All ready to go back...

Roger and Sara gave me the go ahead and to return to work this morning. It was completely their decision, despite everyone's lack of certainty on the matter. It seemed this was great, we were all on the same page, but I couldn't sleep. I was worried all night about the tomatoes. Coughing, I didn't want them coughing. More and more ideas came to me about ways to be sure they'd be okay, but none seemed definite.

Then, this morning, I woke up with a wetter, deeper cough and the solution. I called Sara, she agreed, hope I feel better.

Home again, I'm feeling relieved that we know this is the right choice. And the tomatoes are healthy. Tabitha's tiny cough is gone, neither have fevers and they are eating and sleeping well. Good job Jackson ad Tabitha! Stay well and have a good weekend.

Uggh.

Uggh. (you know what that means, don't you?)

I'm home sick today. I missed an opportunity to have one on one playtime with Tabitha while Jackson was at the doctor's with Sara because I'm too (cover your ears) damn honest. I have a tiny sore throat, I could totally work today, instead I'm home in bed. Roger and Sara and I have an agreement that if I'm at all "off" I give them a heads up and they make the call. So I do, I call them, they talk it over and call me back. Of course this is only the second time it's happened, but telling them almost guarantees my staying home. I hate it, but I still do it.

I really could have used the extra sleep earlier in the week, but I made a point to go to bed early last night. No lie, I was in bed by 9:15 pm. Norah had some school work to finish up, put me to bed and stayed up. I hate being home sick. Hate it! The worst part is not knowing if I'll have to be stuck here again tomorrow. And, and I didn't get myself sick! I don't know anyone who is sick. I've been avoiding Addison and Madison, much to everyone's disappointment, all winter. every time we plan to get together they are sick so I cancel. (it's like they are in day care or something) Sara told me everyone in her office is sick, Norah says the same is true of her office, although she hasn't been in two weeks. My theory is that Roger and Sara are transporting the germs. I'm susceptible because my immunities aren't strengthened regularly because I stay home with the healthy little peanuts. We never go anywhere in order to keep them healthy. The down side is I'm never exposed to build immunities either. So I'm stuck here at home through no fault of my own, it would be one thing if I were getting something out of this, but all I'm getting is multiple hours in a row to think about missing Jackson and Tabitha, so unfair.

Tuesday that follows Monday...

Ahh, Tuesday, well, maybe not quite.
Yesterday there was a lot of diaper dirtying going on which may have affected regular napping. Today there has been a bit of crib-traveling, to the tune of heads pressed against the crib bars. Poor little tomatoes. Roger and Sara really don't want to put the bumpers all the way around, right now they are two sided, because then Jackson and Tabitha won't be able to see each other. But now that they can move they are both having trouble staying on the bumper sides and end up smushed along the unbumpered sides. When we help them it annoys Tabitha and over-stimulates Jackson to the point they both have trouble getting back to sleep. When we leave them to figure it out, they stay pressed up there and cry themselves to sleep along the bars. Neither way is working, we're all talking about our possible options. Roger has suggested making the bumpers three sided as they usually end up along the front long side rather than the short top side which is the one that faces their twin's crib. Sara wasn't sure this was possible, I assured her that it is, but she'd still like to try it this way a little longer.

Not really having strong feelings either way, I'm going to keep my mouth closed. I think they have a handle on it, Roger and Sara, whatever we decide Jackson and Tabitha will get used to and there's no danger to having the bumpers all the way around or not at all. Either way the tomatoes are safe so whatever is decided will work fine. Not sure if I'd mentioned this, but we've lowered the cribs. With all of this rolling ability we couldn't have the possibility of either tomato falling out of their crib. While Tabitha doesn't lift her head high enough for this to be an issue, Jackson gets his high enough that his chin could have cleared the railing. Neither minded the change although I'm sure they both noticed as the first time we put them in, after the change, there was a lot of looking around.

Speaking of changes that haven't been mentioned. Things are really, really good here. We've moved beyond that transition of Roger and Sara going back to work. We've, okay, Roger has created an awesome method for me to give them the pictures I take. (more about this in a minute) Tomatoes are thriving. And, oh you aren't ready for this. but here it comes...

Today Jackson tried to crawl!!
Now he is nowhere near crawling, but he's starting to try some new gross motor skills out that could lead to his crawling. In addition to lifting his entire chest and stomach off of the floor, he lifted his waist up. I know, not much different, but for him, HUGE! Then, when that didn't work, he was trying to get a toy just out of reach, he let his chest down, arms out to sides, and tried pulling his knees in! How smart is this tomato!

Tabitha has started hip-thrusts. She lies, on stomach or back, and thrusts her hips to the side. I'm not sure if she's trying to roll over, show her frustration or move her body but she's getting better at it and stronger.

They are both just so amazing. I can't believe how wonderful they are doing. Hoping that the EI and PT will be impressed when they come in a week or two.


---

Not really following up on many posts, getting it out I feel better and forget my frustrations, I've inevitably left some things out. Because my pictures are labeled by date, Roger and Sara know exactly when they were taken. I never hide pictures from them, but I also don't give them everything because I take way too many shots of the same thing. Sara took all of them once and was completely overwhelmed. Each time I give them new ones, and there are more than sixty in a batch, she asks, "You went through them right?" She really doesn't want all 300 of them, it's just too much.

Anyhow, one of the sets of pictures I gave them included pictures of auntie Laverne and auntie Shirley holding the babies. They were thrilled to get these! Because one of the aunties was sick for the beginning of their visit, there aren't as many pictures of her with Jackson and Sara, inevitably everyone takes more photos at the ends of a visit than in the middle. Both Roger and Sara were glad that I took some when she was dressing and feeding the babies. As it happened this was six hours before they removed the ban on auntie getting too close. Roger said they knew that morning that she was probably fine, but didn't think to say anything. That's why he noticed the date. I'm so glad I included her, it worked out really well and reinforced my judgement, experience and instincts when Roger mentioned it. While I never said so, just assured him that "of course I took pictures," it still felt good to be appreciated.

Monday, Monday.

It is Monday! How did this happen? Both Jackson and Tabitha were perfect this weekend. I don't use that term loosely, but they were. Completely adorable, sweet and schedule-loving! I actually came in over the weekend, spent the entire day with them and it couldn't have been better! 

Incidentally, as soon as I arrived Sara says,

"Samara! We LOVE the schedule!"

Not taking credit for something we've all worked on together, I told her that I'm glad that it works for them as well as Jackson and Tabitha, fitting a daily routine to four people plus meeting my expectations isn't easy and secretly I loved the praise. 

But I can't explain why today things have been so bumpy. Naps were a little shorter than usual and both Jackson and Tabitha were more sleepy than usual. At the end of the day, when I explained this to Roger and Sara, they were thrilled.

"So this means it isn't our fault?!"

Aww! Poor Roger and Sara! I assured them it couldn't be as I'd been here over the weekend and followed the schedule close enough without trouble, there must be something about Monday. We'll see how the week pans out. I'm hoping that Norah and I just wore them out with so much fun over the weekend that they were a little over-sleepy on Monday.

How could I forget the best part of the day?!?

Jackson rolled the ball to me! Intentionally! Six or seven times while lying on his back! Each time took awhile, but he was concentrating and definitely doing it on purpose. When I told Sara she said they'd been rolling the ball with him! Roger and Sara taught Jackson to roll a ball - and he learned! How brilliant is this family?!

Early Intervention

EI came this morning to check up on Jackson and Tabitha. They came early because it is best for Roger and Sara and only interrupts Jackson and Tabitha's sleep a little. Both the PT and our EI nurse were impressed with the progress the tomatoes have made. Jackson was a little cranky, sleepy this morning but still did an acceptable job. He is a baby so we can cut him some slack, right?

We need to continue working on tummy time, floor time in general and some specific suggestions included side play, to encourage the separation of top and bottom, seated positions, to increase trunk strength, and putting toys in their hands, to increase grasping, opening of fists and toy transfer. Tabitha transfered a toy between both hands while they were here, I was very proud. Roger and Sara haven't even seen her do this yet! Jackson seemed stronger on his tummy, more of his chest and stomach were off of the ground. He was also infinitely more verbal but Tabitha saw plenty opportunities to share her raspberry-type spitting that I so loathe. Much as Sara and our EI nurse thought it was cute. I don't think either Roger or PT agree and I surely don't think it's cute in any way.

Tomorrow morning will be a weigh in and RSV for each baby. I'll come into work late but Norah will join me because she's on Christmas break from school, as of this past Monday, and today is her last workday before she gets a break from that too. I was telling her how the housekeeper received a Christmas bonus yesterday and hoping that meant I'd get one too, she was saying how she definitely won't get a bonus as her work is an unpaid internship. As she gets a three week break I told her, that is a pretty good bonus! Looking at it from that perspective she had to agree!

Wednesday before Christmas!

Yesterday's most exciting news - and I forgot to blog it!!!

Eating together used to be a regular occurence around here. Two babies, two bottles, my two arms and a nice big lap - no problem! But with Jackson having all of these issues with eating, it hasn't been an option in a very long time. I missed it very much. I love those two little sweeties snuggled into my lap, looking up at me with those four bright eyes and holding onto my hands (okay they weren't doing this before but they are now!). It also cuts bottle time in half which leaves more time for playing together before they are both ready to go back to bed. And yesterday it happened! We did it! It was AWESOME!
They were starving and I told them,
"It isn't fair for Tabitha to wait to eat because Jackson has decided he needs to be held just so."
I turned to them, looking Jackson in the eyes, and stated,
"You can wait until Tabitha is finished or we can all eat together."
He looked up at me, screaming what I can only imagine was,
"Just FEED ME!"

And we did it! The three of us sat together with both of them eating, just like in the old days. Tabitha finished first, she'd actually eaten half of her bottle while Jackson and I discussed the situation, after she burped I put her down and finished Jackson in his regular position.

Today? Today was BETTER! Both babies took ALL of their bottles, did all of their burps and enjoyed snuggles together, the whole time! It was great. After we finished we tried, Sweet Potatoes for the first time. They both really enjoyed them. I just baked a sweet potato, skinned it and mashed it with a fork. I thinned it a tiny bit with formula but left it a tad thick to see how they'd do. Sweet potatoes are naturally a little stringy, but they didn't mind at all. I think they liked them more than pears. Hooray! We'll have them three more days then try something new.

Is it really Monday?!

Can it really be Monday?! It feels like Friday. Jackson and Tabitha have napped impeccably today. I'm not sure what to do with myself. All of my well-rested-weekend-energy hasn't been drained from reinstating regular naps. It feels surreal. Talking with Roger and Sara on Wednesday of last week actually made a huge difference and I'm so HAPPY!!! And the babies? They are relaxed, happy and hungry! All of this sleeping, awesome tummy-time and enjoyable social interactions have increased their appetites!

We're getting exceptionally productive tummy-time that I hope continues all week. On Thursday EI returns with the physical therapist (PT) to give us more suggestions and evaluate our progress. Then Friday will take us back to the pediatrician for our second round of RSV shots.

Walking & Talking

It was beautiful here today, all the way in the mid-forties! We had to get out for a walk! Despite Jackson's lack of nap and the amazing tummy-time that was occurring I hauled both of them downstairs, folded them into their coats, grabbed their hats and my coat, and headed outside. Mr Sleepy protested his hat venomously. He wanted me to get the stroller in motion and continue until he'd had his fill of stroller sleep. With warm ears we all enjoyed our walk.

Aside from the weather today's best news focused on laughter. This evening, instead of our regular sling-nap, I was helping an evening babysitter get them to bed and didn't see keeping them up late for her, for their parents is fine, but for a babysitter? nope. As I was saying, this evening I was playing with them, talking, reading, just enjoying some social time together, and I had them both laughing! They don't really laugh much, chuckle and smile but not laugh, unless you tickle them. Then on the rare occasion they have each giggled. But tonight, without ticking or actually touching them, I had them each laughing! It was AWESOME!

