Wonder Weeks Without the Stress

I remember discovering The Wonder Weeks (aff) when Ben was a baby.  I was of course googling everything I could on how to raise a baby- how to get them to sleep, how to form a schedule, what to do with them while they were awake.  Specifically I was curious how babies learn and perceive the world around them.  I, like most people with babies, found this sort of development fascinating and wanted to use this information to help my baby.  I was at first thrilled to find a reference that outlined specific leaps my baby would make and told me what they were experiencing.  I read a bit more and found graphics which visually showed me what to expect from my child. The thing is- there were a a lot of 'stormy periods' on these charts.  Like a whole lot.  Like my child's first year of life was going to be one long fuss fest. I was not excited about that.

Let's back up a moment.  What are the Wonder Weeks?  Simply stated these are times in your baby's life in which they are making huge strides in mental development.  Dr. Plooij developed the book.  He began his career studying chimpanzee mothers and babies.  After spending time cataloging behavior he found that the babies tended to follow a similar pattern of development, marked by sudden clingy behavior- regression- and then more independence- development.  Later Dr. Plooij started looking at these patterns in human mothers and babies.  He found a pattern of ten distinct times mental leaps were made.  He was able to use his data to find a timeline that many babies follow in this development, which became the wonder weeks. (reference)

Back to my experience with them.  I started following the weeks and saw when my son was supposed to be fussy.  Sure enough, if I saw that he was supposed to be cranky I saw all sorts of cranky behavior.  Then there were times when I looked at the chart and saw that he was supposed to be happy and he still had fussy times.  This was very depressing to me.  If he was crying during a 'sunny period' how bad would it get during the stormy periods?  At one point I stopped looking at the weeks as obsessively and noticed a drop in fussy behavior.  After a particularly sunny time I looked at the charts again and saw my son had supposedly just gone through a very rough period.  This was not what I observed.  I started to wonder if I was putting my own bias onto the wonder weeks- seeing behavior because I thought I was supposed to.

I found using the weeks added more stress to my life.  When I thought there would be fussy behaviors I saw fussy behaviors.  When I didn't focus on these behaviors I found them to be less noticeable and easier to handle.  So I stopped looking at the weeks.  If I was going through a particularly trying period with Ben I would glance at the leaps.  If they lined up it offered me the type of 'you're not crazy' reassurances I was needing. 

These discrepancies got me thinking.  Why do some babies follow the Wonder Weeks perfectly and others seem not to?  Why do some mothers notice it aligns better with the baby's birth date, not due date as the book suggests?  Does this mean the wonder weeks aren't legit?  Not necessarily.  I looked in to how this data was gathered.  Dr. Plooij used, at least at the start, self reported results from a group of mothers with young babies.  This is fine, but there are some inherit biases in self reported data.  People can over exaggerate what they see, or they can minimize effects.  This makes sense- we as humans report events tinged with what we feel about them.  So not every baby will got through the same experiences to the same degree.  As with any research of this sort, it is taking observations from a relatively small group, the ones Dr. Plooij observed, and applying it to a relatively large group, babies everywhere.  That means you are more likely to find outliers.  You can think about it this way.  If you were to observe a group of people you might find that they wake up and eat breakfast right away.  It can be safe to assume most people behave that way.  But as the group observed gets bigger, you might see people who work out before breakfast, or people who eat breakfast at work, or even people who skip breakfast all together.  Your original prediction for an unknown person that they will wake up and eat breakfast isn't wrong.  But as you look at more and more people, you will find more variations in the behavior.  Translated to the Wonder Weeks, this means it is a reasonable assumption that most babies will follow this pattern of behaviors, but it does not mean every baby will act the same way.  Some babies will hit leaps hard and display the typical behavior the book outlines.  Others will skate on through without you even knowing something changed.  Neither is a wrong way to grow or develop.  We have to remember that babies aren't robots.  They are all different.  Even identical twins might not exhibit the same reactions to their growing awareness of the world.

I think a big part of how children learn and grow is also how we as parents handle the behaviors displayed.  I know some mothers swear by the weeks.  They line up perfectly and their babies react in a textbook manner to them.  The weeks give them a sense of understanding and control enabling them to show patience and grace when dealing with their children.  That is great.  If these weeks work for you, I think that is wonderful.  But if you are like me and find them to add more stress to your life, I think you can safely put the information aside. Don't get me wrong, knowing the why behind how our children act can be so important.   Anything that helps us get through the tough early years of motherhood is beneficial.  But if you are like me and it created a sense of dread, then it isn't helpful.  I don't like that implication that I get from reading some websites that ignoring these weeks will somehow harm your child's development.  This book first came out in 1992.  Babies have been making mental developments long before then and before this book became mainstream.  You aren't going to limit your child's mental growth if you do not do specific exercises with them at just the right times.  You also aren't being a bad mom if you either aren't aware of the weeks or opt to not follow them closely.

