Utter Shock

I despise most diaper changes. The flipping game is old. It was old 6 months ago, and it's still old now. Yesterday Matt had a dirty diaper and I was dreading the crying, flailing walk to the nursery and all that would follow, so I turned to him and asked, "Matt, can mommy change your diaper?" Imagine my surprise when he acknowledged me, sat down, flopped on his back and stared. After the initial shock wore off, I praised him, ran into the nursery for my supplies and enjoyed a calm and quiet diaper change. Ahh, the little things in life!

Making an Appearance

I've been a terrible excuse for a blogging mom lately. Last month I took advantage of the time change and returned to my early morning workouts which put a major crimp in my late nights spent glued to my laptop. And now I have to live with the guilt of ruining the lives of all three of my regular readers. For that I am sorry.

Matt and Will are 19 months and changing every day. Some observations from the past month:

1. Will is trying to talk more and more each day and will mimic words that I ask him to repeat like "waffle" (wa wa), "snack" (nah), and "night night" (nigh nigh). He calls our nanny "reh rah" since he can't say Cara. It's adorable.

2. I gave up on teaching them sign language after failing to get them to sign "milk" after 6 months of trying. Suddenly, Matt began using the sign for "milk" when he wanted "more" of anything- food, drink, toys- you name it. Whatever works, I guess. This gesture along with "ehh" are his primary forms of communication for the time being.

3. Since I didn't know a sign for "I'm sorry," I started helping the boys say it by taking their hand and gently patting their brother's head. Now when I ask them to apologize, they automatically pat the other's head. This sounds really sweet, but I can assure you that gentle patting quickly escalates to gleeful hitting which requires the "I'm sorry routine" again. You can see where this is going.

4. Will has suddenly developed separation anxiety with everyone. He can be joyfully waiting for Chris to open the door when he returns from work but will run screaming from him if Chris then tries to pick him up. It's the craziest thing. Cara assures me that it subsides soon after my departure and I believe her. Today I came home from work and they were coloring at their table and barely gave me a second glance as if saying, "Oh, it's just you. Keep it down so we can concentrate on our art."


5. We get goodnight kisses from Matt and Will every night. Will gives the traditional pursed lip smack, but Matt comes at you head on with open mouth. You can't help but smile when you get a kiss like that. He's a very enthusiastic kisser.

6. Both Matt and Will have a funny attachment to outerwear. They sometimes grab their coats, thrust them at me and stick out their arm so I can help them into them. Sometimes they will walk around inside all morning while wearing coats and hats. If they unzip their jacket, they will insist that I zip it back up. If they tear off their hat, they'll whine until I put it securely on their head.

All in all, each month that passes tends to be more fun than the last. Yes, it's crazy at times. Yes, we have our fair share of hitting, biting and crying. But we also have lots of belly laughs and kisses. There is nothing more precious than hearing the boys pad around the house or squeal in delight as they chase one another around the dining room table. They are great kids and each day I am reminded of how blessed Chris and I are to have them. And after a particularly trying day, I can rejoice in the fact that they sleep through the night.

Thank Goodness for Digital Cameras

How did twin moms manage before the invention of digital cameras? I'm sure I took 100 photos today in less than 5 minutes. All I wanted was a photo of both boys under the tree- preferably one in which you can see their faces. This is what I got...

What a difference a year makes

Matt and Will- 6 months
















The boys had their 18 month check-up this week. They are absolutely healthy and totally normal as far as developmental milestones, which means they bite, hit and say "no" like any other 18 month-old. This normal business rocks.

Will and Matt- 18 months

Week in Review

Some highlights from the past week:
1. Matt got shoved by a girl who's three months younger than he is. He stayed on his feet but burst into tears. Word has already spread around the neighborhood and he's the butt of all the cool kids' jokes.
2. After slowly coming to terms with the fact that my kids will be iron deficient, non-meat eaters for the rest of their lives, their Gran and Papa made a huge discovery. Matt and Will gobbled up a smoked turkey leg. As in the kind that can be found at your local county fair or arts and crap show.
3. The proceeds from my wildly unsuccessful M.O.M.s sale were used to purchase Matt and Will their first vehicles- matching 2007 Little Tykes cozy coupes. Life is sweet.

