4 month birthday

Time flies when you are having fun...Here are some pictures from today and one from yesterday (I didn't put them in matching outfits this morning. Sorry. Too tired). I think they are pretty cute anyway (even though I cant get them to smile for the camera. They definitely do smile, I promise). Also, Jack rolled over yesterday (Claire did a couple of weeks ago). So they are doing new tricks!

Anthropomorphism

Big word...I remember having to learn it when studying for the SAT (I knew that would pay off sometime). Anyway, if you didn't have to learn it for the SAT it means that you attribute human characteristics to non-human things. Nick was wondering last night what word describes when you attribute non-human things to humans (maybe something like animalmorphism - someone chime in under the comments section if there is actually a word for this.)? Anyway, he brought it up because we are always doing this to Jack and Claire. For example, Claire has learned to make this sound that sounds exactly like a hoot owl --"hooo, hoo, hoo." She does it over and over again (and believe me we haven't gotten sick of it yet - it is so cute). Then, because of her name (and the fact that she looks like a little teddy bear) we call her "Claire Bear." Jack we continuously refer to as a little piggy (he snarfs down his food like a little piggy). We seem to like to give our kids animal-like attributes. Wonder how this will affect them later in life-- will they be animal-lovers? Vets? Zoo-keepers?

Almost 4 months old

In 2 days, the babies will be 4 months old! Can you believe it?? They are doing all kinds of cool things...Claire rolled over a couple of times (Jack doesn't seem interested in yet. He is not into tummy time at all). Both of them love to coo and hear the sound of their own voices. They often have little conversations with each other in the morning. I wish I knew what they were trying to say. Anyway, I haven't posted any pictures in a while (and I am too tired to write much today), so here goes. One is both babies in our red leather chair in the study. They look very studious. Another picture is miss Claire in here bumbo chair. She just loves to sit and look around. Finally, there is Jack in his bouncy seat. He usually spends 45 minutes kicking in it in the morning and trying to see how much he can make it bounce. Unfortunately, he is going to outgrow it soon (legs are coming off the end quite a bit). More to come later in the week...

Teething?

I know. I know. All new moms blame everything on teething. Fussy? Probably teething. Drooling? Maybe they're teething. Fever? Teething. Eating everything in sight (including hands/toys/bibs/blankets)? Gotta be teething. Who knows. Claire Bear (as we affectionately call her) has been drooling a ton lately and really fussy. So of course, I jump to teething. I am not sure what this is all about. She just started all this in the last week or so.

But, she is only 3 and 1/2 months old (so this goes against this theory a little given that most babies don't get teeth until at least 4 months but usually closer to 6-7 months). But apparently her daddy had a tooth come up at this age (and then didn't get another one for a long long time), so anything is possible. I know that babies start developing their salivary glands around this age too, so maybe that is all it is with this drooling stuff (but she seems a little excessive...yesterday she her outfit had to be changed 3 times because it was soaking wet).

Anyway, if it is a little toof, I hope it pops out soon. With all this fussiness recently she hasn't been getting much sleep (and neither has mommy). This is making us both fussier...

New tricks from the twins

Today both twins have decided to do some new tricks (clearly I looked tired and bored and they wanted to entertain me). Claire has been lifting her head all the way up during tummy time and actually almost rolled over once. Wow. She is going to be crawling before I know it (maybe I need to call the baby proofer soon). Jack has been very grabby lately. He has been grabbing my hair, my shirt, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and lifting it up to expose his chubby little tummy(and smiling sheepishly as he does this. It is very cute). I thought that all of these things were sort of an accident...he didn't know he was doing it. But then today I figured out that he actually has a little control over his hands these days. I put his paci in his mouth today, and instead of spitting it out, he reached his hand up and pulled it out! I thought that again, this was probably just an accident. Then I put it back in and he pulled it out again. Okay...maybe he does know what he is doing. Finally just a minute ago, I put it back in, and he pulled it out and held on to it and started swinging it around (he is probably wondering why I keep sticking it in...obviously he doesn't want it or he wouldn't be pulling it out). Of course now I will keep putting it in so that I can see the trick until I get bored (which will be at least a day or two). Sorry Jack.

Out on the town!

Okay, so it has been awhile since our last entry, but we were out doing exciting things! Last Tuesday was the twins first outing into the real world (not going to family members house or the doctor). We went to the mall! (very appropriate first outing if you ask me). Now, it wasn't exactly easy...we had to time things just right. Immediately after their 11:00 bottle, I changed their diapers, got them dressed and rushed out to the car (that I had already pre-packed with the diaper bag, formula, bottles, blankets and stroller). The pre-packing took about 30 minutes and then preparing the babies took another 15 minutes - so a total of 45 minutes of prepwork for a 2 hour trip, but oh well. It was worth it. We headed off to the mall, and on the way they, of course, fell asleep. When we got there, they still slept in their carseats until I got them in the stroller. Jack stayed asleep, but Claire woke up and wanted to look around. We went in, and I checked in at the picture place (the whole point of this trip was to get their 3 month professional pictures taken). They said it would be about 20 minutes, so I decided to go get some food. Claire was awake this whole time...very curious about what was going on. When I get to the food court, a small crowd gathers around my stroller wanting to look. Of course, I wouldn't let anyone touch them (worried about the germs...I don't want them to get infections!). It was amazing how everyone is so fascinated with two babies! I did get some of the typical questions (see previous blogs) including the "are they identical?" and "are they the same age?" Never ceases to amaze me. I really think I should create a handout with FAQs.

Anyhow, we get back to the picture place and now Jack is awake, but all Claire wants to do is sleep. We sit her up in the chair to get her picture taken next to Jack, and she keeps leaning over on his shoulder and falling asleep. We try and wake her up so that she has her eyes open, and this makes her mad and all red-faced, so the pictures of Claire don't turn out very well. Jack's aren't perfect, but at least he kind of smirks in one of them (and I was standing on my head just to get that out of him!)

Anyway, the pictures got done (it will take a few weeks for them actually to come back), but I think they turned out pretty well considering. The babies were being so good afterwards, that even though I thought I was pushing my luck, I decided to go shopping for a little while. We went to Children's Place and got them some clothes (and cute little sunglasses). Then I got some sunglasses for myself. They really didn't start fussing until the very end when it was closer to their bottle time. I was pretty impressed. I might actually be able to do this again sometime...

Obsession with poop

Why is it when you have babies all of a sudden you are obsessed with poop? When did he/she last poop? When are they going to poop again? Have they pooped today (and if not will they be fussy because they haven't?) Why is the poop green/yellow/brown etc? Why does his/her poop smell so bad? Will this diaper hold all of this poop? Why does the room smell so much like poop? It is bizarre really. I don't think I have ever thought about poop this much in my life (and I hope never to again).
Jack and Claire seem to have pooping rituals already. Jack starts grunting and moving his legs around (but not crying) right before he is going to poop. When he actually does poop, he seems pleased with himself and becomes content with an occasional grin like"guess what I just did." When I change his poopy diaper, I think he is actually laughing at me. He starts smiling and cooing...
Claire's ritual involves false alarms. She poots really loudly and it smells exactly like she has pooped her diaper. Of course when you look in her diaper there is nothing there. She does this about 5-6 times in a row. Finally you check it and there is special surprise. She doesn't seem to laugh at me as much when I change it though...yet.

How early can I potty train???