The key takeaway I got is that these developments can understandably rock our children's worlds.  It makes sense that babies might get clingy, confused, or upset as they learn new things.  I find being told my baby will be fussy and clingy for long periods of time unhelpful.  But, as I said, if I am at a loss I will double check to see if a leap is going on.  This lets me know it isn't anything I am doing wrong as a parent, it is the developments my children are making.  Babies will make the leaps regardless of whether we know about them or not.  We should aim to be understanding and patient with our babies needs regardless of whether they are making a leap or not.  If this information is helpful for you- use it.  If, like me, it causes you more stress- ignore it.  You aren't hurting your kids by not stressing the leaps yourself.

You can check out the Wonder Weeks site for yourself to best decide if and how you want to use this information.

I have also put together a little no-stress cheat sheet.  It has the approximate timing of the leaps and the general development that is taking place.  What it doesn't have is if your child should be fussy or for how long cranky behaviors might last.  This is just meant as a quick guide to tuck into your notes to pull out when your child is acting out of sorts and you have gone through all your other reasoning for the behavior.  You can pull it out, see if it is a wonder week, and know that everything is developing as normal.  Or you can just keep an eye on what your child is experiencing without the details on potential fussy times.





-Kim

8 years

Today is a good day.  Yes, it is Pi Day!  But that's the not the only reason.  Eight years ago today Pat and I stood up before friends, family, and God and promised to be husband and wife forever.  And no, I know I am am math and science geek, but we did not choose the date because it was Pi Day.  That is just a happy coincidence.

The eighth anniversary is bronze.  Now, we usually try to follow the traditional gifts every year.  We don't spend a ton of money, but we like to stick with the theme.  (And by we I totally mean me and Pat humors me and goes along with it.) This year neither of us could think of anything worth getting in a reasonable price for bronze.  That's right, we have officially reached the old married couple age.  We don't even do much for anniversaries anymore.  The thing is, this is one of my favorite yet.

I think bronze is a perfect representation of how far we have come as a couple in this past year.  The seven year anniversary is copper, and bronze is an alloy of copper and tin.  This may seem like it is getting muddled, but actually those extra additions make the metal stronger.  This past year has added so much to our lives.  We of course added the girls and made our big cross country move.  And through all these changes I really feel like we have gotten stronger, both as a family and as a couple.

So Patrick, my wonderful husband, thank you for another great year.  I am still so happy to be married to you.  I would stand up before the whole world and say I choose you again.  I love you and I am so happy to be your wife.  Happy anniversary my love.  I can't wait to see what this next year brings us.

We were such babies! What a magical day.

-Kim

First Birthday Party!

We had a great birthday party for Ali and Sammy's first birthday.  We kept it small.  I mean, Ali and Sammy didn't really know what was going on.  The celebration is for them, but it is also for Pat and me as the parents.  We made it to a year!  Woot!

We did a simple party here at home.  We grilled up hot dogs, had some family over, and of course played hard.  The big kids got to run around outside.  Sammy and Ali got some very nice gifts.  Oh, and there was cake!  Isn't that the best part of every party?  I made the girls smash cakes.  Just a simple banana cake with cream cheese frosting and banana slices.  Like Ben, the girls weren't super into them.  In part because they had just eaten lunch.  I think one downside of doing BLW (and there are very few downsides) is that my babies haven't been in to their smash cake.  They have been feeding themselves for months now, it isn't a new adventure to get to touch the food.  They know how to eat, and know they can not eat if they don't want to.  Basically they taste the cake, think it's too sweet, and stop eating.  Probably for the best, that much sugar can't be good for them.

Getting ready to party!

Ben was rocking his big brother shirt for the occasion.  Happy one year anniversary of being a big brother!

Ali, Aunt Gail, Meo, and Sammy!  Party time!

Benson playing cars under the table, Sammy playing cars under the table.  Good times with cousins.

Hugs!  These two love to play!

Sammy and Ali adore being wherever their big cousin Peyton is.

The play zone- pre total destruction. :P

Presents!  Thank you everyone

Ben helped with some of the unwrapping.  It's a big brother's job.

Loving Uncle Evan and Aunt Jessee!  

These girls were loving all the attention

I didn't go big with decorations.  With our little house and five kids running around there was enough going on.  I couldn't resist decorating Sammy and Ali's chairs for their cakes though!  The girls found the decorations to be pretty interesting themselves.  Almost more interesting then the cakes.

Cake for the birthday girls!  (Ali L, Sam R)

They really just poked around at the cake and ate the bananas.  Much like Ben when he was one.

Ben picked out the cake.  He was so proud of getting his sisters Minnie Mouse!

I love putting up the month pictures from the year and seeing how much my babies have grown!

Thank you to the family that was able to make it to the party!  We loved having you there to celebrate with us.  And we totally know that not everyone can drop everything and travel for a kid's birthday party, so thank you to the far away family who sent lots of love to our girls.  It was a fun little party, and a great way to celebrate our sweet girls.

