OMG Do Our Floors Crack!

It's not like this is new news, it's definitely something we always knew made some noise, but I never realized how loud it was until we had kids - and by "kids" I mean sleeping babies on the verge of falling asleep.  On top of that, I swear the little patch of hardwood planks right at the door to their nursery seems to be the loudest spot in the house.

This is all a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest they aren't nearly as sensitive to noise as I’m making it out to be…And the best thing about their sensitivity while sleeping, or lack thereof really, is that they are immune to whatever noise the other one is making – to be accurate, it's more a matter Cate not being affected by all the wailing away Logan does at times.  Thankfully he doesn't wake up when she pipes up either, but her "awakenings" don't come with nearly the same decibel level or duration as his.  

But nevertheless, doing something like dropping a pan in the kitchen or letting the screen door slam is treated like setting off dynamite.  In these cases, we do have a house rule that the person who causes any disturbance has to deal with any repercussions from it. Like I said, this actually seldom occurs, we are way more sensitive to these noises than they are.  Even though they are sleeping a LOT better now, but because of it we still walk around on egg shells not wanting to disrupt the peace and trigger any sort of regression.  A month ago or so ago we didn't recognize the noises as much because they were only sleeping in short increments anyway and chances were they could wake up at any moment regardless.

To touch on their sleep a bit more (although it seems that is all I talk about – but this time in a positive tone), each one now is "going the distance" with regularity…the only problem still is that they haven't mastered how synchronize these nights together so well - except when we split them up and let them spend the night out at the grandparents apparently, like we did this past weekend for Catherine's birthday. 

(Side note: It's kind of bittersweet to get the report the next morning from both sets of grandparents that each one made it through the night without making so much as a peep.  On one hand we want to see consistency with them sleeping all night, but on the other hand these nights are still rare and we want them occurring on our watch.  Moreover, it not only helps for the grandparents to see where we're coming from when we complain about the bad nights and the lack of sleep, but after both going the distance one night, it is rather rare that they will both do it again the next – so we feel like we’re for it come the following night).

Back to their sleeping, and only because I didn’t quite finish my quick update…chances are, most nights there will still be an "awakening" or two at some point that translates into a trip by one or both of us into the nursery.  But right now though, it's usually Cate the one waking up.  Whereas it used to be him waking up and her going through the night, now she is the one that can't seem to go all night without some sort of attention...However, on the bright side, these awakenings are usually short-lived and not near the length of something like a full feeding, but rather just a paci "insertion" - sometimes followed by a paci "replacement" trip - which I can practically do by sleep walk now though.  

Not only is Logan going the distance without his usual 4am feeding, but he is sleeping through the night frequently. He definitely still stirs, spins, and flips over occasion – yes, there are literally times when we'll go in there and find that he has not only flipped over on his belly, but also somehow completely spun himself around where his head is where his feet were and vice-versa.  I need to figure out how to setup a time elapse video camera where I take like 3 seconds of video every minute or so to see just how and when he does this (stay tuned, I think I’ve found my next project).  But the key that has really helped with him staying asleep or getting himself back to sleep is that he's learned to find his thumb "in times of need" and work himself back into his happy place.

Ok, enough about sleeping, it is during waking hours where things are most interesting....They are really starting to be very interactive, and each in their own unique and different way…not to mention, there is quite a bit of overall development and growth going on now. 

Topping this list is the fact that they are starting to notice and somewhat interact with each other now.  Mostly Cate will just look at Logan and his antics like he is crazy, basically wondering what all the fuss is about, but when they both get going in the pack-n-play you can tell they are amusing each other - especially when we clip the balloon to Cate's foot and let her entertain the both of them with the balloon bouncing all over the place.  With each of Cate's leg kicks (and resulting balloon movements), Logan will let out a sound of amusement to which Cate typically responds with chuckle of both pride and delight.

Yes, these balloons have been both a HUGE hit and relief as they have provided countless hours of entertainment.  My parents stumbled upon this discovery during setting up for a SuperBowl party one afternoon while keeping Logan and saw how his eyes just kept following and were fixated on a Packers helium balloon.  So after attaching it to his sleeve and seeing how it mesmerized him for over an hour, they knew they were on to something here.  So then we then introduced it to Cate by clipping it to her ankle and bingo!  Once she realized that her leg kicking - already her favorite pastime - causes the balloon to bounce around her legs took off and haven’t really stopped since. 

