my achin' back

now i know why my arms, shoulders and back have been aching so bad lately...we weighed the boys today and wowsas! i was surprised when abie weighed in at 17lb12oz but then oz tipped the scales at 18lb1oz. i knew they were feeling a lot heavier, but i really didn't expect them to weigh this much. where did my little guys go?!?

i know i get stronger as they get bigger, but this seems like a lot even for me to carry around! i hold them at the same time ALL THE TIME, and the realization that they're getting close to 40lbs total is mind-blowing. fellow twin parents will understand the different logistics of carrying around two babies. i pick them both up and put them in/take them out of:

- their high chairs (hard! one foot has to hold one down while i buckle the other in)
- their stroller (easy, but becomes more difficult when i have to open the garage door with my foot hoisted 4 feet in the air because i have 40 lbs of babies in my arms)
- their cribs (easy w/ the mattress in its highest position - it's becoming necessary to lower it and so this will get monumentally harder once that happens)
- their car seats (this is actually a lot easier now because they both can grab and hold onto my shoulders while i lift them out)
- the arm chair where they nurse (this is actually the hardest to get them situated because of getting the monster U-shaped pillow around me while they are trying to crawl over me to get to the end table)

i'm not quite sure how much longer all this will last. probably not much more, now that oz is quite the crawler and abie is on his way. it will be nice when both boys can just follow me into the kitchen! before this all comes to an end, i want to document all the crazy things i have learned to do while holding two babies. most of these have become obsolete, but at one point i have to say i even amazed myself at how resourceful i was (and i'm sure jordan can also say at one point he was proficient at these things as well!).

- picking up burp clothes from the floor with my toes and kicking them up to my shoulders/hands/head/wherever it landed!
- holding both boys with one arm while leaning over crib to pick up binkies with my free hand
- making and warming up two bottles!
- bouncing on the stability ball (we learned this one real quick when they were little)
- answering the phone (only when i could see the caller ID and it was someone i wanted to talk to)
- checking email
- getting the mail at the end of the driveway (only did once - so not worth it)

so all you twin parents out there, we'd love to hear all your crazy accomplishments while holding both your babes. it's something to be very proud of...even prouder of the fact that no babies were (hopefully) ever dropped along the way!

big eight brothers

happy eight month birthday, abie and ozzy!

man, do you guys keep us on our toys! oz has been crawling for over a week now and keeps getting faster and venturing farther. he loves to stand and grabs my shoulders to pull himself up. abie is more into the fine motor skills and is mastering a clap with his hands and is also waving now. he's working diligently on the big "c" and makes good progress every day. he commandos real well but won't be content until he masters the technically-accurate version.

oz and abe are sorting out their relationship constantly. on our walk yesterday, i popped to the front of their stroller to say hello and found them holding hands! of course, later that day abie screamed in frustration/anger as his brother grabbed the flash card out of his hand and proceeded to crawl on top of him. i don't think i need to tell you which boy is the aggressive one!




the best way to describe life with the boys at this point is a non-stop rollercoaster ride. we have stretches of incredible days, little to no fussiness, just happiness and laughs all around. and just when we start to get lulled into complacency - wham! we get slammed with several days of, for lack of a better word, funk. early mornings, crappy naps, crabby boys and ultra-tired/stressed parents. those pearly whites have still yet to make their grand entrance and the boys are chewing on those fingers (and everything else!) more than ever. and while i hate to blame bad days on teething, i can't think of what else it could be. this week we've had a busy social calendar and the boys have melted down on two occasions (misery loves company). tomorrow we are hosting a huge play group. there will be 8 moms/dads and 9 kiddos. holy moly...cross your fingers the boys snap out of their social slump by tomorrow!

it's so hard to believe that eight months have passed. our neighbors had a little girl 9 days ago and we stopped by to drop off some dinner and see their beautiful bundle. i was really taken aback by how tiny she was (6lb and change) - and to think, the boys were even smaller than she was! i remember when i didn't think they would ever be big boys. well, they looked like monsters compared to her!

so with that...happy birthday our wonderful, crazy, jubilant, crabby, funny, fussy, giddy, curious, happy, beautiful boys. you are the joys of our lives, yuck and glory all the same, and we love you with all our hearts!


out of the way - here i come!


budding designer...ozzy reads dwell


abie's notorious smile!


abie practicing his crawl (they love to chase the formula can!)

lunchtime laughs

as i've said before, abie is our resident ham. and when he puts his antics on pause, it's only long enough to laugh himself silly. what can i say...the boy knows how to have fun!

weekend with lee-lee

we are all very sad to see the wonderful weekend with my mom (aka lee-lee) come to a close. the boys had so much fun playing with their grandma and showing her all their new tricks (crawling, pulling up to a stand, eating like horses, sitting in high chairs in restaurants, etc.). and lee-lee gave j and i one of the best presents ever - on saturday she watched the boys while the two of us spent the day at the glorious crossings spa! we swam in the infinity pool overlooking the balcones canyonlands, basked in the sun, went for a hike, swam some more, and capped it all off with a couples watsu massage (water massage). we honestly felt like we were on vacation and couldn't believe we were only 20 minutes away from our house for 5 hours! j and i came home feeling like different people, and the boys loved every minute of having their lee-lee all to themselves while we were gone. grandmas really do have the magic touch - oz napped for 2.25 hours and abie 1.5 hours for lee-lee! there were non-stop smiles and laughs in our house this weekend...we'll miss you lee-lee!

man's best friend

pictures really do say a thousand words...

enough said.

i heart costco

i used to HATE big-box stores. actually, capitals on the word hate doesn't even convey how much i despised these places. they're eye sores, they overconsume space, they hurt local economies, they perpetuate bad urban planning, they always have terrible florescent lighting that hurts my eyes, etc. several years back i vowed i would never shop at one of these atrocities.

i eat my words.

i love costco for so many reasons. their prices, their organics, their proximity to my house. but the best reason is because their carts have a spot for two kiddos! i no longer have to lug the snap-n-go out of the car and then somehow manuever it, plus an oversized shopping cart, through the gargantuan store. and the boys LOVE IT!

today we strolled in and i noticed ozzy put his arm around abie. it was adorable. he kept it there for like 3 minutes and before i knew it he was on to consuming my coupon book. i thought to myself, what a sweet, fleeting gesture...but then, low and behold, abie puts his arm around ozzy.

forget about i heart costco. ozzy hearts abie. abie hearts ozzy. but i heart my boys the most!

oskar in nana's shower cap

splendor in the trash

i thought it would be a nice start to the day to relax outside in the front yard with the boys. you know, we could lay on a big blanket, stare up at the clouds and listen to the birds and wind whistling through the leaves. i failed to remember that today was trash day, but that proved to be even better! the garbage and recycling trucks were making their rounds in front of our house just minutes after we got settled. the boys were enthralled! and an added bonus of being out front with your two babies when the garbage men come is that they bring your bins back to your garage for you!

sweet as abel

abel is pure sugar. he smiles with his sparkley eyes and your heart bursts. he's known to capture audiences with his smiles, laughs and chirps wherever we go - last weekend it was at banana republic and the store was circled around the stroller. of course it helps when his bro is smiling and talking like a teradactyl! we like to call abie our ham bone - social butterfly is more like it.

abie has a rather deep voice but he manages these sweet high pithed noises like a little bird. again...heart-busting. patient and understanding, abie will play quietly on his gym or in his exersaucer while i attend to other business. this boy LOVES his mobile and will often forego naps to tug at the hanging animals. he also is a happy boy in the kiddie pool and will bounce from one end to the other, delighted that he can touch the bottom and walk! i think abie might walk before ozzy because this boy is all about standing. he tries to use the arches of the play gym to pull himself up but is much more successful when he cruises on the outside of the exersaucer. abie sits well unassisted and is quickly catching up to ozzy on the crawling front.

abel is a total snuggle bunny. for awhile he was waking up around 4am to nurse in bed with me and then fall asleep snuggled in the crook of my arm. he has some interesting ways to soothe himself - who needs a binkie or a thumb when you've got dad's goatee or your own feet! abie is one tactile fellow. we often catch him lost in dreamland caressing the pillow, the grass or the blanket.



abie loves to eat and has an impressive "open wide." i do fun choo-choo train and airplane noises with the spoon just for the heck of it, but it's never necessary! abie is all about horsing around and is beside himself with joy when we do "super baby" with him and hold him upside down. in fact, he just likes being being upside down in general and will often hang out draped over my lap with his head dangling.

jordan discovered abie's most ticklish spot - his quads! we love to tickle this little monkey and just about any typical spot will get him going. and we love to get him laughing in anticipation. just looking at him and wiggling your fingers will set him off into hysterics.

we called this boy "stable abel" in utero as he was steadily head down, and while he certainly moved a lot, he never did the full-on somersaults and butt thrusts that his brother was known for. he continues to be our rock at seven months, always comforting ozzy when he's upset with a hand on his shoulder or head - he's just beyond sweet!

the land of oz

ozzy lounging around at 7 months


at seven months our ozzy has fully reverted back to the personality we witnessed in utero. squirmy, wiggly and always on the move, oskar knows what he wants and how to get it. he is always looking all around, wanting to know what is going on and how he can get in on the action. he loves whatever abie has, and grabs toys, blankets and binkies from him. good thing abie is pretty patient and rarely complains.

ozzy's favorite activity continues to be the bucking bronco. he gets on all fours and bucks away with a huge smile on his face. after about 5 minutes that smile turns to some frustration as he realizes all that bucking isn't transporting him anywhere! we definitely thought he'd be crawling by now, given the fact he's been doing the bronco for over a month now.

oz sits very well and doesn't need any assistance. we stay close by just in case he decides to flop over, but he can usually hang out and play with toys, etc. for a good 10 - 15 minutes before he gets tired. sometimes he cheats and hangs on to the arches of the play gym as he bats and pulls the hanging toys. at least we know our brawny boy has brains to match! we are also now bathing oz in a sitting position and he loves to splash. the more water he can get onto abie's face, the better!



from day one this boy has been an eating machine. he moans and groans and basically wants me to shovel food into his mouth. he takes huge bites and can finish off two bowls of oatmeal with some mango or squash in a flash. he likes just about everything, well, er, except for peas which made him gag...literally. he also wants to eat/drink anything that we are consuming at the moment. he MUST drink from the water glass when we have a glass in hand, and yesterday he tried to inhale my asian pear.



in juxtapose to all his gumption, ozzy also has a very soft, tender and mellow side. he sleeps so easily at night, probably due to all the horsing around during the day. he's out for a solid 11 hours and then typically will wake up to refuel and go down for another hour or so. he smiles and coos at me when he nurses, and sometimes bursts out with belly laughs - it's the best! and once oz gets going, then abie is soon to follow. then eating becomes, well, an afterthought. ozzy is super ticklish on his sides and it doesn't take much to get this guy roaring. even just looking at him in a funny way will do it!

i've noticed ozzy is a little bit clingy with me and slightly suspicious of strangers. he holds on tight to my shoulders and chest when i carry him around and he reaches for me all the time, even when his daddy is holding him. he loves to look at and play w/ books - it's definitely one of his favorite activities. he's also completely taken with matilda and reaches out for her all the time. when he's upset or fussy, it's mati to the rescue! she's become the best nanny for the boys...no one can distract them better.

this is a new one

i just put the boys down for their afternoon nap and they are in their cribs laughing hysterically! usually they just go down without much noise, maybe a little fussing or talking, and sometimes some crying. but laughing...now that's a new one. i wish i knew what is so funny!

ozzy and mati having a staring contest

abie hangin' out on his gym

abie in his polar bear towel after his bath

on the mat

ozzy contemplating his next move

and it happens to be a push up

abie hamming it up as usual

aerial view

goal!

it's hard for me to believe that i've been breastfeeding the boys for over 6 months now. originally i set short term goals - one month at a time - and once we got to 4 months i upped the ante to 6. breastfeeding was such a challenge for us all that i truly didn't think we would make it past 4 months. endless pumping, EBM supplements, unhappy feedings (sometimes i would have to nurse them while bouncing on an exercise ball!). but something clicked just as we met our first goal and since then, nursing them has been a pleasure. now it seems like old hat, we're all so good at it!

i was always constantly worried about how much they were taking in, how much i was producing, etc. it feels so good to not have to think about that anymore. i know they are thriving and that i am giving them/they are taking exactly what they need. we still give them a bottle of formula before bed, mainly because now it is part of our routine and, quite frankly, it gives me a little break from boob circus (anyone who has ever witnessed tandem feeding with, let's just say, less-than-focused 6 mo. olds, you'll know what i mean). and now i only pump once before going to bed!

the boys always hold onto each other when they nurse, either holding hands or grabbing each other's arms or face. they smile, laugh and talk to each other. they smile, laugh and talk to me (and j when he's in the room). it's truly one of the most endearing times to interact with them. and while i do nurse them separately on occasion, and i do enjoy the ease and simplicity of it, i have to say we all do a lot better together.

my new goal is a year...or whenever the boys naturally wean themselves. i can honestly say that nursing these guys has been one of the most challenging things i have every done...but now i am definitely feeling all the rewards!

weights & measures

the boys had their 6 mo. check up today (i know, we're a lil' late) and here's how they fared:

abie weighs in at 15lb 2oz and is 25.5 inches tall.
ozzy weighs in at 15lb 6oz and is 25 inches tall.

yay boys for breaking the 15 lb barrier and for tripling your birth weights! doc hudson pronounced the boys very healthy and noted their very muscular legs. all the boys wanted to do was grab his stethescope and eye/ear/throat light thingy. he was impressed with all the food that they eat (since our last post, we've added pears, apples, parsnips and butternut squash to their repertoire), and he suggested also feeding them some wild caught fish and whole grains. he basically equated feeding infants to what we would think a caveman would eat...interesting concept. they also got their shots and took 'em like troopers. i was pretty worried what adding shots to the teething mix would look like, but i have to say today was a great day! abie had a two hour nap and we spent the afternoon at the dell children's museum with rachel and anwen. fun, fun!

strange days

we have officially entered the land of teething.

this past week has proven to be amongst the strangest we've experienced so far. abie refused to eat anything for two days - no nursing, bottle, solids, nothing. he was really lethargic and sleepy and just generally zoned out. i guess the boy copes with pain by turning inwards.

we see his bottom front teeth making their way up and out; they look like two little specks of rice! his appetite is back now and voracious as ever, but he's now joined his brother in their boycotting of all things related to naps. after months of working with them to be better nappers, we had just gotten to a really good place. three solid naps a day, some of them up to 2 hours, no fussing going down. it was truly a beautiful thing. well now we're lucky to get 20 minutes out of them and they act like we're putting them in a torture device when we lay them in their cribs. yesterday they slept a whopping hour...total!

the good news is that they are generally in good spirits during the day as long as they are occupied w/ toys, outings, or me making silly noises. the bad news is that i no longer get those nice breaks during the day to rest and rejuvinate myself. ozzy is at least sleeping through the night still (6:30pm - 5:30am straight) - the boy is a machine! abie hasn't fared so well and is getting up anywhere from 2 to 4am to nurse and fall asleep snuggling with me.

this recent "situation" has me thinking a lot about teeth in general. i wonder if teeth are really that important after all? really - it hurts like the dickens to get them, once you've got them you have to take really good care of them or else they cause you a lot of pain and money, and then you end up losing them anyways! i realize from an evolutionary perspective how important they are - grinding grains with the molars, tearing meat apart with sharp incisors, etc. but since i've been making the boys yummy pureed conconctions, would it be so bad to have a diet of velvety mangos and squash? with the advent of the cuisinart and the new wave of "scientific" cooking (see alinea - my favorite is duck on a pillow of lavender air!), maybe we could avoid all of this teeth trauma and live gummily ever after?

nah! then we'd miss out on all those adorable bottom teeth grins!

When Mommy's away, the boys (and Dad) will play...

Hello everyone, this is Jordan... Yes, this is only my second contribution to the blog since Tra started it. On Saturdays and Sundays, I give her a break while she goes to yoga, and the boys and I get to create some trouble. Lately, Mr. Abel likes to make fart noises while Mr. Ozman enjoys imitating Teradacktyls. Anyway, the following clip is of Ozzy letting everyone know what is on his mind. Abel does get some air time with his killer smile. Anyway, enjoy our conversation (and I apologize ahead of time for the pitch of my voice... amazing what babies will do to you).

the more things change

abie and ozzy at just a few weeks. oz on left, abie on right:





the boys at 6 months and a week. abie on left:



and now ozzy on left:

and the winner is...

these past few weeks we've had more fun trying new taste delights. the boys eat about a half a cup of oatmeal each and then the real yummies begin. so far the boys love peaches, bananas and sweet potates. they hate avocado, which i was pretty bummed about but we'll try it again in a little while. by far their favorite, by a long shot, is mango. it's my favorite, too. who wouldn't love the sweet yet tangy flavor, the ultra rich/smooth texture, the beautiful bright orange color. and it's packed with vit a! it's the perfect baby food - and mama food, too. after all, it's two bites for them, one bite for me!

he's got legs

cousin holly in san fran sent the boys the coolest baby legs (aka leg warmers) and snoopy onesies in honor of their 1/2 birthday. here's abie sporting his new snoopy meets zz top outfit: