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And so 2009 is coming to an end. It was a year that brought about a lot of change for our family. There was of course the arrival of Hannah and Leah, and the return of bottles and baby toys. And as Joseph stated yesterday after drinking a glass of milk, "I got big and strong. I can drive." And while he may not be able to drive yet, he sure did grow up fast over the past 12 months. He went from being a toddler in a crib to a boy in a bed who knows all about the state of Wisconsin, leaves, animals, artists, letters, and numbers (which taught me that I am not smarter than a 2 year old). Hannah and Leah went from tiny newborns to almost three month olds with rolls in their legs and an uncanny ability to poop clean diapers. Since I was pregnant most of 2009 I spent most of the year organizing and reorganizing while blessed with the gift that is bionic hearing (though oddly it only works with my kids and small birds....not on my husband). Before the girls arrived we took a family vacation out to Seattle, and throughout the year spent lots of time at beaches, pools, discovery world, and the zoo. Jay also traveled to Bangalore, Hyderabad, London, Denver, Maine, Boston, New Jersey, Sarasota, and Richmond for work and managed to squeeze in a fishing trip to Kabetogema, Minnesota. It was a busy year filled with new experiences and lots of new cousins! Not sure yet what 2010 will bring but I imagine it will involve a minivan, a double stroller, and a whole lotta diapers!
This is how we feed Leah (arms) and Hannah (boppy) at the same time. A little trick we learned watching the teachers at daycare when Joseph was a baby...though at the time I never thought I'd actually need to know how to feed two babies at once. ;)
Leah Rose
Height: 23in (75%)
Weight: 11lbs .5oz (60%)
Head: 38.5cm (50%)
Hannah Lu
Height: 23.75in (90%)
Weight: 11lbs 5oz (70%)
Head: 38.5cm (50%)I was going to take the girls to their appointment by myself today, figured after two months I was up to the task of handling shots and exams. But I must admit I was relieved to hear Jay's key in the door while I was frantically scarfing down lunch and listening to Hannah cry as we were preparing to leave the house. And I was even more relieved after the doctor's appointment. I could have handled just the shots for both girls... but combined with the examination by the "fellow", the exam by the doctor, the cries of hunger, and the feeding of both girls in between the exam and the shots....well...it would not have been easy. The shots were actually the easy part...though Leah let out the loudest, highest pitch cry we have ever heard. Even woke Hannah up out of her sleep, and that is a first! Both girls were asleep within minutes of being done with their vaccines. (Here's to hoping it stays that way!) Crying wasn't a surprise...but their growth measurements were. I figured they'd both be the same height...and that they would both be on the small side. Wrong....and wrong again. Odd considering I am hardly ever wrong about anything. ;)
Whether it be a significant milestone or simply flatulation....the girls are starting to smile more often. They coo too...and their once stick skinny chicken legs have turned into meaty lamb chops. No chunks yet...but they are definitely getting bigger. We have our two month checkup with the doctor next week and will have our official weigh in....and first round of shots. Which also means first dose of tylenol. Ah the wonder that is acetaminophen. And not to get overly hopeful, but I do recall Joseph's two month checkup being the start of sleeping through the night. Last night the girls had their last bottles at 6:30, Hannah passed out by 7 and Leah screamed bloody murder until closer to 8, and both of them stayed asleep until 2:30, then back to bed and up for the day just after 6 a.m. If we could ditch the screaming part then we could easily live with one bottle a night for a bit longer. ;)
"Why?"
