10/31/09

Favorite Thing

The baby's favorite thing right now is to splash in pee. Yup, if there is pee left in a potty for a few moments, he bee lines it over there and splashes with glee. He even squeals. Yuck.

Bad Mood

I once took a seminar from a psychologist who said that we choose our reactions to situations. For example, when we stub a toe and no one is in the room we may curse. However, if a child is in the room, then we may not be so dramatic. You will still feel the pain, but how you react to the pain is your choice.

Today, I choose to be cranky. I have not had enough sleep for several days now. My back is once again very painful - I have a massage scheduled with my mother's miracle worker November 13. Until then, I am relying on stretching, hot baths, and my husband. Along with the bad back, my husband and I had a confrontation last night, mainly to be blamed on a partying baby in the middle of the night, which is still unresolved.

I hate to leave things unresolved with him. For most things, 'out of sight, out of mind' usually applies for me. I don't have time to worry about petty things. Once I turn around, I have forgotten it ever happened. My students used to love this about me. I would tell them to see me after class and I would inevitably forget. This is definitely something I have had to work on as a parent. If I want to teach my kids right from wrong, I can't go along forgetting that they misbehaved. Also, when it comes to my husband, I am not very good at leaving things unresolved.

I believe that the relationship between a husband and wife is very special and delicate. You have to have respect and consideration for each other. As well, there has to be communication. With our busy household, my husband and I often reserve much of our one-on-one conversations for the car. Now that the kids are all heading to bed at a reasonable time, we can now talk in the evenings.

I guess tonight will be one of those evenings, or the bad mood will remain. Perhaps I chose to put myself in a bad mood so that I won't forget to discuss the confrontation with him!!! There is a little psychosis for you. Sorry babe.

10/30/09

Exhaustion - Part 3

The baby

In the beginning, the baby was a baby. He ate often, but usually gave me a 3-4 hour stretch at night. With 2 other children to care for, naps never happened unless my wonderful mother was watching the twins and then only when the timing was right. He did the usual late evenings and a little party session somewhere in the middle of the night, but this was to be expected.

When the baby was 4 months old, he slept through the night 3 times, not consecutively. I thought I had the best baby ever. He even slept in his own crib. I had not introduced co-sleeping for fear of loosing more sleep. Then teething began.

At 6 months old, the baby started teething. He got 7 teeth in 3 weeks. He was in pain and wanted to suck all the time. The good little sleeper ended. He started getting about between 3 - 6 times a night to eat. Nothing put him back to sleep except eating. So, the co-sleeping began. I was not going to get up out of bed 6 times a night. At least I could doze while co-sleeping and nursing.

The baby is now 10 months old. He gets up 4-6 times a night to eat. And, yes, he is still co-sleeping. We are in the midst of finishing the nursery. I think he will get to sleep in there when he is no longer a baby, but at least he will have his own room. Lets see if it gets used or not!

10/28/09

Library

I decided it was time to get the twins library cards. Yesterday afternoon, once the baby awoke from his nap, ate, and the twins had peed, we headed off to the library. The twins were quite excited. They like books. We had the talk about how we share books at the library with lots of people, so we have to keep them nice looking and be gentle with them. We were prepared and eager.

The librarian processed all our information as quickly as she could while the twins played with the handicap button on the door and the baby squirmed and squealed (not happily) in the sling. I chose the sling because I new I would need my hands free at some point. The twins were busy and I was trying to keep the baby happy when I heard a little squeak, "Mom?" Twin1 had peed all over the library floor! I apologetically told the librarian that my son had peed on the floor. I mean, really, what could I do? It's not like I was going to run to the bathroom with three kids, get paper towel and start cleaning it up. The librarian was nice about it. Once she was finished processing the info, I packed all of the kids back into the car to head home for new clothes and another pee break. I hadn't thought to bring a change of clothes because they had only just visited the potty. Finally, we were clothed and back in the car. I was determined to check out the library with the kids.

At the library, I showed the twins the kids section. They ran around liked crazed animals looking at the different books and stuffed animals yelling at the top of their lungs, "Horsey - Neeeee; Dog - woof, woof; Birdy - quack, quack; Sharp-tooth (shark) - Grrr...." Yes, I am not kidding. I forgot to have the discussion with the twins about how the library is a quiet place. I finally corralled them into a spot, picked out a book and sat and read it together while the baby checked out the place. The twins each picked out a book, I gave them their library cards, and we checked out our books. No more pee incidents.

