What about twins?

I am an occasional reader of Motherlode, the NYTimes blog about parenting and kids and such. Today the editors there highlighted an article about the spacing of children and the intellectual outcomes on the children, particularly the older children. From my reading of the abstract, not the article (I haven't been able to get the pdf to open on my computer, and haven't yet asked Daddy Lovebo for his technical assistance), it appears that the longer you wait between children, the better off the older children are. Does this mean Theo is disadvantaged? Discuss.

More Jumping!

As Beckett's legs continue to get stronger, he is having more and more fun in the jumper. Thanks again to Grandpa Stu for setting this up for us! The seat's hooks don't fit around the doorways of our old house, so Stu had to install two small pieces of wood on a beam to support the swing.

Baby/mama products we love

Baby tent: folds up to a tiny disc, then explodes (literally) into sleeping quarters for both babies. Got some more use at the Grandparents Leibowitz this weekend, and worked great yet again.

8 ounce Medela bottles: no more anxiously pumping while waiting to grab the bottles as they rapidly fill, then transitioning to new bottles while dripping/spraying all over my work clothes, the floor in my office, and my weird but awesome knee chair. And obviously my Medela Pump-in-Style from friends at Bleisenblog--it has saved the day on many, many occasions.

Indestructible books: chew-proof, rip-proof baby books with vibrant pictures and colors.

Bundlemes: We got ours for $10 each at the Multiple Moms Mingle sale this fall but they're a bargain at any price. We can't use them in the bigger carseats once they are out of the portable buckets but in the meantime they keep the babies cozy and warm in their seats. I have heard that they are the less-safe alternative car seat cover, and that the better version is this. Well, we love ours and we're not paying another $40 for two new ones.

Space saver high chairs: Got them for $40 total at the MMM sale last spring, and so far they've been working great. We can transport them easily if need be and they recline for various eating positions.

Nursing bras: I tried a couple different kinds and then bought three of these. They are comfortable and easy to latch and unlatch and have held up very well to nearly seven months of 24/7 use.

CJ's Butter: We have the Blueberry Crumble flavor from Jillian's Drawers. The smell is incredible. It's hard enough not to munch on these little guys because they're so dang cute. Now they smell like one of my favorite foods!!

Baby swing: The Cadillac of baby swings. AC adapter, continuous use (no automatic shut off), actual legitimate music, and easy-to-use safety straps. Yes, our boys barely fit in it any more but we won't stop using it until their feet hit the ground when it's running. It is awesome.

Baby Einstein activity gym, aka Baby Vegas: keeps them occupied for twenty minutes at a time, which is long enough for me to make a batch of cookies, make dinner, fold diapers, whatever. Awesome.

Glider: People told us we needed a rocking chair when the babies came, and we didn't really understand. We bought this a few months ago from a MMM mom and boy is it awesome. I don't know why we didn't have one earlier!

Shea Moisture baby products: I love the smell of this stuff. It's my favorite baby wash. Walgreens is the only place I can find it.

All the books and clothes the boys have received have been amazing! I can't even pick out any that are especially wonderful or appreciated--we love them all!

Ergo baby carrier: My favorite carrier, unless I'm in a huge hurry to bundle the baby up and get going, in which case I opt for the Baby Bjorn because it requires less finagling while I'm on my own. Big padded shoulder straps, comfortable fit for me and baby, and-aha!-zippered pocket for keys and phone.

Products we thought we'd love but kind of don't:

This Manhattan Toy: Theo and Beckett love all the other Manhattan Toys we've gotten as handmedowns from the Bleisenblog bunch, like the Whoosit. They also love the Skwish, which I bought for them. But this one just doesn't do it for them.

Baby socks: What a freakin hassle. Why bother? we ask, except that the boys' feet get too cold. We're constantly losing them, both in the house and when we're out ("excuse me, I think you dropped a baby sock!" is a common refrain when out of the house). Is duct tape the answer?

