4 Months - One-Third of a Birthday

Can it really be? How did the time fly? More than likely, I’ve just been in a sleep-depraved induced fog; however, the girls are one-third of the way to their first birthday (gasp!). Is this supposed to make me happy or sad? I’m not sure that it’s done either, but it does amaze me.

Milestones in the rear-view mirror:

• Smiling
• Giggling (Tina giggles – still waiting for Ava)
• Head at 45-degree angle while on tummy (Tina still needs more work on this)
• Grabbing (especially Mommy’s hair)
• Kicking their feet like little pistons
• Clasping their hands together
• Standing while holding on to something
• Babbling (one of Ava’s strong points – Tina “stories” are much shorter; more like phrases compared to Ava’s novels)
• Oral fixations - chew on fingers and fists and lick the side of the Baby Bjorn
• Roll over from tummy to back
• Tina’s showing signs of teething (how many bibs can we go through a day?)
• Ava uses stomach muscles to attempt to sit up
  
  Milestones to look forward to:
• Sleeping through the night (this is a big one!)
• Pushing body up with arms while on tummy (mini push-ups)
• Roll over from back to tummy
• Sitting up assisted
• Finding their thumb
  
  Questions to contemplate:
• Should I go back to work part-time?
• When do we introduce solid foods?
• When will they ever start sleeping longer?!! Please, please, please drop at least one night feeding!!!

3 months 3 weeks - Baby Signs

Red Hot Chili Pepper!

OK - this picture has nothing to do with this week's activities, but it sure is cute!

This weekend, I started taking a sign language course with my friend Tiffany's mommys' group. Saturday was the first class so we went around the room, introduced ourselves and told the instructor and group why we'd decided to take the class. It's sort of the chic-chic "thing to do" right now (example: "Meet the Fockers"), so most people said they'd heard it was good for kids' brains, etc. Although I'm sure that there's merit in what they say, I have other reasons that are also practical and personal.

My Aunt Caroline and Uncle Jim were teachers of the deaf and, naturally, learned to sign for their job. They taught their daughters (my cousins Jimee' and Cassidy) even though the whole family had their complete hearing. What I've seen is not only do my cousins know a second language that can be useful around the world (although usually you may be hard-pressed to find someone to "talk" to - it's not like Spanish or something), but the family could talk in ways that mine couldn't.

As a kid, my mom had a special whistle she used when she needed to talk with one of us when we were too far away to speak. My sister and I would respond by dropping what we were doing and running over to her, but we wouldn't know which one of us she needed much less what she needed until we ran all the way over to her. As a kid, it was kind of a bummer to have to leave your fun just to find out what mom wanted and even more disappointing when she didn't even need you, but your sister, in the first place. Spending summers at my aunt and uncle's, they would just sign what they needed, even from an acre away. My cousins would sign back and we could resume our play. In noisy, crowded places, it also came in useful. No one had to raise their voice in order to be heard. Conversely, no one had to know if you were getting chastised or "yelled" at during church service or another quiet place. What a cool thing to be able to make your point without causing a scene!

Paul thinks I'm crazy, but I'm doing it anyhow. Much like absorbing the spoken language, signing needs to be modeled early before the kids can take it into context. But, because their gross motor skills mature faster than all the little muscles in and around their mouths, they should be able to sign back much earlier, say 8 months or so, than actual talking, which comes around 12 months. I think initially, I'll feel silly doing unusual things with my hands, but learning should prove fun, interesting, and, if I'm as good of a teacher as my Aunt and Uncle, quite useful in the coming years.

3 months 2 weeks - Katrina: Come Hell And High Water

It's hard to worry about national disasters when you've got kids as cute as these...


3 mo 2 weeks

They just got these darling ballerina tutus in the mail from Grandma's friend Charlene, and they're adorable. They will play with these for years to come, I'm sure. Completely and serenely unaware of the shocking reality of the true meaning of losing everything.



I watched a lot of CNN this week. I've cried more this week than all the long, exhausting nights of my hormone-enduced motherhood. It hit me hard when news reporter Barbara Starr told the story of General Honore walking up to an exhausted young mother of twin infants. She was so tired from walking, coping, and surviving that her babies were practically falling from her arms - her eyes so glazed over, she could hardly notice. Gen. Honore couldn't ignore it and took that mother and her little babies into his convoy so they could get direct care.

That story was upstaged by Oprah's when she showed 29 newborns who were airlifted from the NICU to other hospitals around the country. Their moms could not go with them - there wasn't enough room. I can't imagine the pain and anxiety of those mothers who had to decide to send their kids to "who-knows-where," not knowing when they would see them or how'd they would get there, once they figured out what to new town they were actually sent. Tears fell every 5 minutes, even though all of them survived the trip.

Yesterday, Tina, Ava and I went through their things. Things they'd either outgrown, never used or really would be more comfort to someone else than us. Brand new pink plush puppies - the softest material you've seen - sent by friends in Las Vegas, other stuffed toys, books and blankets. A hand-knit blanket and extra diapers and hair brushes. 3 bags full.

Then, off to my things and Paul's. Another 3 bags full of clothes that are best used by someone in this type of situation. The girls and I drop off the bags at a local baby store who has volunteered to ship them to the shelters. A whole room full of carefully marked and boxed items with UPS stickers, waiting to be picked up and sent to Houston. I ask if they need voluteers to help package and organize the donations, which are flowing toward the door.

The girls and I will bring our Pack n' Play here tomorrow and help during nap time. With my hands tied up in other responsibilities, like caring for these new little ones, it is one thing I know that we can do. And, every little thing, thought and prayer will help. God bless them all.

3 months, 1 week - Starting to Get Traction

This napping routine has been difficult still to master, especially since Tina has been having a hard time embracing it. She's clearly tired, but needs a lot of down-time and reassurance before she'll drift off. By that time, it's "time" to feed again. I've been conflicted as to whether I should wake her up and stay on the routine or - my selfish self - just let her sleep for an hour (any buy myself a deserved reward of some down-time). I spent the better half of the first week emailing the twins group to hear their advise.

Consensus said to just pretend that she'd slept and continue with the routine. She's also still too young to let her fuss and cry unattended (which made me feel better). So, two more difficult days until a break-through yesterday. Not only did she get some sleep during all 3 of her naps (Ava slept through all 3, per usual), but they both gladly went down at their bed time. By 8:30 pm, my mom and I were watching a movie we'd rented from the video store and I was still able to go to bed by 10:30 pm.

So, we're starting to get some "good" days along with the "challenging" ones. We never know what we'll have when the day starts, but we try to be optimistic! We hope that it's just a few weeks more before they get the swing of it and anticipate the naps as much as they do other things.

Tina - Stats and Habits at 3 months

Bettina Louise 3 mos.

Bettina Louise

• AKA: Tina, Spider-Monkey, Betty Lou, This One, That One, The Other One, Nay-Nay Girl, My Baby Baby
• Known For: immense strenght and determination, a bad temper when hungry or tired, the dimple on her left cheek - same as her Aunt Ainsley and 2nd cousin, Holly, looking cute in hats, needing to be swaddled for naps and bed-time, her startling ability to soil a diaper, being a mama's girl
• Favorite Toy/Game: the wooden stick and knob toy held together by an elastic cord - looks like a molecule model - called a Skwish, her silver bar-bell rattle
• 11 lbs+, including Buddah-belly

Ava - Stats and Habits 3 months

Ava 3 months

Ava Angelina

• AKA: Little Lina, Our Bathing Beauty, This One, That One, The Other One, My First Baby, Muppet, Kitty-Cat
• Known For: chatting and babbling to absolutely anything, having her great-grandmother's cow-lick, her laid-back personality
• Favorite Toy/Game: Watching the ducks turn on her mobile, talking and chatting, watching TV or Baby Einstein videos, flirting and making eye contact with people
• 9 lbs. 7 ozs.