Twin1 picked out the 'horsey' book and twin2 picked a 'wolf' book. It was neat to see what they chose for their first books. They nicely looked over their books on the car ride home. Until, of course, they were finished looking at them and the books immediately turned into weapons with which to beat each other. So much for the discussion about being gentle with the books!

10/27/09

Daycare

Urg. Daycare. So, my maternity leave is over and I now have to think about how I am going to supplement that income. If I substitute teach, I only need to work 3 days a month. Big deal, right? Well not right. I told myself it would be no big deal. I talked to a lady that has an in-home daycare. She is great with the other kids and she has experience with twins. We went to her place for a look-see and things are great. They know most of the kids and the daycare provider from 'Strong Start'. Familiarity is not an issue. I don't even think the twins would have an issue with anything. It is all me. I am not ready. I have no idea how other moms do it, the thought of actually having my kids cared for by someone other than family makes me want to cry.

Now, I never even contemplated the baby. I always assumed that the baby would go to my mother's for the day and the twins would go to daycare in order to relieve some of the burden on my mother. I had everything worked out, until the evening after the look-see. Then, I melted. These are my children, mine. I want to keep them in a nice, safe bubble that revolves around the love of their family.

Lets face it though. I have had it great. If I have ever needed to do something like an appointment, or when I went back to work after the twins, my mother was always there for me. I saw what this did to her, though. She was exhausted and deprived of her own freedom. She has already raised her kids and shouldn't be doing it again. Besides, the twins were 14 months old when I went back to work, not 10 months old. Yes, 4 months makes a huge difference at this age. 4 months makes a huge difference at pretty much every stage of development.

So, I bawled all my fears to my ever understanding and compassionate husband and he told me not to worry, he would figure it out. I could head back to work when I was ready. I have now begun the process of weaning the baby. I guess, I will have to wait and see when I am ready. I am going to go through with the daycare. I do need a place where the twins can go for a morning or afternoon if I need to do something. But, the baby is coming with me!

10/26/09

Just Another Day

Ah, fall weekend mornings: a cup of tea, couple sippy's of milk, and cartoons. I love weekend mornings. Especially when they are lazy ones in the fall - it is still dark outside and you can hear the rain dancing (he, he...not on my tongue) on the skylight. No phones ringing, no children screeching...just peace and quiet and the rain.

Moments ago, the twins took it upon themselves to help feed the baby cheerios. A snapped a photo while the baby giggled with glee.



I am off for a little 'me' time today. I am taking a cooking class down the valley with my sister and then I get to do some child free shopping at the fabric store and Costco. I am a little nervous about leaving all three kids with my husband for so long. This will be his first time. I am sure that he will do great, but I am nervous nonetheless.

It's time to refill the freezer with meat once again. This seems to need doing about every 3 months. Costco is the best deal around here. I take a cooler, buy in bulk, then get it home and repackage it in dinner sized portions. The portions seem to be getting bigger and bigger with the growing twins. Twin2 is in feeding frenzy stage at the moment. Another growth spurt is on the way.

At the fabric store, I am picking up some essentials for making curtains in the kitchen. I am finally going to use the fabric that I purchased 3 years ago to recover the $20 sofa we had purchased at a garage sale. My cousin is giving us their couch because they have purchased new ones, so the musty garage sale find is outta here. Ya. Now I have a tonne of fabric and nothing to do with it, so drapes it will become. Finally, I can enter the kitchen and not have to look right at the lady who lives behind us standing in her kitchen window with a cigarette in one hand, beer in the other and the telephone in the crook of her neck. Some days she is on the phone at 7am **** Funny story. My husband was replacing the back fence this summer and this same neighbor called him over to look at it from her deck view. She thought she was helping by telling my husband the fence was really crooked. The fence was not crooked, she was very drunk.... Hence the tall fence being built.****

Well, duty calls.

10/25/09

"Mane Event"

We went to an equestrian show this morning at a near by town. My mom requested that we go in order to get the twins some cowboy outfits. We arrived early because we were up early this morning and we wanted the baby to sleep on the drive. Thank goodness farm people are also early risers. The twins were enthralled the moment we entered the exhibition park. "Horsey! Horsey!," could be heard for miles. We quickly scouted out the best deals and very quickly spent all my mother's money. We walked away with 2 cowboy hats, two horse decalled rain jackets, and three pairs of cowboy boots (Yes, a very cute pair for the baby once he starts walking). Twin1 wore his hat all the way home. We went straight to my mother's house to show off our wares. I think she was pretty pleased with our purchases. She said, "Every kid needs cowboy boots." After putting his cowboy boots on, twin1 has not taken them off. I am afraid he may sleep in them tonight!