Another big hit, along the same lines of visual stimulation, has been the Baby Mozart DVD they watch while lying on our bed.  This is one of the few scenarios where Logan will sit contently - laying on our bed, thumb in mouth, and staring at the TV showing Baby Mozart. 

(Quick side note on Baby Mozart videos:  I had heard about these before, but never really seen one so I didn't know what to expect...Whether it was from their fancy name or just my assumption based on how advanced animation-type movies were these days, I thought these were going to be much more elaborate and impressive than they turned out to be.  What a farce and at the same time ingenious idea these videos really are!  On the surface there is nothing impressive about them at all - no complex graphics or animation, no story or characters, just simple shots of simple things set to classical music - brilliant!  All these videos consist of are a collection of short segments showing around the house types of toys and still pictures of animals like a dog hand-puppet that just goes "ruff" or a toy train going around the tracks followed by a still photo of a cow with the sound "moo"...again, brilliant!  Oh well, as long as it interests him, it could be paint drying set to music for all I care.)

Not only are they growing fast right now (the ever-expanding bag of out-grown clothes makes me cringe), but they are "growing up" in their motions and capabilities...some of which are way too fast for our liking, but do you really try to curtail these?  For example, Logan loves to stand up, with balancing assistance of course, and even wants to take steps forward (see video below).  His new favorite position is standing in my lap facing forward with his chest leaning against my knees and his neck and head up surveying the scene or starring at the television.  But as hyper and curious as he is, I'm not sure we want him walking as soon as it looks like he will. 

As for Cate, that won't be a problem, despite all the use of her legs with the balloon and constantly sticking them up in the air, she has absolutely no interest in standing up or even rolling over for that matter.  I'll try to lift her up expecting her to stiffen her legs and prop herself up, but she let's them just dangle and go limp when I try to lower her down on them.  Speaking of growing, Cate's legs have done quite a bit of it in terms of sheer girth...and with this girth come rolls upon rolls.  But despite the added weight to them she still likes to lay on her back and throw her legs in the air.  Many times we'll walk in the nursery to see if she's still sleeping and quickly get our answer by seeing nothing but two feet in the air rising above her crib.  Unlike him, she'll wake up and contently lay in her crib just chattering to herself, all the while exercising those legs. She also remains as flexible as ever...she can literally spread her legs so far apart that the outside of her knees touch the bed, and she'll even lay and sleep this position comfortably (see pic).

Staying with his all-or-nothing approach, but in a positive way this time, Logan's smile is an all-out, ear to ear, mouth open, tongue showing smile...seldom does he just smirk or grin.  Often his smile is also accompanied by the odds on favorite to be his first word - "hey."  In some ways he's already said it, but we can't really count it until we can tell he is uttering it knowingly and intentionally.  However, by the same token, when he cries it's not just a whimper, he goes straight to a full high-pitch wail - which we can often see coming with his trademark bottom lip quiver.

Lastly, one department where they are not growing so much is their hair.  Logan is still clinging to his few strands on top, but yet to get much coming in on the sides...as the hair on top continues to grow with nothing on the sides he's starting to look like he has a Mohawk.  Cate on the other hand, has hair growing up top with some random long strands, but because she lays on her back so much, she has a definite bald spot on the back of her head.  And until she starts rolling over and laying on her tummy, this bald spot will never have a chance to fill in.

Ok, that's about it for now, or at least all I can try to capture and put into words...(or also all I have time for before it's time to clock back in, always something to do to try to stay ahead of the game).   They have their four month appointment later this week, so we'll get accurate weight then, but I'm putting the over/under at 13 lbs - and probably taking the "over" on that bet.  Stay tuned, the amazing journey continues...

Some other recent favorite pics...



Major Milestone!

(Update to this:  Logan made it through the second night too, fingers crossed on the third and beyond...Also, Cate needed her own video too, so we took this own of her today playing with her (and his) favorite toy - a helium balloon.)

Not much time for a lengthy update as I’m in between two travel weekends with the NASCAR season starting up, but since we hit a major milestone last night I figured I had to go public with it…For the first time since birth, BOTH Cate and Logan “went the distance” last night by sleeping all the way through from roughly 7pm to 7am!  While Cate has been going the distance for about a week or so now (with the exception of occasional nightly trips to put her pacifier in), Logan still required a nightly 4am feeding – until now.  I told Catherine to consider it a Valentine’s gift from her son.  Who knows whether this was just a one-time fluke or a sign of things to come, guess we’ll find out tonight, but either way I consider it progress.

Here are some favorite recent pictures and a video, larger update coming soon...Happy V-Day for now! 

Trip to the Mountains for MLK, as you can see, Logan was not too pleased to be woken from a nap to take this picture at sunset.

Logan "riding along" with me on leaf sweeping duties...Might as well start training him early on doing yard work. 

Logan loves laying the wrong/front facing way in the Poppy pillow, see video below for just how much he enjoys it.

Meanwhile, Cate is perfectly content just lounging on her back surveying the scene.

Cate likes sitting in it the right way (almost like it is a throne with arm rests), and occassion sits up in it.

This a good depiction on how play time tends to go, Cate on her back on the play mat and Logan perched over the Poppy.

 

Ten Weeks Old, Ten hours of sleep? (We'd just take five...)

I'll go ahead and apologize now, but having not updated this since Thanksgiving (except for my post about being able to feed them myself one night that has gotten mixed reviews with many women saying, "So What?") there really is a lot to cover and as you'll see, I didn't know where to start or where to leave off.  So for those snowed in in the south and battling cabin fever maybe this long-winded post will hit the spot, so pour another strong drink or a tall glass of wine and pull up a chair...

Ten Weeks Old...

Quite a special, one-(and first)-of-a-kind holidays with it being the Twins' first Christmas, or more aptly "our first Christmas with the twins" since with the exception of being mesmerized by the Christmas tree lights and an even larger abundance of people holding them, it's not like they had any idea there was a holiday taking place.  But I don't want to downplay how remarkable of a holiday season it was for us...Following Thanksgiving, it was great to have most of the extended family in town that hasn't met them yet, and particularly great for us to have plenty of people willing to watch them for a bit to allow us to go buy or return gifts, attend adults only Christmas parties, or just take an uninterrupted nap or non-rushed shower.

In addition to the abundance of free babysitting, two other benefits we realized is that by having them now - and all that comes with them - it gives us a stake to put in the ground and declare that we aren't traveling anywhere, come all ye faithful. And two, when a bunch of extended family comes to town the option of people staying at our house is now off limits, or wait, I don't think anyone actually asked us this year, but can't say I blame them.

As for life on the home front, it's still a work in progress and can be viewed as a glass half-full/half-empty situation depending on how you look at it (and when you ask either one of us).  The good "half-full" news is that we're starting to get the hang of things a little bit more.  By that I mean a lot if things, but most significantly getting to know them and their habits a little bit better...and by that I mean being able to see things coming (i.e. crying fits or waking up and demanding to be fed) and doing whatever we can to prepare for it ahead of time.   On top of some invaluable accessories and clutch inventions (I'll have to go into these in another posting) we've added to the equation for solving the riddle of middle-of-the-night feedings, we've gone to what I'm calling the "Zombie Feed" method where we get them out of their cribs as comatose as possible and basically feed them while their still half-asleep with the hopes that it fills their belly and they contently and immediately pass back out afterwards.  To do this, we go into in the nursery with flashlights in our mouths and step as slow and soft light as possible to keep the creaking hardwood floors to a minimum.  We also try to get to them at the first sign of any unrest so they don’t awaken too much, and to do this we now unfortunately keep the monitor volume on full blast and both our door and the nursery door open. 

Once we get in the nursery, where we already have feeding stations prepared, we don’t bother un-swaddling them (if we were able to swaddle them in the first place - big if with Logan) and we try not to even change them before or after the feeding unless it is VERY necessary.  One key here for me, when we go tag-team on a feeding, is to try to be the first one in the room and do a quick "sniff" test to determine which one I pick up first. (Catherine knows, not like any info in this blog is news to her). 