3 month Reflections - The "Have To Have's"

At a recent Mother of Twins New and Expecting Moms gathering, an expectant mom asked what we really found useful in the baby items and what wasn't really necessary to put on the registry. Looking back, here's the list I thought of of items that really came in handy for the 0-3 month age:

• Lots of 4 oz. size bottles - we're talking 2 dozen. Keep in mind we've got twins.
• Bottle steam sterilizer and bottle brush - it's like a mini-dishwasher, but only takes 3 minutes for the cycle rather than 40 minutes. I end up doing like 4-5 cycles a day - I use this way more than I expected to. This is a "have-to-have" item.
• Double Snap and Go - In fact, I wished for awhile I also had a single until I realized you could still use the double while folded in half as a single. Genius!
• Breast pump - far more efficient to feed via bottle and you can delegate visitors to help you out.
• Brest pump converter - converts the "Brand A" breast pump do-dads with the "Brand B" bottles - one less thing you have to wash...
• Swing - my kids actually nap in this! Also, the first thing Ava does when she's put inside is to stare up at the little ducks that, when you push another button, rotate around like a mobile. (They love to watch ducks!)
• Jiggle/Bouncy chair - this will give you at least 15 minutes of quiet time.
• Extra bassinet - great for napping time when one kid might wake up the other. Also handy when you want to have a bed nearby to prevent waking them. The longer you have to walk to put their sleeping bodies down, the more likely they're wake up.
• Baby Bjorn - I don't know why I didn't put this on the top of this list! It definitely needs to be there. I have 3 of these things around the house and I've used all of them even though I have only 2 babies. One's in the wash or forgotten in Paul's car or something. You need to have extras of these around.
• Monitor - first of all, encourages you to sleep in your own room (you'll sleep better - I promise!). Second of all, you're able to respond to their whimpers before they turn to cries which wake them up too much.
• Digital Camera - you'll use this nearly every day!!
• Tons of stretchy swaddling blankets and/or swaddlers - they sleep much more soundly in these.
• Large throws for "tummy time" and outdoor picnics
• For mom - slip on shoes!! (no time for laces or buckles), and need to have read all sleep-habit books before the babies are born. Re-read when needed.

What you Don't Need:

• Stuffed Animals!!
• Too many toys. My girls just started responding to toys within the last couple of weeks. You wonder why you have all these things dangling from your car seats and play mats until they're nearly 3 months old.

Hopefully, this will help you shop for new expecting moms or for yourself, if you're in that category....

Week 12 - Brilliant Benchmarks

I have been wondering how to figure out a napping schedule forever! They have this night routine down pretty good, now, but it's the day time when we need some more stability and a bit of rescuing.

I've posed the question at my New Mom's group and heard that you just find it. Rather vague and un-action oriented advise. One day, the girls will just show you what routine they need. I also written my Mom of Twins group email listserve to see what suggestions they would have since I haven't been "finding" their routine on my own. I desperately want to develop day time napping since I can tell they are overly tired and thus incredibly fussy from noon to about 7pm. I tried the suggestions that came back over the email....which all basically said the same thing: put them down around 9am, noon, and 3pm and see what happens.

Ava and Bettina were happily playing and chattering with me at 9 am the next morning, so it was hard to stop, but I tried it and put them both down in the crib just after 9am. Two sets of eyes stared up at me completely wide awake. I reassured myself that we would try this and walked away convinced I'd have to run back 5 minutes later to their whimpering complaints. Amazingly, within 15 minutes, I had 2 sleeping babies and about 45 minutes of free time!! Elated, I cleaned a load of bottles, put in a load of wash, made the bed and dared to take a shower. Suddenly impressed with myself and my girls, I tried the noon nap as well. Ava napped well after watching ducks dance around her swing. Tina didn't go down as solidly, but did get good quiet time/rest. A 4 o'clock nap also worked well. Why didn't I try this earlier?? This makes having kids so much easier!! You bet I'll try it every day going forward!

The other brilliant benchmark was during their "morning exercises" or, as their grandmother likes to call it, their "boot camp." Just after their nap, when their in a relatively good mood, we practice our "tummy time," which is supposed to build up their neck and back muscles for crawling. Tina doesn't much like tummy time and gets frustrated soon. This week, her frustration motivated her to move around in all the right ways to actually roll over! It came as a big surprise to us. Grandma put her down on her tummy, walked back to the couch, and looked to find she'd already rolled over onto her back. Unsure she did it on her own, we tried it again and watched her roll over a second time all on her own. We will have to be careful where we place her now so she doesn't roll off the furniture. Very exciting progress!!

We are also excited as their 3-month anniversary (can you call it a birthday??) is next week. We have yet to figure out how or if we will do much to celebrate the "big" day. Funny how the months don't match up with the weeks. You'd think that 12 weeks would amount to 3 months, but the months are actually a bit longer. Pretty soon, Tina will be out of her 0-3 month clothes and I'll have to bring some 3-6 mo. clothes out from the garage. I think Ava will still be in them for a bit longer.