After sitting on the potty, he immediately put his boots back on and nothing else!


My tape measure is his lasso.

10/23/09

Grocery Store

A trip to the grocery store is a very well planned and organized event. Yes, event. It takes me the entire day to: 1)build up the energy; 2)organize the kids; 3)decide the best time (between meals, naps, and potty breaks); 4)which transportation device to use when in the store (sling, carrier, stroller, shopping cart).

For the past 4 years, I have delegated most of the shopping duties to my ever helpful husband. He has done a great job. Although he doesn't always look at the prices or the quality, he always comes home with a treat for me.

Now that my husband is working such long days and the twins are heading to bed a mere hour after he arrives home from work, I feel that I can no longer ask him to take time out of that precious hour to pick up groceries. I have started doing a lot of the grocery shopping after bedtime, but sometimes I need to pick up a few items to make dinner extra special. I still haven't figured out how to plan meals for an entire week. I did try it when I was working, but so often the ingredients would not get used because I was too tired to cook or I felt like eating something different when I did. So, often the 'What to eat for dinner?' decision is made around lunch time the day of.

I have decided to make the tasty roasted vegetable dish that my sister introduced me to for dinner tonight. Alas, the recipe requires some ingredients I don't have in the house. Usually I would just forgo the ingredient, but in this case it is needed. And I need some milk. I always need milk.

I figure the best time to head out is after the baby's nap, when he is fed and rested. Also, I need to make sure the twins have eaten, to prevent any meltdowns in the middle of an isle. Oh, and don't forget the potty. I have to make sure the twins have just gone potty or the entire thing is off and we will have to start again another time.

For the mode of transportation, this all depends on how each of them have been acting during the day. I could attempt to put the baby in the carrier on either my back or front, but he doesn't really last all that long in there anymore. If I do that, one of the twins could sit in the chair of the shopping cart, while the other sits in the basket area. Of course, I have to think back to whose turn it is to sit where. I have to enforce sitting in the cart at all times. I have to try to keep them from grabbing everything accessible to them and putting it in the cart. (I have ended up with some fairly unusual items when I unpack everything at home.) Or, I could take the double stroller, strap the baby and one twin into the seats, while the other twin walks or sits on the front. I have not tried this method yet because I am afraid the twin walking will not remain walking and will instead run or that the sitting twin will pitch a huge fit about not being able to get out.

I do try to keep the twins busy while at the store. They pick the vegetables/fruit and put it in the bag. They can pick the cereal/granola bars... There are certain isles that are not quite as entertaining, though.

Once I decide on a mode of transportation, I need to decide whether they will be allowed to pick a treat (ie. candy, ice cream, toy) or not. If I do, I have something to hold over them to make them behave.

Once all the items are picked and we head toward the checkout, I pray that there is no line up. I don't want them all to have meltdowns or start fighting. And I really don't want to have to field all the twin/red hair comments.

Once we are in the car, I can take a deep breathe. I made it and we are all still alive. My back is now very sore and I am in need of some serious caffeine, but we/I survived.

As the time to head to the store drew near, I thought I was prepared and had thought everything through - until the fighting began. The twins are at a stage right now, where they attempt to kill each other at least twice a day. As I was trying to get their shoes on, the fighting began. I picked up the phone, called my mother-in-law, and she wonderfully agreed to watch the twins will I went to the grocery store with the baby. I guess the event will have to wait another day.

10/20/09

A Kitchen Renewed

We had a busy weekend. Finishing the baby's room downstairs has hit a stall while we wait for an electrician to fix some stuff and get a heat source in there. So I took advantage of the repair lull in the house. We painted the kitchen a dark sage green. My husband's aunt, a room designer, came to visit a month ago and made some suggestions for our house: paint colours, furniture placement, finishing touches. As a result, I was inspired and just itching for a chance to get started on her suggestions. My husband hates, despises painting, so he was a bit of a bear to start with. He quickly warmed to the idea once he saw the drastic change between the old dirty ceiling and the new painted one. It was truly disgusting. I have spent the last 2 years in this house trying to get rid of the smoke residue and the only things left are ceilings in various rooms. This winter, I plan to finish the ceilings.

It took five hours and the kitchen was completely painted. It looks great. The twins were wonderful. We let them paint a portion of one of the walls, which they thought was a blast. They are in to painting/drawing circles, so they painted circles around the light switches and plugs. While we finished up, we banished them from the kitchen. I gave them a couple rolls of painters tape and they unravelled them throughout the living room creating a maze of tape. I will have to remember to pick up a few extra rolls the next time I paint.

The baby was not quite so happy with the situation. He has had free rein of the house since he started crawling. Rightly so, he was very put out with not being allowed to play in all the plastic floor cover and green goo. He let us know very loudly that he was unhappy with the situation.

My husband and I made a great team, finishing the kitchen quickly. After, we all headed out for a bike ride/walk, which allows leads to a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's, and off to Rolly's for dinner.

10/17/09

My Life in the Toilet

I was changing the baby into day clothes when I caught a whiff of something unpleasant in the diaper. The twins were play skating on the bedroom laminate floor with their slippery socks after their change. Out loud I said, "(The baby) has a big poop." The twins proceeded to give each other a big hug, jump up and down, and exclaim, "Big poop, big poop," while giggling. I couldn't help put start giggling myself.

As for the great day that I started out with, I think it is going down the drain/toilet. Twin1 started wheezing this morning, so I drugged him up with his puffer. He has now started sneezing and his nose is running. His cheeks are flushed and he feels like he has a mild fever. I sent the whole brood to bed at 1pm for a nap. It is now 4pm and they are all still sleeping. (Ooh. Lightening and thunder just struck outside.) I believe I am going to have a very long night. At least they all went to sleep without much coaxing.

I just wanted to report that the baby is practicing to become a gymnist. If there is a chair rung or box to climb over, or narrow opening to squeeze through, he gives it a try or squeels his anger at the object in his way. Strong willed? I think so.

My New Favorite Words

"My pee come, mom." Progress. Twin2 actually asked to sit on the potty this morning. It may not happen again for a while, but lets hope. He, He. The day is looking great already.

10/16/09

Boys are so NOT Girls

Potty training is going fairly well. They can now pee on demand. Which is great because trips to the potty are now seconds long, as opposed to hours (literally). Twin1 spent the better part of a day on the potty once. Potty's are now in the bathroom, instead of in front of the TV. The twins are now no longer scared of the big toilet - although the toilet at my in-laws still gives me a freight every flush (Wooooosh). We have had several nights of pee free pull ups. We have had several trips out of the house and even some longish car rides with no accidents. So all in all, I am very happy with their progress. It definitely didn't take the week that I thought it would take - more like a month and a half. That being said, we are no where near poop trained.

Today, I ventured out of the house and off to school. I noticed a pee grab at one point from twin2 - the signal that a potty break is needed. There is still no verbal sign given. So, off to the toilet I go. He successfully got himself up on the big potty only to pee all over his pants and the floor. He was pretty good at trying to redirect, but with no success. Aim was just not there today. As the pee kept shooting higher and higher, all I could do was giggle. Boys are so not girls. This would never happen to a girl. I told him not to worry about it because he sat on the potty. I proceeded to clean up the pee that was all over the floor, got a new outfit and off we went. Twin1 thankfully did not have this problem.

10/15/09

Shopping

I went shopping with the little man this morning. Mom watched the twins for me while I redeemed the gift card I had won for losing the most weight during a monthly challenge at Herbal Magic. I went into the store and found a few items that I liked, picked out size 'M' in all only to discover that they were all too big. Wahoo. I really didn't think that I would ever be 'S' again. I also wanted to pick out a dress for my husband's work social this year, but all were too big. A problem that I am quite happy to have. I came home with a few new shirts to add to my ever expanding wardrobe. I now find myself changing clothes several times a day because I have so many. I went from having 3 pairs of pants to about 25. Thank goodness pants haven't changed too much in 5 years. Shirts, on the other hand, are a different story. All of my previous shirts are way out of style.

The baby was wonderful. He played very nicely with the clothes hangers. He did, however, pee through his diaper and on to me. But, at this stage, I am pretty used to being covered with all sorts of body fluids. I rarely even change after this happens. Just par for the course as a mom.