-Kim


I loved the party dresses I found for the girls.  A drawback to twins is if you find a cute outfit you need to buy two!  Their one pink party dresses were inexpensive and perfect for the party!  (affiliate link)

Schedule update: One year old twins and a three & a half year old!

We now have two one year olds in our house!  Ben is cruising along at three and a half years old and busy as ever.  The schedule hasn't changed too much in the past month, but we have made a few tweaks.  The holidays gave us a chance to try a few new things, and I'm liking how we are doing!

Here is our basic outline of the day:

7:00am- Ben up! We spend a few minutes together and get his breakfast going.
7:15am- Ali and Sammy up!  I get them to the living room and nurse.
7:30am- Ali and Sammy play while I make their breakfast.  Ben helps now, which is super sweet. (But means it takes a few minutes longer)

7:45am- Everyone sits to breakfast.  We try to facetime with family during this time.  The kids eat a better breakfast with someone besides me to look at. ;)

8:30am- Done with breakfast, kids play while I clean up.  I try to squeeze in some reading time and play with the kids.  

9:00am- Ali and Sammy to first nap.  Ben and I do a one on one activity now.  I choose it and I try to make it educational.  My goal is at least ten minutes of directed activity, but if he is in to it we stretch it a bit.  After that he does his independent play while I get some work and chores done.
11:00am- Ali and Sammy wake up and nurse.

11:30am-1:45pm- This is still our busy time.  If we have early activities we head out to those and then get home for lunch around 12:30 or so.  If we are just doing our own thing we usually do an early lunch.  We go to libraries, parks, and do any errands we might have.  Home time is spent reading and playing with the kids.  We are trying to get as much outdoor time as possible too!
1:45pm- Ali and Sammy nurse and head to naps. Ben gets a snack if we did an early lunch.
2:00pm- Ben to nap.

4:30pm- Everyone is up!  I let them up any time after 4.  Ben is pretty good about staying in his room if he wakes up early, but most days I still have to wake him up.  I try to stretch the girls a bit as sort of an independent playtime.

4:30pm- The kids get a small snack.  I don't like that they eat so close to dinner, but the girls at least cannot make it to dinner without a little something.  Ben usually just gets some milk.  If everyone is happy I will skip the snack.  Some days just a few bites are what keep the girls happy and playing til dinner.  This is when Ben gets to watch a show too.
5:30pm- Dinner time!  We all eat together.  If Pat is working late or the kids are really having a hard time waiting til dinner time I start them off early, but we aim to all eat together.
6:00pm- Family play time!  (And baths on rotating nights.)
6:45pm- Jammie time for Ali and Sammy, then they nurse.

7:00pm- Ali and Sammy to bed for the night.

7:10pm- Ben starts his bedtime routine.  

7:30pm- Ben in bed for the night.

As the girls are getting older we can be slightly more flexible with their schedule.  We can shorten their morning nap to get to more activities.  And they are can move their solid meals around a bit if I give them a little snack.  This really frees us up to go more places.  We have also started the slow move toward weaning by dropping the post afternoon nap nursing session.  The girls were not happy to have to nurse then and have been so much happier in the post nap time without it.  As a bonus they are nursing better at the other time of day.  As I said we aren't rushing to wean, but it is the first step!

I've added in the directed activity for Ben and he has been doing so well with it!  It has been great practice for him to have to sit still and do what he is told for a bit.  We do puzzles, crafts, color, work on letters and numbers, and do work on other concepts through play.  I think the special attention helps him keep a happy attitude throughout the day, and we are working on things he will need in preschool.  Ben has also been super into helping out lately.  He loves to help me with any chores I am doing and with the cooking.  It does make things take a bit longer at times, but I appreciate his interest in what I am doing!

This schedule is really working for us right now.  Ben is doing really well with his extra attention, and it makes him so much more patient with his sisters!  The girls are so much fun, playing and getting into everything.  I've added in a planning session every evening too.  Just taking five minutes to jot down the plan for the next day makes everything go much more smoothly.  We deviate from the schedule as needed, but having a game plan helps me make sure everyone's needs are met.

-Kim

Twelve month update

Well we survived our first year with twins!  Go us!  I can honestly say it was not as terrible as I though it could be.  I suppose it helps to think of the expression 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.'  I was prepared for life to be chaos, and fortunately it wasn't!  Oh, there were moments of it for sure.  But overall it really wasn't too bad.

The girls are still doing their army crawl to get around.  I rarely see them even try to do a traditional crawl anymore.  I think even they don't see the point.  They are super fast when they want to be.  They are sitting amazingly well!  It feels like they couldn't be bothered to try to sit, they wanted to be on the go.  Then all of a sudden they realized it left their hands free to grab more stuff, and they were all about sitting!  We have a fun new development now- they are pulling up on everything.  Half of me is super excited for them and the fact that they are hitting milestones.  The other half is thinking, Oh shoot.  They can get into more stuff now.  ;)  Ali is really into pulling up and standing.  She does it as much as possible.  As per usual, Sammy can do it as well, but isn't as into it.  Ali is trying really hard to figure out how to cruise around holding on to furniture.  She isn't quite there yet.  But I know she will get it soon, and then Sammy will realize she can do it too.  Seriously, nothing is safe in our house any more.

Eating is going well overall.  When they like the food they are champion eaters. Table manners are a different story though.  They are like tiny vikings!  When Sammy doesn't like something she just throws it down on the floor.  Both of them like to slam their cups down to indicate they want more to drink.  Sigh, we are working on it of course, but it is slow going.  They are very aware of what everyone else is eating.  This means they want whatever Ben has, and that somehow the food on my plate is way better then what they have.  This is despite the fact that they eat the same things we do most of the time, the only difference being I let theirs get a little cooler.  This is the opposite of Ben, who thought anything I had was terrible.  I am trying to mix foods that are new and healthy with those I know they will eat to be sure they get enough to be full.  I have to hide the 'good stuff' at the beginning of the meal sometimes.  But I am trying to trust their little bodies know what they need.  If I only serve the healthy stuff they will be fine.  Oh, and smoothies.  Thank goodness for smoothies. :)

Nursing is going pretty well.  I am thinking the girls are losing interest.  They like the first eating of the day, and usually the one right before bed.  The rest of the day they can be pretty disinterested.  They eat a small amount or sometimes none at all.  I follow their lead on this.  I think soon enough we will wean.  I'm not in a big rush to do so, but I'm not stopping it either.  I plan to go slow of course.  and let the girls dictate the pace.  I am beyond thrilled we made it to a whole year of nursing.  It is truly a blessing.

Sleep is going pretty well too.  Overall I still can't complain.  They do well at night.  A few wake ups, but really just giving them their pacifiers solves the problem.  They know what is expected of them at sleep time, and don't fuss about going to their cribs.  They are starting to play a bit at the beginning of naps.  These girls, they think they are just the funniest two people in the world.  I don't always know what they are laughing at, but they are just giggling away at each other!  If that happens I just let it go.  I know when they get older they may take longer to move bedtime later if they talk and laugh after lights out.  We are just fine with that.  It is really sweet and I love peeking in at them.  They do love their beds though and I am very happy they don't fuss when it is time to go to sleep.

This was of course a big month with all the holidays!  Ali and Sammy did really well with all the excitement, visitors, and schedule adjustments.  They loved having Omi, Meo, and Uncle Jared staying with us.  They ate up all the attention when we were with the whole family too.  They are little snuggle bunnies and just wanted to be held and loved on, which everyone was happy to do!  Their first new years eve wasn't very exciting.  Honestly they were coming down from the Christmas fun and were a little out of sorts.  We did a netflix count down and all the kids went to bed on time.  They loved having Daddy home for winter break.  We sure kept busy this past month!

Sammy and Ali are just little balls of personality.  They are so funny!  They love to giggle and play and snuggle.  They adore meal times, they are always hungry.  They come charging into the kitchen when I move the gate for meals.  They are pulling up to stand and finding they can reach new levels of mischief.  The kids got a ton of Little People toys for Christmas and the girls love to play with them.  They still love the toy kitchen.  Any time Ben isn't looking they start digging through his trains.  (Only a year old and they already know how to pester their brother.)  Ali still loves pulling things off shelves.  Sammy is still in love with socks.  Ali has started pulling hers off more and Sammy will go right for them.  They have started to chase each other around a bit, which is just a hoot to watch.  They are dancing now!!!  I love little baby dances!  They hear music and they just start wiggling back and forth.  It is the sweetest thing ever.  We have a lot more dance parties now, and the girls are so into it.  They adore watching Ben run around and dance.

Both girls are little loves.  They are still the loudest babies ever, but it is ever so slowly going down.  Ali is still more open with her feelings.  She is quick to yell but even quicker to smile.  She is my little buddy, following me around and crawling to be in my lap.  She works hard for her goals.  She is funny and likes to be part of the action.  Sammy is still a little more reserved.  But she has a sly smile that just gets you.  She is determined, but it is a quieter determination.  She is more content to play on her own, but she still loves a good cuddle.  She is funny and loves to play.  Both girls are just a hoot.  They  love to smile, play, laugh, get into mischief, and dance.  They want to be with the group and play with their brother.  They play with each other too!  They love to giggle at each other in nap time.  They are always so excited when Pat gets home.  It is so sweet to watch them love their family!

Double trouble, always finding things they shouldn't get into.  Ali (L) Sam (R)

OSU lost, but these fans were still looking cute! (Sam (L) Ali (R)

Playtime with Daddy is the best!  (Sam (L) Ali (R))

These girls love to be out and about!  Ali (L) and Sam (R)

They adore their big bro. Sam (L) Ali (R)

I love how they end up almost on top of each other sometimes.  Sisters! (Sam L, Ali R)

These two think they are so funny. :)  Sam (L) Ali (R)

My one year olds!!

Ali and Sammy are amazing girls.  This has been an incredible year.  I love the baby days and will miss them so much, but I am so excited to get to see these two grow.  They are delights and bring joy to our lives every day.  Thank you for being such sweet girls, Ali and Sammy.  We love you so very much.

-Kim

ONE!

Alison and Samantha are ONE today!!!  What?!  I know every parent says it, but seriously where did the past year go?  One year ago we went from one child to three, with the gift of our sweet baby girls.  This past year has been crazy, busy, fun, stressful, joyful, messy, loving, and did I mention busy?  But I wouldn't change a thing.  Twins was a shock to us, but one I am so so thankful we got.  Ali and Sam have brought so much love and joy to our lives.  One year ago I never even dreamed we would be where we are today.  I am so full of love when I look at my family, I can't imagine how we ever lived without these girls.

I had to get a few pictures of the girls in their pretty one year old party dresses.

The birthday girls!

Alison!

Samantha!

One year old sweeties!!!

We love you so much, Alison.  We love you so much, Samantha.  Thank you for an amazing year.

-Kim

Eleven month update and schedule

Ali and Sammy are 11 months old!  One more month until they are a year old.  Yes, once again I can't believe time has gone by so quickly.  Sometimes these monthly updates are frustrating to write.  They are something else on my to-do list that is always growing.  But then I think about how not writing them means my girls are growing too fast and I am a little sad.  Normal mom feelings though, right?  Right.  On to the update.

Sammy and Ali are still army crawling.  I think they have given up and the traditional crawl.  Sometimes they get up on their hands and knees, but then they realize they can get where they want to go and just go for it.  Sammy is still super fast.  Seriously, she can cross a room in a blink.  Ali is still our slow and steady girl.  She gets where she wants and will figure out the best path to get to what she wants.  The two of them together can be trouble.  They have managed to knock the gate down a few times!  If I don't have it super tight they can tilt it and scoot underneath.  Sneaky girls!  They for sure keep me busy making sure they stay safe.

Both are sitting much better now!  Sammy can get herself into a sitting position on her own, while Ali kneels more.  Ali has been busy pulling herself up into a kneeling position to reach things for a while now.  In the girls usual style, Ali worked hard at it and we could see her practicing to reach this skill.  After that Sammy just did it one day.  It is interesting to see how different the girls can be sometimes!  But they do hit physical milestones around the same time, as expected from identical twins.  The path to those points is just a little different.  Ali tends to kneel more than sit, but she can sit when placed in that position.  They don't do it very long, they tend to take off after the next thing that catches their fancy.  I think they are really just too busy to be bothered holding still sitting for very long.  They are learning they can have hands free upright playing by sitting though.  Oh, and they have learned shelves have fun things on them.  They can't reach anything unsafe, but they can get into a lot more toys now.  One of Ali's favorite activities is pulling all the board books off of shelves.  We keep a big bin of baby toys on a low shelf, and they can pull it over to get to the toys.  It's messy, but it is actually nice they can do this now.  When just Ali was pulling up she would work so hard to grab a toy out of the bin, and Sammy would wait and steal it.  Sisters, huh.

The girls are pretty good eaters.  They've had some more teeth coming in, and that makes them picky about what they eat.  Ali likes softer foods while Sammy prefers hard things to grind into her gums.  Overall I think they are doing pretty well.  Both of them can drink from a straw now!  This is awesome because it means they can drink the smoothies I make.  Sometimes it is the only way I can get veggies in Ben, and I love that I can sneak healthy food into the girls now too.  It took Sammy a little longer to figure it out, which was hard for her because she saw her sister and brother drinking something she wanted too.  But she got it and now all three happily drink down my secretly healthy concoctions.  :)  The girls love bananas, guaca-hummus, peanut butter toast, quesadillas, crackers, apples, yogurt, raisins, and apricots.  They really like having whatever the rest of us are eating.  I am happy that they dig into whatever dinner I make for the family.  I am betting that won't last too long.  They'll find their pickiness like most kids do, but for now it is pretty nice.  And it is helping Ben be less picky too!  Yay!  They adore meal time and are so happy to be at the table with everyone, which is super fun.

Nursing is still going well.  Teething makes them a little fussy when nursing.  Sammy tends to bite a little when her teeth hurt.  She gets put down and has to wait until Ali is done when she does that.  Fortunately she has learned and doesn't do it very often.  It does let me know that her mouth is sore though.  Ali likes to nurse more during teething.  Funny how different they can be!  I just make sure to have her switch sides at feedings when Sammy doesn't want to nurse much to make sure both sides produce evenly.  The girls are getting pretty fast too!  They get to business and want to get back to playing.

