Enjoy! It's too bad this isn't bigger because Nathan's face when he first looks up at Santa is priceless ("what on earth is THAT?").
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Nathan and Kenna are one!!
Yes, it's true, last week my little babies turned one! I feel so great that we have somehow figured out how to raise two babies from birth to a year. I can't imagine having been less knowledgeable about babies when they were born than the two of us were. It sort of blows my mind we have managed to figure things out and all four of us are happy and healthy. :) I have to say I'm excited now about this new phase of their lives - entering toddlerhood! It's so fun to see how they are developing cognitively right now. It's amazing.
That said, their first birthday didn't pass without a few feelings of sadness. I'm a really sentimental person (Bryan would write "overly dramatic" instead of sentimental), so the night before their birthday I totally felt like it was a big moment. I knew when I put them to bed, they would wake up and never be considered "babies" again. I put them to bed that night and when I walked out, I definitely felt the pangs of "my babies are growing fast". I know, I know, technically it is just one day of a difference, but the birthday makes it official. :)
We had a birthday party for them on Saturday and it was SO much fun! I was STRESSED leading up to it. We had about 50 people here, including adults and kids, and I just had no idea how it would all go with so many little people. I'm relieved to report that everything went great! We had pizza for lunch (N & K both had a piece too!), then we opened gifts, then we had cake, and that was it. We had a Pooh 1st party theme, since it was gender neutral. The highlight of the event was the cake eating. Bryan is going to edit a little video for me to post. Nathan picked up the whole piece and ate it like an adult would eat a banana. LOL He just kept it in his hand and kept smashing more into his mouth. Kenna took the plunge and put her face straight into it on her tray after figuring out she couldn't easily pick little pieces off. Nathan's face was so covered in cake and icing that at one point my mom became genuinely concerned that he was unable to breathe!! I had doubts leading up to this party that we should have such a big event but I must say that it was worth the stress, money and planning. We had a really great time and it was so memorable. It's true, first birthday parties are more for the parents than the kids, but that's OK! It was just wonderful to be surrounded by our close friends and family to celebrate that WE MADE IT!
I will post first bday pics ASAP, and also I have some big news to write about...Nathan is WALKING! More on that to come soon, but I want to go ahead and get this one up. :)
That said, their first birthday didn't pass without a few feelings of sadness. I'm a really sentimental person (Bryan would write "overly dramatic" instead of sentimental), so the night before their birthday I totally felt like it was a big moment. I knew when I put them to bed, they would wake up and never be considered "babies" again. I put them to bed that night and when I walked out, I definitely felt the pangs of "my babies are growing fast". I know, I know, technically it is just one day of a difference, but the birthday makes it official. :)
We had a birthday party for them on Saturday and it was SO much fun! I was STRESSED leading up to it. We had about 50 people here, including adults and kids, and I just had no idea how it would all go with so many little people. I'm relieved to report that everything went great! We had pizza for lunch (N & K both had a piece too!), then we opened gifts, then we had cake, and that was it. We had a Pooh 1st party theme, since it was gender neutral. The highlight of the event was the cake eating. Bryan is going to edit a little video for me to post. Nathan picked up the whole piece and ate it like an adult would eat a banana. LOL He just kept it in his hand and kept smashing more into his mouth. Kenna took the plunge and put her face straight into it on her tray after figuring out she couldn't easily pick little pieces off. Nathan's face was so covered in cake and icing that at one point my mom became genuinely concerned that he was unable to breathe!! I had doubts leading up to this party that we should have such a big event but I must say that it was worth the stress, money and planning. We had a really great time and it was so memorable. It's true, first birthday parties are more for the parents than the kids, but that's OK! It was just wonderful to be surrounded by our close friends and family to celebrate that WE MADE IT!
I will post first bday pics ASAP, and also I have some big news to write about...Nathan is WALKING! More on that to come soon, but I want to go ahead and get this one up. :)
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Countdown to one year?!
Nathan and Kenna will only be babies for six more days! OMG! This is crazy to me. My little munchkins are almost official toddlers. We refer to them all the time as "the babies"...now what? It sounds weird to call them "the toddlers". lol
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
End of the day sighs
By the end of the day, I just feel worn out. I put the kids to bed, close the door, and breathe a giant sigh that I made it through the day. But I realized today that generally speaking, things go pretty well until the last couple of hours. Then it's downhill. They are tired, I am tired. I've lost patience. They've lost patience. By the time I put them to bed, I feel almost a little sad that we didn't all "part" on the happy terms that we usually have the rest of the day. Generally, small battles have been waged for the last couple of hours. Yes, the last half an hour of getting into jammies and snuggling is a nice positive end to the day, but it doesn't totally make up for the crankiness (theirs and mine) that precedes it. I guess there is not much I can do about it, given that we are all tired at the end of the day, but I just feel frustrated that each day starts so great and then just progresses to meltdown between 5-6:30.
Then, there is the BIG battle some nights. Kenna eating vegetables. SIGH. DOUBLE SIGH. TRIPLE SIGH!!! Granted, she eats more vegetables than most kids her age are probably willing to - peas, spinach, corn, potatoes, sometimes carrots, sometimes zuchini. But there are nights when she just refuses the vegetables. Like tonight. I gave her a mix of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and zuchini. She picked at it, ate a couple of pieces and refused anything else. I am adamant that my kids will eat what is put in front of them. Mommy knows what they need to be healthy, mommy will give them what they need, and they will be grateful that they have food on the table. That's it. End of story. Now of course they can't get the gratitude part yet. Or understand what healthy means. Right now, they just need to learn that they must eat what I give them or they will go hungry. When they are older, they simply won't be allowed to move from the table unless they have eaten every piece of food I have given them. But, I can't do that yet or Kenna would never go to bed. :) (Of course if there is something they find revolting, I respect that! But they can't categorically tell me that vegetables are revolting!)
I ran into a lady at the grocery store this afternoon in the baby food aisle. She had a 13 month old and was asking if I had any advice on getting a baby to eat solid food. She was still giving him a diet of almost all milk with just a couple of fruits because he would cry when she tried to give him anything else! She said her doctor told her to just make him go hungry until he starts eating consistently what she gives him (good advice!), and she said she could never do that because it's mean. I really don't understand when parents are afraid to be "mean" (in their perception) and won't do what is best for their child because of it. I will always do what I feel is best for my kids, even if they kick and scream about it sometimes. To me, it's "mean" to let an infant "decide" on important things like their selection of diet when they don't have adequate knowledge to make those decisions. My job is to be stronger than the frustration that comes from the crying. It sure is more tiring than the avoidance of "appearing mean". But for me, it sure is worth it. Even on nights when I'm so flustered that I decide to write a blog post about it. :)
Off to a good book, a soft couch, a cuddly blanket, and a glass of wine!
Then, there is the BIG battle some nights. Kenna eating vegetables. SIGH. DOUBLE SIGH. TRIPLE SIGH!!! Granted, she eats more vegetables than most kids her age are probably willing to - peas, spinach, corn, potatoes, sometimes carrots, sometimes zuchini. But there are nights when she just refuses the vegetables. Like tonight. I gave her a mix of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and zuchini. She picked at it, ate a couple of pieces and refused anything else. I am adamant that my kids will eat what is put in front of them. Mommy knows what they need to be healthy, mommy will give them what they need, and they will be grateful that they have food on the table. That's it. End of story. Now of course they can't get the gratitude part yet. Or understand what healthy means. Right now, they just need to learn that they must eat what I give them or they will go hungry. When they are older, they simply won't be allowed to move from the table unless they have eaten every piece of food I have given them. But, I can't do that yet or Kenna would never go to bed. :) (Of course if there is something they find revolting, I respect that! But they can't categorically tell me that vegetables are revolting!)
I ran into a lady at the grocery store this afternoon in the baby food aisle. She had a 13 month old and was asking if I had any advice on getting a baby to eat solid food. She was still giving him a diet of almost all milk with just a couple of fruits because he would cry when she tried to give him anything else! She said her doctor told her to just make him go hungry until he starts eating consistently what she gives him (good advice!), and she said she could never do that because it's mean. I really don't understand when parents are afraid to be "mean" (in their perception) and won't do what is best for their child because of it. I will always do what I feel is best for my kids, even if they kick and scream about it sometimes. To me, it's "mean" to let an infant "decide" on important things like their selection of diet when they don't have adequate knowledge to make those decisions. My job is to be stronger than the frustration that comes from the crying. It sure is more tiring than the avoidance of "appearing mean". But for me, it sure is worth it. Even on nights when I'm so flustered that I decide to write a blog post about it. :)
Off to a good book, a soft couch, a cuddly blanket, and a glass of wine!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
11 Months Update
Well, actually they are 11.5 months now - only 2 more weeks of technically being babies?! Wow. I just can't even believe that. In a way, I'm so proud to just have gotten here - I survived! They survived! Bryan survived! We figured it all out! I mean, I can't even imagine when these two were born I had rarely even touched a baby in my life. When at a baby store yesterday, I was looking at all the Christmas clothes. I love holidays and am always excited when the new stuff comes out! But as I stood there looking at all the "baby's first Christmas" things, it struck me how we have come full circle - it won't be their first Christmas anymore, or ever again. They've now had all their calendar year firsts. On the one hand that makes me sad, but it has been an amazing year. And I'm very excited to see them experience everything as they get a little older and understand what is going on. So I know there is still much joy ahead! :) In fact, last Christmas was their first, and it was INCREDIBLE, but it was also surrounded by sleepless nights with 3 week old babies, totally new/clueless parents, and totally new/clueless babies! I'm really looking forward to having the energy this year to enjoy everything and take it all in.