When I picked up the twins, they were flushed with glee. They had a fantastic time with Nan, doing all the crazy and wild things that they do there - hockey (inside and outside), gardening, watering plants, breakfast at Rolly's (with paper planes flying all over the restaurant into other people's food). We got in the door and they were ready to veg, allowing me time to feed the baby lunch and put away purchases that needed putting away before little hands got into it all.

Another great day around here.

10/14/09

Three

I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the age of three. The twins have been three for a few months now and I love it. After a great breakfast this morning where the twins chatted away with us about things only children think of, I said to my husband, "I love this age. I wish I could freeze it."

The twins now play together for extended periods of time. They are developing imaginations to facilitate their play. They can manipulate things to build trains and houses, or put together great puzzles (Thanks Aunty and Uncle). They can go outside and play in the sandbox, building roads and digging holes, loading the dump trucks. They even play with Play Doh for hours or turn cookie dough into dinosaurs and tools.

They have started to play dress-up. They, especially twin1, wear a variety of hats (Thank you Aunt) throughout the day, for days on end, or wear various uniforms pretending to be firemen, police officers, doctors, nurses, or veterinarians.
They can now take direction. Although sometimes they choose to ignore it. I can ask them to shut the door to make sure the baby doesn't escape and they are quick to respond with a "Whew, close!" They can help me put dishes away or bake bread. Twin1 loves to help clean and he is really good at it.

The first three years with twins were extremely trying, but now I feel as though the effort is starting to pay off already. My mom was just telling me the other day about when they were one and a half and would gang up on her and pinch her. Those days seem to be over.

10/12/09

Life

Family dinner went off with out a hitch. Dinner was on the table by 4:30. Everyone brought great food. All was warm. We had laughs. The boys ran around and threw couch cushions like hooligans while playing with their uncles. The baby had a blast playing with all his extended family. And everyone was gone and the house was somewhat cleaned up by 7:30. What a great night. I got to go to bed by 8:30. Thanks everyone. We couldn't have done it without you.

Today was a blast. A beautiful fall day. My husband and Brother in-law took the twins golfing for the last time this year. They had a great time, but only lasted 4 holes because they were too cold. I should have sent them with gloves. I stayed home while the baby napped and drank tea. Me time, yah. Then we headed over to my parent's house for a wiener roast and smores. The twins really enjoyed cooking their own hot dogs and marshmallows. They cooked some with no intention of even eating them. Allowing them to hold the cooking sticks was a little scary, though. The baby had a blast crawling around outside trying to eat the plants and crawl into the fire.

Next, we headed home for the baby's nap. My husband planted some new trees that my mom gave us to give the back yard a little shade for next year. She gave us a Silver Maple that is already huge and an apple tree. Thanks mom and dad. While my husband dug holes, I attempted to clean up some of the garden for the fall.

When Andre awoke we headed over to my Aunts neighborhood to check out a tree that we were thinking of purchasing for more shade - an Empress Tree. It looks beautiful, has huge leaves, tulip flowers and is very fast growing. On the way back to our house, we decided to check out the salmon run. There were lots of salmon. Twin2 felt quite bad for the fish that were already dead. He kept saying, "Too bad. Fish broke. Too bad." Twin1 was not as concerned. We stayed there for 50 minutes. We headed home for dinner, a movie, and then put all the kids to bed.

What a great day. Oh, and no pee accidents!

10/10/09

Preparation for Family Dinner

My husband suggested we have a family dinner because the Turkey's were fresh. He intended to invite his parents and grandma and I to invite mine. We talked about this the weekend before on our drive down the valley to do some shopping. I don't know what hit me, but I immediately got on my cell phone and began phoning all my family in the immediate vicinity. Initially we began by telling people to come over for Turkey dinner and No we didn't need them to bring anything. In the matter of 15 minutes, much to my husbands belief or disbelief, I had invited 18 people - including our family. When my husband had done the final head count, we began thinking about the actuality of cooking for that many people, catering to a gluten free allergy, still caring for our 3 children, and the probability of exhaustion before anyone had even arrived.

The following day, while roasting pumpkin seeds, my husband and I brainstormed different dishes each family could bring to relieve some of the dinner stress and what we needed to get done around the house. Meanwhile, my husband looks over my shoulder and the pumpkin seeds are on fire. My husband tells me to do something about it. I opened the door and the flames rushed out the top. I quickly shut the door, looked at my husband and said, "I don't know what to do." He got up and took a look, while I ran downstairs for the fire extinguisher. As I ran down the stairs, I thought to myself, "I can finally get a new stove!." My husband, though, managed to put the fire out with baking soda before I had even found the extinguisher. The seeds were scorched, the oven was a mess, the house stunk, and twin2 was bug eyed with fright. We put the scorched baking sheet out on the lawn, opened all the doors and windows, sat back down at the table and finished planning. Over the next few days, we phone each of the families and they all agreed to bring a dish. Ya family.

Now with the organization complete, the cleaning begins. There is a definite bonus to inviting people over. All those little things that you have been putting off cleaning or getting done get finished. I don't think I had dusted in about a year, no wait - nesting, I dusted just before the baby was born. We had made a list, which now included the stove. Let the cleaning begin.

Before dusting could be done, I had to find the surfaces to dust. I have no idea where it all comes from, but I have crap. Piles of it. Little things that get brought in the house or get used and quickly put out of reach from little hands and either don't have a home or never get put away. I don't even have crap like some people have crap. I don't buy cheap dollar store/liquidation stuff and I don't collect anything (besides teapots). I don't even have a problem throwing things away. However, the crap continues to build up. So I started there. I pitched things, reorganized, found new homes, and put things away in every room of the house. Then the dusting could be done. Next, the windows. I thought that I could get away with doing this a few days ahead - Nope. The following day, I walked in to the living room to see twin2 helping me clean by washing the front window with a wet wipe. What a sweet little man. Needless to say, cleaning windows was re added to the list of chores.

The day before the dinner, my mother took the twins for the morning and allowed me to get the bathrooms cleaned and the floors/couches vacuumed. I still had the baby who was no help what so ever. He followed me into every room and ripped it apart behind me. He is in that curious stage and is mobile enough that he can now turn a room from clean to disaster in minutes. After the vacuuming was finished, I decided to give up on cleaning and finish everything else the morning of the dinner. As it was, the twins decided to play in the sand box that evening and traipsed sand throughout the entire house. Ya, I get to re vacuum everything too.

10/9/09

Exhaustion - Part 2



The Twins cont'd
The twins were not good sleepers. For their first year, they were each up about 4 times a night. I never did manage to sleep through my Husband's feeding turn. Which meant I was up 8 times a night the entire first year. In their second year, we were up once or twice a night for each twin. I can count on one hand how many times they did sleep through the night.

Prior to my returning to work part-time, when they were 14 months old, we tried to sleep train. We had several nights of crying it out. Which really means that they cry so hard they never get to sleep and the lack of sleep eventually turns into a full blown cold. And a cold for us meant the possibility of a viral induced asthma attack, a trip to the hospital, ride in an ambulance and a few days of disgusting hospital food, no sleep, and a dent in the credit card. Needless to say, this method did not go over well with us. So we tried watering down their bottles - Nope. Putting water in their bottles - Nope. Using sippy cups, instead of bottles - Nope. It was easier for us to get up and get them a bottle a couple times a night, than to get no sleep.

At 18 months, both twins started climbing out of their cribs. We put a child lock on the inside of the door handle so they couldn't get out. This was the end of nap time for a few days as they discovered all the great things they could get into in the bedroom. Dresser drawers were emptied, closets were ransacked, and pictures were knocked off walls. Eventually, the closet doors were toddler proofed, top and bottom, and every piece of furniture removed except their beds. We installed a high shelf so that we could still have a fan and air purifier in their room. On that shelf, I stored some of the creams they needed for eczema, butt paste... One of these afternoons when they were supposed to be napping and I was ignoring the noises because I needed an afternoon break, they discovered they could throw their socks at the lotion on the shelf and knock it down. I opened the door after an hour to discover two completely white children covered in butt paste, every rung on their crib, the carpet, everything was covered.







Soon, we transitioned to a toddler bed because we were afraid they would figure out how to get out their window. They did manage to open it on several occasions, but did not get the screen removed. Once in toddler beds, the evening bed time got pushed back farther and farther. We started sleeping in their beds to get them to sleep at a reasonable time, which often resulted in my husband falling asleep too. We thought we would slowly move out of their beds, closer to the door, so that they would fall asleep on their own - Nope. We tried just leaving and letting them scream - Nope. This resulted in endless screaming, lack of sleep, colds, viral induced asthma, hospital stays.... Soon we just put a twin mattress on the floor of their room and my husband slept their, or one of the twins would be brought into our bed to sleep. At some point, with my mother's help we weaned night time bottles and allowed only water. At least we no longer had to go get bottles in the middle of the night.