This “feed them while their half-asleep” method has worked with mixed results.  While it does make it a little easier to get them to fall back asleep, they don’t eat nearly as much and therefore can’t go quite as long before they are hungry again.  So we’re faced with a difficult, lose-lose dilemma between choosing more frequent feedings with a higher likelihood of them going back down afterwards, or pursue a longer lapse between feedings  by making it more of a production but run the risk of one or both of them not going back to sleep afterwards. 

Speaking of dilemmas, which it seems we have quite a share of when it comes to navigating the logistics of handling two, the game plan for how we're going to tackle the middle-of-the-night feedings is a nightly debate between tag-teaming them together at the same time or each of us taking turns facing the double-team alone where like I'd take 1am and Catherine takes 4am.  Initial reaction is to think taking turns would be the way to go so each of us is only getting up once in the middle of the night, but there is always a decent chance that you could be woken up to help if things go awry when it's not your turn - then you're having to get up twice anyway and when it's all said and done you're probably out more sleep than you would have been with both of us waking up each time to run a more timely man-to-man defense. 

Did I mention dilemmas?  Another major one we're faced with is whether to keep them on the same feeding schedule or not?  Ideally, the answer is yes...But, the problem is that Cate can definitely go longer than Logan and we certainly don't want to discourage her progress by having to feed her every time he is hungry (on average still every 3-3.5 hrs).  Not to mention we'd be violating a major policy of mine to not wake a sleeping baby.  But if we roll the dice by letting her go and she doesn't make it to his next feeding then we get staggered and then the ship starts sinking...Where it already figuratively feels sometimes like all we do is feed babies and all that comes with it (burping, changing, mixing bottles, etc), having them staggered on two feeding schedules literally equates to doing nothing but feeding them around the clock.

Therefore, sleep is still few and far between in the Walters household. Catherine is reading this book12 Hours By 12 Weeks and trying to stick to it religiously, but if they are now 10 weeks old, doesn't that mean they should now be at 10 hours?  Even half that amount of time would be nice, but just five consecutive hours of sleep is still rather rare. 

Even with kids now and sleep at such a premium, I still just can't force myself to go to sleep before 11pm.  Which would be fine if we fed them right before then and they slept 'til 5am or so because I'm fine operating on 6-7 hours of sleep.  But by that I mean 6 hours of consecutive sleep, not 3 hours here followed by 2 awake hours of feedings and then 3 more hours of sleep later (if I'm lucky).  Catherine, on the other hand, requires 8-10 hours of solid sleep, and that is usually with an hour nap or two mixed in most days...So she is even more sleep deprived (notice I did NOT say irritable or cranky).

We know learning to function on much less sleep is just something we have to just get used to, but it is much easier said than done.  Kind of like we try to get them to feed in the middle of the night, at times we really feel like we're zombie walking our way through life and parenting.  I liken it to feeling like you just got off a red-eye flight and trying to go straight to work each day.

Therefore we've had to go back to more of the night nurse drug.  Being spoiled with family in town and time off during the holidays, we were foolish and ambitious to try and quit cold turkey.  However, we've gotten smarter about maximizing the nights when the nanny comes.  It really boils down to two main goals: catch up on sleep and rack up on sleep, nothing more, nothing less.  Going in to these nights sometimes we have high hopes for doing something productive around the house (pay bills, house projects, write blogs), but usually just amounts to going straight to bed, or at least retiring to the bedroom.  Catherine is good about going straight to sleep, whereas I'll still stay awake inhaling mass media.  Heck, sometimes she even does this before the lady even gets there and leaves me to let her in and get her settled - which is fine, like I said, I can't go to bed before 11pm anyway.

Anyway, that is enough about us.  Sorry, I know the twins are what everyone is interested in here and I just realized I haven't spoken much of them yet.   Hopefully the silver lining to this omission is that they are doing just fine.  More than fine actually, they are more than we ever could have imagined - and in so many ways.  I guess if the top of mind issues are all just around how we are doing with them then maybe it shows we are doing something right.

The twins had their two month pediatrician appointment (the one with all the shots) on Friday.  All checked out well with them, Cate is still slightly ahead of her brother in weight, but both are right around 10 lbs now.  The shots and the experience wasn't nearly as bad as we expected.  At one point Cate literally fell asleep on the exam table as we waited for a while for the nurse to come back in and give them.  They definitely cried as they were pricked, but we were able to get them calmed down shortly after and haven't shown any I'll effects from it - Cate even slept seven hours last night from 8pm - 3am and her brother was back to his normal "feed me every three hours self", for better or worse.

Logan is taking his back arching capabilities to another level. Not only is he rolling over already, but he now turns an arch of the back when on your chest into a ferocious head butt.  Which fortunately and unfortunately doesn't seem to hurt him in hopes of teaching him a lesson.  Being able to roll over is great I guess, but the problem is he cant roll back over to where he wants to be.  And since he likes to lay on his stomach, where he can push himself up and over, he the then gets pissed he can roll back over after discovering it's either not as comfortable on his back or his seen all there is to see on that ceiling already.

Speaking of which, they are becoming more and more aware and inquisitive about things around them every day.  Remember how I said they were mesmerized by the Christmas tree lights?  Well when we discovered this I quickly strung lights across their pack and play that provided hours of entertainment over the holidays (see pic).   Whenever we'd put them down for sleep or play in it we'd say, "Ok, it's time to visit McAdenville."  Well it doesn't look like this McAdenville is shutting down anytime soon...we just need to figure out a year-round universal name, like maybe "Grand Central", "Graceland", or "Grand Ole Opry".

Lastly, the other child of ours has gotten no mention, which isn't fair either - after all, Baxter was our first. He is doing pretty well, he is great around the twins, almost too great sometimes wanting to lick and lay up right beside them when they're in our laps on the couch (see pic).  Almost to a fault and safety hazard, he will come in the nursery in the middle of the night for during a feeding.  When he does this, because we keep it as dark as possible and he is black as night, we often can't see where he is laying on the floor when we try to put them back in the cribs.  On more than one occasion we both have tripped right over him or stepped on his tail.  The only area where we can see Baxter doesn't like having them around is the pouting that comes with him going from the only child to the third step child.  And to make matters worse, although Catherine and others are home during the day with him now, he still hardly gets any attention which ends up making him more depressed and more wound up for attention when I get home - but it's not like I have nothing else to do when as soon as I walk in the door.  So in honor of Baxter, who got to enjoy the snow storm with me, I've posted a video of him sledding with me below...can't wait 'til we they can come with us on "play days" like this. 

Here are a few of our favorite photos since Thanksgiving...

Newsflash: Walters Tosses Unprecedented Complete Game Shut Out

Pitched my first "complete game shut out" the other night! Translation: When one of us is able to successfully get up in then middle of the night and feed, change, and get both babies back to sleep without "making a call to the bullpen" by going to wake the other one of us up for help. I know, technically it should be considered pitching a couple innings of scoreless relief, whereas going the distance 'til the morning would truly be a complete game shut out or no hitter even, depending on how flawless it goes. But given where we currently are in this lofty goal to get them to sleep 12 hours by 12 weeks (thanks to some other self-righteous, highly-unrealistic book she reads that makes you feel inadequate if you don't hit the mark), stepping in to face the double-team alone and just going the distance of getting both fed and back to sleep seems like a major victory in itself...especially since life in general with twins seems like a constant series of daily battles won (or lost). And if and when I ever decide to take an entire night of feedings to myself, and IF I pull it off, that can be deemed pitching a complete game no hitter.

Anyway, back to my one shining moment...It was magical, I didn't see it coming, and I definitely did not set out trying to be heroic - after all, my mother-in-law was already spending the night upstairs and ready to help at the first sign of trouble. But at some point something majestic unfolded and I somehow fell "into the superdad zone". Everything came together and suddenly made complete sense, it was like the nature of the baby-feeding universe took over and I became one with it. While yes, some luck played a part and some pieces of the puzzle fell into place at the right time, I had to successfully orchestrate the effort and put all the pieces in place (or back in place as was the case at times - i.e. pacifiers, bottles, entire bodies that had fallen out of position in the bouncy seats).