4. We had a near disaster this weekend when Matt and Will discovered we were down to one racquetball in the house. Needless to say, after an evening run to Wal-Mart, we now have 6 new balls, 2 content boys and 1 relieved mom.

5. Chris and I got to see our second movie in a year. I picked "We Own the Night" thinking it would be your run-of-the-mill crime drama and ended up shedding tears. This becoming a parent thing is totally for the birds sometimes. No one warned me about the possibility of uncovering emotions I didn't think I possessed.
6. This week I will be renewing the same library book for the 8th consecutive time. That's 16 weeks I'll have had the darn book. I'm going to give up on reading anything past the two year-old reading level from here on out.

Dancing Kings

So one week into my blog-every-day-for-a-month plan, and I already failed. Which is great, because now I can go back to blogging twice a month. The pressure is off. Now my dad can sleep at night knowing that daily blogging is not taking time away from my family. He actually suggested I COOK dinner a couple of times a week in lieu of blogging. That's just so funny to me. Why would I want to cook dinner?
Today I put on the boys' CD and asked them to dance. The result? Matt might be a future Lord of the Dance!

Matt wears his sunglasses at night

So far I've made a whopping $60.50 between the M.O.M.'s members only sale and the garage sale this morning. They still haven't tallied the sales from the public sale, but I'm not expecting much. To help ease the pain, I ate my way through a plate of Oolang sea bass from PF Chang's and then put some sunglasses on Matt. Who knew it could provide such entertainment.

Why is it that fake floral arrangements, used baby bottles and cheap vases sell like hotcakes, while beautifully maintained baby clothing gets passed over? The numbers aren't in yet, but we did not fare well at the consignment sale. So what am I doing tomorrow? I'm slashing my already low prices and trying to get rid of roughly 250 items at my best friend's garage sale.

And then from this point on, I will only purchase Matt and Will two outfits each per season and throw them away when their time is up (the outfits, not the kids). I just don't know if I can take this kind of disappointment again.

Small Fall Sale

Tonight we set up for our local M.O.M.'s club fall sale. It's the "small" sale as opposed to the "big" spring sale. All I have to say is I better rake in the big bucks, because the amount of work that goes into sorting, tagging, hanging, pinning, and arranging makes me want to just give away every last piece of clothing. It's a good thing my mom did 75% of the work, especially since she purchased 75% of the wardrobe. It's her fault we're in this mess in the first place.

Mother's Day 2007

I am happy to report that Chris has finally purchased my Mother's Day gift. It's a good thing neither one of us is into celebrations of any kind, otherwise he may be a single father to twin toddlers.

So behold the mother's rings that I asked for one week prior to Mother's Day after a flyer from the jewelry store appeared in his golf tournament goodie bag (smart jeweler). The flyer boasted that the handcrafted rings could be ready in less than one week- just in time for the special day. Of course EVERY day is Mother's Day in our house, so celebrating it on October 2 should have come as no surprise.

There's just one slight problem with my new rings. The saleswoman convinced me to get a smaller size. They are incredibly uncomfortable, so the only finger they fit is my wedding finger. I'm going to have to get them resized, otherwise I'll look like I'm married to 2 cheapskates who feel I am only worthy of sterling silver.

Lofty Goal

I have this crazy idea to try to blog every day in October. Part of the reason I don't already do this is because I don't feel like I have enough "material" to warrant writing every day. I certainly don't want to bore my audience- all three of you. But one of my blogworld heros is LauraC, a fellow twin mom, who manages to blog M-F. I have loved keeping up with her.

In order to accomplish my goal, I'll need some help from some of you out there. So, if there is any topic that you'd like to hear about, any questions you have, please leave a comment or e-mail me (or call me, dad).

The picture today is from a couple of weeks ago at Matt and Will's first tailgate party. They happen to tailgate on the front lawn of a fraternity house. It's the closest they'll ever come to a frat party if I can help it.

