Five Years

April 2, 2004

Over the years I've made some dumb choices and some smart ones too.  I have to say that marrying Steve was the best choice I ever made.  Ever.  We met online but soon learned that we lived only five minutes from each other.  Less than seven months later we got married in the Las Vegas Temple.  That day (along with Aaron & Andrew's birth) was the happiest day of my life.  Steve is a wonderful father, my best friend, and a loving husband.  I love you Steve!  Happy Anniversary. 

Signing Time

Aaron and Andrew's eyes are glued to Signing Time...

even while drinking their bottles.  (I'm usually on the couch between them.) 

Aaron and Andrew LOVE Signing Time and that's no exaggeration.  It's a series of videos that teaches infants and young children basic sign language.  The songs are rather catchy and I even find myself singing them around the house all day.  I think it was a little over a week ago when I first put it in and now we watch it at least once every day, usually before their first nap. It mesmerizes them and Aaron usually drinks more of his bottle if he's watching it. There's one scene that Aaron is especially fond of- it never fails to put a smile or a giggle on his face. 

We have yet to see them do a sign but I'm sure it will eventually pay off.  My brother has twin boys that are two years older than Aaron and Andrew who had their own language.  They could understand each other but no one else had a clue what they were saying. Learning basic sign language helped them communicate with the rest of the family.  There's a lot of benefits to young children learning basic signs which a won't go into right now but I hope it comes to fruition.  And if it doesn't- well, at least they're watching something educational.

We have another sign language video which I put in today for the first time and it'll probably be the last.  The boys liked it okay but I think it's pretty lame.  I don't remember the name of it nor do it really care.  When I put in Signing Time while they're totally involved in playing with their toys, they'll STOP immediately to watch and listen.  It's pretty funny.  This afternoon I was in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher while they were playing with the door stopper and making noises near the front door.  Then Aaron started crying.  I ran to see what was the matter and Andrew was sitting next to him trying to gouge his eyeballs out.  I quickly grabbed Aaron who was hysterical by now and said, "Andrew, Andrew."  I think my quick movement scared Andrew because now he started crying.  Being hungry and tired didn't help.  But when I put in Signing Time they immediately stopped, began smiling, and were instantly happy!  I love this video.  I think I'm purchasing the entire series! 

Boot Camp 101

Until yesterday I didn't realize just how out of shape I am.  After an hour long workout Saturday morning EVERY muscles in my body aches--really bad. I can't move without SOMEthing hurting.  Each Saturday morning a friend in my ward, who is a certified trainer, does a "Boot Camp" (hard core circuit training) at a neighborhood park from 7-8a.m.  And it really fits its name.  There were six of us there yesterday doing jumping jacks, sit ups, running, bench push-ups, jump rope, push ups, lunges,and more-many with weights.  I'm not sure why I haven't gone before because I'm almost always awake by 6 a.m. come rain or shine.  But I should've been a little smarter the first time. My muscles will just begin to feel better when Saturday rolls around again and it's time to make a fool of myself by going to the extreme.  Maybe this should tell me I need to exercise more than once a week.  (My twice weekly evening walks with a friend are awesome but don't get me nearly this sore.)

Tonight  Andrew pulled himself up to a standing position for the first time.  I know, this has nothing to do with aches and pains other than maybe this 'exercise' caused his muscles to ache 

too. :) Earlier today we'd taken the bumper pads off his crib because he'd bent them up so much and ripped off one of the ties holding a corner.  He'd learned to pull on them in order to help him get up on his knees.  Anyway, we were watching Andrew on our video monitor as he stood up for the first time.  Our next question was "How is he going to get down?".  As we watched we got our answer- he fell straight back and banged his head on the other side of the crib. Before that first success he'd done a couple of face plants into the side of the crib as he attempted to stand up.  Maybe it was too soon to take those bumper pads off!

Aaron still has a ways before he's up on his knees or feet.  Funny thing is, it was Andrew that started physical therapy, not Aaron.  I'll have to explain more about that later and why Andrew's still going-even though he doesn't really need to- another time.  But right now I'm tired, sore and aching.

Eleven months!

I keep telling Aaron and Andrew to stop growing but they don't listen- especially Andrew.  It's hard to believe they're now 11 months old and in a matter of four short weeks they'll turn ONE! Everyone has told me how fast the first year goes by but I didn't think it would go THIS fast!

Everyday they get cuter and cuter and more and more fun.  Andrew has now learned to pull books off the bottom shelf and pulls himself onto his knees in his crib.  He is so proud of himself because he can sit himself up that before falling asleep he has to play for up to an hour. Gone are the days where I can lay them down and they simply close their eyes and go to sleep. That actually ended a while ago but now they're more active before falling asleep.  I don't get it: if I had the chance to take two naps each day and sleep about 12 hours each night I wouldn't waste my time playing around.

Last week at Andrew's therapy appointment I fed them their bottle while they were in the stroller.  When the therapist (who happens to have two sets of twins- age 5 and 7 months) saw me holding the bottles she exclaimed to the babies, "Your mother is spoiling you!"  So at their next feeding they had to begin working for their food.  Aaron has caught on quick but Andrew prefers to play with his bottle after drinking a couple of ounces.

Aaron has now learned to go from a sitting position to a crawling position but he's in no hurry to crawl on his hands and knees.  Anytime I start working with him on crawling he gets mad and begins to scream.  When Aaron is upset he lets us know by crying or screaming.  This usually happens because Andrew has taken a toy he's playing with or starts charging toward him to come take it away.  I only hope this isn't the beginning of sibling rivalry.  Aaron has a very fun personality- always happy, giggly, and very responsive.  He is VERY ticklish (while it's impossible to get Andrew to even flinch when we try tickling him.)

Bath time is one of their favorite activities.  You can really see how pudgy Andrew is and how skinny Aaron is.

I try to go to the library a couple of times each month.  They love looking at books- and sucking on them too.

A thoughtful neighbor brought this by for us that another neighbor was giving away.  They LOVE this car (and so do I- trips to the mailbox or to visit the neighbors are much easier.  Yeah, going to the mailbox is a big deal.  That's how much I don't get out). 

Andrew can be found all over the place and under chairs, tables, the Exersaucer, and anything else he fits under.  He's on the go constantly.  But this is only the beginning...

ADORABLE FACES

It would be impossible to write about all the progress Aaron and Andrew have made just in the last month.  There are so many fun moments and firsts that everyday seems to be something new.  I LOVE this age but, to be honest, I've loved every age since the day they were born. They are more mobile, more interactive, more busy, and even more fun.  Andrew's and Aaron's personalities have become even more apparent in the last couple of months. Parents of twins have told us that the personalities flip flop- more than once.  We've already seen it happen once.  

Several months ago Aaron appeared to be more aggressive and busy while Andrew seemed more laid back and watched Aaron.  Aaron would roll over and kick Andrew in his sleep and he was the first to roll, sit up, and do the army crawl.  Andrew, however, is now the more aggressive, faster, stronger, and much busier baby.  When Andrew sees something out of his reach that he wants (basically anything in Aaron's hands) he will do WHATEVER is takes to get it.  Before he knew how to transition from sitting to (army) crawling he'd simply face plant onto the floor to begin moving.  Aaron, however, is now the more submissive, laid back (sort of), and cautious baby. When I sit him down he will stay in that position either until I come get him, he falls down, or Andrew pushes him over.  Toys purposely placed out of his reach- in the hopes that he'll reach for them- just make him mad.  But Aaron is more social, more expressive, and more interactive. His favorite activity now is to roll a ball back and forth with one of us. Andrew can't sit still long enough to roll it more than twice! 

I have so much fun taking pictures of Aaron and Andrew.  The ones below of Aaron were all taken within seconds of each other.  I tried having a similar 'photo shoot' of Andrew but they all turned out blurry so we picked other ones that we also liked.

