Vacation/reunion download

We got back from vacation on Monday night, and I meant to blog yesterday, but I had so much to catch up on both at work and at home, that I didn't even open my laptop.

So I'm a few days late with the update, which means a few days removed from the drama, which means I can talk about the trip without using as many superlatives and exclamation points as I probably would have if I'd blogged any earlier.

But here's the summary:

Twin 14-month-old boys on a plane = AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! to the nth degree.

Twin 14-month-old boys in a strange place sleeping in uncomfortable pack n plays = No naps. Ultra early mornings (before 6 a.m.) and incredibly sleepy, whiny, cranky, unreasonable babies.
Also, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Family reunion = Wonderful.

Lobster with pounds of butter and lemon = Heaven.

Coming back to work and trying to get back into the schedule = A struggle.

So, there you have it in a nutshell.

Highlights, you ask?

Hmmm....well, on the plane headed to Boston, Dean screeched and screamed so much (and his screech is ear-splitting) that one woman began lecturing Lester about what "Dr. Spock" has to say about stopping babies from crying. Lester was really sweet, and even put Dean's 25+-lb. wriggling body on his lap, lying on his big ole belly, because that ole lady suggested he do that to calm him down. Dean. My willful toddler who is not, contrary to that lady's belief, an infant. That lady is lucky she wasn't sitting in the row in front of me, instead of in front of Lester, because I was in no mood to entertain her know-it-all-ness, and I would likely have said some things to her that I would have had to pray about later. Needless to say, lying Dean on his belly made him scream even worse.

Also, headed off the plane, another scrunch-face lady walked by and said to me, "He is a VERY unhappy baby!" in a tone that implied we were VERY bad parents, and Dean was sure to be a serial killer some day. I know my child has a wail on him, and he can keep it up for a reallllly long time if he wants to. But he is NOT unhappy, lady. And if he does become a serial killer, I hope she is his first victim.
(Is that wrong?)

Here we are in the airport, before all you-know-what broke loose. You can tell from the grumpy looks on their faces that it's jusssssst about to happen. This is what plane travel with no morning nap will get you.



Other highlights: Did I mention the pre-6 a.m. morning wake-up calls? Which consisted of Cary yelling, "Dah! Dah! Dah! DAH! DAAAH!" over and over again? I was so happy when he learned to say "down," but how on Earth could I have known that he would torture me so with it?

OK, there were some really good moments, I have to admit:

Cary LOVED seeing the planes in the airport. He now says "penh" for plane, and can spot one in the air when it is just a speck, miles away. He goes CRAZY for planes. And he and Dean also learned to say "buh" for bus, watching all the buses go back and forth in the passenger pick-up section of the airport. They totally heart buses. And trucks.

Dean wandered over to a random couple in the airport, and totally sat on the woman's lap, while munching on a Gerber biscuit. She was in heaven, and he was as content as a lap-cat. It was the funniest thing. It was like she was just a chair to him. When he was finished with his biscuit, he wanted nothing more to do with her.

Dean also met a girl in the airport, who he apparently decided was his girlfriend, because they kept holding hands. It was so cute.



Cary spent countless hours pushing the stroller around all weekend. This brought much enjoyment to people at the airport who found it hysterical that he (slight as he is) was able to walk. Some lady asked me if he was 9 months old! Ha! My sweetie is bony, but he's not that short. Gracious! He was serious about pushing that stroller around, though.

Cary and Dean were the hit of the family reunion. As the only twins for generations (I think there were some waaaay back), people were fascinated with them and so in love. And there were so many children that Cary always had someone to follow around, and Dean always had some willing 10-, 11- or 12-year-old girl to carry him around. They were both as giddy as pigs in dirt.
(And boy was it dirty out there at Houghton Pond. My boys have never been so filthy!)

Seeing all my cousins from my childhood and aunts and uncles was really great. In the spirit of nostalgia, here's a picture of me and my cousin Nikki from sometime around 1981. That's my cousin, Dru, sulking in the background.


Eating lobster was really, really great.

All in all, despite the madness, Lester and I are glad we went on the trip. It's not something we're likely to do again very, very soon. But at least we know we can survive, without killing each other. In fact, that was another good thing about the trip. We did not yell at each other or argue even once, and this was a HIGH-STRESS situation. So, there's more proof that I totally married the right guy.

