Cathy and her Boys

Seattle Summer

2011-11-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

OK, a super long blog that's basically a laundry list of things I can recall and activities from the summer. I'm so far behind in blogging, so hopefully this catches me up a bit and I can start writing smaller digests of info more often. It's a nice thought anyway, and I'll legitimately try!

The boys are now speaking in sentences and getting their social graces in order ... please and thank you are oft said, as is 'may I please be excused'. They're also learning to say "I'm sorry" more, and insist on a big hug to go along with it which is super cute. More often that apology and hug is directed towards eachother, and there's nothing sweeter than seeing them hug eachother.

Chase has come to also "need" a "big hug" and a "big kiss" before naps, bedtime, and to people he endears who are leaving the house.

They're at the very early stages of potty training. We were putting them on the toilet several times a day and they can peepee on command. But they've moved backwards and and are less interested in going on the potty, though very interested in potty books. So we're definitely a longs ways off from truly having them trained - maybe by next summer?? They are definitely pretty proud when they go though, so that's a good sign.

We're now working on 4-piece puzzles, and they're getting close to mastering them. They don't totally understand how to match the images of the pieces correctly every time, but they know that they need to just keep spinning the piece and trying. Soon enough they'll be experts, as seems to happen with everything that we work on.

They're getting good at the concept of matching - i.e. finding the wheel that matches the appropriate vehicle, shapes of different colors that match like ones,... A slightly abstract concept, so cool to see their brains figuring it out. We have some good books with matching skills.

I'm going to re-double my efforts to get veggies into the boys - mostly Chase, Tanner is pretty good. I have been making pumpkin oatmeal which they love, and we're going to hide vegetables in all kinds of other food in the coming weeks to see what they will and won't eat. Chase is super picky and in many cases won't even try the food I make. But Tanner is more adventurous, so hopefully my efforts will be partially successful as we try new recipes. I feel like I'm in a cooking rut with them and really need to expand our food horizons. Project food variety, which will involve me spendign more time in the kitchen, is fully under way!

Summer Activities
We went to Sun Valley with Tessa and Missy. They took their first gondola ride, rode in a horse-drawn wagon, went swimming several times (in which I "blew in face" and they "went under"), played at the local parks/water fountains, flew a kite (with some frustration) for the first time, visited Redfish Lake, learned about what sinks (rocks) and what floats (leaves, sticks) in the river,.... They also had their first introduction to Mr. Potato Head there - I need to get one for Seattle - classic!

Michael came up for the 4th of July weekend and had the boys while I went off to Mazama to go climbing with friends. They had a busy weekend, spending a couple of nights at Grammy Beverly's, hitting the Yarrow Point parade and the Broadmoor parade, and then fireworks at the Seattle Tennis Club. I was able to join for the fireworks, and Tanner liked them but Chase was quite scared. "Fireworks go boom" with big hand motion - he liked talking about them but then got his scrunchy "I'm scared" face. (or "J'ai peur" when he talks about it in French).

The Snoqualmie Train Museum has a Thomas the Train event each year, and trains are obviously a huge deal with the boys. We got to actually ride in a 'Thomas' (basically a Thomas engine pulling the standard train ride that you can take. Bonus is that along the way we pass a construction site with diggers and loaders and the like. Boy heaven!!

We hit the Snoqualmie Falls on the way home:

We had a super fun Whidbey weekend with Ema, Maia, Ana and Annabelle. Lots of digging in the sand. Lots of canoeing. Lots of fun!

Love the three little heads peaking out!

We also spent a weekend at Whidbey with Wendy and her twin boys, Rhodes and West. Rhodes and West are Tanner and Chase's good friends. They can now remember them and look forward to seeing them when we have playdates. They did lots of playing on the driftwood, and the tractors are always a HUGE hit.

The long weekend full of play resulted in a car full of four sleepy boys, two bushed dogs, and two content Moms!

Amy Miley came into town with her new baby boy and her girls, so we had our annual BHS gals reunion. We met at Remlinger Farms which is huge fun for the kids (we had gone a few weeks earlier for Maddie Foster's 3rd birthday and boys LOVED it there). I then had a BBQ at our place a few days later and Chase fell head-over-heals in love with Amanda hard. He wouldn't let her go!

Caspar Babypants at the PEPSapalooza! Tanner and Chase are BIG Caspar Babypants fans and were particularly excited when he finally played 'Run Baby Run'!

Another trip to Whidbey Island, this time to the Island County Fair with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran for the day. It's so much fun to go to Whidbey for the weekend, but a day trip is also a blast. Ferry ride, beach, fair, and all of the fun that goes with Whidbey.

The County Fair was so much fun for the boys. In particular they had SO MUCH FUN going on their first carnival rides. Pure elation. So much joy!

And a Whidbey weekend with our other twin friends, Zach and Theo, and their parents Steve and Marla.

We hit ZooTunes multiple times this summer - Lucinda Williams, Indigo Girls, and Aimee Mann. Lucinda Williams was kind of a nightmare, because there wasn't enough room for the boys to move and they ended up jumping around on me for what seemed like forever. So I had a better strategy for the latter concerts, and the boys had room to run and dance. We had front-row seats for Aimee Mann - pictured below!

I used my baby backpacks for the first and likely the last time on a Discovery Park hike with Sarah Adler and her boys and Nadia, who carried Tanner. Probably the last time using them, because the boys are already so heavy and getting nothing but heavier. And the backpacks are good, but not great at dispersing the weight, so it's really hard on the hips. They did really well though and had a great time checking out the scenery and then playing at the beach.

We went to Lake Chelan with Ema, Ana and Maia. Tanner slept in a bed for the first time instead of a crib, but Chase preferred to be in the pack'n'play. I got them new water wings to help them along with their swimming. They don't quite hold them out of the water reliably, so the boys need to have some skill at staying upright. Not totally there yet, though they should be close. We took them to a water park that Chase, in particular, LOVED LOVED LOVED - especially the Intermediate water slide which was pretty fast and curvy and resulted in a BIG SPLASH when we hit the pool at the end of the slide. Of course he needed to go down with Mama, and I found it quite fun myself! Tanner was a little bit more timid of the slides, surprisingly since he can be the more adventurous one at times. They also both got waterproof tattos - Chase a green turtle, Tanner a blue elephant.

Tanner's Petit

2011-11-01T22:41:00.000-07:00

Tanner gets attached to things easily, but the things he gets attached to are very specific, and he wants to hold that specific thing for several days or even weeks. His objects of desire have been the giraffe bath toy (the kind that stick to the wall of the tub - we have a whole alphabet of animals - A through Z - but the Giraffe is the ONE), the letters Q, B or D (also bath toys), a toy airplane from the Museum of Flight, a plastic trailer with wheels that he likes to attach to other objects , etc.... Whatever his objet du jour, he carries it around with him, sleeps with it, brings it out with him, and remembers he doesn't have it if we're somewhere and he's without. At one point Tanner has grown attached to my 1/8 teaspoon, which he calls "Petit". He will carry Petit around with him all day. If we get in the car and he doesn't have it, he'll cry out "Petit, Petit!!!".

Now Tanner has an infatuation with Pajamas that he calls his Petit Dinosaurs - or Tiny Dinosaurs, depending upon the language he chooses. It gives him incredible joy when they get washed so that he can wear them again. He'll give me a huge hug and giggle and laugh with pure joy.

Buddy, while still a critical attachment object in both he and Chase's life, is an object that can be cast off for spells of time in favor of the objet du jour. Buddy is still required for sleep time, and he still gets hauled around the house and yard throughout the day, soothing scraped knees and squelching sorrows of all sorts.

They have learned that Buddy is important to their brother, so they'll bring Buddy and hand him over if one of the boys is sad or crying, knowing that Buddy will make his brother better. They really are showing so much empathy for each other (when they're not battling over a toy). It's the most amazing thing to watch, that bond. I am the luckiest Mama in the world.

Chase likes to go into the sailboat swing for soothing. It's the plush, sturdy boat swing that I installed in the playroom that can fit both boys, as well as their giant panda and other toys. They were scared of it the first couple of days. Now, it's a place of refuge. If you announce you're going to change a diaper - off they run and pounce into the swing. The way they get into the swing now provides the swing some momentum so that they're actually swinging once they're squarely in the boat. It's all about entrance technique - which they learn quickly.

Perils of Chocolate

2011-06-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Is it the caffiene in the chocolate chip cookies that are keeping Tanner and Chase up? At least they're just entertaining eachother in a ridiculously cute way as I spy-cam them on the monitor ... nearly 2 hours after their usual bed time. They have been giggling and squealing as they interact with eachother without anything with them but their stuffed animals and themselves. These boys really love eachother. They're finally starting to get sleepy. I'm hoping for some sleep-in time tomorrow morning!

Cuteness Personified

2011-05-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

I was watching Tanner and Chase on the video monitor, and it was seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life, ever. When I started watching the monitor, they were holding both of their hands, each standing in their own crib, and swing them together and basically babbling to each other even though they know how to talk with words. Must be that 'twin language' everyone talks about. Then they both tilted their heads and rested their head on their brother's shoulder in this very peaceful, weight-committing way such that they were really hugging, holding on, and leaning into each other. It was a big, loving hug that lasted for close to a minute, if not longer! It was so sweet I thought I could die. It just continued to get better as they would separate for a bit and giggle - often with Tanner reaching out for Chase for more hugs while laughing - and then Chase would be drawn back in and they would give each other another big, sweet hug. They must have hugged each other like that 10 or more times over the course of the 10 or 15 minutes that I was spying on, I mean, watching them. I kept on thinking they would break for good and go to sleep. But they just gave more big, warm, head bent into each other hugs. At one point Chase said "big hug". I died and went to heaven right there. Meanwhile there were beautiful, soft classical lullabies playing in their room to elevate sweetness of the mood. I could just watch them interact on their monitor for HOURS if I didn't have life to take care of. I need to figure out a way to record these interactions. They're seriously ridiculously cute, and I don't think it's just because I'm their Mom. It's beyond.

Cygnets, Hares and Rabbits

2011-05-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

I find myself learning certain things through the boys' books that I hadn't known myself before. For example, a baby swan is a cygnet (pronounced sig-net, its pronunciation I had to look up), and that rabbits and hares are not one and the same.  To get the details on their differences, though, I had to do an online search.  I just learned via the books that a hare's young is a leveret and a rabbit's young is a kit. Now I'll be prepared to explain the more subtle differences to the boys :)

       There are several differences in the physical features of hares and rabbits that allow us to
       distinguish between the two.

Hares are generally larger and faster than rabbits.
Hares have longer ears and larger feet than rabbits.
Hares have black markings on their fur.
Rabbits are altriciali.e. they having young that are born blind and hairless. In contrast, hares are generally born with hair and are able to see (precocial). Young hares are therefore able to fend for themselves very quickly after birth.
Rabbit kittens soon after birth.
A young hare is called a leveret and a young rabbit is called a kitten, kit, or, least correct but very commonly, a bunny.
Hares have very long and strong hind legs, more so than rabbits.
Rabbits and hares both molt and then grow new hair. This happens in both the spring and in the fall. Rabbits' brown summer fur is replaced with fur that is more grey. Hares, especially those living in cold, snowy regions, turn white in the winter.
Hunters say that hare has a much stronger, gamier flavor than rabbit (which actually does taste like a milder version of chicken).
Both rabbits and hares have short tails.

Haircuts, Trains, Easter, Huskies

2011-05-09T17:54:00.000-07:00

The boys got their first haircut on 4/11 together. They did great, with a lot of help from the cars that they got to sit in and the jungle painted all around them. I didn't know if they would cry or not. No tears! Chase has more hair, so his cut was a little bit more noticeable than Tanner's. They also got little cards with a picture and a lock of hair commemorating their big event!

Chase has Mommy's drinks dialed. Anything in a mug or what looks like a coffee shop paper cup is Mommy coffee. My morning water, in which I add some green powder (Nanaogreens) is Mommy green water. A beer bottle or glass of wine is also Mommy drink. Ugh, what am I teaching him?? The coffee is pretty much every morning, as is the green water. At least the latter is not every evening! Though maybe it should be :)

The boys are HUGE into books, so I keep buying them more and more. Sometimes I'm fully surprised by how much of the storyline they know - and even the book title. I have a series of books about different goslings that look really similar on the cover except the name of the gosling, and Chase somehow knows that it's "BooBoo" versus "Peedie" that he wants me to read. Tanner gets really, really attached to books and sometimes carries it around with him for a day or so. Train books are of particular fondness. They both are really getting into Nursery Rhymes. 'umpty umpty' is a solid favorite - translation for non-parents, "Humpty Dumpty". Nursery Rhymes can be so random and downright weird. But they resonate. The kids LOVE them. And so on the tradition goes. Little Miss Muffet continues to sit in her tuffet, Peter keeps putting his wife in a pumpkin shell, poor Humpty Dumpty can't be put back together again, and who the hell knows what cockle shells are anyway (besides Mary - who is apparently quite contrary!). It doesn't really matter. We love them anyway, even if we don't know what the heck curds and whey are. It's all goodness.

I took the boys to the Snoqualmie Train Museum, and it was a HUGE HUGE hit. We met our friends Celine and Philippe and their daughter Maya. It was perfect. You would think that the real trains would be enough - and they were a hit of grand proportions - I heard about the "train ride" all week. "Train ride, Train ride". "Choo Choo, Choo Choo". But while we were on the real train - that takes you from Snoqualmie to North Bend, North Bend to Snoqualmie Falls, and back - we got to see a lot of scenery and other things that little boys happen to also love. We saw ducks flying off of the ponds as the train passed. "Quack Quack". We saw horses grazing in the pasture. "Horse - NEIGH". We saw rivers that as crossed over athe trestles. "Big River" But what left the biggest impression was the Giant Digger near the Falls that was scooping up huge quantities of dirt, spinning and dumping it near the front-end loader (I'm learning all of the terms for these work vehicles because of my boys, btw). Just nearby there was a HUGE crane picking up giant pilings, and spinning to to move to another locale. It was a construction site of mammoth proportions, with all of the big construction equipment in play. While on a train ride. Are you kidding me. Boy's Dream!! And we saw trucks, and cars, and a helicopter..... Seriously, a helicopter too? One of the other things they adore with every ounce of their heart? If only we had seen a motorcycle, garbage truck, and cement mixer. Then it would have been the most epic boy day ever! By the time I loaded them into the car for the journey home, they were asleep within minutes. So much stimulation, so much for a boy to take in and see!!! So much fun.

We got the boys' play structure up and they LOVE it. They were initially scared of the slide, but it took about 4 days to get over that. They go down on their belly, feet first. This toy structure will provide years of fun! Such a find - thank you Costco!

We had a terrific Easter weekend full of Easter egg hunts. First one was at the Zoo on Saturday - the Bunny Bounce. They didn't fully understand the concept of collecting eggs in their baskets. Half the time the basket was off somewhere and they just wanted to look at the eggs. 2nd hunt was at church, and they got a little bit better at the concept of collecting the eggs. But then Tanner loved to shake the basket and watch all of the eggs fly out, at which time other kids would come and take the eggs. He didn't care, so it was all good. Finally, at Bob and Malei's we did an Easter egg hunt, and they both aptly hunted down and collected eggs in their basket. It was so cute to watch. Just so cute.

I took the boys to the Husky Spring Game with Morgan. The first of many, I'm sure. They loved playing around on the field before the game, and they were very intrigued by Harry the Husky (mascot) - calling him "Big Dog" - though they were also quite frightened of him. Chase made friends with him finally at Boating Opening Day a few weeks later, though Tanner is still very wary!

More about their 2nd birthday party in the next post. It was a party of epic proportions - need to get the pictures from Michael first and then will post.

22 months... and counting

2011-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, it's been 3 months since I've blogged! Life is busy indeed. Let me see if I can remember all of the recent milestones. I feel like since I'm immersed in it, it's hard to remember all that they do and how much they're changing. Must blog more on what I think is the mundane that will some day be such a joy to read!!!

