Ryan and Juliet

Watch their…

• first swing
• first time on grass
• first time at the animal farm
• first swim

No, no, I got it Mom!

I'll decide what to do

Ryan and Juliet are amazing. They are so much more adaptable to change than I give them credit for. As parents we want to protect our babies and keep them safe and secure. In my mind, safety and security goes hand in hand with routine and what we’re used to.  For babies though, I think it’s more just having mommy and daddy there that provides that sense of safety and security.

Last Friday, June 25th, we went on our first family vacation to Burlington, VT. I have been strategically planning in my head how to get Ryan and Juliet through this vacation happy, fed, and rested. But most important, I wanted this to be a vacation for them that they would love. And what do they love almost as much as their mommy and daddy?  Their grandparents.   So we invited them along too!  Of course, this was a major treat for Dan and I too as there were so many of us to help love and hold the babies.  For me especially, I had all my favorite people to talk with and laugh with.

Juliet was so happy, as there was a never ending supply of people to hold her.  Ryan was so happy, as there were so many new things to see, explore, touch, and discover.  We stuffed ourselves full with food and wine.  We went to the Magic Hat Brewery for free beer and a free tour.  We visited the animals at the Shelburne Farm and marveled at its peace, beauty, and sereneness.  The free range chickens were especially a delight to see.  We had dinner by the lake, dinner in a fancy restaurant, and dinner with Mexican fare and margaritas.  At each dinner, Ryan and Juliet watched intently at all the activity swirling around them.  Many people commented on how beautiful and wonderful they were.

And indeed, they ate their dinner (with only one throw-up), they took their naps (well, mostly), and they slept at night (except when I talked in my sleep and woke them up).

Amazing.

Juliet helps get Ryan up from his nap

Ryan and Juliet,

I must write this quickly as you are both napping and likely to wake up soon.  I’ve been trying to write a blog post for what feels like a long time now, but really its only been a month. Oh, but you’ve both changed so much in just that short time!  You’re now both 9 months and you can crawl, stand, eat all sort of foods (still mostly on the mushy side), sleep through the night, hug, laugh, giggle, and play.

There’s so much I want to record about your lives so that I never forget.  I suppose that’s the reason I started this blog.  One day you’ll have a moment in your life that you just want to hold onto and slow down time so that you can savor it and just relish in the happiness of that moment.  Maybe a date with a cute guy or gal, or a baseball game, or who knows, maybe even prom (likely not that though).  For me, since the day you were both born, those moments never seem to stop.  And just as the moment is upon us, just as quickly it passes.  I want to hold onto you both and hug you and make these moments last.  But alas, life is about change.  All things change, even rocks!  It takes courage to accept some changes, but the more positive we are about them, the happier I believe life can be.  And as I’ve said in many posts already, I can’t wait to see what new things you’ll start doing tomorrow!

Some cute moments and happenings:

• We took you both to a restaurant on the Hudson.  You were both so good!  Juliet waved for the first time to a couple waving to her.  She holds both hands up in the air and opens and closes her hands.  It’s the cutest thing.  Our little social butterfly.
• Ryan waves but sideways like he’s squeezing a lemon.
• Juliet loves to take her finger and make blub, blub, blub noises with her lips.  She likes to put her finger on our lips to help us too.  Ryan wasn’t quite sure what to do at first but seems to have caught on to her game.
• Ryan puts his hand over his mouth, yells “Ahhhhhh”,  shakes his head back and forth, and loves the sound it makes.
• Juliet and Ryan both put their hands up to show how big they are when we ask “How big are you?”
• Ryan claps.
• Juliet does the Quasimodo crawl (one foot on the floor and one knee).
• Ryan slaps and stomps his hands on the ground when he crawls.  He’s likely not to be a graceful ballet dancer.
• Ryan seems to understand chase and tries to get Juliet to play.  Juliet isn’t quite compliant but still laughs and giggles at him.  Daddy, however, loves to play chase with Ryan.
• In the last month, you both starting sleeping through the night.  From 8pm to 6am!  Yippee!!
• They are both as thick as thieves when I put them on the ground to crawl around.  They want to discover EVERYTHING!  Together of course.  And they find all the things Mom forgot to baby proof.
• Ryan likes to analyze things with his index finger.  When he gets his finger out watch your eyes!
• Juliet LOVES to be held and will crawl to wherever we are.
• Ryan LOVES to be hugged.  Sometimes, if we’re lucky, he hugs us for long periods of time. Usually, though, it’ll last only for seconds and then he gets distracted but quickly remembers and wants another hug (repeat, repeat, repeat).