Week 11 - All Through the Night

The girls' first (of many, I'm sure) visit to the Picture People - Week 11

One of the first things I yearned for, as a new mom, was that the girls would finally learn to use a pacifier. Tina learned how to comfort herself with one first at about week 6. I was forever grateful that Ava picked it up just before our plane ride to Washington and became quite skilled during our vacation.

I've started to regret that I encouraged and wished them this new skill. Now, whenever their pacifier pops out, it interrupts their slumber and their naps are forever peppered with whimpers and cries until someone comes to help them reconnect with their new-found comfort source. Just after they learned the pacifier, I learned another wish... When will they learn to put it back in themselves! Or, even better, when will they find their thumbs (their thumbs being harder to mis-place)? I may end up regretting this wish as well...

Once they have fallen asleep, though, it seems that we are making quite a bit of progress. This week, Tina gave us that ultimate gift - she slept all through the night! I'll qualify that by saying she went down at 10:30 pm and slept until 6:30 am. Quite amazing!! Ava is still waking up at least once - usually around 3:30 am - and sometimes still twice, but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel - the promise that so many parents of older twins have assured: you will eventually get a full-night's rest.

One thing we've found, however, is that it's wise to have bottles prepared in advance of Bettina's awakening. Once she's awake, she's very hungry and must be fed right away! Best to have already poured and prepped the bottle; her patience is thin! A small price to pay for 8 hours of sleep.

Week - 10 - Numbers 9 and 10

Ava and Bettina join the ranks of the Great Grandkids

Every year, my dad's side of the family meets during the summer for the Dent/Nelson Family Reunion. We drive from all parts of the west coast to come together for a week (or about a week) to be together, reconnect, and eat lots of food. At the end of the week, we get together as families and sub-group families to show our growth in both numbers and size. There were two new bodies added to the ranks this year - Ava and Tina. Grandma Dent now as 2 more great grandkids in her grandkid photo. Ava and Bettina are numbers 9 and 10 of the group.


Grandma Dent (87 years) and Bettina (10 weeks)

That also means that Tina and Grandma are the youngest and the oldest attendees of the reunion this year. This special pictures is to celebrate that bond unique to this year.


Allie, Ash, Mackinzie hold Ava and Tina

However, we did have lots of little helpers anxious to help hold and soothe the girls. This helped us out a lot and the girls really loved it. Uncle Jack was especially good at soothing Ava as she tended to have terrible tummy aches. He knew just where to hold her so it wouldn't hurt. Cousin Zach was our shy, closet kid lover. At the water slides, he was good at holding Tina and making her smile. That was the other "important" milestone this week -- Ava's first smile happened this week during the reunion. Tina's was the first day into our boat trip. Very rewarding!

Week 9 - Their First Boat Trip

Every since I was a kid... well, back up even further... Ever since my mom was a kid, our family has been taking boat trips. My grandfather, J. Fred Kalbach, being from Seattle, loved the Pacific Northwest and each summer since 195-something, he and my grandmother packed up the family from southern California and headed north to Anacortes, Washington - the gateway to the San Juan Islands. Each year they chartered the same boat - "The Dodger", and spent at least a week - usually 2 - cruising around the San Juans and the Canadian islands just above and beyond. It has been a family icon and focal point ever since. My great-uncle (my grandfather's brother) bought a place on San Juan Island so far back ago that he even got to dub the little cove on which it sits and in which we still watch the orcas surface and play "Kalbach Cove".

As my mother married and developed her own family, the tradition carried on. Our summers growing up consisted on one week at the Dent Family Reunion and at least another aboard The Dodger or another chartered boat hopping from island to island. That's me and my dad pictured below. Must have been either my first or second boat trip.


Boat Trip 1970 or 1971

Well, now it's my turn to carry on the traditon. Fortunately, my father has the San Juan bug so bad after all these years of only visiting, he has run off and moved there and bought himself his own little troller which he's dubbed, Kairos. Paul, the kids and I were honored to be the first overnight guests on Kairos as we spend only 2 days aboard visiting a couple of our favorite harbors: Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor.


