A seriously good find

As the days have gotten shorter and colder, I've been fighting a determined case of cabin fever. I was getting dangerously close to exhausting my let's-have-fun-inside-time skills (I can only play "find the babies in the blanket fort" so many times before I'm checking the calendar, hoping the discover that it's March, not just December!), when my mailbox delivered my salvation:

The Si View Parks and Recreation Winter Guide.

Not only was it chock full of classes and lessons for ages 1 on up, but there, on page 6, in a tiny advertisement, was my golden ticket to toddler fun land...The SnoValley Indoor Playground. Hallelujah! Running 3 days a week, for 2 hours, for ONE DOLLAR per child (yes folks, $1...that's practically free!), the SnoValley Indoor Playground is apparently where all the smart (and warm) parents have been hanging out with their children. Maybe this explains why I almost always have the "real" park to myself!

Armed with the fact that the girls both walk well, hold my hands, and (sometimes) listen to my instructions, and the knowledge that one more morning inside or worse, at the freezing park, might kill me, I packed them up on Monday and went to check it out. You can imagine my disappointment when there was a sign on the door (which of course I didn't see until AFTER I had unloaded the bubba's and corralled them towards the entrance) announcing that the playground was closed that day due to lack of volunteers. SOB!!! (Mental note - must sign up for a volunteer shift!) I settled for a walk around the community center to look at the crows, which they always love, and took encouragment from the many, many other mom's I saw trying to take their little ones to the playground. It definitely wasn't closed for lack of attendance!

So today, we tried again, and this time...SUCCESS! This place was AMAZING - Due to it's existence, I'm pretty sure I don't ever have to buy bikes, little people cars, slides, or anything else of the sort....they're all there, and in abundance. Avery was like a kid in a candy store - aiming straight for the bikes. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she actually knows how to ride :) Lauren was a little slower to be adventurous, but eventually found her groove (in the form of a slide - she's addicted!). There were probably 50 + kids, from 0-5, all having a blast, and my little girls right in the thick of it.

It's mornings like this that make me so incredibly thankful for my babies. If they're this much fun already, I can't wait to see what the years to come hold for us!

A little peek at the fun we had (the last picture is Avery, Miss Independent, waaaay across the room from me!):

 

 

 




The Avery and Lauren Explorer Club

So the girls are ALL about exploration and investigation these days, especially when the weather allows a park trip. The monsoon last week created a temporary pond at our favorite park, and a family of ducks has taken up residence there, much to the bubbas delight. They're also figuring out up and down (thanks to the teeter-totter), checking out water drips (thanks to the drippy roof on the park shed), and feeling lots of fuzzy green moss (courtesy of the trees and rocks).

Even when we're faced with an inside-all-dayer, they still find plenty to keep them interested. One of their favorite rainy day activities is the blanket fort game - nothing beats crawling into a dark fort and being "found" :-)

I love seeing the world through their eyes!

Waving "Hi" to the ducks (who were swimming in a half frozen pond this morning).

Showing me the moss.

Exploring her cave.

Loving life.

Feeling the fuzzy moss.

Watching the ducks.

Practicing UP and DOWN.

A minute in the life...

Twindom is full of highs and lows. While me and my sis have been enjoying mainly highs for the last decade, our history is not without its low points (some of the lowest involving boyfriends and jeans...)...it just comes with the territory. I never expected my toddlers to have such highs and lows of emotion though - I guess I just felt like they were too young for it. But man oh man, do these girls have the most up and down relationship!  I have to say, watching the highs and lows of my two girls is kind of like watching my own life on super fast forward - the love is separated from the hate by, literally, a matter of seconds.

To illustrate, here is a series of 4 photos, taken in the span of not more than 60 seconds:



"Seriously Mom? You're just going to watch her trample me to death?"



"Oh sister, I love playing with you!"



"How dare you steal that toy!"

 

"Oh sister, you're my favorite!"

Now, take that one minute, multiply by the roughly 600 minutes that they are awake each day, and that's our life. Fun, right? :-)

Team Bubba: Part 2

We are all settling in nicely in our new place - we've only been here a week, but it's definitely starting to feel like home. The babies are handling the change nicely, in fact they're handling it much better than the other two babies in the house, Bella and Daisy (who are still completely wigged out...I'm hoping this won't last much longer!).

