A friend of mine told me recently that she read that a baby is technically sleeping "through the night" when they start sleeping for five hours at a time. Tyler and Brody have reached this milestone as of a few nights ago. Seeing as how I'm not prepared to start my day at 2:30 a.m. I am not considering this sleeping "through the night." When they awake for the first time at around 5 a.m. I'll celebrate this milestone. Granted, five consecutive hours is better than two!
I've been back at work for a few weeks now and I actually welcome the change of pace. It's nice to get away and not hear a baby crying for a solid six hours. Although I do come home and nurse them on my lunch hour which is nice because I avoid the dreaded activity of pumping.
Hunter is back at preschool so I get a "break" three mornings a week when I'm "only" taking care of Brody & Tyler. I think he is enjoying this break too.
I've been running errands with all three in tow more and more lately. The other day we were at Kohl's with the double stroller and one of the funky Kohl's carts in which Hunter insisted on sitting. Picture me pulling the double stroller and pushing Hunter in the cart at the same time (in the middle of the two). It was a scene, let me tell you. A little while later when Hunter decided he was through with the cart he started wandering the aisles (close by me). A couple approached me with Tyler and Brody and said, "oh, are they twins?" This is a comment we hear at least four times at every store we enter. After I answered the woman said, "You're not here by yourself, are you?" I had to answer, "Oh no, my four-year-old is right over there." Her mouth dropped and she said, "I will be thinking of you next time I'm struggling with my teenagers at home." I think every stage is both challenging and rewarding at the same time and that's what I told her. Then both babies started to melt down and we had to check out as quickly as possible and leave. They only stopped crying as soon as the minivan started moving. I've decided that I refuse to be a prisoner to my home simply because we have twins. I have things to do outside of the home and it's not possible to always wait for John to get home from work for me to complete those things. Like, for example, shop with my 30% off coupon from Kohl's...hello?! It was expiring that day.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Worst parents?
GRANDPARENT WARNING! CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING...
John and I felt like the worst parents in the world last night because we sent Hunter to bed with no dinner. If grandparents are still reading you can rest assured that he woke up this morning none for the worse for having missed one meal. We had served dinner and upon seeing it he had said, "yuck!" This had become a nasty habit of his over the last week or so and it was really getting on our last nerve. When you spend an hour or two making dinner for your family a comment like that is the last thing you want to hear. We had warned him on a previous night that the next time he had made such a rude comment his dinner would be taken from him. As much as I hated doing it we had to follow through. I know he was testing us because he had said it with a softer voice and looked right at us to see if we would actually do it. After I took his dinner away he kept saying he was hungry with big tears welling up in his eyes. It was killing me to stick with our decision but I knew that I would be doing him such a disservice by backing down. He needs to know that we love him so much that we are willing to stand by and watch him suffer the consequences of his poor decision to disrespect us. It's never easy to watch your child suffer but we want him to grow up to be a man who respects not only us as his parents but authority figures in general. What kind of life would he lead without having this virtue? Would he be a good student? A law-abiding citizen? Caving in and giving back his dinner just because he's crying would teach him that disrespect is allowable as long as you show remorse afterwards. That's not true! Cuss at a cop that pulls you over and then say you're sorry and see how far that gets you!
After realizing we weren't kidding around his tears turned to anger and he started lashing out at John. We ended up not only sending him to bed with no supper but without a bath, stories, even without brushing his teeth (eek!), which he was especially concerned about. We thought that was pretty cute. He went to bed in his street clothes at 6:15 p.m. We were fully prepared for him to be starting his day around 4 a.m. considering his normal bedtime is at 8:30 p.m. but he slept until 8 a.m. this morning! Boy was he ever bright-eyed and bushy-tailed too! He made no mention of the happenings of the previous night nor of being starved for lack of food. This made me so relieved and happy for him that he learned a valuable lesson and only had to pay the price of one measly dinner for it. Needless to say at dinner time tonight he said, "Yum! This is so delicious!" I kid you not.
On another note Tyler and Brody are now smiling back at us (as of about a week ago), which is so much fun! They are still only sleeping about every three hours, waking from hunger. Their gasiness has gotten a lot better. It's still there but they are coping with it so much better. They are happiest when against a warm body (doesn't matter who so c'mon over!) and (this is key) moving around. Cuddling on the couch doesn't usually cut it. We're getting our exercise anyway!
I am back at school teaching as of this week. I welcome the change of pace but I worry about all the work that lies ahead. As you know, teaching isn't a profession where you can leave your job and be done until the next day. There is so much work that needs to be done outside of the classroom with lesson planning, assessments, grading, contact with parents, etc. That's the part that worries me. I'm not sure how I'll find the time to add anything more to my plate with the schedule that I keep at the moment. I am praying for the babies to start going longer between feedings and sleeping more at night. That will make such a difference!
