Decisions, Decisions

IU or UNC? As far as were concerned, this will be the major question the babies will need to answer in their lives (as opposed to who will they marry, what career path will they take). Nick and I have been joking about this since way before they were born. Where will they go to school? Will they go to UNC Law School or IU Med School. Of course both of us will be trying to influence them as much as we can until they turn 16 (they will probably be going to college early because they will be geniuses -- ha ha). Nick has mentioned trying to paint their room Carolina Blue (that I idea was promptly squashed...we decided on the neutral color of green). We also try to dress them up when we can in various college attire. I personally think they look much better in crimison and cream (see picture on previous post), but I will let y'all decide. The UNC picture above was taken on the same day...

We're 3 months old!

Time just goes by too fast...the babies are 3 months old today! Can you believe it? They have gone from itty bitty newborns that could barely open their eyes to plump little babies that can coo and smile. Jack weighed in yesterday at 12 pounds 7 oz, and Claire is 10 pounds 4 1/2 oz.

Yesterday, though, I decided that I would look through their closet to see if there was anything new that they were able to fit into. I started sorting through and pulling out a bunch of cute stuff. Then I realized that there were things that they have outgrown...before they have had a chance to wear them! My mom told me this would happen. I just didn't think it would happen so soon! It seems like a week ago they were swimming in all the 0-3 month clothes, and now Jack is into some of his 3-6 month clothes. They are just growing up so fast!!!!

By the way, don't worry UNC fans out there. I fully intend on putting a picture with their UNC outfits up soon!

The experiment continues - Day 3

Time for afternoon nap again, but it doesn't come quite as easy today. Jack seems to want to sleep. I put him down and after moving his legs around for a while he finally settled down and went to sleep. Claire doesn't seem as into it today, but she has been overall a lot fussier today than usual. Not sure why. She isn't crying a lot or anything, she is just really "squirmy" and seems uncomfortable. Maybe it is just gas. For those who don't know, Claire is the gassy one of the two. For such a delicate thing, she burps louder than a 200 pounds man and her poots are smellier than an elephant. I feel bad for her. Mylicon doesn't seem to help. We even had her on a different formula at one point, but that didn't help either (in fact, I think that made it worse).

Back to the story...so Claire is in the crib and is moving all around and grunting, but not crying...so I am going to wait until she starts to cry and then snatch her out (so she doesn't wake up Jack). Hopefully that won't happen and she will just fall asleep. She has been in there for 9 minutes now. I'm crossing my fingers.


UPDATE: We made it 23 minutes before she started crying. Not bad. Jack still asleep...

Who says lightning can't strike twice?

So, I figured that yesterday was just a fluke. Maybe the babies were in shock or something. They couldn't possibly want to take a nap in their crib two days in a row. I mean, for the past 2 months they have napped everywhere else but their cribs. So, I decided I would try it again. After their "lunch," they had a little playtime with mommy (which usually is more of me making a fool of myself either singing to them or reading to them...they just looked at me kind of glazed over like "are you crazy?" Oh well). Anyway, after playtime, they looked kind of tired (especially Jack...his eyes were so heavy). So, I just put him down in the crib with his paci. Then, Claire was still pretty awake but was starting to slow down a little, so I put here in there too. I turned on their sleep sheep (and by the way, if you have babies and don't have one of these, you gotta invest. They are a lifesaver!), and they are still in the crib as I type! Both of them are asleep!! I put them in at 1:55, and it is now 2:20 and no crying, no fighting it. If this works three days in a row, I will be amazed. I am going to try again tomorrow, but I am not going to get too brave. Just one nap a day in there for now. Can't push my luck on this one.

So I'm out a hundred bucks...

That is the last time I bet Nick a hundred bucks on anything!! What was I thinking? So, as you have read in my previous posts, I have been trying to break the habit of having them nap on me all day (so that I can get some stuff done and also so that the nanny doesn't have a hard time when she tries to get them to nap for her). I have been thinking about trying to put them in their crib for naps for quite a while, but I haven't really had the guts to try it (I am never really up for an all-out cryfest). This morning after their 10:00 feeding, Nick says, "lets try and put them in their crib for a nap." I, of course, scoff at this and say, "you are welcome to try it." So, he says, "if you were putting odds on this in Vegas, what would you say are the chances they will sleep in the crib." "100 to 1, " I say (mainly being silly, but that is what I thought...especially Jack. I mean, no way is he going to not put up a fight). So then, Nick goes upstairs and gets their swaddle blankets and proceeds to swaddle Jack and put him in the crib wide awake. Jack starts kicking around and looking around, but doesn't cry. Then, he swaddles Claire who goes in the crib and falls asleep as soon as she hits the sheet. Now I figured Claire would be okay. She always is. She is a good sleeper and very content, but Jack...he doesn't like naps that don't involve him being held. So Nick then says, "do I get my hundred bucks?" I, sarcastically say, "it has to last more than 5 minutes...give him time." This was at 10:55 a.m. It is now 11:24 a.m., and since you can obviously see that I have time to write this post you can guess what happened. They are both still asleep in their crib. Unbelievable!! I guess I have to go get my checkbook...

Bad habits die hard

Okay, so I have been doing a lot of reading and researching on how to get the twins to sleep longer/more consistently (which they aren't doing if you read the posts below). Turns out, there are billions of books/articles/web pages on this subject. All have different opinions and ideas. I also get a lot of advice from friends and family. "You gotta keep 'em up til they are really tired (like 11) and then they will sleep the rest of the night." That doesn't work because then they are so tired, they won't go to sleep (and just cry and cry). Our doctor told us to try rice cereal in their bottle. This just constipates them (and they don't sleep any longer; furthermore, they are fussy the whole next day because they need to poop). Some advice we refuse to try (just let them cry...even if it is for 4 or 5 hours...they will eventually learn they need to sleep). I just can't do this one. I hate to hear them cry for even 5 minutes. I can't imagine hearing them cry for hours and not doing anything.

This gets me around to the header of this post. Almost all the sleep books etc. agree that one thing you have to do is get them to sleep in their cribs. Nick and I have done this consistently with them at night (they always sleep in their crib at night). Where I mess up is for their naps. They still are taking about 3 naps a day (however none of them in the crib -- often in their bouncy seats or boppies). The worst is in the morning. Every evening I vow that in the morning I will have them sleep in the crib for their nap. Then, I am so exhausted in the morning that I want a nap too, so I am too tired to try it. They like to sleep while cuddled up on me in the morning and when I put them in their crib for a nap, they cry. Because I need a nap as much as they do, I just give in and let them sleep on me. I can't resist their little faces. I eventually am going to have to give up this habit, though, or when my nanny comes on a more regular basis so I can work is going to have a horrible time (and probably quit on us).

The real answer to all this sleep business, though, is that they will sleep when they are neurologically ready. But, as we all know, this could be 3-4 months or longer. Most parents aren't that patient (including us). So, I will continue to search for the sleep solution. Any more ideas out there?

The Smeller is the Feller

Okay, so babies generally smell pretty good. Something about their skin...Nick is always saying that he wishes he could bottle it up. Me too. I don't know if it is what they eat or they baby shampoo or what, but I just love to sniff on them...with one exception...Jack's hands! Yuck!

Nick and I have been trying to figure out why, but Jack's hands smell terrible. We have just noticed this these last few days. It is like he keeps them in the back of his diaper (although I am quite sure he doesn't because I watch him all day -- I have yet to see them even in the vicinity of his diaper, really). He doesn't keep them in his mouth either, so that isn't it. Claire's hands aren't really stinky at all, so I guess it is just a mystery. I hope this isn't a permanent thing. Otherwise, it will really take a toll on his social life.

Sleepless in Gastonia

Just when we think we have it all figured out, the twins have thrown us for a loop again. The babies have been great sleepers. We are truely blessed in this department. Considering they are only 2 months old, they have been sleeping for 6-7 hours a night for a few weeks now (and basically just wake up to eat). But I think that all this cooing they are doing recently is really a secret language between them, and they have been plotting some sort of sleep deprivation experiment on us these last few days...

Friday night was great. It was one of those nights where I had to go check on them because I couldn't believe they hadn't woken us up yet. They went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 3:30 (and were incredibly quiet in between). We fed them and they slept again until 7. Perfect! This was exactly what we needed. On Saturday night I didn't think this could be repeated, but then 330 rolls around again, and they are just starting to get up. Nick and I were beginning to think this was a trend. So Sunday night, we set our alarms for 3:15. Maybe this was the problem. We shouldn't have gotten smug. We figured that we could wake up before they did, get their bottles ready, feed and go back to bed. Not too much to expect -right? HA! The twins decided that they didn't feel like going by that schedule last night. Instead, they woke Nick up at 1:15 and pretty much every 15 minutes they grunted, cried and spit out their pacifiers until they had their bottle. So, when they finally got their bottle, we thought, "hey, maybe they will sleep now." Not so fast...they had other plans (which included more crying/grunting and pacifier tricks until 645am).