The babies are also settling very comfortably into their new roll as TODDLERS. It seems like it snuck up on me...one day they were babies - they looked like babies, acted like babies, sounded like babies. Then one day we woke up, and they looked like little people. And they SOUNDED like little people...albeit little people who speak their own language, one that involves as much shrieking as it does talking.

I, on the other hand, am struggling a bit with this transition. I wasn't quite prepared for the new phase, and all that comes with it:
Frustration: Theirs, at trying to communicate and at being told no; and mine, with trying to interpret the shrieking, pointing, teary exclamations they put forth so frequently and at having to say no. I'm starting to learn their language though. I'm noticing the subtle differences in the Baa's and Bwaa's and Waah's. It's helping that their pointing is getting more accurate (it started of VERY vague - a wandering point that would move on to something new as soon as you thought you'd discovered it's original target).
Repetition: Too bad they love it, 'cause in case you weren't aware, I HATE repeating myself (just ask my husband!). Right now the repetition is in two categories: Books (there are some days where "Go Dog, Go!" is hidden under a couch cushion so that Lauren can't bring it to me for the 21st time (literally...she's addicted to that book), because dear God, I just cannot take it!), and actions (specifically, opening/closing, and on/off...as in light switches, hats on baby dolls, etc...The door opening/closing video I posted on FB recently was only 1 minute worth of what was actually at least a 15 minute session of that activity!). I prefer the repeating actions to the repeating books, except in cases of put me on the chair/take me off the chair and turn the light switch on/turn the light switch off, 'cause those 2 involve lots of assistance from mommy :-)
Clinging: Luckily this symptom usually only rears its ugly head between 5:30 and bedtime, and most often only affects Avery. We're not sure when she became so mommy-dependant, but if she's in the mood for me, I'm all that will suffice.
Food Sharing: Ok, let me explain this one. I have NO problem sharing whatsoever. I've been sharing my entire life. But I literally cannot eat anything without two babies clinging to my legs with wide open chomp faces, clamoring for a bite. And bites I do give, when appropriate. But God forbid I should be eating (or drinking) something on the no no list - well, then we go back to frustration, see above :-)
Fighting/Tattling: There's quite a bit of sibling rivalry going on. Toy stealing, book stealing, binky stealing, all commonplace. Pushing and shoving, not as common, but definitely there. Tattling? Oh yes. In the form of shrieking. Specifically Lauren, shrieking about whatever Avery has done to her this time. Trying not to raise a tattler, but at the same time, sometimes the abuse from Avery is so blatant that I can't help but side with Lauren!

I could go on and on (insisting, stomping & kicking, refusing to eat, etc...) but I'll spare you all! The development of a baby to a toddler is rapid and unforgiving. Good thing there was a healthy dose of cuteness that came along with the change!
Cuddling - anything that's soft is worthy of a snuggle these days...especially the dogs!
Park-playing - two walkers means two playground lovin' kiddos! We've even moved past the just-want-to-eat-the-bark phase to actually playing on the toys. Exciting!
Running - even Lauren's got a little extra giddy-up in her step sometimes...Avery still runs circles around her, but she's trying!
Ribbit-Bobbing - I am trying SO hard to get this one on video...I don't know how it started, but whenever we're reading a book that has a frog in it, and I say "ribbit ribbit" for the frog sound, they bob their heads in time, so freakin' cute!
Animal Loving - we already knew they loved dogs, but now that we're out and about more, they're noticing animals everywhere, and they're all greeted by pointing and excited exclaiming. They love seeing birds at the park - they try to chase them, but we all know how that goes...
Dancing - Avery dances to anything and everything...she's got rhythm! Lauren not as much, but a few songs will get her grooving too :)

I could go on and on about the good things too, but frankly, The Office is starting, and I want to sit on the couch for the first time today :-) This is my parenthood roller coaster!

Some of their new favorites:


Playing at our new favorite park. Equipment for little tykes, and an unbeatable view.



Checking out the tunnel at the playground.

 

On a bird hunt.



My other little bird hunter (shortly before she threw a fit because I wouldn't let her run into the parking lot to chase the birds).

 

The chairs that they so dearly love, but can't quite get into and out of on their own :-)



Vultures.



A little pillow-snuggling time in the morning!



Cause and effect in action.



They "fight" (aka shriek at me) over this activity.



Lauren seriously does not get bored with this activity. Ever.



I make daddy read the books during the evening play session. Ha!



A year...seriously?!

It is boggling my mind a bit tonight that it can possibly have been a year already. It seems like last week that we brought our beautiful girls home, and yet I watched them both walk all the way to the end of the block and back before their bath tonight. They've morphed from teeny tiny, squawking creatures to what look like bonafide real kiddos. I know it's corny, but "having a baby changes everything" really is true, and it changes everything in such a wonderful way. I cannot imagine going back to a life before my daughters. They are the most beautiful things I've ever seen and I don't want to miss a second. I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us. Avery and Lauren, I love you!


My bed-headed book addict Lauren



My little chatty Avery



We win!

I am kicking myself right now.

I put off sleep training for MONTHS - out of fear. Yes, I was afraid of my children. Perhaps some of you out there can identify. Those two little darlings had me fearing every time a door closed or a floor creaked. They had me dreading every night, knowing that I would be getting at least one wake up call, if not 3 or 4. They had me declaring to my husband every morning that I was literally being driven out of my mind by his children. They had Rob and I calling "not it" on the bedtime rocking routine, that had morphed from a 5 minute easy out to a 30 minute struggle that more often that not resulted in the other parent having to give it a shot.

So, one hot summer night, with two babies refusing to sleep, we declared war. As my husband so eloquently put it "They need to figure their shit out!". Agreed, dear, agreed. That was on the 22nd.

War is never easy. Those dumplings fought, and they fought hard. They reminded us that first night of why we hadn't been able to follow through on this before. Avery cried as though her little heart were breaking, and in the process just about broke ours. Lauren wanted to give up, but Avery persuaded her to fight us too. Eventually though, they did sleep, and we breathed a sigh of relief. There was only one wakeup call that night, a little mini battle between Avery and I where I refused to pick her up, although I was cringing with every scream, positive that Lauren would soon join her (she didn't). On any previous night, Avery would have been whisked quickly and quietly into my bed so Lauren wouldn't be disturbed, even though the results of that were that Rob and I were disturbed. So I was proud of myself for that 1 a.m. battle (I may have even bragged a little to Rob the next morning).

Naps were on my own, and they about drove me crazy. Rob received MANY texts where I vented my supreme frustration. Poor guy! But sleep training alone is not easy, and I needed to feel like someone was on my side.

Days 2, 3 and 4 got progressively easier. The struggles got shorter, the naps got longer, the night wakings disappeared.

Now, I was close to declaring victory on day 5, before my darling Avery made a last minute suprise attack on a solo mommy in an attempt to reassert her control over our entire family's sleep, but I did not retreat. I did text my late-working hubby to declare that, even though he was stuck working late on a Friday night, I was having the worse time, but I did not let that child win.

So today, on the 30th, it is 10:20 a.m., and my lovelies are midway through what has become a RELIABLE, DEPENDABLE, EASY 90-120 minute nap. At 2 they'll go down again for another 60-90 minutes. And at 7:15, they'll squawk for about 60 seconds, and then pass out for the night, not to be heard from until 6:30 a.m.

I am in heaven. My chores are done, my house is clean and quiet. It is amazing what babies who sleep well can do for your sanity.

Someone tell me why I didn't do this months ago!

This is what Avery looks like when she's actually well rested.

Sleepy Head Lauren

Baby Talk.

You know that commercial from a few years back - the one where the husband gets home, and his frazzled wife who'd been home with the baby all day was talking in baby talk to him, so he takes her to a play to get her back into the adult world? I totally feel like that is my life sometimes...not that I don't LOVE "talking" to my girls, but the repetition can get a little old! Seriously, I have this "conversation" about 100 times a day:

Baby, holding block out for me to see, proclaims "BWAA!".
Mommy: "Yes, that is a BLOCK! Very good!".
Baby, turning block in hand, examining it closely, holds it out again and proclaims "BWAA!".
Mommy: "Block! Yes, that is a blue block."
Baby: "BWAA!"
Mommy: "Yep, that's a block. It says A on it."
Baby: "BWAA!"
Mommy: "It is a very cool block, I agree."
Baby: "BWAA!"
Mommy: "Block."
Baby: "BWAA!"
Mommy: "Mmmhmmm. Let's find a different toy!"

Then it starts all over!

Note: I used block for this example, but feel free to substitute just about any other toy. Most them are still BWAA or BA at this point!

Lauren, mid "sentence".

Avery likes to put things on her head.

My non-whiny whiny post!

My dear sister recently reminded me that I haven't blogged since June 16th.

I informed her it's because I don't want to be a whiny blogger, and all I've got to say at the moment will sound whiny.

However, the sunshine we've been graced with of late has somewhat lifted the fog of extreme sleep deprivation that my hubby and I are currently enduring at the hands of our children, and allowed me to appreciate the parade of cuteness that they display every day.

Just a sampling:

Clapping...it's the new toy banging:
Avery has learned to clap. It's adorable. It makes her happy. It makes us smile until our cheeks hurt. It makes me forget that she wakes up at 3 a.m. every night, and on the worst nights, wakes her sister up too. Lauren, like with most everything else, is just a smidge behind her sister, she's working on figuring out how to clap too, but hasn't learned to unball her fists yet.

Video of Avery clapping (I can't figure out how to rotate it...sorry!)

Raised by wolves....er, I mean, dogs!

From snuggling in to dog bed, to growling, to picking up Bella's worst habit (chewing on rocks...yes, we had to remove 3 rocks from Avery's mouth yesterday), our dogs seem to have a mighty influence on the bubbas!

Snuggly girls:

We may finally be entering the cuddly stage...I've been dying for cuddly babies, and they're starting to give me a (teensy) little taste of it :-)

Movers and shakers:

Avery continues to work on her walking skills, she now makes laps around the entire family room just balancing on the walls. She's taken 5 steps in a row between us. Lauren is standing independently more and more, but still refuses to put a foot forward...we must remind ourselves, Lauren isn't behind, Avery's just ahead!

Lauren talks (as long as it starts with "B"!):

Lauren loves her blocks. If you show her a block and say "BLOCK", she'll say "BWAA" back. Sounds a mighty lot like BLOCK, dontcha think :-) And if you show her a ball and say "BALL", she'll say "BA" back. Doesn't that sound like ball? Sure does! Same with Book, Bath, Blue, Bella, etc...Yes, we know she probably is stuck on the B sound currently, but that is not going to stop us from telling ourselves that Lauren can talk at nine months, thank you very much!

Clubhouses:

Any little space they can get their little bodies into, that's where they want to be. The current fave is the lower shelf of our desk. There's room for both of them, and they just think it's the coolest. Avery has ventured into a few more daring spaces on her own too - I'm sure Lauren will follow shortly!

Hair-do's:

Now that their hair is growing a little longer, I get to have a little fun (particularly at bathtime, teehee!).

So, when things get a little rough at night, at least I know that I've got a day chock full of cuteness to restore my sanity :-)

My Housewifely Duties

When the babies were brand new, and had no semblance of a predictable routine, I used to daydream about when they were on an actual schedule, with naptimes and bedtimes that went off without a hitch every time. I thought about all the things I could get done during their multiple daily naps - why, that would be hours and hours of free time...right?

Fast forward to today. A week away from 9 months, and little miss Avery Cays still only naps for 30 minutes at a time on most occasions. Oh sure, I can get lucky with a 2 hour nap every once in a while - but those are few and far between, and there's no way to predict when and where they'll strike. So I've come to terms with the fact that I have to squeeze all of my chores into 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the afternoon. It's made me very aware of the priority of chores - bottles first, floors second, dishes third, laundry fourth. Everything else is on a "when it gets to the point I can no longer ignore it" basis :-) No matter how tempted I am to fold laundry on the couch while Regis & Kelly keep me company, if the top 3 choices are not done, it cannot be so.

I do sometimes try to get my chores done while the girlies are awake. It just means that I have little helpers... or little leg-clingers, whatever you want to call them. The dishes are a particularly fun chore to attempt. Unloading is usually fine, as long as I remove the silverware basket as soon as I open the door. Loading, well, that's another game altogether. The gist of it is me, removing babies from their station at the dishwasher door, putting them back in the center of the playmat, running back to the dishwasher, and loading as much as I can before they're back on top of me. It's super fun. Laundry is another fave - I fold, they unfold...it's a riot! I don't try sweeping and mopping as much when they're awake anymore, Avery likes to chase the broom and/or mop, making it nearly impossible. Vacuuming makes Lauren cry, but also wakes them up if they're sleeping - so I choose the lesser of the two evils and let her face her fear (builds character, right?).

American Baby magazine assures me that around my babies first birthday, they will switch to taking one "gloriously long" nap after lunch that lasts anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours. All I have to say is, I'll believe it when I see it.

My Little Helpers: