9 months

9 months came as we were in (very) hot and sunny Palm Springs so after a week of trying to get everyone over their jet lag and back onto UK time, I finally got around to the babies' 9 month pictures taken with our new camera which I need a lot more practise with. I have to say, Evan's really capture him but Sienna's don't look as much like her although it could be down to the fact that for that first week we were all living on very broken and irregular sleep.

Whilst we were away both babies mastered sitting up on their own although Evan can sit for longer before toppling over then Sienna can. The babies have also started showing a serious interest in getting around, at the moment only dragging themselves around in a circle although Sienna can go forwards a bit. Strangely I don't dread them crawling, I suppose if anything it makes me realise we've come to another milestone and time is moving too fast.

Sienna is saying a lot of da-da-da, Evan is more ba-ba-ba so it looks like I'm 0 and 3 in terms of Mama being the kids' first word. Evan is the more picky of the two, making some classic faces of disgust when anything with even the slightest hint of texture passes his lips. Both babies did amazing on our long haul flight over although the flight back was a different story, Evan screamed most of the way back which got us quite a few glares as people left the plane and made me reconsider our next US visit.

Calum turns 3

So, April 24th has come and gone and my little boy is now 3. As the day approached I felt a little trepidation thinking about how fast he was growing up, but we had a great time celebrating at his party and on his actual birthday. In the days since his birthday I can't even tell you how many times I've thought to myself just how grown up he is; it's amazing how well he can communicate now, how independent he's become and how much more emotionally aware he is. I thought I would be sad to see another year go but I'm actually looking forward to seeing more of the little person he's becoming and hopefully saying goodbye to those tantrums (and eventually diapers at night, too!).

Calum and his friend Maggie celebrated together at a joint party at McDonald's. I can't remember ever attending a McDonald's party back home but they seem to be the done thing here and in the end it was the perfect choice as the kids seemed to have loads of fun and we didn't have to clean up after which was ideal since I was exhausted-even though it was only 2 hours there were something like 13 3 year olds and their parents there and it was manic. I suppose the fact that I baked and frosted 6 dozen cupcakes the night before didn't exactly help, either! 


On Calum's birthday we decided to leave the babies with a sitter and take Calum to a big theme park about an hour away called Chessington (I guess it's probably like a Knotts farm or similar). God, life is easy with one kid! Was so nice to only have the one little umbrella stroller (which now that Calum is 3 apparently he will no longer sit in) and to spend time just focusing on him and watching him take in all the rides, animals and the aquarium.

Happy birthday to my gorgeous boy!



 

Blowing out the candles on his special request strawberry cake



At Chessington where there was a Madagascar show (hence the boxes)

With Mark on the carousel (although he preferred the more scary rides, surprise, surprise!)









8 months

Nursery

As of a few weeks ago, this is where both babies finally call home (after Sienna making a delayed move due to her frequent night waking). Looking at these pictures, I can hardly remember what the room looked like when it was Calum's. When we found out we were having twins we went out and bought a matching cot (crib) to Calum's old one and after toying around with a grey and yellow combo, decided in the end to stick with grey and do pink and blue accents since the selection of baby bedding here is leaps and bounds behind what you guys have back home and all we could find that we liked was pink and blue. Otherwise we found some bird pieces-the two birds on the wardrobe, the pillow on the nursing chair and the knobs on the built in wardrobes (which we were going to paint but I keep telling Mark surely that pale wood will come back in one of these days and we might regret it...) and that was that.

The most meaningful piece in the room was sent to us by my Aunt Lorie and Uncle Ken this Christmas. It's the picture of the baby on the small table and the second I opened it, it took me back to my Grandma Britton's house, it hung in the room I slept in as a child and was bought for my Grandma by her mother when my Mom was born in the 1950s. My Mom was born premature like my babies and my great-grandmother told my Grandma she thought the baby looked like her when she was born. It was such a thoughtful gift and so special to have a piece of my history and my family here in our house which is so far from "home".

I was hesitant about the sheep skin rugs at first but they are nice to stand on when changing nappies (diapers) or when peaking in on the babies at night. Putting up the wall stickers will always be a nice memory for me, Mark and I cleverly waited until Calum went to sleep one hot night and I did my best to help waddling around with the step ladder and laying out what seemed like impossible patterns on the floor for Mark to put up as we talked about how different our lives would become when not one but two more babies entered them.

The quote on the wall (came out not so great in pictures), sums it up:

"Hearts entwined,

Twenty fingers, twenty toes....
Two sweet babies with cheeks of rose

Born on the same day, two gifts from above

Lives entwined, two babies to love."

7 months

I think this picture pretty much says it all....

Looking less and less like twins every day

Evan

Sienna

The babies were 7 months old yesterday, the last few weeks have made me feel more like a Mom of twins then ever before with the introduction of solid foods which makes for a lot more work and a lot less time on my hands. It's been a bit of a challenge, Evan went from being my power sleeper to all of the sudden waking again in the night to feed which has got me confused as the two of them are eating almost every two hours...

Looking at Sienna today I feel as if she has literally grown overnight and I remembered again what the sonographer said at my last scan about her being the longer, leaner one and Evan being more stocky and compact. They really couldn't look more different, nothing like twins and barely even like siblings! In this last week I've had lots of comments from strangers and friends and family about just how similar Evan looks to Calum.

Calum continues to dote on his sister, starting every morning by running in to say good morning to Sienna and to give her a "big kiss" (read: smash his face into hers and drool all over her face...). Evan is definitely more the observer, watching Sienna and Calum be loud and crazy and waiting to decide if he wants to join in. As loud as Sienna can be, she is so chilled out and such an easy baby, very rarely crying and making things with two boys much easier on her Mom. Evan is the handsome one, getting lots of attention wherever we go and learning to be as charming as his Daddy. x

Baptised

Sienna and one of her godparents, Tracey

Evan and his godparents, Paul and Rachel

Our crazy family (still working on my twin hold!)

Yesterday was the twins' baptism, a special day not only for them but of course for us, too. Was a a bit reminiscent of my own baptism almost a year ago when I became Catholic and nice for me to be able to appreciate the symbolism and meaning which I probably didn't fully understand when Calum was baptised a couple of years ago.

The ceremony itself went off as well as we could have hoped, with Calum chasing his cousin Max around the pews for most of it and our Father only appearing slightly annoyed that we weren't following as well as we should have, but we survived and it was a very special day.

Thanks so much to Mark's family for making it so lovely; thoughts were with Auntie Dett who is Sienna's godmother, an amazing role model not only religiously but in all areas of life but who was there only in spirit since she's in LA. Feel pretty lucky to have these two in my life and such a great family unit, only wish the rest of my family could have been there, too. x

6 months

Five months

On January 27th the twins were 5 months old. Having Calum reminds me that each month that goes by gets even better and more rewarding but also more work. I will never forget having a rough day with Calum in the grocery store one day when a woman told me that every stage gets better but is more work, in a different way and she couldn't have been more right. Whilst we're not waking in the middle of the night for feeds anymore, the babies are definitely requiring more interaction and stimulation although we are lucky in that some of that they are getting from each other these days-for the last couple of weeks they have been very interested in each other which is pretty cute.

The two babies couldn't be more different, not only in the way they look, but also in their habits and personalities. Evan is still my little star at night, never waking and sleeping straight through from 7.30 pm to 8 am. Sometimes I hear him earlier, babbling to himself contentedly in his crib which is pretty sweet. During the day he is a bit trickier, never one to take a dummy (pacifier) and very cautious of his older brother although lately he has been smiling at him more and warming to his attempts at trying to play. This week I am going to try giving Evan some baby cereal between bottles to see how it goes, he's definitely got the bigger appetite of the two and seems a little less content over the last week or so in between feeds.

Sienna is as cheeky as her older brother and has a smile for anyone who smiles at her. She's loud (doing a lot of cat calling lately, literally squeals like a cat which is cute at first but a little embarrassing as she goes on....) and blowing raspberries like they are going out of style. She's more adventurous than Evan, having already figured out how to roll over and actually seeking out attention from Calum (which inevitably leads to him attacking). Unfortunately whilst she's easy to put down at night, she is still waking every night with her breathing problems and our appointment to see the ear, nose and throat specialist is a very long way away on Feb. 23rd.

Calum continues to be full of energy and laughs. If he isn't literally bouncing off the walls or ripping through his toys (also quite literally), he has been happy lately to sit down and watch movies which of course is a double edged sword-great for a bit of rest for me and the babies but also a slippery slope in terms of me turning into the Mom who just sits their kids in front of the tv all day. He's obsessed with Finding Nemo and Happy Feet (thank God Cars and Cars 2 has been shelved for now!) and even loves Transformers which he's only allowed to watch with Daddy.

So that's us for now. Feeling like I could be a lot better about blogging and should be, too so am definitely going to try to make a start at more posts this month. x

We're a little late...

Sienna and I on Xmas Day and the boys and their matching outfits....

But on December 27th the babies were 4 months old. We all survived Christmas (barely!), which was at our house this year; with kids Mark's immediate family now totals 14! Was a lovely day though, Calum turned into a green eyed monster towards the end after opening so many gifts but seeing him take it all in really made Christmas special this year.

So, Sienna and Evan have now been around for a third of a year. Our night nanny has come and gone and Evan is still sleeping through every night (from their last feed at 10 until about 8). Unfortunately Sienna has a permanent stuffy nose which wakes her every night by about 1 a.m. and keeps us up intermittently until the morning despite trying nose sprays, drops and a vaporizer. Bummer because if both were able to sleep through, things would be almost perfect (if only someone could tame Calum's endless amounts of energy which are frequently coupled with boredom which makes for one stressed out Mom).

In the last week the babies seem to have become aware of each other-if you sit them face to face they smile at each other and have little chats which is pretty cute. Evan seems to be the bigger chatter, he babbles quite a bit although more to things (whilst on his playmat, in the swing, etc.)rather than people whereas Sienna likes to talk to us when we talk to her.

Calum has lost interest in trying to squish the babies at any chance but still loves to greet them every morning and has been caught trying to ram things (cars, puzzle pieces, etc.) into their hands anytime I turn my back, dying for the day when they can finally play with him and keep him company. His vocabulary has come leaps and bounds (which also unfortunately includes some words not appropriate for an almost 3 year old but which we can't seem to erase from his vocabulary no matter how hard we try) and he continues to be the boss-not only at home but even when we're out and about and he meets other kids. He's also obsessed with rules and being orderly, as well as cleanliness (as in, makes me change his shirt if it gets wet, freaks out when there is any dropped food on his placemat, doesn't let me help tidy up his toys....).

I had the kids weighed last week and here's where they stand:

Calum (2 years and 9 months):

Weight = 36lbs (91st percentile), height = 35 inches (30th percentile) = ONE STOCKY KID

Sienna (19 weeks):

Weight = 11 lbs 13 oz (5th percentile compared to other girls at 19 weeks, 25th percentile compared to girls who are the same prematurity and age as her). Teeny tiny!

Evan (19 weeks):

Weight = 14lbs 4 oz (20th percentile compared to other boys his age, 80th compared to other boys who would be the same prematurity and age as him). Calum was about 18 lbs at Evan's age, quite the difference!