Personal Space

Twins have no sense of personal space.  They don't mind crawling all over one another or having their ears pulled by the other.

They love sharing books and secrets with each other :) 
Psssst - O is for Owen, Oliver and Ostrich...

Jockeying for Position

I have a feeling the title of this post will be relevant for many more moments and milestones to come with the boys!  But it's funny how early on they already tend to gravitate to playing with the same toy (or trying to get the best position if there's only room for one). 

The good thing is that they are easily distracted by the introduction of a new toy, especially if it has lights and makes noise, so we can usually avoid any "fights" or meltdowns when they both can't have the same toy at once by simply diverting the attention of one or both boys to something else.  Here's a video of them playing nicely together on their "musical playground".  You can see Owen start elbowing Oliver over and off the toy, but Oliver persists and gets back up!  Even after a hand to the face Oliver still holds his ground, this time...

Chasing Shadows

Every now and then Owen notices his shadow on the floor or wall and becomes fascinated by watching it move and trying to catch it.  This was a funny instance of shadow chasing, as he turns to find something else to do, but then retraces his path back to the wall when he notices it again.

Visiting Santa!

We took the boys to meet Santa today and they did very well!  Despite it being 30 minutes past their lunchtime and waiting in line for at least the same amount of time, there was no crying.  Per their usual in public places, they were so taken in by all the new sights and new sounds that they were too busy to fuss or cry.  Owen did have a few nervous moments after letting go of mommy and being handed to a stranger, which is a given for him.  Here's his nervous face after first settling in on Santa's lap.

Then he discovered Santa's face was quite new and interesting and loosened up.

One thing we'll never do again is go without a stroller.  We knew there'd be a little wait, but just figured we'd carry the babies in our arms the whole time since that was our only destination at the mall.  Even having Megan with us as a third person we could rotate a baby off to, we were all tired by the end.  The boys are too squirmy and constantly wanting to get down to crawl around and explore these days to hold for that length of time!

And the official mall photo we waited in line for...

Oliver Loves Cheese and Mama

I've started giving the boys some shredded cheese at lunch and/or dinner.  Oliver took to eating it right away - but depending on the day, picky eater Owen will only eat one or two pieces (while making faces the whole time).  I'm talking a single piece of shredded cheese...it's barely even noticeable!  Oliver on the other hand will eat a whole mouthful at a time and want more.  In this video you can see the cheese hanging out of his mouth :)  He's been saying "mama" a lot lately, especially while eating, so I think he's possibly trying to say yum, yum since we say that a lot while feeding them.

Stormtroopers

Can a boy be too young or too old to love Stormtroopers?!  I don't think so!  On Black Friday we saw a holiday parade at Reston Town Center and Grandbobby, Ryan, and the boys got to take pictures with some characters afterward.  We somehow missed / bypassed Elmo and went right to the Star Wars bunch.  The boys liked the costumes and couldn't stop starring at first.   

Owen was even daring enough to touch one of these guys!

Inside A Baby's Mind

Have you ever wondered what they're thinking sometimes?

Owen, look I took my hat off!!

Let's take yours off too!!

Stop complaining brother.

Enough Oliver, I'm trying to relax...

New Batteries

It seems that all our toys have run out of batteries at exactly the same time. Owen really wanted his play table working again and was even willing to help :) It was cute that he wanted to hold the screwdriver, but maybe I should wait until after they go to bed next time!

Hangin' in the Crib

Even though the babies spend very little time in their cribs when they're not sleeping (or trying to sleep), we take lots of pictures when they're in them just hanging out, most often waiting for us to come get them in the morning.  They play nicely and don't cry when the other is there to "talk" to when they wake up.  But on nights when one baby has to be moved to another room for waking up and being loud in the middle of the night, the next morning they both tend to cry more and look around the room for the other!  Here's a video of Ryan going in to get them in the morning (it looks a little dark because the lights are still low).  You can see they've already been up for awhile enjoying each other's company.

This second video is from a different morning, after I've gone downstairs to warm up their milk.  You can see Owen gets a little fussy once he sees me walk in with his bottle.  He doesn't like to wait when he's hungry!