What is that cheesy motivational saying about how "success is when preparation meets opportunity"? Well I guess I can kind-of identify with it now, although I still don't like the quote. Being able to "get 'em up and sit 'em down" was more about doing my scouting report and putting all the right parts in the right places to start making plays when the time came. Yes, there was a lot of "read and react" in my performance (i.e. which baby do you pick up to feed first), but none of it could have gone as smooth had I not done various advance preparations like having both bottles warmed and ready, burp clothes and bibs already hanging on the arms of the chair, and bouncy seats with pacifiers in them at either bedside as a just-in-case to name only a few.

But this is not to say it was without suspense, I had to work my way out of several jams - some of which seemed like with bases loaded no outs and the crowd, particularly the manager (Catherine) and relief pitcher (mother-in-law) on the edge of their seats (or top of the dugout steps) ready to bail me out. It was by no means a two-up, two-down (get it?) situation the whole way through, the opposition definitely made some noise and took their best swings at times. I did have to go to delivering out of the "stretch" a few times by feeding one while leaning over and consoling the other.

Several times the "manager" came out to the mound, looking to take me out in favor of rested relief (a.k.a. my mother-in-law laying down upstairs). At one point, in a very unorthodox move in baseball terms, the relief pitcher even came down out of the bullpen to check on me expecting to get the nod, but I was able to hold her off and send her back to the bullpen. And then in second unorthodox move, she decided not to walk all the way back to the "bullpen" but rather take a seat on the bench right next to the field (i.e. laying on the living room sofa downstairs in ready position to chip in or to just stay there until the next feeding). But despite all of this commotion and building pressure I was able to finish the job and get them both fed and back to sleep...and even better, at a good enough pace (< 1 hr) to allow me to go back to sleep before the next one (not always the case, sometimes it's hardly worth falling back asleep for 45 min hour before you got to start prepping for the next one).

So after this performance I was allowed to retire for the rest of the night uninterrupted...But the morning after it was all the talk in the local media, Catherine and her mom kept asking me exactly what I did and when and how I did it. But as I likened this to being "in the zone", I couldn't really describe it all to her much - it was just a blur of bottles, burps, paci's, and poots. Back to that saying about success being when preparation meets opportunity, well this was some hybrid of that where the perfect storm of timing, preparation and luck came together to calm the stormy seas of midnight feedings at the Walters house - at least for now.

Like any big breakout performance, the manager will now come to expect this out of me every time going forward. Wait, damn, what have I done to myself?...Maybe I should have taken the relief when offered, saved a little of myself for later in the season, and hit the showers early. Oh well, we'll see what I have left when I get the next call in the rotation...


(NOTE: I hope everyone is having a great holidays...I had intended to get a more comprehensive "what have we be doing, how are the twins" blog up by Christmas, but as you can see that didn't happen. So I figured I'd at least put this one from the other night out there for now and promise to have something else by New Year's - careful what you wish for though, I got a lot of material to report on since the last one)

More Thankful Than Ever...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope your travels to be around family and friends have been safe and rather uneventful - especially those that have had the pleasure of a full-body rub down by airport security, but who knows, maybe you enjoyed it. 

Anyway, as for the twins, the biggest issue they've both had is constipation, which has made for some interesting noises at times (out of both ends) and resulted in some adventures in anal stimulation.  That's right, after both of them went 72 hours without a poop (in her case 96 hrs), we decided to take matters into our own hands to provide them some relief.  Can't say this is all that surprising given that they are still on the high-calorie formula with a higher consistency that I imagine just packs up (and backs up) their system.  At first we took others' suggestions to add some Mylicon to their bottles, but turns out that is more for gas - which isn't really the problem, they both can be quite the little noisemakers when it comes to that.  What they need, but apparently doesn't exist (or at least isn't recommended for babies) is some good 'ole fashioned Ex-Lax to get things on the move.

But since that isn't an option, rectal stimulation was the next best alternative...The first attempt with the thermometer didn't "produce any results", so then I had the idea to step it up and try the turkey baster-like bulb intended for use in their nose (needless to say, we now have a designated one for the nose and then one for the rectum).  Well this had the magical touch, especially with it already squeezed down before insertion which added an element of suction to the matter.  So I'm proud to say that this procedure worked like a charm to "open the flood gates", especially hers.  