What makes Matt cry

A few weeks ago, Chris was strategizing in preparation for his first tailgate with the boys. I would be working that day, so he'd be on his own. He decided to pull out some of our baby gifts- namely the 2 backpacks disguised as leashes. Chris was smart enough to try them on the boys prior to taking them out in public. Here's the result for Matt.

Nap Time

Our house is currently in a state of disarray. We are in the midst of installing a new 5-ton heat pump after our "old" 3-ton unit stopped working during some of the hottest days of the summer. 1 unairconditioned house in 100 degree heat + 2 toddlers + 1 cranky mom = 1 husband that must purchase a new a/c or else.

Technically Matt and Will are to blame for this major purchase. After all, we never would have needed a bigger a/c if we hadn't needed to add on a bonus room for my office and workout space. They are the ones who conspired in utero to split into 2 beings and wreak havoc on our perfectly situated house. So while I spent the better part of my pregnancy in a constant state of nausea and bedrest, Chris ripped out my pantry, installed a stairway and finished out an additional room. The poor a/c unit just couldn't handle cooling that extra space. Thank you Matt and Will.

Because of all the work going on in the house, I've had to deny Matt and Will access to the kitchen and keep them contained in the living room, dining room and playroom. I must admit it is nice to be able to work in the kitchen without a toddler or two underfoot, but Matt and Will are not hip on this new arrangement. They spent most of yesterday crying at the gates wondering what they did to mommy to deserve such punishment.

When I put them down for a nap today they babbled for well over an hour before they finally fell asleep. It started with giggles and laughter, progressed to "uh oh" and "ahhh" at the top of their lungs and then wound down with "mama? mama? mama?"

Now that they have finally fallen asleep, I just know that the a/c man will show up to get started on the work today and wake up my peacefully sleeping boys. At least I'll get to deal with 2 fussy toddlers in a comfortably cooled house.

Morning Show with Matt and Will

It's a shame my mom doesn't know how to turn on a computer. IF she could locate the power button, click on the Explorer icon and scroll to the 1 "favorite" I have listed for her, she'd find this:

The Diaper Pail

It would not surprise me if Matt and Will grew up to one day become respectable garbage men, especially my Matt. He's become quite a helper after diaper changes by disposing his diaper afterwards. All I have to say is, "Matt throw your diaper in the pail."

Today I was changing Will's diaper and gave him his wet one to try to keep him occupied. I'm still dealing with the constant flipping Will insists on doing each time I try to wrangle him into a new diaper. Will was not impressed with his old diaper and flung it to the floor. About that time, Matt came strolling into the nursery pushing one of his toys. (the only thing that would make this story better is if Matt was whistling) I heard the toy stop and turned around to see Matt scoop up the diaper, walk directly to the pail and toss it in. Then he went right back to his push toy and continued his route out of the nursery without missing a beat. It was priceless.

Later this evening when faced with the task of hand washing all 10 sippy cups and their 10 accompanying valves and lids, I decided to waste some water and run the dishwasher even though it wasn't completely filled. It always pains me to run the dishwasher when it's not cram packed, so I tried to find all that I could to put in it. If I didn't want to have to unload the extras, I might have even filled it with clean dishes. I loaded the cups and realized I was missing one, and by golly I was NOT going to run the darn thing without that 10th sippy cup. Chris and I checked all the usual hiding places- under furniture, in the hamper, in trash cans and came up empty handed. I figured the only place it could be was in the diaper pail, so I quietly sneaked into the nursery with my flashlight, opened the pail and pushed aside the top layer of diapers. Sure enough, my garbage men were a little too eager today and threw away the cup. I guess it was a good idea that I decided to run the dishwasher tonight, because that cup could use a little extra sanitizing.

This will come back to haunt them someday

Last year when all of my friends and neighbors were consumed with the task of finding Halloween costumes, I had more important things to worry about. Like when I could sleep. So Papa bought the boys some spiderman costumes to carry on the family tradition of a long line of spidermen. Unfortunately, even though they were sized 6 months, they boys were still in 0-3 month clothing. So the costumes were stashed away and forgotten.