Sleep is going well.  Sammy took her turn having some naps and bedtimes she wasn't happy about.  But it was just a handful of times though.  Both girls are happy to get to nap time and crash hard at bedtime.  They occasionally cry out at night, but giving them their pacifier solves any problems.  Sometimes we hear a cry and when we get into the room both girls are sound asleep.  So who knows who is doing that.  They did have a hard time sleeping when we had Gramma and Grampa with us for Thanksgiving.  I seriously think they just didn't want to miss out on fun.  Nothing was wrong.  They would stop crying as soon as I went into the room.  If I picked one of them up they would be straining to see into the hallway.  I think they just wanted to go play.  Other than that no real complaints though!

This month we celebrated the girls first Thanksgiving.  The girls enjoyed themselves.  I thought they would like more of the food, but they were still fussy from teething and didn't eat a ton.  They very much enjoyed having Gramma and Grampa here to visit and dote on them.  They loved the play time and cuddles.  They loved getting out and visiting parks.  When it is just me and the three kids the girls usually stay in the stroller.  They tend to take off in opposite directions, which is hard with just one adult.  And since they are still army crawling I don't want them getting hurt or dirty pulling their bellies along the ground.  With Gramma and Grampa the girls could get out and play at the park! They loved the swings!!  I have to say while it is very strange to have such warm weather at the holidays, it is nice we can still go to the park!!  The girls enjoy the Christmas decorations that are up, and they have liked Christmas shopping with me.  I like this stage when I can buy their gifts with them present. :)

These girls are just the best.  Oh, they can be a handful sometimes.  They get into everything!  Seriously, I don't remember Ben getting into as much as a baby.  Maybe it seems that way because I had just one kid so I could prevent more from happening?  Or perhaps because Ben didn't crawl until he was almost a year old, so he didn't have the opportunity to get into things before he knew better.  Ali and Sammy are smart and learning.  They know what they are not allowed to do.  They are starting to leave the outlets alone thank goodness!  They love to get into the toys.  They are, well, sometimes kind of jerks to each other.  They are constantly stealing toys from each other.  They pull pacifiers out of each others' mouths.  Sometimes to put into their own mouth, sometimes just to have two.  They love to crawl around and explore.  They pull up to kneeling to try to see everything.  They already think it is super fun to try to get into their brother's room.  Luckily Ben doesn't mind right now, but he will. ;)  The girls have learned if they pull up to kneel by the couch they can reach Ben while he sits.  This is a super fun game for the girls.  Ben does not seem as impressed with it.  So far he handles it well, just scooting out of the way.  He is going to have to adjust to a lot of love once Ali and Sammy figure out how to get on the couch too.  Both girls crawl all over each other and wrestle around a bit.  It sounds like they are fighting, but when I say anything to them they just look up and smile.  Silly babies.  Sammy is more likely to be on top.  She tends to take direct routes to where she is going.  Ali takes the time to go around and find the best path that way.  Sammy is still happier to play on her own.  She loves to use her feet to hold one toy while she plays with another.  Ali likes to pull toys and books off shelves.  She has been very happy to play on her own now that she can kneel at things.  Both girls have been obsessed with the baby keys we have.  We do have two sets, but of course they want the one their sister has. (Oh, and that usually means Ben wants them too.)  They love the kids nativity we have out for them to play with.  They are into rings and balls too.  They have created a new game for themselves.  We have a tiny area by the front door that is tile, and the balls from the ball factory bounce and roll really well on it.  They crowd into this space and knock the balls around in a little hockey game of some sort and just laugh.  Pat has been warned to open the front door slowly when he gets home.  Of course the best time to play this game is when someone needs to use the door.

Both girls are just little giggle monsters.  They laugh and smile!  They are still so loud.  Seriously, so loud all the time.  Sammy is the shy one.  She took a day to get used to Gramma and Grampa.  Once she is used to people she opens up.  Ali still loves most everyone.  Sammy is the speedster.  Ali likes to take winding ways to get places.  Ali is still a little freer with her feelings.  She has easy laughs, and will quickly let you know when she is upset.  Sammy takes a beat longer to let loose the big giggles, but get her in a silly mood and there is no holding it back!  She will let you know when she is unhappy too.  Both girls are determined.  They remember things they aren't supposed to get into and lie in wait to get at them.  They keep me busy for sure.  Sammy is into playing with socks for some reason.  Hers or Ali's.  Seriously, she has pulled Ali's socks off to play with them.  For her part Ali doesn't seem to care.  Ali has a specific book she really loves.  It is fun to see their preferences develop.  Both are little sweeties and so much fun.

No major schedule changes right now.  Sometimes they do wake up early from first nap, but they are pretty happy to play in their cribs and giggle together so I just leave them.  Afternoon nap has been bumped a few minutes forward.  We got a little lax and it was creeping back a bit, but they really need to be in nap on time.  As they get older meal times can be a little more flexible, which is super helpful.  They will eat cheerios on the go if we must be out during a normal meal time.  Not ideal, but it tides them over until I can get a proper meal in them.  Here is the usual day this month:

7:15am: Wake up
7:30am: Nurse
7:50am: Solids breakfast
9-11am: Nap
11am: Nurse
11:45am: Solids lunch
1:50-4:15pm: Nurse and Nap
4:30pm: Nurse
5:30pm: Solids dinner
6:45pm: Nurse
7pm: Bed

The one meal that must be on time is dinner.  I start them on their dinner if Pat isn't home yet.  I think it is just that time of day, they are fussy and need to get their dinner.  After that they are usually happy as can be!

Sammy!  The sign only lasted through about 2 pictures.  Oh well. 

Ali!  

My girls!!!  Samantha and Alison and their lovies.  They adore those lovies!

Ben wanted in on the pictures!  I think this is one of the best one I have of all three.  I adore these three kids.  How did I get so lucky?

Always happy when it is time to eat! (Ali L, Sam R)

Double trouble! (Sam L, Ali R) These two get into mischief, but I love watching them together.

Yay smoothies!  Happy, quiet babies. :)

Sammy, caught int he act!  Stealing her sister's socks.  Ali was too busy getting into things she wasn't supposed to to care. 

Sammy and Ali- Best little girls!!!

These are just the sweetest little ladies.  Oh, they can be feisty.  They let you know when they are not happy.  But they are quickly happy again.  Teething has been tough on them, and that is a time when I hate having twins.  Both girls need to be held and loved on, and I am only one mommy.  We make it through though.  Ali and Sammy love to explore and play.  They like to be a part of the action.  They love to giggle and snuggle.  They are just little loves and bring so much happiness to our lives.  Life is busy when you have two babies on the go, but it is so much fun.  I am so blessed to have these sweet girls as my daughters.  They are delights.  I love them so much.

-Kim

Eleven months!

What?!  Almost one year old already?  How did that happen?  I feel like we were just planning out your arrival before last Christmas and now here we are a year later.  I can't believe we've had these sweet girls 11 months already.

Alison!!

Samantha!!

These two are busy little girls.  It is hard to get a picture of them holding still!

One more month and we won't have tiny babies any more, we will have two one year olds.  One more month and we will have made it through the first year of life with twins.  This past month has been wonderful, and I know the next one will be too.  I am going to soak up every moment of under one babies that I have left.  Time is going too fast!  I love you so much, Sammy and Ali.  You girls bring joy to our lives.

-Kim

Ten month update and schedule

The girls are ten months old!  We are closing in fast on the big one.  I can't believe so much time has gone by so quickly!  The girls are growing hard.  They are busy and in to everything.  They are little sweeties and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.

Ali and Sammy still aren't crawling on their hands and knees, but they are so good with their army crawling I don't think they care.  They each have their strengths with it.  Ali is our long distance girl.  She is determined and focused.  You have to watch her because she will wait for her moment.  In a total mom fail moment, I have to admit I lost her once this month.  I thought she was playing with Sammy in the living room and I found her playing in her bedroom.  Fortunately our house is pretty safe.  But now I know for sure to keep the hallway gated off.  Sammy is our sprinter.  She is seriously fast!!  Luckily for me she is the one more content to hang out.  But when she thinks she has an opening she is off!  Her favorite place to go is into the kitchen, so she is hard to miss.  I have been employing the gates almost all the time now.  I know it is a little frustrating for Ben to have to ask to get around them, but I need to be able to keep everyone safe!

The girls are good eaters.  Sadly they are getting a little picky already.  I suppose I should be proud of them- they are totally eating at a preschool level. ;)  They are obsessed with raisins and cheerios already.  This comes in handy when we are out and about.  I like having an easy food to take with us places.  I know it isn't necessarily the healthiest meal, but it by far could be worse.  They love bananas, guaca-hummus, and almost all breakfast foods.  They enjoy peanut butter toast.  They are starting to want bigger pieces of food to eat.  I do have to be careful about this, I don't want them to choke.  But if it is a food I think they can handle I let them.  They enjoy drinking water out of their cups and like to try to hold them by themselves.  They look so proud of themselves when they do!  They enjoy almost anything I make in the slow cooker, and they like the veggies out of soup.  Otherwise they are already turning on vegetables, which bums me out.  But they do enjoy smoothies and pouches already.  Oh my, do they enjoy them.  If I get one out for Ben I'd better have one for the girls too, or I hear about it!  I aim for the kids to eat actual vegetables and know they are eating them, but I don't want the table to be a battleground if I can help it.  So I am fully into hiding veggies anywhere I can.  If the girls eat their pouches, I am happy.  It is interesting how different babies can be.  Ben spent his first few years on a self imposed Atkins diet.  He barely liked any carbs!  Both Ali and Sammy already like some breads and crackers.  Even between the girls they have different preferences.  At Thanksgiving Ali was all about the mashed potatoes, while Sammy was digging the turkey.  I love seeing their differences come out!