Tanner is talking up a storm now - English and French. Chase is making 4-5 word sentences - English and French, and knows all of the letters of the alphabet. I was working on associating letters with sounds today based upon the first letter of a word with a made-up, ad hoc song. I don't know if it was just a fluke but Chase added the word Potty when I was giving examples for the letter "P". I was a little floored by that. The newest thing to work on I guess. For some reason his first two letters to recognize were D (for Davidson!) and Q. Q? Who knows, but he always knows the letter Q. He busted out "R" today, and I know he knows several more.

Tanner and Chase interact so much. They has such love for each other, it's ridiculous. When one wakes up first, they always call out for the other. They're starting to gain such empathy for each other as well. Chase seems to be a little more empathetic than Tanner - he will give Tanner "buddy" if Tanner has a "booboo", and he rubs his head or back if Tanner is upset. Tanner loves to give his brother huge hugs and snuggles, sometimes to the chagrin of Chase. I think Chase feels like he's being tackled - which he sort of is. But it's really just Tanner giving huge loves, which he also does with Layla. On the other hand, Tanner also has the shorter fuse and is quicker to bonk his brother on the head (his favorite way of showing disapproval) if he's pissed. I'm working on stopping that, but it's a tough one. Tanner wants what he wants, and he's less tolerant about alternatives. Working on the concept of sharing with twins is a constant endeavor. I do see them understanding the concept, but that certainly doesn't mean that they want to adhere to that rule all of the time!

They're both hugely into all vehicles: tractors, bulldozers, front-end loaders, dump trucks, garbage trucks (oh - garbage trucks are HUGE), cement mixers (also HUGE), trains (of course), helicopters (HUGE), airplanes (Chase knows the difference between a prop plane and jet plane by sound, sea plane by sight!), pavers, diggers, cars (obvious), trucks, tankers, buses, vans .... I know there's more, but this is the short and obvious list that we see every day. They also love the pink stroller and grocery cart (sort of, it just has wheels, no basket any more) that Missy handed down to us. Love, love, love to roll them along the brick and lawn in the back yard.

I got a membership to the Museum of Flight finally since I realized how much they love it. We've gone several times, and now they know the concepts of astraunot, planet, Saturn, and rocket. The rest is just good fun pushing a lot of buttons, sitting in planes, seeing hot-air balloons go up,... What's cool about the museum is that it's at Boeing field, so we usually get a good close-up of a plane taking off. Two visits ago, a big jet was taking off literally right in front of us as we were in the parking lot. From then on Chase always says "Big Plane" with a very serious look in his eye and makes a taking off noise when I mention the Museum of Flight. It left quite an impression. This last Sunday one was already in the air but still pretty close overhead. Big stuff! There are also operable railroad tracks on the far side of Boeing field, and you can almost always catch a train or two going by while visiting there. It's heaven for little ones!!

They're starting to get to the point where they can tell me what they want or how they feel more clearly, which is nice. Cracker. Milk. Ice water (yes, they specifically like their water iced), outside, downstairs,... Since Chase can talk in sentences, he gets more specific. On the verge of true back and forth communication!!

We're amidst March Madness, and Chase calls 'hoops' "Poops". I find that funny. The neighbor has a basketball hoop, and he point and says Poops? Same if basketball is on TV - though that's not so much the case anymore since UW lost.

We went to Mexico a month or so ago - Club Med Ixtapa! The boys loved Petit Club Med, which was a good thing for mama who could have some rest and relaxation in the sun while the boys had a blast with the best caregivers ever. The travel up and back was a little bit challenging - Chase managed to puke on me on the plane both down and back. I think he must get motion sickness, because he was able to eat and drink fine otherwise without getting sick again. Need to nip that one in the bud - not so much fun to endure a long flight saturated in vomit! But otherwise the boys were pretty good on the flights - not much crying and entertainable - though very busy. This is a tough age for travel. Thank God for Lara who helped with the boys on all of the legs of the flight. Even now when I mention Mexico or Iguanas, they know the so "Oh, way down in Mexico..." that I always sang to them. Need another Mexi vacation!!

So much more I know that I need to jot down. So much happens, but I'm also just so busy with my work and the household that the blogging seems to have taken second stage. More to come! Especially pics and videos. Next blog!!! And they'll be TWO!

20 months!

2011-01-08T14:28:00.000-08:00

The boys are 20 months old today! Amazing, 20 whole months. They both have colds so have been not their normal selves lately. Bad napping, not eating much (especially Chase, I don't think he's eating much in the past two days). Chase can walk down stairs now while holding the wall. Tanner is getting better and better at feeding himself with a spoon or fork. While we're nowhere near potty training them, Chase does know pee pee and poo poo (and P.U) and will sit on the little boy potty proudly. Though there's no association yet with doing so at the right time. They just continue to evolve into little men.

They took their first Metro bus ride the other day with Balkissa to go to the Seattle Art Museum for Free first Thursday. They had to use the wheelchair lift to get on with their stroller. They LOVED the exploding cars at the museum.

I took them to the Museum of Flight again. They're still a little bit young for a lot of the exhibits, but overall it's a great museum for them. They love the kids' area - sitting in the helicopter and in real plane cockpits. They love to push all of the different buttons in the "tower". I look forward to continuing to take them over the years. Need to continue Grandpa Syd's legacy of teaching us to love planes and flight. Who knows, maybe the boys will want to be an astronaut some day :)

The boys got lots of great stuff for Christmas. One of their favorites is a little trampoline that they can hold onto. All I have to ask is if they want to do the "bouncy bouncy" and they go to the trampoline. They also got a train table that Tanner especially loves. They managed to dismember the tracks within 5 minutes, so I need to get some of the track connectors if we want to actually have any semblance of a continuous track for them to play with. They got a toy piano and xylophone/drum/cymbal set from the Hoffers that they really love. They got so, so much more. They're a little bit spoiled I must say. But it's all good, developmental stuff. Tanner cried in the Santa picture, Chase is just staring and wondering who the heck he is. I haven't hooked up my printer/scanner yet but once I do I will post the pic. We had Christmas Eve at the new house here, and Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran came over Christmas morning to help us open presents and make Swedish pancakes for breakfast. We did Christmas dinner at Brent and Jane's. All good family time. We missed Grandma Mary a lot though.

I'm currently watching the Seahawks play the Saints in the Wildcard playoff game and listening to Chase cry on the monitor. They're just not sleeping with these colds :( I think it's time to go pick him up. Poor thing.

Random Notes on Life as We Know it Now

2011-01-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

* Chase calls lights "cocks". He is obsessed with identifying and then turning on and off lights. He runs around my and other people's houses pointing to all of the "cocks" and wanting to play with the "cock" switches.
* Tanner has the funniest way of saying some words where he accents the first syllable over the second - so Mama is MAma.
* Chase loves to grab my legs now to give me hugs and often won't let go even if I'm in process of moving from one place to another. He just holds on and walks right along with me. I give him lots of hugs too, but there are just times that I need to get from point A to point B without child attached
* Both boys are obsessed with stars, bells, and reindeer this Christmas. Stars are the #1 all-time hit. Lots of them on the tree and around the house for Christmas decor. They point them out often. And they take all of the bell ornaments off of the tree since they're some of the only non-breakable ones. I just sort of place them on the branches so that they don't bring the tree down trying to rip the ornament off.
* Chase loves loves loves to sing. He can practially sing the ABC's as he sings along with me - off on a lot of the letters but I don't think he's too far off. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is HUGE right now, as is Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, and a few French songs that Balkissa sings to the boys
* Tanner loves the songs that involve hand-motions - like Wheels on the Bus and Balkissa's French song that involves rolling hands like a food mill, making wavy hands like a fish, and flapping hands like a butterfly.
* Both boys are learning more and more French words - they comprehend a lot, like parts of the face, and they're starting to say French words too. Amazing! Chase says "pas dans la bouche" when he picks up a piece of chalk (means "not in the mouth") and then he puts it in his mouth to test.
* Chase understands cold and hot really well now and knows if something is cold or hot not only by touch but also by looking at the object that is obviously cold (ice) or hot (candle).
* The boys love turning on and off the fireplace. I have no way yet of stopping them from doing it, though they do know not to get to close to the fire at least! They also love plugging and unplugging the Christmas tree lights. In essence, my boys like to play with fire, chords, and electrical outlets - should I be concerned?
* Chase said "I love mama" for the first time the other day (after I asked him to and he repeated me). It was a nice milestone.
* We've had Peter and Elisa over for dinner a couple of times, and Elisa speaks Cantonese to them. We haven't had a chance to get a lot of Cantonese speaking for them yet, but I'm hoping we can continue to get together and teach them Cantonese. I'm also considering hiring someone to come a few hours per week to speak Mandarin to them. They're such sponges for language right now, it seems like a no-brainer to just introduce them to different languages - why not? I wish I had that exposure! So we'll see what we can take on.

Halloween, 18 months old, and French speakers

2010-11-10T09:01:00.000-08:00

Balkissa has only been nannying for the boys for a couple of weeks and Chase can already count to 5 in French. He can also say "bon" with a pretty good accent. Tanner is starting to count as well. She counts to them when she helps them walk down the stairs - I need to remember to do the same in English since they can't count to 5 in English yet. They love to walk down the stairs now with assistance instead of crawling (speed-sliding) down.

They're starting to learn to share - though certainly not all of the time. But if one baby needs his "buddy" the other one will give it to him to sooth him. So some love and empathy there as well. Chase likes to call for Tanner to find out where he is - he calls him dada, but says it in the same way that I call Tanner. It is so cute!

They're obsessed with lights and light switches right now. They also love pull toys and of course books, books, books. Current book favorites: Goodnight Gorilla (Chase likes to point out the moon on every page by pointing to it and announcing "boooooooooooon" in similar fashion that a soccer commentator announced a gooooaaaaal), Barnyard Dance (they're starting to know the book & "read" along in certain sections), Duck & Goose find a Pumpkin (Halloween book that they love), and oh so many more. I just ordered a chair-and-a-half for their new room to make our before bedtime reading easier on the mama's back. I've started leaving a few books in their crib since they sometimes like to play for a bit before falling asleep. There was a spell where one baby or the other was waking up in the middle of the night or VERY early in the morning, but lately they've been good sleepers and go down super easily. It's a bonus that they have eachother, because they entertain eachother and probably give eachother comfort.

Chase can finally say "Mama" when calling me, and he also knows "Bob" by looking at a picture of seeing him in person (he's obsessed with him and loves to cling onto him). I seem to report more on Chase these days - but it's mostly because he's so much more verbal than Tanner. Tanner is still focused on animal sounds but not much in the way of words yet. He loves doing the sames things as Chase and seems on par developmentally except that he chooses or is not yet able to vocalize like Chase who's gaining new words by the day.

We had a good Halloween, and despite some initial angst with the constumers (in particular the head pieces) they liked dressing up and seeing their brother in costume. We went to the Pi Phi Halloween Party the Thursday before Halloween and had the Burts over Halloween night for all of the trick-or-treaters that come to my new house (we had a TON and Morgan came by and did a quick candy run so that I wouldn't run out!). I swapped their Halloween costumes out so that they each got to be a Lion and an Elephant.

Letters, shapes, and numbers Oh My

2010-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

We made the big move to our new house. The boys absolutely love it - so much space within which to run! They have a huge playroom downstairs, and they just seem to have taken to the house right away. Lots of memories to build in our new home - we're just at the beginning!
I took the boys to Fall City Farms' Pumpkin Patch last week. We met Kirsten and Bowen there. It was little boy heaven: big tractor, ducks, goats, pumpkins, cows, donkeys, and more pumpkins. And giant apples, on which each got to gnaw as we drove home.

While both boys' comprehension of words seems simlar, Chase is the earlier verbal one.  Lots of words every day: airplane (pronounced "hair piece"), shoe, spider, apple (pronounced "bapple"), buddy (that's his lovie blanket - pronounced "bu - eee"), tractor, bee, moon, shoe, boots, acorn, ball (of course), helicopter ("ha ca ca" - in the same intonation in which you'd say 'helicopter' - he's obsessed w/them), dragonfly ("da da da" in the same intonation in which you'd say 'dragonfly') ... more words than I can remember. They both can comprehend so, so much now. they understand more words than I can list at this point.

Both boys have also learned to kick the ball around. Need to start on those soccer skills :) I've also tried a little bit of throw and catch, though the throwing on their part is all over the place, and the catching (if it happens) is a fluke. But someday they'll do it - and well!

The boys are also really learning their shapes. They more often than not point to the right shape in a book when I point to it: rectangle, square, circle, oval, star, moon, heart, diamond, zigzag.  Chase can say "oval" and they both say "moon".

We're also starting to work more on the alphabet. Early days but Chase's for some reason loves the letter "D" - appropriate since that's our last name initial! I show him the letter "D" from blocks, bath toys, books and he always gets it right ... "D!". I can also ask him to find the letter "D" within a bunch of blocks and he picks it out. He can also sort of sing A, B, C, D - and and that's about it. I'm going to begin to work on letters A through G for a while, keep the alphabet small for a while. No idea if that's the way to do things, but it sounds good to me.

I'm also working on counting and numbers, though no sign of recognition of the numbers yet. Chase likes to pair things - like if he has a block with an apple, he'll seek out another block with an apple on it. He does this with the blocks all of the time - he comes over to show me the blocks he has in each hand and 9 times out of 10 it's the same image in each hand. "Two" of things. He is a twin after all. I find myself counting a lot these days for them.

They're starting to get tall enough to reach things they previously couldn't that I didn't really baby-proof. Baby-proofing is a constant process! They're also getting a lot better at climbing. If I leave my dining room chair out from the table a bit, next thing you know they're on top of the table. My house has turned into a jungle gym. I just need to figure out how to ensure that the new house can be a relatively good jungle gym as well.

I am just having so much fun with them and feel so unbelievably blessed. There are a lot of times that are really trying, and their care and feeding is incessant and demanding. But it's awesome. Likewise, I do kind of look forward to the days when they can feed themselves with utensils, are no longer in diapers, walk to the car on their own,.... The pure physical aspect of them at this age (weight!) can be demanding. They're also beginning to test boundaries while also not yet knowing how to control their emotions.  Small tantrums are not uncommon, but they're almost always consolable quickly.  Opening the door to show them cars, or looking for a crow through the window, are reliable go-to distractors.

More Whidbey time, more growing - R.I.P. Grandma Mary

2010-10-05T22:29:00.000-07:00

OK, I have had the below post in my Drafts for eons - am going to finally send. I was having issues inserting pics for some reason which stalled me - I'll make sure to send or insert later - and my sweet Mommy died which, um, also threw a wrench in this blog thing. Well - here we are for now, and I'll blog again very soon to play catch-up (below info is probably close to a month old). ...

R.I.P. Mom - Grandma Mary. We love you so much.

Boys' b-day. Grandma Mary was sick so got to sport a mask, but

that didn't stop her or me from seeing her little ones.

Grandma Mary loving and snuggling little baby Tanner

A mother never forgets how to hold and feed a baby.

Chase gets his bottle from his Grandma Mary

Tanner and Grandma Mary building

their bond. They really loved her!

Chase adoring his Grandma Mary, and vice-versa

Grandma Mary loved Tanner and Chase so much and told them that every time she saw them. We miss her so much!!!

Wow. The boys are just changing so quickly intellectually. It's mind-boggling to think about how little and pure they were just a year ago. And now Chase is adding words to his repetoire and Tanner is working on sorting and shapes and some words. Chase can tell you the sound of a bunch of animals (cow, sheep, crow, dog, lion) when I ask what that animal says. He also knows the words car, Hi, bye and he's saying other words where hard to cue in specifically what he's saying. He can mimick a bunch of other sounds and signs "more" and "all done".  He loves books, particularly any of the Barefoot Books that we have - Bear on a Bike, Bear in Sunshine, Listen, Listen, When I Took the Moon for a Walk, One Moose, Twenty Mice, I Spy the Sun in the Sky,.... Really great stories and images that teach them words, colors, shapes, animails/insects/sea life, ABC's, counting 1-20, etc. I literally have several of the books memorized.