Some other changes we've had to make to the cribs, other than lowering the mattress, include removing the  cute mobile with jungle animals.  Another baby item with which I am amazed at how short it's useful life is.  It took the boys a couple months to even notice it, and now at 9.5 months all they want to do is tear it down!  They love the animals, but don't understand why they shouldn't rip them and the entire mobile down each time they're in the crib!  So we just put it aside for the next baby :)  Here's Oliver trying to take the giraffe off.

They now have music and lights crib attachments that they are fascinated with even more.  There have been several nights where we are woken up to aquarium sounds on the monitor, to find one of the boys has decided to turn his on or accidentally pushed the button by rolling into it.  Owen likes to try and pull his off...

First Bath Together

A few weeks ago we stopped bathing the boys in their whale tub for little babies, and moved on to bath seats!  I only bought one of these at first to try it out, and it worked well - although more time consuming to actually fill the tub, bathe one baby, take him out to get diapered and dressed, and then bathe the second.  Even though this is a somewhat quick process, the water got a little cooler for the second bath and took more time to warm it back up.  So we bought a second seat and tried them both at once.  The boys love being in the water together, and everything is kept calm as long as they each have their own green ducky to put in their mouths!

Since we started this routine on a weekend, Ryan was home to help out and everything seemed pretty simple.  But during the week, I usually have to start their baths before he gets home in order to have everything done before bedtime.  I realized a small dilemma on my first night alone.  How do I get one baby into the tub without leaving him unattended for a few seconds to go get the other one?  I tried stripping the second down completely and leaving him in his crib so that all I had to do was run back into their room and grab him quickly once the first was in the water.  But of course, in the few seconds I was gone there was pee on the sheet!  And trying to do this in reverse is even harder because they are wet and need dried off and diapered (I wasn't going to risk an accident again).  I still didn't like leaving one of them alone in the tub, even for a few seconds, and came up with another alternative.  This solution isn't that great, but sort of works in the short term - I brought a bumbo seat into the bathroom and use it as a holding station.  Since they can easily escape these seats now, I'm limited to only a few seconds of holding.  And they don't particularly like to be put in the seat afterwards, while wet and wrapped in a towel.  Not to mention that while in the bumbo, they try to reach around and get their hands on everything...including the toilet! 

For now, I just try and minimize bath nights to those when Ryan can be home to help.  Which is good anyway because Oliver has discovered he can worm his way around and out of the seat if he really wants.  So keeping tabs on both of them when they're right in front of me has also become more challenging as well. 

A Little Holiday Jingle

These are silly, but lots of fun!  The twins really live up to their name - by the time I cut out everything but their eyes, nose, and mouth from the pictures...I even had a hard time following who was who on the animation!
http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/r58rbllzZ5rH5Uyb

A Padded Room

About 2 weeks ago I posted about how the boys were pulling up for the first time.  Just a few days after this, they quickly went from doing this once in awhile to every time they hit the ground!  Unfortunately, their little feet weren't the only things hitting the ground... we suddenly had bumps and bruises all around, even with our best efforts to "catch" them each time a fall happened (impossible I know, but we try).  You can see Owen's first fat lip in the picture below.  This was from him getting a little over zealous when trying to pull every book off the shelf in the playroom.
















So I took out our king size pillow top mattress pad that we no longer use and spread it over the rug in the playroom.  It has helped significantly in padding any falls, and changed most of their reactions in the case of an occasional topple from crying and wanting held, to confused and slightly amused looks of "I fell, but on this nice soft pad"...

In this video, Oliver gets distracted by Dee and loses his balance.  Don't worry, she caught him and there was no crying!

Parents in Disguise

A funny thing we've noticed is that sunglasses throw the boys for a loop these days. Especially after a car ride, when we come around back to get them out of their seats and they look up at us with unsure and nervous faces, until we realize why and quickly take the glasses off so they can see it's just mommy or daddy!

This weekend we discovered that Ryan's baseball cap had a similar effect. Even though Oliver could tell who Ryan was, he still wanted to know what that thing was on his head! So we let him try it on and see for himself.
 