All my love,

mom

Thank goodness!  One bottom tooth has arrived.  I found it on the trip back from Gramee Marge’s and Grampa Tom’s (May 1st).  I think Gramee Marge is in league with the tooth fairy…

Apparently they figured out that the pack-n-play is really just a cushy prison with mesh walls and toys on the inside.

Click here!

On our walks, I often hear people say, “Double trouble!” when we pass them by.  I smile and agree.  In truth, having twins is double the trouble, but there is also double to love.

There are the obvious quandaries with twins, like how to keep them from waking each other up in the middle of the night and during naps, and how to feed them at the same time when they’re both crying and hungry, and how to provide them with the love and attention that they both need and most certainly deserve.  Then there are the logistical problems to consider, like how to get two babies from the house to the car when you live in the city and the car is parked two blocks down and one block over (this may sound like a simple task, but I can’t even begin to tell you the hours I have spent thinking this over in my head).  There is the gift of patience, which each of us must work to improve upon and pray for more.  I think this is hardest for Ryan and Juliet because they don’t understand why mommy won’t pick them up when they’re crying. Unfortunately, there’s two of them and only one of me during the day hours, so one must wait while the other gets changed, or fed, or loved. Worst of all, there is the question of what to do when one baby gets sick and you want to protect their twin from catching it. Answer: impossible.

Ryan and Juliet came down with a cold a couple weeks ago.  It started out with Ryan having a runny nose.  Daddy came home that night and told Ryan not to worry and “we would get through this.”  I thought, well of course we’ll get through this!  It’s just a runny nose!  That night his runny nose turned into croup.  Oh God, I didn’t know what croup was before this, and I wish for that blessed ignorance back. Croup is awful. It means a fever, vomiting, coughing, and an inflamed larynx that makes breathing difficult. His voice became very hoarse and his cough sounded like a seal bark.  The breathing seemed the most difficult to bear and the harder he tried, the worse he got.  As a parent, your worst fear is that his larynx might become so swollen that breathing might become impossible. At the doctors suggestion, I brought him outside into the cool night air and held him.  He calmed down and the fresh air helped him to breath easier.  Eventually, I brought him indoors, opened the window in the babies’ room, and rocked him to sleep.

The next day our fears doubled when Juliet got a runny nose.  Dan stayed home from work that day, as he was sick too, and we took the babies to the doctor.  The doctor said “No more monkeys jumping on the bed,” he gave Ryan a steroid to help with the inflammation of his larynx, and lastly he said to hope for Juliet’s cold to remain just that.  The next night was easier for Ryan, but he still remained very sick throughout the week. And sure enough, Juliet started to show the same horrible croupy symptoms.  Because it was the weekend, I took her to the ER and they started her on a similar steroid.

Seven days and many sleepless nights later, we had two healthy babies again. They’re now back to smiling, and playing, and exploring their world full of wonders and beauty. For Ryan and Juliet, they will forget this ever happened.

As for me, I fear I might be perceived as being a bit over-reactive the next time one of them gets a runny nose and I rush them to the ER. I’ve heard it before, but now I understand “A mother’s love has no bounds”.

Ryan has toy

Juliet has toy

But sometimes they do play nice…

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