So, of course, since they didn't sleep last night, you may be thinking that they will get in some good naps today. I would think that too...except that they are both looking at me with wide eyes right now (and Jack with a little grin) as if to protest any attempts I make to make them nap.

So much for sleep. I'm going to go get my second diet mountain dew for the day.

Are they identical?

"Are they identical?" Okay, so I am a little sleep deprived and this is a rant. Excuse my attitude and sarcasm, but today I decided to dedicate my post to this question. I get it all the time. To me, it seems so obvious. Of course they aren't identical -- they are a boy and a girl!! I guess I could kind of understand if they were both boys or both girls, but people need to think this through... The more unbelieveable part of this is that I get this questions from people that are twins themselves, nurses, and last night, even a doctor!!! That one surprised me the most. It isn't like in medical school we just got a talk about the stork dropping off babies in the hospital. We had in depth discussions about genetics. Come on, now. They should know better.

The other question I get a lot is almost the opposite of this question. "How can they be twins? They don't even look alike." My twin brother, Jimmy, and I got this question our entire childhood. I guess this goes back to the concept that some people don't understand what it means to be a fraternal twin.

I thought about at one point making a FAQ handout or something that I could give to anyone who asked me these questions, but my husband told me this would be over the top. So, I have resigned myself to just politely answering these questions and the numerous others that I continue to get such as:

"Do twins run in your family?"

"Did you take fertility treatments?"

"I thought it skipped a generation?"

"Which one of you is smarter?" (got that one growing up --now I get "Which of your twins is smarter/cuter/your favorite etc?"

"Are they the same age?" (another personal favorite...I guess the answer is no if you consider that Claire is one minute older)

Okay. No more ranting for today. Jack and Claire update for today -- Nick saw Claire smile a little this morning too. I have yet to really see it for myself though. Jack hasn't done anything new except refuse to take his morning nap this morning. I have him draped across my belly as I type, and he is wide awake cooing (picture above is what he should be doing right now).

Mommy gets to leave the house!

Oh what a wonderful thing!! I don't get to leave the house too often, so when I do, I feel like a new woman. Our nanny came today, and I got to go to a doctor's appointment and a meeting (okay, so when a meeting is the highlight of your day, you really need to get out more. Its sad, really). Of course, when I leave, the babies do all kinds of glorious things that I never get to see. For example, they apparently took an hour and a half nap...at the same time!! What?! Then, Claire showed our nanny a little smile today (which I have yet to see except maybe when she has gas). Oh well, I guess these things will happen for me someday soon too.


Weights haven't changed much after the weigh in. Jack was 11pounds and 4 1/2 oz and Claire was 9 pounds 1 and 1/2 oz. I think they were having an off day yesterday (they both spit up a lot and Claire refused her 4 o'clock bottle). I predict that they will gain more tonight.

Daily Weights

When Claire was born she was a tiny 4 pounds 10 oz. Jack was 5 pounds and 15oz. When they came home from the hospital, they were 4 pounds 3 oz and 5 pounds 7oz respectively. They were exclusively breastfed for the first month, and I admit, I was always worried if they would be getting enough food (I think breastfeeding does this to some people....I have always been someone who likes to quantify things, and with breastfeeding you can't really do that which drove me nuts). They both were gaining weight that first month, but slowly. This worried me a little, so my husband suggested we get a scale. Since we have gotten the scale, though, we have weighed them every day. We call it the nightly "weigh in." We have started doing it with their nightly routine (undress, weigh, bathe, eat, go to sleep). Hopefully this will not give my children some sort of eating disorder in the future. Anyway, I am excited to say that although they are not exclusively breastfed anymore (they still get a little pumped milk along with their formula), they are gaining weight beautifully! As of yesterday Jack was 11 pounds 4 oz and Claire was 9 pounds 1 oz!!! They are getting so big. I can't believe it!!

First Day blogging

Well, it seems like everyone else has a blog, so why not me? The twins are a little over two months old. I finally am getting my head out of the sand a little.

I have been telling my mom for a while now that I need Jack and Claire to start doing "tricks." By that I mean that I want them to do something more than just eat, sleep and poop. I need something to help me to keep going. The sleepless nights, crying, pooping and peeing on everything I own is really starting to take its toll. The other day both Jack and Claire hit the little hanging fish on the swing. That was a big day for me. But today was even bigger! Today, Jack smiled at me! What a wonderful thing. It really makes it all worthwhile. Now I have challenged Claire to do the same. She has started cooing a little (and Jack has been too), so I am hoping the smile is coming soon!