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.

The Caleb Man

Since birth, our Cal has earned the nickname Caleb Man. He started out much like a little old man (he had the most ridiculous receding hairline for ages!) and seemed to get a little grumpy if left alone.

We sing a little song to Caleb and have been having fun adding new verses. It goes to the tune of "The Muffin Man".

The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
He is a real small size.

The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
The Caleb Man, the Caleb Man
He is one of our favorite guys.

We've been having great fun coming up with new and exciting verses. Some our favorites include:

He lives on Glenmare street...he likes to kick his feet. (Or really likes to eat, lol).

He likes to just sit...please don't throw a fit.

He likes to eat his food..cuz it is really good.

He has a happy face...he jumps around this place.

He lives around the bend...he is our real good friend.

We just love our roly poly Caleb Man. He is happy and lovable and cuddly and cute. Though he does get fussy if he doesn't get enough attention, he is generally a good baby. Goes to bed within 5 minutes of putting him down and usually sleeps through the night. And thank goodness all he wants to do is sit and play or kick or jump in his jumperoo---I could not handle mobile babies just yet.

And boy, does he love to eat. Considering he took weeks to get a good latch and was always under the 5th percentile, this has been a great blessing. he went from my skinny little man, to a guy with thighs bigger than my biceps. Especially since he discovered solids he has been ever increasing in size and girth---and I LOVE it. At over 17 lbs, he is well over a pound heavier than his little sister, and finally pushing 25%.

We are so happy to have Caleb in our family!

Nesting

I didn't get to legitimately best while I was pregnant with the twins. Between bed rest, not having our own place to live, and not having funds, it just wasn't practical.

But now that we are in our own place, I am making up for it like mad. I've been working on a few projects (instead of packing) and painting up a storm (room photos to come at later date, since they are all napping).

Today I finished my advent calendar and Lily in cute wooden blocks. One of these days we will finally get around to finishing up the house, I promise you don't want to see it now.

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.

Life as a Single Mom

Steven and William spent the week up at Hebgen, while the twins and I decided to forgo the fun of packing up all of our baby necessities (X2), finding a dog sitter, and potentially driving home with just the twins.

 

And honestly, it did feel more like a vacation than the vacation was seeming to be.  As long as I made sure the babies were fed and rested and otherwise happy, we got to do whatever we wanted. There were obvious difficulties (i.e. church, burping two babies at once, not being able to leave the house during naptime, etc.) but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  

We had a visit from our good friend, Angie.  She went to Universal Studios back in November and picked out these onesies before Caleb and Lily were only 20 weeks gestation. They fit perfectly.

 We were also able to go to a couple of family parties.  There was the annual Traci/Abby birthday celebration (we got a great picture of Caleb in a party hat, lol. I'll try to get a copy), and also a coming home party for my older brother Dan (who has been in Texas for the military since the babies were a week old) and coincidentally, his son Matthew, who just got out of the hospital the day after Dan came home; after several heart surgeries and a nearly six-month stay, we're glad he's done for now.  He is only six weeks older than Caleb and Lily, and probably outweighs them by at least a couple pounds and several inches. The twins would have been happier to meet him, but it was WAY past their bedtime.

The Man Basket Society came over for the monthly meeting and we all shared our favorite items under $2. Mostly, there was chocolate (surprise, surprise), but we all got a notebook and a bottle of the best purified water (compliments of Kristi's store).

Saturday night, I was even able to convince my brother Arthur to stay with the babies after bedtime so I could go on my first run this week. I had to cut it short due to the report of a creepy guy up the path, but I did run into a deer in Research Park.  My cell phone doesn't quite do it justice, but I tried.

I've started getting used to it being just me and the babies.  I had WAY more free time than in years, and got to eat broccoli and mushrooms to my heart's content.  Though I've barely left the house, so it will be good to get out again; I'm looking forward to having some adult company and toddler entertainment. My two big boys should be home in an hour!

Normal

It used to be that I would wake up and feel like life was a blur, like I was living in a dream (sometimes a pleasant dream, but unfortunately often feels like a bad dream instead).  I spend most of my day feeding, changing, entertaining, or attempting to convince my 3 children to sleep.

Caleb and Lily are quickly approaching 4 months and I am finally starting to feel like this is our new normal. Mind you, I hope our new normal will soon also include us having Steve get a good-paying job and finally getting back into a place of our own, but for now, we are starting to get back into the groove of life.This mostly entails us starting to leave the house on a more regular basis, though I'm just glad to not need a nap every day.

Here's a glimpse of a normal play time:

I think William is finally starting to get used to a couple of babies around, too, because instead of pretending the babies don't exist, he'll sometimes let Caleb sit near him while we play trains.

Caleb and Lily are starting to become more fun for all of us, and I think Silly Billy finally understands that.

They are interacting more and more.  Usually it's Lily trying to get Caleb's attention, but they will also kick at each other and hold hands. 

 Steven loves to cuddle with the babies during their early morning wake up.  Mornings (especially before 8 am) are hard for him, so laying in bed helps keep everyone happy. Lily especially loves laying around with her daddy and older brothers.

 

Caleb on the other hand, prefers to sit up and/or be entertained. It's usually worth the effort for his sweet dimply grin:

  My new normal has me trying to get as many of those sweet baby smiles and giggles as possible. Happy babies and silly toddlers are the only things that keep me going until bedtime.