Weeks 22-25

Alternate Title: I am so very bad at weekly posting.

I've been writing this jumble of a post for almost a month now but never having it polished up enough to publish when a week's end rolled around. So rather than keep it going for ANOTHER week, I'm going to squish things around a bit call it good.

The defining feature of Week 22 was solo parenting as M had a business trip and several evening commitments that left me alone with all three kids for four bedtimes and one overnight. You want to know a good way to make sure you're appreciated? Leave your partner alone for four bedtimes and one overnight. We all survived, but were glad to have M back in the saddle at the end of the week.

Week 23 brought Halloween and I spent upwards of (cough, cough) hours making costumes for all three boys. I have previously blogged* about my irrational need to sew my kids' Halloween costumes. Thankfully, my skills have increased significantly since then, and the sewing itself went much smoother this year. There were many things I could have and should have spent that time on (i.e. SLEEP) but, holy hell, did I ever have three cute penguins come Halloween night. Photo will be over at the annex shortly.

During Week 24 we took family pictures which was pretty much like herding cats but, amazingly, yielded some really nice shots. In Week 25, I was struck down with a nasty flu and C&G gifted me a 9 hour stretch of sleep; a feat they have yet to repeat. (Boo.) I also met up with some old co-workers for lunch which fits well into the "On Becoming a SAHM" post I've been writing in my head for weeks now. If only I could have a few more hours in each day...

In development news, the boys have spent the last month figuring out how to sit! C can do it all on his own for a decent stretch of time before toppling over and Grant isn't far behind. I forgot how funny it is to see them develop a new trick or skill and then do it All! The! Time! for a day or two until the novelty wears off. Other than sitting, they've been loving sucking their lower lips (G went through several days of doing this for hours on end, literally humming with pleasure the whole time. So flipping cute.), experimenting with different vocalizations, playing with their feet (typically in the aptly named Happy Baby pose), and putting anything and everything into their mouths. Both are showing unmistakable signs of teething and we are pretty sure we can see at least one tooth just under the surface of G's gums. I remember things getting a lot easier and more fun with E when he was around 6 months old and staying that way for the next couple of years, and these guys are already so easy and fun, I can't wait to see what the coming months bring. So much to look forward to!

And then there's breastfeeding. Ah, breastfeeding. A few weeks ago, we went back to the chiro and she confirmed that the uptick in BF pain I'd been feeling was not in my head; G's tongue tie has reattached on one side and C's upper lip tie is causing additional restriction. She suggested going back back to the laser doc to have both of these things corrected... but that may be where I draw the line. When I told her I wasn't sure I was open to that, she encouraged me to do as much stretching of the ties as possible in hopes that between my stretching and her adjusting, we could get to a tolerable point, and after two more visits with her and a whole lot of stretching on my part, I think that we have. I'm no longer having the cracks and blisters that I was a month ago (knock on wood) and while I don't think breastfeeding will ever be completely pain-free for me, it has become a lot more bearable lately. The boys seem to be getting a little more efficient and my supply seems to be up a bit as well, so things are pretty good in that department. I'd love to ditch one of our hour-plus nursing sessions during the night, but they seem pretty intent on keeping them both for now, so... Yeah.

I think that's all for now! Time to try to steal a couple of hours of sleep before the nighttime feedings commence. Zzzzzz....


*But, maybe don't read that whole post because it is rather poorly written and cringe-worthy for me to look back on now.

Week 21

Thanks for the tips on my last post. The take-away I got from it re: naps is that we barely have a toe into the time when it's reasonable to expect any kind of routine and that one will likely emerge organically when the babies are ready for it, so I guess we'll just keep doing what we're doing for now. As far as crib-sharing... Message received. Keeping them together just feels right to me. I know it's not going to work long-term, but I haven't been able to make the switch just yet. So, stay tuned, I guess.

I had a little "a-ha" moment while reading my post back in which I realized that in the time it took me to declare my envy over Jackie's wonderful weekly updates, I could have written something about my own boys. Anything. Rather than spending time bemoaning how I don't have time to write a decent post or how much I loathe typing on my phone (which I really, really do), I should peck out a few lines here and there while nursing, as even something quick and dirty would be better than the nothing I'm documenting now. So, here goes. I doubt these posts will be interesting to anyone but me, but maybe someday, when the fog of sleeplessness clears, I'll be able to look back on them and conjure up some memory that I was actually there. :-)

(This week's is going to be longer than most, I suspect, thanks to TWO tandem naps in the last two days. Thanks, boys!)

We kicked this week off with a visit to the Cranial-Sacral Chiropractor as part of the never-ending quest to resolve our breastfeeding hurdles. (One of the many posts I haven't written: 2 nasty tongue-ties = prolonged breastfeeding difficulties.) The jury is still out, but I think there may be some improvement. We go again early next week. After the MD/IBCLC who lasered the boys' tongues told me not to cut their formula night caps out cold turkey, I've been very slowly stepping them down. We've dropped from 2-3oz. per night to 1oz each, and I'm hoping to wean them back off the formula altogether within the next week or two. Wish us luck!

On Friday, E helped me make a cake to celebrate M's birthday and... my, oh, my... it was a sight to behold! M's mom arrived that night to spend the weekend with us and we all went out Sunday to celebrate M's birthday. Highpoint of the outing: M beating several of our friends at one of those basketball free throw games in an arcade with G asleep in the K'tan on her chest. It was awesome. Also, we dressed all three boys in matching outfits for the first time (we were meeting a friend who had given them to us when C&G were born) and I have to admit, they were pretty stinking cute. If only I'd remembered to take a picture! On Monday, we met up with a blog-friend-turned-real-world-friend at a local coffee shop. It felt like one of my first real SAHM outings and it was really nice.

Sleep is going okay, save a couple of nights recently when C decided 1-3am was a good play time. We seem to have fallen into a fairly consistent rhythm: Start nursing around 8pm and transfer them to their beds when they finish between 9-10, up to nurse between 12-1, up again to nurse between 3-4, then up for the day around 7am. It varies from time to time (like the last two nights, where they dropped one feeding - only waking once between 1-2, and then sleeping through until 6-7) but nothing that has lasted more than a day or two yet. We are still waking the other baby when one wakes up to eat. We experimented with not doing that one night this week and all I did was nursnooze (yup, just made up that word) All. Night. Long.

Both boys weigh around 12.5 lbs. and are pushing up well now. G was struggling for awhile, but the chiro released something with his shoulders/collarbone that has made a HUGE difference in his ability to use his arms. C has pretty much mastered rolling front to back and both have rolled back to front once or twice, but neither do it consistently yet. Both are quite adept at grabbing objects (and bringing them to their mouths, of course) - G a little less so than C because of the shoulder issue, but he's catching up quickly now that his movement is less restricted. C's latest craze is the exersaucer and G has just started sitting alone in the bebe pod. Both are EXTREMELY vocal - C mostly in high-pitched shrieking (for pleasure, displeasure, and everything in between) and G in a wide variety of lower sounds. C also blows raspberries - adorable. They still sleep swaddled at night, but are busting out faster and with more regularity now. They are in cloth diapers all day (smalls and OSs on smallest setting) and disposables overnight. I just ordered our first package of size 2s on Am.azon yesterday. Clothing is mostly 3-6 months. They continue to be two of the sweetest, happiest babies I've ever met, and they lovelovelove their big brother!

So there's the scoop for this week. Hopefully this won't be the last post of its kind! ;-)