Here are some updates from the last month:
Both babies feed themselves now! Kenna caught on around 10.5 months and never looked back. Her pincer grasp is amazing! She can pick up the tiniest things. If there is a day old pea in her bib pocket, she will surely pick it out and eat it the next day! She is a very independent eater. There are many things she refuses to eat off a spoon that she will pick up and eat for herself if placed on the tray. For some reason, Nathan took a few more weeks to catch on to the whole self feeding thing. I would put the food on his tray but he just wouldn't touch it. I knew he was physically able and that he loves food, so I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, I think it was just laziness! I found that if I turned his chair around so he couldn't see me, he would immediately pick something up and try to eat it. He definitely didn't have the same fine motor skills as Kenna, though, and often dropped the food, must to his frustration. I think he knew he wasn't great at doing it and was anxious to eat so he would just cry until I fed him. I just kept putting food on his tray every day and feeding him with my fingers so he would get the idea. He would play with it once in a while but that was it. Then, last week, he went for it and now has about a 90% completion rate! They both now pretty much feed themselves all of what is on the tray (except stuff I feed them with a spoon). It's amazing how far we've come in a month! The sippy cups are also in 100% use and they are doing well with them.
They are generally great eaters and eat pretty much everything! For example, one dinner this week was salmon, asparagus and fresh mushrooms with a tomato sauce. All parents have their things that are important to them, and for me a major thing is what they eat. I have taken the plunge and give them almost entirely organic food after reading much on the topic. I NEVER thought I would be "that" person, but yup, I now feel strongly about it for them. I am emphatic that they get a great mix of grains, fruits, veggies, proteins and dairy each day and buy a large variety of things for them to eat. My goal is to have kids who make healthy food choices for life and have a taste for a large variety of foods.
Kenna now has 8 teeth! At the beginning of last month she had 6, and by the end she had two more bottom teeth come in. It seemed like Nathan was having trouble teething last month but never had more teeth come in. This morning, one broke through on the bottom (number 7 for him!) and I think the matching one will be soon to come.
Both babies can stand for several second alone without holding onto anything now. Especially in the last week, they just periodically are standing when I look up. Nathan is doing an AWESOME job with his walker. We take him outside on the sidewalk with it and he can push it (walking) forever. Last week he tried to take his first step while standing without it, but promptly fell and I haven't seen him try that again. Kenna soon after did the same thing. She too can walk with the walker, but she isn't as excited about it and just goes for a little bit before deciding she would like to go smell the flower next to her! I can't imagine they won't be walking within another 4-6 weeks. They are very close and ready!
These two are very much a boy and girl in their personalities. Nathan is never happier than when you put him down in a wide open space and he can crawl as fast as he can. He gets a huge grin on his face and sort of pants "ah ah ah ah!" Kenna loves to crawl into your lap to be held and is enjoying books a lot more lately. She watches intently for a little while. This morning when I picked her up out of her crib and rubbed her back, she rubbed mine back. She is so sweet and loving! Nathan likes to crawl into my lap but more for playing. He likes to use me as a jungle gym. :) The exception is when he is tired, and then he will snuggle into me and lay his head on my shoulder. I just love that because it's so much less frequent with him.
We had a really fun first Halloween with them. We went to the Disneyland trick or treat party the night before and had a blast with our friends who have twin 2 year olds. We took them real trick or treating the next night on Halloween with grammy, papa, and their aunt, uncle and cousins and had a great time then too - although they slept through most of it! I had SO much fun having an excuse to go door to door myself and realized I was excited to see what kind of candy WE got! lol Nathan was a perfect lion, and Kenna a perfect flower.
Yesterday we got professional 12 month pictures taken. The timing didn't work to get them done later so they had to get done a little early. We couldn't get Nathan to smile for the life of us...BUT we got some absolutely fantastic pictures of them both despite that. I will post them next. I'm long overdue for some pics to be posted!
Here are some updates from the last month:
Both babies feed themselves now! Kenna caught on around 10.5 months and never looked back. Her pincer grasp is amazing! She can pick up the tiniest things. If there is a day old pea in her bib pocket, she will surely pick it out and eat it the next day! She is a very independent eater. There are many things she refuses to eat off a spoon that she will pick up and eat for herself if placed on the tray. For some reason, Nathan took a few more weeks to catch on to the whole self feeding thing. I would put the food on his tray but he just wouldn't touch it. I knew he was physically able and that he loves food, so I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, I think it was just laziness! I found that if I turned his chair around so he couldn't see me, he would immediately pick something up and try to eat it. He definitely didn't have the same fine motor skills as Kenna, though, and often dropped the food, must to his frustration. I think he knew he wasn't great at doing it and was anxious to eat so he would just cry until I fed him. I just kept putting food on his tray every day and feeding him with my fingers so he would get the idea. He would play with it once in a while but that was it. Then, last week, he went for it and now has about a 90% completion rate! They both now pretty much feed themselves all of what is on the tray (except stuff I feed them with a spoon). It's amazing how far we've come in a month! The sippy cups are also in 100% use and they are doing well with them.
They are generally great eaters and eat pretty much everything! For example, one dinner this week was salmon, asparagus and fresh mushrooms with a tomato sauce. All parents have their things that are important to them, and for me a major thing is what they eat. I have taken the plunge and give them almost entirely organic food after reading much on the topic. I NEVER thought I would be "that" person, but yup, I now feel strongly about it for them. I am emphatic that they get a great mix of grains, fruits, veggies, proteins and dairy each day and buy a large variety of things for them to eat. My goal is to have kids who make healthy food choices for life and have a taste for a large variety of foods.
Kenna now has 8 teeth! At the beginning of last month she had 6, and by the end she had two more bottom teeth come in. It seemed like Nathan was having trouble teething last month but never had more teeth come in. This morning, one broke through on the bottom (number 7 for him!) and I think the matching one will be soon to come.
Both babies can stand for several second alone without holding onto anything now. Especially in the last week, they just periodically are standing when I look up. Nathan is doing an AWESOME job with his walker. We take him outside on the sidewalk with it and he can push it (walking) forever. Last week he tried to take his first step while standing without it, but promptly fell and I haven't seen him try that again. Kenna soon after did the same thing. She too can walk with the walker, but she isn't as excited about it and just goes for a little bit before deciding she would like to go smell the flower next to her! I can't imagine they won't be walking within another 4-6 weeks. They are very close and ready!
These two are very much a boy and girl in their personalities. Nathan is never happier than when you put him down in a wide open space and he can crawl as fast as he can. He gets a huge grin on his face and sort of pants "ah ah ah ah!" Kenna loves to crawl into your lap to be held and is enjoying books a lot more lately. She watches intently for a little while. This morning when I picked her up out of her crib and rubbed her back, she rubbed mine back. She is so sweet and loving! Nathan likes to crawl into my lap but more for playing. He likes to use me as a jungle gym. :) The exception is when he is tired, and then he will snuggle into me and lay his head on my shoulder. I just love that because it's so much less frequent with him.
We had a really fun first Halloween with them. We went to the Disneyland trick or treat party the night before and had a blast with our friends who have twin 2 year olds. We took them real trick or treating the next night on Halloween with grammy, papa, and their aunt, uncle and cousins and had a great time then too - although they slept through most of it! I had SO much fun having an excuse to go door to door myself and realized I was excited to see what kind of candy WE got! lol Nathan was a perfect lion, and Kenna a perfect flower.
Yesterday we got professional 12 month pictures taken. The timing didn't work to get them done later so they had to get done a little early. We couldn't get Nathan to smile for the life of us...BUT we got some absolutely fantastic pictures of them both despite that. I will post them next. I'm long overdue for some pics to be posted!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Putting the bottles away
October has just flown by! We were all sick for a week, then my parents were visiting for a week, then we were on vacation for a week, then I was catching up on work for a week after 3 weeks of being off schedule...and here we are in November! I'm long overdue for an update. But a full one will come soon. This is just a small one.
This morning I realized that I need to catch up on reading what key things I should be doing for the babies in this age group. It's easy to get into such a routine that you figure you know all that needs to happen, and that's where I've been for a couple of months. But, my little babies are older babies now and there are some changes I need to start making to transition them to the next stage - things like moving 100% to cups rather than bottles, focusing more on labeling objects, working on simple instructions with them, helping them practice walking (not just when they decide to cruise on something), etc. I made a list of a bunch of things I feel I need to start doing more mindfully and put it on my desktop. :)
As of yesterday, they are now only drinking from sippy cups. After I put them to bed for their nap just now, I started to gleefully put the bottles together on the counter in preparation for storage, joyfully reclaiming that counter space (enough space for so many bottles per day with twins is a lot!). Just as I was about to scoop them all into my arm to place in a big bag to put away, it hit me. No more baby bottles. Ever. That's it. I will never again feed my babies a baby bottle. My heart started to pound and my eyes welled up with tears, just like they are as I write this. I never used to understand why moms got emotional about their kids getting older, as there are always new things to look forward to. But my heart is practically hurting right now as I realize I'll never again hear those sweet sucking sounds on their little bottles. Then I started thinking about how they are almost a year old. In another month they will have already had so many of their "firsts". I can't believe that time is already behind us.
