Twin Parenting: January 2014

It's been a while since I've posted. Who knew working, raising two babies, trying to have a life/marriage, staying up-to-date with your shows, etc would be so time consuming?

Both girls are continuing to do so well. They are both in the sitting up for a little bit until they topple over stage. But doing a lot more playing and interacting with the world and preparing to be mobile soon. God help us when those two are on the move because it's going to be nuts!

A few weekends ago we had two play groups in one day. First we went to one with a few of the girls I work with plus their friends. This was nice because almost everyone lived in Rocky River and the babies were all pretty close in age so will be in the same class. It's pretty obvious being around kids that were born on time that the girls are a little behind for their actual age but right on schedule for their adjusted age. AKA although they are 7 1/2 months, they seem more like 6 months because they were six weeks early. The second one was our twin group meet up (see pic below). Shockingly, with eight babies, we still managed to get in a game of Apples to Apples. It was really fun!

They are really into their jumpers right now. Brooklyn (as the crazy baby) has already been jumping like a maniac and Bailey just figured out a couple days ago that she can jump up and down too.

Darren and I have actually had a few chances to get out recently. We went to my work party (theme 1920s, and yes I am on the planning party committee like Angela in The Office) which was amazing. And like a miracle, the girls slept soundly till 8:10 am the next morning when I woke them up because I was getting nervous. Bless their little hearts for not waking up at six am after mommy had a few cocktails. We also had a date night and saw a movie a place called a "movie theater." Did you know, for two tickets to see a 3-D film it cost $30!?!? (Crocker, go figure). But Gravity was very good if you are wondering!

It's been super cold due to this polar vortex and it being winter in Cleveland so the poor girls have to be super bundled up each morning before day care. They do not care for all the layers, ha.

Darren is doing really well post-surgery and while he still can't do everything, he is able to pick the girls up and change diapers again (HOORAY!). You will never realize how much your spouse does until they are out of commission.

I am still making all the girl's food. They are doing great. They are even starting to eat bites of our dinners (depending on what it is) so they are getting a good variety. They've even had a little meat and cheese (very small pieces obviously). Still loving their fruits and veggies for now. Hopefully the healthy eating habits stick with them!

I hadn't planned on ever getting a video monitor but a couple of the girls in twin club mentioned a brand that was only $65 on Amazon. Done and done. I am so curious once they are able to stand up what crazy thing we witness. Stay tuned!

I am so thankful for all the new friends I've made in my twin group. It's been so fun discussing our chaotic lives and comparing survival strategies with people going through the same thing.

I am still only bathing the babies about once a week. Perhaps this makes me a slacker mom or a realistic one. I started using a laundry basket since they are too big for the infant tub and that works a lot better.

In other news, Darren and I both signed up for the half marathon in May. I'm running two to three miles on the treadmill a few days a week so I have a lot of training to do, but I have time! We'll see how it goes. My goal is to finish and not worry about my time. I only have three to five pounds left of baby weight (depending on how mean or generous the scale is) so we are almost there.

A final funny story. My cousin Mandy had her daughter Kate's baptism yesterday (and yes, I dressed the girls in red ball gowns). So we took the girls to mass beforehand. And everywhere we go, it's like a freak show because people love twins and want to come and ask questions (and obviously my favorite topic is to discuss how cute my babies are, so this works for me). Usually there are the standard questions (are they twins? are they identical? where did you deliver? do twins run in your family? how do you tell them apart? what are their names? how old are they? were they early? etc) but I got a pretty good one from a woman who was obviously a little mentally unwell. She asked me, "did you fertile?" which I am pretty sure she meant, did you use fertility treatments? But I really liked her wording lol. "No, I didn't use fertility treatments, twins run in the family."

Oh yes, if you'd like to watch some videos of the girls on YouTube, have at it: