Cookie!

At The Car Wash

This is our first test of the video upload feature. We know the quality is poor, but we're learning. Thanks to Daddy for both taking and editing the video!