Saturday, August 27, 2011

Mobility Breeds Accidents

I feel as though it's been forever since I've written. Now that the boys are fully mobile, it seems as if my days fly by without me even realizing it. In the midst of saying no and pulling the boys off of things, I have forgotten so many things; and unfortunately, blogging met the same fate. I have resolved though to get my time back. They get 95% of my awake time; I think I can take a few moments for myself:)

As I mentioned earlier, the boys are FULLY MOBILE!! Walking is now their second preferred mode of transportation; being carried by mom is still their preferred mode. Although, I do make them walk as much as possible now because they are getting too heavy, and I can't just carry one at a time:)

Of course, increased mobility breeds increased boo-boos. Last week, I got Peter out of the van and put him on the sidewalk so that I could go get Titus out of his seat. I glanced back and noticed him trying to step off the curb. I told him, "No!" and he stopped. As soon as I turned my back to finish getting Titus out, I heard a thud. Peter listened but, then, decided to do his own thing once I turned my back. He tried to step off the curb on his own but, instead, landed nose first on the pavement. Needless to say, crying and bleeding followed shortly thereafter. I got them both inside and cleaned up Peter. I put a bandaid on his nose knowing it wouldn't be on there long, but I wanted it to keep the blood from getting on me. And true to form, Peter yanked the bandaid off but soon decided he wanted it back on his nose. With the bandaid in his fist, he started punching himself in the face trying to get the bandaid to stick back on his nose, and he then looked up at me with a face that said, "Why won't this stay?" Don't worry....I laughed at my son:)

Later that night, I didn't laugh and actually felt really sorry for him. I laid Peter on his back and gave him his sippy cup of milk like I do every night. Peter reached for it but didn't have a strong grip on it. It slipped through his hands and landed completely on his already tender nose. Normally, Peter just starts crying; Titus is the one that usually has to be dramatic about crying and suck in air for thirty seconds before finally letting out a scream. However, this night, Peter sucked air in for thirty seconds and finally let out a blood curdling scream. Don't worry...I didn't laugh:) I picked him up and held while he cried it out. I know it had to hurt. Of course, if I'd have hit my head like he did earlier in the day, I would have had a headache all day long. So, I guess he did pretty good.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Thinking in the Quiet

I was just noticing the time stamp on all of my blogs. They all end in a.m. but come before 5:00 a.m. It's just so quiet and peaceful around the house at this time. No one needs me for anything! I can sit here and contemplate. Sometimes it's good, and sometime it's bad.

Last night, I was once again up late cause I couldn't sleep, and I started reading people's updated blogs. I read other blogs in order to be better at blogging, and I ran across a blog started by a mom who lost her four month old daughter to SIDS. Needless to say, I was in tears. I've been praying for this mom all day because I cannot even begin to know what she's going through, but I have a wonderful, loving Heavenly Father that does. No amount of words on my part can comfort her, but I have been praying that she can come to know the peace that only comes from the Lord. I don't know whether she is a Christian or not, but I do know that God can bring her to Him through this situation. Please pray with me for Kellie. Maddie died six months ago; however, it seems like just yesterday for Kellie.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Approval!!

For those of you who frequent my blog, you may have noticed a stamp of approval in the right column. Yes, I have been approved by the Twin Multiples Club. I submitted my blog about two weeks ago and recently received their stamp of approval. Yay!! Someone approves:) It's a small step for my writing, but it has made me excited to keep writing.

The Twin Multiples Club is a "free international resource for families with twins and multiples." They compile pregnancy support, preemie support, multiples bloggers, multiples merchandise, and much more concerning multiples. Raising multiples is definitely hard work, but they try to help parents of multiples find the advice and support that they need.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Still Awake!

So, I've decided that being, in southern terms, "plumb tuckered out" at the end of the day makes for funny stories. I was beat last night and could not wait to jump into bed. However, an hour after being laid down, Titus still wasn't asleep. He wasn't screaming; so, I was just letting him work it out on his own. About 10:30, I finally decided to see what could possibly be the reason for his sudden desire to go stay awake at bedtime because we never have a problem with bedtime. I slowly cracked the door to their room expecting to see him staring at me. Instead, he was in the corner of his bed burying his head into his blanket with his little rump up in the air. And, right then, I realized why he was not sleeping. The poor boy was trying to bury his head in his blanket because he wanted to go to sleep, but his "plumb tuckered out" mommy had forgotten to turn the overhead light off as she was walking out the door! Of course, Peter can fall asleep at the drop of the hat; so, he was already passed out, sprawled out on his stomach, and completely engrossed in his dreams. Titus, on the other hand, was trying to go to sleep, but I kept him awake. Oops!! I turned off the light and shut door. About five minutes later, Titus joined his brother and dreamt the night away:) Unfortunately, it was another hour and a half before I was able to join them in dreamland.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

One Year Fun!!

Well, we made it through one year check ups and shots. Or, I guess I should say that I made it through one year check ups and shots. This was the first doctor's visit that I took both boys by myself and I was wore out by the time I got home. You should have seen the sympathy looks:) But don't worry, it wasn't any shorter of a wait for the doctor even though they could hear the cries of frustration from the boys. They didn't appreciate having to stay in the stroller, but they are just WAY too heavy for me carry into the building with a diaper bag and sippy cups. Shots came, and tears flowed, but they were both real troopers. I was very proud of my boys.