A few weeks ago while cleaning out Matt and Will's closet for an upcoming consignment sale, Chris and I came across the costumes and decided to try them on the boys. They fit. So we decided to take loads of embarrassing pictures and paraded them down the street for all the neighbors to see. It was a wonderful evening.

I know I've been terrible about blogging lately, so I figured I'd play catch up.

• 
  
  At our recent well-child visit Will was 31 inches tall and weighed 21 lbs. 11 oz. Matt was the exact same height and tipped the scales at 20 lbs. 6 oz.


• 
  
  We had to take the boys for some blood work at our local hospital to check a recurring rash. A fellow MOM reassured me that the lab used numbing cream and the boys would do fine. Guess what? No numbing cream. Will had to have two draws because the first vein didn't give enough of a sample- not a good morning for us.


• 
  
  The blood work came back normal except for their iron levels, so I have to give them supplements. There is a negative side effect associated with iron which is the same side effect we've been dealing with thanks to the transition to whole milk. Thank goodness the boys have acquired a taste for prunes. We can all sleep at night thanks to those prunes.


• 
  
  Matt fell off his firetruck this morning (with a little help from Will I'm sure) and I ran to him and found blood coming out both nostrils and his mouth. He has a huge fat lip thanks to a tear at the top of his gums. I'll be sure to take a photo to commemorate my neglect. Thanks to some ice and tylenol, he's fine now.


• 
  
  There are times that I make Matt and Will hold my hand while they walk. It's great when I need them to follow me inside or keep them safely on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, they've learned that they can drop to their knees to avoid having to go my way. I cannot even convey to you what an annoying habit this is.


• 
  
  A couple in Arizona was recently on TV with their 3 month-old sextuplets. The mom looked great. Asked about their schedule, she said that all 6 were on the same 3-hour feeding schedule and they all slept between feedings. They only wake once during the night for a feeding at 2 am. They ALL sleep from 7pm until 2am, wake for a feeding and go back to sleep until 7am. When I told Chris about this he asked why couldn't we have had sextuplets. We spent over a year waking no less than 6 times each night. We went more than a year without regular naps. We apparently were not meant to be parents.

Here's a sampling of my favorite Matt and Will moments from the past few weeks.

Matt playing peek-a-boo while patiently waiting for his bath and Will giving kisses

Will's new trick

Of great concern

When Matt first began cutting his front teeth, Chris and I were a little taken aback by the size of his pearly whites. Then we just chalked it up to it being a proportion thing. Maybe they just looked big because he's small. We can't offer excuses anymore. Matt has gigantic teeth.

Chris turned to me one day and asked, "So which one of your family members had buck teeth?" It was then that I had to come clean with the dark family secret. Although my brother and I both have big teeth, his were unusually large. Before an orthodontist would even touch my brother's teeth, he sent him to a dentist to have 8 permanent teeth pulled to make room in his mouth.

So it appears that Matt inherited his Uncle's teeth (see exhibit A). Let's just hope he didn't inherit his taste in women.

Thank goodness for distressed floors

I've been told by experienced moms that this is definitely a boy thing. Matt and Will love to send toys crashing to the floor, bang them on the windows and smash them against the cabinets. The lounder the sound the better. I sure will be glad when THIS phase is over.

My First Video

I have so many funny videos of the boys, but most of them are too large to upload. I finally took the time to find one that would work. Here's a short video of Matt and his basketball. It's almost a month old but even early on he was working on his dribbling skills.

Road Trip

I figured I needed to elaborate a little on our recent road trip. The one where we traveled 1500 miles in 5 days. I know I mentioned that Chris got a GPS lady to help him navigate the trip and she really was wonderful. I had hoped to come up with a catchy name for her, but I just ended up calling her the "voice of reason." I certainly didn't agree with all her directions, but you can all take a guess as to whom Chris listened to.

It really irritates me sometimes when women gush about how wonderful their husbands and/or children are. That's why it almost pains me to admit that our trip with Matt and Will was easy. They were pretty much perfect travelers except for our first night on the road when we stopped too late. That night we got to relive the first year of their lives by sharing a bed with them. Let's just say we sure don't miss having the boys sleep in bed with us, if you could call what we did sleep.