Hunter started preschool this week as well. He seems to be excited to be in the 4K classroom because he has mentioned to me on more than one occasion that he doesn't want to be in the 3K room. I look at the 3K students and can't believe how little they are. Hunter was like them only a year ago? It's crazy how fast he is growing up.
Here's a random thought that popped into my head just now that I'd like to document for a future laugh...Hunter makes me smile because he says "blog" when he means "block" so when we are riding our bikes he'll say, "Are we gonna go like five more blogs?" Even when I correct him and say, "five more blocks?" he'll say, "no Mom, it's bloGs!" (emphasizing the G). I've stopped correcting him and just smile.
I know this post is getting pretty long but I have to also mention that John and I cannot believe this but Hunter is actually reading now. Not only did he start reading words a few months ago he is now reading sentences. They are simple ones, no doubt about it, but he is FOUR years old. We are blown away. We haven't sat down and taught him this skill. I wouldn't really even know how. Other than reading to him several times a day and demonstrating our own love for reading we have done nothing. We attribute this amazing feat to "The Electric Company." It's bizarre, I know, but this PBS program is seriously teaching him how to read. He started watching it about six months ago and fell in love with it's quirky songs and characters. I have to admit it is fun to watch on occasion. Soon after he was sounding out words! Then today when I got home from work John informed me that while on the Super Why! website (pbskids.org) he demonstrated how he could read entire sentences. AMAZING! That's my proud parent moment to balance out the guilt I'm still internalizing for making him feel so horrible last night. This blog has helped me work it out in my head a little more to ease my guilt though. Thanks for reading!
John and I felt like the worst parents in the world last night because we sent Hunter to bed with no dinner. If grandparents are still reading you can rest assured that he woke up this morning none for the worse for having missed one meal. We had served dinner and upon seeing it he had said, "yuck!" This had become a nasty habit of his over the last week or so and it was really getting on our last nerve. When you spend an hour or two making dinner for your family a comment like that is the last thing you want to hear. We had warned him on a previous night that the next time he had made such a rude comment his dinner would be taken from him. As much as I hated doing it we had to follow through. I know he was testing us because he had said it with a softer voice and looked right at us to see if we would actually do it. After I took his dinner away he kept saying he was hungry with big tears welling up in his eyes. It was killing me to stick with our decision but I knew that I would be doing him such a disservice by backing down. He needs to know that we love him so much that we are willing to stand by and watch him suffer the consequences of his poor decision to disrespect us. It's never easy to watch your child suffer but we want him to grow up to be a man who respects not only us as his parents but authority figures in general. What kind of life would he lead without having this virtue? Would he be a good student? A law-abiding citizen? Caving in and giving back his dinner just because he's crying would teach him that disrespect is allowable as long as you show remorse afterwards. That's not true! Cuss at a cop that pulls you over and then say you're sorry and see how far that gets you!
After realizing we weren't kidding around his tears turned to anger and he started lashing out at John. We ended up not only sending him to bed with no supper but without a bath, stories, even without brushing his teeth (eek!), which he was especially concerned about. We thought that was pretty cute. He went to bed in his street clothes at 6:15 p.m. We were fully prepared for him to be starting his day around 4 a.m. considering his normal bedtime is at 8:30 p.m. but he slept until 8 a.m. this morning! Boy was he ever bright-eyed and bushy-tailed too! He made no mention of the happenings of the previous night nor of being starved for lack of food. This made me so relieved and happy for him that he learned a valuable lesson and only had to pay the price of one measly dinner for it. Needless to say at dinner time tonight he said, "Yum! This is so delicious!" I kid you not.
On another note Tyler and Brody are now smiling back at us (as of about a week ago), which is so much fun! They are still only sleeping about every three hours, waking from hunger. Their gasiness has gotten a lot better. It's still there but they are coping with it so much better. They are happiest when against a warm body (doesn't matter who so c'mon over!) and (this is key) moving around. Cuddling on the couch doesn't usually cut it. We're getting our exercise anyway!
I am back at school teaching as of this week. I welcome the change of pace but I worry about all the work that lies ahead. As you know, teaching isn't a profession where you can leave your job and be done until the next day. There is so much work that needs to be done outside of the classroom with lesson planning, assessments, grading, contact with parents, etc. That's the part that worries me. I'm not sure how I'll find the time to add anything more to my plate with the schedule that I keep at the moment. I am praying for the babies to start going longer between feedings and sleeping more at night. That will make such a difference!