Tanner is much happier grabbing a book and using as a toy to flip pages and quickly look at the images. Often he doesn't have near the endurance as his brother to sit through an entire story. He's working on other stuff right now. He's starting to discern shapes - I taught him how to put a different shaped block into the like-shaped hole in a bucket. He loves going that over and over - taking the shape out and putting it back in through the hole. He is also starting to stack blocks, and can put blocks with a hole in the middle onto a vertical dowel.  And he's getting better and better and matching puzzle pieces into their spot (which is the same image as the piece). Chase is doing the talking, Tanner is doing the hand-eye coordination skills with a little bit of talking/mimmicking. But they're both on each other's tail in their different skills. It's so much fun to watch each of them blossom in their own unique ways.
The boys also love to drain the kitchen drawers of their contents. Favorites: vegetable steamer, wooden spoons, spices in spice jars, towels, cookie sheets, tupperware, pot lids (which they've learned to use like cymbals)... It's crazy how big of a mess they're capable of making in a short period of time. I found a box that has a locking mechanism to keep all of the under-the-sink cleaning supplies away from their curious fingers and mouths. I don't think I'm going to bother putting stops on all of the drawers. I just keep the breakables in drawers or cabinets they can't reach. Not sure what I'll do when they CAN reach - maybe by then they won't be so destructive! Wishful thinking?

Figuring out menu-planning continues to be a challenge. I just want to make sure that they've getting ample amount of green stuff, protien and fat. Protien and fat are the important ones in their development right now, according to my pediatrician. The protien is the hardest for me, and to make things worse Chase is starting to get finicky with many foods. I make meatballs, shred chicken in the cuisinart to add to pasta sauces. They love refried beans and tofu marinated in a soy ginger marinade that I like. I'm on the lookout for other bean/legume recipes that 15 month-olds like.  Greens can be hard too. Cheesy-egg mornings make greens easy - I add an ample amount of spinach, broccoli, or sauteed kale to their eggs. They used to like broccoli on its own, but no more. Need to come up with a new recipe to make it more palatable. At least Tanner really enjoys salad with ranch dressing on it. I have heard to try veggie burgers.

We had another GREAT weekend up at Whidbey Island with the Orfords a few weekends ago. I've known Christine (Elias) Orford since seventh grade. We had our first overnight in the TeePee (amidst a wee bit of downpour), first bon fire, first bat in the cabin (the fruit variety), immersive seaweed exploration, shell percussion, and more cows, llamas, pigs (with some hooves that need a serious pedicure!), sparrows, blue herrons, FLOCKS of geese, beach combing, ball-for-dog throwing,... We had a BBQ feast down at the beach, and then a big bon fire where we roasted Orford-style smores. They don't go for the simple Hershey bar. 100 Grand. Snickers. Reeses Peanut Butter Cup (their favorite, particulary with a sliver of Rice Krispie treat). Yum!! The key is to also heat up the chocolate component while you're roasting your marshmallow so it's melty. The boys were already down for bed in their PeaPod tents 25 yards or so down the beach from us, and we transferred them to the teepee with us when we all went to bed. Tanner learned how to "throw" the ball to Dee, farmer Fred's dog. Dee diligently dropped it at his feet and he would pick it up and throw it a foot or two. Dee didn't seem to mind that she wasn't getting to chase it, and Tanner was delighted to play ball with her. The boys got to do a lot of practice on their farm animal and bird sounds - moo, baaah, cah cah, meow, woof woof, tweet tweet.

About a month ago we went up to Jen Foster's Mt. Baker cabin. Such a great place, and better company.  We went there with Jen, her daughter Maddie, Missy, and her daughter Tessa. We took the first hike where we got to see big mountains and glaciers. The hike was quite short - we had Maddie, Tessa, and Winter (Jen's friend Jean's daughter) - three awesome, sweet little girls, all under 3, who were also hiking with us. So sweet! Since the boys were on our backs, the short but beautiful hike was fine by me. I loved introducing my boys to the big vistas.

Busy summer indeed with lots of weekend adventures.

Blue Angels and Buddy Addictions

2010-08-07T10:45:00.000-07:00

Tanner is starting to get better at eating with a spoon when I put very sticky food on it, like oatmeal or pureed yams. He actually puts the spoon in his mouth in the right direction too. When I give Chase the spoon, he just shakes it and strews food all over the place. It's hard to imagine that someday my boys will be able to eat competently with utensils. I guess that it does happen eventually - they won't be 20 and hand-fed by momma or eating with their fingers (hopefully!). It's just hard to imagine how they get from here to there.

The boys took their first boat ride yesterday on Aaron's boat. Since they nap in the afternoon, unfortunately they weren't able to see the Seafair activites that start later, but they did get to "go out" for Seafair for a short spell. They both loved playing with the steering wheel on the boat, and their balance was challenged more than once as they tried to walk around on the rocking boat. Their life jackets served as fall pads more than once, though neither of them like having them on for a very long period of time.

Thursday Eva and I took the boys down to the roof of my parents' condo for the morning and then the Seattle Tennis Club for the afternoon Blue Angels shows. They were surprisingly calm even when they buzzed us and it was really loud. We always put our hands over their ears, but they didn't cry once. I think they just thought that the planes were pretty cool. This wasn't technically their first Seafair or Blue Angels, but last year they were so wee and didn't get to see them up close. Last year we were staying at Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran's house during the heat wave, and we could hear them buzzing around the city.

Chase's language skills seem to improve dramatically. His babbles sound more and more like words, and he mimics words more and more. I think he's going to be an earlier talker than Tanner who isn't as interested in repeating sounds.

I taught the boys how to 'fist-bump' - they learned it with one try. It's pretty funny, they usually know the difference between high-five and fist-bump now. Important skills in a boy's life!

Tanner has rapidly become increasingly attached to his 'buddy' (his security blanket) outside of the crib, so we're in buddy lock-down mode to keep it as a crib-only blanket. Both boys got very good at grabbing their buddies through the slats of their crib. It got to a point where Tanner would wail if his was stolen by his brother or he couldn't find it. It was quickly becoming an unhealthy habit that was causing more angst-riddled episodes throughout the day than were desirable for all of us. And it was getting really nasty as it got milk on it or was dragged through the dirt outside. It's been about 5 days of crib lock-down where we hide it behind their stuffed animals. The first few days were rough - Tanner would walk around the house crying. But he's getting much, much better at self-soothing without it and is so happy to see it when we put him down. Both of them give their buddies HUGE snuggles by rubbing them all over their face and rolling around with them. It's so cute.

Chase loves his giant panda bear stuffed animal that's almost as big as he is. He will give it big hugs and carry it around the house for short periods. No unhealthy attachment, just pure love. They both love their stuffed animals in general. We have a little routine at bedtime where all of their animals say night night and tell them how much they love them and then give them big hugs and kisses. The boys just love it and give them big hugs and smiles right back. It's a happy time for them.

We went to Whidbey Island again last weekend with Missy and Tessa. This time the cows came up to the upper pasture, so the boys got to see them up close and said "moo" when they saw them. They were fascinated. We also saw the pigs and llamas, and the boys got to sit in the tractor and farm 4-wheeler. And of course there was more beach-time running around in the salt water which they love. And we hit the Farmer's Market where they got to see a bee hive through plexiglass and watch Mom shop for bread, cheese, honey and fresh berries that became part of our picnic lunch there. We also got farm-fresh eggs for our breakfast the next day, which we did outside with wool hats on because it was still cold in the morning. But the views are incredible, so it was well worth it to bundle up a bit and eat outside. Plus it keeps the house a bit cleaner, even though Layla takes care of most dropped crumbs.

Tanner's Girlfriends

2010-07-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

According to Eva, the boys' nanny, Tanner has the proclivity to make girlfriends quickly. He sauntered right up to a girl at Barnes & Noble at U-Village and begain to play not just side-by-side, but with her. She's an older woman, 4 months his superior. They then went to Vios for lunch where he met another young lady whom he instantly created a bond. Go Tanner, go Tanner :)

We're off to Whidbey Island again this weekend, this time with Missy and Tessa. We're planning on sleeping in the tent instead of the cabin. I bought some little sleeping bags for the boys, let's see how it goes. More cows, pigs, llamas, rabits, sparrows, beach walks, bbq'ing,... Fun, fun1!

Walking, Talking, Pointing

2010-07-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

OK, it's been forever since I've blogged. Life is a tad busy as we have been preparing to put the house on the market, along with the fact that I have two very busy little buddies on my hands.

Since my last Blog Tanner started walking. So both Chase and Tanner started walking within their 13th month of life. Chase practiced a lot and we could see its inevitable conclusion as he was able to take more and more and more steps after their first birthday. Tanner, on the other hand, seemed not so much interested in walking long distances. But within a few weeks of his brother walking, he started to have the talent, but he didn't quite have the confidence. He'd start, but then drop competently to his knees. Then, all of a sudden, he took not just two or three but thirteeen or fourteen steps. And once he started, like his brother, there was no looking back. Now they can both run - and pretty fast at that! Chase experimented running on grassy knolls in the arboretum with steeper, variable terrain. His balance still isn't 100% so there were some rolling tumbles that are pretty funny to watch. What is so great is that he just tumbles arse over teakettle and then just picks up where he left off. Hills are a new paradigm with lots to learn!

Both boys LOVE it when I chase them around the house. All I have to say is "momma is gonna get you" and they're off running and squealing.

Chase answers "moo" when I ask him what does a cow say. Both Chase and Tanner can make a horse braying sound as well. But moo was really the first word where Chase consciously answers me without needing me to prompt him. He did say "woof" before, but he would only say it when he mimicked me. Their speach continues to mature - not really words, but a lot more sound combinations that kind of sound like words. Maybe they are words and I just don't know it yet.

Tanner is at a stage where loves to point at everything. He basically enters a room and starts pointing at something- anything. It's his way of communicating something - I'm not sure what yet. Tanner can also sign "more" and Chase can sort of sign "all done". I think they know the word and sign are associated (they make the sign when I say the word), but they don't yet understand that it means they would like more of something.

Both Tanner and Chase are getting better at throwing a ball back to me (or near me) when I give it to them. A game that will be a big part of our world as they get older - this is just the beginning.

Tanner is getting his 8th tooth, Chase is still stuck at 4 teeth. I continue to give them more and more variety of food, though it's really hard to meal plan for some reason. It was so much easier when it was just me! One of their new favorites, green curry w/chicken & rice. It has a little kick to it, and they didn't mind the spice! I used the Trader Joe's Green Curry simmer sauce which makes it so much easier to make than making a complex curry on my own - which I'd love to do, but no time! We also make these zucchini, carrot, apple, flax muffins that are chock full of goodness on top of those core ingredients - blueberries, coconut, spelt flour, bran, a bit of pure syrup (no sugar!)... The boys love, love, love them, and it's super convenient to make a big batch and then freeze them for easy retrieval later. And they're a good portable snack while on-the-go. We do the same with pancakes - add a bunch of healthy ingredients like yams, banana, blueberry, ground flax, wheat germ,.. and make a huge batch to freeze the extra. I just started getting boxes of produce, milk, eggs, and grass-fed beef from Full Circle Farms which has been fun for meal planning.

The boys have been going to a French daycare 2 mornings a week, though I'm not sure if we're going to stick with it. I love the fact that it's mostly French speaking, but I'm not loving the daycare itself unfortunately. I'm just non-plused by it, and the caregivers are mediocre at best. So we'll see - I may give it another week and see if I'm more impressed.

We went to Whidbey Island with Ema and Maia last weekend and had a blast! The boys loved running around on the tidal flats and wading in the tidal pools.

Both boys' hair is slowly starting to come in. They're still fairly bald-looking, but they each have a thin layer of hair that seems to get thicker and thicker by the week. Tanner's hair is more blond than Chase's.

I'm sure there is so much more that I'm forgetting. I need to be more diligent about blogging more often as funning stuff happens. They're growing and changing so quickly and are just at such a fun, cute stage right now.

My Babies are now Toddlers, Bittersweet

2010-06-07T11:32:00.000-07:00

The last month+ has been a whirlwind of activity and new developments. Chase is now officially walking and can travel long distances as a biped. He still resorts to crawling when he sees fit, but his walking skills improve by the hour. I still am so surprised when I see him toddling around the corner on two feet! They have both been using walkers that are an all-time favorite toy in the household. I brought one home that Cindy gave us, and Tanner just grabbed it and took off walking. I had no idea how competent he would be so quickly. Chase was a little bit more into the buttons on the walker than actually using it at first. Tanner's happy using the walker to walk and isn't as interested in practicing on his own. In his own good time. Kirsten gave us another wooden walker hat they love - so they can now walk together using the same one, or each have their own. They also love practicing going up stairs but don't get the concept for how to go backwards down. I keep practicing with them, and like everything else, eventually they will learn.

They know how to clap really well now, as well as make a pppbbb sound by sticking their tongue out and blowing - one of Tanner's favorites.

Of course the big news - they both turned ONE on May 8th, and we had a big party for them with lots of guests and lots of little kids everywhere. Luckily it was a nice, sunny day so people were able to spill out into the backyard where sliders, chicken and veggies were being grilled up en masse. I didn't count how many people were here, but it had to be close to 30+ kids and adults. The boys had a blast playing with all of the other kids that were here, including two other sets of boy twins and lots of friends' kids. They successfully got chocolate cupcake all over their face and head after we sang happy birthday. I got the cupcakes at Cupcake Royale and kept them out to soften the frosting for the big event. It was such an amazing feeling to be able to celebrate their first birthday and reflect upon the incredible year that we've had. We've come a LONG way from their 4 lb 4 oz and 4 lb 15.5 oz days!!! They're now 22 lb 3 oz (Chase) and 21 lb 10 oz (Tanner) (or close to that, I don't have the #'s on me), per their last pediatrician appointment.

The day after their birthday (Mother's Day), the boys went to their first Mariner's Game and got two games balls at the end of the game, as well as one of the ump's wristbands which is pink since it was Mother's Day and they were honoring breast cancer awareness with pink bats and wristbands. It turns out that this will be the first and last time that the boys get to see Ken Griffey Jr. play ball. We picked up certificates that commemorates them attending their first baseball game.

Their vocabulary continues to grow with all kinds of sounds and inflections. Chase the other day was saying something like 'woof woof woof', Tanner saying something 'quack quack quack' when I asked about the sounds that a dog or a duck make, and making the sound myself. This morning I asked Tanner where Mommy's nose is, and he pointed straight to my nose, I asked him where Mommy's mouth is and he pointed to my mouth. When reading this morning I asked Chase where the ladybug is and he pointed to the ladybug. It's still hit and miss if they know what something is, but this is definitely a new activity for them. Makes me realize that they really do understand a lot more than I think.

They're getting into mischief more and more - like unfurling the TP and spilling Layla's water bowl every chance they can get. I've learned to get consistent at keeping the lid on the toilet down and the toilet bowl brush at a level they can't reach! I tried to put the TP on "backwards" so that when they spun it, it wouldn't unravel. They learned very quickly to pull the end from the back, leaving me with reams of unraveled toilet paper. I'm looking forward to that little obsession going away!

I took the boys to Leavenworth to visit the Jones' who were there filming at Steven's Pass for TGR. Fun little road trip - it works out perfectly to leave from Seattle right around 1:00, nap time. They fall asleep on the road and wake up pretty much when you get to your destination. The boys got to meet Kai and Cam Ryder - Shelly and Todd's boys who are super adorable. Cam's a few months younger than Tanner and Chase, Kai is three and very much into Buzz Light Year. They all hung tough. Here's Todd hanging on to all 4 kiddos!

I took the boys to their first Opening Day of boating season at the cut. The boys loved the Husky band and the cheerleaders! And the cheerleaders loved the boys!

Tanner is getting another tooth - upper right next to the two already there - which was cause for some serious inconsolable crying this afternoon. I gave him some acetominophen and drew him a bath which calmed him down. I'm not sure which did the trick, but another time recently that he was unconsolable, the bath trick worked.

I'm weening the boys off of their bottles and onto sippy cups. They now have a bottle in the morning and before bed, rest of the day is sippy cups with whole milk (no more formula!) or water. Tanner is pretty attached to the bottle and loves to just suck on it even if there's no milk in it. But they both have gotten pretty good at figuring out the sippy cups. It didn't seem like they'd ever learn how to use them, but like all other things, they miraculously figure it out.

I am just loving, loving, loving taking care of them. Everyone says that it gets better and better, and it literally does. Not that early days were bad, but it's just so much fun to hang out and play with them. It's so rewarding when Chase walks over to me and grabs my legs and gives me a big hug or Tanner reaches his arms up to me with a huge, happy grin. They're just such happy, loving, sweet, adorable, irresistable little boys, and I feel so blessed to have them in my life.

Visiting "Uncle" Rick in La Conner

Tanner and Chase - 2 weeks until they're a year old!

2010-04-25T15:01:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since I have blogged. Life is just so busy these days, I have a hard time fitting in essentials like shopping, let alone updating the Blog. But here's the quick update.

Both boys are crawling and cruising along furniture like banshees now and have full reign of the upstairs. Chase has figured out how to flop into the bath tub by high centering himself onto the tub wall and then basically fall into the other side. There's obviously not water in the tub, but he still likes to play in there. Thus far he hasn't figured out how to get himself back out though, so he needs a rescue.

They're both "talking" up a storm with lots of different consonants, vowels, squeaks and squeals mish mashed together into a jabber that I think they think is a language. They know dadadadadada well but don't say mamamamama quite yet. Tanner knows how to mouth it without sound coming out - a start!

We're doing some stairs practice, and they're pros at getting up stairs while being closely watched (particularly important if they try to sit mid staircase because getting their but firmly on the stair doesn't always happen) but haven't the faintest clue how to go down stairs. That'll take some more work, but it'll be really nice once we have that one figured out! I did get my staircase baby-proofed - it had open slats big enough for a baby to easily fall through, but now they're to code with no more a 4" space. Check that one off of the list, now just need to figure out cabinets that they don't yet know how to open! One of their favorite activites is getting into the dishwasher when I have it open. Luckily they make the doors strong enough to hold a fair amount of weight, but I probably need to nip that activity in the bud. Another favorite past time is playing with Layla's water bowl, which often means a full-towel floor clean-up and change of clothes for very wet baby. Poor Layla gets her water intermittently throughout the day now since we need to keep the bowl high when kids are on the loose

They're growing like little weeds - I think we're already going to need to go pajama shopping again as their current ones are getting tighter and tighter - again. We officially moved to their bigger car seats and are out of the infant seats. Makes life a little harder because you can't carry them in their car seats any more. But they were getting so heavy that that was becoming a difficult proposition anyways. I took them to the zoo today with Wendy Whitfield and her two twins Weston & Rhoades, and they both fell asleep on the way home. I now have to carry each one individually from the car to their crib, and today they both stayed asleep during the transition - so sweet!

They're learning new skills all of the time. They're just starting to learn how to clap, and they know how to do 'high 5' to lots of giggles. Intermittently they can wave bye bye, though this skill isn't consistent yet. Chase is starting to balance longer and longer standing up without holding onto anything. He loves to practice and is so proud of himself when he goes a long time. He hasn't put together the concept of putting one foot in front of the other though, so when he falls he either falls to his bottom or falls forward knowing I'll catch him. Tanner doesn't seem to be in a hurry to practice his balancing skills. He'd rather give big hugs and kisses and snuggles. He's the snuggliest baby. He'll even chase Chase around the house giving him hugs and kisses or come over to me and rest his head in my lap. Today he and Rhoades - who's Wendy's snugglier twin - gave eachother a lot of hugs and kisses. It was so cute!

The boys are so flipping cute at bedtime now. I put them down in their cribs and then watch their interactions on the baby video monitor (aka spy cam). They're now spending up to 30 minutes standing up face-to-face "talking" to eachother and swatting at eachother. I could watch them on the monitor for hours!

Tanner has been helmet-free for a while now - it seems like it was so long ago that he had his helmet. Now the helmet is a toy and keepsake as Tanner's first of likely many helmets in his life.

We went to Hawaii a few weeks ago and had the best time. The boys charmed their way up and down the plane aisle on our way out. They got to a point where they were just so squirmy and Eva and I were exhausted holding them. So we let them stretch their legs a bit in the aisle and they literally crusied around smiling and cooing at everyone. Luckily there were quite a few babies on the plane and people were very tolerant and friendly. Grandma Fran and Grandpa Bob through a big Luau for them the 2nd night we were there where they were blessed by the local Kahuna. It was such a great party! It is tradition in Hawaii to throw a Lauau for babies first birthday. They Kahuna arrived by outrigger canoe with a group of people who are part of the local traditional canoe & navigation club. He blew a conch and they all came up singing and chanting. Then the Kahuna performed the blessing on each boy. After the blessing there was hula dancing and music and a sit-down dinner. I was worried the boys would be exhausted since it was way past their bedtime, particularly in Seattle time which is 3 hours later. But they did so great and just charmed everyone at the party with their adorableness. The boys LOVED the beach and ocean in Hawaii. Their first time in the ocean they were a little bit scared, but after that they just loved the water. I dunked each of them which they handled well - no crying. They're going to be little swimmers just like their Mom and Dad! They were so damn cute in their little outfits that Maria got them - matching shorts, shirts, hats and sunglasses (see pic below)! If I got a nickel for the number of times people stopped to comment how cute they are I'd be a rich woman!

They slept in their little PeaPod tents the whole vacation and did really well in them. I was worried they wouldn't sleep well in tents, but they did great. And the tents served as fun toys in the day time. They'd scramble in and out of the tents over and over again because I think they like the squisky bottoms. I also rented a bunch of toys, along with a jogging stroller, high chairs and car seats. Such a great service! We had everything we needed without missing a beat. It's such a great place to be with kids, and it'll get even more fun as the kids get older and can play on the beach and in the water on their own. On our way to the airport Eva and I brought the boys to the Aquarium, and Tanner, in particular, was fascinated by it. Chase thought it was pretty cool, but he was equally as impressed with the wheels on the stroller as the fish in the tanks. Tanner particularly loved matching his hands with that of the scuba diver who was in the big tank for a while. I can't wait to make our Hawaiian vacations to visit Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran an annual tradition! I posted some videos of the vacation - including Chase and Tanner's first time touching the ocean, Tanner chasing Chase in the house, and Tanner's charging towards the waves only to be saved by his Uncle Bob - on our youtube channel, www.youtube.com/cathytannerchase.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T16:29:00.000-07:00

The boys are almost 11 months old and we have been VERY busy lately - hence the lack of posts. We're getting ready to take off to visit Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran on Maui in a couple of days. They are throwing a Luau and blessing of the boys. They will be blessed in the Hawaiian tradition with a Kahuna doing the blessing. He is going to come over earlier in the day to met the boys and get acquainted with them. Otherwise I think there'll be a lot of sand and beach and books and some R&R.

I will post more of what's been going on the last month or so when I get more time in HI. For now here are some pics of the boys.

HAPPY EASTER!

Baby eats what Mommy eats?

2010-03-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

I made steamed salmon and braised kale the other night and basically decided to feed the boys what I was eating - salmon and braised kale (minus the pine nuts for the boys in the kale - no 'tree' nuts until they 1 (or is it 2? must check on that)). I added some lemon and thyme to the salmon and goat cheese to the kale, and they ate it up without a peep. Loved salmon. Loved kale. My nanny gave them some brussel sprouts the other night and they ate those too. Not quite as hungrily as the kale, but still! I am in full awareness that this 'super green veggie' eating behavior is by no means a forecast of their future eating termperment. But I'm enjoying it while it lasts while not making a big deal out of it around them in hopes that it will indeed last! A little lemon goes a long way to give some flavor to foods, as does thyme and sage - and cinnamon. I need to up the herbs and spices though. Coriander's also a good, mild spice that makes things taste better without adding salt. The big issue is salt-free cooking - I'm learining a lot about how herbs and spices can make up for it. But then my boys love, love, love cheese and cheesy pasta. I've been cooking up sprouted grain penne that's easy to cut up (using a knife or even kitchen scissors) into bite-sized pieces and served warm with butter and parmesan cheese slightly melted into it. It's kind of my 'mac & cheese' but the boys love it. They get their grains. They get their fat. They're getting some of that salt from the cheese but it's gotta happen at some point. At least the butter's unsalted. It's all goodness. They're doing well with broccoli too. They actually eat it in little chunks without anything on it. I just feed them the little bushy pieces though. Otherwise it takes them forever to chew the harder pieces. There has been many a feeding moment that they've had the 'tree' part of the broccoli partially hanging out of their mouth. Unfortunately Tanner has finally figured out how to spit food out of his mouth that he doesn't want in there using his tongue. It's informative as a parent, but it also means more work to get calories in! I think cumin with avocado is the next spice we're going to try.

I think that Chase is getting more teeth -his mood reflects the acrimony. He's had several incidences of wailing middle-of-the-night crying where he's inconsolable. Ultimately baby tylenol prevailed, but only after it was clear he wasn't just having a restless sleep. It becomes very clear at this stage that something is 'off' and they're clearly in pain - especially since they're normally such good sleepers.

Both babies are crawling around like little banshees. They're just at a stage now where they're working on their speed. When they first learned to crawl, it looked so mechanical and stilted, like little wind-up toys. Now it's fast and pointed! I'm going to install a second baby gate where currently we have a construction plastic zipped "door" that Tanner has learned how to get around where the blue tape isn't so secure (thanks to Layla). The first baby gate went up between the living room and the kitchen a little over a week ago. I actually usually like having them hang out with me in the kitchen with me much of the time, except when I forget to pick up Layla's water blow which happens more often than I'd like to admit. I swear, every day we have a major water incident where I need a full-sized towel to dry the floor and a baby needs full-body change into dry clothes. I moved Layla's water bowl to a more remote location - that trick lasted about a day. Now I find them high-tailing it down the corridor to the bowl, and it becomes a race as to whom can get to it faster! And if I'm not paying attention for 3 seconds, baby wins!

Tanner seems to be getting a little bit more separation anxiety with my departure from a room. He really, really likes me to be where he is most of the time. When the nanny is here, he's pretty cool with my comings and goings. But in the evening when he's more tired - look out. First the crying, and now that he's mobile he can start to track me down, moving from room-to-room to do so. It's actually really sweet. You spend so many months with your kids not really acknowledging that you're their mama, and now it's very much acknowledged that they want to be with you! Because I've read about the normalcy of the separation anxiety milestone in their development, I'm able to see it as endearing and even a sign of growth instead of the shackles that it kind of really is :) They're actually really good independent players, but these two little boys definitely love their mama and like to hang on her a lot when they're not distracted by something else and start to get sleepy!

Tanner has figured out how to open small drawers, so I'm really having to do some of the 'big gun' babyproofing with that new development. Their ability to get to and then get into things has improved exponentially!

I have been putting a cloth over their heads and after they get it off of their head themselves I say Peekaboo! which they LOVE. Chase has just started to learn to play Peekaboo on his own where he'll take the cloth and put it over his eyes on his own to play more Peekaboo. They love it when they can instigate a response from you based upon something they've done. I think it's empowering to them. When they're cranky at dinner time - which seems to happen a lot these days - singing or Peekaboo almost always turns them from cranks to smiley-faces. They just need more distractions and stimulation or something.

OK, bedtime for mama. Quick shout out to Maria Mallane and her colleagues in Boise, ID who are reading this blog from time-to-time :) Just had a long chat with her tonight - soooo great talking with you and catching up!

Happy First Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

It's the boys' first Valentine's Day. We made heart-shaped blueberry panckes for breakfast - their first pancakes. Tanner really like them, and Chase like them but not as much.

Chase is starting to wave 'bye-bye'. I don't know if he fully knows what he's doing yet, and it's not consistent. But he will wave his hand as he mimics us waving our hands. So cute!

I forgot to report on the boys' 9 month check-up in my last blog. They had their appointment on their 9 month birthday. Basically there's not much to report, which is a good thing. Dr. Spector says they're healthy and thriving. They're now over the 20 pound marker - Tanner is 20 lbs 5 oz, Chase is 20 lbs 10 oz. So neck & neck and that's is about 50th percentile. So neck & neck still. Chase is 29" tall which is 75th percentile, Tanner is 28 1/2" tall which is 50th percentile. They got their H1N1 booster shots, so they should be pretty immune should it flare up again.

I'm starting to decouple some of the foods that I used to mix together in their purees. I'm realizing that I want them to like broccoli, zucchini, etc. on its own without always hiding it. I may have to continue to hide the kale, we'll see. Tanner seems to have more of a taste for veggies. Chase is getting more and more into feeding himself or at least having more finger foods versus purees. I think he gets bored with them. So I'm continuing to try to find more finger foods that I can feed them beyond the Oatios, string cheese chunks and banana pieces. We tried buttered toast yesterday which was a big hit. They just chew on the toast, and Tanner can actually bit pieces off now that he has 5 teeth. I tried cucumber pieces, but they're too hard still for the boys to accept. I'm also removing the sweet fruits from their yogurt and cottage cheese, per the advice of a book suggesting to be careful to use the fruit purees to sweeten things. That's how they get a sweet tooth. They love yogurt plain or with some veggies and/or ground seeds and tahini mixed in. Today they had yogurt with tahini, ground flax and pumpkin seeds, and a healthy das of cinnamon. Yummy, they loved it. We're saving fruit servings for breakfast and dinner.

First Word, Lots New Crawling

2010-02-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

Tanner said "Mom" very distinctly on February 11th, though I was unfortunately not the one there to witness it. As soon as I walked in the door, Eva excitedly pronounced that Tanner very clearly said "Mom". So it's a first word. Tanner does a LOT of babbling. The boy likes to talk. But all of the babble has been just that. I haven't heard him say Mom yet again, but I'm sure it'll come. Apparently they first say mom (or mama) and dada before they even really know what it means exactly. Then eventually they associate the sound with the meaning. Chase still loves it when I say "goooooo" and Tanner loves it when I say "eeh ooh aaah oh" in a certain intonation. You kind of say what they say and they laugh and laugh.

Both boys are full-blown crawlers now. Tanner is just getting his crawling legs under him. It's so flipping cute to watch him crawl, because each move is still so deliberate and heavy, but solid and directed. I thought it would take him a lot longer to catch on since Chase has been so close for so long, but I think that Tanner just watched his brother and saw how it happens. Chase did a lot of the rocking on his haunches and downward dogs (many times with one leg in the air - quite an impressive maneuver I must say!) before making the connection to move his hands with his legs. But Tanner kind of just went from a little bit of rocking on his haunches to crawling. I'm now seeing some downward dogs as well - remains to be seen if he does downward dog with one leg in the air!

Chase is getting better at crawling already, but he's really more into pulling himself up into standing position. If I put him down after holding him, he will invariably find the hexagon activity center and pull himself up to standing where there's lots of goodies to play with. There is actuallly plenty to play with while sitting too - Chase just loves to be standing. What's fun to watch is how quickly he has learned to get himself back down gracefully, and how he moves his legs closer and further from the object he is holding to understand his own weight as it changes with his distance. He's literally teaching himself how to push, pull, correct and stand with a certain amount of grace.

Chase may be getting his two upper teeth - or that could just be what we're blaming the grumpiness on. Parents always have a few things to "blame" when baby is cranky: teething, gas, sick, tired. Chase has also had a super runny nose and cough the last few days, so he may also just be sick and miserable. But he sure knows how to play hard in between the cranky times.

The boys are down for their 1:00 nap now, and we're going to walk in the Arboretum with their other twin boy friends, Rhodes and Weston while the Moms catch up and dogs (Layla and Jackson) do their dog thing.

Standing, Food Chunks, and Dancing

2010-02-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

Chase has figured out how to sit up on his own whenever he wants to be in that position. He's just so rolly-polly and can strike whatever pose he so chooses. He also likes to do downward dog with one leg in the air - it's actually quite impressive. He also pulled himself up the other day onto his hexagon toy - I was in the kitchen getting food ready and peeked in and saw him standing. He managed to figure out how to get himself back down somehow, but I don't think that it'll always go that smoothly because he doesn't really know how to get back down from standing. I'm going to need to lower their crib mattresses pretty soon. I haven't found him standing in his crib yet, but I'm sure it's not too far out. He's still too small to pull himself over the rail, but that too will change soon enough! His crawling is also improving. He now will do a proper crawl for a few "steps" and then ultimately defaults to his "army crawl" because he gets too motivated to get to his destination and goes to what he knows. Tanner continues his practicing, but he's just not as motivated as Chase to go after objects out of his reach yet.

Chase has also figured out how to grab a Cheerio and put it into his mouth. He can't do it very reliably yet - sometimes the Cheerio is in the back of his hand while he's trying to stuff his whole fist in his mouth. But he gets the concept of feeding himself a bit which is exciting. He still picks it up with his palm instead of pincing it with two fingers. Once he nails the "pincer grip" he'll be golden.

I'm starting to feed the boys more and more chunky foods and need to continue to add more. Cheese and banana are other favorite food chunks, and we're going to do blueberries in the morning. I've been substituting their baby rice and oatmeal cereal with quinoa and cous cous lately. They like the grains, and I feel like I can eat any food that they eat now without feeling like I'm eating baby food since it no longer has baby cereal and formula in it. The baby cereal is still really good for thickening some of their purees though. I've found that a thicker puree makes much less of a mess. Ground nuts also do a good job at serving that purpose, though not quite as well.

We had an gathering this Saturday with all of the people who were in my 'Preparing for Multiples' birthing class at a local coffee shop that has an area where we all could all hang and have blankets and toys down for the kids. This was the first time that I've seen the babies out of utero - it was pretty cool seeing all of the twins and to catch up with people! The boys are so much fun to watch as they interact with the other babies and adults. Chase is super social and will go up to people and start to climb on them. He seems to particularly like men. Tanner is really into the toys, and the other kids were really into his helmet. The Husky theme is a big hit amongst the adults. He has less than 6 weeks left of helmet therapy; then I get my full bald-headed Tanner back.

Uncle Brent and Aunt Jane babysat the boys yesterday while I went to Sarah Burt's baby shower - Baby Zoe is going to be here in a few months!! They did great - they just rolled with it and played hard with their Aunt and Uncle as usual. I think that they're starting to be familiar with them which is really neat.

I just got some super cute skull & crossbone board shorts and matching sun hat in the mail that I ordered for our Hawaii trip. I'm so excited to spend mellow, quality time with them in the sand and sun.

We started the Nurturing Pathways classes that Grammy Beverly gave the boys for Christmas, and they have been a LOT of fun. In the classes we do all different kids of dancing, music & rhythm interaction, balance exercies, etc., all of which helps them develop their gross motor skills and overall brain development. You can tell that it's working, because even though Eva and I are getting a big part of the workout ourselves, the boys are exhausted after the classes and take big naps. Their brains are just taking in so many new sights, sounds, movements, and social interactions.

Almost 9 months old, can't believe it!!

Smooches, daddy visit, Jackson Hole, more teeth!

2010-01-26T20:34:00.000-08:00

The boys are just growing so quickly and learning so much right now. Tanner loves giving big, wet kisses - and I mean wet. He basically opens his mouth wide, makes an aaaahhhhh sound and plants one on you. It is adorable that he's such a sweet and loving little boy, so it makes wiping off the slobber okay. And there is a LOT of slobber!

Michael and Rachel came out to visit the boys, Michael for a week and Rachel a long weekend. They rented a place nearby and basically took over operations for 4 days, including making all of their food. Rachel was a trooper for making everything for them. I tried to pare down their menu, but it's still quite a chore, especially when it's for a short period of time. There is an economies of scale when we make food in bulk and freeze it. The boys got to celebrate their Christmas with them and got their first teddy bears from Daddy and from their Great Grandmother. The teddies are seriously soft and cute and will be their buddies for a long time to come. They also got these very cool rattles that are carved from a single piece of wood with two rings of wood surrounding the core.

While Michael was here we were able to put in the paperwork for the boys' 1st Passports. Not sure when we'll use them first - probably Canada or Mexico, but you never know.

Tanner's two upper teeth are coming in now. Explains why he was a grump when Michael and Rachel were in town. As soon as they left I looked and saw the telltale white just under his gums. And now there are teeth. My little babies are going to have mouths full of teeth before I know it :( But that's okay I guess, makes eating easier which is always a good thing. I've started to give them Cheerios which they suck on until they get mushy enough to swallow, as well as a handful of other finger food. It took me a while to figure out that I needed to actually put the food into their mouth. I was thinking I could just put it on the tray and they'd naturally put it in their mouth like they do everthing else. But that wasn't happening. I hosted a group of women over at my house to exchange baby food that we all made ahead of time and froze and that was the little pearl I got out of this gathering. Often it's the littlest things that create the 'aha' moment. Of course, hand feed them finger food until they learn to feed it to themselves. The food exchange added plums, prunes, white potato, and apricots to the babies' repetoir - among the other foods exchanged which we have already tried but can always use more of. 6 of us made two different foods and filled bags with 6 cubes of each food for each person to take home.

We just got back from Jackson Hole yesterday and had a great trip visiting Kris, Rivers and other friends in Jackson. The boys got to witness their first snow. Chase took a little bit of a tumble face first and wasn't super excited about it. But they did like their wagon rides and loved playing with Rivers and his toys. They did not do so well at night sharing the big crib. There was enough room for both of them, but they didn't sleep well at all the whole week which made the vacation feel a little sleep deprived for which only back-to-back days of powder could help Mom recover! It's actually good to be home despite the great trip. Life is just easier when we have all of our stuff and the boys have their cribs and their teddies and their boys.

I've been slow lately on adding new foods with our super busy schedule and travel, but we did at thyme to meat which makes it much more palatable! Also added cheese (melted and as finger food) which the boys like. At 9 months we can start adding legumes which will be a good addition to the repetoire. I'm also going to start replacing some of their baby food rice and oatmeal cereal with non-baby food grains like quinoa, cous cous, etc. I'll just make a big batch and have some for myself, some for the kiddos. The goal is to have all of us eating generally the same thing by the time they're a year old so that Mom doesn't turn into a short-order cook for the rest of her life. That's the goal anyways, we'll see how it really pans out!

With the boys' sprouting of teeth, I'm now brushing their teeth and gums. They actually like it, so it's not (yet)a drama but instead a pleasant experience. I then give them their toothbrush to play with for a little bit after a little brushing.

The boys 9 month pediatrician appointment is coming up, and I'm afraid we're going to be officially out of their first car seats, depending upon their weigh in. HUGE bummer since they make travel so much easier. The next level of car seat is not portable. But the boys are little beefcakes and it's getting hard to carry them in the car seats at this point anyways. Time for new systems, tactics, strategies to get them from point A to point B! 9 months. How time flies!!!!

Merry First Xmas and Happy First New Year

2010-01-01T22:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a BUSY holiday season with lots of parties and activity for the boys. I had them for another four-day spell from the 24th - 27th and loved my time with them but was EXHAUSTED by Sunday night. We went to Uncle Brent and Aunt Jane's for Christmas Eve dinner and then celebrated Christmas morning at home with just the three of us - and Layla. They had lots of fun playing with new toys in the morning and then had a great time visiting Grandma Mary after their morning nap. They are so funny around her - they will play tough and then check in with her every minute or so to say 'hey' or give a big smile. And then it's back to the toy at hand (and mouth). For Christmas dinner we went to Lara and Eric's family's house (Eric's parents). The boys did a lot of playing, but when it came to dinner time, Tanner basically wanted to be in Mom's lap, but then got really squirmy and wanted to play. When I'd set him down he'd cry and we'd repeat the process. I think he had just had too much stimuli for one week with all of our activities. We had a gathering with college friends and their kiddos on the 27th and another Christmas dinner at Uncle Brent and Aunt Jane's on the 28th with Uncle Bob and Aunt Malei (and all kids). After it all, I just wanted to sleep for hours on end! It's been so much fun, but with two little ones and with how needy they still are, it can be a lot.

Everyone's playing with their new toys, including Layla!

I keep adding new food to the boys' dining experience. I'm getting ideas from the book 'Super Baby Food' that specifically gives guidance in building up to a super healthy breakfast that includes a whole grain, legume (not until they're a little older will I add the legume), dark green veggie, Vitamin A veggie or cooked egg yolk + vitamin C fruit/veggie (the vitamin C helps absorb the iron from the egg yolk), brewer's yeast, and a dash of kelp for added nutrients. We do the egg yolk + vitamin C Mon/Wed/Fri mixed together with all of the other stuff. Their food repetoire is actually more complex, but I'm trying to balance nutrition with feasibility. For lunch we usually do a yogurt-based mix - amazing how delicious plain yogurt can be with a little bit of fruit & veggies added and a dash of cinnamon. I'm starting to add meat to dinner - started with fish and am going to add other meats soon. Their food is actually really good. When you make your own food and make good mixtures, it's quite tasty. The jarred babyfood I've tried tastes like crap - I only tried green beans and it was disgusting. I want to feed my kids food that I would have no problem eating, so they haven't had a jar of food yet. Though I can't say that'll last forever, and I think that there are some that are good - just haven't tried yet. New foods I've introduced: broccoli (and they like it, yeah!), tofu, cottage cheese (LOVE mixed with apple sauce), kale (get the squinchy face when served alone but works when mixed with other food like butternut squash), tilapia, papaya, yogurt, tahini, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds (all seeds ground), kelp, brewer's yeast, wheat germ. I'm going to add lamb, cheese and cantaloupe soon - amongst other things.

I have also been more lax about letting the boys play with their food. It creates a HUGE mess, but it's a learning experience for them so what the hell. To my surprise they figured out really quickly the concept of grabbing the spoon and somewhat aiming it towards their mouth. Their aim is still very much lacking - and they sometimes even get the wrong side of the spoon. But at other times they actually get the spoon and some food in their mouth on their own! Amazing how they learn this hand-eye (mouth) coordination so quickly. Actually scooping food with the spoon is a ways out though. In the meantime they smoosh their fingers through their food and then swipe their fingers all over their face, head, ears,... It's definitely a mess, but I've learned to just let it go and clean up the mess later. The nanny and I working on systems to keep the mess off of their clothes and systems to most effectively clean up the mess in stages so that they don't continue to spread it around their body as you clean parts. We haven't solidifed a precise methodology, but the long-sleeved bibs go a long way to help keep the food off of their clothes. Under that bib is a paper towel folder into their shirt coller a few times. Post-dining, if you remove the tray you risk them putting their hands all over their pants. But if you wipe their hands before removing the tray, the first thing they'll do is smear their hands all over the dirty tray no matter how fast you think you can remove it. At the end of the day you just have to potentially change their clothes and get rest of the food off of their body with a wet paper towel and/or soft cloth and then dry them off with a dry cloth. Layla does a pretty good job of getting the food that has been flung onto the floor. The nice advantage of having a dog in the house!

Tanner's two teeth are very prominent now and Chase's first tooth is breaking through and I think that tooth #2 is right behind it - I can see it underneath his gums. This is no surprise given the amount he has been drooling lately. I should seriously be concerned about dehydration by the rate that he soaks his clothes and bibs! Chase is also closer still to crawling. He spends more and more time on his hands and knees and kind of rocking back and forth. The knee maneuver is new. That's why the boys got electric outlet safety plugs in their stockings :) I needed fillers for their giant stockings, and a few practical things never hurts at this age.

Tanner has learned how to give kisses. They're very slobbery but oh so sweet. That he knows how to express his affection in this way is so wonderful. I found a telltale slobber mark on Chase's head this evening. Chase got a Tanner kiss! I was able to tell in particular because Chase is starting to get more hair - slowly but surely. I also caught on video the boys giving each other a kiss. I plan to post onto YouTube when I find the time and will link to it, because it's really funny. It appears as though this blog no longer supports videos???

Xmas Tree, Santa Claus, Self-Feeding, Teeth,...

2009-12-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've had a chance to update this blog - life's super busy with these little buggers, in a good way, but just can't seem to get it all done!

I had boys for four days straight over Thanksgiving holiday and had so much fun just spending a longer chunk of time with them. I get them on weekends, and mornings and evenings during the week - and sprinkled throughout the day when I'm working from home, okay, maybe I'm spoiled. But I like the full days with them, even though it can get a little tiring afer a while when flying solo for 4 days straight. Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, but the boys are starting to get "stranger anxiety" and did a bit of crying with all of the people around. It's normal for this to happen at this age, in fact it's a developmental milestone that shows that they're starting to attach to specific care-givers. So a milestone, but one that's a bit more of a hassle as they become a bit more uncomfortable with other people until they know that Mom's all good with them. They did really well at the Davidson Family Christmas and Grandpa Bob's 70th birthday party though this last weekend, so I think they're getting to know family better and are getting better at social situations where there's a lot of stimulation. They're also getting to be pros at sleeping in their tents which is great - makes it easier to go to a dinner party and be able to stay past their bedtime!

We went out to a farm past North Bend with Bob, Malei and Grey and Malei's brother & family - and a bunch of other folks - and picked out the boys' first Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. It's been a family tradition with Bob & gang for 13 years, maybe a new one for our family - though day-after-Thanksgiving skiing may have to trump once they can ski! We'll see.

The boyus also helped me to decorate the tree, well they watched at least. Next year I'm sure they'll do a lot of 'undecorating' of the tree throughout its life in the houes! And we hung their giant new stockings that I bought in LA at Kitson, an apparently hip store that I've never heard of. But they had cool stockings (and a pink feather tree that Vaite bought right off of the floor). I love the stockings because they're really big and have extra pockets for lots stocking stuffers from Santa. You can never have big enough stockings in my opinion!

We visited Santa Claus at Bellevue Square on Saturday the 5th. The boys did great - no crying, but also no smiles for the camera. They just acted more like "why are we in this dude's lap whom we don't know and who are all of these other people taking our picture and acting crazy trying to get us to smile". Despite best efforts, they were more stunned than smiley, but that's OK, they weren't traumatized - this year. We went early in the morning when they were still fresh and less apt to be grumpy - and there was no line to boot.

We're adding to the food repetoire: apples, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, carrot, yogurt. But they're really not into the green vegetables at all. They scrunch up their faces and spit out the sweet peas and green beans like I've put bile into their food. Tanner even gagged a bit. What's up with that? I ate lots of green veggies when I grew them - shouldn't they like them now with the "flavor bridge" they talk about in the amniotic fluid? I'm able to hide zucchini into their food by mixing it with other things since it doesn't have as strong a flavor. We'll just keep trying with the other green stuff. I'm going to add egg yolks, blueberries, and turkey next, as well as try some more greens - broccoli, asparagus? Their appetites actually dropped dramatically with their first - and extended - colds. Tanner bypassed solid foods for several days straight including the coveted pear, and they were eating about 2/3rd their normal formula. I gave them some Pedialyte to make sure that they didn't get dehydrated since all of their liquids come from their formula. But now they're back to their full appetites again and are eating up a storm.

The boys are really into Tanner presses and Chase presses (think baby as barbell), as well as Tanner and Chase shin extensions (where they lie on Mom's shins when she's on her back as she extends her legs). It works on their balance and Mom's (needed) muscle tone. But mostly they just love it and smile and squeal in delight. The key is to play with them in this way after they have digested their previous meal, otherwise it may end up on your chest or stomach. They also LOVE to be tickled, especially when the tickle monster (Mom's hands) come from above and swoop down on them and tickle them all over their belly. Sometimes I get full belly laughs out of them which is just so adorable.

Eva has been taking the boys to the Thursday library reading - well Tanner the first time because Chase was sick and then both last Thursday. They absolutely love it. They love the other kids and songs and stories - so I hear - I haven't been able to make it because of work. Eva's going to start taking them to the library more often during the week to just have an outing and read new books to them. She's also speaking Czech to them for about an hour a day - don't think they'll learn Czech, but it's good for their brain connections to hear the different sounds so why not. Tessa's nanny Balkissa speaks French and they're starting to have more play dates with them so will hear some French as well.

Tanner got his helmet Friday to help round out the flattening on the back of his head and will likely wear it for 3-4 months. He's been such a trooper and doesn't seem to be bothered by the helmet at all. I was a little sad at first, because I just can't rub and kiss his little head like before. But it's so endearing to focus on his beautiful baby features tht his helmet frames. It's the silver lining - there is something really cute about his huge eyes and giant cheeks peeking out from the helmet. We get to take it off for 30 minutes a day during bathtime where I wash his head (not so much hair yet) and wash the helmet and rub down with rubbing alcohol to prevent bacteria and fungus. Because the helmet holds in so much body heat, once he gets it we need to keep him in just a shirt and diapers while inside and layers when outside. Given that he just rolled over onto a sharp little block and scratched his head, the helmet may serve multiple purposes for a while as he gets more mobile!

