5 Month photos & update

I have to share a Christmas photo of the twins at 5 months. DD was not very pleased at the whole flashbulb-in-her-face-thing, and both were quite surprised at the different poses they were put in, but this is the only one that turned out pretty good. I couldn't get the photographer I wanted because she was booked through New Years, so I went to the mall and learned my lesson the hard way. $160 later, I'll never do that again.

They are healthy and thriving; she weighs 19lbs and wears a size 3 diaper, while he weighs 17lbs and wears a size 2. Both are rolling over and trying to crawl by squirming around on the floor until they inch their way forward or sideways. Both are trying to talk. My son goes "bbbbrrrrbbb" over and over and my daughter babbles all kinds of sounds constantly. She sleeps like a champ....but my son doesn't sleep AT ALL at night. He is literally up every 45 minutes, wanting to be held, rocked, bounced, etc. It is horrible and today we are heading back to the GI specialist to see if there is something else going on besides GERD (which is controlled right now with Prev.acid). My husband is up all night and can't even get a solid hour of sleep. My daughter wakes up sometimes at 11pm and always at 4pm for a feed and goes back to sleep within 45 minutes, so it's not so bad on that front. But him....good Lord. I don't know what we're going to do. I hate the thought of CIO because it seems cruel, if in fact he is truly uncomfortable in his tummy. That's why the visit to the GI doctor today. We shall see.

My kids LOVE LOVE LOVE Ba.by Ein.stein videos. They're on most of the day while the kids are doing other things (play mat, jumperoo, rolling around, eating, etc.) If the videos are not running in the background, they get antsy and whiny and no one wants two cranky babies. Obviously when it's story time or time to sing along with our baby CD, it's off. It's so hard right now with the weather being so freakin' cold - I can't even get them out in the stroller because it's been 25-degrees and windy. On the weekends we'll go to the mall and stroll for 1-2 hours, but during the week the nanny is at the mercy of the weather and it's no fun at all. If Ba.by Ein.stein makes me a bad mom, then I guess I'm a bad mom. I seriously don't know what else to do with them besides their current activities of jumperoos, playmat, rolling over, feeding, reading books, singing songs, etc. They always get plenty of floor time and rolling around time but they get bored and sometimes need something else to distract them. If you have any good suggestions, I'm open.

They also are completely dependent on their bouncy seats to fall asleep. In order to get them down for nighttime or for naps, they are placed in their bouncies and read stories (sometimes we sing along to a nursery rhyme CD when they're not quite tired enough yet) and then I (or nanny) bounces them to sleep with our foot and transfers them to their cribs. It works for now...but when they outgrow their bouncies at 25lbs, I screwed. I've decided not to worry until then though, because they seriously change every few days. One day they like this, another day they start liking something else. I'll worry about it when they get to be 25lbs. It's impossible to rock a baby who doesn't want to be rocked in a rocking chair - they get worked up and get a second wind. My son would be rocked, but my daughter really likes to be bounced. go figure. My friends with singletons are horrified at the 'bouncing to sleep' practice but seriously? don't judge me until you have TWO babies to put down for naps and for bed. I can not imagine how EASY one baby would be compared to two with completely different likes/dislikes, temperments, sleeping patterns, one with serious reflux, etc. I hope we will have another baby after these two, because it will be a walk in the park compared to this. I can't tell you how many times I've pee'd or eaten a meal with one in my arms. Or how many times I've had to bounce both with both feet while holding pacifiers in each of their mouths until they fall asleep. Or how hard it is to carry TWO babies in their car seats out to the car in freezing weather while loading the 50# double stroller by myself. It is not easy. You have to make do and find whatever works. I'm not complaining, but I'm so tired of hearing my singleton-mom friends tell me how to do things that I'm ready to snap.

The other thing is bedtime. They and I...LOVE our bedtime routine. Usually around 5:30pm we start bathtime, dress in our jammies & Sleepsacks and sing a few songs and read a few books. Then our bedtime book and bottles, and we are ASLEEP by 6pm! I vary this a little bit depending on how tired they both are. But usually this is our routine and we love it.

I'm deliriously happy and so very grateful to have these two little ones in my life. I'm so blessed that they are healthy and alive. Even when he's up all.night.long. We are still so very happy that they are alive and healthy. It is awesome having TWO and I can't imagine having one. They look for each other when they're separated (if one takes an extra long nap or runs to the store with my husband.) They hold hands when playing on the play mat and even 'communicate' with grunts and squeals - too cute.

That's my update - I hope everyone is doing well and I'll post again in a few days. I have another post in my head that I need to get out into cyberland.