I put all the bottles away...except two. I have to hold and feed each one of them this afternoon with their bottles one last time! I think I'm having a much harder time letting go of their bottles than they are. :)
This morning I realized that I need to catch up on reading what key things I should be doing for the babies in this age group. It's easy to get into such a routine that you figure you know all that needs to happen, and that's where I've been for a couple of months. But, my little babies are older babies now and there are some changes I need to start making to transition them to the next stage - things like moving 100% to cups rather than bottles, focusing more on labeling objects, working on simple instructions with them, helping them practice walking (not just when they decide to cruise on something), etc. I made a list of a bunch of things I feel I need to start doing more mindfully and put it on my desktop. :)
As of yesterday, they are now only drinking from sippy cups. After I put them to bed for their nap just now, I started to gleefully put the bottles together on the counter in preparation for storage, joyfully reclaiming that counter space (enough space for so many bottles per day with twins is a lot!). Just as I was about to scoop them all into my arm to place in a big bag to put away, it hit me. No more baby bottles. Ever. That's it. I will never again feed my babies a baby bottle. My heart started to pound and my eyes welled up with tears, just like they are as I write this. I never used to understand why moms got emotional about their kids getting older, as there are always new things to look forward to. But my heart is practically hurting right now as I realize I'll never again hear those sweet sucking sounds on their little bottles. Then I started thinking about how they are almost a year old. In another month they will have already had so many of their "firsts". I can't believe that time is already behind us.
I put all the bottles away...except two. I have to hold and feed each one of them this afternoon with their bottles one last time! I think I'm having a much harder time letting go of their bottles than they are. :)
Friday, October 9, 2009
Kenna LOVES this signing thing...
As a brief update to yesterday's post, Kenna absolutely loves signing milk now! This is the cutest thing ever. While eating her cereal this morning she kept stopping, looking at me intensely to see if I was watching, and forcefully signing milk. LOL I want to reward her for her efforts right now to solidify the connection so when she did it I would give her a few sips of her milk (I normally wait until after solids to give the bottle so they eat everything). I would take it away then she would eat a few more spoons then sign milk again! She has the cutest look on her face when she does it, like, "I can't believe this is actually working over and over!" Now I have to figure out how to tell her, "I understand what you are signing, and am glad you are communicating with me, but you can't always have what you ask for." Does anyone have a sign for that? :)
Thursday, October 8, 2009
10 Months Old Today!
OK, 10 months old sounds WAY to close to a year old and I am NOT happy about that!!! I can't believe they are almost not babies anymore! I LOVE the stage where they are right now. They are so much fun and just want to freeze time a bit. I'm sure there will be some other points like that, too. :)
So the latest. In my usual update fashion, I must make a list so I don't forget anything! Ultimately I will go back through all my blogs to record all their milestones, etc., for their baby books so I have to make sure to get everything on here. :)
1. At their last doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago, Kenna was just under 20 pounds and Nathan just under 22 pounds (I thought that was weird because at home he weighs over 22 pounds!). Nathan is in the 95th percentile for height and Kenna in the 97th. They are both in the 75th percentile for weight. Nathan's head is in the 95th percentile and Kenna's is apparently off the chart above 100%! LOL Everything went well, but they were found to have low iron despite my best attempts to feed them nutritious stuff all the time so now they have to have iron drops twice a day until their next appointment at a year.
2. This one is really blowing my mind. Kenna signed "milk" for the first time today! I started with only one baby sign about a month ago - I did the milk sign before giving them the bottle every time. They get mad when I try to make them do it with their own hands so I gave up on that part and just kept doing it myself. I thought they weren't getting it AT ALL and was probably going to give up. Today first thing when I went in the nursery, Kenna was standing in her crib signing "milk". I laughed and thought it couldn't possibly be. Nathan had done it a couple of times this week and I thought that was just chance too. I put them in their high chairs and Kenna immediately told me 'milk' again with her hand. I gave her a sip and took it away to see what she would do. She signed it again right away, looking at me intently. I gave it back to her for a sip then took it away. We did this back and forth over and over and she proved she REALLY knows the word! It is just crazy that she is able to ask for something now. The whole time I'm feeding her solid food though she is now signing milk. LOL I'm going to add three new signs now. I want to do "hungry", "sleepy" and "all done".
3. Both babies, but especially Nathan, has made a teething biscuit out of the crib. I'm surprised he hasn't completely filed down his teeth! :(
4. A couple of weeks ago I stopped pureeing food. Now everything is chopped into pieces. They are doing a pretty good job of chewing, but for foods that they easily swallowed and "got out of the way" before (the ones they didn't like) they now really resist chewing. Nathan thinks it's too much effort. He gets frustrated while chewing if it's not something he likes and starts complaining. I'm hoping this will resolve as they get more used to it and it's not as laborious.
5. I'm still making almost all their food! I have been making all kinds of stuff. Rather than making huge batches to freeze as I did with pureeing, I now make enough for one week and just refrigerate for the most part. This week's menu includes: yams, carrots, green beans, corn, potatoes, avocados, peaches, apples, bananas, blueberries, ground beef and chicken!
6. Nathan has started cruising a little. Both babies pull to standing constantly, but I'm surprised they haven't actually tried cruising more. When I put things just out of Nathan's reach, he will "cruise" over to it, and keep going as I pull the things further. So he "can" do it, he just "prefers" to get on the floor and crawl over because that's much faster! Kenna hasn't tried too much. I got a pusher thing for them to try walking but with just a tiny bit of pressure it goes fast and that's not good when you are just learning! I guess we need to wait on that.
7. Self feeding and sippy cups. Ugh. I felt a bit bombarded at the pediatrician appointment when she was asking about meal time and stuff and she started talking about chunky food, sippy cups and self feeding. I was thinking, "but we just have mastered solid foods in the last couple of months!" lol I felt like I had this whole routine down of making food and they were eating everything well, and already we have to start the next stage?! First step was that I made them pick up their bottles and drink them themselves. This was about a month ago, that they could do it consistently. I then started to give them sippy cups with water after each meal so they could learn to drink from them. NO DICE! After weeks of absolutely no progress, I took a friend's advice to get a different kind of cup with a soft spout to start with rather than hard plastic. I did that, and I put formula in it (because that's a substance they love rather than water)...success this week! They don't like it at all, but they will put up with it to drink about half a sippy cup of milk. Then they both complain. But it's a start. (Incidentally, Kenna stopped drinking after a few sips today and signed "milk"! LOL I think "milk" clearly means "milk in a bottle" to her!) As for self feeding, things aren't going great but I haven't been trying to much. I tried puffs but they are too small and they just can't pick them up well enough. I finally made toast for them for the first time today and Kenna fed herself several pieces! I was literally jumping up and down. I didn't think it would ever happen. So I need to find more dry foods that can be in larger pieces like that. Nathan plays with it but just doesn't want to put it in his mouth. I hope this progresses soon.
8. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday! It was a really special day and I'm going to do a separate post about that with pictures.
So that's the latest! More pics soon...
So the latest. In my usual update fashion, I must make a list so I don't forget anything! Ultimately I will go back through all my blogs to record all their milestones, etc., for their baby books so I have to make sure to get everything on here. :)
1. At their last doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago, Kenna was just under 20 pounds and Nathan just under 22 pounds (I thought that was weird because at home he weighs over 22 pounds!). Nathan is in the 95th percentile for height and Kenna in the 97th. They are both in the 75th percentile for weight. Nathan's head is in the 95th percentile and Kenna's is apparently off the chart above 100%! LOL Everything went well, but they were found to have low iron despite my best attempts to feed them nutritious stuff all the time so now they have to have iron drops twice a day until their next appointment at a year.
2. This one is really blowing my mind. Kenna signed "milk" for the first time today! I started with only one baby sign about a month ago - I did the milk sign before giving them the bottle every time. They get mad when I try to make them do it with their own hands so I gave up on that part and just kept doing it myself. I thought they weren't getting it AT ALL and was probably going to give up. Today first thing when I went in the nursery, Kenna was standing in her crib signing "milk". I laughed and thought it couldn't possibly be. Nathan had done it a couple of times this week and I thought that was just chance too. I put them in their high chairs and Kenna immediately told me 'milk' again with her hand. I gave her a sip and took it away to see what she would do. She signed it again right away, looking at me intently. I gave it back to her for a sip then took it away. We did this back and forth over and over and she proved she REALLY knows the word! It is just crazy that she is able to ask for something now. The whole time I'm feeding her solid food though she is now signing milk. LOL I'm going to add three new signs now. I want to do "hungry", "sleepy" and "all done".
3. Both babies, but especially Nathan, has made a teething biscuit out of the crib. I'm surprised he hasn't completely filed down his teeth! :(
4. A couple of weeks ago I stopped pureeing food. Now everything is chopped into pieces. They are doing a pretty good job of chewing, but for foods that they easily swallowed and "got out of the way" before (the ones they didn't like) they now really resist chewing. Nathan thinks it's too much effort. He gets frustrated while chewing if it's not something he likes and starts complaining. I'm hoping this will resolve as they get more used to it and it's not as laborious.
