twins

My aunt was visiting awhile back. She and E were sharing a moment in the kitchen as she helped E to wash his hands. She attempts small talk with him:

Aunt: 'So, E, how do you like being a twin?'

E: 'Twin?! I'm not the twin. B is.'

...

Tubes, 'Noids and Raspberries

B and E had their second set of ear tubes placed this week and as a bonus they got their adenoids removed as well. Removed is a euphemism I believe, I strongly suspect they 'bovie' (cauterizing with electricity) the ever living bejebus out of the nasopharyngeal tonsils (aka adenoids). I theorize this only because the smell of burnt tissue is pervasive. For the past week, we have been constantly walking around saying, 'All right, what's that horrible smell? Who needs to be changed?!' Only to realize that it's the smell of adenoidectomy that we're encountering. Delightful.

As for the M, she is a cutie pie. I'm not sure if I've shared what a wonderfully sweet and happy baby she is. She generally only cries when she is hungry or tired. She loves to engage people, her entire face lighting up when she catches your eye, and her feet wriggle and toes curl with pleasure. She's recently started making raspberries and could write a PhD thesis on the utility yet unpredictability of phalanges. She's experimenting with putting them in her mouth. She continues to be soothed with her pacifier. Kate gives her baby massages and reports that she enjoys her foot massage most. She hasn't started solids yet, I'm giving her a few more weeks before we go down that path. In the meantime, she's working on sitting up and taking a swing at all toys that dangle in her direction.

growth spurts

B and E continue to get more advanced, more active and more independent-- summed up to say, craftier, daily. As B hones his pitching skills (he combines accuracy and speed for an exceptional toss of anything from balls to hotdog buns), E shows interest in engineering-- designing new and inventive ways to reach the kitchen sink (first onto the step stool then balancing precariously on the wheeled cooler, which he's brought in from the hall, he can juuust reach the spray nozzle and chomp on the musty smelling sponge).

B remains 'spirited' and 'opinionated' about many things. He wants to be in control and becomes 'demonstrative of his displeasure' (see below) when things don't go according to the B plan. I'd like to credit Dad with this delightful intensity that has blossomed in B, and yet, it is all so familiar to me. Most of the time I can empathize with his feelings, especially when B's plan is in direct conflict with my own plan, then it is exquisitely clear to me how hard it is to compromise your desires. Of course, as the parent and in terms of safety, my way prevails, but it makes me remember how much I desired the autonomy and freedom that I equated with growing up. Not that I wish for B to grow up any faster than he already is, but I do know that as he develops language (and negotiating skills-- just ask H, he may be on the path towards a law career) things will get easier for him (and us). In the meantime, it can be tough to be a little guy.

Adventures in Toddlerhood

The babies are full out toddlers. They are into everything. And somehow, perhaps because there are two of them, but more likely because they are unique beings, these boys are more mischievous than H. They like to get into everything. Throwing pans, lids, Tupperware, diapers, clothes down the stairs, and anything in the pantry count high on the list of favorite past times. They also enjoy being outside and spend hours on the swing set, eating sand out of the sandbox, and pulling the flowers off the various bushes around the yard. They try on mom and dad's shoes on a regular basis. And their vocabularies overlap almost completely. Both boys can say: Daddy, doggie, ball, Elliott, out, eat, apple (though B usually calls it a ball), a word that means drink (they both use approximately the same unintelligible word), blankie, book, toothbrush (again another nonsense word). B can say bird, momma, woof, and baa. E says 'more' and he knows more words than B when asked to identify things in a book.

Overall, they enjoy each others' company though they still get furious with each other on occasion. But when B is having a tantrum about something, E generally comes over to pat his head and his back with some reassuring, comforting thwacks.

Busy Monkeys

Small Successes

We had a great Christmas break. I'm sorry I didn't do much posting as there were certainly many things to share; now that school is back in session, I end up spending more time on the computer and inevitably more time posting. So I'll try to catch up on all the happenings.
We did have a few goals lined up for the break including:

having H's speech assessed
we did have his speech assessed and while he is a little delayed, it was not enough for them to recommend speech therapy- we weren't very surprised at this given that H's speech has been gaining momentum for a couple of months now.

switching the babies over from formula to milk
this one turned out to be really easy we simply ran out of formula and moved onto milk... a few sore bottoms later that transition was easy success

stopping bottles and using cups (at all times)
accomplished- see picture above

getting B to sleep through the night
hahaha. one always has to set high goals for themselves right... this one is still eluding us.

Birthday Babies

The babies, well, they are well on their way to no longer being babies anymore. Today, they turned one. Although they are both officially one now, it has been a cummulative two for some time- the additive power of two little boys crawling in opposite directions, pulling up, climbing over and on, and babbling, makes them the both of them as challenging as a two year old. Please keep us in your thoughts when they do turn two... haha. But truly, they are speeding towards toddlerhood at breakneck pace. Dad and I are enjoying the ride.

B likes to sing 'Ee-I-Ee-I' whenever he hears music. He's picked up on the refrain of Old MacDonald and it is certainly his favorite. E likes to point. He points at everything, Balloons! The attic string! Lights!

*******Happiest birthday wishes my sweet babies********

twactor

Well, it was a few weeks ago, but Mimi the boys and I went to a local farm to celebrate fall and get out of the house. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. The highlight for the boy may have been a tractor ride.

A few months ago, Dad stumbled on a veritable playground at Sears: the riding lawn mower section. He and H spent over 45 minutes 'driving' the tractors. Now, H mentions 'twactors' and the 'mall' frequently. Alas, with summer long over and mowing an infrequent activity, the mowers have been replaced with Christmas decor (yes, already). So, no more tractors at Sears, making this tractor ride all the sweeter.

monkey house

SuperNanny has captured a few pictures of the boys in action. We have a small butcher block/island that the boys think is a giant climbing device smack in the middle of the kitchen for climbing practice. As they are becoming more physically agile, they spend more time clamoring around and getting into trouble. But lordy, they're cute doing it.

Tubing

Today was T-day. The babies got PE tubes placed in their ears. They were angels and the whole thing went better than predicted- granted Dad and I have gotten better at pinpointing the reality of any undertaking involving the boys and babies (plan appropriately and then add 30 extra minutes so as not to disappoint yourself).

Honestly, we were expecting little E to be nearly in a food deprived coma and the Bopper to be projecting his (and E's) displeasure in loud measure. But both babies were fairly happy, despite the lack of morning meal (or their usually elevensies). They were groggy and unhappy after the surgery but bounced back nicely. While it may take a couple of weeks to know how the tubes are working, we are pleased that everything went well. And of course that none of us was too traumatized by it all.

Ear Woes

Although you wouldn't be able to tell from his picture, B and E have had ear problems. Poor B has had an ear infection for going on 3.5 weeks. He's been a trooper. At first he woke up a lot at night. Crying and crawling up my front-- all good indications that he was in extreme pain. He's gone on a hunger strike, only drinking bottles when absolutely starving- I guess because swallowing also proves very painful. E has taken his ear infections more like H- a little crabby always wanting to be held, but otherwise fairly stoic though his infection hasn't been ongoing for the last month.

Poor babies, all we can do is wait for the inevitable referral to the pediatric ENT. But in the meantime, the boys are somewhat unhappy. Hopefully, we can persuade our pediatrician to send us earlier than H-- though on a positive note, H has been otitis media free since he got his tubes!

Home again

We're back from our adventures just in time for school to start for me on Tuesday. Yikes. But I'm pleased to be starting again and moving forward with school.

I have a few pictures to share and then I need to head to bed before screaming babies (ear infections seem to be back to haunt us) awake.

Trip up North

We're on the second of two family vacations this summer. It's been so nice to see family- and fortunately, there are lots of family members up here to visit. This means lots of hands and laps to hold babies, and lots of legs to chase H. It's been wonderful. Dad and I went to the science museum as a little trip away, leaving the boys home with Grandma and her sister and niece.

The Missing Link part 2

H and E continue to look very similar but at moments you can catch glimpses of H in B now and then.

H has been so funny lately- he's been having extremely elaborate, loquacious coversations on the old cell phone I gave him. He "phones" Mimi and proceeds to use every word he knows, at least twice, plus many many words of gibberish. He harhars at his own jokes, excitedly explains things about "Baby E! Eee Eee and Baby B! Bee Bee" and punctuates the conversation with outbursts of 'googoobah' and 'dahpahdoo' (meaningless to us). It's fun to see him chatting with so much joy.

As for the babies, they had their 6 month shots today-- a little late. B cried hysterically and E grimaced. Poor boys.

