A CRAZY day with twins--and it's only 1PM

 This bag is the only reminder of the complete disaster that occurred in my house today.  The boys were playing happily together while I made them scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, a new favorite meal. The new gate means that I feel comfortable leaving them there while I am somewhere else in the house. I went and checked on them after about 3 minutes, and they were toddling/crawling around and talking to each other and busily unloading toys from the toy shelf. Because they were happy, I decided to clean and chop the produce I just got from the market. I heard them playing and peeked my head around the corner and saw them sitting and unrolling a roll of diaper liners along the floor. Harmless, I thought to myself, and resumed chopping.

 After about 30 minutes of cooking, cleaning, and chopping, during which I peeked in on them every few minutes and heard them happily playing, I went in to get them to have their lunch. This (plus my babies) is what I found: many many sheets of diaper liners unrolled;

 Darkened spots of poo on the floor;

 Liners covered in poo; and my two boys, smiling up at me. More of Theo's face had speckles of poo on it than didn't; same for his hair.

 This is what happened to the bathroom floor in the melee.

 And the bathtub.

 In the bath, with two boys somewhat covered in poo.

It is unclear to me what occurred. Both boys had recent poopy diapers (known to be recent because I changed them right before I started unpacking groceries), and Theo's diaper had exploded upward to his pants and shirt. I cannot explain the poo on the face, in the hair, on the hands, on Beckett's hands and clothes. The poo on the soles of the (leather) shoes I explain only by way of seeing the poo on the floor and knowing that Theo toddles around as his primary means of transport.

So lunch was scrapped in favor of baths, after which they were both tired and so they nursed and then went to sleep. I have since scrubbed the floor in the playroom, thrown away many dirty (and suspicious) diaper liners, and scrubbed the bathroom. I think this is just one of those days!

Lots of Walking

A couple of weeks ago, Beck and Theo each started taking a few steps to walk from one person to another. The next day when we were in the back yard, Theo just started toddling around. Walking has become his preferred mode of getting around. Beckett still prefers crawling, but I doubt that will last much longer. Some of Beckett's first steps can be seen below (followed by an inadvertent headbutt to Mama Lovebo).  The second video is of Theo walking all over the house.

Tricks we've taught our one year olds--or have they taught us?

Theo's tricks:

• walking, mostly while carrying things. He loves to pick things up, walk a bit, set them down, and then go pick them up again. Showoff.
• climbing stairs
• crawling non-army style, finally
• when someone says "oh my goodness!" he slaps his hand (or sometimes both hands) on his head
• slaps one hand on his head when Daddy says "DOH!"
• turns book pages
• says "mamamamama" when sad or tired
• says "dadadadada" randomly

Beckett's tricks:

• walking, though he seems to be in a bit of a slump the last few days
• crawling like a champ
• climbing stairs lightening fast
• raises one pointer finger in the air when asked "how old is Beckett?"
• turns book pages
• says "cat" excitedly whenever he sees one of the cats
• says "cat" excitedly at pretty much any animate or inanimate object
• has occasionally said "ufff" when asked what a doggie says. 
• LOVES books; when I say BOOK to him, he giggles and lights up and slaps the ground with both hands. One day last week when the boys took totally different naps, I had a good two hours alone with each of them while the other napped. Whereas Theo will tolerate reading one book and then moves on to something else, Beck and I sat reading the same three or four books over and over again, with Beck pointing at everything so I could name it, for a good 30 minutes.

 Joanie and Theo reading at the lake this weekend. The picture immediately before was Grandma Joanie looking her usual serious, studious self. I told her to lighten it up for the camera, so here we have a caricature of her excitedly reading.

 Daddy Lovebo had a better time reading with Beckett than Theo. Theo was pretty tired and ready for num-nums and bed before Daddy started reading. The iPhone held him over while I took my last picture.

Feeling Grateful

The babies use anything they can get their hands on as a walker. Like this stepstool I used to find the banana bread pan.




We had a peaceful and relaxing Memorial Day weekend with Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu at the cottage on Cayuga Lake. I was worried that they would find a zillion things to poison or hurt themselves with, and that we would be running around like crazy chasing them. In fact, it was the most relaxed I have been since they started being this mobile. There was very little around they could hurt themselves with, and lots to have fun with. Beck enjoyed running alongside the futon, which was the perfect height to cruise on. Theo enjoyed just walking all around the cottage. He's gotten very good at walking, and can now move seamlessly from crawling to sitting to standing to walking and back. We brought lots of toys but they mostly enjoyed playing on or with the wood stove, pulling out knobs and clanging various levers. It was probably not a good idea to get them used to climbing all over it but I'm hoping they learn Curren-style to stay away from it when it's on. Maybe we won't even have to have it on this summer, we'll see. We also got to enjoy the new Lovebo suite, which is pretty sweet indeed. We have our own bedroom (formerly the screened porch) attached to the babies' room (formerly our room). Our new room is bright and light and airy and beautiful, with gorgeous new curtains Grandma Lovejoy made and tons more space. We were originally naysayers but we were wrong! I doubt we'll miss a lot of weekends at the cottage this summer!

I spent some time this weekend thinking about how lucky we are to spend time together as a family and for the many freedoms we have. I know a few moms through Multiple Moms Mingle, a group I'm involved in in Syracuse, whose husbands serve in the military and are gone much of the time. I am so lucky to have both sets of grandparents so close that they have meaningful relationships with my kids. I am so lucky that the war, genocide, trauma and poverty that affects so many millions across the world remains out of my backyard.

We have a gate installed at the top of the stairs but the babies don't seem to show much interest in going down, only in going up. They like to stand at the top and either act like prisoners, shaking the bars, or, if it is open, holding on to the sides and staring down at the void. This is Theo (above) and Beck not far behind (below).

 Theo hates most hats but seemed to love being in Grandpa Stu's baseball cap. He was SO PROUD OF HIMSELF!

 Below is one of Theo's favorite tricks--"Oh my goodness!" while slapping himself on the forehead. He will also do it when Daddy Lovebo says "DOH!"

 Hats from Grandma Joanie for their birthdays! Theo didn't seem to mind this one either!

 Beck and one of his favorite cousins, Samantha.

 Beck and Theo with another favorite cousin, Alex! Somehow everyone else was doing something else, making dinner or setting the table or whatever, and Alex was left alone with both babies. He kept them happy and entertained for a good while.

 Sam and Theo. After a day of enjoying his cousins Sam, Tabi and Alex both guys definitely needed some peace-out time, and Theo really enjoyed this chill session with Sam before dinner.

Daddy Lovebo grilling up a storm. He would like you to know that he checked neither time nor temperature on these turkey burgers, and they came out perfect! Who's got grilling skills?!?

One Year Observations

Eating: The boys consistently eat a pretty good breakfast of applesauce and yogurt. I feed them another snack around 10:30 to hold them over through their naps, because I don't feed them lunch until after naps, which sometimes is as late as 2:30. For lunch they eat one or the other of toast and hummus, soup, fruit smoothie, sweet potatoes, pureed peas, cheese, leftovers (lasagne is a favorite; chunked meat is not), cubed steamed veggies, apple slices. They drink a healthy quantity of water throughout the day and at meals, which our pediatrician said is totally fine as long as they're also eating. She says that many kids this age (toddlers! can you believe it?) eat a lot one day, then next to nothing the following day, and that it's all totally normal.

Nursing: Amid the firestorm about that Time Magazine cover (not so much the article, which was really more a superficial bio of Dr. Sears, the author and pediatrician) depicting a child who appeared to be five years old but was actually three, I continue to nurse the babies past the American Association of Pediatrician's stated goal of one year. I'm treating Diane Wiessinger's awesome article this week in response to the controversy and ensuing discussion as a nod of encouragement and understanding. The boys are thriving and happy and don't NEED it but it's nice, and I'll keep it up as long as we all want to do it. The days I work full time they miss a daytime nursing, and now that they are sleeping through the night they miss one there, but they're still nursing between 3-4 times a day. Now when I say "who wants num-nums?" Theo goes "mmm! mmm!" and Beckett grins and giggles and crawls right over.

One Year Pediatrician visit:
Theo: 28 1/2 inches; 19 pounds, 13 ounces. 10th percentile for everything.
Beckett: 29 1/4 inches; 21 pounds, 6 ounces. 25th percentile for everything.

Both babies have quadrupled their weight in a year!

ONE YEAR OLD!

Good morning, beautiful babies! Happy First Birthday!

Beckett must have gotten the memo that many babies walk by their first birthdays, because Saturday he just decided to start walking. Theo, who hasn't walked since about three weeks ago when I posted that video, kept right up with Beckett. Now we have two walkers on our hands! Now that they are proficient crawlers, they can transition quickly from walking to crawling to cruising and back to walking, but seem to prefer crawling and cruising still unless an adult is cheering on the walking. It's incredible to watch how quickly Beck went from tentative first steps to wandering ably around the backyard unaided, between Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. It's great to be able to have them outside in the yard so their inevitable falls on their butts (and sometimes faces) are not so painful (or embarrassing!).

 In the last week or so Theo and Beckett have gotten much more interested in the bookcases and, more importantly, in taking books off the shelves.

 They sure do love their new cups, from Tricia. I thought there would be more of a learning curve on the sucking from a straw, but they both took to it right away. They can each drink more than 8 ounces of water at a time!

 We all enjoyed a great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Leibowitz this weekend. They got to watch right along with us as Beckett took his first steps. He was practically running by Sunday!

We hosted the first of what we hope will become a biweekly block party tradition among a small group of neighbors here. Everyone brought something to share, the kids were in and out playing among all the backyards, and the babies happily toddled around, mostly with Mark and Mindy and their kids!

 Waiting for the guests to arrive for their party!

 Theo enjoying a cupcake with our good friend Mark (and his son Jordan).

 Beckett enjoying his cupcake with Mama.

 Exploring a wonderful and exciting package from the Lloydhorsts in Chicago! What a fantastic sampler pack of fun toys and books!

Zoo fun!

The Lovebos went to the zoo a few weeks ago to celebrate the first birthday of the tiger triplets. It's been fun to watch them grow over the last year. They were put on display sometime over the summer and have been growing like mad. Now it takes me a minute to figure out which is the mama and which are the triplet babies, they're that big. Daddy Tiger has to be outside the enclosure in a narrow yard where he paces, watching the cubs play and roam the larger, closer pen. It's kind of strange. But anyway, it was fun to be at the zoo on their birthday, and there were lots of other "multiple" families there to celebrate as well.

Lauren just sent me this clip and it makes me want to dress Theo and Beckett up like gazelles or zebras next time we go.

Coming up on One Year! Part I

The boys are one week away from their first birthday. My dad is one week away from experiencing the first of what is likely to be many birthdays in the shadow of the boys' birthday, i.e. not really being celebrated to the fullest. Oh, well. I hope to have the time to reflect a little on this last year over a few posts, so I thought I'd start out with sleep.

Theo and Beckett are in a pretty good rhythm of sleep at this point. For about six months now they have been sleeping from 7pm-7am. Two out of three nights they still wake up at some point to nurse, but more and more they are able to go the whole night and just nurse in the morning. The downside is that they usually wake up earlier on the mornings they haven't nursed in the night, but the upside is 1) drier diaper and less chance of leaking in the morning, and 2) more continuous sleep for Mama!

I'm starting to believe that the boys may be very different sleepers. We think Theo is usually the first waker upper in the mornings, and he usually is at naps also. If we get into their room before Theo has woken Beck up, and sometimes even after he has woken Beck up, Beck will often continue sleeping for a while afterwards. For example, this morning Theo woke up to eat (for the first time all night) at 6:15am.  Beck slept straight through til 7:30. That's all good news, but they've been somewhat more restless at night than they have been since the very early days. Every night or two one or both of them cries out in his sleep at least once. Often it's just a little cry for 5 or 10 seconds, then back to sleep, but sometimes one wakes the other up or seems especially upset. Several times over the last few weeks I have gone in at various times of night to rub their backs and try to calm them down. Inevitably, no matter how settled they seem or how long it has been since I have been rubbing their backs, when I take my hands away, they both cry. It usually lasts less than a minute before they go back to sleep. I love when Daddy Lovebo asks me, when one is crying in the night, "what is wrong with them?" Like I know, but I'm trying to keep it a secret from him. I think it could be any number of things--hitting their heads on the crib, being thirsty, having a bad dream, having growing pains or teething pains. All I know for sure is that they need some comforting but it's not the end of the world for them to cry for a little bit as they fall back to sleep.

Naps are still about two hours in the middle of the day. Sometimes they don't go down until close to 12:30, and other days (like today), they are out at 11:15am. Sometimes they sleep for 3+ hours, and other times only an hour and a half. It's making it harder and harder to travel during the day, because if they fall asleep not during their nap times, then sometimes they won't nap later. Though we've had good luck traveling around 3 or 4pm so they get an extra bonus nap in the car, and then stay up a little later at night. Overall I think they're really good sleepers and almost never fight sleep. The cutest thing is hearing them talking and giggling to each other in the morning, and then peeking in to see them both standing in their cribs, facing each other and touching each other. That's one of those "having twins is AWESOME!" moments.

Sharing!

 Both Theo and Beckett wanted to use the walker for a while this morning, and then suddenly they found a way to use it together at the same time. It was so cute to watch them toddle around the house like this, so happy with themselves! It was also just before Theo took a header in the kitchen when the laundry hamper slid out from under him. There was a LOT of blood from his mouth but it appears to have stopped. It looks like he bit his upper lip. He only cried for about 10 seconds and then calmed down and started smiling and laughing, even as blood was bubbling out of his mouth. I've got some tough cookies up in here!

 Wow! The boys figured out how to remove the duct cover and stick their foots into the hole. Also their hands. Great!

 Wednesday we had a great visit with Stacey and Aria, who is getting very strong! Theo was a good sport, laying out in front of Aria so she could explore his eyes, ears, mouth and head. Later Theo was patting her gently on the head, which then evolved into slapping. It's the thought that counts, right?

 Both Beckett and Theo lit right up when Stacey came in!

 Friends Taf and Fred gave the boys an early first birthday present last week--a beautiful set of colored blocks that sit in a little wagon with wheels and a pull rope. Here's Beck really taking advantage of all the fun this toy offers--taking out all the blocks, pulling the cord, and sitting in the wagon.

 Today is a beautiful day in Syracuse. The boys and I spent the morning with Tara at the Regional Market, where they enjoyed cheese, black bean stew, and curry cashew rice. I bought yummy organic whole milk yogurt and whole milk from two local dairies, plus cheese curds for Daddy and some of the great pizza shells from Mo's Doughs. And who knows what else. That's one of the joys of the farmer's market--coming home and going through your bags to see what is in them!

When we got back, the boys took some time to crawl around the front yard. Beck's favorite spot: the road. The swings had to be cleaned of bird poop but after that, we enjoyed a good hour of swinging. Beck likes to grab onto Theo's swing and swing right along with him.