On the same note, baby shoes. WTF? Shoes? My kids can barely stand up without tilting their feet inward! They do not require shoes.

Waterproof crib mattress pads: Maybe this is more of a statement about how awesome our diapers are, but we really haven't needed these yet. Just the sheet over the pad would have worked so far. I guess we have lots of illnesses involving projectile vomiting to go in the life of our cribs, but we (thankfully) haven't required the use of the waterproof pad yet.

New sweaters

From Great Aunt Lucy! They are a little big now but given that winter lasts six months here, I'm guessing they will fit just about perfectly by the end of winter, in April or so.

Six Month Checkup

Yesterday we went to see Dr. Morisseau at Brighton Hill Pediatrics for the boys' six month checkups. Beck is 17 pounds, 10 ounces and 26.5 inches long, and Theo is 16 pounds and 25.5. inches long. Beck is in the 50th percentile for everything (weight, height, head circumference), and Theo is in the 10th percentile for everything (weight, height, head circumference). Both babies smiled through their exams and this time Beck is the one who freaked out with the shots, whereas Theo was a champ and cried for only a few minutes before setting into Grandpa Stu's arms and resuming smiling and laughing. Neither baby had eaten yet yesterday morning because they woke up late and we had an early appointment, so they should have been about 6 ounces heavier, but it doesn't really matter. Dr. Morisseau is very happy with how they are growing and developing and one of the nurses said she could tell that I was really enjoying every minute with them. Which I am. And it's fun that other people can see that!

Dr. Morisseau discovered that Beck has an ear infection. They have both been snotty for a little over a week but neither had been acting cranky, or having trouble eating or sleeping. It had seemed like they were getting better lately. I felt bad that I hadn't brought Beck in earlier, since he had been sick, and said so to the doctor. She said she wouldn't have brought her kid in either, because he really wasn't acting sick. So that made me feel a little better. He's on antibiotics now, as of last night, and I hope that will resolve things pretty quickly. It isn't quite as bad as administering medication to the cat, but putting the syringe of medicine in his mouth is pretty unpleasant, with lots of frothing at the mouth and projectile rejecting.

The BEST outcome of the pediatrician appointment is that Dr. Morisseau said that the boys shouldn't need to wake up at night anymore. Ha ha, I said, I KNOW that, but THEY don't know that. Well apparently all I need to do is take them to the pediatrician and have her say something when I want them to do it, because last night they only woke up once in the night! One time between 6:30pm and 7:45am. Whereas the last few weeks they've been waking up at least twice and often three or four times. Beck ate when I got home from work, at around 5pm, and they didn't eat again until 3am! I hopehopehope this is the start of a new pattern!

I have been working on two new mobiles for the last few weeks and finally put one together this afternoon. Theo's only had to wait five months for his own mobile. But his is TOTALLY amazing! Check it out:

We love Christmas cards!

And Auntie Tara.....


And the Grandparents Leibowitz...





And our new bath toys...


And our new Christmas stockings from Kim...


And Daddy Lovebo...

And Mama Lovebo!

Snotty babies

We had a great visit with Sara E and her son Preston on Tuesday. Sara warned me that Preston was still a little snotty, but I decided it was probably a good thing for Theo and Beck to get some exposure to some germs. They haven't had much yet because they're not in daycare and the people they spend the most time with haven't been sick yet this year. Preston dutifully infected them by sucking on their toys and sneezing and coughing in their faces several times. Beck got the bug first and had a runny nose and watery eyes by Thursday morning. Theo got it Friday. We have had a humidifier running in their rooms since Friday night, and they sleep at least part of each night in their carseats so they are more upright. I know that when I have a cold I much prefer to be more upright so the yucky doesn't just sit inside my nose. They were markedly better last night in time for a dinner date with Ana, Robert and James in Liverpool.

Photos, med update, work update

All three of the boys (Jeff, Theo and Beckett) got to meet my aunt Deb and uncle David in Clinton, Massachusetts over the Thanksgiving holiday. We had a really nice visit. They boys were very engaged with David and Deb and we all had a great time.