They are probably going to start crawling soon. Chase already knows how to pull himself forward with his arms when he covets something out of his reach. It's not a full crawl yet, but awfully close - more of a "marine crawl" as his forearms pull him towards the object of desire. And he spins around on his belly to get at toys that are within his circumference of reach. Tanner seems to move backwards a lot and ends up on the other side of the room. I'm going to seriously have to babyproof the house soon - it's just a matter of time!

I'm teaching them to feed themselves their bottles. Just the snacktime bottles for now which are 4 oz., so lighter weight. They're doing really well - I still need to sit there and give them the bottle here and there when they drop it, but they're really getting the concept of holding it well, finding their mouth with the nipple, and tilting it higher to get the milk. It's so sweet to see them learn and do something on their own.

Tanner now has two teeth! His first tooth is pretty prominent now when he gives a big grin. I'll have to snap a picture of one of those grins - it's so cute. Chase still doesn't have any teeth, but he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth that he can get a hold of and drools a ton. So I'm sure a tooth is imminent with Chase as well. I can't imagine their mouths full of teeth! My little babies are getting so big!

Now I need to find time to order and send out Christmas cards. Ugh. Probably going to be New Year's cards ... or maybe President's Day at this pace!

Sitting vs. Timbering, Cleaning Green, H1N1

2009-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

Last week I could tell that the boys were getting better at holding themselves up, but sitting up wasn't happening - they'd just topple over immediately. So I decided to work on sitting up this week by playing what I call "Timber". Timber involves sitting the boys up with their legs in a diamond shape on the soft carpet without sharp objects around them and let gravity or balance and strength play its course. Admittedly, I've made a bunch of 'saves', but ultimately this week was about letting them be and was therefore full of minor head bonks onto the carpet, most cry-free. I'll often be in the kitchen getting their food ready and will hear that tell-tale thump. I wait for a cry, but besides the first few timbers on day one, and now if they take a higher velocity straight backwards timber, they rarely cry. They just continue on with playing on their side with whatever happens to be around them. They're now sitting up really consistently with fewer and fewer timbers and can sit up for really long stretches. It's actually reallly nice to have them be able to sit up - it opens up a lot of play and reading opportunities. The twin factor makes it that much better, because you don't always have two little ones to hold up when you're reading to them. Big milestone little buddies, strengh + balance is coming together!

The circle of plush trust:

Sitting up and playing together:

Tanner finally timbers:

I've been throwing away my old cleaning products since these little buddies have been incubating, and I now pretty much have a green cleaning pantry. Vinegar, tea tree oil, baking soda, cream of tartar, castille soap, orange oil, lemon -- these are the cleaning tools that have replaced everything else. Still using 1T. of bleach a week to clean their humidifier, after the vinegar rinse, per manufacturers instructions. Just want to make sure that we're not spewing mold spores through the air and the bleach is minimal and gets rinsed. It feels good to get rid of the chemicals, for the boys and for everyone in my home!

The boys got their H1N1 (swine flu) shots yesterday, and it was pretty much uneventful. They didn't even cry. Chase flinched a bit, Tanner squinched his face and gave a single cry out. But that was it. They will get a booster in a month and they're covered. Neither Eva nor I have gotten the shots (not enough available yet), but hopefully the boys will be immune and if either or both of us get sick it'll be time to pull in the family troops!

Eva and I have been working to get their sleep habits back to form. As of now, they're doing so great. They go down without crying most times we put them down - sometimes downright happy. We've just been very consistent about the approach so that no matter what, the boys know what result can be expected. They get soothed after 5 minutes, again after 10... adding 5 minutes to each interval. They rarely go over 5 minutes, but when they do we stick to the plan. Chase woke up twice in a row at 4:30 in the morning crying and crying. I soothed him which didn't seem to help much at the moment, but you're still showing them you're there for him which is helpful while also not rewarding them enough to feed the behavior. After those two nights, he has been waking up at normal time (6:00/6:30ish). So 7:30pm to 6:00-6:30am wake-up is pretty much the norm now.
Their solid food repetoire now involves yams, sweet potatoes, avocado, pear, rice and oatmeal. Parsnip and sweet peas haven't gone over so well - we'll try again later. They LOVE pear and they LOVE avocado. Not sure what will be the next food to introduce, probably banana. You can only introduce one food at a time for ~5 days, gradually adding more oz. of that food each day. It's kind of frustrating - I want to have them try so many things! But you need to see how their bodies react to the introduction of different grains, fruits and veggies for a while until you can go gangbusters. Side effect that hasn't been as pleasant, moving to solid foods makes them poop 3-4 times per day. I think their systems are adjusting to the newly introduced fiber.

First Flight and visit to LA and Solid Food Time

2009-11-12T20:13:00.001-08:00

Chase and Tanner are at the solid food stage. I started off with sweat peas before reading that it would be a better idea to start with 'orange/yellow' vegetables versus 'green' vegetables because kids tend to like the former better. The boys didn't love sweet peas, but I think more because they didn't know how to react to the food than to the flavor itself. They've been eating rice cereal the last two days, and finally this evening they learned how to actually swallow it and started truly eating versus just pushing it back out with their tongue. So we're off to the solid food races! I'll probably give banana mushed up with some formula in the next couple of days, see how that goes over, then maybe some parsnip or sweet potatoes. I have a bunch of homemade baby food to choose from in ice cube-sized portions in the freezer just waiting for the boys to eat up.

The boys have been little hellions trying to get to nap and sleep the past few days. My nanny and I are going to crack down and get them back to being good sleepers. They got their first cold, traveled, had a big round of shots,... Lots for a baby to have to deal with all at once. In re-reading the Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby book, it was a good reminder that we're doing almost everything right (sooth after 5 minutes, again after 10, again after 15,...) but it also reminded me to not pick them up no matter what. They're getting to the age that they'll learn cause and effect really quickly and will cry harder if they know they'll be rewarded. So no matter how hard it is to do, babies will remain in their crib with one minute of calm but firm soothing if and when they need it. We're also instigating a sleep schedule - 9am nap and 1pm nap. If they need a 3rd we'll let them have it, but the third nap should be going away soon. We'll also wake one kid up when the other gets up to get them on the same sleep schedule - maybe staggering by 15 minutes or so to have some 1:1 time. Tonight after having rice cereal and an 8 oz bottle at 5:30 and then another 8 oz at 7:00, they both racked out at 7:30 with narry a peep. I'm also eliminating their 10:30 feeding so am pushing 8 oz bottles (vs. 6 oz) if they'll take it to make up for the lost feeding. They seem to be just fine with it most of the time, especially with the Level 3 nipples that helps them drain the bottles faster. Two nights ago I ended up caving and feeding them at 11:30 because they were crazy crying, but last night they went to bed at 7pm and woke up at 6:30am! You hear about this stage in the early days when your babies are waking up every 2-3 hours and think it can't be possible. But indeed it is, and it's a beautiful thing! Now I just need to get myself down a little earlier to take better advantage! It's still early to tell if this is the new paradigm, but I'm going to try to enforce it the best I can! I think we have arrived.

The boys did great flying on their first plane flight to LA this past weekend - very first flight was this last November 6th, 2009. Getting through security was a bit harrowing - I actually had the guy behind me in line hold Chase for a second while I collapsed the stroller. I literally couldn't hold him while getting the car seat and stroller onto the conveyer belt. Both Chase and the nice man did fine. Missy helped me through security on the way there and we had 5 of us on the plane ride down to pass around babies. It was just Vaite and I on the ride back and the boys pretty much just slept the whole time after eating a bottle upon the ascent and another while descending. Thank goodness no screaming babies! It sounds like they had a great time in LA and got to show off their new rolling and giggling and kicking and fluttering skills to Dad & Rachel. I'll post a pic of their first flight soon - they're on a friend's camera. Mom had a great time with her girlfriends - missed the boys but definitely enjoyed the few days off!

They had another round of vaccines on Tuesday, the last big round for infanthood thank goodness. They actually handle them quite well - they both cry when they get the shots but recover very quickly. Brave little boys! We went in yesterday to have their head shapes evaluated one more time, and I'm going to go ahead and get a helmet for Tanner. We won't get it until December 11th unless they're able to get me in sooner. I'd rather just start the process and be done with it, but it's impossible to get appointments. Must be a lot of other kids out there with flat heads! The "back to back" campaign to help prevent SIDS results in a lot more flat heads. Tanner will wear the helmet for 4 months and then his head should look more rounded out in the back. It won't be a perfectly round head, but it'll look much better and more natural. Now I just need to get some cool stickers for his helmet!

Newest milestone - they can transfer objects from one hand to the other. Big stuff!

First Halloween and Homemade Baby Food

2009-11-02T17:07:00.000-08:00

I had a bunch of my PEPS group people (and babies) over and we made homemade baby food. It's almost that time - I'm going to start the boys on solid foods in about a week! I now have a bunch of pureed pears, sweet peas, sweat potato, parsnip, and pumpkin in frozen cubes ready to thaw and feed. We start one food at a time that they eat every day for a week (or a little less) to make sure they don't have an adverse reaction, and then we can start mixing the foods that agree with them together for delicious concoctions of mush. The food is actually quite yummy since the fruit veggies are fresh and sweet. Can't wait to introduce real food and see the reactions on their faces! On the verge of a whole new chapter, and I guess this means that I'll have to start cooking again.

Busy Halloween weekend, went to a Halloween/b-day party, trick-or-treat and festivities on top of Queen Anne, Halloween event at the Pi Phi house (Wed night), visit to Grandma Mary, and another party Sunday at Wendy Whitfield's house. A little too much for one weekend, I was exhausted and the boys were cranky.

But they also had a lot of fun socializing with the other babies. The below bibs are from their nanny, Eva. One of those things that I guess I put away for the next baby to arrive - baby Burt I suppose - since they don't really apply to my babies any more! But it's fun to have and we used them a lot over the last week!

Party at Wendy's

Home from Baker and I have a Brother but not a Binky

2009-10-25T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tanner in general seems to be a little bit more observant of what people around hime are doing and would sometimes laugh or smile at Chase. But Chase generally seems to be more into the task at hand. Tonight in the bathtub, I had their little bath seats facing eachother pretty close together. Chase started smiling at Tanner when I was washing Tanner using their froggie puppet sponge, and then when Tanner sneezed Chase outright laughed. Then Tanner started looking at Chase and they were actually smiling and reacting to eachother for a while which hasn't really happened with so much recognition before. Sometimes when I put them on tummy time near eachother they'll kind of interact, but not ouright grin and giggle and laugh at eachother. It was so cute, a glimpse into their future as brothers who are so close and have shared so much.

I'm going to try to wean them off of binkies this week. I just put the boys down, and Chase pretty much went down without a hitch. He likes the binky, but he's not an addict. Tanner is kind of addicted to the binky at night. I just went in and soothed after 5 minutes of crying and then 10 minutes of crying, we're now inside the 15 minute interval and we'll see how how many times I need to go in there and sooth him binky-free. I should be able to break the habit if I'm persistent and consistent - I just hope it doesn't take too long :( I just talked with a friend who wishes desperately she had done the same thing, because her 9 month old wakes up at 3am every morning needing a binky replacement like clockwork and she thinks it'll be a lot harder now to ween him than it was when he was my boys' age. He's a true binky addict now! So it motivated me to just do the binky banishment, as hard as it is to listen to Tanner cry and cry and cry ... he's still crying.

I took the boys up to my friend's cabin in Glacier, WA, near Mt. Baker for the weekend. So beautiful up there in Autumn, the drive was nice as well and the boys did so well both ways. It's all about timing for road tripping! Thank God Tanner and Chase are great in the car. It felt so great to get away with the boys and have a change of scene. I was REALLY needing it - have been feeling chronically exhausted and needed a little reset and change of venue. Didn't get any extra sleep but did get to do a lot of lounging amidst some good outings in the fresh mountain air.

Tanner's crying has stopped - hopefully he's out and we don't have a repeat of the crazy crying after their 10:30 feeding tonight. Be strong, be strong!

Happy Baths and Mobility

2009-10-21T20:28:00.000-07:00

Both boys have HATED baths up until now. They would SCREAM BLOODY MURDER at the top of their lungs and turn beet red every time I bathed them. Bathing turned into a frenzied exercise just to get them in and out as fast as possible, which probably didn't help matters but there wasn't much choice. Finally I took some measures to make the experience hopefully more pleasant. I knew I had to figure it out before they start eating solids since they'll get pretty dirty pretty quickly and will need a lot more baths. I have a little space heater that I turn on in the bathroom so that the room is toasty warm before I draw the bath. I got a bath seat that the boys can sit in versus lying down in the baby tub, and we busted out some fun bath toys. Eva and I brought Chase into the warmed up bathroom after he had been fed and happy and while Tanner was still sleeping so we could focus on one baby at a time. We splashed water on his legs and swept his legs through the water to start. He began crying. I figured we'd just keep trying. We put him in the little seat in the tub and started playing with the bath toys around him. After a little while he finally got distracted by the toys and forgot that he was pissed off. He was golden thereafter and stayed in the tub another good 10 minutes happy as a clam. Followed the same drill for Tanner, though he never did cry. For him we had the toys already bobbing around in the tub which drew his attention from the beginning. He started to get a little pissed when I poured some water on his back but didn't get worked up for long. Thank God we have figured out the bath! We've turned a huge corner - I'm so excited to start to have bath time more often and have it be a place where they can play in the evenings before book, bottle and bedtime. The 4 B's - bath, book, bottle, bed. Right now there's a fifth B in the picture - binky - which I'd like to remove at some point. But not quite ready yet.

Chase has just learned to roll again and again in order to get from one place to another. I don't think he knows where exactly he's going, but go he does and he can travel a good distance with this new multiple-rolling routine.

Both boys end up scooting backwards when I put them on tummy time on the hardwoods. I put a bunch of toys in the middle of the floor, and they both end up several feet away from the toys. They haven't figured out how to propel themselves forwards yet - just backwards. I guess this is typical, but it can get frustrating for them as they find themselves far away from the objects of their desire. But mobility is happening, even if in the wrong direction or achieved by rolling.

Happy (early) Halloween

2009-10-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Not in costume yet, but frightfully cute indeed!

5 Months Old!

2009-10-08T10:03:00.000-07:00

Wow, how time flies. I can't believe that Tanner and Chase are already 5 months old. One more month and a half of a year will have peeled by. Crazy. They're doing so well. Super active, curious, smiley and growing like weeds. It seems that all of their clothes have shrunk in the wash, but in reality they just keep on growing and what used to seem like big clothes now look small. I seem to be retiring clothes to the 'too small' bin daily. They don't know how to sit up on their own yet, but I'm thinking that'll happen in the next month or so. Chase likes to be up and at 'em at 6am every morning, whether or not they have awoken in the middle of the night to need some soothing or not. Sometimes makes for some groggy mornings. But he's turning me into an early bird, whether I like it or not. While I change Chase in the morning, Tanner just lies in his crib and patiently watches through the slats. They're just such great kids and so much fun.

Happy and Hip

2009-09-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

Two nights ago the boys were up at 2:30 and 4:30 for an hour each time, trading off crying. Last night they were perfect and slept through until 6:30. I have no idea how I'm going to know when they're actually teething if they don't get onto a regular schedule for a while and then they start acting up. Chase has been drooling more than usual - does that mean the beginning of teething? It's all a little bit of a guessing game, because all they know to do is cry - well and smile and coo and play. But they certainly don't know how to say "hey Mom, my mouth hurts"! When Chase woke up two nights ago, he woke up screaming. Out of pain? I was able to sooth him, but then his brother was off to the screaming races,... I really don't think they're teething yet - it's generally early. But you never know.

We're doing pretty well on the nap schedule. Morning nap is pretty well solidified, afternoon nap not so much but getting there. 3rd nap is somewhat consistent. And we're sometimes having a tough time getting from their 3rd nap to their final feed without a mini cat nap #4. I'm hoping this one goes away soon.

The boys were happy and hip today in their new outfits from Dad and Rachel.

Little squishes

2009-09-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

My babies are squishy. Squishy, squishy, squishy little snugglebugs. I just want to squeeze them all the time. Little squishes.

First Blister

2009-09-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Chase has a little blister on his big toe from his zealous bouncing and exersaucering! I put a satin blanket under his exersaucer to help. I guess introducing both new toys in a short time frame isn't good on gentle, callous-free toes! Poor little buddy. He doesn't seem to really mind it, but I was shocked to see it on his toe!

Working on establishing more of a daytime schedule - we'll see how that goes with two different kids and two different biological clocks. They were actually relatively in sync today, an 8:30-11:30 nap (I think this is going to be their big nap of the day), a 1:15-2:00 nap (a little longer for Tanner, Chase hung out under the tree and played on a blanket while Tanner finished his snooze in the stroller), and a 3:30-4:30 nap. They fell alseep trying to get just 4 ounces in them in their last feed before bed. The lullaby music I play I think really lulls them - a keeper in the night night routine. They were also just plain tired - not napping from 4:30-7 is a long time to be awake for them, but napping later would just be too late. We'll see how the schedule shakes out over time. Sounds like it's a little early for them to have a really solidified nap schedule, but working on it now should help make that happen sooner vs. later. And schedules = predictability, predictability = freedom, at least as much freedom as you can get with these two little guys! And when the schedule needs to be broken from time-to-time, they tend to bounce back to normal more quickly once they're back on their schedule. It'll also allow me to start planning some activities in the day like swimming and know they'll actually be awake for it!

Read lots of books to the boys this weekend. They're really starting to pay more attention which is fun. The Davidsons are going to be a big reading family!

Huskies losing streak over

2009-09-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

Took the boys to the Husky/Idaho tailgate. Was 85 degrees, so no skull caps this weekend. We didn't go to the game, but they got to listen to it in the background at home.

Must go sooth Tanner now - he's been crying for a while and it's time to check in on him.

Bouncing Time

2009-09-10T21:55:00.000-07:00

Introduced the latest toy to the boys' repetoire. I keep thinking that these items aren't appropriate for another month or two and sure enough they're ready for them. It seems like yesterday their necks were strong enough to even tolerate something like this - in reality it was probably no more than 3 weeks ago, so I'm probably right on target. Let the bouncing begin!

I'll hit the Moms of Multiples gear sale in a couple of weeks where I can scoop up a whole new set of playthings for the boys & refresh the older gear that I have now. Fodder for a whole new set of videos I'm sure.

Earmuffs

2009-09-10T12:19:00.000-07:00

Just ordered the boys ear muffs so that I can take them to a Husky game, music,... Too bad Michael & Rachel didn't have them while they were here! Cousin Morgan wants to help me take them to the UW vs. Arizona game and just swung by to see the boys. I bought them online while we talked about the logistics of going to the game. Here's a pic of a little fan from the web site from which I bought them. He looks happy, the marketing worked! Now let's see if the actual ear muffs do.

A Weekend of Firsts

2009-09-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mom's first nights away from the boys, boys' first Husky game, Dad and Rachel's first overnight with the boys, the boys' first night without waking up from their 10:30 feeding until morning - a weekend of firsts!

I went to Whidbey Island for the weekend to check out the remodeled cabin - it's going to be such a fun place for the boys growing up! The cabin is on 400 acres of land that has forests, hay fields, mud flats, pastures, and a vast beach. I daydreamed of them all weekend, their imaginations running wild tromping around the hay fields and forests looking for "dinosaur" bones, stained purple with blackberries straight from the bushes, muddy and sandy from squishing through the mud flats (a shoe or two invariably lost to its suction) and combing the beach for sand dollars, soaking wet from digging for clams and splashing in the incoming tide, frightened yet brave as they taunt the llamas and cows in a mutual showdown (there's a sizeable herd of cattle and several llamas there, as well as 2 pigs), intent as they first learn how to roast the 'perfect marshmallow' at the bon fire on the beach - or in the 4-sided fireplace in the cabin, curious and imaginative as they explore the old barns and hen-houses, joyful and carefree as they pick apples to make apple cider, athletic as they jump from log to log washed upon the beach,... They're going to build so many memories up there, as I did. Probably a BB gun in the picture at some point to shoot empty soda cans and the like, but not until gun safety lessons. When they get older still, they may hunt ducks up there like their Grandpa and Uncles have - though Mom's probably not going to be a part of that activity, nor particularly encourage it heavily. Grandpa Bob and Gramdma Fran are going to clear out an area for volleyball, croquet, horseshoes,... a play area of sorts on top of the adventure inherent on the property.

My trip was a little less adventurous, lots of sleeping, reading, walking, dinner and a massage in Langley,... It was my first night / weekend away from the boys. I enjoyed the relaxation, but I did miss the boys so much. I really missed their chubby legs a lot for some reason; I wanted to squeeze their legs specifically and kiss the little folds of fat on them. I thought about Chase's crooked smile and that coy look he gets when he smiles, and Tanner's eyes as they light up when he smiles with those perfect lips. I don't think I can count how many times I whispered to myself "God I love them".

Meanwhile the little men were hanging at home with Michael and Rachel - their first night and full weekend with the boys. And the boys' first full nights (two of them in a row) not waking from their final night feeding until the morning! We've arrived!! Though Tanner did wake up at 6:15am, not exactly crazy early, but not 7:00am either which we'd ultimately like :) Rachel hasn't had a chance to see the boys since the weekend they were born, so they're probably close to quadruple in size since then. She must have thought they were pudgy little giants! Reminds me just how wee they were, and how much they change in such a short period of time! It sounds like the weekend was wonderful and special and the boys worked their charms, despite some fussiness here and there. But even their cries are cute, or maybe I just think so...mostly.

The boys went to their very first Husky Game tailgate this weekend. Huskies vs. LSU, new Husky head coach (a first for the Huskies as well this weekend). I hear the boys went easy on the beer, which was good :) Michael and Rachel took them to Grammy Beverly's tailgate where it sounds like they were a hit to anyone who passed by their ridiculously cute double-purpleness. They wore the matching purple Husky sweat outfits that Grammy Beverly gave them, and their purple skull caps with a "W" on them that Great Aunt Debbie gave them, which nicely accentuated their giant cheeks. I'll post a pic of their purpleness and cheeks to the Blog when I get it from Michael. I wonder if purple food coloring is bad for them - purple formula bottles for the next tailgate?

Sleep for Mom, bonding with Dad and Rachel for the boys and vice-versa, and barking at llamas and swimming in the Sound for Layla. A nice Labor Day weekend all around! A good weekend of firsts.

No Food All Night

2009-08-31T07:49:00.000-07:00

I can't say that the boys "slept through the night" since I was up doing some soothing at 2, 4, and 5, but I decided I'd try to just sooth without feeding and see how long they'd go, and they lasted until 6:45 this morning! I've been reticent to try, because in the past it just meant prolonging the inevitable - I'd go in and sooth them a couple of times and it wouldn't work and I'd finally just feed them anyways and have been awake in the middle of the night longer than if I had just fed them.

I laid in bed from 5 on after soothing Tanner and more than once wanted to go in and make sure that Chase was still breathing. Now that I know they can go this long, I'm really going to work on sleep training and not doing any night feeding in hopes that soon enough they won't wake up at all at night. It is seriously so exciting to potentially be near the other side of sleep deprivaton after a third of a year of it! I don't want to get too excited too fast, but I can't help but be hopeful. Next steps, get them to self-sooth without a binky, and eventually eliminate the 10:30 feeding.

Feed One, Feed them Both

2009-08-24T20:25:00.001-07:00

I know it's not going to be good when I hear Chase crying in the middle of the night. Seems that Tanner sometimes wakes himself up and just needs a bit of soothing to get back to sleep if it's too early for a feeding. Chase, on the other hand, doesn't really do that. And his cry is one that means "feed me". That was what I heard at 2am. I tried a binky in vain and decided I needed to feed the boys. When one gets fed, both get fed - otherwise you end up with a staggering nightmare that involves constant feeding. They were up again at 5, all of us up at 8. I'm hoping we haven't taken a step backwards - again - and that tonight will be an up-just-once night. I'm also hoping Layla's tummy is feeling better, because she was up twice whining to go out as well! Good grief!

The boys went down really easily tonight - maybe a foreshadowing of a good night. Chase was crying hard in protest, but within 5 minutes of leaving him alone to cry it out, he was quiet. I was going to give him 5 minutes and then soothe, then 10 minutes and soothe. Didn't need to do either - he's learning quickly. Tanner was just lights out ASAP - not like him, he's usually a little grump at night. I guess the boys were tired. They didn't eat quite as many ounces throughout the day today as usual - could mean bad news for a good night. We'll see how strong of a correlation there is to ounces ingested in the day to # of times they need to eat at night.

Chase and I have taken a liking to playing the "goo" game. It's his favorite word and makes him very smiley when I "goo" for him. Then he goos back for me and we carry on that way in our little goo conversation for a while. I'm trying to expand his vocabulary to include baba, gaga, mama, dada,... but he seems to be sticking to goo for now. Tanner coos too but doesn't have such a specific word to mimic back to him.

Talked to the pediatrician again today, and they're still not concerned about the babies' flat spots and seem to think there's still plenty of time for it to resolve itself. So I'll just keep doing what they say to do and discuss further at their 4 month appointment.

Back to work until the 10:30 feeding :(

Stroller Bliss

2009-08-22T14:32:00.000-07:00

We graduated to the BOB double jogger today. Oh my goodness, the thing practically strolls itself compared to the double Snap-n-go. The Snap-n-go is very convenient for transporting the boys in their car seats, but it's about as agile as a tanker. The shoulder straps on the BOB are still a little high on them, so I'm not doing any vigorous jogging along super bumpy terrain ... just yet. But our walks through the Arboretum take on a whole new experience now.

Good Night

2009-08-19T08:44:00.001-07:00

The boys ate at 10:00, after a very grumpy evening, and then didn’t wake up to eat again until 4:30. I tried to feed them just 3 ounces – we’re working on reducing the # of ounces in that middle-of-the-night feeding so that we can eventually eliminate it as well – but they weren’t having it. Added another ounce and that seemed to do the trick. We’ll try 3 oz again tonight. Now we need to string a few of these good sleep nights together! They didn’t wake up this morning until 7:45! My boys like to sleep in, kind of like their Mommy.

I really need to figure out their flat head issue. The pediatrician seems to think that it’ll sort itself out on its own, but I’m not so convinced. Wondering if we’ll need helmet therapy :( I honestly don’t know how this happened. I did everything I was supposed to and still they favor their right sides and therefore have flatter heads on the back right. It’s their only issue, but it’s really stressing me out.

Getting ready for another hot day. Should be able to get a nice Arboretum walk in – the boys LOVE the walk. They stare up at the trees and sky in sheer amazement. It actually is a pretty cool vantage looking straight up at the mature trees and blue sky. Need to get a video of it, the fat on their faces jiggling on the gravel trail, eyes looking up in wonder at the big, wide world. It’s very cute.

Giggles and Bloodshed

2009-08-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Tanner giggled for the first time today versus just giving his big toothless grin which he also does often. It was really sweet - makes the hard nights not so bad! I accidently cut Chase while clipping his nails - they say that everyone does it and I thought I'd be able to avoid it. But he pulled his hand just when I went to clip and I caught his finger instead :( It wasn't too bad of a bleeder, but it made me sad nonetheless. Made me realize that I don't have little baby bandaids in the house either. Luckily the bleeding stopped on its own after dotting his sleep gown a bit.

I'm still trying to dial in my system for getting out. Today I Baby Bjorn'd Chase with his head facing outwards for the first time while I pushed Tanner in the stroller. Because before I had only Bjorn'd the baby facing towards me since their necks weren't strong enough, I would just drape the baby with a sun cloth. But I wanted Chase to be able to see what's going on while we walked. I also got the OK to use a specific brand of sun protection from the pediatrician. So I put some on Chase, ready for the walk. But as I started walking, I quickly realized that I really should have brought a sun hat for him and had to use my hands to shade his eyes instead. I should have also SPF'd Tanner's arms so I could switch who got Bjorn'd on the way back, and I should have also brought the 2nd car seat in the Snap-n-Go stroller to easily transfer one baby or the other and feed them both more easily at the coffee shop. After walking in the park, we got coffee at Fuel (well, Mom got coffee) and the boys got milk. Layla got bones. I think I want to make the Sunday morning walk to the park and then to coffee/milk/bones a weekly event.

We swung by Uncle Bob and Aunt Malei's and met their new puppy, Bing, for the first time today. They just got him this morning, and he's the sweetest, coolest little black lab puppy. He's just two weeks younger than Tanner and Chase, and he LOVED the little boys and licked their toes.

Tanner's starting to find his thumb - a good thing so that he can hopefully sooth himself in the middle of the night instead of screaming for me to replace his binky.

The Costco Milestone

2009-08-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

I went to Costco today for the first time with the boys. Hitting Costco on a Sunday can be a challenge for a solo person, let alone an individual with infant twins. Heather met me there and was the cart pusher with her boys. So I technically had back-up and didn't have to balance the huge box of diapers on top of their car seats nor stash formula in the undercarriage of the Snap-n-go. A shopping technique with small twins, I have read, can involve strolling them with one hand and dragging a shopping cart with the other. With Costco-sized shopping carts and Sunday crowds, this would have been quite the challenge indeed! So thanks Heather, I'm all stocked up - at least for a little while. The boys tend to go through things twice as fast, so this will not be my last Costco run!

Off to feed the boys their last night feeding before - hopefully, hopefully, hopefully - their next feeding which should be around 4am. Back to work in the morning - though I've been working for several hours this evening as well.

Moving Up in the World

2009-08-08T20:31:00.001-07:00

Up to size 2 diapers, up to size 2 bottle nipples, up to 3-6 month clothes - all signs of growing babies. And that is what Tanner and Chase are definitely doing. I don't know their weight, but they've got to be over 13 pounds, maybe pushing 14?

Tanner rolled over this evening for the first time. They were on tummy time and when I came back into the room Tanner was on his back. I put him back onto his stomach, and he proceeded to roll over two more times. This video captures the 3rd roll, roll it...

I walked to dinner at Montlake Ale House with Missy last night - despite having alcohol in its name, it is very kid-friendly with a play pit full of toys. Soon enough a favorite playspot for my boys I think. I had diet coke, didn't want any alcohol to interfere with my precious sleep. I grabbed a couple of caps for the boys before heading over since it's chillier these days, and I found out on the way home that the one I chose for Chase was not even close to fitting. He looked like a little cartoon elf with a too-small cap! I haven't quite adjusted my perception in certain clothes relative to how big my boys have gotten!

We instituted a new and hopefully improved goodnight routine for the boys. It has been taking them a while to go down, and I think I have just needed a better and longer routine for bringing them down and readying them for sleep. Around 6:00 (give or take) I feed each of the boys 4-5 ounces. I let them do some final tummy time / playmat playtime on their backs (now that they're rolling, probably more playtime and less tummy time!) and then take whichever baby starts showing signs of being tired - gets fussy, rubs eyes, not very interested in playing any more - around the living room to shut the blinds and turn out the lights. I also change the music to something really mellow and soothing. Then I change his diaper and put him in his pajamas. While doing so I recount his day - i.e. "Twin Boy Tanner did x, y, z today..." and talk about all the goings on of his day and what he thought of it or what lesson it held. I then bring him out to the living room and put him in a bouncy seat or car seat and fetch his brother for the same diaper change/pajama routine. I read a book (or three) in the darker living room (usually "Goodnight Moon") and then take the first baby back into the nursery and zip him up into a sleep sack for the evening (just starting to try to put them down without swaddling - we'll see how that goes). The nursery is dark and either lullabies or white noise is playing. I give him a binky and then get the next baby and put him down in the crib in his sleep sack. This is when the soothing process begins if they're not quite ready: try replacing binky and rubbing their forehead while sssshhhhhhh-ing, if that doesn't work bounce on the bouncy ball with binky while sssshhhhhhh-ing. Repeat. Usually it's not before long that they're both lights out.