Boat Trip - 2005

We didn't see any orca, but we did find a nice grey seal and her pup and the tide was so low out at Spenser Spit that many starfish were visable on the rocks from the deck of the boat. Paul and I also went back to the chapel in Roche Harbor - the place where we got engaged - and took another picture like the one the day of our engagement, but this time it included our little girls. So much as changed since then! The girls did great and slept between the two of us in the aft-cabin state room. They baby-bjorned it most of the time we were on the deck so one little "whoopsy" didn't land them in the chilly waters or the hard decks. Grandpa Dent started Paul on the basic steering and layout of the boat and has encouraged us to take additional Coast Guard classes so that we can continue this long-held tradition by borrowing Kairos and making it another yearly treat. We hope we're able to do so.

Week 8 - The "Unfriendly" Doctor Visit

Our pediatrician, Dr. Gin, warned us the day would come. Last month as we finished up our visit, he reminded us that this was the last "friendly" visit and that the following appointment, the girls were to get their first set of shots. So, we braced ourselves, I prepared in advance by arranging to have a second set of helping hands, a teenaged neighbor earning some summer income, and bravely waited for the check up.

Weight is fine (5th percentile for age, non-adjusted) - length fine (same here) - all growth is going well. The crazy white gunck collecting on Tina's tongue isn't thrush (although later on we found out it was!) and the purple-ish ring around Tina's toe is nothing to worry about. Then the shots.... Screaming bloody murder for about a minute, but by the time we get to the car, all's quiet. "Wow," I thought. "Not too bad."

Not too bad until we made it about 2/3rds of the way home. Then, once again, the stereo sound of wailing and suddenly my teenaged helper is really earning her money and probably regretting that she agreed to help out. I can barely concentrate on writing out my check to her the crying is so loud and I desperately plead with my mother to run to the store for some children's aspirin. Both kids are so upset heat is radiating from their little heads and I quickly undress both to cool them down. Mom comes back in from the store with the aspirin. She is saying something and standing only 10 yards away, but over my darling babies' screams, I can't hear a word of what she's said!

I use every soothing technique I can remember: all the "5 'S's'" from "The Happiest Baby on the Block" simultaneously and stripping myself for the skin-to-skin factor, I also throw one baby over each shoulder and jiggle, shush and stand on my head. About an hour later, it starts to take effect. An hour and a half later, it's just mumbles and complaints; two hours later, just some breathy shutters in between sighs. Finally, three hours later, just before Daddy comes home, the babies fall asleep.

He comes in the door... "How was your visit to the doctor?" he asks. Oh, my!

Week 7 -

Just before my bi-monthly Twins Moms group meeting, I weigh the girls on the baby scale. Ava weighs 7 lbs 10 ozs and Bettina is 8 lbs 5 oz. They are getting so big so fast!

This meeting is always a great resource for learning new ideas and bouncing off ideas or hearing additional solutions to everyday obstacles. There are many expecting moms at the meeting this week. It is almost my turn to introduce myself and my girls as well as my questions of the week and I hear Tina's pants making funny noises as she innocently sucks at her bottle. I figure I might as well attend to the diapering before the attention's on us and I ask one of the expecting moms, who's hands are free, to hold Ava's bottle while I work. As I lay Tina out and start to undress her bottom, an avalanche of mustard yellow goo gushes from all sides and has already shot up her back soaking her outfit. Trying hard not to gasp or otherwise call attention to the mess, I proceed to use all my wipes just so her body and hair stay clean while I remove her formerly cute outfit and put on the spare. A neighbor asks, "Does she need another wipe?" I answer, "I think she needs a bath!"

I do end up finishing the mopping up before everyone else's attention is turned toward our section of the circle and through my questioning learn about another brand of bottle, called Dr. Brown, that some say is even better than Avent for gas and colic prevention. I think I will have to try this one out to see if it helps poor little Ava. I later get a compliment from the expecting mom who held Ava's bottle about how calmly we handled Tina's explosion and mop up. It's all part of being in the trenches!

Ava and I also had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon this week as the ultrasound that the doctor recommended showed a little bit of wiggly-ness (new invented word). However, he thought there was no need for concern. Just to make sure, he asked that both girls come back when they're 6 months old for an xray to check their bones. He also sent me up to the xray department since part of the initial concern stemmed from my personal history.

The milestone of the week: I have been guessing that Tina was ready to give up a feeding. Each night, it's Ava who wakes up first and Tina doesn't seem want to wake. So, I experimented. I only fed Ava and hoped that Tina would continue sleeping and not wake me up 45 minutes later. My hunch was right. Tina now sleeps through a feeding; we have dropped one of their 2 night feedings. Perhaps the light to a full night's rest is growing nearer?

Week 6 - Independence Day

6 weeks old - 4th of July

Week 5 - Back in the Saddle Again

After a very long absence from the barn, I finally was able to visit my mare! With the break for the required bedrest, it had been 3 months since I'd seen her and I was aching to visit. While Paul humored me and introduced the twins to welcoming friends, I caught a quick ride. Just 15 minutes or so in the arena - and bareback so I didn't "waste" any of my precious time dealing with cumbersome tack, but they were very sweet 15 minutes. Here's a picture of one very happy mother!

Back in the Saddle Again - Ava with Allison & Misty

Afterwards, we drove a little further down the coast to one of our favorite exercise trails. We spend the next couple of hours walking along the trail along the ocean bluff-tops. Very relaxing and we enjoyed the people watching as the beaches and trails were full. It's nice to start including the kids in some of our old routines. Also, a nice way to celebrate their 5th week of being with us! (Happy Birthday, girls!)

Paul & Bettina - At the Beach

Week 4 - Baptism Day

What would have been their official due date was instead the girls' Baptism Day. Family, some close friends and the chosen god-parents gathered 'round in church for their holy day.


Baptism Day

Ava's god-mothers are Liz and Lisa. Allison is god-mother to both their first-born daughters, so now the trio is complete. Ava's god-father is Mike, a good and trusted friend.

Ava's god-parents

Ron and Jodi Lom and Scott are Tina's god-parents. Scott, being quasi-family, knew and loved Tina's namesake, Allison's grandmother and therefore has a special kinship to her.

Bettina's god-parents

Week 3 - How to Lose 30 Pounds in 3 Weeks

Although the twins have been having bi-weekly appointments with their doctor, it's taken me a bit longer to circle back with mine. Two weeks after being discharged from the hospital, I had my first follow-up appointment with my OB after the C-section. Basically they wamt to touch base to check to make sure that the incision is healing properly and to remove the bandage that protects the incision from shower water and normal wear-and-tear. While there, however, they go through the other normal routine of checking the blood pressure and body weight. I was a bit disappointed when I weighed in - no longer pregnant - and heard "one-hundred fifty-seven pounds." That's a lot, I thought. "What was I last time I was here?" Of course, then I was still very pregnant and about five days from giving birth. The nurse looked through the chart and said last time I weighed in at one-hundred eighty-nine. Wow! I couldn't believe it! That number seems so big now! It's amazing how quickly the mind forgets how big I was and the discomfort that came with it.

The upside is that I've lost over thirty pounds in under 3 weeks! I'm not sure the popularity of this radical diet, though. Seems that eating grapefruits for 3 weeks straight or counting carbs would be a lot easier than being pregnant for 8 months, although the alcohol regime would probably be the same.

So, just when I think I'm doing pretty good - focusing on the 30 pounds lost rather than the 20 pounds I'd still like to lose - a harsh reality check hits: As a treat, I hired a babysitter so I could take my hard-working, supportive mother out for lunch and for a bit of Nordstrom shopping (still have some good deals at their Half-Yearly sale). Lunch is perfect and served on the warm and sunny patio. Shopping is nice (although I realize it's going to be awhile before I feel inspired to buy something new). The nice Nordstrom sales assistant who's been helping my mom and I remarks as I come out of the dressing room, "I didn't realize until now that you were pregnant!" "I was, but I actually gave birth 4 weeks ago," I answer. I was dumbfounded when she answered, "Well, it does take some time to take it off again, doesn't it." Stupid lady! I didn't want to hear that! Bad sales associate! No commission for you!

It's a good thing I'm not already sensitive about my weight - nor really ever been. However, the comment, as well as the mirrors in the changing room and my general desire to "do more" with my day has inspired me to be a little more active. More walking and exercising. It does feel good, though, and is also good for the babies to get some more fresh air.

First Adventures

Emily & Jonathan Kalbach with the twins at their wedding

Paul and I have been challenging ourselves with some increasingly difficult/longer excursions from home to see what we can handle - including working out how to use all our baby toys. It also helps us work out what we're forgetting or overpacking in the diaper bag.

Our first car trip was a true adventure. We went to borrow some preemie clothes from one of our Twins Clubs. I went in to get the clothes and Paul stayed in the car with the sleeping babies. I came out a bit later than I expected and when we tried to start the car up again for our trip back home, we found that the car battery had died. Well, the good news is that we carried a pair of jumper cables and, within 10 minutes we were on the road again. That was a pretty intense 10 minutes in between, however. And, wouldn't you know that these quiet kids would burst out in tears the second the car started moving again??

After surviving that trip, we took another trial run to the Lafayette Reservoir for some picnic time under the trees. That trip was very enjoyable and boosted our confidence. Other excursions had us practice for what we thought would be our big test: the trip up to my cousin's wedding in Sacramento. We didn't know how long we would be able to stay, but we surprised ourselves by staying nearly to the end of the wedding. The bride and groom, pictured above, also enjoyed the Navy-themed outfits that the girls sported to match the Navy Dress Whites theme (my cousin is a Navy pilot).

Our next test: the week-long family reunion vacation, this year located in eastern Washington at Lake Chelan. We will need to build up to a plane ride followed by a 2-hour car ride. With the practice we're getting, the challenge may only be the packing of the trip and not so much the traveling.

If You Bear Them, They Will Come

Well, it's not really baseball or dead relatives that come out of the cornfields, but we did have many visitors from afar in a short number of days...



Aunt Ainsley with the girls

Visitors come from far and near to visit the girls in their first couple of weeks. Their Aunt Ainsley, who just finished all her schooling for her nursing degree, visits just after her pinning ceremony. She drives down from Lake Tahoe - about a 3-hour drive - to visit for a couple of days.


Grandpa and Bettina

Their maternal Grandpa drove down a few days later from Anacortes, WA, nearly Canada and a 15-hour drive.


Scott from Australia with Ava

However, the longest traveled to visit these little girls is former flatmate, Scott, who came with his wife Nicole all the way from Sydney, Australia. Granted, they were passing through on their way to Charlotte, but none-the-less, they made a special stop in San Francisco for 2 days to visit.

I Am Mother - Hear Me Moo!

"Moo!"

Well, one of the primary concerns one has as a new mother to twins is whether or not you will be able to feed them both without supplements or extra time. How to balance getting all the benefits of breast milk with the conveniences of bottle feeding and a busy life of keeping up with the kids as well as your sleep. In all the articles and books you read, they sear one thing into your head - in the hospital, try to get the babies to the breast as soon as possible - within the hour - to avoid this thing called nipple confusion (when the kids get confused by the different shapes of the breast, bottle and/or pacifier and refuse to take one or all of them). This could prove an obstacle and limit the way/s you can feed your babies and spell near disaster for a planner like myself. This possibility of nipple confusion set me up for near panic when, while just after giving birth, I not only didn't get to see my girls for the first 2 hours, but the nurses fed them through a bottle without even checking in with me first. Sounds like a little issue, but to a new and brainwashed mother like me, this was a bit scary.

Fortunately, this fear has also proven benign. Perhaps it's luck or just alarmism, but my girls - especially Tina - have overcome these challenges without fail. Ava initially was a little too lazy to feed at the breast (it seems to take more energy), but has bulked up enough to gain the strength to join her sister at the double nursing pillow. A proud moment for Mom who was always hoping her kids would follow in her "efficiency" footsteps!

However, the joke's on us... Paul and I have come to realize that, if we truly do want to save time, the girls actually feed faster from the bottle. So, especially at night, when we're sleep-deprived and just want them to feed and then fall back asleep, we have defaulted to bottle feeding, saving the leisurely breast feeding for during the day. This means I have become a pumping machine. Paul has done the math (as every good engineer-minded daddy would) and determined that I pump about 1 1/4 gallon of milk a day. We have over 50 bags stored already in the freezer and think that we could continue to exclusively feed them breast milk for a long time after I quit feeding and pumping. I still can't help but be proud of my double-feeding girls. The goal I built up so long ago during the Breastfeeding for Multiples classes has been realized - even if we only use it for fun and in leisure now.