In less exciting news, I talked with Roger and Sara about Mondays and Tuesdays. It wasn't a planned thing and I didn't expect to do so. But when I arrived and Tabitha was having a terrible time getting back to sleep I just couldn't help myself. Par for the course, Sara was attentive and open to my suggestions. Roger was defensive and tried to convince me that they need less sleep and maybe they aren't sleeping because they aren't tired. Not long into the conversation he excused himself to get ready for work. I explained to Sara that this is as east as it gets for setting routines and expectations. They sleep through the night and can't really do anything yet. No rolling over. No pulling up. No words. Offering that I'm cognizant of how hard it is to hear them fuss and/or cry and that it must be 100x harder as their parents. But letting her know that in a few months typical cries can turn into pleading with specific names or titles. It will get so much tougher.

She mulled this over, paraphrased what I was getting at and asked,
"It gets harder if we don't figure this out. But if we can figure it out, it will get easier?"
She was so hopeful. And right on target.
"Absolutely."
It can and will get easier, if we can be consistent and show them what we expect, enjoy and love.

Solids

This past weekend brought Jackson and Tabitha's introduction to solid foods. Both the pediatrician and the GI encouraged Roger and Sara to begin solids. Being new parents with that new-parent-need-for-firsts, kind of like that new-car-smell but it lasts longer, they were jumping out of their pants to get started. Okay, not really but pretty close.

They asked me about which cereal to buy. Personally I think it's all pretty much the same and parents choose based on availability, cost or organic content. I told them this, told them which fell under each category and waited for more questions. None followed. They returned from work with a large box of rice cereal, the kind that falls under the easiest to find or availability category.

Before I left on Friday, they asked about actually giving the babies the cereal. I explained that there is a recipe on the box for their first time. For time of day I suggested earlier in the day because they tend to be more tolerant, have more energy and there's more time left in the day if they do it for the 10am or breakfast feeding. When to do it in regards to the bottle also came up. As with time of day and type of cereal, this is an individual choice, based on babies preferences as well as parents or caregivers. Some infants eat their solids and then refuse their 'milk.' Caregivers for these children switch the solids to after the milk to keep their milk intake constant, later their can be another switch when families are ready to wean off bottles. I suggested they do half the bottle, offer some food because Tabitha can get very demanding and cranky when she's hungry, then offer the remainder of the bottle. Kind of a gentle introduction/best of both worlds suggestion.

On Saturday Roger and Sara put together the highchairs. Then Jackson and Tabitha had their first taste of cereal from a spoon. Roger and Sara took pictures and sent one of each to me just after the tomatoes ate. Aren't they thoughtful?!

Both tomatoes were interested but didn't take very much. Again on Sunday they had cereal before the 10am bottle. Roger and Sara said their quantities weren't affected at all because they ate such a small amount of cereal. Although they both seemed to enjoy it.

After packing this morning Auntie Laverne and Auntie Shirley were thrilled to be the ones to feed Jackson and Tabitha their cereal. I probably made it just a tiny bit thicker than Roger and Sara had, based on the positive response they said there had been. Auntie Laverne seemed to be having a much easier time with Jackson than Auntie Shirley was having with Tabitha. I encouraged them to trade, for pictures of course, and was able to reinforce Auntie Shirley at the appropriate moments until she and Jackson reached a rhythm that worked for both of them. Both babies (and aunties!) finished the two tablespoons I offered them. It was nicely done and the aunties took the tomatoes upstairs for bottles. Neither ate as much as usual but both did fine. I'm looking forward to my opportunity to feed them tomorrow.

Their sleep is still off, but I didn't hear of Tabitha starting any late night parties over the weekend. I'll ask specifically this evening when I reinforce and compliment Roger and Sara on taking their big outing of the weekend AFTER Jackson and Tabitha's big nap - rather than DURING. If this could be the norm you'd hear from a much happier Samara on Mondays and Tuesdays!