Playdate!

It finally happened – one of the couples from the prenatal classes we took last year got brave enough to invite us all over last Saturday. And by "us all" I mean all of us – babies included. Of course there was no way to predict how it would go over with 4 sets of twins. I think we all expected a few show-downs over toys*, but there was none of that. Everyone got along famously and the only crying that occurred was due to a bad-mommy move on my part**. A good time was had by all – and thanks so much to our friends at little grovers*** for having us over.

– Hard to believe, but all the babies aren't even in this photo.

– These activity tables were a big hit!

– Like, a really big hit. Note to self: look into buying some activity tables.

– Nate surveying the scene. Just in case there's something more exciting than the activity tables.

– OK. It's not all about the activity tables. I still got a chance to show Seth a new book.

– And "hang out" with Nate.

– Until they both summarily ditched me AND the activity tables for something that was clearly even more awesome. I think Nate's expression says it all.

•   •   •   •   •

*Those activity tables were a HUGE hit with all the boys. I think Nate and Seth especially spent 90% of their time hovering over them. Except for the other 10% when Nate is clearly losing his marbles over the riding toy. 

**Bad mommy move: Nate has never met a stranger to this day, but Seth is sometimes a bit more reluctant when it comes to someone that is not mommy. In my defense, I was trying to wrangle two babies plus gear and I kind of... forgot about that. Oops. And although it's nothing two minutes (or less) of cuddles and kisses didn't cure I definitely have some residual mommy guilt. Ah, live and learn. And sometimes learn again. Sorry Seth! *sigh*

***There are more pics over at little grovers, so get on over there and check them out already.

PS. I took along my point-and-shoot camera that day (instead of my fancy camera). When I went to download the pics later that night, instead of getting a ton of cute pics, I got a "memory card error" message instead. It's extra frustrating because I can preview most of the pictures I took in teeny-tiny thumbnails on the camera, but I can't download any of them. Long story short: all the photos I've posted were very generously donated by the other 3 mommies with cameras. : )

PPS. Nate and Seth are having some teething times of late in case you were wondering what the clown cheeks were all about.

Teamwork

– What's dat you up to Nate? It look very interesting.
– Oh, is very interesting. I think. If only I could reach 'dis interesting thing I would know for sure.

– I is helping you now. 'Dis looks very interesting indeed.
– Mmmph. Can... almost... reach... it. *grunt* 

– Uh... Nate? I think we is not the only ones that is looking at something interesting.
– What you mean? Is just you and me and... 

– Oh.
– We is busted.
– Yep. 'Dis what busted look like alright. 

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: A belated Happy 10 Months to my sweet conspirators (for the record, I did take these pictures yesterday). And in case you are starting to think I let Nate and Seth run around nakey 24/7, it was the only time I was able to catch these two together on their big day – after I remembered to charge my camera battery that is. Oops.

- L.

Out & About: The Starbucks Edition

I've been wanting to get some pics of the boys in their pea coats for awhile now, but I kept forgetting to bring the camera along when we would head out. Or I'd remember to bring the camera and then forget to take the pictures. See: Mommy brain.

I finally got my act together a few days ago before heading out to Starbucks. Nate and Seth love it there by the way since they get coo-ed and clucked at by random strangers and regulars alike, and especially by the staff. One of the baristas is officially their "girlfriend" ever since she stocked coffee near our table a few weeks ago and they couldn't take their eyes off her.

Here are Nate and Seth upon arrival:

You can see from the semi-maniacal look in Nate's eyes that he's ready to get out of the stroller. Like, now. 

He didn't really calm down much upon release.

This slightly blurry shot above is the clearest one I could get since he was having such a good time he wouldn't stop moving and whipping his head around to look at everything. 

Seth on the other hand was more focused. Literally. Of course, they looked so cute when the coats came off I kept clicking.

Seth looking fetching in his new (slightly too big) red shirt: 

And Nate:

... who is perpetually teething so I couldn't manage a shot without hand/fingers in the mouth. 

Although I tried. 

But the best I could get him to do was switch hands. Even with the blur you can see how drooly those fingers are! 

- L.

