Alex (left) & Dom: Hmmmm.... How does this work?
The last few nights, Dom has started waiting until I am just getting into bed (How does he know?), and then he wakes up to fuss briefly. I pat his back gently, and he falls back to sleep. Then, he wakes again every 10-20 minutes for an hour to an hour and a half. (Big yawn!) Fortunately, since we’ve been working on transitioning the boys’ bed and wake-up times, the Twin-Daddy has been able to let me nap for 30-45 minutes most mornings. This morning he tucked me right back in bed after nursing the boys. I woke to nurse them again a couple hours later and went right back to sleep. I was exhausted this morning, so the extra sleep was much appreciated.
Dom and Alex Exploring the Playzone on March 4th:
After the boys and I napped, we played for awhile and then headed out to a sale of gently-used baby items. We bought a few things – some clothing, blocks, and hats for Dom and Alex. The boys also got to look around a bit. On the way home we stopped at the local library’s book sale, and we picked up 10 board books for the boys for $2! When we got home, we nursed Dom and Alex and got them down for a second nap. Afterward, we headed to CostCo to stock up on various supplies, and then they had bananas for dinner before bed. The boys had a busy day! The weather was gorgeous, and we really enjoyed walking outside with the sun shining.
The best moments of the day?
Lying on the floor in the Playzone and playing with our boys – lifting them in the air, letting them crawl all over us and grab our noses, listening to them babble and laugh, and watching them smile. We also got to see Alex pull himself up using a Playzone wall and then walk sideways along the wall while holding on! And at night, after reading “Goodnight, Moon” and each of us singing a song to the boys, we took them in our arms to snuggle them and sing the chorus to “Goodnight, Sweetheart(s)” as we always do. Dom and Alex seem to particularly enjoy their last song while we sway with them and give them kisses. They often give us hugs and kisses and lean toward the other parent for extra loving.
It’s been too long since I put a post up, and the boys have continued to learn and explore their world. Let’s start with a little joy:
Now the update:
A Twin-Daddy Weekend
Dom (left) & Alex with Dad in the early morning
Playzone Joy
Dom and Alex like playing in the Playzone and with the toys on some of its panels. It didn’t come a day to soon as Alex had started trying to explore ever more territory. It’s been a great relief to us when watching them because you don’t have to worry quite so much. I still spend a good bit of the time in the Playzone with them, though sometimes I’ll be sitting just outside it where I can keep an eye on them. They have been enjoying exploring the area, and we trade out the toys to keep them entertained. Dom and Alex have started using the walls to pull themselves up to stand too!
Alex loves to stand and play.
Dom is having fun.
Mommy Time
Dom and Alex love their books!
Little Triumphs
A happy Dom!
- March 7: Dom stood up (from sitting on our lap) and took a step on his own – though still a bit wobbly and experimenting with standing overall.
- This Past Week: Alex continues to practice standing every time he goes down for a nap and while playing, and he’s becoming ever more stable. He’s started balancing himself with just one hand.
- March 9: Dom used the Playzone walls to pull himself up to stand for the first time! (I tried to get a photo of him standing there, but he fell right as the camera came online.)
- March 9: Alex achieved very short bursts of crawling combined with some scooting and wiggling to propel himself forward and reach the object of his desire – the Great Dane stuffies. He later repeated his feat of forward movement to reach a Winnie the Pooh book, but he used his more traditional sit-and-sprawl technique most of the way. Still, he’s now able to set a goal and reach it – as long as he’s motivated enough.
A happy Alex!
Play Date
Tuesday night we headed off to visit our friends Laura and Andrew and their 5-month-old boy Teddie. Even though it was past the twins’ bedtime, they had a good time playing with Teddie. When the boys went to sleep, we ate a yummy dinner followed by some delicious cookies and muffins while we grown-ups played. Fun for all!
Dom: Happy! Happy!
Alex: Joy! Joy!
My boys are two little rays of sunshine making everything warmer and brighter – even on a day like yesterday when they can’t take a decent nap and they get a little more tired and fussy with every passing hour. (I’m pretty sure they are starting to teethe again. I can’t feel the teeth yet, but they nursed, chewed on toys, and drooled a lot more than normal.)
Yesterday marked the threshold between another year of my life completed and a new one beginning – the anniversary of my mom bringing me into the world and a tribute to the many years of love, worry and support of my parents through the years. Thanks, Mom and Dad!
I enjoyed my birthday spent with Dom and Alex, and with Puck working from home in our office, we had extra time with him before 8, at lunch and after work. The highlights of my day were playing with my boys in the morning and taking them to the park.
Here are some photos from our trip to the park and of the boys’ new playzone! Dom is wearing the brown overalls and Alex the blue ones. (Click on the photo to see the full photo and the back button on your browser to return to the page.)
Sleep Update: Well, the boys really out-did themselves last night. Mom got a grand total of 3 hours of sleep – hour and a half bookends to a very long night. In between, the boys let me just drift off before their baby radar kicked in and one or the other woke me up. Teething? Whatever this is, I hope it is short-lived. When this is over, I’m most likely going to have to sleep train them again to sleep through the night.
Playzone Update: It is a hit this morning. Dom and Alex seem to like the bright colors. Dom immediately made his way over to their house to play while Alex checked out the new wall of toys that is part of the playzone.
Alex (left) & Dom: Mom! He's over the line! Tell him he's over the line!
One Sick Little Boy
A few hours after dinner Monday night Dominic woke up vomiting, and the Twin-Daddy rescued him from his crib. It took around half an hour for the poor little fella to finish ridding himself of all of his prunes, avocado and milk. The Twin-Daddy and I took turns holding and cleaning up Dom and reading up on vomiting on the Internet. After his stomach finally settled, Dom fell asleep in my arms. It reminded me of the many nights during those first few months when Grandma Myrtle and I each slept propped up with a little congested boy on our chests to help them breathe.
It’s heartbreaking to have a sick little boy who doesn’t understand why food is coming out instead of going in and why it hurts. As new parents you fret about what you might have done to cause it or can do to help him feel better. You wish you could just hold him in your arms and take it away.
Dom nursed a few hours later without any problems, and in the middle of the night when he couldn’t quite get comfortable (flip, flop, scooch, flop), I put him in his crib where he settled right back to sleep. I made a quick bed out of couch cushions and finished the night sleeping in the nursery. Fortunately, Dom seemed fine yesterday.
Time to Play
Alex (left) & Dom: We didn't do it! Wait! What was the question?
Both Dom and Alex were ready to play yesterday, and they did not want to nap! Neither of them napped longer than an hour, and their third nap was very short. Still, considering how tired they must have been (especially Dom), they stayed in a good mood and spent much of the day roaming around the living room together and separately to play with their toys.
In the afternoon, we dropped off our rent, and the boys enjoyed going in and smiling at everyone. Dom was feeling particularly flirty. Since we were nearby, we went to Costco afterward, walked around a bit and bought a few things. The boys had a good time smiling at people who stopped to ask questions and laughing at each other.
Alex is kneeling more and more often and pulls himself up to stand regularly in his crib. Dom is starting to kneel too, but he doesn’t pull himself up to stand except by holding onto our hands. Both of them are scooching, wiggling, rolling and almost crawling to get around. They are also becoming ever more curious about their surroundings and learning to use their toys in new ways. It’s like a whole new light has suddenly switched on for them, and they see all sorts of new potential for mischief and fun in the world around them.
Spring Forward…
This year Puck and I have decided to crawl forward instead of springing. Last night we started moving the boys’ bedtime and wake-up times up by 10 minutes, and we’ll adjust them another 10 minutes every 2 days to ease Dom and Alex into the coming time change. Their nap schedule is adjusting with it as well.
Fussy Little Monkeys
We have two fussy little monkeys this morning – wanting to nurse every hour or more, drooling a good bit, and chewing on anything they can get their hands on. Could it be the start of new teeth coming in? The rainy, windy, gray weather? That 10-minute time shift? Not eating solid food yesterday? One of the mysteries of parenthood. Here’s hoping that today’s naps go better than yesterday’s – for their sake and mine!
Alex and Mom playing this morning:
Dom and the great big box: