Baby Jail and the Great, Wide Sea

Baby Jail

Yesterday, the Twin-Daddy lowered Dom’s mattress. Afterward, we let the boys explore the new crib jail together for a bit. Ah, the treachery of parenthood – always placing new obstacles between our children and complete freedom to climb to new heights, experiment with gravity and set out on expeditions to lands where no child has gone alone before. Their dire situation is just barely made bearable by all the milk they can drink, various cloth and plastic distractions in bright colors, jailers who come when they call, and a buddy to commiserate with.

Dom (left) & Alex: You can take away our jammies, but you'll never take our freedom!!

The Great, Wide Sea

Our little jailbirds had another new experience yesterday. They got to take a bath together in the big tub. Dom got to use the bath seat since he doesn’t sit up quite as well as Alex, and Mommy helped Alex stay sitting. Dom almost immediately felt safe in the bath seat and proceeded to play with the various toy animals, but Alex clung to me for a bit. I wrapped my arms around him to make him feel secure, and then he also started to explore and play a bit. He thought the pitcher I use to pour water on them was more interesting than the toys. Dom and Alex seemed to enjoy having a bath together, and they chatted a bit.

Dom & Alex: No one will notice when I reach over and tickle his stomach with my foot if I look the other way.

This and That

Food: Last night, Alex ate carrots (with no new chair and face art projects) and Dom prunes. We’re still waiting for the poo imp to fully work his magic on Dom (out-of-diaper experiences here we come), and Dom has refused to eat carrots twice now.

Toys: Alex started pressing the big, shiny, red button on the toy the Twin-Daddy calls the Hive, and Dom continues to shake his rattle and experiment with banging toys on the floor, himself, other toys and occasionally his brother.

Cribs and Sleeping: It looks like Alex is starting to think crib time might be a good time to work on standing up, and lately Dom has been the better sleeper. (Alex woke up repeatedly between 5 and 6:30 this morning, and he hasn’t been napping quite as well.) In fact, he just woke up after less than an hour from his morning nap, and I’ve been encouraging him to go back to sleep.

A New Old Post

In early August I started a blog about the night our sons were born, but I didn’t finish it until now. I decided to go ahead and date it as August 5, 2010 – the day I first created the post, so here is a link to the story: Through the Birthing Glass.

Warning: It is the story of a birth, well, two births actually. Don’t expect it all to be neat, clean and shiny.

Recent Videos

We’ve taken a good bit of video, but little of it has been posted to YouTube of late because it takes awhile to convert the files from our video camera. However, videos from my little digital camera and now from my iPhone are much more YouTube-friendly. You can see all the videos we’ve posted on Puck’s YouTube Account, and you can also subscribe to it and receive e-mails when we upload new videos.

Here are some I posted last night:

February 12, 2011
Dominic and Alexander play together
Alex is in green in front and Dom in blue in back

February 18, 2011
The Twin-Daddy plays with his sons
Dom starts on the left and Alex on the right

Alexander practices sitting

Dominic and Mom play with a book

February 22, 2011
Dominic and Alexander enjoy each other’s company (and Elmo)
Alex is on the left and Dom on the right

Alexander has been working on a new skill today, and after watching him practice, Dominic decided to try his hand at it as well.

It wasn’t long ago that the Twin-Daddy discovered Alex standing in his crib and leaning over the rail toward his brother. We lowered his mattress and since then we have found him several times kneeling and holding onto the side of his crib. Well, during their first nap today, Dom decided to join the ranks of adventurous crib climbers. The Twin-Daddy discovered him also testing the advantages of using the crib rail to pull himself up.

Other Tidbits

• While Mommy napped this morning, the Twin-Daddy saw Alex reach out and offer a toy to his brother.
• We put the boys to bed last night at 7 PM, but they had a difficult time going to sleep. That’s what we get for disrupting their schedule and putting them to bed late 3 days in a row!
• Both Dom and Alex continue to sleep through the night (Alex woke up once last night but only briefly), and they are becoming much more consistent about take 1.5-2 hour naps (though there are still times that isn’t true).
• I tried giving our boys water from a glass again yesterday and that seemed to go fairly well. They both seemed to enjoy the idea of it.
• Our little guys are a little more mobile every day. Alex particularly seems on the verge of all-out crawling and is becoming skilled at finding ways to move toward objects he wants. Dom isn’t far behind, but he tends to become frustrated faster.

Alex (standing!): I don't want to sleep! (Photo taken just minutes ago.)

The Poo Fairy

Hmmm…perhaps “fairy” isn’t the right word, “the poo imp” might be better. It sounds more mischievous. Alex has had several non-solid poos this morning – including two out-of-diaper experiences. Go, Alex! The Poo Imp has not been as generous with Dom yet, but Dom is also on the road to gooey poo.

This morning after the Twin-Daddy headed off in the cold and rain for work (poor Twin-Daddy!), we called Grandma and Papa on Skype so they could watch the boys play. Alex and Dom were fascinated by the laptop on the floor, and they sat pretty still for quite awhile to watch and listen to Grandma and Papa. Eventually, they did start moving around and playing more, and at one point they ended up back-to-back. I know. It looks like I posed them, but I didn’t.

Alex: Is it time for my nap?

Crib Exercises

Since Alex first learned to sit, he’s seen nap times as a chance to squeeze in extra practice moving and sitting. Of late, he’s added trying to pull himself up using the crib rails. I thought I’d catch him in the act today! Dom generally doesn’t play in his crib as long as his brother, but he has started taking a little extra time to do his own crib exercises.

Dom: Hey! Aren't you supposed to be in the other room?

Dom: Aaah! I'm blinded by the flash!

Alex: Freedom will be mine one day! Oh, yes, it will be mine!

Poo Update: Both boys look like they are on the road to gooey poo and happy bellies!