Milestones...

As I watch Gray & Will's peers grow up, I am amazed at how different each one is in their development. Some are crawling across the room and pulling to a stand at 5 months, and others are immobile at 12 months, but have a vocabulary of 25 words - all in context. After hovering on all fours and slithering backwards for the last 6 -7 weeks, we finally have forward progression! I wouldn't exactly call it crawling yet, but it is purposeful forward movement which will likely develop into crawling over the next week or so.

I remember back in early December thinking they were going to crawl and any moment...and then I waited...and waited...and waited. I watched them get so frustrated as they did face plants on the floor...I blamed myself for letting them play in the exersaucer, jumperroo or jolly jumper rather then pushing them to crawl, and faulted myself for taking them out for walks rather than pushing them to have more tummy time.

Sometimes I think that Gray and Will chose to take their time in learning to crawl as they wanted to cut their mommy some slack, before they start running me off my toes. :)

At the end of the day, whether a child learns to crawl at 5 months, 12 months or skips crawling all together, as long as they are learning and growing, it doesn't really matter whether they are a few weeks or months behind or ahead of their peers. Milestones are milestones...and each child is on their own journey to reach those milestones. My job as a parent - to support them on the journey and give them the encouragement they need to succeed and the freedom they need to explore.

I'm a Big Boy Now!

Gray's favourite thing to do is stand. If he could stand all day, I think he would. He needs help to stand, or at least something to hold on to, but he is getting pretty good. Here he is...looking very proud!

Wordless Wednesdays

Serenity Prayer

Getting the boys to sleep through the night has been a challenge. When one wakes up, normally the other does too, and if by chance one sleeps through the night (which rarely happens), the odds are that the other one was up at least once or twice. I try not to complain, but nine months of only having broken sleep can be exhausting. Fortunately the wake ups are short, they don't get up to play, they get up to eat, have a cuddle and then go back to sleep.

We have done various forms of sleep training, but nothing has really stuck. We have success for a few days, and then end up right where we began. Letting them "Cry It Out" is painful, and when the results are only temporary, it makes it hard to continue with it.

The other night around 3 a.m. after having fed the boys, the first few lines of the Serenity Prayer came to my mind.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

My parents had this prayer on the wall at our house growing up. As I went through the line in my head, I thought to myself, this should be an anthem for parents, regardless of their childs age.

So...I have accepted that a full nights sleep is not in my future. I will continue sleep training efforts when appropriate and do what it takes to make sure my kids are well rested and happy when they wake in the morning. In 15 or 16 years when the boys are out with friends until the wee hours of the morning, I will be longing for the days when I sat holding them in my arms at 2:30 in the morning.

Jealousy

Having twins is a balancing act. Each of the boys has a distinct personality and different needs. Gray likes to be cuddled while I am standing and rest his head on my shoulder and Will likes to cuddle in my arms while I am sitting and play with my face.

Although they are not crawling yet, they are getting adventurous with their backwards crawling and attempts at standing which results in quite a few face plants and bumps on the head. Currently there is a disconnect between their confidence in their ability to do things, and their actual ability to do the things they would like to do, so there are plenty of spills and tears.

Lately I have seen the boys get jealous of each other. I knew it had to happen at some point, but I just hoped it would have been later. The hardest thing is that they are not jealous of things like toys which I could easily buy two of, they are jealous when one s being held and the other is not. Gray has mastered the quivering pouty lower lip and Will hangs his head on the floor and whimpers. It breaks my heart when I can't comfort both of them.

As their spirit of adventure continues to develop, I am sure they are going to need more comforting, and this is just the beginning of the jealousy I will likely see as they grow up. Now I just need to develop some tricks to give both boys the attention they need...or at least a distraction...

"Look Mom...I Got Him...maybe he won't steal my soother anymore"

Rub-a-Dub-Dub Two Boys in a Tub!

These little Pisces sure enjoy bathtime! In a matter of seconds we can take two cranky & crying boys and turn them into very happy campers ful of laughs and giggles.

First Snow