Wednesday, January 27, 2010

11 months

Eli showing off her new skilzzz:

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Almost 11 months

I tried making myself some cheesey scrambled eggs for breakfast, but Shawn took half for his school lunch and the girls are eating the other half. They've eaten eggs cooked into things, and plain egg yolk, but lots of info out there says not to feed them egg whites. But after trying with bamba (peanut butter being another supposed year one no no) I decided really, screw it. Let them eat whatever they'll eat. besides, they need the fat. So cheesey scrambled eggs for breakfast it was. A hit with Eli, not so much with Bracha but then again, what does Bracha eat, anyways? Supporting cast members included steamed veggies, rice cakes, and of course cheerios.

Eliana had a tough night, poor girl. I can only imagine how painful teething must be (she's working on her two top front teeth). My only words of wisdom for her are that I promise someday she'll forget all about it (and then wish like crazy she could just grown a new set of teeth!)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Almost 11 months!

On mealtimes and routines:

Everything I ever read about twins said it was very important to get them on the same schedule. But when I spoke to my mother about scheduling (this was, mind you, before they were born) she just laughed.

Now I see her point, but also the books' point. There's no way I could have controlled their schedule, not if I ever wanted to sleep or go to work. But fortunately they have fallen into similar patterns and that helps enormously.

Both girls fall asleep usually around 9-ish, which means anytime from eight to ten, sometimes even earlier and, unfortunately, sometimes even later. They wake up around 6-ish, sometimes after having needed a feeding during the night.

Eli poops about an hour after waking up, almost like clockwork.

They play very nicely in the morning for about an hour, then it's time for breakfast. They actually get hungry for food now, which is relatively new.

Breakfast is usually steamed veggies, cheerios, cheese, and leftovers from whatever Shawn and I had for dinner the previous night. Today's breakfast included cheesy poof (quite a success) and their new favorite, bamba.

After that comes cleanup (of them, the floor, and the high chairs), diaper and clothing changes, then some crankiness until they both finally settle down for their morning naps, for which there are usually a couple of false starts before they really settle down and get a good hour+ of sleep.

Then they wake up in great moods and play for a nice long while until it's time for lunch, which today I think it'll be more cheesy poof, cubed avocado, and perhaps some banana.

Then I go to work and they're out of my hands for a while. For dinner they like grabbing whatever is on my plate. Then they go to bed and the whole cycle starts all over again.

Throughout the day there are, of course, bottles and cheerios. The diaper bag is well stocked with cheerios, rice cakes, baby food, and chickpea crackers, and now bamba, too. Baths don't happen daily, and aren't a soothing bedtime ritual. If I get a chance I bathe them by myself in the morning (throw one kid in the big tub, spray her down, soap her up, rinse her off, dry, dress, and repeat), otherwise Shawn and I do it together in the evening (showering with a baby in arms, while the other does the undressing and dressing).

So that's a day in the life of twins! I didn't even mention outings (yes, it is possible to get up and down four flights of stairs with two babies, a colossal diaper bag, a back pack, and shopping bags, all by yourself).

Right now they're fed, dressed, and napping. So what am I going to go do?

Laundry, of course!!!

(Haha, you probably thought I'd say 'go nap myself,' hah!)

Friday, January 8, 2010

10 1/2 months

Aunty Barbara, this one's for you! Thank you for all the fabulous outfits, here are some of our favorites:



Bracha, STOP in the name of love!!!



Love me that Aquaphor (thanks for that one, too, Aunty Barbara! We love the stuff now)



Abba and his girls



Eli and abba (isn't this to die for!? This is the kind of picture that makes women so gaga over men with babies. Back off, ladies, he's MINE!)

10 1/2 months

Yesterday the girls were getting antsy so we took them to the nearby mall that has a fun, safe play area for babies and little kids full of large, padded shapes to climb on, under, and through (sorry, that's the only way I can think of to describe it).

We started off with a delicious breakfast of eggs Benedict (well, Florentine for me) at Cafe Hillel, during which we ran into our fabulous birthing coach, Amanda. It was a pleasure seeing her again, especially since it's been a year now since the classes. She's been following their health issues and is really supportive and understanding. She was amazed to think they're nearly a year but they will soon be eleven months old!

After breakfast we went to the play area where the girls had a blast! Bracha climbed through tubes and arches and I was amazed! After I left Eliana apparently stole some kid's plug and later his danish. We gotta have a talk with that girl.

I saw another twin mommy at the mall, with two young infants in their car seats in a double click-n-go stroller. That thing looked huge!! I'm glad we never messed with that sort of thing and just used our stroller since they were little. I guess it'd be different if we drove much, but we don't at all.

We're going to saba and savta's for shabbat. They bought IKEA high chairs like we've got so for the first time the girls can join us at the table, in their own seats, and eat shabbat meals with the rest of us at their grandparents' house.

More pictures soon to come!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

10 1/2 months

After many, many failed attempts to get this video loaded, I think it'll finally work. This was from our zoo trip with Doda (Auntie) Esther a couple of weeks ago. Enjoy!



That kid is a riot.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

10 and a half months

Hi everyone, sorry for the long absence and happy New Year!! We have had much excitement at home. My parents returned after four months abroad and my sister-in-law came to visit. That and many computer problems, resulting in us giving up on our home computer and Shawn and me each acquiring our own laptops, has caused a delay in updates to this blog. Unfortunately I still don't have Photoshop so I can only post super huge files which limits how many I can upload at a time, but I did think I ought to share some with you.

But first, a quick update: Both girls are crawling, babbling, listing themselves to crawling and walking along while holding on to the couch or chairs. They eat most anything, though Eliana is a far better eater than Bracha, but love Cheerios most of all (though Eli also adores persimmon). They laugh like there's no tomorrow, wave (Bracha is better than Eliana), kiss (in their own way), and are very attached to their parents. Eliana is cutting her two top teethe so the house has been full of snotty, sleeping teethers, but having been through this already, we know it'll pass for a few weeks before the next round. Last week Esther (the SIL) and I took the girls to the zoo and they had a blast! So here are some pics, and an awesome zoo video will be coming shortly. Enjoy!!


Bracha standing on her own at the bear enclosure at the zoo


Eli enjoying a persimmon