Beds and Binkies

After all the crazy shook down with Ryan's speech evaluations we were told that the pacis had to go. Now, truth be told, we had planned on getting rid of pacis a long time ago. Like when they were one. And then again when they were 18 months. Once Lola was 6 months old and past the SIDS risk. And then when she started sleeping regularly we decided we'd just wait until the twins were 2. That came and went and we thought we'd just let them agree to give them away at some undecided point in the future.



My kids are the amazing sleeper (12 hours overnight, 2-4 hour naps daily), terrible eater variety. So we weren't about to mess with the one thing we had going for us. Except now we had to. So the night of his final evaluation we drove to a farm near our house and threw our pacis to the baby cows. You can tell Ryan was thrilled to be giving his away.

By default Lola had to give up her paci too, because the big kids definitely would not have understood why she got to keep hers but they couldn't keep theirs. The first night was horrific. Our kids have never put up a fight when it comes to going to sleep. We literally put them in bed, close the door and leave. Reese asked for her paci and we said we gave it to the baby cows and she was over it. Ryan, on the other hand, pitched a holy fit for 90 minutes. Lola, the no pun intended sleeper in this situation, cried for three hours and ended up sleeping on the boob most of the night. You're welcome for that visual.



For naps the next day, Reese again just needed a reminder about who we gave the pacis to. Ryan cried for 45 minutes. The baby was a hot mess. By bedtime that night Lola was the only one still putting up a fight. And just like that our paci days were over.



Driving to the field and tossing the pacis seemed a bit superfluous at the time, but it was the best thing we could have done. The kids will tell us, "I gave my paci to the cows, remember?" Reese has also decided that the baby horses are using her unwanted pacis now too.



Lola turned into a finger sucker, which we were afraid would happen. So this week we snuck the paci back to her at bedtime. It's been interesting hiding her pacifier from the twins. I feel like I'm playing a game of toddler roulette. But we've decided that it's easier to take away a pacifier than it is to cut off her fingers. So that's that.

This week we're in Nantucket and usually we travel with pack and plays, but I decided that I didn't want to have to buy or borrow a third PNP for the trip and I was too cheap to rent them on the island this week. So I made the executive decision to buy bed rails and pack those instead. (Lola, of course, has a PNP we brought from home.) I figured if things got really zoo-y we could always call the rental place and get a set of cribs.



Again, my kids just rolled with it and rocked it out completely. I have to say, we were both shocked. The first night I just had to lie with Reese and snuggle for a few minutes. We talked about going to the beach and building sandcastles and I told her that she just needed to get some sleep before we could go. She was content with that as a promise. Ryan couldn't have been happier to be in a big bed. No fussing at all.

And even though it is only a guard rail on a bed, they don't get out on their own. They ask us to help them down. It's like some sort of imaginary barrier for them, which is an unexpected added bonus.

You know, as parents we built up these bedtime routine things to be so much bigger than they were. I feel bad that we've sold our kids so short. Or maybe we're just really lucky that they're so agreeable. Either way, I am so proud of my big kids for being so freaking awesome.

Tag You're It

Well, it's official. As of this week I have two mobile babies. One (almost) walker and one spider monkey.











The kids are putting their mobility to good use. Namely, beating the snot out of one another, stealing each others' toys and pacifiers, pulling things down off of tables and counters and tackling mommy with hugs and kisses (which makes up for the rest of that crap).



I love nine months.

Poor Gracie

To say that our four-legged daughter is shocked by our two-legged daughter's mobility would be the understatement of the century.







Poor thing never saw it coming. And boy is she in for it now. That tail is like baby catnip.

22 Days

That's the amount of time that elapsed from her first rock on all fours to today, when she crawled for the first time. I tell you 22 days felt like 22 years.

 






Of course she learned to crawl and pull up to her knees and pull up to a standing position all in one day, which means our (still) gate-less house has officially become a death trap.

I Think Reese Might Have This One...

As a result of this video, we'll be spending the upcoming weekend childproofing the house. I thought we had more time. Obviously I was wrong.







Clearly I'm a bit biased, but this kid couldn't be any cuter.

Going...Going...

I'm wondering how long it will take her to figure out that she needs to move her arms and legs at the same time. Although, for now, her push up/wiggle wiggle wiggle dance is adorable.