Sleep is still going pretty well.  Overall I think I can't complain.  They do have the occasional bad nights and bad naps.  They do know the routine though and go to naps and bed happily and willingly.  I think it is normal to have a less than stellar nap every once in a while.  Ali seems to sometimes have a little fear of missing out.  She goes to sleep, but if she wakes at night she seems to want to get up.  She usually goes back to sleep though.  The big issue with sleeping this month was teething.

Teething.  Oh teething, how I hate you.  These poor girls were cutting the front four top teeth all at the same time this month.  They were so uncomfortable.  Understandable it messed with their sleep a little.  It appeared to mess with their eating a little too.  Ali was less in to solids for a bit, and when she did eat them she liked the softer food.  Sammy was the opposite- she didn't want to nurse a lot and wanted more solids.  So again, interesting to see the differences between them.  I am happy that these are my second kids and that they are twins with the nursing.  Sammy had a couple days where she really didn't nurse much at all.  I offered at all the normal times, but she only suckled for a few moments then wanted off.  I remember Ben going through this, so I knew it was normal.  I wasn't worried if she didn't nurse a ton for a day or too.  I was happy Ali wanted to nurse more, so I just made sure to alternate sides that she was on to keep supply up.  Sure enough, Sammy was back to normal in about a day.  The teething meant we spent several days just cuddling and trying to keep the girls happy.  Those were some loooong days, and they were days when having twins was just hard.  When your baby is upset and hurting you just want to hold them, and that is hard to do with two little ones needing to be held and loved on.  But we made it through.  Once teething took a break my little sunshines were back to their happy selves.

This month the girls celebrated their first Halloween!  They weren't super in to their costumes, but they had a ton of fun at all the Halloween activities we went to.  We hit up several story hours at the library.  I like going to those because the girls seem to like the stories too!  It is still easier to keep them in their stroller at that type of event, but they are actively watching the leader and paying attention to what the other kids are doing. I like to think they are getting something out of it.  This month they were great helpers getting some early holiday shopping done.  They enjoy being out and about, even when they were teething.  It is getting cooler here (finally) so the fresh air makes them happy.  The girls got to participate in their first election.  That was a day, but they were there with me to vote!  They finally had their nine month check up, on the day they turned ten months but what can you do.  I hate that but with the move it was the best we could do.  They are healthy and growing strong!!  Sammy is about 3 ounces bigger right now.  It is interesting how they keep switching leads in that.  It is really interesting to watch these identical twins grow.  They have such different personalities, but they physically have so many similarities.  I know, duh, that should be obvious.  But seeing it actually play out right in front of you is fascinating.

Sammy is still our shier girl.  She is fully at ease with people she knows, but she is slow to warm up to strangers.  She took a little time to warm up to Gramma and Grampa at the start of their Thanksgiving visit.  Overall I can tell she is our little introvert of the two.  She is more often content to hang out and play with toys on her own.  She is super fast as I said, but she doesn't take advantage of it too often.  She likes to snuggle up and observe the action.  She's a thinker, and waits for her opening when she wants something.  Currently she appears to be going for the kibble.  She can really turn on the speed when she sees me coming to stop her!  Ali is still our outgoing baby.  She likes to get right into the action.  She will come and find me rather than play alone for too long.  She is quick to voice her feelings.  This isn't all bad, she has the best belly laughs and she doesn't hold them back.  She is determined.  If she wants something she keeps going after it until she gets it.  She is independent, she will go and seek something out, like going to her room to play.  Both girls are thinkers.  They are going to give me a run for my money as they grow.  They already know when they are going for something they shouldn't.  They stop and look at me when I say no, but often go for it anyway, smiling and giggling the whole time.  They love to get into their brother's room and play with his toys.  Of course they like to steal toys from each other.  And no, it doesn't matter if we have two of something, they want what their sister has.  I try to be as fair as possible with that, but sometimes they have to just work it out themselves.  They love to giggle together, which is the sweetest thing to see ever.

There schedule is still holding strong.  They are doing really well with it!
7:15am: Wake up
7:30am: Nurse
7:50am: Solids breakfast
9-11am: Nap
11am: Nurse
11:45am: Solids lunch
2-4:30pm: Nap
4:30pm: Nurse
5:30pm: Solids dinner
6:45pm: Nurse
7pm: Bed

They tumble around each other like puppies.  It is so funny!

Samantha, my little sweetheart

My Alison, always the character

Sammy and Ali!  My best girls

The girls are little sweethearts.  It is so hard when they are teething.  They were really uncomfortable and I sometimes felt like there was just not enough mom to go around.  But it makes me so grateful for their sunny personalities.  When they aren't in pain, they are such little delights.  And even when they are teething they try to have fun and be happy.  They are funny and playful, sweet and snuggly, smart and feisty.  They make us laugh with their antics.  They loving and lovable.  They adore their big brother.  I am so thankful to have them as my daughters.  They are wonderful girls and bring such joy to our lives.

-Kim