How sweet it is

During the throes of the newborn and early-infant stage of Cary and Dean's life, I wish someone could have shown me a crystal ball image of what life would be like for us at this point. As they approach 9-months, these two little babies have become the sweetest things ever!

Cary squeals -- literally squeals -- when he's excited. When we come in a room, he squeals. When we tickle his slender frame, he squeals. When we nuzzle in and kiss his sweet-smelling neck, he squeals. Sometimes, when he's just plodding across the room on his belly and forearms, he'll stop, inexplicably and squeal. It's like he's just delighted to be in motion, on his way somewhere, no matter if the "somewhere" is just under a dining room chair. He is adorable and hysterical. His giggles are like milk chocolate drops, dipped in caramel sauce.

And Dean...sweet, sweet Deanie. He is so lovable and loving, it's as darling as can be. He loves to hug and snuggle us; he even reaches for Cary and tries to love him up!! Awww, those early signs of brotherly love melt my heart! I think I've already mentioned how he "kisses" us, by leaning in and planting a wet open mouth on your cheek or chin or forehead or mouth. (When he kisses Cary, it's usually the back of his head, for some reason.) He loves to be close, and Lester loves how satisfying his weight feels when he sits Dean on his lap, or when he's lying on Lester's chest. And I love how he gazes at me, like I'm a Hollywood beauty queen and he's in love! Dean's love makes me feel heady and warm. His affection is like manna from Heaven.

If only I could have seen these days when I was up every three hours, and unsure of myself, wondering how I could make it through another day with not one but two screaming creatures, I think I would have been a much less anxious Mommy. Love makes everything all worth it.

Better early than never, I guess.

Today, Lester and I took the babies to an Open House at a pre-school around the corner from our house. Pre-school. Already. Cary? Dean? Get your backpacks and Elmer's glue ready!!

OK, we're not really going to send our almost-9-month-old babies to pre-school right now, but apparently, if we do decide to send them to this (very sweet little) school, we would have to sign them up THIS October. That is insane! But I'm learning that it's not uncommon.
If we sent them to the 2-year-olds' class, we'd only send them for two half-days a week. I may think differently later, but right now, I think that's about as much "school" as a 2-year-old needs. And even then, signing them up this October for two half days a week starting next September, we'd still be on a waiting list. That is mind-blowing.
Also mind-blowing is the idea of my two little babies, who just have barely gotten the hang of holding their own bottles, going to an actual school. Even one as great as this one seems.
Hopefully, I'll be mentally prepared by the time the day actually comes. Right now, I'm not there.

Here's Cary and Dean all dressed to go visit their (possible) future pre-school. They look totally underwhelmed, probably because we had to get them up from their morning nap to get them ready:




Non-sequitur of the day: Note to Moms who have baby showers coming up. Buy a box of wipes to go with your gift. We got so many big boxes of wipes at our baby shower that we just went to buy our first box of wipes this weekend. And our boys will be 9 months on Feb. 11. And we have TWO babies.
So all those wipes from all those wonderful people who blessed us at our shower were definitely a Godsend. Thanks, all!!

Cary and Dean in a nutshell

Since this blog is new, I thought I'd bring folks up to speed on the basics about Cary and Dean.

Cary Glenn - Baby A
Born at 2:21 p.m., May 11
4 lbs., 4 oz.
Stayed in the NICU for two weeks, mostly because he was not a fan of eating. He'd rather sleep instead. (Boy, how I wish he retained some of that last part.)

Cary, Day 2


Dean Ezra -- Baby B
Born at 3:50 p.m., May 11
4 lbs., 10 oz.
Stayed in the NICU for one week, and ate up all the food the nurses gave him. (He has absolutely retained that.)

Dean, Day 2

(Careful readers will notice that these babies were born 90 minutes!!!! apart. Gracious. THAT was an ordeal.)

Cary started out sleepy and floppy and in need of lots of snuggling. Dean was intense and highly-excitable, with a piercing wail.
Today, Cary is not as good a sleeper as Dean, and his muscle tone is still lower than Dean's but he can move like a stealthy athlete.
Dean is still intense; when he's upset, it's extremely difficult to calm him. But he is more independent than Cary, and can play for long stretches, quietly observing the world around him. Cary still needs to be in a lap or on a shoulder more often than his tired parents would like.
Cary is silly; his infectious giggle cracks Lester and me up till our bellies hurt.
Dean is stoic; you have to work hard to make him laugh. But when you do get him going -- oh, the sound is so satisfying! His smile and belly-laugh melts your heart.
One thing we've noticed lately: When Cary wants to be held, it's because he needs love from us. He soaks it all up and smiles and glows. It makes us feel good to be able to meet his needs with simple hugs and holding and kisses.
Dean, on the other hand, needs love, too, but also gives it back. He hugs us, and squeezes our necks. He cuddles his head into our bodies and snuggles in tight. When we say, "Kiss!" he opens his mouth, leans in and rests his drooly lips on our foreheads or chins. It's adorably sweet.

We can't wait to see how they grow and develop, what they'll be like as toddlers or pre-schoolers or (gasp!) teenagers. Will they stay basically the same, or will they flip-flop personalities the way people say twins do? Will their personalities clash or complement? Will their inevitable epic fights be eclipsed by an even greater loyalty and love?

We have so many questions and, thankfully, God willing, the rest of their lives to discover the answers.

Cary (left); Dean (right)

Blub, blub, blubbbb....(I'm rendered speechless)

OK, after this week, I promise not to gush anymore about my girl-crush on Laura Case and her utter and complete awesomeness.
But, you must, MUST see this post from her blog today! (Shut the front door -- I'm in it!!)

http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2011/01/show-me-mommy-blogfriend-edition.html

This post just reinforces for me that I made the right decision to journal/blog about my boys and my life as a wife and new mom. I've joined a community of women who take their jobs as Moms seriously, but not themselves! Hooray for us!

Oh, and I think I'm supposed to post a pic of me and my boys as this is Show Me the Mommy day! (I'm new to this, so I think that's what I'm supposed to do...) Sadly, I have very few pics of me and my munchkins on this iPhone of mine, but I'll try to post one from waaaaay back in the day, when they were teeny little sleepy things. My fabulous photographer friend Monica Lopossay, who shot amazing photos for The Baltimore Sun for years, took this at our house. I think the babies were 3 months here, because I was still on maternity leave. Ahhh, maternity leave!

Move it along, kids. Move it along.

So since I have learned my lesson about boasting about STTN, I won't discuss last night at all. (Clever folks will read through the lines there...)

Instead, I'll talk about how my babies are MOVING. Ack!!

It seems that overnight, Cary and Dean have gone from loathing Tummy Time because it meant they were stuck in one spot, forced to do push-ups to see what was going on, to now being mobile.
I'm not ready!

Cary -- who we thought would be slower to move -- is creeping and slithering all over the place, like a giggling, diapered salamander. He can get from one end of the room to the other, pivot and go back again in seconds! It's amazing. He can't technically crawl, but he's up on his hands and knees constantly, rocking and rocking. He'll be crawling soon, I know it.
I'm not ready!!!!!!!!!! (Did I say that already?)

Dean, on the other hand -- who we thought would be all over the place by now -- has been surprisingly slower to move. He learned to sit up before Cary, and since then, he's been content to do just that: sit. He'd reach for toys and books and me and Cary, all without actually moving his bottom. It was quite amazing how far that kid could reach without toppling over.
But just yesterday I noticed that he is able to move around a few feet -- all while sitting on his bottom. I think they call this "scooting." He can only move backwards, and turn himself around, but using those few skills, he's able to get a bunch of places. Yesterday morning, I turned away for a minute and he was off the playmat, sitting in the middle of the living room floor. I was amazed!
And last night, he scooted himself backwards, underneath the Jumperoo, where he proceeded to yelp for help. Soooo cute!
So, he hasn't changed his MO. The kid still likes sitting! But he's just figured out a way to move while sitting. You gotta hand it to him. He's determined to be himself!


Here's a clip of Cary doing his "foxhole slither," and Dean sitting.

STOP THE PRESSES!!

Laura Case messaged me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

:-)

Never, ever declare STTN after just one day of STTN

You'd think I'd know this by now. It's like saying, "Thank goodness it hasn't rained yet," and then the sky opens up. Or, "My this traffic is going so smoothly for 4:30 p.m. on Friday," and then there's a 5-mile back-up.
The same is true for prematurely declaring that your 8-month-old twin boys who had once been wonderful sleepers, but were derailed by illnesses and unavoidable developmental stuff, were now sleeping through the night (STTN). As soon as I did that yesterday, both Cary and Dean woke up not once but twice each last night! Twice. EACH. And despite our desire to let them "work it out" (which we like better than "cry it out"), I totally caved after an hour and gave them both bottles around 3 a.m.
Bad, bad Mommy!!
We'd changed their diapers and their little jammies because both were super-wet and that didn't calm them. I rocked Dean; Lester patted Cary's little back. Nothing was working. I was desperate.
And then, to make matters worse, I kept hearing the sitter's voice in my head as she told me that neither boy had much interest in formula all day yesterday. So my Mommy-anxiety made me think that perhaps they were hungry. Poor little wriggly worms! Crying of starvation!! Wasting away in their cribs! Stomach acid churning, eating mercilessly at their tiny tummies!
Now you see why I had to do it! I was murdering my children!
(Sidenote: My cousin, Nicole, who has a gorgeous 5-year-old daughter, told me long ago that she was not prepared for the sheer anxiety that parenting brought. I had no idea how bad it could be until Cary and Dean came along. In fact, most days, I go back and forth between anxiety and guilt -- and on really bad days, they both team up against me. Nicole says this does not get better as they get older. Seeing as how she was right the first time, I'm inclined to believe her.)

Anyway, I'll never know if they really were hungry, or if I just gave them another hash mark in the "Two crying babies at 3 a.m. = WIN; sleepy and anxious Mommy = LOSE" column.
But at the end of the day (literally), Mommies have to do what Mommies have to do.
Because this is not a sprint, folks, but a long, long cross-country marathon. And in the end, Mommies who love, love, love their babies always win.

Another sidenote: Lest you think my babies are non-STTN tyrants, I need to report that this morning, after they were changed and fed, I put Cary in Dean's crib with a bunch of toys and the two of them played together!! Beautifully! It was so awesome, I couldn't believe it. Lester was able to go out and shovel our front walk and cars, and I was able to shower, make breakfast, and get dressed for work -- all while they played. Together! This is my consolation prize for last night, I know it. And it's a pretty darn good one, if you ask me!

Here they are in the crib together!

Sleep! Yes!

Well folks, both babies STTN (that's new-mommy-parenting-forum-speak for "slept-through-the-night") last night. I should be thrilled, except I kept waking up all throughout the night. I'm not sure if I was anticipating their little plaintive cries, or if my body is just in the habit of waking up to see about the babies and doesn't know to KNOCK IT OFF!

Also, Cary woke up at 6:45 this morning and was cranky, cranky, cranky! He kept wiggling his adorable, little narrow body (he can't technically crawl yet) all over the floor, wailing to be picked up, and it was heartbreaking to have to keep up the busy-ness of getting ready for work and tell him, a million times, to please be patient. (Baby llama, what a tizzy!! Sometimes Momma's very busy...)

AND... Dean slept until almost 8, and so I only got to see my little stoic, solid-as-a-rock baby for about 10 minutes before I had to rush out the door for work. In the snow.

So all in all, the zen I should feel from having babies STTN is seriously zapped. Grrrr to zapped-zen!!!!!!!

Dare I Say It?

This has been a brutal winter for us. The boys got their first cold in October and it honestly never went away. It ebbed a little and then flowed like the Nile! It looked like it might go away, and then morphed into something even more nefarious. Since October, we have been dealing with ear infections, bronchiolitis (complete with nebulizing treatments), sore throats, more ear infections and tons and tons of never-ending snot! All of this sickness has affected the babies' eating and sleeping habits and served to try the nerves, patience and good-humor of Lester and me.

But...do I see a light at the end of the tunnel? Can it be? The boys are still somewhat snotty, but other than that, no earaches, no sore throats, no waking in the night with a raging fever; in fact, no waking in the night at all! Thank the Lord! Two nights ago, Cary woke up twice but after moaning a bit, went back to sleep. And last night, he only whimpered once or twice but never fully woke up. Yesssss!

This is exciting news, because Cary had been sleeping through the night since about 14 weeks old. Dean took a little longer and was sleeping through the night at 18 weeks. But the sickness knocked that out of the water. Every week was unpredictable as to who would be waking up; how many times would he wake up; how long would he stay up after waking? Cary even started waking up for a bottle again at night -- sometimes TWO bottles. It was like we had newborns again. Oh my. Just thinking about it is making me sleepy.

But...it looks like we might be out of the woods. At least for awhile anyway. The weatherman seems to think this is going to be a loooooong winter. So I won't count my sheep just yet.

My First Blog Post!

Today, I decided to start a blog.
I have a woman, whom I've never met, to thank for this decision.
Laura Case is an amazing, awesome mom of twins, whose blog I stumbled across in the winter of 2009 when I was pregnant with my own two boys, Cary and Dean.
Here's a link to her blog: http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/

I have been a faithful reader of this blog ever since and she has not only encouraged me to blog about Cary and Dean's lives - in the same way she blogs about her two cuties - but also to save up for a "real" camera, so that I can take pics of my two wiggle worms that take your breath away, the way hers do.

Every time I read her blog, I think, "What an amazing gift to give her boys -- and herself!"
And now, I'll be able to do the same for mine.
Cary Glenn Davis and Dean Ezra Davis, this blog, ultimately, is for you.




Dean (left) and Cary at three weeks old.