As if I needed any more proof. :-)

Here's pics from the reunion:

Nana (who is the last remaining sibling of her family, the Wests, and the host of the reunion) with 5 of her 6 children, including my Mom (the shortest one).


Nana, holding her youngest great-grandchildren, Cary and Dean (who had had just about enough of all this picture-taking, thank you very much!)




Cary and Granddad
Dean and Nana and Auntie Pam


The boys and their cousin Sydney (who Dean must've thought was a goddess dipped in chocolate, the way he smiled and lit up every time she came in the room or anywhere near him.)


And, last, but not least, my brother, Rashad, who was the highlight of this family reunion, simply by being alive to be there. Praise God.

Pray for us!!

Tomorrow, we are taking our first long, out-of-town trip with the boys.

We are going to Boston to a family reunion being hosted by my grandmother, who I call Nana.

And we're taking a plane.

Yikes! And also ... Lord, have mercy.

We are leaving on a 12:30 flight, and we have figured out by working backwards that we need to leave the house around 9:30 to be sure we're on that flight.

Yes, you read that right. THREE hours before the flight takes off, we need to leave the house. And the airport is 20 minutes away.

Here is a partial list of the crap we are lugging: two Pack n Plays, two carseats, a double stroller, one big suitcase (for Lester's clothes and mine), one duffel bag full of baby clothes and necessities, one baby bag (to carry on the plane) full of baby clothes and necessities, one extra carry-on bag full of toys and random other stuff, like our boarding passes and a book. ("Yeah right, Tanika," I hear you all saying. "You really think you're going to get to read a book? Hahahaahahaaa!")

Did I say, "Lord, have mercy" already?

We're only going for four days, so I'm sure I've way over-packed, but I am so nervous about traveling with babies that I think it's better to be over-prepared than under.

It's a short flight from here to Boston -- in the air only 45 minutes -- so I'm hopeful they won't get too restless on our laps. But at the same time, because we're leaving at 9:30 (the EXACT time of their morning nap), they will probably not sleep at all tomorrow morning, out of excitement, and so, by the time the plane takes off, they might be going totally bonkers.

Again, pray for us.

The good news is: There will be lobster in this for me.

My boys are awesome and I'm a single Mom

Yesterday, as if Dean could read my mind (or my heart) and knew I needed it, he stood in front of me on the floor, let go of my hands and started bopping to the music playing on the iPod behind him. He bent his little knees and boogied, with a look of sheer joy on his face! It was awesome.

I so needed that, Deaniekins!! Thank you!

Later, we played with nesting blocks, stacking them (me), knocking them over (Dean) and putting farm animals inside of them (both of us!)

He was totally serious as we went about executing these very important tasks. But it wasn't in a somber way, just a serious way. I guess that's just it. My baby's not sad. He's serious. And that's not so bad.

Meanwhile, Cary added a word to his repertoire. "Boo-ruh." Which means "toothbrush," in case you don't speak Cary-ese.

So the list is now up to:

Dan -- Fan
Poon -- Spoon
Boon -- Balloon
Nana -- banana
Boo-ruh -- toothbrush

He can also say "boom boom" and "brrrm brrrm." But those are more sounds than words. Either way, my kid is pretty verbal, I think!

I am a single mom this weekend. Lester is off to his cousin's wedding in North Carolina. I'm jealous because the wedding is on Bald Head Island, which is soooo cute and romantic. But because my own cousin is getting married in Richmond this weekend, none of my babysitters (Mom, sister) were available. So I'm braving the Cranky and Clingy Show alone for three days. Yikes. Prayers are welcome.

Also, either because I am a fool or a glutton for punishment, I am thinking hard about packing the boys up and driving 2.5 hours to Richmond to my cousin's wedding.

More prayers, thanks. Also earplugs.

I'll let you know how this goes. Happy weekend all!

Separation anxiety and schedules

I am trying to get back into some sense of normalcy, even though my life is completely upended and I feel at loose ends all day long.

But I thought I could take it one day at a time, and jumping back into blogging (about the babies) might help.

So here goes:

The boys will be 11 months on Apr. 11. They are totally cute and really hysterical at times, but I would be lying if I said this stage with them is a thousand percent easier.

Here's why:

Separation anxiety

Dean is in a MAJOR "Mommy" phase. If he sees me, he wants to be in my arms or on my lap, and nothing, nothing, nothing can deter him. Oh, the whining. It is truly epic. I thought it couldn't get much worse, but he's even gotten to the point where he wants me even when he doesn't see me! Since I have been gone a lot the past two weeks at the hospital with my brother, Lester has been a single parent essentially. He's done an amazing job, never once complaining (seriously, not even once), but he has let on that Dean has had times when he has been inconsolable while I was gone. Usually if he's hungry or sleepy, Lester said, and he's been busy with Cary or chores or various must-do things. But when I walk in the door, Dean takes inconsolable up a notch -- until I pick him up. Then, it's like someone hit the 'off' switch. Instant quiet.

Schedules

We are total SLAVES to the schedule!
When the babies were tiny things, the eating/sleeping schedule saved our lives. It really helped us to keep them doing the same things at the same time (for sanity), and also to get them sleeping through the night (for sanity and our own sleep!)
But now that they're older and we are really ready to get them out and about, we really feel hindered by the schedule. They're so used to the schedule, the boys want to eat and sleep at their familiar times, no matter what is going on. The eating part is sort of an issue, but workable with snacks and the fact that they can now hold their own bottles. The napping thing, however, is a real roadblock.
For months, they've taken a nap around 9:30 and then again around 1:30 or 2. We have learned to make sure we hang around the house until after their first nap, which is fine because we can never get our acts together before then anyway. But if we want to go anywhere or do anything, no matter what it is, the activity almost always runs well past their second nap.

And if Cary and Dean Davis don't have their second naps, they are miserable, whiny, clingy little monsters.

And of course, I have the only two children on Earth who don't really sleep well in the car. Dean sleeps a little bit better, but he always waits until 10 minutes before we get where we're going to drift off. Cary refuses to sleep at all. He thinks it's much better to complain - loudly - the entire ride.

And then...the babies go to sleep at 7 or 7:30 at the latest. By 6 p.m. they are DONE with the day. They want their bath and they want their bottles and they want to go to bed. Their OWN beds. STAT.

So this means that if we go anywhere, we have to leave after their first nap -- which ends around 11 or 11:30, get back to the house for a nap around 2, and then possibly we can head back out after that -- around 4 (after the nap has ended and they've eaten), only to be back by 6.

Careful readers will note that that is like 2 hours of safe-out-of-the-house time. Two hours! And not even consecutive hours!!

It makes us not want to even leave the house. Except we really want to leave the house.
(I'm getting a distinct Jimmy Durante urge to sing right now, but I will ignore that.)

Moms, anyone else ever have this problem? When does this get better? How come I see all these other parents out with their kids at all times of the day and night, and no one seems to be having a monstrous meltdown?

Contemplating food and flights

Today's menus and dilemmas:

Breakfast: French toast (with wheat bread and no syrup). Verdict: Cary - YES! Dean - Meh.
Snack: Banana YoBaby yogurt. (LOVED IT!)

Lunch: Rice cereal with harvest vegetables and applesauce. (Good ole baby food.)
Snack 1: Baby Mum Mums
Snack 2: Oranges in mesh bags

Dinner: Smushed grown-up chicken, with rice cereal and Gerber green beans and a banana YoBaby yogurt. Verdict: Cary - YES! Dean - YES! YES!

All in all, I think that was a good mix of baby food and grown-up food. And not too bad in the healthy department. But I don't know what I'm going to do when we run out of Gerber baby food in a couple weeks. Ugh.

Dilemma:

We're going to a friend's wedding in West Palm Beach in May and leaving the babies -- for the first time - for the whole weekend. More on that much later.

But in the meantime, the husband of a good friend has asked me to come to New Orleans with the whole family to surprise his wife (my friend) for her birthday. He's going to even pay for us!!! I haven't seen my friend since 2009, so I want to go. But this would be a major, major undertaking. And I'm not sure I'm ready to fly with the babies yet. I'm nervous about so many things: flying with the babies on our laps; traveling through the airport; sleeping arrangements (will they even sleep?); car seat schleppage; packing all their STUFF; keeping up with all their STUFF; their fish-out-of-water behavior, etc. etc.

So I could really use some advice from Moms of twins who've done this before. What do you recommend? Brave the unknown and go on a fun, free trip, or save ourselves the drama and go by myself?