5. I'm still making almost all their food! I have been making all kinds of stuff. Rather than making huge batches to freeze as I did with pureeing, I now make enough for one week and just refrigerate for the most part. This week's menu includes: yams, carrots, green beans, corn, potatoes, avocados, peaches, apples, bananas, blueberries, ground beef and chicken!
6. Nathan has started cruising a little. Both babies pull to standing constantly, but I'm surprised they haven't actually tried cruising more. When I put things just out of Nathan's reach, he will "cruise" over to it, and keep going as I pull the things further. So he "can" do it, he just "prefers" to get on the floor and crawl over because that's much faster! Kenna hasn't tried too much. I got a pusher thing for them to try walking but with just a tiny bit of pressure it goes fast and that's not good when you are just learning! I guess we need to wait on that.
7. Self feeding and sippy cups. Ugh. I felt a bit bombarded at the pediatrician appointment when she was asking about meal time and stuff and she started talking about chunky food, sippy cups and self feeding. I was thinking, "but we just have mastered solid foods in the last couple of months!" lol I felt like I had this whole routine down of making food and they were eating everything well, and already we have to start the next stage?! First step was that I made them pick up their bottles and drink them themselves. This was about a month ago, that they could do it consistently. I then started to give them sippy cups with water after each meal so they could learn to drink from them. NO DICE! After weeks of absolutely no progress, I took a friend's advice to get a different kind of cup with a soft spout to start with rather than hard plastic. I did that, and I put formula in it (because that's a substance they love rather than water)...success this week! They don't like it at all, but they will put up with it to drink about half a sippy cup of milk. Then they both complain. But it's a start. (Incidentally, Kenna stopped drinking after a few sips today and signed "milk"! LOL I think "milk" clearly means "milk in a bottle" to her!) As for self feeding, things aren't going great but I haven't been trying to much. I tried puffs but they are too small and they just can't pick them up well enough. I finally made toast for them for the first time today and Kenna fed herself several pieces! I was literally jumping up and down. I didn't think it would ever happen. So I need to find more dry foods that can be in larger pieces like that. Nathan plays with it but just doesn't want to put it in his mouth. I hope this progresses soon.
8. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday! It was a really special day and I'm going to do a separate post about that with pictures.
So that's the latest! More pics soon...
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Sweet Moments
I just had the sweetest half an hour right now with the babies. This afternoon they were quite cranky, as I think they've both started to get runny noses (if they get sick, this will be the third time in their young lives, and EVERY time it has been within 3 days of being in the church nursery! UGH!). I was having a particularly patient day for some reason and didn't get overwhelmed by it as I often do. I brought them upstairs for bath time and for the first time I put them directly in the tub (I've been using a baby tub inside the big tub). Kenna did great, sitting still for me the whole time. Nathan wanted to crawl everywhere and it was a much bigger challenge. But, I guess it's time to do it. So anyway, because I was feeling particularly peaceful and nurturing despite all this, I decided that I was going to rock Kenna and sing to her because she had been so upset all afternoon and I thought she wasn't feeling well. Now, that might sound like a typical thing to do with babies, but it's not for us for a couple of reasons:
1) I sing to them a lot, but more like fun songs during the day, and never "lullaby" types of songs. I don't have a very good voice so I guess I have always felt funny singing in any kind of serious way.
2) I decided in the very beginning that I would always put the babies down awake, rather than rock them to sleep. I read in several books that this is best for their sleep habits in the long run and decided to follow through with it. Consequently, I have never once actually rocked Nathan or Kenna to sleep!
So back to tonight. I took Kenna and sat in the rocking chair with her facing me and her face over my shoulder. I started rocking and singing some of my favorite slow hymns from church. In the meantime, Nathan was standing in the crib, just watching this all unfold (but listening quietly!). She was so still, just melted in my arms. I just kept singing and singing and rocking, and enjoyed it so much...suddenly I looked down and Kenna was sound asleep with her little hand clutching my shoulder still. It was such a precious moment. I couldn't believe MY singing had been soothing enough to put her to sleep. I felt so motherly. :) I went and put her in the crib and then picked up Nathan. Nathan is such a squiggler, I thought for sure I wouldn't go two for two. I started rocking and singing and sure enough he was trying to crawl away. So instead I stood up and held him, swaying back and forth. Kenna had woken up when I put her down and was looking at me. I started singing the same songs again and as soon as I did, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. It was SO sweet. Then, the amazing happened, and Nathan became like jelly in my arms while I sang even though he didn't seem tired 3 minutes before. I sang for a while and put him down in the crib. He wasn't asleep but was all glazed over. Normally Nathan screams as soon as he is put in the crib, but he just laid there on his back looking up at me quietly. I started singing again and rubbing his head gently. He closed his eyes so peacefully and drifted off to sleep while I rubbed his head. You have to know Nathan to understand why that's crazy. He has a tough time going to sleep and always fights it, always goes on his stomach, and always tosses and turns for a while. The fact that I actually was able to "soothe" him to sleep amazed me. I left the room with my two sweet angels peacefully drifting off. It was a very, very sweet moment.
I still believe in putting babies down awake, but now that they know the routine and do go to sleep on their own every day, I think it will be nice to do some rocking once in a while. :)
1) I sing to them a lot, but more like fun songs during the day, and never "lullaby" types of songs. I don't have a very good voice so I guess I have always felt funny singing in any kind of serious way.
2) I decided in the very beginning that I would always put the babies down awake, rather than rock them to sleep. I read in several books that this is best for their sleep habits in the long run and decided to follow through with it. Consequently, I have never once actually rocked Nathan or Kenna to sleep!
So back to tonight. I took Kenna and sat in the rocking chair with her facing me and her face over my shoulder. I started rocking and singing some of my favorite slow hymns from church. In the meantime, Nathan was standing in the crib, just watching this all unfold (but listening quietly!). She was so still, just melted in my arms. I just kept singing and singing and rocking, and enjoyed it so much...suddenly I looked down and Kenna was sound asleep with her little hand clutching my shoulder still. It was such a precious moment. I couldn't believe MY singing had been soothing enough to put her to sleep. I felt so motherly. :) I went and put her in the crib and then picked up Nathan. Nathan is such a squiggler, I thought for sure I wouldn't go two for two. I started rocking and singing and sure enough he was trying to crawl away. So instead I stood up and held him, swaying back and forth. Kenna had woken up when I put her down and was looking at me. I started singing the same songs again and as soon as I did, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. It was SO sweet. Then, the amazing happened, and Nathan became like jelly in my arms while I sang even though he didn't seem tired 3 minutes before. I sang for a while and put him down in the crib. He wasn't asleep but was all glazed over. Normally Nathan screams as soon as he is put in the crib, but he just laid there on his back looking up at me quietly. I started singing again and rubbing his head gently. He closed his eyes so peacefully and drifted off to sleep while I rubbed his head. You have to know Nathan to understand why that's crazy. He has a tough time going to sleep and always fights it, always goes on his stomach, and always tosses and turns for a while. The fact that I actually was able to "soothe" him to sleep amazed me. I left the room with my two sweet angels peacefully drifting off. It was a very, very sweet moment.
I still believe in putting babies down awake, but now that they know the routine and do go to sleep on their own every day, I think it will be nice to do some rocking once in a while. :)
Monday, September 14, 2009
Pictures!
(Update below this post)
Happy Kenna:
Happy Nathan:
Unhappy Nathan(this face cracks me up):
Unhappy Kenna:
Grammy took this pic on a trip to Costco - I just love how Kenna is reaching out to Nathan!
Nathan's first time ever standing up in his crib:
Happy Kenna:
Happy Nathan:
Unhappy Nathan(this face cracks me up):
Unhappy Kenna:
Grammy took this pic on a trip to Costco - I just love how Kenna is reaching out to Nathan!
Nathan's first time ever standing up in his crib:
9 Months Old!
I can't believe it's true, but the babies just turned nine months old! That used to seem like such a far off thing, it's hard to imagine we are here. I honestly feel like I'm living someone else's life sometimes lately. Remember how I used to post about how I couldn't see myself as a mom with a newborn because when I always thought about having kids, I pictured older kids (like toddlers)? Well, recently my babies have truly seemed more like toddlers than like little babies. And for the first time I find myself as a mom in the way I had always thought of it. I had no expectations of what it would be like to have a newborn because I had never been around them. I had to create that reality as I went. But I certainly had imagined what it would be like to have older kids and I'm starting to live in that world now as they become more like "pre-toddlers". I regularly find myself taking a step back and realizing how crazy it is that I'm a mom now...a mom as I had always thought of that experience. It's really crazy, and a real transition for me. The babies are both pulling to standing now (more on that in a minute) and when I turned around yesterday to see them both standing up at a table looking at me it was truly an eye opener. I just couldn't believe I am their MOM...I'm a mom?! I'm having those realizations of "I can't believe this has all come true for us" all over again. I can't believe our dreams came true after so much difficulty. I thank God for that every day. What an amazing answer to prayers we had through J. Every ounce of difficulty was worth it now that they are here.
I also feel much more comfortable in my "role" as mom now. In the beginning I felt slightly fraudulent because I was a mom who didn't go through pregnancy like almost everyone else. I felt like somehow I wasn't as good as everyone else. Part of that was driven by all the questions you get with newborns from strangers - how fast I lost the weight, did I have a csection, I can't believe you carried two babies, etc. It was a constant reminder that I was different. But once the babies got older, the pregnancy questions just stopped coming about and now I truly feel like a "regular" mom without the inferiority complex. In fact, I have no problem telling people I didn't carry and I feel fine about it. I don't feel that little gut pinch I did in the beginning. I'm very grateful for that!
So, let's see what is new...
1) Nathan now has six teeth...his two teeth on top on the sides of the front two finally broke through last week. He was CRANKY CRANKY CRANKY for a couple of weeks before that so I was relieved to see that's what it was when they finally came through!
2) On Sept 4, just a few days before his nine month bday, I walked into the nursery in the morning to get the babies ready for a weekend away and there was Nathan STANDING in his crib!! I dashed downstairs for the camera and made it back in time to take a picture (I'll post after this).
He was looking at me like, "what? what's all the fuss about?" He looked like such a big kid!
This morning, not to be outdone, KENNA then stood up in her crib for the first time when I came in to get them first thing! I again ran for the camera and made it back in time again!
Since last week Nathan has been standing up on EVERYTHING. He is a standing machine. Against walls, gates, tables, you name it. He hasn't started to cruise yet but it won't be long. Kenna can actually stand a few seconds without holding onto anything. I think because she is lighter she has better balance than Nathan!
3) Kenna got her ears pierced Saturday! Oh man, it made me feel bad. She SCREAMED...but then it was over 5 minutes later and she was fine again. She is too cute with her little earings!
4) Kenna is still doing the army crawl even though she can stand. I'm thinking she might just skip normal crawling! She does do an intermediate position where she's up on her needs when at "rest position", but goes back to army crawl to get somewhere. When we were on vacation over labor day she took a few regular crawls in our condo where we were staying but I haven't seen anything like it since!
5) Kenna continues to babble constantly, and Nathan is still just doing it a little. I've heard him do mama, baba and dada...it's just not very often!
6) They discontinued the formula we had worked so hard to find early on (lactose free for Nathan). :( Big bummer. I've been giving him a low lactose formula instead and I think he's been having a lot of tummy aches because of it. Today I tried a new one without lactose and it seems that he has been a lot happier suddenly. Poor guy, I think he's really been struggling. Hopefully this new one will solve the problem.
7) Nathan is about 22 pounds and Kenna is about 20 pounds. (Both just under those numbers).
8) Baby food making is going well and they are eating just about everything well! Nathan doesn't like green beans very much but other than that they have really gotten better about vegetables. I got a better blender and the smooth consistency has made all the difference in the world.
9) Kenna waves a lot but not really in response to you waving! It's so cute when she does it but she doesn't realize she should do it when YOU do it. She just likes to wave in general. :) And say MAMAMAMAMAMA really loudly. In public. lol Nathan has started clapping his hands periodically when is really cute too. He gets a huge smile on his face!
10) We've been really working on "NO". They know it's not a good thing for sure, as they get upset by it. When they spit out food they get a firm hand squeeze and serious look with a "NO SPIT" from me. Other things get the hand squeeze and "NO TOUCH". Or "NOT A TOY". Kenna actually listens very well! Nathan not so much. But after not listening they get removed completely from what they are wanting to do. They are definitely starting to understanding. Starting being the key word. :)
11) Nathan finally has high chair manners! For a while he complained between every bite with whining because he wanted it faster and for Kenna to not have hers. Every time he started crying I turned his high chair away. He would then scream for a while and I wouldn't turn him around until he stopped. After about a week of this he stopped doing it completely. Victory! (most of the time ;)
12) I haven't blogged much about this, but I'm working on teaching them French at the same time as English (as much as possible given that I'm only intermediate level and not fluent). I do half days with them where we play only in French and label objects in French etc. Even Bryan has commited to this and just started Rosetta Stone! I'm so proud of him...he's not too interested in languages to start with, and it's not exactly his forte (by his own admission) so I couldn't be more thrilled that he is supporting this endeavor that is so important to me.
13) Our ten year anniversary is next week! We are going to Yosemite and are looking forward to having some time as a couple, thanks to Bryan's parents having the kids for the weekend. They have been SO instrumental in our sanity as parents. They actually have their own (beautiful) nursery for the twins set up at their house, so they are basically prepared to have them at any time. How amazing is that? They have all kinds of toys, baby gates, everything needed. They have been so willing to have them, and to come to our house to watch them too. Bryan's mom comes every Tuesday afternoon to care for them while I get work done. They have had them for several overnights when we have had the chance to get away and when I had to leave town for work. It's a huge blessing for us and for the babies! My own parents will be coming to visit in just a couple of weeks...they live out of state unfortunately so they haven't been able to be involved in the same way with the babies. It makes me sad that they can't be here, as I know they would love to be, but I'm so glad they are getting to come visit. They are beside themselves with excitement!
Well, I will try to get some pictures up now. I haven't posted any in a while! Time for them to show their faces. :)
I also feel much more comfortable in my "role" as mom now. In the beginning I felt slightly fraudulent because I was a mom who didn't go through pregnancy like almost everyone else. I felt like somehow I wasn't as good as everyone else. Part of that was driven by all the questions you get with newborns from strangers - how fast I lost the weight, did I have a csection, I can't believe you carried two babies, etc. It was a constant reminder that I was different. But once the babies got older, the pregnancy questions just stopped coming about and now I truly feel like a "regular" mom without the inferiority complex. In fact, I have no problem telling people I didn't carry and I feel fine about it. I don't feel that little gut pinch I did in the beginning. I'm very grateful for that!
So, let's see what is new...
1) Nathan now has six teeth...his two teeth on top on the sides of the front two finally broke through last week. He was CRANKY CRANKY CRANKY for a couple of weeks before that so I was relieved to see that's what it was when they finally came through!
2) On Sept 4, just a few days before his nine month bday, I walked into the nursery in the morning to get the babies ready for a weekend away and there was Nathan STANDING in his crib!! I dashed downstairs for the camera and made it back in time to take a picture (I'll post after this).
He was looking at me like, "what? what's all the fuss about?" He looked like such a big kid!
This morning, not to be outdone, KENNA then stood up in her crib for the first time when I came in to get them first thing! I again ran for the camera and made it back in time again!
Since last week Nathan has been standing up on EVERYTHING. He is a standing machine. Against walls, gates, tables, you name it. He hasn't started to cruise yet but it won't be long. Kenna can actually stand a few seconds without holding onto anything. I think because she is lighter she has better balance than Nathan!
3) Kenna got her ears pierced Saturday! Oh man, it made me feel bad. She SCREAMED...but then it was over 5 minutes later and she was fine again. She is too cute with her little earings!
4) Kenna is still doing the army crawl even though she can stand. I'm thinking she might just skip normal crawling! She does do an intermediate position where she's up on her needs when at "rest position", but goes back to army crawl to get somewhere. When we were on vacation over labor day she took a few regular crawls in our condo where we were staying but I haven't seen anything like it since!
5) Kenna continues to babble constantly, and Nathan is still just doing it a little. I've heard him do mama, baba and dada...it's just not very often!
6) They discontinued the formula we had worked so hard to find early on (lactose free for Nathan). :( Big bummer. I've been giving him a low lactose formula instead and I think he's been having a lot of tummy aches because of it. Today I tried a new one without lactose and it seems that he has been a lot happier suddenly. Poor guy, I think he's really been struggling. Hopefully this new one will solve the problem.
7) Nathan is about 22 pounds and Kenna is about 20 pounds. (Both just under those numbers).
8) Baby food making is going well and they are eating just about everything well! Nathan doesn't like green beans very much but other than that they have really gotten better about vegetables. I got a better blender and the smooth consistency has made all the difference in the world.
9) Kenna waves a lot but not really in response to you waving! It's so cute when she does it but she doesn't realize she should do it when YOU do it. She just likes to wave in general. :) And say MAMAMAMAMAMA really loudly. In public. lol Nathan has started clapping his hands periodically when is really cute too. He gets a huge smile on his face!
10) We've been really working on "NO". They know it's not a good thing for sure, as they get upset by it. When they spit out food they get a firm hand squeeze and serious look with a "NO SPIT" from me. Other things get the hand squeeze and "NO TOUCH". Or "NOT A TOY". Kenna actually listens very well! Nathan not so much. But after not listening they get removed completely from what they are wanting to do. They are definitely starting to understanding. Starting being the key word. :)
11) Nathan finally has high chair manners! For a while he complained between every bite with whining because he wanted it faster and for Kenna to not have hers. Every time he started crying I turned his high chair away. He would then scream for a while and I wouldn't turn him around until he stopped. After about a week of this he stopped doing it completely. Victory! (most of the time ;)
12) I haven't blogged much about this, but I'm working on teaching them French at the same time as English (as much as possible given that I'm only intermediate level and not fluent). I do half days with them where we play only in French and label objects in French etc. Even Bryan has commited to this and just started Rosetta Stone! I'm so proud of him...he's not too interested in languages to start with, and it's not exactly his forte (by his own admission) so I couldn't be more thrilled that he is supporting this endeavor that is so important to me.
13) Our ten year anniversary is next week! We are going to Yosemite and are looking forward to having some time as a couple, thanks to Bryan's parents having the kids for the weekend. They have been SO instrumental in our sanity as parents. They actually have their own (beautiful) nursery for the twins set up at their house, so they are basically prepared to have them at any time. How amazing is that? They have all kinds of toys, baby gates, everything needed. They have been so willing to have them, and to come to our house to watch them too. Bryan's mom comes every Tuesday afternoon to care for them while I get work done. They have had them for several overnights when we have had the chance to get away and when I had to leave town for work. It's a huge blessing for us and for the babies! My own parents will be coming to visit in just a couple of weeks...they live out of state unfortunately so they haven't been able to be involved in the same way with the babies. It makes me sad that they can't be here, as I know they would love to be, but I'm so glad they are getting to come visit. They are beside themselves with excitement!
Well, I will try to get some pictures up now. I haven't posted any in a while! Time for them to show their faces. :)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Babbling babies
Kenna has had quite a repertoire for a few weeks now...ba ba ba, ma ma ma (the first one!), da da da, pa pa pa, and diaper (just kidding). :) She really has upped her brother in this area. Nathan has always made lots of sounds, but no consonants. Well, for the record book, this week he has done "da da da" a handful of times and this morning ever so briefly he did "ma ma". It's so strange to hear him say something like Kenna does because he just doesn't make those sounds yet...but he crawled into my lap this morning and suddenly said "ma ma". My heart melted, even if he doesn't know what ma ma means yet. :)
Monday, August 17, 2009
An overdue update!
It's been a busy couple of weeks, but time for an update! A lot has actually happened.
I hate starting on a sad note, but it's top of mind so I must...our wonderful, amazing, spectacular part time nanny (one day a week) had to quit tonight due to cat allergies that are getting worse and worse as she works with us. :( I'm so sad, I have to admit I broke down and cried after she left. She loves the kids and was so sad too. It's so hard to find someone you love like this, so I'm super bummed. I have 2 weeks to find someone new. Big, huge sigh, but...
On happier notes, here is the latest!
Lots and lots of teeth!
Nathan now has all four front teeth and Kenna has SIX! She has four on top, two on bottom, which all came in before her eight month birthday. What a toothy little grin she has now. :) Amazingly, she was never really grumpy about it. Neither was Nathan...until last week. He was so grumpy suddenly and obsessing over his teeth - grinding them constantly (Kenna does that too, it's like finger nails on a chalkboard!). I assume he must have more coming in soon because of the grumpiness. He was his happy self today though, so hopefully we are on a good path. :)
Hair!
Kenna has had hair steadily coming in over the last few months but Nathan has been as bald as ever. Lately though he has started to get a little fuzzy and it's SO cute! I've really noticed it in the last two weeks. It still doesn't look like a lot but you can suddenly tell it's growing and when he wakes up from a nap he has "bed head" with little ruffled hair on the back. I think it's the sweetest thing ever (especially to go with the ultra grumpy he look he gets after nap time)!
Nathan knows Kenna exists!
Yes, Nathan officially has noticed that Kenna exists alongside him! For months and months now, Kenna has observed her brother intently, always curious about and interested in him. Nathan has never much cared to know what his baby sister is doing. But in the last couple of weeks all of that has changed. They now interact all the time! It's like the light switch went on for Nathan that he has a playmate. It started with a nighttime event when they were in PJs getting ready for bed. They suddenly began "chasing" each other around the living room and laughing. Nathan would crawl toward Kenna and she would crawl away as fast as possible, laughing all the while (she still doesn't do a regular crawl, but can move just as fast with the army crawl, slithering on the floor with arms and legs). Kenna laughing is also a new event - she would laugh out loud before when you tickled her, sort of as an automatic response, but now she is laughing out loud at things and it all started with her laughing at Nathan crawling after her! The funny thing is, originally I don't think Nathan was even crawling after her, he just came near her and she thought it was funny and crawled away quickly. But over time he joined in and now laughs too. This has now opened up a whole new world of interaction at different times, especially mealtime. When they try a new food they look at each other as if to say, "what do you think?" (sometimes while spitting it out!) They also reach across the high chairs to touch each other and sometimes just start laughing. It's so adorable when they connect like that! And I just love finally hearing Kenna laugh!
Need...more...containment devices!
Looking back on my last post, I can't believe it was only July 25th that Nathan mastered the crawl. I mean, he is EVERYWHERE. Opening drawers, pulling up on things, pulling on electrical cords (still working on baby proofing...), you name it. He knows when I say come here, and crawls with a big smile fast toward me, straight into my lap. Melts my heart every time. :) Kenna has that army crawl perfected and has shown no interest in getting her tummy off the ground. But she moves as fast as Nathan so why would she care?! She too is into everything and especially loves to pick small specks off the floor and study them as she slivers around. Kenna LOVES to investigate rugs for some reason. She picks up the different corners and pulls them up and down. Now that they are so mobile, they have a lot less interest in toys. They want to move chairs, look at rugs, open kitchen drawers, play with cords and anything else that isn't meant for them. I've started working on teaching them "no" and need to do babyproofing very soon (like yesterday). But, I don't want to completely baby proof because I want them to learn boundaries with some things that aren't dangerous but that they just aren't allowed to play with. I'm making some progress with a firm no and hand squeeze. Kenna listens much better than Nathan. He will whine then go back to what he wanted. Kenna looks at me, doesn't like that I am not happy, and moves on!
Kenna finds a new sleeping position...
Months after learning to roll over both ways, Kenna has decided that she wants to sleep on her stomach suddenly. With Nathan, he learned to roll over, and there has never been a day since that he has slept on his back. Kenna always slept on her back, but just the last week has been sleeping on her stomach. I was really surprised when I first saw it and a little scared because it was so unlike her! But it's been consistent for a few days so we may two stomach sleepers now.
Making baby food
This is really, really unlike me, but I have decided to make as much of the babies' food going forward as possible. I keep trying to figure out why I want to do this, because it is SO not like me, and here is what I can come up with:
1) I've gotten really into cooking in the last few months and making baby food is a great way for me to systematically learn to cook pretty much every vegetable and fruit! So, for one, it's a cool learning experience.
2) I have a lot more control over what they are eating. I really like the idea of them eating pure, fresh food in its original "form" without added preservatives and all those other things in the ingredient list on jars. I love knowing that when they eat pears, they are...just eating pears. Fresh and pure. Baby food can be on the shelf for up to 3 years in some cases with all the stuff that is in it!
3) I want them to have healthy eating habits, and this is a great way of supporting that. You can make a lot more variety than you can ever buy in "baby food packs". I want them to have the opportunity to learn about and like lots of different foods. So many kids are so picky and don't get well balanced diets, and it's my goal to avoid that as much as possible. I never thought I would be "that" mom, but I hope my kids don't know what fried food is for a very long time. :)
4) I can more easily control portion size. I have big eaters! When you buy those jars or packages, you are somewhat limited to the portions they come in. When you make your own food, you can freeze in whatever portions are most practical for you.
5) In addition to all that, it's cheaper!
On another food note, I'm peeling everything before preparing to get rid of as much of the pesticide residue as possible. It's hard to wash it all off and babies' bodies are much more sensitive to it (they get 60 times the exposure given the concentration of their foods). Anything without a peel I will buy organic. I can't believe I'm saying that, because like I said, I am totally not the I-buy-food-at-Whole-Foods-and-Trader-Joes-person-because-of-environmental-and-social-issues by nature. But I've been reading about organic food more and while my kids are small, I think it's worth while to give them the majority of food that is either peeled or organic given how much more they are impacted by it (compared to adults). I have a special concern about chicken and want to only feed them natural chicken, hormone free - I have endometriosis, which is thought to at least be partially caused by the extreme levels of estrogen in chicken (for people who eat a lot of meat). If I can minimize Kenna's risk at all of endo by only giving her hormone free meat at home, I think it's a very worthwhile pursuit.
So far I have made: peaches, pears, apples, mangos, bananas, carrots, zuchini, broccoli, asparagus, and garbanzo beans.
I will have to post some pictures later...gotta go find a nanny!
I hate starting on a sad note, but it's top of mind so I must...our wonderful, amazing, spectacular part time nanny (one day a week) had to quit tonight due to cat allergies that are getting worse and worse as she works with us. :( I'm so sad, I have to admit I broke down and cried after she left. She loves the kids and was so sad too. It's so hard to find someone you love like this, so I'm super bummed. I have 2 weeks to find someone new. Big, huge sigh, but...
On happier notes, here is the latest!
Lots and lots of teeth!
Nathan now has all four front teeth and Kenna has SIX! She has four on top, two on bottom, which all came in before her eight month birthday. What a toothy little grin she has now. :) Amazingly, she was never really grumpy about it. Neither was Nathan...until last week. He was so grumpy suddenly and obsessing over his teeth - grinding them constantly (Kenna does that too, it's like finger nails on a chalkboard!). I assume he must have more coming in soon because of the grumpiness. He was his happy self today though, so hopefully we are on a good path. :)
Hair!
Kenna has had hair steadily coming in over the last few months but Nathan has been as bald as ever. Lately though he has started to get a little fuzzy and it's SO cute! I've really noticed it in the last two weeks. It still doesn't look like a lot but you can suddenly tell it's growing and when he wakes up from a nap he has "bed head" with little ruffled hair on the back. I think it's the sweetest thing ever (especially to go with the ultra grumpy he look he gets after nap time)!
Nathan knows Kenna exists!