Somehow in the middle of all of this and with neither my husband or I sleeping together in the same bed together, we managed to conceive another child. With the birth of our third boy, my husband was now the one to take care of the twin's sleep, or lack of it. He pretty much slept on the twin mattress in their room for 6 months. With the arrival of summer, we decided to move our bedrooms downstairs to keep cool and have quieter sleeps. Now at 3 years old, one twin would sleep through the night about twice a week, but never on the same night. So, my husband continued to sleep in their room on a mattress on the floor. He wasn't too upset about this because at this time, our new baby began to never sleep. The twins were still having an afternoon nap each day, which meant they didn't go to bed at night until 9:30pm. I really didn't want the naps to end because I needed that time in the middle of the day to rest. One day, half way through August, my husband asked the twins if they would like their milk in a cup or bottle - yes, there were still drinking from bottles - they said, "Cup." We gave them their milk in a cup and quickly removed all bottles from the house that instant. They asked for a bottle a few times, but they were gone, so their was little protest. That day, they stopped napping in the middle of the day and bed time moved to 7pm. My husband still continued to put them to sleep at night by lying on the mattress in the room. My husband then had to work late a few nights, resulting in my having to put them to sleep. I was not able to lie with them because the baby was still awake, so they put themselves to sleep. A few nights later, we removed the mattress for good

At 3 years and 3 months, they regularly sleep through the night. Who new. No sleep training at all. Sometimes, they just know when they are ready. I wish potty training was that easy, but perhaps that is the problem - training. Maybe I should just let them do it on their own........

10/8/09

Exhaustion

I always thought I was tired and so busy before I had kids. Little did I know. I have not slept through the night in 4 years. I am not even sure that I could if I was given the opportunity. Thankfully, my parents have taken the twins overnight and given us that chance. Now that I am nursing, however, I can't ask my husband or my parents to take a night. It's all up to me. There are certainly aspects of nursing that I enjoy. Mainly the convenience of whipping out a boob any where that I am when the little man gets cranky. I don't have to find somewhere to warm a bottle, or bother with keeping it cold while out and about. But that is all for another time.

Sleep - yes, as a parent, sleep is a luxury. And don't tell me about how your child slept through the night at 3 weeks, or 5 days old. People who have kids who don't sleep do not want to hear stories about how other children slept through the night. I really don't want to hear it. What I want to hear is that I am not alone. I want to hear that you child was up multiple times a night until he was 4. That's what I want to hear.

The Twins
I don't care what parents of other twins say about the glorious days of having two babies simultaneously. It just isn't true. Sure there were definitely moments, although I can't remember them now because my brain has been fried from ammonia fumes from all the diapers, but mostly twin babies are plain work. The joy of parenting doesn't really begin for about 18 months to 2 years. Then the fun begins. Endless cleaning and guilt. Guilt that I am not able to hold both babies when they are crying. I remember one day that I sat and bawled, while my twins screamed at me. I was trying to feed both babies at the same time, but one kept falling off the pillow. Then when I got him on, the other would fall off the other side. Ahh. It sounds funny now, but the memory of it still makes me want to pull my hair out.

I haven't even mentioned the sleep. And my time is now up - the baby is now awake and the twins are starting to roam. I guess there will be a part 2 of this blog.

10/7/09

Words

I love all of the new words that the twins are learning.

Twin2's favorite phrase right now is, "Later, mom." And he doesn't just say it, he says it with attitude, "Laater, muum." Like he is trying to tell me to leave him alone and give him some space. Another one from Twin2 is, "OOkaaay, Mum." I have no idea where they pick these things up. I don't talk to them like that. And the few TV shows they watch don't have characters that talk like that. I have no idea. A new one that I heard today from twin2 is, "Yup." Not, yes or yah, but, "Yup." To the opposite of that, he has also added, "Nope," into his repertoire.

Twin1 isn't quite as quick to pick up on new words, or slang. But one that I hope I never forget is that he now calls me, "Mumma." I love it. It sounds so old fashioned, but so genuine.

Both the boys say I love you the same way, "La, La."

If you ask twin2 his name, he replies with, "me." Although, my sister says that he clearly told her his name on the phone the other day when she asked who she was talking to. Twin2 has also added a new pronoun into the mix - us. He asked twin1 and dad to wait for him and I, "Wait us." I love it. The 2 or 3 word sentences.

As with many twins, however, the sign language that they develped at such an early age has not disappeared. They still manage to communicate the most complicated plans with just a few gestures. They were trying to teach their cousin to throw a ball the other day with just gestures and the cousin didn't get it. Their gesture language is all their own.

I wish I had a recorder to capture all of these great first, and sometimes I wish last - especially the attitude, bits of verbiage.

10/6/09

Handy Man

I had a great weekend. The handy man arrived and started working on a few things around the house. I love this guy. He'll do anything I ask him to do. And if he doesn't know how, he tries it anyway. It may take him a few attempts, though.

He helped paint and grip the front and back steps. He finished ripping out the plywood from the soon to be baby's room. And he even began framing the walls. All of this while letting the twins help out with small projects like hammering or washing the stairs.

He even helped me put out the fire in my stove when I attempted to roast pumpkin seeds.

What a great guy - plumbers crack and all.

10/3/09

Toddler Hair Cutting Tip

I refuse to spend $10-20 on haircuts for the twins, so I decided I would give it a try. I've watched my hair get cut 1000's of times. Should be easy.

It took a couple of tries, but I now think that I have an okay technique down. I get things pretty even. My boys do have wavy hair, though, so I have a little forgiveness.

The trouble, however, lies in getting the child to sit still for long enough to get the cut done. The first few times, the cut ended up spanning over a few days. I tried putting them in a chair with a favorite toy. I tried a favorite treat - which they do not get very often at all. I have now discovered an even easier way that invovles no bribery. Place the child on the potty, in front of the TV, with some milk. This works wonders. I managed to get some pretty good cuts out of the twins using this method.

So, I decided to try this out on my nephew who I watch on Tuesdays. He was suffering from a very uneven cut. He truly hates to get his hair cut and like the twins, the last time he had his hair cut it took a few attempts, people, and bribes. Also, I wanted to see how my hair cutting techniques faired on straight hair.

I sat him down on the potty (he is not potty training yet, but has shown some interest since his cousins are training), put on a new movie, gave him some milk and went at it. He didn't last as long as the twins, but I did manage to get things evened out. I didn't account for a slight cowlick in the front, but all in all an okay job I thought.

Now, what am I going to do when they refuse to sit on the potty in front of the TV?

10/2/09

Parenting or Cultural Differences?

Go Go go. I have been moving at hyper speed this morning. I feel jittery and shaky with all the go go go. But, Ah, the afternoon calm has arrived. I get at least an hour of down time.

This morning I witnessed something that I found interesting. I have been taking my kids to Strong Start, this great parent supervised, preschool like program at the elementary school. And through this program have had a chance to witness other parenting techniques. This morning I witnessed one that made me wonder.

I had suggested to one of the twins to get a puzzle out for us to put together because the toys we were playing with had attracted so many other kids that I decided the enforcement of turn taking was now some other parents job. As we got the puzzle ready, I smelled a poop and took twin1 to the bathroom to clean him up. While we were in the washroom, another mother came along and started working on the puzzle herself. Her 2ish son was with her, but she very obviously wanted to complete this puzzle herself and kept telling her child to wait, or would take the pieces out of his hands and try them herself. I observed this and since it was a puzzle that we had initiated, I grabbed some pieces that would fit together and gave them to the twins to put together. They very quickly put them together and were ready to move on to other sections. As they picked up a piece and attempted to put it in place, the other mother tried to grab the piece from them and put it in herself. Meanwhile her own son was still hanging around attempting to help with the puzzle. The other mother quickly got frustrated with the puzzle after watching the success the boys were having and backed off. The twins now had full access to the puzzle. They began to put the rest of the puzzle together with a little guidance from me saying things like, "There is yellow. Do you see some other pieces with yellow?"' The other mother over heard this, realized that this was another way to complete the puzzle and rushed over to grab up all the yellow pieces and start putting this in to place. As the twins put the final pieces into place because I had swiped them and was now handing them to the twins, the other mother's son picked up one of the already together pieces and put it back in looking for some encouragement from me. Which I gladly gave. Now I well tell you that this other mother was of a different ethnicity and seemed to be new to Hope, or perhaps Canada. So I was wondering, did I just witness another way of parenting that I was not used to seeing, or was this a mother who was trying to learn somethings herself, or a culturally different way of spending time with your children?

I had a great morning with the twins: playing hockey, reading books, doing puzzles....It was really nice to be there interacting with them. My mom very kindly watched the baby while he napped.