18 months!!

Yay - we turned 1.5 years old on September 26th. Their birth, just seems like yesterday!

-We are down to one nap. Usually the kids get up between 0730 and 0830 (sometimes 0900 if they have slept late - which is very rare). So, we do lunch at around 1130-1200 and then they are off to nap by around 1230-0100. They nap 1.5-3 hours. I think they are still mastering this whole thing, because they are sometimes very exhausted by the end of he day (depending upon how the day has gone by).

-S-i-p-p-y! Yes, RM is drinking from straw sippy all his milk (including before bed), for RT... we have finally settled for a Nuk soft spout 6 oz red cup. Yes, that is the only one she will take! I purchased a bigger one of the same kind, and nope, she won't drink from that. I think she is a little shaken with the loss of her bottle, and me eventually flipping (in the third week) and trying multiple sippy's after two weeks of close to zero (straw sippy) milk consumption. We stopped night time bottle (switched to sippy) at the beginning of third week - which was a trigger for RM to start accepting his straw sippy, and a slow progress for RT to let go off her bottle dependency. So, I guess I will give her some time. I want her to get her milk and I can not tolerate her taking less than 5 oz milk a day for days together. The duo is not a very big cheese eater, and yogurt I can only give so much. I am hoping that eventually she will try to experiment with RM's straw sippy.

-We can point at our heart, cheeks, chin, knees, pee-pee and butt, besides the hair, head, nose, ears, eyes, teeth, hand, feet, belly, belly button that we could already identify.

-They love to fart and laugh!! Before they start laughing, they will make the fart sound by their mouth! RT will occasionally tell that she has poopoo'ed, but RM has consistently told "Pooo" the last couple of days. We are not planning on potty training any time soon. I have no intentions of having 2 naked toddlers running around with some poopoo disasters happening just yet! They need to be more aware of their bowel movements.

-Sometimes, one will hold the others hand and lead them to me, especially if I am calling out for them.

-They hug, kiss, and caress each other and us a lot more frequently... pushing and a little hitting is also a new tool they have discovered to get the other one away or grab something the other one has. RM has gotten a lot more aggressive, and as a result, RT's toy grabbing has reduced.

-We kiss everything we like, from a food item on the tray to a character/animal on a book or DVD.

-One of our favorite songs is Robots are Dancing on a Baby Genius DVD. They dance like a robot and have started identifying robots in books. It's hilarious - the way the dance!! We did not show them any tv till they turned 15 months, and I do abide by the recommendation of no tv/less than 2 hours tv a day till they turn 2. Though, I think there is a fine balance between showing them stuff on these children's DVDs. They have picked up on so much that my brain could have hardly imagined.

-RT can sit at one place going through books or playing with a toy for a very long time, and RM is bouncing around from one place to another constantly. It used to be the other way round.

-They love to drop Mommy's cell phone behind the couch (between couch and the wall). I have to move the heavy couch at least once or twice a day to get my phone. Some times they just lay their hand on my phone before I can figure it out!

-There vocabulary has blossomed this month! I am not much in to counting the number of words they speak, but they pick up any random word they hear... or repeat something completely unusual. It's amazing how much it changes every month. They can associate words with actions and purpose much more now than they had ever before.

-We already have complete set of teeth. So no more counting till we get to the last 4 set of teeth around 2 years.

-Our Pediatrician appointment was yesterday (rescheduled) Oct 03, 2011. RT weighed 23.91 lbs (50 %ile), is 33.4 inches tall (I don't think they got her height right - might be a little taller than that), and head circumference is 19.2. RM weighed 26.6 lbs (75 %ile), is 33.4 inches tall and head circumference is 19.8. We have stayed consistent with our %ile's. I was a little concerned with their weights, especially RT's after her diarrhea, colds, picky eating habit, transition to sippy. But she is doing fine (touch wood). We got our flu shots for the season. Our next appointment will be at 2 years!!

We will be going on vacation this month and I am in a prep mode! :)

Aaah - Naps!!

I am having a very tough time with the transition from two naps to one! I didn't even realize when they dropped from three to two. But this one is taking for ever!