My little Peter weighed in at 19 pounds and 4 ounces and measured 29 1/2 inches long. He's in the 6th percentile for weight and the 35th percentile for height. The poor boy is too tall for pants that fit him in the waist; he wears six month pants in the waist and nine month pants in the legs. So, if I get them to fit the waist, he's flooding; but if I get them to fit the legs, they fall off him. A couple of days ago, I put a three month onesie on him to see if it still fit, and it did! He may be the oldest, but he's far from being the biggest. While we're out, I get asked all the time who's the oldest as they're pointing to Titus; and then, they don't believe me because Peter is so much smaller than Titus. Of course, I bite my sarcastic tongue and politely reassure them that I know who the oldest is:)

My brute Titus weighed in at 23 pounds even and measured 30 inches long. He's average for weight and above average for height. I promise he's not eating all of Peter's food. Peter has learned to fight back and won't let him touch his food or toys, and Titus doesn't appreciate it:) Titus's clothing problem is completely opposite of Peter's clothing problem. If I get pants to fit his waist, they're too long; but if I get them to fit the legs, they're too tight. He's shaped like his uncle with a long torso and short legs. Thank you Uncle Stephen!

They're birthday party went well too! We just had Pa, Grandma, Aunt Lee-Ann, and Aunt Karissa over. I contemplated having a bigger party, but I decided to save the money and spend more on a birthday party when they're old enough to remember it. We had their favorite food, pizza, and cake, and, of course, presents! I did splurge on the cake and ordered a Phineas and Ferb cake from Publix. They also gave us two baby cakes for them to smash. Peter loved his baby cake, but Titus didn't enjoy eating it with his hands. He liked it better once we gave him a spoon. In retrospect, I should have just cut him off a piece. The baby cakes were kinda big for them, and I think he was just overwhelmed with all the cake:)

They woke up from their nap and found presents!

Phineas and Ferb - "It's 104 days of summer vacation..."

Titus with his spoon:)

Peter pigging out!

It's been kinda smooth sailing around here lately; so, I should have known that something was going to happen soon. Tonight, I'm washing dishes and suddenly hear my husband yell, "Oh no!! Gross, gross, gross! You gotta be kidding me! Stephanie!!" I walk around the kitchen counter into the living room, and there it is. Peter had gotten his diaper off which is really easy for him to do since even diapers don't fit him well. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that he pooped after he got the diaper off! I didn't see anything in the diaper; so, I'm assuming that the poop on the floor had to have come after the diaper was off. Now, if he had just pooped on the carpet, it would have been a relatively easy clean up; but no, he then had to walk through it on his way to the couch to sit with Daddy. Which means that I had to clean up poopy foot prints embedded in the carpet. You know, I was thinking the other day that I didn't have a poop on the floor or in the crib story like everyone else did. I was actually patting myself on the back because I thought surely my kids are already out of that stage. Boy, was I wrong!! Of course, Dan offered to bathe them because you know he's not going to clean poop out of the carpet. I will say that I came out drier than he did:) We definitely made up for our lack of disasters!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Attention Hog!

Since he took his first breath of fresh air, Titus reigned as King of Drama. Accidentally scratching him with your fingernail is equivalent to cutting off a finger. It never crossed my mind that he could reach a whole new level of drama. Now, his status shows both Drama King and Attention Hog.

This past Friday and Saturday, Mom, Karissa, the boys, and I went up to my Grandma's house. It had been a while since she and Aunt Kim had seen the boys; so, I wanted them to catch up with the boys. (Last time they had seen the boys, they were barely crawling.) While we were there, we ate dinner upstairs with everyone at my Aunt's. Well, Aunt Kim has a hard flooring throughout her living areas which makes for slippery surfaces for new walkers. Peter fell and hit his head really hard on the floor. Of course, since Great-Grandma Fields, Grandma, and Aunt Kim were there, everyone rushed to his side. I picked him up and patted his bottom while everyone else tried to comfort him too.

As soon as Titus crawled down from the couch, I saw it in his eyes. Peter was getting all the attention, and that just could not happen while Titus was around. He looked around, got down on his hands and knees, and lowered his head to about an inch from the ground. He turned his face towards everyone and then...tap...just barely a tap of the head. He began to cry as he crawled into my lap and tried to push Peter off as he laid his head on my shoulder. Now, he wasn't really hurt because he was smart enough to only tap his head on the floor; he only wanted the attention, not the pain:) Talk about a rolling on the floor laughing moment! I could not believe what I had just witnessed! It was a deliberate attempt to fool me into believing he was hurt. My, my, my!

People often say that babies don't know what they're doing. However, Titus is proof that they do have thinking skills beyond what we beyond what we give them credit. It makes me wonder how many times has he already pulled the wool over my eyes. This serves as a reminder to never underestimate your children. Deceitfulness isn't taught; it just comes naturally.

What he didn't realize is that I would have held him without the fake tears:)