Little Shenzie bear has really come out of her shell this past week. She has always been my shy - don’t you dare look at me or I’ll cry type of baby…not anymore!!! Now she is little Miss Social Butterfly. We went to a family bbq over the weekend and inside I was feeling a little anxious over Shenzie freaking out and crying and whining and crying and being scared. Hahaha silly Mama, trix are for kids! I barely even saw her for the afternoon. She let everyone hold her, ran around the backyard, and had a grand old time. The minute we walked in the house she ran up to Fatima (Levi’s girlfriends mom) and didn’t leave her side for hours. Thank you Fatima - she loves you!!!!

The last time we went to a real park she was very timid and wouldn’t leave the side of the wagon. Yesterday she ran all around, went down the slide, had a blast on the swings, and even made a few friends (she ran up to some man playing with his son and wanted him to pick her up…guess I need to teach them about strangers). =) My heart felt so happy that she has finally outgrown the clingy, scared, shy stage. By far the swings are the babies favorite. We’re going to head back today and hope that they are both free so we can swing swing swing to our hearts content.

Let the randomness begin.

I am going soon to purchase potty chairs and introduce them to the babies. I am really dreading the whole potty training business, but hopefully the anticipation will be worse than the actual doing. I know, I know, I’m totally setting myself up for crazy with that thinking, but miracles do happen, right? I want the no nonsense non singing, non musical ones…..any tips??

Separate rooms is a raging success. We finished moving out all of our crap this weekend and now all it needs is some fresh paint and some decorations.

On the tooth front. Heaten FINALLY cut his fourth tooth (3.10.08). Can we say LATE teether. He now has all four front teeth. Shenzie has 12 teeth. How many more do we have?!? I know at least the two year molars and the canines….are there more? Ugh @ teething.

This week the weather is supposed to be mid seventies. We are all wearing shorts for the first time today and LOVING it. Too bad summer is coming and we’ll be couped up inside for fear of melting. And really too bad that we are white as ghosts and are going to scare everyone away.

The babies have started really liking cartoons. Shenzie used to be scared of Elmo, but no more. The minute Sesame Street comes on they both stop in their tracks and get mesmerized by the TV.

Laura posted on the mom she thought she would be vs. the mom she is. I have to agree, I had completely different ideas of things I would and wouldn’t do. One of them is the TV. I was really against any TV, but now that I see how much they love their toons I am giving in a little. They are allowed to watch PBS and a few Disney Kids, and of course their old fav’s Einstein videos . The favorite is still Signing Time. They LOVE that show.

The babies are no longer scared of the vacuum. YAY! This means I can now vacuum more than once a week. Before I would have to leave them downstairs with Jeff while I did upstairs and vice versa. This morning I whipped out the vacuum and did upstairs while they chased me and it around. Pretty soon they’ll want vacuum rides.

The babies LOVE this rocking horse music thingy. They fight over it and try to push each other off. We got that toy at our baby shower and it seemed like they would NEVER be able to ride it….never has come. They are getting so big. When I look back at pictures of them one year ago I am amazed at how much they’ve grown and changed. My little babies are no longer babies at all, but kids. *Sniffle*

One of the many fights….Heaten says ‘talk to the hand cuz the face ain’t listening!!!’

Weight Watchers Week 3 Weight Loss: 1.5 Pounds
Total Loss: 7.5 Pounds

Dear Shenzie and Heaten,

You know how every single month I say it was the best month ever. Well, I’m sorry to say that this month I will not be typing those words to you. This month was VERY challenging. Between the teething, ear infection, colds, hitting, biting, scratching, crying, whining, and general crazy I am glad that it is over. Ok, enough of the bad, onto the good. You are both so sweet and perfect. It is such a wonderful blessing to have you both, you make my life so much better, happier, and of course crazier. You have really started interacting with each other more. A lot of the interaction is hitting, pushing, scratching, or biting, but when you’re playing nicely together it melts my heart. You chase each other around..it almost seems like you’re playing hide and seek. You laugh at each other and play really well together when I’m not in the room.

You both LOVE to be outside. The minute you see me put on my shoes or I put on your shoes you go racing to the garage door. Shenzie, for some reason you think the sign for outside is the sign for dog so you constantly make the dog sign while standing at the door. You also do the dog sign when you look out the window to outside. It is too cute and funny. Since we don’t yet have our backyard finished the garage is your play area (sorry kids, we’re working on it)…but you don’t seem to mind.

It is so amazing to watch you both and see how very different you already are. You are these two little individual people who just happen to be twins, but you couldn’t be more different. I love watching you learn new things and see the world with you. The days are long sometimes, especially lately, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. You are both growing up so fast it makes me head spin. I love you little Clammies, more and more every single day.

Dear Shenzie,

You are still shy and timid around strangers, but you are getting better as far as new things. The first few times we went to the park you were too scared to leave the wagon, now you walk around like you own it. You never leave the driveway and get scared when cars go by. Silly me took you for a walk to the mailbox the other day and now you go racing down the driveway onto the sidewalk and just keep going with me chasing behind. I’m glad to see you’re getting more confident in the world.

I say this every month and I’m sure I’ll say it for a long time to come, but you are SO smart. It is almost like I can see your little mind working when you learn something new or figure something out. You chatter constantly and have added a few words to your vocabulary. You know: ball, bear, bye bye, brother, mama, dada, bonk, cracker, moo, quack, eye, and I swear you are saying your one two threes. I will call out each number and you will always respond right after me with different sounding “words”. We are working on body parts, you know eye, head, and nose.

Your new favorite thing is spinning in circles until you get dizzy and fall down. It is hilarious. Heaten saw you doing it one day and copied you, but I don’t think he liked the falling down as much. You are definitely my thrill seeker. You crawled up onto the day bed the other day and went diving head off onto the floor, luckily I was there to catch you. You laughed and then did it again. You also love music and love to dance. You “play” the drums, piano, and keyboard.

You are still into wearing hats all the time which amuses me to no end, except when it is 75 degrees out and you insist on wearing your duck beanie everywhere. People probably think I am crazy putting you in a winter hat in such hot weather, but you cry if I try to take it off or switch it to a summer hat. You know what you want and you don’t let anything stop you from getting it. While that trait is going to cause me a lot of headaches right now I will be glad you have it in the future.

You are a very spirited little girl and you end up in time out on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. The worst is when you bite Heaten, but the scratching, pinching, and hitting aren’t good either. You know what you are doing because you will look right at me before pulling his hair or scratching his face. I’m sure you do it for the reaction so I’ve tried to give you no reaction and just soothe your poor brother. I can see you and I are going to have many, many battles ahead of us. Trust me, I’m bigger and I will win.

Little girl, I love you to bits. You are such a ray of sunshine, a dose of happy, and perfect in every way. I am so lucky to be your mama.

I love you.
Love,
Mama

Dear Heaten,

My sweet, sensitive, loving soul. You have such a sweet and gentle soul. Sometimes I just look at a photo of you and want to pick you up and squish you tight. You are so wonderful and happy and perfect. Your laugh is infectious and your smile is contagious. I am sorry that your sister beats up on you so much. Lately you are fighting back. You will hit Shenzie in her head or push her face so she falls over. It all makes up for it though when you laugh at her silly antics and try to copy what she is doing.

You are definitely a papa’s boy. The minute you see him you raise your arms for up and are content to sit on his lap for hours. You cry when he puts you down and has to leave for work. It is so sweet that you love him so much.

You are a boys boy. You love the outdoors, you love to throw rocks, you love to destroy things. You laugh and laugh and laugh when you drop something or throw something. You laugh and laugh and laugh when I chase you through the house and tickle you.

You like to “read”. You’ll sit with a book for the longest time flipping the pages and looking at the pictures. You still do not like getting dressed, getting your diaper changed, or getting undressed. You do not like to keep your shoes on and if you are wearing only a diaper you try to take it off. If it weren’t for the pee puddles on the floor I wouldn’t mind, but alas you must wear your diaper.

You love other babies and children and when we go out and you see them you “talk” to them or point at them and laugh. You are not shy around strangers and are not scared to do new things, but you are very careful in how you do things. You are not the daredevil your sister is, and trust me when I say that is a good thing.

I love to watch you “run” away from me when I’m chasing you. You still haven’t mastered the whole leg bend walk thing so you do this sort of frankenstein-hobble-wobble run that is so cute. I am sorry to say that your Daddy wants to cut your hair. I am trying to talk him out of it…even though it gets a little messy I still love it. I can’t imagine you without your rockstar hair. Silly Dada.

Little man, I love you so much. You make my heart so happy. You are my perfect son and I can’t wait to see whats next.

I love you.
Love,
Mama

Shenzie and Heaten playing teeter totter. If you speak “baby” you’ll recognize Shenzie saying brother and repeating me saying our 1.2.3’s.

Whoooweee! For the first time in a month and a half I feel really, REALLY good. We should have given them separate rooms a LONG time ago. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Not only do they sleep better, sleep longer, and just plain sleep, but I have my bedroom and bathroom back. For the first time since they were 4 months old and we separated them for naps I was able to shower while they nap. Now before you go and think I’m a dirty pig and never showered - I DID shower….before Jeff left for work in the morning and it was always rushed. Now I can relax under the hot steamy water and take my time. Whew! What a great feeling.

We are also on a much better schedule. The one nap is getting better and better. Once the time changes this weekend I think we’ll be perfect. Thank you so much for the advice, support, and shoulder to whine on. =)

Me and Shenize bear. Ignore the Jeff photo blur. =)

Thank you all for your replies. Sleep issues are hard for every parent, but when you add two to the mix it is even worse! We have decided to separate them. At first I was really bummed out because I always thought they would share a room for a very long time. But now I’m actually pretty jazzed about it. They already sleep separate for naps, Shenzie in our room in the PNP and Heaten in his crib. This situation is not ideal since that means while they are napping I cannot go in our room to shower, get ready, or work out since that is where the elliptical is located. Now they can each nap in their own room, in their crib and have their own space. They have different sleep requirements and forcing them on the same schedule was causing me much stress. The only problem is moving 4 monitors, 3 computers, two desks, one scrapbook table, shelves, and a TON of scrapbooking supplies out of there and finding a new home for it all. We’ve decided to keep the playroom as the playroom and have come up with other solutions as to where all of the office crap will go. The last two nights they have slept in separate rooms and what do you know, NO wakeups (well, one for Shenzie at 4am, but she immediately went back to sleep). So yay! I claim separate rooms a success!!!

And now I have another hurdle to tackle. I am a schedule nazi. I am not ashamed of this in any way. Not only does it help keep me sane, I know the babies need it. When they were little the only thing saving me was my very anal retentiveness. Being organized and having a schedule are a must with multiples. Since they have decided to give up one nap we have been all over the place as far as day sleeping and scheduling and let me say that life has not been very fun. No more! I am working really hard this week to get them on a schedule that will work for all of us. Napping at the same time is crucial as it is the only time I get any sort of “break”. So wish me luck and sanity. =)

On a completely different note I visited the YMCA yesterday to check out the day care. I really think it would be good for all of us, but I have major reservations of leaving them with a stranger that I don’t know. I know I’m crazy, but I am really having issues with leaving them in a day care, even though I’ll be right there in the same building. I’m sure once I drop them off a couple of times I will get used to it and it will be no big deal. It is just crossing that first time bridge that sucks. So once again, wish me luck that I can overcome my complete craziness!!!

And now for some photo fun….

Shenzie “cleaning” the floor with Heaten’s shirt

My rockstar

6:00am Wake
9:00am Nap for 1.5 hours
1:00pm Refuse Nap
2:00pm Refuse Nap
3:00-5:00pm Crazy Babies
6:15pm Bed
7:15pm Shenzie wakes crying, rerock to sleep
8:15pm Shenzie wakes crying, rerock to sleep
9:15pm Shenzie wakes crying, waking up Heaten
9:15-10:00pm Rocking babies trying to get them back to sleep
10:00pm Babies waking each other up
10:15pm -2:00am Up with babies. Jeff on Heaten duty, Lesley on Shenzie duty
5:00am Heaten wakes, refuses to go back to sleep

From 10 until midnight the babies played and played and played. They were so happy and HYPER, it would almost have been cute if I weren’t so tired and crabby.

We had really good sleepers for quite a long time, but this past month they are regressing. Molars and an ear infection came into play, but outside of that they are still getting worse and worse for waking up, not going back down without us rocking them into a deep sleep and then sneaking them back in their cribs. We do not do co-sleeping and I cannot sleep with them in the same room. When we move Shenzie to our room in the PNP I sleep downstairs on the couch. NOT fun.

Question for you twin moms out there…..How do you keep them from waking each other up? I can’t let them cry for any amount of time because they will wake the other one, but I feel like I am creating a monster by going in there too soon and not letting them soothe themselves back to sleep. We don’t use binkies, but they have their loveys that they use to soothe themselves back to sleep. I really want to separate them into their own rooms (they sleep separate at naps now anyhow), but separating them means giving up the playroom. What to do?????

Sweet blissful sleep

Thanks Janae for the treats, Heaten LOVES them!

On a brighter note today was weigh in for Weight Watchers. Week two weight loss - 1.5 pounds for a total of 6 pounds! Yippee!!