Hunter started preschool this week as well. He seems to be excited to be in the 4K classroom because he has mentioned to me on more than one occasion that he doesn't want to be in the 3K room. I look at the 3K students and can't believe how little they are. Hunter was like them only a year ago? It's crazy how fast he is growing up.
Here's a random thought that popped into my head just now that I'd like to document for a future laugh...Hunter makes me smile because he says "blog" when he means "block" so when we are riding our bikes he'll say, "Are we gonna go like five more blogs?" Even when I correct him and say, "five more blocks?" he'll say, "no Mom, it's bloGs!" (emphasizing the G). I've stopped correcting him and just smile.
I know this post is getting pretty long but I have to also mention that John and I cannot believe this but Hunter is actually reading now. Not only did he start reading words a few months ago he is now reading sentences. They are simple ones, no doubt about it, but he is FOUR years old. We are blown away. We haven't sat down and taught him this skill. I wouldn't really even know how. Other than reading to him several times a day and demonstrating our own love for reading we have done nothing. We attribute this amazing feat to "The Electric Company." It's bizarre, I know, but this PBS program is seriously teaching him how to read. He started watching it about six months ago and fell in love with it's quirky songs and characters. I have to admit it is fun to watch on occasion. Soon after he was sounding out words! Then today when I got home from work John informed me that while on the Super Why! website (pbskids.org) he demonstrated how he could read entire sentences. AMAZING! That's my proud parent moment to balance out the guilt I'm still internalizing for making him feel so horrible last night. This blog has helped me work it out in my head a little more to ease my guilt though. Thanks for reading!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Adventure!
Today I took all three boys out on our first outing solo. We spent it at Walgreens and Walmart. Exciting, I know...but we got that first one out of the way. I ran into my good friend Kim (Bessa) at Walmart. She had her four kids and the two babies she sits for with her and made it look effortless. She told me that I'll get there too in time. Actually the trip went very smoothly. Tyler and Brody slept the whole time and Hunter was...well, Hunter (very well-behaved). That double stroller sure is hard to maneuver through the aisles though. My arms were getting a workout just trying to turn it. It was nice to get out of the house. I've prolonged this journey because I have been fearing a double meltdown due to hunger and nursing twins in public is not my idea of fun. The timing went well though. We left shortly after they ate and just as we were pulling up back home they started crying because they were hungry again. Someday they will not be eating every two hours and we can venture out somewhere further I'm sure.
Sleeping is still scarce around here. The only one getting any is Hunter. I envy him and all that energy he has. They did both sleep four straight hours at the same time about a week ago. I got very excited thinking that we had made "the turn" but I guess it was a fluke. As I type John is crashed out on the floor of our living room trying to catch a nap before he takes over for the night shift. He gives one bottle of formula to them a few nights a week so that I can get a good 4-5 hour stretch of sleep. It helps my mood tremendously on those days! I’m getting ready to head off to bed here in a few minutes after the boys are finished eating (nursing right now) and then I’ll be up again at around 3 a.m. to nurse them again. They are 12 weeks old now and I’m wondering when that magical night will happen when we will all be well-rested upon waking.
Sleeping is still scarce around here. The only one getting any is Hunter. I envy him and all that energy he has. They did both sleep four straight hours at the same time about a week ago. I got very excited thinking that we had made "the turn" but I guess it was a fluke. As I type John is crashed out on the floor of our living room trying to catch a nap before he takes over for the night shift. He gives one bottle of formula to them a few nights a week so that I can get a good 4-5 hour stretch of sleep. It helps my mood tremendously on those days! I’m getting ready to head off to bed here in a few minutes after the boys are finished eating (nursing right now) and then I’ll be up again at around 3 a.m. to nurse them again. They are 12 weeks old now and I’m wondering when that magical night will happen when we will all be well-rested upon waking.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Life with the boys
Life with three boys (plus John) is a lot of work but lots of fun too! I love sitting down together as a family at the dinner table. It's my favorite. I don't know why it seems like more of a production with three kids vs. one but it does. What I mean is, Tyler and Brody are not eating with us yet but I still feel like it's more meaningful when we are all at the table. Well, T&B are usually in their bouncy chairs or pack 'n play but oftentimes one of us is holding at least one baby while trying to eat at the same time.
I've managed to figure out how to carry both at the same time somewhat comfortably. I put one in my baby wrap and have the other one cradled in one of my arms. The thing is that they are happiest when they are being carried around. I have had to resort to this technique while John is at work and it's just me at home trying to soothe both of them at once. Anyway, I should get a picture of this and post it somewhere. I have been so bad at sending out pictures this time around. The few on this blog are pretty outdated. I'm blaming it on lack of time. As it is it is 4 a.m. and I'm online trying to catch up with this blog and emails. I got up to feed the boys and pump and the computer was calling my name. I really should be sleeping though. I'm going to try to send out pics and update the ones here soon!
