Where Is Spring?

Who knew, when I last posted in January, that three months later it'd still feel like the middle of winter? We keep getting teasing days of warmth followed by another flurry of snow or frigid "Polar Vortex" days. Uncool, Mother Nature. Uncool.

When it is nice out, the kids love to run around outside.

That's right, run. Since I last posted, they have figured out walking and moved right along into outright running. They cannot be stopped. We take them out the front door and they want "Down" and they want it NOW, and then they want to frolic straight into the street. Or to sit down in some muddy grass.

This is what they've driven me to.

We briefly dabbled with letting them walk in and out of daycare, but soon they realized they had this thing called FREEDOM and another thing called DIVIDE AND CONQUER and we were lost. Indigo would be picking up cigarette butts while Periwinkle cruised into an oil slick. So, no more. At least not for a little while.

We did have one glorious day on which they got to run around outside in the backyard playing with their little house and running after a soccer ball (they get that from Blue), and another day on which we went to the local children's museum. It's so wonderful getting to go and DO things with them, as opposed to just lugging them around to whatever we are doing.

At the children's museum. Can you imagine this many of them?

There have been meltdowns (Periwinkle) and pretzel binges (Indigo) and sleepless nights (all of us) but mainly, we are doing well. This age is truly a blast, and I'll be writing more about their individual progress in their 18 month letters. (crap, I just realized they turned 17 months this week and I didn't even realize it! Worst mom ever over here...)

Sorry for the blurry photo.

I just wanted to say hi to whoever is still out there reading. I'm going to try to post more often as we get out and about more and experience life with two TODDLERS.

Taking a break from toddling and looking adorable. They're lucky they are cute!

(On a side note, I've lost 20 pounds since starting Project Sheep Rescue in January 2013 and for the life of me I can't find the damned sheep sweater for a "midway" photo. 20 pounds to go...)

Fun Facts

1. Indigo hasn't bitten anyone in over a week. Yay! I feel like we should have a countdown (countup?) for this. Something like this:

2. Black Cat knocked over our tree this weekend, scaring the beejeezus out of all of us, but especially Indigo, who was perilously close to said tree. I thought we'd lost all our glass ornaments, but shockingly only two were shattered and three were broken and hopefully fixable.

3. Periwinkle and Indigo are apparently the "mayors" of their daycare room. They wave and say "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone who comes in. Everyone. When should I start teaching them to not talk to strangers?

4. They have perfected the "Who, me?" face. For example:

5. They look ridiculously cute in their hats. See here:

6. Periwinkle is really into mimicking. We've gotten her saying, "Wow", "Boomer" (White Cat's name, although it is more like "Booma" so she's got the Boston accent down even though we live nowhere near there), and "Tree," which is more like "tee". Pretty exciting stuff. Time to stop swearing, pronto!

7. They are obsessed with pouches. If they see me packing them in the diaper bag they flip out until I give them one. We have to be very stealthy with the pouches, or it's meltdown time. Luckily this means they eat all sorts of veggies quite willingly via these pouches. They do also eat whole veggies, but the pouches are great for when we are out and about. I recommend Ella's Kitchen, Sprout, and Plum Organics.

And that's it for today. I just thought you'd all like to know these things. Have a great day!

A Letter to Indigo at Eleven Months

Dear Indigo,

My little cuddle bug. You've come a long way from being that scrawny "velociraptor" you were in the hospital, although you've still got quite a set of lungs. Lately I've been wondering if you are confused and think you are going to be turning two, not one, because you seem to be breaking out the temper tantrums a bit. You seem to get into fights with the shape-sorter cube on a daily basis, which end in you face down on the blanket screaming. We really wish we knew why you were getting so frustrated, but we'll keep trying to help you out.

Turning into a little boy.

And the other side of the coin, you are a gentle, sweet, and loving little boy who loves snuggle time with Mommy and Daddy, but especially Daddy. You've gotten into the habit of crying at bedtime again. We don't want you to prevent your sister from sleeping, so we remove you from the room and you end up falling asleep on one of us. The past week or so, I've tried to break this habit. I'll hold you until you are calm and sleepy, but awake, then put you down in your crib. You start to cry again but I quickly soothe you by rubbing your back and behind your ear. Eventually, you are asleep. Last night I didn't even have to hold you (but I did miss those snuggles). I just kept rubbing your back. If I stepped away, you started to cry, but a reassuring, "Mama's here" calmed you down again. I think you miss us. I think we don't get enough time together during the week so you just soak it up on the weekends and at bedtime. I'm sorry, little man. We miss you too.

More hugs!

But you are making so much progress at daycare and we are so proud of you. You are getting better at waving, and are a pretty awesome high-fiver. You stand with such pride, and I know you'll be walking, holding our hands, just as fast as your sister, any day now. But best of all, you are so expressive. You tell detailed stories with such earnest facial expressions, such perfect inflections of your voice, I can almost understand what you are saying in your baby babble. I do love a good story.

High Five!

You are definitely having fun testing your boundaries. You will repeatedly grab at bottles in the wine cabinet, turning around to look at us with a sly grin when we call your name and tell you no before reaching for them again. You think the tray of DVDs under the TV is yours to play with, and you recently discovered one of the cabinet doors moves. Part of all this is the many bumps and falls you've had as you realize the ottoman rocks back and forth and the new stroller will roll away from you if you try to pull up on it. But you keep trying. You are one determined little boy.

You braved your flu shot at the doctor's office, and are 22lbs even and 29.25 inches long. Your head circumference is 46cm. You are in 55th percentile for weight, 58th for height, and 69th for head size. Basically, you're right on track!

Trying to escape?

You are really into books lately, especially the one that makes animal noises. Every time I push the puppy and it barks, your face gets this look of such astonishment and delight and you give a little shout as if saying, "Mama, did you hear that? Amazing!" It's perfect. You like turning the pages, even if you are holding the book upside-down. And you love pointing to the kitties. I think you are making the connection with our two kitties, and I love it.

Nothing like a good book

One of the best parts of my day is still picking you two up at daycare. The second I walk through the door and you two realize I'm there, it's off to the races. The baby races, that is. You both just bolt for me across the floor. If I pick one of you up, the other will cry. If I pick neither of you up, you both cry. There is no winning. But I just love how excited you are to see me, because I am just as excited to see you. We put on some kids music in the car on the way home and have a grand old time singing along to "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Old McDonald." You seem to really enjoy the sound effects.

Let the race begin!

I love you, little man, with a "moo, moo" here and a "moo, moo" there.

Love,
Mama

Checking out the ground

A Letter to Periwinkle at Eleven Months

Dear Periwinkle,

Eleven months. Is that it? Only eleven months knowing you; your smile; your sweet, sleeping face? Impossible. You bring such joy to our lives every single day that it seems a part of us must have been missing before you came into the world. And lately you have been bringing that joy in such fun new ways.

What's up, Mama?

You can now wave and say, "Hi!" in this adorable, chipper voice. One rare night when you fought going to sleep, I was holding you and you just kept waving and saying, "Hi!" like that would somehow save you from bedtime. "Look, Mama, I'm doing that thing that always makes you smile! See, I'm waving!" It didn't work. Mama won that battle. But it was damned cute. We're working on "Bye" now, although you will wave and say, "Hi" as we leave a place. Daddy says we should have taught you "Ciao" instead, since that works both ways. We'll get there.

This past week you also brought "Uh oh" into the picture, out of the blue. You'll say it and then drop something (wrong order, sweetie). And sometimes we'll just hear this little voice from the backseat saying, "Uh oh." Always with a slight pause in between. Daddy and I just crack up sometimes because it is just too cute we can't take it anymore.

Red Sox girl (to Daddy's chagrin)

You also learned how to high-five at daycare. I'm hoping since you are getting good at these hand gestures you'll soon start doing some of the baby sign language too, especially "all done" and "more." Sometimes you don't want your whole bottle anymore and you slap it away and we end up with formula everywhere. A simple hand gesture would be much cleaner, thank you.

So much hair!

You've also started sticking up your pointer finger. I'm trying to get you to associate that with the question, "How old are you?" so maybe by your birthday (in only a MONTH) you'll be able to proudly raise that little chubby finger in response. We'll see how that goes.

You also seem to be using that finger to actually point at things. You pointed at the Cat in the Hat stuffed animal Grandpa G got you but then seemed apprehensive when it got closer to you. You two are still in negotiations about physical boundaries, it seems.

Pointing at the Cat in the Hat

Another foe is the big orange ball. It started out in the pool but has come inside since your brother really likes it. But we keep it away from you because if it gets to close to you, you cry and cling to us. We get it, baby girl, we'll keep you safe. Except in "Chloe's Color Book" (thank you Citrus Lane) there is a big orange ball, and you always point to it when we get to that page. Always. And almost never do you point at anything else in the book. It's as if you are working up to the REAL orange ball by touching the one in the book. You'll get there.

Exploring

You are now a pro at walking around holding our hands. You pull up on your crib constantly and are starting to make your way around it on your own. You pull up on basically anything you can. A few times, you've been standing holding my hands when you let go, and you stood on your own for at least five seconds before you fell onto your rump. I don't think you even realized what you did, but I was so proud.

Not the safest choice for pulling up

You're also quite the prolific artist. In your new daycare room, where you are doing quite well and are apparently the "boss", even of kids older than you (that's my girl! Taking after Mama!), fingerpainting is a near-daily activity. You've painted apples, leaves, handprints, and a snake. I guess it's time to buy some art supplies for our house!

Turn off the flash, Mama, it's 6am

This month we went to the Big E in Massachusetts with Grandma and Grandpa. You saw lots of big animals and were very brave around them, and also quite fascinated by them. You also went to the doctor. You are now 20lb 13oz and 28 inches long. You got your flu shot like a champ. The doctor said you are perfect.

I'm so proud of all your accomplishments this month. You are so engaged with the world around you and you just soak it all up. Keep learning, little girl. Learning is pretty awesome.

Love,
Mama

Starting to "read" books

Hello Again

I know I've been neglecting the blog lately. So sorry! But with two babies who are figuring out how to get around there's no more just putting them down and doing other things anymore. They can scootch off the couch at will, roll all over the place, rotate, switch places on the blanket on the floor, amble far off of the blanket in the blink of an eye, and Periwinkle is even figuring out how to reverse-crawl to some degree. No rest for this mama!

On the move

Periwinkle is even getting really good at sitting up on her own. Indigo still needs the bumbo seat, or two boppies behind him, to stay upright. He'll get there. As usual, he's about a month behind her on the physical milestones.

 

 

Periwinkle got some new hairbows this week. Blue hates them and thinks they are unnecessary. Of course he also says he prefers me with no makeup, and makeup is VERY necessary, so you can see how I don't trust his opinion on girly things. Peri has been described as Aunt Jemima and Tupak Shakur. I think she's just adorable, either way! And she is obviously very happy with her new accessories.

Bag by the Love, Mich Collection (a high school friend makes awesome bags!)

She's been having some issues at daycare, however. For one, she has taken to shouting at her brother. She doesn't shout at any other kids, just him. And it startles him, and he gets that crazy wild-eyed look that he gets when he wakes up from naps or I use the flash on my camera. She's also taken to stealing toys from him. Whatever he is playing with, she tries to take. Once she gets it and he moves on, she wants that toy. It never ends. Once she finished her bottle first, so I sat her up. She promptly reached out for his bottle. I need to teach her about sharing...

Also this week I guess she and another baby a bit older than her were hanging out on the floor. The other baby took Periwinkle's socks off her feet and started waving them around in the air. Periwinkle burst into tears. I can't help thinking she wasn't upset so much that she found herself without her socks, but rather at the blatant taunting the other baby was doing. Because we are a pretty sock-free household once we get them home. I also can't help cracking up at the idea of the other baby stealing Peri's socks. All I know is that I've got my eye on that other baby now. No messing with my kiddo!

In any event, that's what's going on lately. I'll have a more Indigo-centric post in a few days.

Big Cousins!

A week shy of four months old, and Periwinkle and Indigo are big cousins! Blue's sister (the one we stayed with post-Sandy) had her little boy yesterday! He was 6lb 12oz and 21 inches long, so long and scrawny. I went to visit at lunch and Mom was looking fantastic and rested (I know I didn't look that good!), and the little guy was sleeping all bundled up like a baby burrito. He has a three-year-old sister and nearly two-year-old brother and they are all seriously the cutest kids ever, although the new addition definitely looks different than his siblings did when they were born. Can't wait to see what he looks like as he gets bigger!

I'm not going to lie, I got a few pangs of nostalgia for when ours were that small and kind of thought, "Hmm when can we have another?" I am insane. Don't worry--it's going to be at least another two years. Assuming we continue to do well with the two we have (we've been crazy lucky with pretty well-behaved kiddos). But I digress.

So, welcome little M! All of you kids are going to have so much fun playing together! This Christmas is going to be insane with five kids on the move...

And in a few short weeks, my stepsister is going to be having her little girl. Babies all around!

Happy Month-Day!

Hard to believe it's been a month already, and at the same time it's hard to believe only a month has passed. Our little babies are growing up! They are even wearing snazzy outfits!

Indigo is puzzled by the lack of sleep n play

Periwinkle is comfy in her new clothes.

It's crazy how quickly they are growing and changing. Indigo is losing his hair and now looks like he has male-patterned baldness. I can't remember if it had started up already when they had their newborn photo shoot last Tuesday (cannot wait to see those photos!) but he's adorable with or without hair. They are both eating 3.5oz fairly consistently, every 3.5 hours. A far cry from when we had to coax one ounce into Periwinkle in the NICU. So grateful for how well they are doing! Their one-month checkup is Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing how much they weigh. Indigo is out of Preemie diapers and I think Periwinkle is soon to follow. I feel like I'm going to blink and they'll be a year old. For now, I'm just enjoying them, crying jags and all.

And a belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all! We are still swimming in leftovers... and I'm psyched to decorate for Christmas!

Ten Days Old Already

How did that happen? Indigo is doing well at "home," winning everyone over with his easy-going nature. We only had one night where he was screaming his fool head off, which we decided was caused by gas. He slept like a, well, baby the rest of that night. He makes these little squeaky noises that sound adorable until they turn into velociraptor level shrieks (usually when Grandma is changing him, although he's getting better about that). He's definitely put on weight!

Periwinkle is unfortunately STILL in the NICU. Her blood sugar and eating issues seem to have resolved (no more tube feedings!), but for the past week she's had bradycardia episodes every few days. That is when her heart rate drops below 80. I don't want to know how far below 80... Every time she has an episode, she has to spend five more days there without an episode for them to release her. First we thought Monday, then Thursday, and now we're up to next Saturday. The good news is they think they know why it's happening and will be doing some testing to see if they are right. If it is caused by reflux, they can either give her thickened formula or medication and it should all resolve and we can take her home. Hoping...

She is an absolute doll and we've visited her twice a day for the past few days to do her feedings. She's now in real clothes (yay for a shopping spree at Babies 'R' Us! for tiny clothes), is more alert and "frisky," and just melts my heart. It's never fun leaving her there but we hope she knows we'll always come back for her. Also not fun are the long lines you have to go through to get gas. We were almost out a few days ago and all I could think was "Without gas we can't visit Periwinkle!" We're hoping our tank lasts us long enough to get through the Sandy-related gas problems and/or until we get her home.

So that's the basic update. Now, for some photos!

Indigo before leaving the hospital.

My girl

Indigo believes in Baby Power!

Real clothes!

Also, today we brought Indigo to the hospital, along with my mom, to see if we could orchestrate a little reunion through the NICU window. I'd say we were successful!

First time I've really seen them together.

First family portrait (kind of)

Hurricane Sandy

Sandy has certainly made our week interesting. But compared to the devastation in NYC (only 40 miles from our house) and even around our neighborhood, we have no complaints. We lost some siding on the house, and part of our fence. Easy enough repairs, although a bit frustrating as we just fixed the fence this summer after 2011's Hurricane Irene pulled a tree down on top of it. But we are all healthy and safe.

We lost power Monday and by Wednesday decided it was just getting too cold for Baby Boy, who shall henceforth be known as Indigo. We also ran out of clean clothes for him, so we packed up all our stuff and headed to my sister-in-law's house. So we're hanging out with her and her kids for a bit, enjoying watching them scope out the new baby in the family, showering in hot water, eating hot food, and having heat. So thankful to them for taking us in!

Indigo is doing very well. He's such a mellow baby, and even put himself back to sleep last night after a feeding. Our only problem is he keeps peeing out of his diaper. We are using preemie size but it still seems too big for him so there's leakage. We're working on it, but any tips are appreciated!! That's about the only time he cries, other than being hungry. And when he cries, he sounds a bit like a velociraptor, which is kind of hilarious.

We finally got to visit Baby Girl, henceforth Periwinkle, last night. We got to cuddle her, and my mom even got to hold her for a bit. She just keeps getting more beautiful. She is out of the incubator and into a normal nursery bassinet!! Yesterday she tube fed only a third of one feeding. Everything else was bottles, if a bit slow-going. Go Periwinkle! She needs to go two days of eating from bottles only and they will likely send her home. Hopefully we'll have power back by then...

So that's the update on the babies and the crazy week of the hurricane. I could go on about how nutso it is that there's no power south of 39th Street, that Staten Island has been flattened, that people I know have experienced tragedy, that all this happened when we were just bringing a newborn home, but I'm just grateful he and Periwinkle are safe and warm. What more could a new mama want?

36 Weeks!

And they are here! It's been a crazy couple of days, for sure.

Last Monday I started experiencing crazy itching, including on my palms and feet. Since I couldn't sleep, I Googled. And saw that it could be cholestasis, which would mean my liver wasn't functioning properly, which could be bad for the babies. I made an appointment to see my doctor on Thursday.

At that appointment, my doctor listened to my symptoms. She rechecked my blood pressure. And then she told me to go to labor and delivery, pronto. It was very likely I had pre-eclampsia, in which case they would deliver the baby.

After a bit of monitoring, with my blood pressure near 145/99 (bad), they asked me when the last time I ate was. I got excited, stupidly thinking that meant they would feed me lunch (I tend to end up in L&D at mealtimes). But no, they had to wait six hours from my last meal before they could c-section me. It was happening.

And so began the phone calls. The doctors and nurses had been talkking like it could be several hours before there was a spot in the operating room, since there were a set of triplets and another set of twins also being delivered. And then they had me sign some forms, and said we'd be going in within 20 minutes.

Cue panic attack. Not really. I just went into a surreal zoned out mode as they did the spinal (a very odd feeling but not as painful as expected), attached IVs, and got me prepped. Blue came in all in scrubs, which was kind of adorable. I wish I had a picture of that. He was awesome at distracting me, and our conversation about Star Trek and baseball ended up including the surgeon, who was extremely nice and rather funny. Not what I expected!

I asked when they'd be beginning, and they told me they already had. Then it go weird feeling. Tugging, pulling, but zero pain (phew!).

And then I heard Baby Boy cry, and I totally teared up. He was here! He was okay! Baby Girl soon followed. Blue went to check on them as they stretched out under the heat lights, basking in the warmth.

As soon as they were done stitching me up, Baby Girl was placed in my arms, Baby Boy on my lap, and we got wheeled to recovery. They were both 19 inches long, with Baby Girl weighing 5lbs 1oz, and Baby Boy 5lbs 4oz. Their ultrasound weights from last Monday were accurate!

I got placed on a magnesium drip to help with my blood pressure, which ended up making me feel like I had the flu. Not fun. That was done after 24 hours, at which point I was able to actually focus on people again and really comprehend what people were saying. They had a good time laughing at me.

Unfortunately Baby Girl ended up in the NICU due to low blood sugar. She is still there, working on eating on her own, getting fed through a tube about half the time. Her sugar level is better, but now she is jaundiced, so she spends a lot of time under the bilirubin lamp to help her liver process bilirubin. We've had a great time bonding with Baby Boy, but it's been so sad visiting our daughter in her little incubator. Makes you feel quite helpless. We do get to hold her, and we just soak up that time with her. We can't wait to have her join us and her brother at home, hopefully by the end of the week.

And now, a few photos:

Blue feeds Baby Boy

Little Baby Girl

Baby Boy

I think she looks like me as a baby.

Me as a baby

Still Preggo, Don't Worry

I know I haven't posted much in the last week. I've just been too wiped out, really. But I am still preggo, still trudging along, although apparently whenever I call my parents, they see my number on caller ID and think, "Uh oh!"

My mother also has been dreaming about the babies coming. In one she related to me, I was in the hospital giving birth the old-fashioned way, and delivered one baby. Then I said, "I'm done," and tried to get up and leave the hospital with baby two still hanging out in my belly. My mom woke up and had to check her phone to make sure I hadn't called to say I was in labor. So they are taking care of the worrying for me, because I have had absolutely NO dreams about popping these babies out. I'm a bit zen about the whole thing. They'll be here a month from yesterday, or, in weeks, four weeks from this upcoming Wednesday. Crazy.

So this week makes 34 weeks! A very real possibility the babies could try to escape any time, although as of my last NST and ultrasound last Thursday, they are making no efforts to do so. The average delivery week is 36 weeks for twins, but still hoping they hang out until 38 weeks. With an end date for work in sight, I think I can make it. Starting this week I have to go twice a week for the NST and ultrasound, so two half-days at work a week. Still have to deal with the obnoxious commute, but I think I can deal.

This week the babies are butternut squashes.

What's cool is they can now distinguish between songs and might react differently to different songs. They probably react poorly to anything I sing, as I really have no ability to carry a tune. I should make Blue sing to them...

They also pee about a pint a day. Awesome. And kind of gross considering they end up swallowing it. Ewwwww!

One of my friends had her baby girl last Wednesday, so a shout out to Mama A and Baby K, who is absolutely beautiful. And another friend is having her baby boy today, so I am wishing her lots of luck! Can't wait until it's my turn!

Oh, in case any of you were wondering, I did manage to find Apple Orchard donuts in my hometown. Phew! Dunkin Donuts isn't a total fail.

Babies' Taste in Music... and Baseball Teams

Our babies seem to have quite the eclectic taste in music. The other day Nirvana came on Spotify at work and I swear the two of them were headbanging or something in there. They were definitely having a good time. So we might have little grunge babies.

A few weeks ago at Cirque de Soleil they really seemed to respond to a song with lots of bass drum. They like intense, I guess.

And then, just to make me love them even more, a few minutes ago "Sweet Caroline" came on Spotify and they started dancing around. This proves to me that they are Red Sox fans like their mama, something that is sure to send Blue into conniptions.

You see, I married a Yankees fan. We used to discuss how we'd win over ONE baby to our respective team, but with two I was trying to go for an even split. Blue says that's a no go. He's just being selfish, really. I figure they'll either end up hating baseball altogether, or become Phillies fans. ::shudder::

What I do know is that we coincidentally have two Red Sox onesies thanks to a dear friend who humorously bought them for us as a wedding gift two years ago. No Yankees baby stuff in our house... yet.

In any event, one team we CAN agree on is the Boston College Eagles. "Eagles on the warpath, oooh, ah!"