Miscellanea

I don't have any pictures just a few little anecdotes. There are a few things that I want to remember-- I haven't had the opportunity to capture them on video and with the craziness of life at the moment, I'm not sure I will. But they are things the boys do that I know will pass quickly and I will forget about. For the moment, they are adorable actions that make me smile, remind me why I am feel so grateful for and blessed by my boys.

Babies- Getting down the stairs can be a juggling act around here. Usually it involves bringing one baby downstairs first. After settling that baby on the floor mat or near some toys, I return for the second baby and H. H can go downstairs by himself, but we continue to help him down when we have a free hand. The babies love watching H bounce down the steps. For whatever reason, each finds the action hilarious. On their own, they let out belly laughs and little screeches of delight. For whatever reason, the light blond hair flying as he bounces, the giggles that he emits as he goes, or the motion of his chubby knees bending in anticipation of the next little leap drive the babies to the biggest grins and the best moods. It happens every time-- I don't know why they find it so amusing, but it makes me happy that it does.

H- After the cold, we all had runny noses for days-- including me. I was sitting in the passenger seat the other day as we traveled to visit my parents. I was using a Kleenex to blow my nose with great gusto. A few minutes later, we heard the sound of raspberries and H's giggles. He was sitting in his car seat holding his nose and making raspberries. I was confused, but Dad said, 'H... are you blowing your nose?' H just giggled harder. Apparently, I'm the height of physical comedy these days.

H- Likes to brush his teeth. Every morning- 'Eeth?' he asks. Hard to distinguish from 'eat' one of his other favorite morning phrases. I strongly suspect that it is his toothpaste which motivates such wonderful dental hygiene, but who am I to question motives? Anyways, into the bathroom we shuffle; meanwhile, H is dancing around, blanket in tow, crowing 'I do it!' 'IDoIt'

Don't get me wrong, our life isn't one cutesy story to the next- there are plenty of baby food battles, clingy children, tick removal episodes and general chaos to make me really appreciate the aforementioned little moments...

The Race is On

The babies are continuing their quest for motion despite an extremely nasty bug that has hit us all. Ugh, it's been miserable, but I think we are coming to the end of it? Maybe I should start rephrase to say I am fervently hoping we are at the end of it. Anyway, other than the sickness, we have been busy building a play yard for the guys in the backyard. Poppa has been invaluable in helping us with the construction of what he terms 'Fort McHenry'

When I have a chance I'll post the work in progress. The swing beam still needs to be installed, but the hardest part is complete. I apologize for the mundane post-- but my head feels like it's under water.

Sit up and Spit up

Look at my babies!!! They are growing up before my eyes. Although they still need some assistance sitting up, they are really making progress. And while you can see they are looking more and more like their own selves, they are definitely brothers-- with identical uh, 'inquisitive' expressions.

So as the rest of the title, the babies continue to be prolific spitters. But so was H, and he didn't get over it until he was nine months. Speaking of H, he is doing well. He has a cold as do the little boys. And recently, he's been having a lot of nightmares-- or they may be night terrors-- same time every night. I hope this is something that will pass, as we have finally got the babies sleeping through the night.

Berry Pickin

Poppa, the babies, H, A (aka Super Nanny), and I went to a local berry farm this week. We picked lots of berries and sampled a few too. (Delicious, although H's expression may not reveal as much). The babies tolerated the trip well, and I survived the spiders that were crawling over all the berry plants. I know I should think animal friendly thoughts like "Thanks to those spiders, I don't have nasty worms in my strawberries." Yech, I'm just happy that I left them all at the farm and didn't bring any home with me... that I know of.

Chow

The babies have recently been introduced to delectable rice cereal. They aren't big fans-- well, I should amend that to say that B is not impressed. He would much prefer to chew on his tongue thank you than choke down that stuff. E doesn't mind as much and happily smiles as most of it dribbles down his front.

Otherwise, the babies continue to do well. They sleep through the night except for the occasional conundrum of waking up to find you've rolled over and away from your blanket-- and you need to scream until mom or dad stumbles in to flip you back and tucks you in again... but they seem to take turns doing that.

Yo Bro

The babies have recently started interacting with one another. They spend time smiling at each other, trying to chew on the other's arm. H also interacts well with them- calling them 'babies' and chortling with delight as he pats them on the head- or sits on them.

This past weekend we went to the beach. It was a little cold- a little rainy- but it was nevertheless lots of fun.

We went to the aquarium where H had lots of fun examining the sharks and fish in the huge tank. He also loved the beach where it was hard to convince him that the 50 degree water was freezing.