AARON

I've seen Aaron make this face a couple of times and it cracks me up.  

You can see the four teeth he now has.

Aaron is a drooler and has been since day 1.

Aaron being very expressive.

ANDREW

This is the only time I could get Andrew to sit still long enough for 

so I could get a decent pictures.

Andrew is a very messy eater.

Both Andrew & Aaron love making noise- with anything.  Andrew is showing one way they found to accomplish that- banging cups together.  Oh, and notice the one sock he's wearing.  That's how it usually is.  He loves pulling his socks off.

Sick babies, tired parents

Aaron and Andrew have had the sniffles in the past, but NOTHING like the last week.  For the past week both babies have been sick with the flu and have been really cranky and fussy every day.

It started with Aaron and within two days Andrew had it full force too.  For four days they both had a fever, coughing, totally plugged noses, and very little appetite...and lots of crying.  We've just about reached the limits to how much mucus we have suction out of them.  They've probably done more crying in the last 5 days than they have in the last 5 months!  

Aaron had wheezing from bronchitis and last week we were sent home from the Pediatrician with a nebulizer and enough medication for what seems like a year's worth.  That's a good thing because when I could finally take Andrew in to the Doctor (thanks to a 3-day weekend) he had the same thing.  That was no surprise!  So the extra medication has really helped.   And if you've ever done these breathing treatments, they take FOREVER- just for one baby.  Then double that and it feels like that's about all I've been doing the last two days. Unfortunately they just won't sit there and breathe it in, they either have to play with the nebulizer or get really cranky because they are tired of it stuck in their face. 

Each night we've had to get up at least once with each baby.  When I started feeling sorry for myself I realized I'm a little spoiled now.   It's like deja vu all over again.  In the first 4 or 5 months we had to get up EVERY night to feed them once or twice.  I think I've forgotten how nice it is that they have been sleeping 11-12 hours through the night.

It's not easy to see your kids suffer.  Not that I enjoy being sick, but I'd rather it be me than them.   Of course, I had it before them and passed it on.  It'd been a while since I've had the flu/cold that bad and it was miserable.  I learned firsthand that Moms can't get sick, and if you do there's no break. However today they have begun to start feeling better and their runny noses are beginning to slow to just a drip.

"Aaron sporting a very red and sore nose"

"Andrew not much in the mood to do anything"

Two little monkeys crawling on the bed...

...One fell off and bumped his head.  This morning was the first time one of the babies fell off the bed, and I'm sure it won't be the last.  Steve was on the bed with Aaron and Andrew, but while Aaron went one direction Andrew quickly crawled off the other way and THUD!, down he went.  I think it scared us more than it did him. 

Andrew's pretty tough compared to Aaron.  He cried for a minute but was quickly smiling again.  Whenever Aaron is sitting up and falls back he starts crying. Andrew simply laughs and starts crawling to the nearest toy.  After what Andrew's been through (TEF and kidney surgeries) little bang ups are no big deal.  We're learning Aaron is the sensitive one. Another way of putting it- he's a big time Mama's boy! And I love it- at least for now.

Now that they're becoming more mobile* we're becoming more watchful.  One of their favorite things right now are door stoppers.  It'll keep them entertained for what seems like hours (it's probably only a few minutes, but that's a long time for 10 monthers). After catching Aaron pulling off the rubber end of one of the stoppers and putting it in his mouth, we've had to pull the ends off of most.  Everyday as they discover new things we're having to move things up or hide them from view.  One mother of 3-year old twins told me she eventually had to bungee chord the kitchen chairs together to prevent them from accessing cupboards and causing chaos.  Oh, we can't wait.

* Note:  Aaron & Andrew are ALMOST crawling.  But they're getting pretty fast at the commando/army crawl.

"It's so much more fun UNDER the Exersaucer than in it."

"Same with the jumper.  And wherever my brother goes, I follow."