Summer of Love: The Combat Baby Edition

"[It was...] kind of like a carnival. There was always something going on."

– Gamma Rita, when asked upon returning home about her visit here last summer.* 

• • • • • • •

A small preface: my boys broke their dresser tonight beyond a simple repair. As much as this will probably be a story in it's own right at some point, tonight I'm pretty unhappy about the whole thing and not in a mood to blog about it.

Instead I bring you pics and a video from destructive times past (AKA "The Summer of Love"), which I'll admit I found funny even then.

Pretty much my exact reaction when I saw the busted dresser tonight.

* Gamma Rita speaks the truth, although I must say unexpected trips down memory lane (carnival notwithstanding) are sometimes unexpectedly nice, especially on a lousy night.

- L.

PS. If destruction is your thing, our latest video is here. Our theme song (and by that I mean the one I hear in my head at times like this) is found separately here (apologies if there's an annoying ad first since I got one randomly – but if so, you can elect to skip it rather quickly).

And A "Dibba Day" To You, Baby B!

Nate and Seth have only mastered a handful of words, but they don't let that stop them when they feel like having a conversation. Nate's go-to for chats runs the gamut from la-la's to did-did's to nay-nay's. Seth, known mostly for being a man of few (but well-timed) words has been trying out a couple of new chat-phrases of his own lately. "Dibba dibba day!" is exceedingly popular, but the occasional, "Numma numma nay!" gets thrown into the mix here and there.

For reasons that aren't clear, one of the most recent words they are saying is "Baby". I know I've been pretty adamant about Nate and Seth still being my babies, but sadly it's not a word anyone really says anymore. They both adore their Dr. Suess' ABC's book though so my guess is it's come from the "B" page:

Big B, little b, what begins with B?  

Barber, baby, bubbles and a bumblebee! 

And maybe it's just extra enthusiasm because their new word is very exciting after all, but often Seth will tack on an extra "B!" at the end (a la "Bay-bee-bee!") which may or may not be toddler-speak for "bumblebee". Or maybe he just remembers his name from a long time ago.

All this to say, there's a new video on our YouTube™ channel featuring a lot of la-la's, dibba-day's and baby, baby B!

•   •   •   •   •

Our current list of words:

Book (sounds like "Booh!". This was Seth's first word said in context.)
Ball (sounds like "Bah!". This was Nate's first word said in context.)
Duck (sounds like "Dah!".)
Up (sounds like "Up!" but also sometimes "Ep!")
Apple (sounds like "Ah-poo!")
Baby (sounds like "Baby!" but also sometimes "Bay-beeeeeeeee!")
Teddy (sounds like "Teh-dah!")
Daddy (sounds like "Da-dah!")
Mommy (sounds like "Mum-mum!" but also sometimes "Maaaaam!")

- L.

Peanut Butter: File It Under Stinkeroo

Then he got an idea. An awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea. 

– Dr. Seuss 

So, uhmmm... yeah. Gamma Rita had an idea during her stay.

This is what Nate thought about that idea:

– Oooh, what's 'dis Gamma is offering to me? I hope it yummy. 

– Mmmrph. 

– My face... 

– ... is stuck. 

– Was 'dat supposed to be funny everyone? 

– What you mean would I like more? Is you nuts lady? (Pun intended everyone!) 

•   •   •   •   •

And now for Seth's take on it as well:

– Mmmrph. 

– Whatever 'dis is... 

– ... is really stinkeroo! 

– Why you let Gamma do 'dis to me, mommy? Why??? 

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: I'm so sorry guys. I'm just glad it wasn't my doing this time.

- L.

8 Months Old

I had an idea for our 8 month photo shoot which for various reasons didn't materialize, but in the words of Douglas Adams:

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." 

In the end things worked out – if not better than I had intended – then certainly more interesting. It all started with the arrival of the boys' first shoes:

SHOES!!!

I was (clearly) pretty excited about this since I spent time taking pictures of said shoes while I should have been vacuuming the nursery in anticipation of our very first playdate guests. As it turned out, the boys were a little less excited than I was about their new shoes, and maybe a little too exuberant about our guests, but in the meantime...

The vacuuming: I did get to it after all.

I knew Seth didn't particularly like the vacuum. He's been known to cry on occasion if I've been at it too long (hey, so have I!), but I sincerely had no idea that said vacuum is actually the stuff his nightmares are made of. Or at least they are now. I brought it into the nursery (everything was OK), I plugged it in (still OK) and turned it on (very much not OK) while Nate and Seth played happily in Seth's crib.

Seth's body left the mattress he jumped so high. He couldn't have cried harder. Cue mommy guilt.

I can never vacuum within his earshot again. Never. Ever. Again. Seriously, it was a bad scene and just moments before our playdate guests arrived no less.

One of the mommies from our Preparing For Multiples prenatal class series kindly offered to come for a visit that day and brought her sweet girls, Victoria and Caitlin. I don't know what either of us was expecting, but clearly we are (or perhaps were) very optimistic women.

The girls were understandably upset by unfamiliar surroundings, Seth was still crying from the vacuum trauma and after a few minutes Nate decided to cry too because he felt left out.

Oh dear.

Mommies of twins really should come equipped with an extra set of arms since 2 mommies + 4 babies = a scenario that is bound to end poorly at times, especially when two of those babies are getting pretty mobile of late. And by two of those babies I mean mine, and most especially Seth.

Oh, Seth.

He got over his vacuum upsets in time to snake his way across the room at lightning speed (this is his only speed lately by the way) and greet poor Caitlin with an open palm on her sweet face as she lay there innocently contemplating the jungle gym.

Ouch. 

And cue more mommy guilt. 

So after our morning and afternoon with the new shoes, the vacuum "incident" and a 90 minute visit that took days to coordinate with many crying babies and some violence it's not really a surprise that our cute photo shoot got bumped – especially since we three had to head out ourselves after all was said and done. I got the boys bundled up in their new fleeces and shoes and everyone was looking so cute I decided to grab the camera for a few quick pics even though we really should have been on our way, and I will forever be glad I did.

Not just because they looked so cute:

... but because something a little magical happened. It's a moment I've seen before but never thought I'd get on film. Perhaps this was Nate's way of showing Seth how to properly touch someone on the face:

Of course, after a few minutes things took a turn for the interesting:

You can catch the whole show on video, including Nate's reaction to his first pair of shoes and Seth's take on "Nate flavor" over on our YouTube™ channel – although if you have a weak constitution you may want to skip Part IV. Don't say I didn't warn you.

- L.

7 Months Old

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

– Dr. Seuss

– Hi everyone! It's us!
– We is 7 months old today!
– We is wearing our new hats and... er...
– 'Dis not what it looks like.
– Oh no. Don't be getting any funny ideas.
– 'Dis high art.
– Very tastefully done.
– Oh, very.

Mommy note: You can see the rest of the pics from today over on our Flickr™ page. I am reserving the right to add more photos at a (near) future date, especially a few pics of poor Nate. His shots from today didn't turn out well at all and that was my fault since, I assure you, he was looking very cute in his altogether. We were a little rushed when it was Nate's turn in front of the camera (sorry Nate!). Never fear – we will be scheduling a reshoot as soon as possible.

- L.

Laundry Watch 2010 | Status Remains At Red Alert

I think I can. I think I can.

– The Little Engine That Could

The end result of Ol' Lonely's visit this morning is that the drain pump on the washer needs replacing – although it's still getting the job done for now, it makes a terrible noise and really could stop functioning at any time. The heating element on the dryer is also broken. He felt the smoky smell probably came from the element and since it's broken there's no longer any danger in running the machine – but of course there's no heat, so that's not going to do us much good.

I've been picking up coils of metal like this off the floor around the machines all morning and being thankful Nate and Seth aren't mobile toddlers yet:



Yeah, it's pretty broken.

It looks like it will be a few days to get in parts if our landlords decide to go with a repair vs. new machines (although I imagine new machines will also take a few days to coordinate), so in the meantime I'm washing what I can and hoping we can sneak downstairs to do some furtive late-night drying tonight before the new tenants move in. So far, the little bums remain covered in cloth and I've got my fingers crossed for sunny skies over the next few days so I can line dry as much as possible because I think I can make this work if the weather will cooperate.

I'm definitely feeling a kinship with that little red engine of late.

- L.

When Did This Happen?

"Out with the old and in with the new", they say.



Cleaning out Nate and Seth's closet last weekend to make room for new outfits was an eye-opener as to how much our boys have grown in 11 short weeks. I kept pulling out tiny onesies and marveling with M. about how wee our babies once were. Then came the tiny pants – I can't believe they ever fit into some of these outfits! We had a good laugh, but of course it was kind of bittersweet too, especially for a sentimental mommy like me.

The boys have also graduated from their 4 oz. bottles to 8 oz. bottles – granted, they're only being filled to 4.5 oz. for now, but it was definitely time for the larger size as their 3 month growth spurt grows near (I think it's already started actually).



A few weeks ago a snippet from the poem Song For A Fifth Child made its way into the comments section of a previous post. This is the full version:

I hope my child looks back on today
And remembers a Mom who had time to play;
There will be years for cleaning and cooking,

But children grow up when we are not looking.
The cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
Cause babies grow fast, we learn to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep!
I'm cuddling my baby and babies don't keep.

– Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

The only thing I'd add is that even when you are mindful, there will still be a point when you look around and ask, when did this happen? And how did it all go by so fast?

*sigh*

- L.

Bath Day

It is no small thing when they who are so fresh from God love us.

– Charles Dickens

Fresh from God and the kitchen sink too because it was bath day at our house. It's no easy feat bathing babies and trying to snap pics even if you have very good babies who like a bath – although I guess they'd be pretty poor Aquarians if they didn't like the water. I hope that doesn't change.

I will be a little sad though when we have to give up bath time in the sink and graduate to the baby bath we bought, but I think we still have some room to grow before that happens – it's a bigger than average sink after all and my babies are still peanuts.

Seth was a little squirmy today so his pics are pre-bath:





Nate on the other hand was quite placid before and during:





... and I love the soapy head (even if he is a little out of focus):



And in case you didn't know, there's nothing like cuddle time with freshly scrubbed babies. We had lots. Yum! : )

- L.