I thought Ryan was going to be left in the dust, but he turned out to be a total sleeper. And if there is something that he wants to get to he tries much harder than Reese does.







I think that's probably because she can roll to get places if she gets really frustrated. There's a lot of screaming and grunting happening right now while they try to figure out how to coordinate their movements. I'm sure their immobility and desire to be mobile is contributing to the noises too.



The babies are 7 months next week and I think I can say for certain that we'll have two crawlers by month 8. I just can't figure out who'll make the first move.

Fourth of July (and 25 weeks old!)

Happy Fourth of July! We spent the first part of the weekend at Joe's parent's house (aka, the farm) and while it was a hike to get up there, we had such a nice visit. We did the usual - pack the kids in the car at bedtime and drive through the night. Which made for some very well adjusted babies and some ridiculously exhausted parents.



The kids absolutely loved being at their Nana Jayne and Grandpa Colonel's house. They have eight acres in the middle of nowhere, across from one of the Great Lakes. So the babies got to dunk their toes in some (very frigid) lake water, pull fruit off of trees in the orchard, and play in the shade. Joe's parents put up some swings in the tree branches on their property and the kids got a kick out of swinging and watching the wind blow the leaves.

 

{ Ryan ripping all of the peaches (and leaves) off of Nana's tree }

 

{ Puff taking a break from the swimming pool. Tough life. }

 

{ Ryan giving himself a massage while being fed. He gives himself a full rub down with every bottle. I think that means he loves to eat? }

They also got to spend some time hanging out with their Great Nana, which was a special treat. She got a kick out of how much the babies moved and "talked" and they enjoyed screaming, giggling and rolling for her all day long.

 

We headed back to civilization on Sunday night, again at bedtime, and my mom came up for the holiday. We had grand plans of a community fair and a petting zoo and going to the playground. But the kids had other ideas and spent the day taking long naps (no complaints here) and so we hung out at the house and barbecued instead. 

 

{ 25 weeks old } 

 

{ her bloomers reminded me of Wonder Woman. I wish I would have gotten her some gold slap bracelets for this outfit! } 

Puff decided to break out some new skills and milestones, just in time for her six monthday (which is next week). I'm very proud of her. In addition to sitting, she's also finally realized that she knows how to roll belly to back and back to belly. Combine the two, and you have a baby that can get places...fast. Add to this list of skills a baby that does a mean downward dog and plank, and I think we're close to having a mover on our hands.

It's funny to compare her and Ryan, since she seems to hit all of her major milestones early (rolling, sitting unassisted, eating from a spoon, drinking from a cup, standing and holding her own weight, etc.) while he just likes to lay on his mat and play with the butterflies. That makes him sound a bit like Lenny in Of Mice and Men. I promise, he's not slow. Just doing things at his own pace.

My mom watched the kids on Tuesday while I got caught up on laundry and went to the gym. Then Joe came home from work and we went to the farmer's market and stocked up on some more fruits and veggies. Mom stayed on baby duty while we cranked out peas, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, peaches, plums, sweet potatoes, apples and pears. The babies should be set for awhile. 

They are happily eating and trying new flavors and I adore this phase in their lives. Joe even taught Ryan a little trick...

which is super fun when you are trying to spoon feed him purees. Nice job husband.

Edited: I guess he's not that slow to hit milestones after all. Not to be outdone by his sister, Ryan surprised me today. In addition to cutting TWO teeth (the bottom, middle ones) he sat up on his own. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go fall over and die now. 

Rolling Babies

Reese mastered the belly to back roll at 3 months old, by 4 months she was rolling belly to back with a lot of regularity.





Reese Rolls Over from nikinikinine on Vimeo.



I should note that when Reese rolled for the first time I made such a scene that she started to cry. I'm pretty sure that's why she didn't roll again for another two weeks. I scared the crap out of her.



Not to be outdone by his sister, Ryan started rolling belly to back at 4 months




Ryan Rolls Over from nikinikinine on Vimeo.



Just this week, Reese started rolling back to belly. I have yet to catch it on film. But the other day I left the babies on a blanket in the living room, on their backs, both head to head. I went to get toast out of the toaster and came back to the living room to find Reese on her belly three feet from where I left her.



I think it's time to get one of those baby fighting cages. The days of statue babies seem to be long gone now.