Ok, on a day when eating is the focal point, I'll leave the talk on this subject at that.  But I will soon be posting some highlights videos to show the struggles they have trying to pass this diet of heavy formula.  I could try to describe the moans, grunts, gyrations and even giggles after they squeeze out some gas providing some temporary relief, but I wouldn't do it justice so I'll have to let the videos tell the full story (stay tuned). 

In the meantime, I'll offer up a story from this past summer about a rather harrowing middle-of-the-night incident and the massive ordeal that ensued afterwards...so as you fill up on turkey, watch some football and relax among family (I know, easier said than done in some cases), fill free to read this over and give thanks that this didn't (and hopefully never does) happen to you.   In order not to take up so much room on this blog, I've given this story it's own blog site, click here to read. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all, obviously this one certainly lends new meaning to what being truly thankful is to us.  Rather surreal and remarkable that given where we were last year at this time that this year's Thanksgiving dream has become a reality.  So extra blessings of thanksgiving will be offered up by us today, and not just for the two little ones, but all of those around us who helped us get to this point.

Here are a few of our favorite recent photos, more can be found on the photo site.

Logan returning the favor by getting a lick in...

Our street this time of year, very pleasant to admire, but not to rake up...

Cheers,

Trey, Catherine, Logan, Cate, and Baxter

Settling In...kinda, sorta

Sorry, for the delay since the last update…needless to say, it’s been a little crazy since coming home and getting settled.  Well I shouldn’t say settled as I don’t think we’ll ever be that, but we are settling into somewhat of a routine.  But that’s not to say we’ve figured things out, we're still trying to come up with the winning game plan as to how to tackle the feedings.  We can easily (well I shouldn't say easily) run a man-to-man defense for the feedings, but when we try to go on the offensive (i.e. trying to take on the double-team by feeding them solo) it all falls completely apart - like when teams think they got the game under control and go into a prevent defense way too early, then feel the momentum beginning to shift, but can't switch back to the normal defense that was working before it's too late. 

As a result, we can't trade off on the middle of the night feedings or take turns alternating from night to night...unless we get the night nurse, which basically allows us to get a full night's sleep, (or at least Catherine does because she'll go to bed shortly after they get there, whereas I still can’t force myself to go to bed before midnight).  However, we're really trying not to get addicted to the drug that is the night nurse (for various reason$).  Although I will confess that the other night, or was it the morning (it all runs together, I think it was around 4:00 AM, which makes me wonder, is 4:00 AM considered night or morning?) we looked at one another, each of us holding a fussy baby that refused to eat, and without saying a word we both knew it was time to order up another ‘fix’ and schedule the night nurse for another night or ten.  

Another difficult aspect about feeding two versus one is that it takes twice as long.  So until we get more efficient, it seems like as soon as we get done with one feeding it is time to turn around and feed them again.  Literally, right now the full feeding process, which includes mixing formula/preparing bottles, waking them up, changing them, actually feeding them, burping them, usually changing them again (because apparently feeding gets their systems moving and they go while eating) and then getting them to settle back down, takes an average of an hour and a half…and they’re supposed to eat every three hours, so you do the math as to how much time we have in between each session (then consider that this happens eight times a day, or in our case sixteen!). 

So much for stockpiling supplies taken from the hospital carts…We’ve blown through all of the formula and are quickly depleting the diaper inventory.  We mostly have Cate to thank for this, not only does she eat (or drink really) more than he does, but she is already for notorious for waiting until she has a fresh diaper to really “relieve” herself.  Seriously, she seldom will maximize a diaper by doing both acts in one; she usually waits until we’ve changed a wet diaper before totally soiling another one.  We’re almost to the point we need to back off from going with an “all-you-can-eat” feeding strategy with her.  The higher calorie formula is thicker and must clog up their digestive systems a bit, thus causing some major gas issues.  They both do this, but she will strain and strain (I’m talking moaning, grunting, red-faced, and sometimes put both feet in the air) to get something out down there, but usually all it results in is a rather audible flatulation.  However, it is kinda funny in that as soon as she relieves herself, she’ll let out this satisfied sigh/giggle.

Otherwise, she is staying true to form as her low maintenance self, and he's starting to find his way a little bit more...helped by him realizing it hurts to haul off and hit yourself in the face, and it knocks your pacifier out, go figure!  Besides, he's got his sister to do that for him...

I’ll do my best to try and get an update on here every week…but be sure to check the photo/video website for pictures:  www.mixeddoublesmatch.shutterfly.com 

Home Sweet Home

Got an extremely pleasant and totally unexpected wake-up call this morning from Catherine after the doctor had been by her room to say that no longer the standard response as to when they'd dismiss her was "maybe tomorrow", but rather it was "definitely today".  Hallelujah! 

"Free at last", she exclaimed..Just when we thought the earliest we would be coming home was Wednesday, they tell us this morning we can check out around noon today.  Apparently at one point a nurse that hadn't checked the days' records to see she was leaving came to take her blood pressure but Catherine quickly corrected her and refused to allow it since the discharge orders were already processed and didn't want to allow them to do anything that could jeopardize it.

Driving home today with them in the car I started to ponder how many times I had driven that route the last month.  I really wish I knew (or maybe I don't), but I would guesstimate it to be 50.  Regardless, I know for sure that today it took the longest it ever has as I went at least 5-10 mph below the speed limit compared to 5-10 mph over, came to complete stops, and slowly crept over speed humps.  

So after 28 days momma has finally returned home to a lonely, confused dog, a relatively clean house, and a relieved, as-ready-as-he's-ever-gonna-get husband.  Ahhh the comforts of home... feather-bed mattress for her, HDTV for me, and playing DVR 'catch up' for the both of us.  I really was starting to have HDTV withdrawal, and my channel surfing reflexes never got used to not having a DVR at my disposal... constantly I found myself reaching for the 'pause' or 'rewind' button on the hospital remote with nothing of the sorts to be found.

The nursery, having been ready since Catherine got admitted, has been eagerly awaiting its inhabitants.  One positive aspect about being in the hospital so long is that it gave us more time to "stock up" on diapers, formula, and baby wipes by raiding their crib carts.  Furthermore, with having twins there are two carts to swipe the surplus supplies from...I almost think the nursery nurses know this is common practice and in our case they sympathize with the fact we're still there and thus overstock our carts even more so.

The big wild card about coming home was how Baxter was going to react to his new little brother and sister.  While I had brought home some of their blankets for Baxter to sniff out to get used to their scent, we still were unsure about how he would react not only to their arrival, but also Catherine's return.  Baxter has been known to hold a grudge on us if we're gone from him too long and although I had taken him to visit Catherine a couple times at a courtyard at the hospital, those visits didn't go over so well so we had no idea what his reception to them would be.

Turns out he was great, not only did Baxter greet both of them with a big lick across the face (which his mother didn't necessary approve of, but I thought why stop him from showing some positive affection we'd hoped for), but he also seemed to enjoy laying on the nursery floor while we were in there tending to them.  Then again, he usually responds this way when we return from a vacation by just laying contently on the couch, relieved to have all of us back in one place and a return to a normal way of life.  So we remain cautiously optimistic about how he'll relate to them going forward...He hasn't always been the best with kids, or at least not kids on bikes or playing with balls since he thinks it is his birth right to take possession of any ball he ever lays eyes on.

Although, there was one minor sign of Baxter's rebellion to them today when I had to go run out for some errands and leave Catherine alone with all three of them for the first time.  My errands run took much longer than expected as had to go to three different pharmacies in rush hour traffic to get her medication...So after about an hour she calls to check on my status and how much longer I thought I would be.  Basically, it was the first of what will surely be many calls to the essence of, "Where the h*ll are you? I got my hands full here and need some help asap!"  Apparently she was in the middle of calming down El Nino (that's what I'm calling the storm that is Logan right now), while at the same time hooked up to the breast pump machine when in walks Baxter with a Q-tip hanging out of his mouth.  One of his signature rebellious acts done mostly to clamor for attention is eating out of trash cans, particularly bathroom trash cans.  So when Baxter came strolling into the nursery with the Q-tip in his mouth there wasn't much Catherine could do...But it shouldn't be a big deal though, Baxter has eaten much worse out of a bathroom trash can (yes, those) and under the circumstances this was nothing worth worrying about at the time.  We just hope he doesn't escalate this to other, more major acts of tyranny to get our attention.  Stay tuned, sure to be continued...

Here are a few shots from our momentous day (more photos can be found on the shutterfly site here)...