The rest of the trip was great. Matt and Will loved every minute of it save for their brief encounters with Caddy, the sweetest dog on earth. She freaked them out so bad that they cry when OUR dogs come around now.

A few more photos from the trip. The first one is just to show what we needed for a one night's stay on the road. Scary huh?




















Will had his first taste of peach frozen yogurt. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed it.















Nana gave Matt and Will each a teddy bear. Matt loved pulling out the hair on his teddy bear. I'm afraid it will be bald by the end of the year.

Multiple Multiples

Blogger ate all my text, and I don't feel like retyping so here are a few photos from our trip (which was so much easier than I ever could have expected thanks to the fact that I set my expectations low).

Chris, Will and Matt along with his cousin and her triplets. Five kiddos under 3 in the same house. They are adorable and Chris's cousin is amazing.


















Will, Chris, Nana, Gran and Matt- four generations!














Will and Matt enjoying the complimentary breakfast that came with their hotel room on our last day of the road trip.

Definitely on the mend

I can tell Matt is feeling better because he's back to biting Will when he doesn't get his way. It doesn't happen very often, but as soon as I hear Will's wail, I know that he's once again on the receiving end of Matt's teeth. What surprises me most is that Will has rarely bitten Matt. Thank goodness Will at least hits Matt, otherwise I'd be worried that Will is a big sissy.

I didn't witness the latest bite, but when I rounded the corner I found Matt stuck in the basket trying to figure out how to get out and Will dissolved in tears. I took a mom and me photo to try to make Will feel better, but he wasn't too impressed. All I can say is I just hope he doesn't inherit my nose.

I'll report in after I recover from the road trip... look for my next post in April 2009.

We must be insane

I'm sure the 3 people that read this blog are waiting on pins and needles to find out how Matt's diaper rash is. After 8 days, nearly 50 baths, 2 different prescription creams, and a pleading call to the pediatric clinic, he is finally on the mend. He should be nearly healed by the time we leave for our road trip this week. I believe I vowed not to travel any more this summer after the trip to the beach, but under duress Chris got me to agree to take a road trip with him, the boys and his mom. I must be a saint.

We're splitting the 12 hour drive between two days, since Chris is in bed every night by 9pm and I pretty much can't see after dark. As you can tell, we are not experienced road trippers. In fact, under the pretense of "saving our marriage" Chris purchased a GPS navigation system to use on the trip so he didn't have to consult his passenger for any help with directions.

When we arrive at our destination on Friday afternoon, we'll have a whole day and half with his family before we pack up the van and start the drive back on Sunday. I can tell Matt and Will are really excited about sitting in their car seats for 6 hours a day. It's all we talk about.

The 8-day diaper rash marathon has taught me a lot about the boys. As hard as it was to suffer from such an uncomfortable rash, Matt weathered the week without much problem. Poor Will was another story; he's just not used to feeling so neglected. By yesterday afternoon Will was so miserable. He was moping around the house whining and then would suddenly throw himself down on the floor feigning injury. When I didn't fall for his act, he picked himself up off the floor, took a few steps and threw himself down again. It was so sad to watch his desperate plea for attention. I just knew he was thinking "why couldn't I have gotten the diaper rash? why does it always have to be Matt!" Oh to be a twin!

Warning: Bare Bottom Ahead

We're dealing with another round of bad diaper rash for poor Matt, but I'll get to that later. I figured I'd better share some photos from this week:

Here's Will changing out of his pj's. Don't you just want to squeeze him?

Will after eating cheese ravioli. He usually likes to smear it all over his face, hair, eyes, etc.

Sweet Matt- before the diaper rash.

This is how we know the boys are finished with a meal. They start throwing everything on the floor. Doesn't it sound like a fun game?

Yet another way to tell when a meal is over.

Will's first professional hair cut.

And Matt's too!

Along with 3 baking soda baths per day and lots of prescription ointment, I also try to air Matt out a few times throughout the day. After 4 days it's no better, so we're trying a different tactic. I'm praying the new prescription will work, because even though Matt is a trooper, he is still so uncomfortable right now.