Carrot Face Paint

Today has been another eventful day in our twindom. Dom and Alex both slept through the night (Go, boys!), with Dom waking just a bit before 6:30 and cooing happily in his crib. Dom had a trick up his sleeve this morning. He managed to sit up on his own for the first time! He wasn’t very impressed with his new feat until his dad started cheering for him. Then, he decided that it must be so cool he just couldn’t contain himself and fell over. He practiced sitting up on and off all day today, though he’s still using one hand to balance him in the sitting position.

Dom: Hey! Dad is clapping, cheering and saying my name. I must have done something really cool!

Alex and Dom spent the morning playing on the living room floor (padded with a sleeping bag and comforter to cushion their little noggins when they topple over while sitting), and they surprised us with how well they could teleport from one spot to another when we weren’t looking. In fact, Alex made a break for Mommy using his combined sitting and sprawling skills to cross the floor. Dom saw his brother’s progress and attempted a few push-ups, but when these got him no closer to Mom, he tried another tactic – crying in frustration. With a little balancing help, he then walked to Mom and got to be showered in hugs and kisses along with his brother.

Baby Radar

The boys have definitely taken more notice of their Momma lately. They track where she is, and if they’re hungry and she leaves the room, they let people know that they are not pleased. On the other hand, when she walks into the room, they often give her their sweet grins. They also get huge smiles and kick excitedly whenever their daddy comes home.

Hard Stools

We did have one somewhat unpleasant surprise this morning. Both Alex and Dom pooped, but instead of their normal diaper-filling goo, they had little clumps of poo. Even knowing what they would probably say, we called the pediatrician’s office. We’ve been giving the boys sippy cups of water after their solid food meals, but they’ve been more interested in chewing on the soft sippy part than drinking the water. In an effort to get them to drink more, we resorted to putting water in baby bottles. They drank a bit more, but they were definitely not enthusiastic. I also did some reading online and found that rice cereal can cause constipation in many babies. Sigh. Perhaps that wouldn’t be a good first food to recommend.

Carrots

Today the boys got to try carrots, and it was quite the adventure! Since regular carrots can be high in nitrates, I bought jars of organic baby food for our tots instead of trying to puree carrots myself. (Baby food companies have to test for nitrates.) The carrot goo was runnier than what the boys have been used to this week, and it made for a much more colorful eating experience. Mom and Papa had to be especially vigilant and dexterous to catch any ejected streams of liquid and to avoid the helping hands of our little diners as the spoons approached their destinations with a full load.

Dom (first bite): That is most definitely not sweet potato.

Alex soon tired of eating the carrots, and he avoided Mom’s gaze to look at his brother and out the glass doors. Next, he decided that rubbing his face on his back rest was the cool thing to do, and he tested to see if perhaps the cushion was a more appetizing solid food than carrots. Dom, on the other hand, continued to eat with gusto, and he happily ate his brother’s leftovers.*

The full carrot face paint:

Dom: More carrots!

Alex: I ate carrots, and I have the scars to prove it.

Dom: Women love me! Carrots fear me!

Depending on how the boys are doing, the next food we introduce might be prunes. For some reason, I’m pretty sure at least Dom will like them.

*Some carrots were injured in the making of this blog post.

Goodnight

Now, it’s almost time for Mom to pump and get herself to bed to prepare for another day. While most of you won’t read this until the morning, darkness fell long ago here, and all the men in the house (the young and not quite so young) are tucked away in their beds. It was lovely to see the sun again today and feel its rays energizing my spirits. Even though I didn’t get a morning nap with my boys like usual, I had a surprisingly high amount of energy today. Let’s hope tomorrow is just as grand. There’s a chance – weather and wills permitting – that we’ll have a whole new adventure to report after tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

Your Toy, My Toy

The boys have started vying for the same toys. It is most often Alex who looks longingly over at his brother’s toys and then tries to steal them. In fact, you can sometimes create a loop by giving Dom the toy Alex discards to steal a new one from Dom. Suddenly, Alex wants that toy. It is new and shiny and must be better since his brother has it. Sometimes, the tides are turned, and it is Dom stealing from Alex. So far, they haven’t truly clashed over a toy, as the one being stolen from doesn’t really seem to mind.

Who will win this contest of wills for the crinkly book?

Sitting

Alex continues to love sitting up on his own. He practices all the time – especially when he’s on the floor playing and when he’s put down for a nap in his crib or wakes up from one. He can go from his belly or back to sitting in the blink of an eye unless some pesky obstacle (like a toy or boppy) comes between his behind and the floor.

Dom has not yet mastered sitting up on his own. He does like to practice getting on all fours with his feet under him, and sometimes he looks like he might either sit or take off crawling. We’re still waiting to see where he goes with it. However, he doesn’t expend as much energy keeping himself in a sitting position, and when he accidentally topples, he is quick to get upset and cry for someone to help him sit again.

Dom: Mom! I fell!

Eating

The boys ate A LOT of sweet potato tonight. I made more than I thought they would eat, but I was wrong. While both boys cleaned their bowls, Dominic continues to dominate in the field of eating. He takes his eating much more seriously right now. It is the rare bite of food that escapes back out of his lips with the help of an errant tongue, and you have to keep an eye on him because he’ll eagerly open his mouth for more food before he’s even swallowed all of the previous spoonful.

Alex: A sweet potato face mask is good for the pores.