When we are out and about, RM falls asleep right away in the car at around 1100'ish, where as RT can stay up till 0300 -partying away all the while. When at home, RT just can not hold it together around 3 hours after waking (1100'ish) and RM just can't sleep till its past 1200-1230! Aaah! I have tried to stick to a schedule, they still both go in together... but it is not necessary that they will sleep at the same time - RM can be up for almost 1-1.5 hours after I put him in (sometimes fussing, sometimes blabbering, and sometimes crying). RT will normally need a second nap if she sleep this early (1100)... and since RM stays up for almost 1.5 hours, sometimes he has hardly had a 45 min to 1 hour nap in the morning and will nap again. If I let them sleep individually (as and when they want), I don't want to have naps from 1100 am to 0500 pm (approximately 1100-0100 RT, 0130-0300 RM and then 0400-0500 RT again )! This whole thing probably sounds messed up/confusing.

With all the rains and the temperatures dropping, it is already starting to get difficult to go out in the evening, and with their naps... we end up in a house arrest! Mommy doesn't like it and neither do the babes!

Thanks for all your comments about the naps, toy snatching and other recent posts!

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Just to be a little clear... we usually don't step out in the morning (only on weekends if there are lunch birthday parties etc - which is when RT has proved that she can party till 0300 pm without a nap)... so things stay consistent. The kids are not hungry for lunch at 1100 if they have gotten up at around 0800 am, and had breakfast and milk. :( And RT gets so fussy around 1100, that it is difficult to keep her entertained with anything - may be she needs party style entertainment every day! So, if I think of taking them out (play dates) in the morning, RM will definitely doze off in the car. They both have such different personalities! Hopefuly its just a matter of time... Mommy needs to cool down!!

Naps - 11 to 5

Well, sort of!

As I had mentioned before, RM is pretty much on one nap. He used to go in with his sister between 1030 and 1130 depending upon how sleepy they "looked" and then they both would be out in 1.5 to 2 hours. Of which RM used to chatter away atleast 30 min. And then both went in again at around 4'ish... RT took her 2nd nap and RM used to be out in 30 minutes if he hadn't napped by then. 99% of the time RM used to be perfectly alright with one early nap - no fussiness before bed... which is not the case with RT. She can be supper fussy even after 2 naps if their bedtime is delayed (which normally it is not) or is over tired.

Anyways, so RM decided he is done with 2 naps (or so I think... unless its teething (he has already popped 16 teeth!!) or something else). For the last two days, he went in with his sister and did not sleep in the morning. The first day he was in for 1.5 hours, more than half of which he was playing and the remaining fussing! He came out when his sister woke up. Yesterday, I gave up and took him out after 1 hour. And then he has been sleeping at around 0100-0200 pm for 1.5 to 2 hours. After which he is done with his nap for the day. That is followed by his sister's second nap. So technically we have been napping between 1100 am'ish to 0500 pm'ish for the last two days!

I know RT can do 1 nap, but as I said, she can be super fussy with even 2 naps.... so she can, but she is not ready to completely transition! Aah... so now I need to figure out how I am going to handle this. I am going to experiment with not letting RT sleep in the morning and then doing an early lunch and then putting them both in for their naps. Now here is hoping that they sleep for at least 2 hours, which will help RT not take her 2nd nap and still be fine!

Any twin mommy tips will be greatly appreciated!

Zzz...!

Finally!! Yes, RM slept (napped) with in a minute of fussing yesterday and then no fuss at all last night. Today's nap wasn't eventful either. So, I guess he's got a hang of it? :P

In short, both are sleeping with out any assistance during nap and at night... and that too STTN without any MOTNF!! Yay!

30 Minutes?

Is this for real? RM is quietly laying in his crib after 30 minutes of cry/fuss fest! Am I speaking too soon?

RT went in at the same time as RM today... she fell asleep after 5 minutes of fussing since RM was crying.

Now let's how long they sleep for... the last two days record was 30 and 20 minutes for RM... way too less than his 3+ hour record! RT sleeps anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours at a time.

I have way too many posts this month! ;) The last time I posted this much was in April 2010 (the first month of motherhood)!

(Semi) Live Update

So, tonight... RM started crying hysterically as he got in to his crib. As if he remembered what had happened this morning. I had to walk him a little and pacify him. Pat him while he laid in his crib... is that a mommy caving in? Ughh... this is hard. Is he going to get traumatized and hate his crib or finally realize that this is how it is going to be and deal with it! Aaah parenting!

Thanks for your comments girls! Makes me wanna believe that there is light at the end of this tunnel!

C . I . O

How many times have I visited the CIO! Well, a couple of times for sure!

Finally did it! I thought of myself to be one of the non CIO types. But, you know what, it was important for my sanity and for a healthy family relationship! Till now, I kept going thinking that I do not want the babies to cry. The biggest culprit thus far was reflux! Our babies had major burping issues because of reflux, and reflux probably also lead to very less milk intake (one feed was around 3-4 oz almost up until 8-10 months for both)... which led to multiple feedings till very recently (and thus a lack of proper schedule). So, I refused to make them starve through the night and kept feeding them! Over all both the kids were pretty good night sleepers (besides RT's phase of frequent night wake ups around 6'ish month), so it was okay to get up and feed/burp them and put them to bed again (we do not co-sleep). But as they started turning in to these little toddlers, who ate pretty decently and who once in a blue moon completely slept through the night (STTN)... they decided that they wanted to be held for around 5-10 minutes after each feed (1-2 times in a night (per child) - totaling to up to 4 feeds a night)... sometimes our saga use to go on for an hour (especially for RT)! My mom has been with us off and on ever since the babes were born, so it was manageable... I could sleep in occasionally if it was a very bad night. But, with her leaving now, this was getting to a point where it was almost impossible to manage. So we decided to go for it!

The first night (April 7th), we let them have their first middle of the night feed (MOTNF). But, after RT's feed... she wanted to be held! So she got dropped in to her crib - after pacifying her, I left the room. And the CIO began! She cried for 2.5 hours off and on! For the first 1 hour... we tried to follow the Ferber method. But every time we pacified her, the crying just got stronger! She woke RM up just 5 mins in to her CIO. Though, he slept off in an hour! That was the only night RT cried... she has pretty much STTN since then and no MOTNF either. And I hope it stays that way!

As mentioned above, RM woke up because of RT's cries on April 7th. He slept (after using the Ferber method) in an hour. He has STTN once since then and the remaining nights he has gotten up, CIO for some time and slept on his own (it just seems like Ferber method doesn't do us very good... the kids get worked up too much when they see us and actually start settling themselves for the most part without us interfering). Every time the CIO time has gone down... with the shortest being around 7 minutes. There have been no MOTNF feeds ever since. Though, the wanting to be held part was also being carried forward during the nap times and during falling asleep for the night part as well. So we have had to try the CIO for those two settings as well (starting today - Mommy just has 2 hands and 2 overly active toddlers to handle!). Today for his nap, he cried for an hour and slept for 30 min - it was a crappy nap! Though he fell asleep in less than 10 minutes for tonight.

In short, it seems to be working. I just hope I am not speaking too soon! They both are still adjusting to the lack of almost 5 to 10 oz milk that they consumed at night, so our day time feeding is a little disturbed. Hopefully, this will also help in cutting down the total volume of milk that RM consumes and hopefully not ruin their teeth either. We will be giving a second try on getting rid off the reflux medication soon, and getting them used to falling asleep on their own will probably help if the reflux fights back (aka - the nasty burps)! Personally, I feel less like a zombie and better prep'ed when I get up in the morning. It hurts to see them cry so much - but this is for their and our good, and I am trying carry through all the tears and not give in! RT and RM have been also sleeping in longer in the morning (than the usual)... I guess they are finally starting to realize that they don't get picked up every time they get up!

BM and Zzz...

Lots happening around here. We are leaving on Wednesday and we are still packing. Our house seems like a tornado ripped through... with all the stuff laying all around... I wonder when we will finish packing. I have already shipped 3 bags full stuff for babies and we will be taking 6 more bags with us!

Half - is where I am as far as pumping is concerned. I was pumping 4 times a day and producing 60+ oz of milk for all these months. In the last 3 weeks or so, I have come down to around 34 oz and approximately 2 pump sessions. It has not been easy... but it has not been as rough as I had imagined. I am definitely not going to be weaning myself off of the pump before we leave... it just isn't happening in the next 4 days! I will be pumping in the PLANE! Yes... exciting... my mom is flying with the babies and I... so I have to some how sneak in to the "toilets" and pump around half a litre of milk and hope that the babies sleep while I am gone! And I hope there are no delays and our bags arrive on time... I hope I am not speaking too soon! Because, if not... I really would not like to pump more than once in the whole journey! We shall see. As far as reducing the volume is concerned... increasing the time between pump sessions from 6 hrs to 8 hrs and then to 10 hrs is what has helped. Yes, I am engorged at times... but it has been manageable. I try not to empty myself out completely... but I am not keeping completely full either... because then I have to pump sooner and that has not helped in reducing the volume. Some how this whole thing seems to be working. On a hindsight this seems to be good, because I didn't really want to get the babes off of breastmilk so soon. This way they will continue to get at least 50% breastmilk for few more months.

Sleep Monster - Has been going around our house! Is it the 7 month sleep regression or separation anxiety or teething or reflux?!? I am lost! RT has always been a poor sleeper. She barely naps (30 min napper) and I have come to terms with it... but for the past 1 week she has been getting up very very frequently! Like every hour! Like every time you put her down in her crib! There have been time when she has ended up in our bed, because she just wouldn't settle down at all and would wake her brother up! I have not wanted to do CIO... but I feel like we are inching towards that. She needs the sleep - waking up every hour crying is not healthy for her! Though, I am scared to try anything new now. With the whole travel situation, jet lag and moving places... whatever "training" we try... it is going to get blown off every time a new parameter kicks in! So I am just hoping we reach some equilibrium again soon, and if not CIO will be our option when we settle back in after our 2 month long trip! Besides CIO, I have also considered co-sleeping, but then why should she co-sleep and not her brother. And, can you imagine how hard it will be to co-sleep with twins. I mean forget our personal space (DH and I)... but they will probably fall asleep only when we will... will get up when we will. If dealing with a single baby is tough, how hard will twins be? When, oh when will I take care of all the stuff that needs to be taken care of... not household chores, but all that has to be done for the babes too!

To CIO or not!?

Not sure what to really call this post! We are having some issues here... both the kids pretty much get the same treatment as far as sleeping/feeding is concerned... but of course they are two different individuals and they have their own personality! And I am having trouble here with my daughter (RT)!

So RM loves to sleep... he will take naps anywhere between 45 minutes to 2 hours and usually sleeps pretty well at night with just 1 feeding in between (or 2 if he has had a bad day). When the reflux is bad... he burps miserable and has to be held... so he kind of has gotten in to a habit of sleeping in my arms and then being put down in to his crib (he was so good at putting himself to sleep before that). With reflux he was also a pretty bad feeder till we up'ed the dosage. He used to struggle with finishing an ounce or two at a time... though we used to some how manage to get 25-30 oz in a day (on good days). He now takes between 4 to 6 oz at a time. So he is doing pretty well.

Now... RT! She naps for just 30 to 45 minutes. I have tried several things to get her to nap longer... wake to sleep, pick up put down, holding her, patting her, swinging her... she normally doesn't even nap for longer than 45 minutes in a car ride! Though one good thing is she can kind of put herself to sleep. She sucks on her fingers to fall asleep (we don't use a paci)... hopefully she will grow out of it, but it works for now. She used to have trouble with her awake time in the beginning... she used to tire out very easily in less than an hour (the shorter naps were just not enough for her). But, as she is growing up... those 30-45 min naps seems to be working fine while she stays up for anywhere between 1.5 to 2 hours. With her such short naps and RM's long naps, we have never ever been able to put them on the same schedule, though there night time sleep pretty much coincide (~ 11 hours)! Anyhow... my main concern for her is... feeding. If she is really hungry she can finish a bottle of 4 oz in less than 2-3 minutes! But ever since the reflux... she will hardly take 1-2 oz in one go. She gets super excited and also has a strong temper. Between the two persona's of hers, its very difficult to get her to take a good feed. Which essentially means... she wakes up at night! Anywhere between 3 to 4 times. Sometimes with in 2 hours. I am okay with night feeds... but getting up every 2 hours? That is like a newborn! Just not acceptable!! She used to sleep for 5 to 8 hours straight when she was smaller. She sometimes will finish half her daily intake at night! We try not to go in and feed her or soothe her right away! If she reduces her feeds during the night, she might just be willing to take more during the day time. After she is fed, she will fall asleep by her self... so we know that she is not using the bottle to try to fall back asleep. We kind of let it be during the reflux (low medication dosage) stage... because they were really miserable and just couldn't feed enough at one time!

I am totally confused as to what to do with her? Should I let her cry it out at night! Will she really learn that night time is not for feeding and take in more during the day time?! Currently, the medication is working like a charm and I know for sure that when she gets up in the middle of the night it is not a burp (reflux related) but more for hunger! If I had to let her CIO... this would be the time... unless she just grows out of it! Should I give her a paci... will she take it with such a late introduction? I would hate for her to get completely reliant on the pacifier! I would really appreciate any advice that you may have or experience that you can share.