Accident-prone

Of all our children, Lily is the most "adventurous". She likes to run as fast as possible, climb higher than I prefer, and is often falling or tripping or otherwise getting injured because of her "activities." 

So it's no surprise that she was the first in our family to get stitches.

Though this time it wasn't her fault. I was doing dishes, and Steve was getting a movie ready for Movie Night (it was Lily's turn to pick and she picked "Frozen"). Lily tripped over Steve and was inconsolable...and started bleeding uncontrollably from the bottom of her foot. I could see it was deep enough she would likely need stitches, so I gauged her up, put on a sock to hold it in place, and headed off to urgent care.

Luckily, I had "Frozen" on my phone because that was the only thing that made Lily happy.  After what seemed like eternity of a crying baby in the waiting room, Lily's injury was examined. It was though it might have got the tendon, so a  more senior doctor came to look at it. Still, they were unsure, and of course my phone battery died, so we had a kicking and screaming mess on our hands in the form of my daughter. And boy, can she scream! She wouldn't stay still enough for a thorough exam and cleaning, so we almost had to go to Primary Children's to have her sedated.  But with 4 of us to hold get down, we finally got her cleaned up, determined it wasn't a tendon that was cut, and put in 7 stitches.

After a Popsicle and a sucker, Lily finally calmed down and we went home. But Lily wasn't allowed to go in our brand-new sandbox or finish out the next week of swimming lessons. :( luckily, I got a refund for both her and Caleb's lessons.

And when we asked Lily what happened, she said Daddy cut her...his toenails aren't that bad. :) Caleb had thrown one of my nice Pyrex measuring cups a few days prior, shattering all over the tile. While I had vacuumed and swept several times, we assume a stray piece must have ended up by the couch where the injury occurred.

It was a hard 10 days, but I'm happy to say that our baby girl is all healed up and we are back to bike crashes and brother fights as usual.

One of these things, is not like the other...

My babies, who shared a womb, a birthday, and every cold in existence, could not be more different. Even though they have the same parents, and are the same age, it still surprises me how unlike they are. They even take turns being the "good sleeper" (1 month-4 months and 7-10 have been Caleb) and the bigger one (Caleb I think has Taken over forever On that one!). Here's just a starter list of what we have discovered so far.

Caleb:
Manly Little Man
Is a lefty
Has no teeth
Can't figure out how to get from sitting to laying down and vice versa
Walking with mom or rolling is preferred transportation method
Thick blondish hair
Total Momma's boy
Very dependent on mom, not motivated to do things for himself
Likes to make loud noises
Binky boy (which, surprisingly, he wouldn't even hardly take one for a month.)
Rakes up his food and 25% ends up on the floor/high chair, another 25% on his face/clothes/bib, and the remaining half in the mouth.
Loves to move his legs
Square face, chubby cheeks, thick thighs, round belly
Fusses at minor things
Big smiles all the time and at everyone
Loves everyone
Only says Dada, and occasionally Baba
Obsessed with Baths
Can't maneuver around that big belly of his
Can't keep socks on to save his life
Crazy, droopy, eczema face/hand
Loves to hit things together, shake rattles.
Cries for things he wants


Lily:
Girly Girl
Right-handed
2 teeth at 7 month
Can get around the room strictly by changing position from sitting to laying with the occasional roll.
Likes to crawl and/or stretch to get from place to place
Thin, brown hair
Daddy's princess
Tries to figure things out on her own
Relatively quiet
Finger sucker (index and middle)
Picks up all her food daintily and puts it right in her month
More interested in working her arms
Heart-shaped face, thin body
Mellow
Smiles have to really be worked for and earned.
Not a fan of strangers
Says, Dada, Mama, baba, Lala, wawa, and a few other things we can't pronounce.
Baths are a sometimes a big hit, other times, a disaster
Nicknamed elastigirl because she is so flexible, she can reach anything within a2-foot radius without crawling or rolling closer.
Can keep socks on just fine (hair bows, however, are a whole other story)
Sweet, perfect baby skin
Puts everything in her mouth and bites it (newest obsession: toes)
Gets everything she wants (either by force or "persuasion"

Don't worry, there are some similarities. Like those big, blue eyes and dainty facial features. And the crazy hair, of course. They are both fast eaters and only nurse for 5 minutes, 4x/day. Both of them love to eat...we haven't found anything they won't eat. But it means we spend a small fortune on food.

And they both are silly, love to pull hair (especially mine, William's, and each others). They love noisy toys and their family and 100% attention (though Caleb demands it more, lol).

And both are pretty good sleepers (after way too many sleepless nights and lots of effort on our part) and take 2 naps (10-12 and 3-4) and sleep all night (730-700) most of the time. They go to sleep awake and I usually don't hear from them until it is time to get up. And both are cuddly if you catch them at the right time.

Last, but not least, both are absolutely adorable.

On the Move

Lily is officially on the move. Crawling, pulling up, rolling, etc. and of course, the crawling started because she wanted my phone.

Caleb is also on the move. Mostly just rolling everywhere...but he also loves to walk while pushing siblings on their cars or holding Mom's hands.

My Boys are Back

While I LOVED having the place to myself for a week (I secretly harbor hermit tendencies), I am glad to have my sweet boys back with me.

I think they are pretty happy about it too.  All that fun made them exhausted.

It's been a bit of an adjustment, with 3 kids, instead of just the two I had gotten used to hanging around with, but William missed us all and was glad to get back in our routine. He even gave the babies a kiss and will occasionally tolerate it when they sit near him on the couch as long as they have a chaperone.

 

We're working on that.

In other news, the twins hit 4 months and we finally retired those newborn onesies (and pants, too, lol).

 In case you were wondering, yes, those are the normal expressions we get from these guys.  Caleb tends to be wide-eyed, giggly, or very upset; and often like in this picture (taken minutes after they were changed mind you), Caleb spit up all down his front, and all over me, too. I'm getting really sick of laundry. Lily on the other hand, seems to be more content (especially now that she has learned to find and suck on her index finger), but reserves her smiles for special occasions (like Mom or Dad, usually). And both babies sleep through the night (6/630 pm to 6 am) nearly every night.  With 2 babies to care for, this feels like a well-deserved miracle (as any mother of twins will attest). It took a lot of effort to synchronize twin schedules (naps are still a problem...) but we've got nighttime down. I consider this my greatest motherhood achievement to date, especially considering they are exclusively breastfed. And some people think sleeping through the night is a feeding issue...

These cute little babies are growing like weeds on Momma's good stuff. Double chins, chubby cheeks, and thick thighs---gotta love that baby fat! William was long and skinny so this is a totally new experience for us. They are both pretty short (Caleb 23.5", Lily 23.75"). At 13 lbs 6 oz, Caleb is heavier than William at 4 months, while Little Lily weighs in at 12 lbs, 14 oz. I must say Lily has officially caught up to her age group in both size (since she's a girl, she will tend to be smaller) and ability.  Lily has learned to do mini-push ups to turn her in a circle, grab toys (and eat them), and has gotten great head control. When put on his tummy, Caleb usually just eats his hand. Hopefully he'll catch up more by 6 months, but since he has a strong neck and winning personality, the doctor isn't too worried at this point. As far as I'm concerned they can wait as long as they want to get mobile...I'm not in any rush to be running after 3 of them at once.