That is Joseph's response to the request of "tell me why?" It seems he is very literal. He also enjoys eating hangleburgers (translation: hamburgers)
The girls and I had a good day today...running around to the doctor's office, babies r us, the mall, the bank. And then when I realized how nice it was outside we even took a walk. Then evening came, and some crazy she-devil took over Leah's body. Jay quickly realized all the crying was due to gas (not soap poisoning), and hallelujah we actually had some gas drops in the house! We learned last week from cousin Oliver that these work wonders. And crazy enough, 45 minutes later our lovely Leah returned. Her crying was so bad I was wondering if we were going to have to take our first late night car ride, driving around in a flippin minivan looking for a mcdonald's that stays open late and has lattes. (also got this idea from uncle Patrick)
It seems as though the ladies are on the way to being "wake up once a nighters". Last night they both had their final Thanksgiving feast around 8pm, Hannah woke up for her first black friday breakfast at 2:30am followed by Leah at 3:30 am. We did not however stay up for shopping. Right back down to bed and then up at 6:30 for Hannah and 7:45 for Leah. While some of you may cringe at these times...this is pretty amazing for 6 week old babies. Let's hope I'm not jinxing myself by writing about it! One thing that hasn't been as easy this week...bedtime for all three kids. It's as though they all huddled together and decided that 8pm was no longer a time that they were willing to be in bed by. Thankfully we are in Winona and there are some extra hands to deal with three simultaneous screaming children (and sometimes four...baby cousin Oliver is here too!) And it's not crazy insane like you would think...everyone was able to have Thanksgiving dinner at the same time, take showers, play games together...again, some of you may not realize how truly amazing this is. We are very thankful!
Here we are, one month into being a family of five! And without even realizing it we even got Leah on the left. ;) And strategically captured the shot right after Hannah's bottle, just after Leah woke up, and right before Joseph went down for his nap. How's that for timing?
Joseph Dominic is...
named after his Italian great grandfathers on mom and dad's sides
getting pretty good at going to the bathroom on the "potty" and brushing his teeth (still going in diapers too of course, we're not that good!)
into the zoo and playing tackle in the yard and in the basement with his dad
counting things and recognizing letters
teaching us which leaves are from locust trees, bumpy oaks, and maples
perfecting his toddler attitude and the art of "no"
still our little man, no matter how big he gets!
Hannah is....
named after great great grandmother on Jay's side,
affectionately called Hannah Bear at times,
sometimes calmed down by singing,
the baby with her big toes painted red,
usually on the right side in pictures,
very observant, often appears as though she is thinking,
easily startled into peeing while getting changed!
Hannah and Leah had a weight check today at the doctor's office. Hannah weighs in at a whopping 7lbs 7oz and Leah hit the scale at 7lbs 4.5 oz. Good weight gain for twins and a look of surprise from the doctor when he joked about how calm they were and that they must be like that all the time and I responded with "actually, they are". It's big brother's mood's that aren't very predictable. Joseph had a bit of a meltdown yesterday which Jay thinks was due to hunger. (Apparently the girls are getting plenty of food and we only starve Joseph on occasion) I can't disagree with hunger as a root cause for bad behavior since I tend to get the same way if I go too long without eating....though I try not to stomp my feet and scream and cry at the top of my lungs. The fit didn't last too long though, during and after dinner Joseph was about as perfect as a toddler can get, and amazed us by reciting his own version of "Panda bear panda bear, what do you see?" at the table. And this morning he was pretty happy as he left for school in his pirate costume ready for his field trip to the zoo and halloween celebration with his mates. Tonight should be more good times with trick or treating in the hood with a few bottles and drinks at the home!
And so 2009 is coming to an end. It was a year that brought about a lot of change for our family. There was of course the arrival of Hannah and Leah, and the return of bottles and baby toys. And as Joseph stated yesterday after drinking a glass of milk, "I got big and strong. I can drive." And while he may not be able to drive yet, he sure did grow up fast over the past 12 months. He went from being a toddler in a crib to a boy in a bed who knows all about the state of Wisconsin, leaves, animals, artists, letters, and numbers (which taught me that I am not smarter than a 2 year old). Hannah and Leah went from tiny newborns to almost three month olds with rolls in their legs and an uncanny ability to poop clean diapers. Since I was pregnant most of 2009 I spent most of the year organizing and reorganizing while blessed with the gift that is bionic hearing (though oddly it only works with my kids and small birds....not on my husband). Before the girls arrived we took a family vacation out to Seattle, and throughout the year spent lots of time at beaches, pools, discovery world, and the zoo. Jay also traveled to Bangalore, Hyderabad, London, Denver, Maine, Boston, New Jersey, Sarasota, and Richmond for work and managed to squeeze in a fishing trip to Kabetogema, Minnesota. It was a busy year filled with new experiences and lots of new cousins! Not sure yet what 2010 will bring but I imagine it will involve a minivan, a double stroller, and a whole lotta diapers!
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