Alex continues to take each spoonful of food in stages – a little in, a lot out, a little more in, etc. He was making it especially hard on Papa to feed him sweet potato last night by quickly moving his head back and forth while being fed. Usually, he would take a bite and then look over at his brother while he squished the avocado right back out.

A New Trick

When Papa and I put the boys to bed tonight, Alex started shaking his head from side to side (like he was saying “no”) while he waved his arms and smiled. He got a really big kick out of it and did it multiple times. What a cutie!

Alex: I think I could get the hang of this!

Sleeping

Tuesday night, Alex slept through the night, and Dom only woke up once – when he had a big poopy diaper. I cleaned him up, nursed him (yeah, shame on me), and got him right back to bed. Wednesday night, both Alex and Dom slept through the night. WooHoo! Yesterday, Alex took a 3 hour nap for his second nap (and didn’t need a third one) while Dom took three hour-long naps.

Last night (Thursday), I stayed up to work and pump after their 10 PM sleep-nursing. Unfortunately, Dom woke up at 1:40 quite upset. He woke his brother who immediately sat up in his crib. With a little encouragement, Alex resettled and went back to sleep, but Dom had a difficult time completely falling back to sleep.

Papa

The boys sure love to watch and play with their Papa, and he was teaching both of them to slap his hand with theirs (low high-fives) yesterday. I love to watch them as they gaze at him adoringly. Tonight, while sitting on Papa’s lap and watching some Sesame Street songs, Dom even started dancing a wee bit and singing (vocalizing) along. He’s been quite the chatterer of late. Alex has also been “talking” more.

Dom and Papa practice their low-fives!

Next Food?

I’m still trying to decide what food to feed the boys next, and I’d like to buy some of the spinach and carrot baby food in bulk (I’ve read it’s better to buy those instead of making them because they test for the nitrate levels in the baby food). Anyone know a good place? Sam’s? Online?

• They have a limited vocabulary.
• They’ll go to the bathroom anywhere.
• They love their chew toys.
• You can’t leave them in a room by themselves without worrying what they’ll get into.
• They’ll gnaw on anything you put in their mouths.
• When everything goes quiet, you have to check what they’re up to.
• You can’t let them go wandering off on their own.
• Strangers will stop to love on them and ask you questions.
• They like to go on walks and other outings.
• They are sweet and cuddly.
• They fill your lives with joy and love.

In what other ways are babies like puppies?

Last night, I went to bed by 11 PM and fell asleep by 11:30. I fully expected one boy or the other to awaken me sometime in the wee hours, so imagine my surprise when both Dom and Alex slept ’til morning. They woke up a little before 6:30 AM and started moving and making noise. Wonderful! The only problem with the boys sleeping through the night is that they wake up ravenous, and typically the one who has to wait on his brother to nurse is not a happy little boy. Fortunately, when Papa or the Twin-Daddy are here to help, they can whisk the hungry boy away and entertain him until it is his turn.

Mom, you're taking photos again?

The boys followed their full night of sleep by happily playing for a couple hours, and they even got to see their dad a little on the computer when he was at the airport. We stayed indoors as the weather was a bit cold and rainy. The boys’ first nap went well – an hour and a half. Now, the second nap was a different matter. Dom was exhausted and fell straight to sleep, but we could hear Alex quietly playing in his crib. I had to take a peek…and yes, there he was – sitting up and cheerfully cooing with his arms out. I resettled him in his crib and left the room. Quiet… Then more soft, happy sounds. I waited awhile, but when I went back, Alex was once again sitting up in his crib. He stayed up playing for an hour in his crib before he finally went to sleep.

Alex: Hey, what happens when I pull your ear?

This afternoon Papa and I were tracking the Twin-Daddy’s flights from Vancouver. Unfortunately, his first flight was delayed by 2 hours, but fortunately, his connecting flight was also delayed. According to our phone app, he would be landing at 3:40. We proceeded to go about our regular activities, and at 3, I started preparing to get us out the door. I checked the phone app again, and surprise! They were now due to land at 3:22. Papa and I hurried, packed up the boys, and headed for the airport. We parked, walked over to the terminal, and arrived at the bottom of the stairs just as the Twin-Daddy and his fencing buddy Eric appeared. There was much joy.

Tonight, the Twin-Daddy had some time to love on Alex and Dom. Alex showed him how well he could sit up on his own, and Dom showed his new trick of rolling to cover distances. For dinner, we fed them rice cereal. Since Dom had eaten so well last night I made up 4 Tbs. for him (thick) and 3 for Alex (a little thinner). Dom immediately got down to business, and Papa could barely feed him fast enough. He scraped the bowl completely clean. Alex continues to improve on eating, but each bite of food is a multi-step process. 1. Insert spoon with cereal into mouth. 2. Alex pushes half or more of the cereal back out. 3. Scoop up the rejected cereal. 4. Repeat the process. Now, while Alex still has a way to go, he does generally seem to enjoy the process. He opens his mouth for the food, and though it took awhile, he did eat all of his food too.

2 little boys making 2 happy bowls.

Our sons are tucked in bed after a book and a few songs, and all is right with the world now that we are all here under the same roof again. We have some rainy days coming, but somehow the outlook still seems surprisingly sunny to me.

A few Valentine’s Day wishes from our family to yours:

Dom (front) & Alex: Happy Valentine's Day!

Dom: Have a great day!

Alex: Give lots of snuggles to the ones you love!