Nakey Time, Party Babies™ & More New Tricks

I've been meaning to write a post about Nakey Time and Party Babies™ for far too long. If only there were more hours in a day – the lament of mommies everywhere, I suppose. The new tricks don't help either because Nate and Seth are learning new things every day and getting into and up to more than you can imagine. But I digress... 

Nakey Time: If you've ever wanted to see two babies go absolutely bananas, feel free to drop by any night after they've had their supper because that's when the clothes come off. It's the most ideal time of day to get nakey since it's (almost) guaranteed the worst thing I'll have to clean up is a little pee.

Even though we've been doing this for months now, it still cracks me up to see how lively they get playing nakey in a crib. The location alternates, so sometimes the party is at "Seth's place" and other nights it's at "Nate's place". Whoever is hosting gets nakey first – it's the rule. At this point it's 50/50 on whether I'll need to change a sheet* when all is said and done, but it's worth risking what amounts to a small amount of effort to see them having so much fun (also I've become an expert at a fast sheet change). They typically average 15-20 minutes of non-stop nakey energy, which gets a big thumbs up from me because it helps get them nice and worn out for bed.

Or at least it used to, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I wrestled with posting photos, but after I took some anyway I realized these aren't too incriminating. So, for the first time at the OP we proudly present...

NAKEY TIME!!!

Classic nakey:

Nakey with interesting poses:

Unfortunately I just missed the high-kick Nate was doing with one of his legs while working on his headstand. 

And lastly, skinny nakey:

No wonder the pediatrician was raising an eyebrow. Won't somebody get this child a sandwich?

•   •   •   •   •

Party Babies™: Party Babies™ is a newer phrase around these parts. Before the parties started everyone would have Nakey Time, followed by a bottle and then it was straight to bed.

Now we party. Or rather, we PARTY!!! 

This is the nursery pre-party:

And this is the nursery post-party:

Well, mostly post-party. I think Seth took some of the party to bed with him. 

Enough said.

It all started after we had barely recovered from our first cold. Maybe the boys were so glad to be feeling good again it gave them renewed energy. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

*shrug*

Instead of having their bottles and going straight to bed, they have their bottles (or a portion thereof) and then playtime is back on. Everyone is in a good mood, nobody is tired. Well, no babies are tired. Their mommy is another story, of course.

Unfortunately, this meant bedtime started getting later and later. In the pre-party days, Nate and Seth would drift sweetly off to sleep between 7:30 and 8. After the partying started bedtime was more like 8:15.

8:15 – OK, that's doable.

But then 8:15 became 8:30, and 8:30 became 8:45, and 8:45 became 9:00. I think you can see where I'm going with this. I was living for Daylight Savings Time kicking in last weekend since by then the Party Babies™ had managed to shift their bedtime all the way to 9:30. This was not good by the way. Oh sure, they slept in later in the morning but even so it was getting to be a pretty crazy schedule.

And then it was finally the big day. I turned the clocks back an hour and thought, "this is going to fix everything".

Ha!

It took exactly 3 nights for them to get back to business as usual. Last night I finally managed to get everyone to sleep just after 9PM – it's definitely time for Plan B. Don't worry, I have one. And no, I won't be surprised if it doesn't work. Those are some crafty (and determined) babies after all.

And now for the new tricks... 

•   •   •   •   •

New Tricks: At our last appointment with the pediatrician she asked if the boys were sitting unassisted yet and I admitted they were not. Sitting unassisted is a big 9 month milestone. I knew this. I see babies younger than Nate and Seth sitting quietly and playing all the time. Around here, however, no one is interested in sitting because they would both rather be moving.

All. The. Time.

Also, sitting still is for suckers. Just ask Nate and Seth – they will tell you. Or show you as they bulldoze their way over you.

Of course, all bets are off when the clothes are off because for the last week Seth loves to sit during Nakey Time! Maybe it's the confined space since they're in a crib, but whatever works. See?

For the record, Seth still does not sit up when the clothes are back on and Nakey Time has not afforded Nate the same super-powers, but I'm not too worried. In fact, I suspect it will be a long time before Nate has any interest in sitting still because...

Nate is standing!!!

Two nights ago as I was putting Seth to bed (post-party of course), Nate was still roaming about the nursery floor. I was just doing up the zipper on Seth's sleep sack when I looked to my right and saw Nate pull himself up on his knees, place his hands on the white toy box and ta-da! All of a sudden he was standing up. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera in my hands last night, but no worries... there will be plenty of opportunities to get a picture. He already pulled himself up on the Haba™ wagon yesterday morning.

It's the end times. As in the end of any hope that I'll be able to sit down for 5 minutes during waking hours. Nate just learned how to crawl two weeks ago. Now he's cruising the nursery.

I'm in big, big trouble.

And I love it.

- L. 

*If your babies also love Nakey Time, but tend to be a little leaky one of these under the sheets is a must have. It's everything it claims to be and then some.

On The Move: Investigating The Bathroom

The bathroom was (mostly) uncharted territory until this morning. I say "mostly" because Nate and Seth have their baths in there, and Seth has occasionally forayed to the doorway on one of his many hallway crawls and peered in without actually crossing the threshold.

I spent last weekend baby-proofing the bathroom so today I didn't mind that everyone made a trip down the hall to explore points beyond the nursery. Of course, since I baby-proofed, there wasn't much to see.

Here they are with those innocent looks that say, "We isn't up to anything, mommy!":

But not for lack of trying. 

They looked high. 

And they looked low. 

They even spent awhile looking at each other. 

Finally they spotted the one interesting thing in the room. I think this is the exact moment actually that everyone noticed the big chunk missing out of the limestone tile and made a beeline for it: 

It was a truly exciting discovery. They must have spent at least 5 minutes checking it out. And possibly making it bigger.

*sigh*

I had hoped to get some better shots of their cute new fleecy jammies while they were roaming, but in the end I ended up wrestling them onto the big chair and snapping a quick pic of each. No time to try to elicit smiles – just click and we're done. That's how we roll around here at 9 months. Sitting still is for suckers. 

- L.

A Happier Post: All Things 9 Months

I mentioned in our last "Updates On Everything" post that the boys are really getting mobile these days – and that you should stay tuned for imminent future posts (like this one). Well, this is another one.

The days of placing Nate and Seth side by side and taking a few cute pics at my leisure really are long gone – even when I have a helper like I did here and here.

And I was on my own yesterday.

Hence a lot of shots like these where Nate was long gone by the time I had the camera in focus, and Seth was making a hasty departure too*:

I was looking for something purple for our previous post to include at this point when I spied these guys:

These cute keepsake bears were lovingly knitted by their Great-Grandma Edna. I had planned to do a whole post about the bears with Nate and Seth posing with them, but I think you can appreciate that after today I had to give up on that idea.

Still though, I thought maybe that purple scarf would distract them sufficiently to at least keep them in the same spot long enough to snap a pic. And it did. The scarf was distracting enough for exactly one photo: 

Eventually I just let them loose on the nursery figuring they might randomly end up in a shot together. And they did. This is the one shot I got with both of them in it (where they both happen to be looking at the camera that is): 

It didn't last long. Eventually Seth moved into uncharted territory and left Nate behind. 

At least he finally had a good time in the baby Spa Bath. 

•   •   •   •   •

The other part of this post is the results from our 9 month check-up with the pediatrician.

Here are the boys' latest stats:

Nate: 18.5 lbs. (8.35 kg.) | 29.25 in. (74.5 cm.)
Currently, he is in the 90th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight.

Seth: 17 lbs. (7.7 kg.) | 28.75 in. (73 cm.)
Currently, he is in the 75th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight.

Although their weight has been consistent with their individual growth curves, their height has really shot up (both were at 50% at their 6 month checkup), which means we're going back in 6 weeks for another weigh-in instead of 3 months from now. Our pediatrician seemed mildly concerned since ratio-wise they are underweight for their height.

I'm not concerned, although we'll go anyway. Considering they eat a whole lot, have grown a whole lot (upward at any rate) and move a whole lot, I'm really not worried about my lean guys. Also they come by it honestly – on both sides.

Before I sign off, one more pic of Nate: 

I took this picture last week and while it's not the greatest photo ever, there's something about it that I love. It's very Nate and I wanted to post it before it got lost in the shuffle (as things do when you're chasing two rather mobile babies around all day). Much like his brother, he has a way of looking at the camera that just takes my breath away.

My wee babies are turning into little boys far too quickly.

- L.

* Of course you realize this is going to have a serious impact on their infamous "conversations" if they can't manage to be in the same shot any more often than chance allows. I think it's time to consider the duct tape again. Or super-glue.

The After-Party & What Nay-Nay Did-Did*

In case you were wondering what a Scarecrow and a Tin Man get up to after hours, it looks a lot like business as usual around here:

... except even more stinkin' cute!

After our big day at the park taking pictures of sad babies and/or slightly less sad babies where you couldn't see their costumes very well, I decided to just let them roam in the nursery and try to take a few shots.

Without further ado I present... Tin Man:

I think we can all agree... 

... that Seth definitely has heart. But just in case there was any doubt... 

... here it is front and center (although he usually wears it on his sleeve).

And now... Scarecrow: 

Appropriately floopy, right? Everything a Scarecrow should be. All is well. 

But wait... what's this? 

Looks like he's putting some serious effort into it now. Better head over to our YouTube™ channel if you want to see what Nay-Nay Did-Did next.

- L.

*I meant to include updates on talking in this post, but I forgot (chalk it up to weary mommy brain). In case it's not already obvious, Nate's the talker (as in chatterbox). So far his sound repertoire includes:

• ma-ma
• da-da
• ba-ba 

• woo-woo
• yee-yee
• did-did
• things I'm forgetting (see weary mommy brain)

... and also nay-nay. I'm at least 95% sure this is Nate being self-referential.

His favorite phrase though?

"Did-did-did-did-did-did!"

Picture it with a sudden upward pitch starting on the second "did" and then descending back down to the starting point. I get some of the biggest smiles out of him out of the blue if I mimic his own intonation at him. I have no idea what his meaning is, but it's clearly something good. "Guess what Nay-Nay did-did?" has also been a popular phrase around here for quite some time.

He also says "mom" and "mom-mom". :)

Seth is less of a talker, although I've heard him on random occasion make all of those sounds (minus "yee"). Think of him more as the strong, silent type – except when it comes to things that are stinkeroo (obviously).

When he does have something to say, it tends to run along the lines of, "ma-da-ba-woo-did". So imagine how my heart melted the day he furrowed his brow, looked me in the eye and deliberately said, "Mom... Mom". Just like that, with a little pause in between and everything. It's the only word he says with such purpose and sometimes when he feels like using his super-quiet inside voice he'll just mouth it. Like in our after-party YouTube™ video. I'm pretty sure he really is giving Nate directions to his destination. ;)

(Un)Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!

– Well, 'dis is new. I wonder what I think of it.

– Oh, right. 

– I hate it! 

– I'm with you brother. 'Dis is stinkeroo! 

– Why mommy? Why??? 

Sound oddly familiar? Sometimes this blog really does write itself, but even I did not predict this reaction. Really. I thought leaves and pumpkins would equal a fun time had by all – or at least be distracting enough to snap a few photos.

Sadly, long gone are the days of placing Nate and Seth side by side and taking a few cute pics at my leisure. We are mobile and on the move now and we sit still for nothing and no one. And also... leaves are a little scary. Apparently.

Everyone did much better above ground: 

– I is doing better now everyone.

– I think.

– 'Dis is kind of fun.

– OK, maybe I not do so well with leaves everyone. And maybe 'dis outfit has a bow tie... 

– ... but I is still tough guy you know!

In the end, Nate at least made his peace with the leaves. 

Only to look like he was expecting trouble from... 

... this guy: 

It was an adventure to say the least, and at the end I had the worn out babies to prove it: 

And lastly (despite appearances), it really is a Happy Hallowe'en everyone! I'll be keeping my favorite treats far away from the scary leaves today while keeping an eye out for their regular trickery. So basically, business as usual.

Boo!

- L.

Next post: The Hallowe'en after party. Stay tuned!