Some nights they go right down and this whole process isn't as necessary. Other nights they just aren't settled and put up a real fuss going down and I find myself in their nursery multiple times to finally get them to fall alseep. Once they're 4 months old I can let them "cry-it-out" longer, but for now it's important for them to feel secure and know someone's there for them right away. The last two nights they slept from 11pm-4am, which is a good stretch. They had done this several days back but then reverted to the two-night wakings (1am and 4am) a few nights in a row.

We went to a 'Preparing for Solid Food' lecture today where I learned about safety and techniques on how to implement solid foods in their diet starting around 6 months old or when they're showing the signs that they're ready (which they explained). The principle of the lecture was to have your children eat from the "Family Table" anything you're eating by the time they're one year old so that you don't have to become a short-order cook and they're getting a variety of food/nutrition. I'm a few months out from solids, but it'll be fun to start giving them food and seeing their reactions! I need to decide what their first solid food will be - I'm debating between avocado and bananas, but there could be other good options to consider. Mango? Sweet potato? Chicken?

My friend Wendy Whitfield was also at the lecture, and then she came over and we walked the boys (her twin boys and my twin boys) and our dogs - Jackson and Layla - in the Arboretum. She's a single Mom of twins whom I met through three different channels - work, high school, prenatal class instructor - all of these channels really thought that we should meet and I'm glad because she's very cool and we're in a very similar boat, more than anyone else I know right now! She also wants to travel a lot with her boys, so maybe we can draw inspiration from eachother on cool travel adventures, and go on them together from time-to-time.

Life's extremely busy with the start of work. It's hard to get it all done, but I'm hoping that I'll just eventually catch up. I have to do my bookkeeping/taxes this weekend, amongst 500 other things I have on the list. Also need to take care of the boys which is a near full-time process, run a bunch of errands like buy diapers & formula, figure out health insurance changes, and complete several hours of work for an early Monday meeting. I think I'm just going to have to get super organized and be highly productive nearly all of the time moving forward. With the lack of sleep previously, it has been impossible to also go-go-go all day every day like I need to now. But if the boys stay at just one night feeding, it's do-able so long as I get some sort of rest at least a few times a week.

Fran, Shannon, Lou, Ali and Emmy stopped by today - I love that they live so close and can just swing by either by car or bike any time. It's fun to get their surprise visits which occurs fairly often and I hope continues to do so.

The big Davidson Family BBQ took place this last Sunday at Dad & Fran's. So much fun!! It was nearing the end of the heat wave, so the boys spent most of the BBQ just in their diapers. They were fed and held by many-a-Davidson and just soaked it all in their sponges-for-brains. My Dad made the most amazing frozen margharitas that had these icy shards that were too quenching in the heat of the evening relative to the percentage of alcohol they contained. I cut myself off knowing I still had the boys' all night ahead and work starting in the morning, but I probably didn't do so early enough! It's always so good to get together with family - there's nothing more familiar or that goes further back.

It's official, I hired the boys' nanny for (hopefully) the next two years. Eva is from the Czech Republic is just seems great. She is very proactive when it comes to the well-being of the boys and I think will be a part of the family fabric. In the meantime Rachel Hyett has been great with the boys and with helping me. I'm excited that she'll be able to babysit the boys over the next several years as she goes through school. I'm thinking of setting up a once-a-week evening gig with her so that I can get out at night at least once per week without the boys.

Who knows when I'll get the chance to Blog again, hopefully soon. This one was a little longer but still barely captures our goings-on. I need more Blogging practice to be succinct and more time to get it all down. Don't really have the time day-to-day, but we have lots of days, months, and years to come in the "Cathy and the Boys" Blog life.

Tired

2009-08-05T20:55:00.001-07:00

Babies woke up multiple times the past few nights - and so did Layla who needed middle-of-the-night potty runs to add insult to injury. Going in the wrong direction boys!! Let's hope for a good night tonight, Mom is getting fatigued on her first week back to work. Ugh.

The Real Heat Wave

2009-08-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

It got to 104 degrees and broke the all-time record high for heat in Seattle ever. I cried uncle and moved operations to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran's house where the air conditioning is on in full-force. I've basically taken over their downstairs with diaper changing station, play area, clean and dirty bibs pile, and sleeping area which is either their car seats which they've been sleeping or their tent which we've just used a couple of times - the car seats are a favorite. My house would have been miserable, and instead we've been hanging out here getting help from the Grandparents and Aunt Shannon, Uncle Louis and cousins Ali and Emmy. I'm thinking of moving in permanently :) OK, maybe that wouldn't fly, but it's been fun while it lasted.

The boys got their first dose of the Blue Angels that flew fairly close to the house in formation. It woke them both up and Chase cried a little bit. In the years to come they'll love the Blue Angels as much as their Mommy, but unfortunately Mommy can't watch the full show this year because it's too loud for their little ears. I think I'm going to start saving for a boat - I'm missing being on the water this time of year in Seattle and I know the boys will be naturals at wakeboarding and waterskiing! This picture is of the boys in Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran's back yard 'watching' the Blue Angels.

The Heat

2009-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

Heat wave in Seattle. My house was 87 degrees upstairs, so we moved operations downstairs to the basement for the evening. They slept in their car seats in the downstairs bathroom with the ceiling fan on as their white noise. Worked quite well actually. Tanner has been wanting to sleep more upright these days anyways and the car seats work great.

We went to U-Village for most of the afternoon yesterday to get some shopping done and take advantage of the air conditioning in stores. The boys were so good - just hung out in their car seats in the Snap-n-go stroller and took it all in or napped. It'll be great once they can play at the beach - that's where subsequent heat waves will be spent!

I hear some billy-goating from Tanner, it's almost time to get the boys and start the day. We may be off to Grandpa Bob and Grandma Fran's for a couple of days if my basement succumbs to the heat as well.

First Hike

2009-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Went on a hike with Jen Foster and Missy to Talus Rocks on Tiger Mtn. Jen carried Tanner and I carried Chase. Tessa and the dogs, Layla, Hoback and Bodhi, came too. So nice to get out on a hot Seattle day to the woods for a bit - it's a really pretty little hike. Chase scoped out the wilderness for the first 15 minutes or so - otherwise the boys were lights out the whole hike in the Baby Bjorns.

Bedtime, BBQs and Beaches

2009-07-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

The boys slept better than ever last night, ate at 9:00pm and didn't wake up again until 2:45am! I didn't go to bed until 10:00, but still got close to 5 hours of sleep. Then they ate again at 7:00am - though Tanner awoke at 5:00 needing some snuggles. Let's see if they do the same tonight.

We went to a BBQ at Anna's because Amy Miley's in town. Shelby and her husband, Charlie were there with their three kids, Anna with her two, Amy with her two and me with my two. Lots of kids among the four of us gals now!

Went to Madison Park beach today with babysitter Rachel, and the boys put their feet in Lake Washington for the first time. They both cried, but Chase seemed to become more OK with it while Tanner wanted none of it. Fast forward a few years and I probably won't be able to get them out of the water! As usual, the twins got a lot of attention - they are pretty darn cute after all. They wore their sun hats for the first time today, and I spritzed them with rose water to cool them off from time-to-time in this 87 degree heat.

Chase Gets Rolling

2009-07-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Check out the video to see if Chase makes it all the way over from belly to back...

Growth Spurt?

2009-07-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

10:30pm, 12:00am, 2:30am, 5:00am, 6:30am, 8:30am. These were the times the babies woke up to eat last night. Gone the occasional 4-hour stint and back to 2 1/2 hours between feeding start times! I'm hoping this is just a growth spurt and they haven't reverted to bad habits! OK, back to my first, and not last, cup of coffee.

2009-07-14T18:35:00.000-07:00

I hosted PEPS Monday night - PEPS stands for Program for Early Parenthood Support. Ours is a twin-specific group, and it's basically a bunch of other folks in the same boat - we all have twins under 5 months old and talk about our highs & lows and then different subjects each week. It's a really good group and amazing how quickly you can bond with these folks as you share your crazy experiences with eachother. Each person shares their highs and lows for the week, and it invariably turns into a disucssion about others who have had a similar experinece. We call that commiserating. Though many experiences are highs versus lows. We talked about going back to work last night, other nights we've talked about sleep issues, eating topics, and travel with kids. The people in the group are great, and I'm enjoying getting to know them better each time we meet.

I'm finally getting around to doing more to finish the babies' room. I roped Louis into hanging the boys' coat hanger, which we installed at little-boy height for the little coats. I'm getting pictures printed for frames, have clothes put away in drawers and made a makeshift crib-side table using the giant Pampers diaper box draped with a receiving blanket and topped with a lamp and picture of the boys.

We had a pediatrician appointment today which involved lots of vaccinations :( The boys actually did quite well - each screamed and turned their faces bright red when they got their shots, but they stopped crying pretty quickly afterwards. Tanner is now 10 lbs 10 oz, which is 50th percentile, and he's 22.5 inches long. Chase is 10 lbs 9 oz - 25th percentile - and 21 3/4 inches long. Chase rolled from his belly to his back on the table at the pediatricians! First roll-over - not sure if it was a fluke or what because it's pretty early to be rolling over.

The Boys are 9 Weeks Old

2009-07-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

How time flies - I can't believe the boys are over two months old already! They're both smiling more and more, but it't not happening a lot yet so when it does it's still a big moment for me. They're now super active playing on their playmat. They love to swat at the dangling toys and look at themselves in the mirror. They went 3 hours 45 minutes between feedings last night - so I got a 3 hour stretch! Big stuff. I hear about the kids that sleep 12 hours when they get a little older - it's hard to imagine! Given that they're eating 9 times per day, I'd think they're going to get big enough to pull some bigger sleep numbers soon! I sure hope so since I'll start working here really soon - hopefully, I have a potential contract in the works. I have Lara's wedding tonight - first night with a babysitter where I'll leave them for more than 2 hours. Rachel has been great with them, so I'm feeling good about it. I made the Billy Jean video public vs. private on YouTube so people don't have to sign up on YouTube to check it out now. Music we listened to this week: Michael Jackson, Jackson 5, Death Cab for Cutie, The Kinks, The Grateful Dead, Black Eyed Peas, TV on the Radio, Keane, Jack Johnson Radio, Snow Patrol, MGMT, Jimmy Eat World, The Raconteurs, The Who, Bob Marley and the Walers, Diana Krall - and probably more - we listened to a lot of music this week.

The Billy Jean Video

2009-07-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Here's Tanner and Chase grooving to Michael Jackson's Billy Jean ...

Dinner at Missy's

2009-07-08T10:33:00.001-07:00

The boys had a fun dinner over at Missy's with Ali'i, Tessa and Dylan. Here's a pic of the babies who'll be good friends for years to come. I can't believe my boys will be their size soon!

Mom enjoyed dinner, a glass of wine and the company of friends Missy, Libet and Vaite. To make the night complete, we had Layla, Hoback and Willie.

The boys were good through the night - two fairly quick feedings and slept in until 8! Tanner slept on my belly from 6-8 though - amazing how human touch sooths them.

2009-07-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Tried to post Chase and Tanner's 'Billy Jean' music video, their tribute to the King of Pop. But I think it's too long - maybe I need to pick a shorter song. I'll try to find to the time to post to YouTube and link to it. RIP Michael Jackson, the boys listened to your Memorial today.

The boys are 10 pounds now - had their circumcision follow-up today and Chase was 10 lbs 1/2 oz, Tanner less than a half of an ounce shy of 10 pounds. I'm sure he's there now with his last lunch!

2009-07-05T11:59:00.001-07:00

The boys slept 4 hours in one stretch last night (4.5 hours feeding start-time to start-time) - woohoo! Unfortunately I didn't get to take advantage of the extra sleep because I was watching Lake Union fireworks at Kari and Matt's with their little 6-day old, Finley. Chase started crying during the festivities so I held him which did the trick. Tanner slept right through without a flinch. Bring on the longer sleep boys - Mom's ready!

We're officially into Size 1 diapers now - Newborn diapers are just getting too small for my beefy babes.

Music they've listened to lately: Radiohead Jimmy Eat World, The Sundays, The Raconteurs, Keane, and of course our morning Nursery Rhymes from Genius Products and "Soothing Mist" white noise.

2009-07-03T18:02:00.000-07:00

Went to Golden Gardens today with Ema and her girls - the boys' first beach outing. They were great. I needed to feed them ASAP when got there - they downed 4 ounces before we even picked our final beach spot. They were both awake for a big chunk of the time - just soaking in the volleyball noises, trees blowing in the breeze, dogs playing, sand on their feet & binkies,.... A final feeding and it was time to head out.

Night routine...for now: feed 4+ oz. at 7:00, clean face, change diaper and into pajamas, swaddle, binky in mouth, bib (for another month or so b/c they often spit up), put into bouncy seat while you repeat for the other baby, after second baby is ready in the bouncy seat, go back to first baby and snuggle and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star a few times, then white noise on, and place gently into the crib. Do the same for the second baby. I sooth if they're fussy after they're put down by quietly putting their binky back in a few times. If he's still not settling, I rock him using the blue bouncy ball for a little while. I just repeat until he's finally down and not crying. I need to make sure I'm liking the routine I'm setting up for night time, because they'll ultimately want whatever it is I establish whether I'm there or not.

Now I need to prep myself for a solo night - feed myself, make bottles to last the night, early to bed. Goodnight!

2009-07-02T22:22:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for bed but the boys aren't going down very well. Bedtime is their witching hour - they just don't seem to want to settle down, and the soothing cycle begins - first with putting binky back in mouth a few times, then rocking, and generally repeating until they final don't cry out again. The beginning of my sleep tends to be pushed into the next feeding which is a bit too late...tired! At least all this eating is making them grow like little weeds. And growth means longer sleep at night...eventually! There is hope yet!

2009-06-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

Two long nights in a row with the boys. They seem to have forgotten that their little bellies are capable of going 4 hours start-time to start-time and they're choosing to instead go 3 hours or even a little less! Given that it takes 45 minutes to an hour to change, feed and burp them both, that gives Mom less than 2 hours of sleep between feedings. Tanner's been a little grump as well, so it's definitely been less than 2 hours these last few nights.

2009-06-27T13:03:00.000-07:00

Had the boys on my own last night. Tanner needed some extra love and so slept in my bed with me with pillows/bedding pulled away. I don't get big chunks of sleep when I'm on my own with them, but I try to stitch together 6-8 hours over a 24 hour period and that seems to help a lot. Another solo night tonight, back-to-back. Heather Moore is coming over at 5 - it'll be great to have her.

2009-06-25T06:51:00.001-07:00

The boys are 6 weeks old and I'm now finally getting around to starting a blog for them as I emerge from the fog of new motherhood. Better late than never! And in a few years, 6 weeks in will feel like nothing so I figured I'd start now if I can muster up the time. Tanner and Chase are still little men, but not as little as when they were born. Tanner, born at 4 lbs 15 oz and Chase, born at 4 lbs 4 oz are each likely close to 9 lbs now! They're both thriving and really good babies. I feel so blessed. They're getting better at focusing their eyes now and can look me in the eye for extended periods. They can also follow a book or these black and white animal cards I show them as I move it from side-to-side. Their favorite book is 'Baby Faces' which is essentially what the title implies - pictures of babies' faces.

Chase gave me a social smile (as opposed to a gas-induced smile) today for the first time. He smiles more with his left side than his right and it's super cute. Tanner sounds like a billy goat when he's waking up and then goes from zero to sixty when he decides he wants to cry. He has a loud, 'pay attention to me' scream whereas Chase still has the tiny infant-sounding cry.

Besides eating, sleeping and getting changed, we do tummy time. Chase loves to do half cobra when on tummy time. Tanner loves to move his head back and forth - his neck has been really strong from day one. Right now they're eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours in the day and about every 3 hours, maybe a bit longer, at night. They're eating 3-4 ounces at each feeding.

The boys also love their walks. They both still fit in the buggy, but it won't be long before I need to put them head-to-foot in order for them both to fit - then on to the Bob jogger once they're a bit older, but we're a few months away from the Bob. They love being next to eachother - I think they sooth eachother. Tanner was screaming once when I had him in there and calmed right down once I put Chase next to him. They also absolutely love walking in the Baby Bjorn - and mommy gets some more exercise that way as well!

OK, off to feed the babies - again! Seems like it never stops!