Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Happy belated one month!

 
The twins are growing so fast and changing so much that I feel like I am always a step behind in figuring out their needs. Well...their needs are simple. They like to eat and sleep comfortably and be clean. While simple, it is much more difficult than anticipated to meet all of their needs around the clock while trying to get some rest and remain sane.

We continuously see things in the twins that remind us of ourselves. Ainsley hates being photographed and tries to hide behind her hands. She was the same way in my stomach when the ultrasound tech tried to get her picture. Both Carter and Ainsley sneeze multiple times like myself when they sneeze. They make an extremely cute sound when sneezing (that I do not make) and I managed to actually catch Carter making that noise on film.



When the one month mark came around, I was very excited to use these cute monthly stickers I bought for a photo shoot. I wasn't going for any crazy, difficult newborn shots like the chin propped up in hands newborn pictures. Just a couple of happy poses with a sticker. It was a disaster and required at least 3 participants - Will, my brother the photographer and myself.

Here are the outtakes:



 (click to enlarge)






Sunday, March 17, 2013

Happy St. Patricks Day

Sorry this isn't a more elaborate post. We didn't even plan far enough ahead to get outfits. Lovanna almost bought a onesie that said '"I'm a wee bit Irish" but I told her not to.

Here you go! Click this link to go to an album of all of them...

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Family genes

Ever since Will and I started talking about having kids, he has acknowledged that they wouldn't look like him due to his genes being recessive compared to mine. It was something he had come to terms with. Since he always insisted upon that, I just assumed that they would look like me. Imagine my surprise when I saw my babies and neither one of them look like either one of us!

At first glance, people would say Carter looks like me due to his skin coloring and Ainsley looks like Will. This assumption may be correct but upon closer inspection, I think Carter has Will's eyes because mine certainly are not that big.

Carter
 


The mystery was so compelling that I dug up baby pictures from both of us to compare. Carter does bear some resemblence to me when our baby pictures were placed side by side.
 
Left: Lovanna Center: Carter Right: Will
 
Left: Lovanna Center: Ainsley Right: Will
 
 
We didn't have any acceptable pictures of when Ainsley was first born (i.e. not gross and covered in goo) so we'll go with one after she's been cleaned. Her resemblence to Will is remarkable though he claims that her eyes do not look like his. But do they look like mine?
 
As if Ainsley and Will's baby pictures leave any doubt that she is his daughter, Ainsley also immediately calms down when he sings to her. For those of you who have heard Will sing, you know what I'm talking about. He particularly likes to sing the words "Ainsley loves daddy more than milk" over and over again to her. It works.
 
Carter is definitely a Mommy's boy so far. We could be in different rooms and him sound asleep but if I even step into the same room for a second, he'll cry for me. I like to sing "Mommy love you!" to him especially when trying to calm him down during diaper changes. He hates them and screams with a vengenance but is always happy after the change. Why doesn't he put those together? Diaper change = clean and comfortable diaper. Needless to say, he's a little high maintenance but he's our high maintenance baby. He whimpers and we jump to do anything we can to keep it from becoming a full fledge cry.
 
My sister thinks Carter looks hispanic based on his skin tone and features. Will likes to call him Enrique especially when he's in his yellow hat but that might have to do with his obsession with Anna Kournikova.
 
 
Ainsley is the dream baby. She eats and sleeps happily. We actually don't have as many pictures of Ainsley because she's always sleeping. I've always thought she looked like a baby doll.
 
 

 
Every day, Carter and Ainsley are changing little by little. It'll be interesting to see if they will start to resemble us more later.

 
 
 
 


Monday, March 4, 2013

Bath Time

So Ainsley's umbelical cord finally fell off this week. (Carter's came off 2 weeks ago) We had never actually given a teenie baby a bath before, so both Lovanna and I were a little nervous about the first bath. We had the Puj Tub , Burt's Bees Baby Wash, and plenty of cute washclothes and towels from generous friends like you..

So yesterday Carter projectile vomitted all over Mom, and I got a chestful from Ainsley last night while trying to give her Kangaroo time. Neither of the 4 of us had bathed all weekend. This had to stop. The kids were fed, had had their diaper changed, and were calm. Why not push our luck and throw in a bath?

So once we collaboratively decided the bath water temperature was acceptable, we decided Ainsley would go first. She's generally a bit tougher than little Carter right now, and she was done feeding. Of course Carter finished a bit slower so he escaped going first.

Expecting the worst, I slowly lowered Ainsley into the water - expecting a scream reminiscent of mine after Michigan lost to 0-16 Penn State last week. To my surprise, she remained totally calm!!

We got her clean, and even poured water over her head to rinse the soap/shampoo off, and nothing. So proud of my little girl. Maybe some of Grandfather who was a Senior Olympics Gold Medal award winner in swimming was passed down to her..

I did learn that its better to keep a little trickle of water running, and they tend to move and splash, and they DO NOT like it when they start to run out of water..


Next came young Carter's turn. This one was on Lovanna. Apparently both babies like the water, he was fine. So relieved/proud/glad that our babies smell like little babies again!!



So here's one of the really fun parts of little twins - pulling out real cute outfits from the giant wardrobe of a closet that all of you have so generously given us:

Friday, March 1, 2013

transitional week

This is the view Mommy gets because all I do is eat and sleep.

Earlier this month, I didn't know or care what day of the week it was. It didn't matter whether it was a Monday, Friday or Saturday because there really was no difference between day and night. This past week, Will returned to work and suddenly I really cared about what day of the week it was. I won't go into the details of the difficult transition this week has been because that would just result in more complaints about sleep deprivation....and well, that just gets kind of old.

This week has taken its toll on me though and I feel like I am coming down with a cold now. Will asked me to try to nurse the babies today so that they can get more antibodies despite all the times they have rejected me. Oh, what a taste of my own medicine...

My mom has been making nutritious soups and the traditional pickled pigs feet dish that all aid in milk production. I've reached my limit on the pigs feet and turn my nose up at it now....."No thanks mommy. But will you microwave me some of that Aldi beef ravioli (with the fake meat and probably fake pasta that contains no nutritional value other than an overdose of sodium)?" Sigh, karma sucks. Well, at least I still drink the soups she makes.

I like to eat and eat and eat until you think I can't eat anymore. Then I'll eat again. Mwah ha ha!

***

The night starts with a little bit of sleep followed by both babies crying. There are songs born out of this time that makes absolutely no sense and are grammatically incorrect. But it stops the crying and that is its only requirement. I don't want to forget these songs.
 
"I am the Carter. You are the Carter. We are the Carter. Carter. Carter. Carter. Carter."
"I am the Ainsley. You are the Ainsley. We are the Ainsley. Ainsley. Ainsley. Ainsley. Ainsley"
 
Ainsley's song doesn't roll of the tongue as well so I came up with another one.
"I love you baby girl. I love you baby girl. I love you baby girl girl girl."
 
Will has one for them during diaper changes.
"Ainsley/Carter rides a bicycle, bicycle, bicyle. Ainsley rides a bicycle and she gets a big stretch!"