I think I've mentioned this already but Hunter is the BEST big brother EVER! He is so proud and gives them hugs and kisses lots of times throughout the day. He really loves babies and helps out with them tremendously. Oftentimes he will (unasked) go over to one of them while they are crying and stick a nuk in, bounce their chair or play music for them to try to get them to calm down. It's so sweet to watch.
I've managed to figure out how to carry both at the same time somewhat comfortably. I put one in my baby wrap and have the other one cradled in one of my arms. The thing is that they are happiest when they are being carried around. I have had to resort to this technique while John is at work and it's just me at home trying to soothe both of them at once. Anyway, I should get a picture of this and post it somewhere. I have been so bad at sending out pictures this time around. The few on this blog are pretty outdated. I'm blaming it on lack of time. As it is it is 4 a.m. and I'm online trying to catch up with this blog and emails. I got up to feed the boys and pump and the computer was calling my name. I really should be sleeping though. I'm going to try to send out pics and update the ones here soon!
I think I've mentioned this already but Hunter is the BEST big brother EVER! He is so proud and gives them hugs and kisses lots of times throughout the day. He really loves babies and helps out with them tremendously. Oftentimes he will (unasked) go over to one of them while they are crying and stick a nuk in, bounce their chair or play music for them to try to get them to calm down. It's so sweet to watch.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
2 month appointment
Tyler and Brody had their two month doctor's appointment today and are both doing very well. Tyler is now 21.5" and weighs 10 lbs. 1/2 oz. Brody is 21.75" and weighs 10 lbs. 5.5 oz. They are still only sleeping 2.5 hours at a time, waking from hunger. Their Pediatrician says this is completely normal considering they were supposed to be born on July 25th so we should think of them as 3 weeks old instead of 10. As frustrating as that is I know that this too shall pass and John and I will not be sleep-deprived forever.
They got their first series of shots today. They, of course, cried for about a minute and then settled down and fell asleep.
Hunter continues to be the greatest big brother ever, helping even when not asked. I catch him bouncing their seats and talking to them saying, "it's okay" when they are crying and he gets to them sooner than I am able. He gives them hugs and kisses at least five times a day and is very fair about it (always giving both equal love). It's so sweet.
They got their first series of shots today. They, of course, cried for about a minute and then settled down and fell asleep.
Hunter continues to be the greatest big brother ever, helping even when not asked. I catch him bouncing their seats and talking to them saying, "it's okay" when they are crying and he gets to them sooner than I am able. He gives them hugs and kisses at least five times a day and is very fair about it (always giving both equal love). It's so sweet.
Friday, August 7, 2009
When will they sleep?
Okay, I'm a little bitter. A friend of mine who had twins several weeks AFTER Tyler and Brody were born has just reported to me that hers are sleeping four hour stretches at a time. UNFAIR!!! T & B are sleeping only two and a half, which means that I get two hour stretches by the time I feed, burp, change them and fall back to sleep myself. Eight weeks of this makes for one cranky mommy. When will they sleep longer? Good thing they're so cute...that makes up for it a little bit!
On a happier note, Tyler's goopy eye has cleared up. YAY!
On a happier note, Tyler's goopy eye has cleared up. YAY!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Disconnected
I feel pretty disconnected from the world lately with being at home so much with very little time to spend online checking email and such.
My sister came from Arizona for six days to help us and boy did she ever work herself to the bone! She even vacuumed our house and weeded our garden on top of preparing meals and caring for the boys! She also got in some serious bonding time with Hunter. He really enjoyed all of the attention. We all squeezed in a trip to the Renaissance Faire while she was here and had a great time. Brody and Ty slept the majority of the day and Hunter was thrilled with the jugglers, fire throwing, jousting and rides. He is at a great age for it (four).
I've been on my own for the past several days while John is at work. It's challenging. I will leave it at that.
My sister came from Arizona for six days to help us and boy did she ever work herself to the bone! She even vacuumed our house and weeded our garden on top of preparing meals and caring for the boys! She also got in some serious bonding time with Hunter. He really enjoyed all of the attention. We all squeezed in a trip to the Renaissance Faire while she was here and had a great time. Brody and Ty slept the majority of the day and Hunter was thrilled with the jugglers, fire throwing, jousting and rides. He is at a great age for it (four).
I've been on my own for the past several days while John is at work. It's challenging. I will leave it at that.
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