1 to 2 Months: Nothing Like a Good Snuggle

November 12, 2013

Dear Evan and Alice

The day you turned two months old was spent at home with Mommy and Daddy just hanging out. We spend most days this way because with the one hour time frame between feedings it's just so hard to get out. But that's ok because you can't focus more than a few feet anyway so there's not much out there for you to see yet.

THE SLEEP SITUATION: Now that you guys fit in your bouncy seats you love to come down early in the morning for fireplace snuggles after an early breakfast. Sometimes Mommy can even nap a bit on the couch, sometimes snuggling with one of you if you're in the mood. It's a cozy scene with the winter getting closer. Once you guys got use to the vibration in the chairs it was a life saver to put you to sleep when we were busy with 'the other one,' and the heat of the fireplace kept you so cozy that you were able to have lots of really good naps. Sometimes I worried that I was cooking you guys... But you didn't seem to mind and we never ended up with baby for dinner. At night you guys are still in the same crib and we have modified some pillows to hopefully help with your crooked heads. 

THE FOOD SITUATION: You guys are still eating every 3 hours. Sometimes I thought Alice could go longer but we are trying to feed you both on the same schedule. Evan, you demanding boy! You usually get priority due to your tiny size, loud voice, and smaller stomach. Alice is usually patient and good. As you got closer to turning 3 months old the night time feedings have started to spread out. Initially, Daddy was suppose to do the midnight feed and then Mommy to do the 3am feed (because at 3am the boobies were ready to explode with milk.) When you started sleeping past midnight Mommy had to fight Daddy and hide the monitor so he wouldn't get up and feed you too close to my turn when I REALLY needed to empty my breast. If not then they exploded in bed while I slept. Yuck! Breast feeding is messy! There is always milk everywhere, and that's not including the actual feeding time. Two months in and my body still doesn't seem to have it under control, but I feel like we may be getting there. Both you guys use a shield for most of the feedings just because you prefer it and we decided that if it meant you'd be less confused when we bottle fed you then it was worth it. Still, sometimes giving you bottles is not the easiest. You have a tendency to route frantically for the nipple and squirm a lot. Now we are phasing out the midnight bottles and starting to introduce an extra formula feeding once during the day just to give Mommy's boobies a little rest to reload. Another anxiety with breast feeding is just not knowing how much you guys are eating from it. The only indication is weight gain... So far so good, I guess. 

 

You are still looking like newborns, but growing by the second it seems. At the end of October we retired the borrowed preemie clothes for Evan. It was good that you were growing but sad to put away the tiny little outfits. Now you fit into the same clothes Alice is wearing, and she is outgrowing some of them. This was good for laundry as you guys can now share some of them. And no Evan, we never made you wear pink! You still have those newborn faces, but your eyelashes are starting to come out and the milia and acne are beginning to fade. Soon you will have beautiful baby skin, which I suggest you appreciate because we did not give you guys good skin genes. Evan decided to shed most of the blonde fuzz you had from birth and are sporting a sleek Captain Picard look. Alice, your hair has just thinned a bit. Mommy loves it best right after a bath when it is fuzzy and smells so good. We also took your hand prints and footprints in clay this month. You were much more cooperative than I thought. I wish I had done them just a little sooner as you already have grown so much. 

ALICE, you are still a cuddly little marshmallow that loves to sleep with your hands above your head or suspended in air like you are stuck in jell-o. Your repertoire of funny faces has grown and they are at their best when you are hungry and rooting for food with a funny scrunched up nose. So cute! You have started to coo a bit, sometimes squeaking like a little squirrel (sometimes we call you that), and even mimicked an ooh sound back at Daddy. You really like low pitched oohing sounds the best. You seem to enjoy puj tub baths in the sink and like watching the running faucet. You've noted your hands a bit but still are not sure what they are good for. However, you can hold things if we help you. Tummy time often disintegrates into floor eating time these days but you were finally able to prop yourself up on your own just shy of turning two months.

EVAN, you are still a super stiff little guy who loves arching your head backwards to check out ceilings and light fixtures. When you stretch your neck you look like a little turtle (sometimes we call you that) poking his head out of his shell. You are not in love with baths but tolerate them if Mommy sings "Hippo In The Bathtub" to you. We have discovered that you are an expert at planking when we hold you in the air by your chest; perfect for superman poses! However, you are learning to bend better at your waist which makes burping a little easier (It's hard burping a board). Although you can get your head up a bit you're still not a big fan of tummy time and we often have to prop your arms under you. You are getting to be quite the charmer and I think you like having your picture taken as long as you can pull out your Blue Steel look. Right before you turned two months you showed Mommy your first smile! I cant even remember what I did to make you smile, but its was very exciting and made me so happy. 

So, it has been busy and we had a few events this month as it was both Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving was low key and Grams and Grampa came to make dinner at our house. If that hadn't happened we might have skipped it all together. You guys were... needing attention for most of it. So we all kind of ate in shifts and took care of you guys in turn. Nana and Grandpa came to help too. So that was your first Thanksgiving. It will be better next year when you guys can actually eat.

For Halloween Mommy did manage to decorate the house as usual but was only able to carve one of the usual five pumpkins. I don't know if I will ever let you guys carve boring jack-o-lanterns, but maybe I might give in... We will see. I also never found you any newborn Halloween costumes. Cool things in your sizes just weren't out there and I was just too busy to be crafty. Besides, as you know, I am not that crafty anyway. If you had been 3 months older we could have found something. But don't worry my darlings, there are plenty of fantastic Halloweens ahead of us! Also, we failed at the Halloween photo shoot and I never bought a pumpkin large enough to stuff you in. I guess if those are my only regrets we are doing ok. As for Halloween night... Answering the door before Daddy came home during your guys' dinner time was another matter. First time I tried interrupting the feeding to give out the candy and was dribbling milk into my house coat unbeknown to the children. Gross! So the next few times I just carried whoever was eating to the door, still attached. That worked better, I just hope I didn't freak out any children. When Daddy came home we were saved and the rest of the night went like clock work. I'm more excited for next Halloween, it's gonna be a blast!

Next up we had another big dinner for Grandpa's birthday. This time at Nana's house. First trip to another home. This one went slightly better except Daddy and Mommy had to take a big time out to super feed you guys before the dinner and we hid up in the library so Mommy could breastfeed. But we survived it thanks to towing along your bouncy chairs... Again, these have been awesome for you guys. Mommy and Daddy bounced you all through dinner. But we found out that even two babies at a family gathering is not enough for everyone to share!

Auntie Kendra came in from Toronto this month especially to meet you guys! She visited a lot and you guys loved being carried up and down the stairs and when she sang to you, especially 'Lets Go Fly A Kite.' She will be here until after Christmas acting in the Christmas Carol! And she's also been good company for Mommy! 

You have so many more people who want to see and meet you. There's so many more aunties and uncles and grandparents to meet! We love you both and can't wait to show you off to the next round of visitors over the holidays. And you will have your first Christmas! Very special times. 

Weights: Evan 8.2lbs Alice 8.8lbs

0 To 1 Month: Mommy's a Moo Cow

October 12, 2013

Dear Alice & Evan

We survived the first month and boy it went fast! The day you turned one month old we took our first outing (Outside!) to walk on the ridge. It was a beautiful fall day. We planned your feedings accordingly but by the time we got home (half an hour later) you were hungry again.

THE FOOD SITUATION: You guys are always hungry and it feels like all we do is feed you. Sometimes I let you nurse for over an hour because I am so nervous about you not eating enough. Sometimes it's because I end up falling asleep and you do too! Some days you even want to eat every 2 hours, instead of 3, and then Mommy spends an hour on one of you, switches to the next, and spends all day just going back and forth. Evan, you are the better eater and a lot quicker. You are also the loud, impatient one and I hate to say it but you were often the first one to eat because your sister was so patient. Alice, you liked to take your time and really enjoy the breast shield because you don't like Mommy's let down. 

THE SLEEP SITUATION: After you eat you sleep, and sleep, and sleep. Alice loves to sleep and cuddle the most. Evan is our independent little guy. You are sharing a crib right now and sleep on squishy pillows on the floor during the day. The swaddling thing worked for just a couple weeks but both of you just wanted so badly to have your arms free we quickly gave up with the burrito wrapping. 

The best times are when we get a couple minutes where you are awake and quietly observing the world. Evan loves to look around the most, even from day one he was this way, and he mostly loves to look up. Everyone is shocked by how far back your head can bend! Alice is the best at working through a million facial expressions in the least amount of time. It is thrilling and amazing to all of us!

You guys are both very good babies, easy to soothe and please. Between tag team feedings at night Mommy and Daddy can allow each other almost 6 full hours most nights. There have been a couple nights of no sleep at all, but they are few and far between so we don't mind. You guys are definitely learning patience right away! Although you are both easy to soothe sometimes we just can't get to you right away. Sometimes one of you cries the entire time we are feeding your sibling. Mommy and Daddy have a stash of earplugs in the nursery for such an occasion. I still am not brave enough to try dual feeding as you guys are so small and hard to keep latched on, but maybe I will with the next set of twins. Kidding! All in all, with the help of amazing grandparents we have survived the first month. Daddy is counting on the crying to peak at 6 weeks so we will see how things remain. I remember thinking it was going to be harder... Still, there are days when it is hard, but you guys are worth the trouble! Besides, these bad days have a way of slipping quickly from my memory.

We had lots of doctor appointments this month. Too many!! You know the story of the first week but things remained fairly busy. We saw public health nurses, physiotherapists, and Dr Wong. We were concerned about jaundice for a few days, hip displasia from breech presentation, latching problems, head shapes (and still are), crossed eyes, blocked tear ducts, and being on the very low end of the growth percentile chart. 

You had lots of grandparent time and met Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Dave, amongst other visitors! Everybody wanted to see you. You will never know the extent of all the people in our lives who were so excited for your arrival! You were both so tiny during his time some people thought they would break you, especially Evan. We even had to borrow some preemie clothes as most of the newborn outfits drowned you. Alice, you did ok with the newborn size of clothing, and you looked really cute in yellow. Evan looked great in blue. Mommy and Daddy like dressing you in sleepers the best as they are easy on and off. Zippered ones are even better!

Nana and I did a couple of photo shoots with you guys this month. Probably not enough, retrospectively. Often you would not cooperate as one of you was always hungry or tired and the other one was being perfect. You liked to switch these roles up each time. Still, we managed some good shots. And a couple laughs at the awkwardness of posing floppy babies.

The month has been a rollercoaster! We were terrified bringing Alice home in the car when we couldn't see her in the car seat and learned how to do it better when it was Evan's turn. We were over the moon when we finally got both of you home, together. We were exhausted but never weary of caring for you. We oohed and awed a lot, you were both so cute. We marvelled at all the ways you were different. We called Evan Nosferatu and Voldemort because you slept stiff and went pale white. We called Alice marshmallow baby because you were so squishy and cuddly compared to Evan. We love you both and cant wait for the next month and milestone.

Weights: Evan 6.8lbs Alice  7.9lbs