Beck got his first driving lesson from Daddy Lovebo on the way home from Thanksgiving in Massachusetts last weekend.

Extreme close-up of Theo!
A few weeks ago Grandma Joanie cleaned out our basement stash of paint (none bought by us) and took it all back to Grandpa Stu to take to the household hazardous waste drop-off in Ithaca. Grandpa Stu reports that we won the prize for most things dropped off from one car.


Mama is off the 'roids! I took my last dose of steroids yesterday and now the only thing I'm on is the synthetic thyroid hormone I will be on for the rest of my life (unless my thyroid grows back! not a joke!). I'm taking all my old drugs to the pharmacy tomorrow to get them out of the house. I figure with boys ready to crawl any day, we might as well eliminate any toxic things we can from the house.

Week One went well. Mindy is always as happy and smiley and calm at the end of the day as she was at the beginning, which astounds me. (Mama Lovebo has been known to be standing at the end of the driveway with one child in the Ergo and holding another, waiting for Daddy Lovebo to pull in at 5:30.) The boys have been happy to see me but also perfectly happy playing or chatting with Mindy. We feel very lucky.

Theo and Beck's First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving dinner with everyone! Of course Theo and Beck picked that exact moment to both start cranking. We tried to eat with them squirming and fussing, then put them in their PeaPod (baby tent) for about 10 minutes, during which they screamed. When we brought them down again, they were in much better moods and allowed everyone to eat in peace!
From one turkey (27lbs) to another (Great Uncle Rich).
Cousin once removed Emily and Tommy, who is a total baby lover!

First day of work for Mama Lovebo!

Monday was the first day back to work for this Mama Lovebo. I was a little sad Sunday night thinking about being gone all day Monday, but I slept fine and (more importantly) the boys slept fine as well. Mindy arrived at 8am so she could entertain the babies while I packed up and fed them each, and I was late to work as usual. I have a good number of cases but none that I have yet examined are in immediate emergency mode, it appears. It was great to see my colleagues and settle back into a routine at work, and I felt good using a part of my brain that has been dormant for the last nine months. I'm sure there will be parts of work that will annoy me or stress me out but I think it's very good for me to be back at work, especially in this ideal arrangement. I came home at lunchtime to nurse the babies, and returned home before 5pm. They were happy and well-rested and had eaten a good quantity of squash with Mindy. I feel comfortable and secure knowing she is here with them, and I never worry that they are not being taken care of. I also feel good that they will not experience the turnover and different faces of caregivers at a daycare, and can learn to expect to see Mindy's smiling face when I am not here. Mondays are my longest day of work (8:30-4:30) and then I have a whole day with them Tuesday, a half day Wednesday, and a whole day with them Thursday before going back for a shorter day (8:30-3:30) Friday. I think it's a pretty ideal schedule and I'm very optimistic that it will work out well for our family.

The general nighttime routine now is we put the babies to bed between 6-7pm, depending on how tired they are, and they sleep through til 1am or so. At 1 I feed one or both of them. Someone usually wakes up again around 4 or 5am, and I feed one or both of them. Sometimes Beck wakes up earlier than 1, usually around 10 or 11, and wants to eat. It seems to us that he is putting on a lot more weight than Theo, but we won't know for sure until we go to the six-month pediatrician appointment next month.

Pre- and Post-Thanksgiving

I got two free snowsuits for the boys a week or two ago and they've been wearing them on walks when it is cold out. They are way too big for them now but my guess is they will be snug by the end of snowsuit season. Sometimes they fall asleep on the walk and then I try to transfer them to their cribs or the swing for a nap afterward. On this day, I was successful. They slept for 2 hours after we got home!

We had a wonderful if short visit with Auntie Alexis on Saturday. We went for a lovely walk around the witching hour to help the boys have a brief nap before dinner. Theo's in love, as you can tell.


Baby sunglasses! Another great deal from Babysteals.com! Beck can really rock some sunglasses.


