Feats of Strength

__________________
Thanks for your kind words, friends! :)

Our pediatrician is usually ok. We decided that sometimes he just has bad days, but I usually appreciate his knowledge and thoroughness. I really like his physician's assistant and the fact that there about nine doctors in his group. It's nice to know holidays and off-hours are covered by the group. What initially torqued me off about this last visit was when I asked if he had any suggestions or advice for weaning over the next few months. He responded that, of course HE had no personal experience in weaning, but I could talk to the nurse who has three children of her own. I'm 99% confident that I'm not the first mom to ask this question, so I thought his answer and brush-off were a little frustrating. I'm not too worried about introducing cow's milk and figured I would take my friends' advice, but I thought maybe he had some stellar advice to give us. No such luck. When he later suggested we have the boys assessed by some county agency for development delays, I was ready to go home. We just needed to practice with them, that's all.

Thanks to you guys, we've made progress using sippy cups and we'll just keep working on that. I wanted to try to nurse right up until we get rid of bottles/the cow's milk transition because that's the easiest way for me to feed the boys in the morning and after school. Plus, it gives my parents a break from having to help with an extra feeding or two when Eric's out of town. So, Melinda, when you get it all figured out, let me know. No pressure. ;)

Photo Shoot

So. We meet again.
Yep. We meet again.
How many pictures do you think she'll take this time?
Oh, I'm guessing the usual. Around 400.
Well, here goes.
(Off camera) Smile, guys!
What? That wasn't good enough?
How about this one, Mommy?
Good one, Aiden. Snicker. Snicker. Good one, Reid. Snort. Snort.
More? Seriously?
Look, Mommy. I discovered my tongue.
Watch this, Aiden. Why are you so frustrated, Mommy? We're your sweet little angels. Cute and innocent.
Quick, she's not looking.
This way.
Hurry.
And we're out of here.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I wanted to redesign my blog header and include a picture of the boys. You'll notice this photo shoot did not produce the photo I ended up using, but did give me quite a bit to smile about.

Sitting Up

Reid:

Aiden:


We took the boys in for their 9-month checkup on Wednesday. Reid was 19 lbs, 14 oz and 29 inches tall. Aiden was 19 lbs, 6 oz and 28 inches tall. Our doctor was a little concerned that the boys weren't sitting up on their own. We haven't practiced sitting up with them as much as we probably could, but I didn't think they were lagging in development by any means. The next morning Eric worked with them on sitting up. By the evening they were doing a great job when I recorded these videos. (Forgive me for saying the exact same thing to both boys. I didn't realize I had done that.)

Overall it was a more frustrating visit to me. Sometimes our pediatrician can be very supportive and other times I think his bedside manner is lacking. My twins books AND friends have all talked about being careful not to compare your kids to other kids too much as well as not comparing them to each other too much. Especially because they don't have the benefit of developing with a couple of years in between, when parents may be more forgiving of differences. It's been really tough nursing twins for 9 months, yet when I asked about weaning and introducing cow's milk, I felt like I received a very flippant response. Us moms could all use a few more words of encouragement. Of course everyone could benefit from that. I'm trying to dish it out left and right to those around me, because it means so much to me.

(P.S. I'm not soliciting responses from all of you. I've appreciated all of your comments over the past few months. They mean a lot to me. Just some thoughts after spending a Friday night grading. Uggh. Time for bed.)

Birthday Plates

Our friend Kalle decorated these plates to commemorate the boys' birthdays. I thought they were so amazing that they deserved to be on display year-round. I had the perfect spot for them on the wall in the eat-in area of our kitchen. Thank you, Kalle!



You may have noticed Reid sticking his tongue out in the second picture. He's still working on cutting his first tooth so he likes to put his tongue on it to check out the new bump in his mouth. Of course, this is most likely to happen when I'm taking his picture.

Happy Birthday, Cousin Jacob!

Today we went to Jacob's first birthday party. We had a great time and really enjoyed the chance to catch up with my family. My mom went ahead to the party while my dad and I implemented some napping strategy. The noon start time was right around the time when the boys usually take their 2nd nap. Instead of putting them in their cribs, we loaded up the van and took the scenic route to their house. Napping victory! We used the same plan on the way home and were able to get the boys to take their afternoon nap as well.

Amazing and cute farm-themed cakes:

My Aunt Debi with grandson Jacob:

Jacob had the barn cake all to himself:

At first, he was a little stunned:

Reid and Aiden, unaware of what they were missing. Something tells me that birthday cake would have been way too sweet for them. They're just coming around to liking fruit.

John and Jacob- he figured out that the cake was fun to play with. I think they eventually had to take Jacob out back to hose him down.

Our boys with the birthday boy. All three did a much better job of sitting up on the couch compared to Halloween time.

Aiden's First Word

Aiden's been working on the the letter V for a few weeks now. I figured his first word might be v-v-vector, which of course would be relevant to both his mommy and daddy's careers. However, over the last couple of days he's snuck in a few Dada's! Today when I was getting the boys up from their afternoon nap, I put both of them in Aiden's crib so I could run their diapers downstairs. Aiden was saying dada-dada-dada nonstop, so I grabbed my phone so I could try to record it. As you saw, Reid wanted in on the action, which ended up producing a thrilling conversation between the two of them. At least I was thrilled.
(Sorry for the poor lighting. I was in such a rush to record that I didn't take the time to completely open the shades.)

2011, Week 1

So far, so good. My students and I agree that 2011 sounds very futuristic. I started the week with two inservice days. It was nice to have the students back on Wednesday. I know about half of my students because I had them last semester or in another course last year. I always think it's easier when you already know quite a few students. It could be because I haven't given any quizzes or tests which need to be graded, but I already feel better about this semester. My schedule is a little bit different, which means I have a chance to interact with my teacher friends. I was a little too isolated last semester because we didn't have overlapping off hours and I had to pump during lunch.

Yesterday was my Aunt Paula's birthday. Happy Birthday, Paula! (In addition, my grandma in Minnesota turned 99!!!) Paula told me how much her grandson, Grayson, enjoys scooting around the house in his walker. That's what prompted me to get the boys their walker.
Aiden:

Reid:


The boys are getting better at eating finger foods although they still need some assistance in getting the food to their mouths. They've mostly had veggie puffs, which I'm afraid may taste as bad as they smell. I haven't tried them myself, but I think my parents tried them on a dare. (Speaking of my day care providers, they recently expressed their dissatisfaction in working conditions when I polished off the Oreos. Little did I know my stash had been infiltrated. I'll have to watch that. We can't afford a strike. Who would do my laundry and dishes?) Our physician's assistant suggested that I try yogurt with Reid to see how he can do with dairy. I bought some tonight, so we'll see what happens tomorrow. My New Year's resolution is to eat more ice cream and pizza, so I'm hoping Reid can handle dairy and I can start eating it again too. I only have a few more months of eating for three, so I have to make the most of that opportunity.

The boys are enjoying their new toys from Grandpa and Grandma Brusven. Aiden likes to scoot over and pull them off the shelf.



Aiden has also figured out how to turn one of them on. This is quickly followed by turning up the volume as loud as possible. That's OK with Reid, because it gives him music to boogie to.


Today we video chatted with Eric. We've done it a couple of times with David and Kelsey, but this was the first time we've chatted with Eric in a few months. The boys were mostly stunned. I'm sure they'll catch on and insist on chatting with Daddy every chance they can.




Lots of fun while I was at school left them tuckered out:



Have a good week!