Things To Be Thankful For

While there are so many things to be thankful for this year, some of you may not know that we have yet another to add to the list!  The babies aren't going to be babies much longer - about a month after their 1st birthday they're going to be big brothers!

And it's definitely a BOY!!!  After getting to know the sonographer so well during the many visits when I was pregnant with the twins, we believed her when she told us she was 99% sure this baby was a boy at only 12 weeks.  She took a ton of extra pictures, with arrows showing us (see 12 week sonogram pic below)!  But this has now been confirmed at the 20 week ultrasound.  One thing is for sure - this little boy is going to have lots of clothes to wear...and can even wear the same outfit (or varying color version of the same) 2 days in a row if he wants!  Looks like I'm going to be a woman living with (and keeping fed and happy) 6 boys, if you count Geoffrey and Wesley!  And I wouldn't have it any other way :)



Mall Trip

Ryan and I have taken the babies to the mall one time before, but recently I wanted to venture out and actually do a little shopping.  Our nanny came with us, which was very helpful, probably more so for me mentally to know there was backup...just in case!  But I still tried to manage them completely by myself and it wasn't that hard at all.  The boys are really good any time we take them out somewhere - they never cry and are always really interested in new surroundings.  Here they are taking in the dressing room (yes, I actually got to try a few things on!).  I never really took notice of how nice and roomy the handicap dressing rooms are - essential for bringing a double stroller in with you! 

And now that the malls have Christmas decorations up, there was a nice photo op next to a tree.  At this point they were ready to go home and eat dinner!

The Diaper Change Challenge

Just when diaper changes had become so easy and routine at our house, that I could do it in the dark with my eyes closed, the boys decided they would keep me on me on my toes - literally - as I try to balance everything needed during the change and at the same time wrangle a wild baby.  It has become a huge challenge to get them to stay flat on their backs.  It sounds simple enough, how hard can it be to turn them back over and put a diaper on?  But let me tell you, this often turns into a 10 minute ordeal, sometimes ending with a crying baby that does not get his way, even if we do resort to changing the diaper in the crib or someplace else.  As soon as they are laid on the table, the contest begins - me trying to get the old diaper off and a new one on (it's a whole different setback when the diaper is actually dirty!), and baby trying to squirm and fight to get on his belly and look around.  Owen is a bigger contender, cleverly using the wooden bar on the back of the table for leverage.  He grabs hold of it for dear life as he twists and turns his entire body.  I've seriously had hold of him by his feet, lifted up in the air and trying to turn back over, while he clings to that bar.  That would be a better picture to post, but would require a 3rd party to be on standby with a camera.  You can see in his expression that he thinks this is some sort of game - one that he has clearly won on this particular diaper change!

Weekend with Wesley

After months of being confined to the basement (it's not really that bad down there), we decided to let the cats out for some play time with the babies.  Normally, they get a few minutes here and there to come out for dinner and spend time outside on the deck when it's warm enough, but they always look so sad when they have to go back downstairs.  So when we let them out into the family room for an extended period of time this past weekend, Wesley took this as an opportunity to prove his value around the boys!  He was such a good kitty - playing nicely and letting them grab fists full of fur without complaint.  Oliver and Wesley especially got along and I think will become good buddies as time goes on.

We even discovered that they have similar interests!  Most of the toys the babies play with are right on Wesley's level, having lots of moving parts or balls to chase after. 

Here's a video of Owen passing a ball back and forth with Wesley!

Up and Up

The big boys are movin' on up!  Last week our nanny sent me a text of this photo.

Apparently Oliver decided he wanted to play with a different toy and pulled himself up to search through this box!  Probably the first time he's gotten all the way up on his own like that.  He's not really concerned about what he uses to get up and whether or not it's steady.  So when he starts trying to get up by grabbing a plastic toy like the ball popper, we have to be close by and ready for both baby and toy to tip over. 

And here's Owen trying to peek over the top of his crib.  I am pretty sure having both cribs end to end is going to cause some sort of trouble down the road.  The boys are already pretty good at pulling the bumpers down to make faces and noises at each other in the morning before we come in to get them up. 

Speed Walker

Reed and Brandi gave us an Exersaucer that has one stationary leg and two on wheels, allowing the baby inside to not only play with all the toys attached, but to move around in a big circle. The boys have loved to play with the toys and work their way around the center, until last week when Oliver discovered he could move pretty quickly (practically running) if he wanted! As usual, he ends up with only one sock on during play time...

Baby Commandos

The babies have been on the move for a couple weeks now, with increasing speed each day.  They're still in the commando mode of crawling, only getting up properly on their knees to rock back and forth.  But they sure know what they want and how to get there!  One will usually spot a favorite toy across the room and then the race is on.  It's funny how in a room full of toys, they generally want to play with the same one at the same time.  Here's a video of them racing for the baby xylophone and music cube.

Oliver tends to be the more vocal baby, squealing with excitement at just about everything.  As they continue playing he gets so excited that he kicks one of his socks off!

Sharing A Good Book

Just hanging out, reading some ABC's on a Sunday

Cow Meet Cow

We took our little Pumpkin and Cow to the Northern Virginia Parent's of Multiples Halloween party at Frying Pan Farm, and after the band and indoor activities were done walked around the farm to see some of the animals.  We had fun showing Owen the cows and taking pictures, but I really think the babies enjoyed watching the pigs best since they were the loudest and most active of all the animals we saw that day. 



Fall Walks

Even though the leaves changed quite awhile ago, they are still pretty colors in the trees and are also all over the ground in our neighborhood.  Owen and Oliver seem to like going on walks even more now, probably because of all the crunching noise the leaves make under the stroller.  Last week, I took them on a short walk after work and since it was more windy that day than usual, leaves were literally raining down from the sky and the babies loved it!  We were walking into screens of colorful leaves and I had to keep plucking them out of their laps and off their heads.  I've started dressing them in hats and hoodies just to keep their heads extra warm.  This day, the only hats I could find that fit were a couple I have saved for Christmas!  They did the job though until I get time to go shopping for some bigger ones.

The other funny thing about fall walks is that the cooler air relaxes the babies and they usually fall asleep for a bit on the way home.  I can't blame them, I probably would too if someone pushed me around in a nice cozy stroller on a cool afternoon. 

Before the walk...

After the walk... Good thing they have a warm brother to snuggle up next to!

First Cousins

Going back to summer...I was looking through our pictures and remembered we had a bunch of cute ones from July, when Reed, Brandi, and the girls came to visit.  It was all of the kid's first time meeting, and special because they are all each other's only first cousins!  We did a lot of fun things together, including the National Zoo, Air and Space Museum, and lots of time in the pool (probably the most for Beth Ann)!  It was a record heat wave for the area that entire week, and so we tried to only bring the babies along for indoor activities.  All the kids had fun playing together in a room full of baby toys - proof that Bumbo Seats can be useful after the age of 2!

Beth Ann was a great helper with her little cousins, doing things like entertaining one baby while I gave the other a bath.  Here are a couple cute pictures with her and the boys.  The one of Owen made me laugh when I saw it because he was in that funny stage where he had fuzzy little patches of hair, but not nearly the full head of hair he has now!  I barely recognized him :)

And our best attempt to get all 4 cousins in one shot, all looking at the camera... almost!  A very fun week!!

Baby Motorcycle!

My parents and grandmother came to visit 2 weekends ago and the boys had so much fun playing and doing different activities than in their daily schedule.  One of the new activities was as simple as discovering how fun it is to play in a diaper box.  I guess I forgot how fun boxes really were, but my dad reminded me that my brother and I used to prefer these over store bought toys when we were little!  The babies were fascinated with the picture of a baby on the sides and flaps of the box - I think they thought he was a new friend.

But then... my dad caught site of the baby police motorcycle we had just purchased at the NVPOM sale.  It was still sitting in the living room because we haven't decided where to store it until they're actually old enough to play with it.  This little power bike is probably meant for 2-3 year olds, but it was too cute to pass up at the sale.  My dad couldn't resist putting them on it to see their reaction, and surprisingly they were naturals at holding onto the handle bars and reaching for the control panel!  Now whose mode of transportation is better?!

They both had their own turn, and then of course together.

Owen decided he didn't like having a back seat driver.  Hands off Oliver, I'm driving!