Yes, Nathan officially has noticed that Kenna exists alongside him! For months and months now, Kenna has observed her brother intently, always curious about and interested in him. Nathan has never much cared to know what his baby sister is doing. But in the last couple of weeks all of that has changed. They now interact all the time! It's like the light switch went on for Nathan that he has a playmate. It started with a nighttime event when they were in PJs getting ready for bed. They suddenly began "chasing" each other around the living room and laughing. Nathan would crawl toward Kenna and she would crawl away as fast as possible, laughing all the while (she still doesn't do a regular crawl, but can move just as fast with the army crawl, slithering on the floor with arms and legs). Kenna laughing is also a new event - she would laugh out loud before when you tickled her, sort of as an automatic response, but now she is laughing out loud at things and it all started with her laughing at Nathan crawling after her! The funny thing is, originally I don't think Nathan was even crawling after her, he just came near her and she thought it was funny and crawled away quickly. But over time he joined in and now laughs too. This has now opened up a whole new world of interaction at different times, especially mealtime. When they try a new food they look at each other as if to say, "what do you think?" (sometimes while spitting it out!) They also reach across the high chairs to touch each other and sometimes just start laughing. It's so adorable when they connect like that! And I just love finally hearing Kenna laugh!
Need...more...containment devices!
Looking back on my last post, I can't believe it was only July 25th that Nathan mastered the crawl. I mean, he is EVERYWHERE. Opening drawers, pulling up on things, pulling on electrical cords (still working on baby proofing...), you name it. He knows when I say come here, and crawls with a big smile fast toward me, straight into my lap. Melts my heart every time. :) Kenna has that army crawl perfected and has shown no interest in getting her tummy off the ground. But she moves as fast as Nathan so why would she care?! She too is into everything and especially loves to pick small specks off the floor and study them as she slivers around. Kenna LOVES to investigate rugs for some reason. She picks up the different corners and pulls them up and down. Now that they are so mobile, they have a lot less interest in toys. They want to move chairs, look at rugs, open kitchen drawers, play with cords and anything else that isn't meant for them. I've started working on teaching them "no" and need to do babyproofing very soon (like yesterday). But, I don't want to completely baby proof because I want them to learn boundaries with some things that aren't dangerous but that they just aren't allowed to play with. I'm making some progress with a firm no and hand squeeze. Kenna listens much better than Nathan. He will whine then go back to what he wanted. Kenna looks at me, doesn't like that I am not happy, and moves on!
Kenna finds a new sleeping position...
Months after learning to roll over both ways, Kenna has decided that she wants to sleep on her stomach suddenly. With Nathan, he learned to roll over, and there has never been a day since that he has slept on his back. Kenna always slept on her back, but just the last week has been sleeping on her stomach. I was really surprised when I first saw it and a little scared because it was so unlike her! But it's been consistent for a few days so we may two stomach sleepers now.
Making baby food
This is really, really unlike me, but I have decided to make as much of the babies' food going forward as possible. I keep trying to figure out why I want to do this, because it is SO not like me, and here is what I can come up with:
1) I've gotten really into cooking in the last few months and making baby food is a great way for me to systematically learn to cook pretty much every vegetable and fruit! So, for one, it's a cool learning experience.
2) I have a lot more control over what they are eating. I really like the idea of them eating pure, fresh food in its original "form" without added preservatives and all those other things in the ingredient list on jars. I love knowing that when they eat pears, they are...just eating pears. Fresh and pure. Baby food can be on the shelf for up to 3 years in some cases with all the stuff that is in it!
3) I want them to have healthy eating habits, and this is a great way of supporting that. You can make a lot more variety than you can ever buy in "baby food packs". I want them to have the opportunity to learn about and like lots of different foods. So many kids are so picky and don't get well balanced diets, and it's my goal to avoid that as much as possible. I never thought I would be "that" mom, but I hope my kids don't know what fried food is for a very long time. :)
4) I can more easily control portion size. I have big eaters! When you buy those jars or packages, you are somewhat limited to the portions they come in. When you make your own food, you can freeze in whatever portions are most practical for you.
5) In addition to all that, it's cheaper!
On another food note, I'm peeling everything before preparing to get rid of as much of the pesticide residue as possible. It's hard to wash it all off and babies' bodies are much more sensitive to it (they get 60 times the exposure given the concentration of their foods). Anything without a peel I will buy organic. I can't believe I'm saying that, because like I said, I am totally not the I-buy-food-at-Whole-Foods-and-Trader-Joes-person-because-of-environmental-and-social-issues by nature. But I've been reading about organic food more and while my kids are small, I think it's worth while to give them the majority of food that is either peeled or organic given how much more they are impacted by it (compared to adults). I have a special concern about chicken and want to only feed them natural chicken, hormone free - I have endometriosis, which is thought to at least be partially caused by the extreme levels of estrogen in chicken (for people who eat a lot of meat). If I can minimize Kenna's risk at all of endo by only giving her hormone free meat at home, I think it's a very worthwhile pursuit.
So far I have made: peaches, pears, apples, mangos, bananas, carrots, zuchini, broccoli, asparagus, and garbanzo beans.
I will have to post some pictures later...gotta go find a nanny!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
A big event
One difficult thing about having two babies rather than one is that you can't go to the grocery store because only one baby fits in the cart. While we were using the double snap and go there was a nice storage area underneath and I could at least do a small trip. But last week we had to tuck it away because the babies have outgrown the graco car seats that snap into it and they now have the big convertible seats instead. So we now use the side by side Combi everywhere. It's a great lightweight stroller but there is virtually NO storage. I thought that was the end to my even light weight grocery shopping with the babies. BUT...
drum roll...
today we went to Costco, which is the only place I've ever seen with two baby seats in the cart, and the babies had their first grocery cart experience!! Yes, I did a full Costco shopping trip with Nathan and Kenna riding in the front. I'm so excited (I actually really like grocery shopping because I've gotten way into cooking lately). It occurred to me that if they can sit on their own now, they should do fine in the cart so we ventured out. I parked in the back of the lot where I spotted a cart so I could try it out there and abandon the mission if they were falling over. SUCCESS!
As a side note, I knew I was going to post about this so I decided to count how many people stopped to talk to us (people are fascinated by twins). 17! Yup, 17 people talked to me about them. I think they looked pretty small in the cart compared to babies you usually see sitting up, and with two of them, they caught everyone's attention. It was lots of fun. I really never get tired of people wanting to see them. I'm so proud of my little babies. :)
drum roll...
today we went to Costco, which is the only place I've ever seen with two baby seats in the cart, and the babies had their first grocery cart experience!! Yes, I did a full Costco shopping trip with Nathan and Kenna riding in the front. I'm so excited (I actually really like grocery shopping because I've gotten way into cooking lately). It occurred to me that if they can sit on their own now, they should do fine in the cart so we ventured out. I parked in the back of the lot where I spotted a cart so I could try it out there and abandon the mission if they were falling over. SUCCESS!
As a side note, I knew I was going to post about this so I decided to count how many people stopped to talk to us (people are fascinated by twins). 17! Yup, 17 people talked to me about them. I think they looked pretty small in the cart compared to babies you usually see sitting up, and with two of them, they caught everyone's attention. It was lots of fun. I really never get tired of people wanting to see them. I'm so proud of my little babies. :)
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Sitting, Crawling and Sick!
We have been very fortunate that the babies have only been sick once since birth - when they were three months old they had a cold for about 3 days. Well, cold #2 is now under way. It started with Nathan sniffling, then I got sick, now Kenna and we are all three a mess. I have it worse than they do fortunately (I have the additional thrill of throwing up too, which they don't seem to have). Kenna had a 102 fever yesterday but we gave her tylenol and it brought it down. The only thing worse than 2 sick babies is being sick yourself at the same time! I feel really bad for them not being able to blow their noses on their own. I keep using the nose sucker thing but with as much as I blow my own nose I know they must be miserable.
I'm pretty sure we brought this home from the church nursery, which is where I think we got it last time. No more nursery for a while.
I've been posting about how Nathan has been entering new crawling phases and finally pretty much perfected the one knee at a time thing. Well, if he was at 90% ability before, I can safely say this morning he hit 100%. Crawling before was a thing of necessity for him. He would see something he wanted and find a way to crawl to it. But this morning he went exploring all over the house on his own, for the sake of exploring. I watched in awe as he crawled across our hard wood floors, through the kitchen (where he never has tried to go) and around the dining room with no problem. No falling to his stomach and resuming, one long consistent Christopher Columbus style exploration. :) Wow, you can guess what we will be doing today. I never thought baby proofing would suddenly become so urgent. The way our house is, it's hard to baby proof. We have an empty room in the entry way that I have wanted to turn into a playroom eventually and now is the time. We've picked out a cool wall storage system and rug to start and Bryan is going to go pick it up today. I'm really excited to do something with that room.
There is such a difference between this age and the first 6 months or so. Today I'm sorting and putting away all their old close, breaking down swings, putting bouncers and tummy time things in the garage, etc. It's a whole new stage. I need to go buy some new types of toys for them ASAP. I really feel like we have little kids now and not babies! It's really exciting.
Lastly, I think we can also safely say this is first week when BOTH babies are sitting up for long periods of time on their own! It's amazing! Here are some pics:
A couple of other updates...Kenna is constantly saying "mamamamamama". OK, I know that she isn't referring to me but it is so clear when she says it with a big huge smile that it melts my heart anyway. It is SO precious. I can't even imagine when she says it for real what it will be like. Lastly, our babies are really starting to "argue". Nathan wants whatever Kenna has and immediately grabs it away. If she grabs it back he doesn't care, but when he takes from her she cries immediately. Very different personalities. :) We're working on "No" but it's not very effective thus far!
I'm pretty sure we brought this home from the church nursery, which is where I think we got it last time. No more nursery for a while.
I've been posting about how Nathan has been entering new crawling phases and finally pretty much perfected the one knee at a time thing. Well, if he was at 90% ability before, I can safely say this morning he hit 100%. Crawling before was a thing of necessity for him. He would see something he wanted and find a way to crawl to it. But this morning he went exploring all over the house on his own, for the sake of exploring. I watched in awe as he crawled across our hard wood floors, through the kitchen (where he never has tried to go) and around the dining room with no problem. No falling to his stomach and resuming, one long consistent Christopher Columbus style exploration. :) Wow, you can guess what we will be doing today. I never thought baby proofing would suddenly become so urgent. The way our house is, it's hard to baby proof. We have an empty room in the entry way that I have wanted to turn into a playroom eventually and now is the time. We've picked out a cool wall storage system and rug to start and Bryan is going to go pick it up today. I'm really excited to do something with that room.
There is such a difference between this age and the first 6 months or so. Today I'm sorting and putting away all their old close, breaking down swings, putting bouncers and tummy time things in the garage, etc. It's a whole new stage. I need to go buy some new types of toys for them ASAP. I really feel like we have little kids now and not babies! It's really exciting.
Lastly, I think we can also safely say this is first week when BOTH babies are sitting up for long periods of time on their own! It's amazing! Here are some pics:
A couple of other updates...Kenna is constantly saying "mamamamamama". OK, I know that she isn't referring to me but it is so clear when she says it with a big huge smile that it melts my heart anyway. It is SO precious. I can't even imagine when she says it for real what it will be like. Lastly, our babies are really starting to "argue". Nathan wants whatever Kenna has and immediately grabs it away. If she grabs it back he doesn't care, but when he takes from her she cries immediately. Very different personalities. :) We're working on "No" but it's not very effective thus far!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
More teeth!
Kenna now has both of her top teeth coming in - they are just about to break through the gum! I guess she is getting all her teeth in pairs. :) Nathan's bottom tooth is still pushing through and now we can see it is slightly at an angle. Hopefully that will resolve itself. But no sign of the other tooth yet. Kenna will certainly beat him to a toothy smile!
Nathan has almost perfected his crawl. He is getting places fast. He has even figured out how to go from crawling to sitting. We have an urgent need to do the following now:
1) BABY PROOF!
2) Lower the crib mattresses before Nathan figures out how to pull up (which could happen any day)
3) Switch the car seats to the convertible ones. Even though those Graco snug rides are supposed to last until about a year, they only go up to 22 pounds and Nathan is just about there! He barely is fitting in his seat. So we need to swap out. I'm really sad about not being able to use the snap n go stroller anymore though. It's so much more of a hassle to take the gets out of their car seats everywhere and rebuckle them in a regular stroller!
Nathan has almost perfected his crawl. He is getting places fast. He has even figured out how to go from crawling to sitting. We have an urgent need to do the following now:
1) BABY PROOF!
2) Lower the crib mattresses before Nathan figures out how to pull up (which could happen any day)
3) Switch the car seats to the convertible ones. Even though those Graco snug rides are supposed to last until about a year, they only go up to 22 pounds and Nathan is just about there! He barely is fitting in his seat. So we need to swap out. I'm really sad about not being able to use the snap n go stroller anymore though. It's so much more of a hassle to take the gets out of their car seats everywhere and rebuckle them in a regular stroller!
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Two Nathan milestones this morning
While feeding the kids breakfast this morning, I noticed something white in Nathan's mouth...sure enough, he had the bottom left tooth break through this morning! There is just a little white peaking through but it broke the gum line. The other one looks close! Kenna's literally came in within 2 days of each other, so it will be interesting to see if Nathan does the same.
Secondly, Nathan figured out this morning how to crawl without double-knee hopping - he went across the living room one knee at a time! I think it's official, we have a crawler!
I can see how exhausting this is going to be...both babies are into EVERYTHING. This is going to be a hard stage because they are too young still for "discipline". It would be much easier to say, "Nathan if you touch my computer cord one more time you are going to your room." Any advice on how to at least teach them what "No" means at this age? I know most books say that they can start to understand that now, but I'm not sure how. I will tell Nathan no in a firm voice repeatedly and move him away then he keeps going back.
Secondly, Nathan figured out this morning how to crawl without double-knee hopping - he went across the living room one knee at a time! I think it's official, we have a crawler!
I can see how exhausting this is going to be...both babies are into EVERYTHING. This is going to be a hard stage because they are too young still for "discipline". It would be much easier to say, "Nathan if you touch my computer cord one more time you are going to your room." Any advice on how to at least teach them what "No" means at this age? I know most books say that they can start to understand that now, but I'm not sure how. I will tell Nathan no in a firm voice repeatedly and move him away then he keeps going back.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
A few updates
Nathan has been lounging around in the full crawling position (hands and knees, tummy off ground and everything) for probably 6 weeks. I thought he would crawl forever ago because he looked so ready! Well, he still isn't crawling in that perfected baby crawl stage, but this week he has definitely entered another stage. He moves forward both knees at the same time in a little "hop", then stretches out and gets in position to do it again. He basically gets all over the living room like that. He is unstoppable. Bryan has to get on the whole baby proofing thing!
Kenna hasn't made it to all fours yet (with tummy off ground) but she has no problem getting around either with some combo of slithering and rolling. She has been so extra cute lately with her two bottom teeth. :) I think she'll have the top two soon also because the gums are all swollen. Nathan has been teething but no teeth yet!
I have one problem right now that I wish I could solve. Nathan has been waking up at 5 am for the last few weeks! I never go in until 6:45 so he just lies there talking, whining, making sounds, etc the whole time. I end up in and out of sleep for the whole time so it's not exactly restful. Every book I have says you can't control the wake up time and I have found that to be true. We put him to bed one night 1.5 hours later and he woke up the same time. He's not starving or anything - I usually don't even feed them until 45 minutes after they get up and they are fine during that time. He doesn't have a dirty diaper, it's not overly light in the room, and he never is rewarded with me coming in. But weeks and weeks this has gone on!! And then he gets super cranky too early before his 9 am nap. I still make him hold out until then to go down but it's like his bio clock is stuck on 5 am. UGH. Poor Kenna - she's such a great sleeper and sometimes by the time I come in in the morning she is sucking her little tiny thumb trying to get back to sleep! Any ideas?
Lastly, I wanted to mention that at our 7 month appt they were both in about the 95th percentile of height - Kenna shot up since the last one from 70 to 97! They are growing like crazy! Nathan weighs over 20 pounds and Kenna over 18.
Kenna hasn't made it to all fours yet (with tummy off ground) but she has no problem getting around either with some combo of slithering and rolling. She has been so extra cute lately with her two bottom teeth. :) I think she'll have the top two soon also because the gums are all swollen. Nathan has been teething but no teeth yet!
I have one problem right now that I wish I could solve. Nathan has been waking up at 5 am for the last few weeks! I never go in until 6:45 so he just lies there talking, whining, making sounds, etc the whole time. I end up in and out of sleep for the whole time so it's not exactly restful. Every book I have says you can't control the wake up time and I have found that to be true. We put him to bed one night 1.5 hours later and he woke up the same time. He's not starving or anything - I usually don't even feed them until 45 minutes after they get up and they are fine during that time. He doesn't have a dirty diaper, it's not overly light in the room, and he never is rewarded with me coming in. But weeks and weeks this has gone on!! And then he gets super cranky too early before his 9 am nap. I still make him hold out until then to go down but it's like his bio clock is stuck on 5 am. UGH. Poor Kenna - she's such a great sleeper and sometimes by the time I come in in the morning she is sucking her little tiny thumb trying to get back to sleep! Any ideas?
Lastly, I wanted to mention that at our 7 month appt they were both in about the 95th percentile of height - Kenna shot up since the last one from 70 to 97! They are growing like crazy! Nathan weighs over 20 pounds and Kenna over 18.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to our new blog! Most of the blog will be about Nathan and Kenna, our precious baby twins, with some other thoughts about life along the way. :) Thanks for visiting!
Family vacation pictures!
Last week we went on our first prolonged (i.e., more than a weekend) family vacation! We went to Mammoth, in the Eastern Sierras of California. It's the most amazing place, and a place that we have gone back to over and over again the last few years. Even though it's known for skiing/winter activities, I love Mammoth even more for the summer beauty of hiking. We can't backpack overnight just yet with the babies (a favorite activity of ours), but we are definitely getting them on the hiking trail, as you'll see below! The beautiful lake pictures with the mountains in the back and Nathan and Kenna in front were taken at Heart Lake, in Little Lakes Valley, near Mammoth (up from Rock Creek Lake and Tom's Place if you know the area). I think those are my favorite pictures ever. :)
The babies did great and celebrated their 7 month birthday up there! They also started to sit up for longer periods when we were there (maybe half a minute now). It was just wonderful to share a vacation with them, even if it wasn't exactly a "relaxing" vacation!
The babies did great and celebrated their 7 month birthday up there! They also started to sit up for longer periods when we were there (maybe half a minute now). It was just wonderful to share a vacation with them, even if it wasn't exactly a "relaxing" vacation!
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