We had a really great visit with Jeff's family in Northborough, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving, with a too-short interlude to my aunt and uncle's house nearby in Clinton. I hope to add pictures from those trips in future posts--when we get the pictures off of our phones and from Jeff's uncle.

Grandma Joanie makes a funny

An email to me from Grandma Joanie tonight after viewing the below video:


Subject:

Was it after the applesauce [editor's note: into which I put lemon zest, some would argue too much] that the boys had trouble staying asleep?

Message:

Because:

1. They don't trust you to take care of them

2. They had acid indigestion

3. They wanted to make you suffer like you made them suffer

Trying New Foods

We continue to feed the boys different foods to try. They like some better than others. Watch Theo's reaction in this video as he tries some applesauce. It's priceless.

More solid foods!

We're still experimenting with solid foods, seeing what types of foods the boys like and at what times of day. I'm pretty much through with rice cereal, as I really don't see the point. The boys have had mashed banana, pureed butternut squash, and pureed peas. I need to make the applesauce at some point so they can try that. The squash last night was definitely the biggest hit, though it may also have been because it was at the right time, when they were hungry and alert and could best tolerate it. Each of them ate a full ice cube tray's worth of squash. They can together put down half a banana but the peas and the rice cereal is more difficult to get down. I'm going to try the squash again today. They're nursing as much as ever, and we'll see how that changes as they start to eat more.

Firsts! and a few anniversaries

We scored two free snowsuits from a mom in the Multiple Moms Mingle group. This is Theo modeling the handmade one we got. I don't really understand why it has a wizard hat attached, but it's warm and the price was right.

Theo has his first tooth! It has cut through his gums but is still hard to see, especially with all the thrashing that occurs when one tries to look inside his mouth. But it is easy to feel. It is kind of sharp and ridged and definitely a tooth. Our babysitter, Mindy, found it when she came over to watch Theo when I went to my boss' retirement luncheon. I hadn't even noticed it! He hasn't been grumpy, or had a hard time sleeping, or anything. He just cut his first tooth, no big deal.

So here's the roundup of points awarded so far in the FIRSTS categories:

Theo, with two points: first born, first tooth
Beckett, with three points: first smile, first laugh, first to roll from front to back.

And I want to mark the belated anniversary of when we found out I was pregnant with twins, on Veterans' Day. We went for a hospital tour of the St. Joe's Birth Place at 11am, which was awesome and had us very excited to have a baby there, and then went from there to our 1:10pm sonogram to find out how far along I was. The tech, after taking forever and worrying me that there was no heartbeat, announced that in fact there were TWO heartbeats and that we were growing two babies. Jeff of course laughed hysterically doubled over with his head between his legs for about ten minutes, and I felt my eyes roll back in my head and may or may not have been conscious for the rest of the exam. I was nine weeks pregnant. Today is the anniversary of when Jeff and I traveled to New York for me to undergo CVS, early genetic testing of the babies. And I believe it was December 3 when we found out that both babies were healthy and that we were having twin boys! So last Thanksgiving was a bit of a stressful time, awaiting the results of the CVS. We're so grateful and happy this year to be celebrating with our gorgeous and funny babies!

This picture has nothing to do with anything except I think it's funny.

Monday we had a great visit with our friend Anne, who stopped by for the afternoon. The boys have tried out the PeaPodPlus they received from the Cathleses and LOVE it! We tried it at not the best time, when they were cranky at the end of the day just before they ate for the last time, and surprisingly, they both started giggling and smiling and kicking their feet. I hypothesize that it feels close and contained, which feels comforting. I am just grateful that they like it so that we can imagine using it for traveling! It's also surprisingly roomy inside, such that I think we're going to try having them share it when we go away for a few days next week. It's been at least a month since Theo has turned perpendicular in the crib, and they generally seem to flail and thrash less than they used to, so I hope it's okay! We'll make sure to bring their own blankets so they can each put theirs over their heads, etc.

Check out these awesome winter hats we got from Mama Goose!

We had a great visit with Toby and Toby's mom Sarah this morning. The boys kind of played together, to the extent that they can, and then Theo and Beck made a Toby sandwich. Mmmm! Toby was the only one interested in my make-the-baby-smile-for-the-camera antics. Theo and Beckett were more interested in Sarah.

Beck OWNS this swing.

PS I bring you this post because the boys have been sleeping for two hours and counting. They went down around 1pm and it is now after 3. I keep checking on them to make sure they're still breathing. I have also filed most of the pile of "to be filed" that has accumulated since the boys were born and addressed all of our Christmas card envelopes. I guess I'm going to have to tackle something more substantial if they keep sleeping. Maybe dry mopping the downstairs? Cleaning the upstairs bathroom? Geez, I'm going to be wishing these guys would wake up!

Emerging schedule

I'm counting down the last two weeks before I go back to work, and I'm eager to get the boys on some semblance of a schedule to make it easier on them and on Mindy, our care provider, and my parents when I am gone. The plan as of now is that I will work a full day (8:30-4:30) Monday, 12-4:30 Wednesday, and 9:30-4:30 Friday. My parents will come up for most Fridays and Mindy will take care of the boys Monday and Wednesday.

So the boys usually go down relatively easily and calmly for naps in the morning (9-10ish) and early afternoon (12-1 or 1-2, sometimes earlier if they got up earlier in the morning and took an earlier early nap). But as much as it is obvious that they need a late afternoon nap, they often refuse to take it. Which makes the 5-7pm hours very difficult, with cranky, overtired babies who sometimes fall asleep too early or just refuse to be put down for even a moment. Last week I decided to try taking a long walk around 4 to encourage the babies to take a nap before the witching hour begins. It worked awesome; they slept for about 45 minutes, I got a little exercise, and they were happy and calm during the 5-7pm period. I've tried to do it every day, and it's made a huge difference in how bedtime goes around here. My ideal has been to have the boys put themselves to sleep, in their cribs, for every nap and for bedtime, which they won't do at that time, but I think it's more important that they sleep during that late afternoon period than that it be in their beds. I also think it's good to be able to tell a babysitter to just go for a walk around 3:30 or 4pm; I'm sure EVERYONE will be ready for a nap by that time! Last night I even put the babies to bed by myself (Jeff was at soccer) and it went so calmly and beautifully that I still can't believe it. We read books on the floor of their nursery, then I changed them both on the floor, into their nighttime diapers and sleep sacks. Then I nursed Theo while Beck played with his blanket, then I put Theo down awake and he put himself to sleep while I nursed Beck and then put him down. Amazing! Thank you, late afternoon nap!

So the schedule (for the moment) is:

Wake at 7am, nurse sometime before 8am
Nap 9-10 in crib, then nurse upon waking
Nap 12-1 in crib, then nurse upon waking
Nurse 3:30 or so
Nap 4-5 on walk (in stroller or Ergo)
6:30 bedtime routine--nighttime diapers, sleep sacks, nurse, then bed in crib at 7pm

Beckett has resumed waking up multiple times in the night after he had been sleeping 8+ hours before waking. I was feeding him every time he woke up but he didn't actually seem that interested in eating--he would eat lazily for a minute, then fall asleep, then wake up and nurse again, then smile and coo at me for a while, then nurse for another minute, then fall asleep. It seemed like it was more social hour for him than that he really needed the food. So now we're going to cry it out (CIO) at night, for Beck only. Theo only wakes up once during the night, usually around 3am, and eats voraciously and then goes back to sleep without any fuss. I kind of think that's what they both need, one feeding, so I have been waiting for Theo to wake up, then I feed them both and put them both back in their cribs. They had also been waking up too early (5am or so) and we thought maybe it was because their diapers after 10 hours had been too wet. So now we get up at 5 and change both their diapers, which I have to say has worked to help them stay asleep in their cribs until 7 or later. But Beck is still waking up multiple times, sometimes as early as 10pm, wide awake and angry. So we have been letting him cry, hoping that if we do not reward the crying and wakeups with cuddle time or food. A fellow mom of multiples in my group here in Syracuse who calls herself Cruel Nazi Bitch Mom advocates providing nothing at all that babies like if they wake up beyond what she deems they need to--"no water, no food, no nursing, no playing, no cuddles, no kisses, no talking". I kind of love it, because it just makes so much sense. Beck has been much better rested since sleeping more during the day and I am hoping that when he gets used to sleeping through the night better (with one wakeup), that he will be even better. They need the sleep, I know they do, it's just that they need to learn how to get the sleep they need.

We had our floors refinished more than a week ago and even after airing it out a lot of last week when it was so nice out, I think the downstairs still smells pretty bad. I have all the doors and windows open again today and we're freezing our cajones off here but it still doesn't seem to be getting better. I'm beginning to wonder whether we need to vacuum out the cold air returns and leave the windows open more of the time, but it's getting colder all the time! Brrr....

We may need a paternity test.

Because these cannot possibly be Jeff's genetic offspring. They love peas! After making a batch of pureed peas this afternoon I couldn't help myself and I offered them some of the bit I couldn't get out of the food processor. They loved it! And I have to say, it was pretty delicious!

Making (and eating) baby food!

We spent the weekend in Ithaca with Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu as our floors were being refinished here in Syracuse. We had a great time and understand now how much sense it would make to have multiple generations in one household, sharing child care and chores. We also picked up some great stuff at Jillian's Drawers (hemp diaper inserts, blueberry crumble flavored diaper cream (YUM!)) and Mama Goose (adorable winter hats) and visited with lots of friends. Of course I took no pictures of said friends. Anyway, now the floors are beautiful and we were lucky enough to have some amazing and warm weather these last few days so we've been able to air out the house. We finally got back in to the house last night.

Last week at the Regional Market Grandma Joanie and I bought some butternut squash and some apples to make baby food. Today Beck and Theo were patient enough to give me time to cut, bake and puree the squash. It's now freezing in the brand new chest freezer. I'm going to work on the apples over the weekend.




After the baby food making experiment, Beck seemed hungry. I started feeding him but he seemed very distracted. He kept starting to eat, then pulling away and looking around. This happened multiple times before my milk really let down, and then Beck really got it. Note the beads of milk all over his face and up over his head.



All weekend Grandpa Stu went on and on about how we should be feeding the boys solids. The pediatrician suggested we could start solids any time between four and six months. We are two weeks away from six months, so Stu has been badgering us to get going. I think he thinks it will be fun.

Monday, almost accidentally and quite casually, Grandma Joanie gave Beckett some mashed banana which he seemed really to enjoy. Jeff bought some rice cereal a week or so ago that we've been delaying opening. Today I went through all the eating supplies we received as gifts--bowls, cups, spoons, forks, cups and lots of other great stuff from my cousin Barb and friends Linda and Jess. It was fun to see it all and imagine the boys using it so soon.

Tara stopped by after work today to play with the babies (pronounced "super cute!") and give me all the news. Then when Jeff got home it just seemed like the right time to try some rice cereal. Unfortunately Beck fell asleep, just fell fast asleep, in my arms as we were getting it ready. I tried to jam some in to his mouth but he was pretty sleepy.


Theo, on the other hand, was ALL OVER the rice cereal. I think he's really ready to be eating more real food! He ate the entire portion of cereal--and even wanted to hold the spoon himself. I feel like he grew up tonight!




There are still a few things I have to figure out about this solid food thing, like: do we do it every day? Every meal? If we're mixing the cereal and thinning the veggies and fruits with breastmilk, does that mean I have to start pumping every day again so we have enough to mix with? For now I think we'll do it when it's convenient, as a fun family activity rather than as real sustenance, and keep up with the breastfeeding as much as the boys want. But I'm amazed at how much they seem to like food! And it is fun!