Where Have We Been?

There are two things that I cannot believe. I cannot believe our boys are a year old now and I cannot believe we haven't updated the blog in over a month. I promise we have great photos coming from Kaitlin's wedding, the boy's birthday party, and general Evie Lu awesomeness. For now I thought I would give my brief reflections on the first year of being the dad of twins.

July 15, 2010 - A great day to meet two gentlemen

Every parent of twins I spoke to prior to the boys birth told me how difficult the first year was going to be. They were right, and it was much harder than what they predicted. There were great joys and blessings, don't get me wrong, but the daily logistics of having two babies at the same time was sometimes more than Kaia and I knew how to deal with day by day. (When people tell me now, "Oh I always wished I had twins." I can confidently say, "No, no you don't.")

The trials have been sleeping, figuring out what two different little people want, stopping Guthrie from biting his brother, sleeping, discerning why Z is crying, sleeping, feeding two babies at the same time, sleeping, coordinating transporting three kids in a Honda Civic, sleeping, wiping two snotty noses, sleeping and sleeping. Having Guthrie at Children's Hospital for three days was terrifying and getting him home was an amazing gift.

The joys have been getting smiles from our boys, watching them crawl and cruise around, hearing them laugh at each other, cracking up at their tricks (they both fold their hands to pray now at the table), and watching how they love Evie and how Evie loves them is beyond description.

I wouldn't wish twins on anyone, but I wouldn't trade mine for anything. I cannot believe it has been a year. On to year two!

July 15, 2011 - How we've grown

And We're Crawling . . . Sort Of

We have a winner in the race to mobility. Guthrie is now a crawling fool. Zevon has shown signs of making the move to crawling, but as you see in the video he mostly likes to grin and have people bring him things.

Bath time for twins

The water is great! Jump in!

Up to this point, bath time for the boys has been a solo affair. Handling just one slippery, wiggly baby is stressful enough. But now that the boys are sitting up with no problem and like the water so much, I decided to give them a bath together. It was a success in that they both got clean and there were lots of giggles. It did not make the bath go faster. Zevon loves to pour water on his face, resulting in sputter and choking, and Guthrie loves to 'bob' for rubber duckies, meaning he dunks his face in the water with more sputtering and choking. Super cute. But hard on my nerves. I think I need to sprout an extra set of arms before I try this again any time soon.

Zevon sporting the shampoo mohawk

Guthrie's curly hair gives him more of a Bozo the clown hairdo

10 months old!

Handsome men

I have a backlog of posts, starting with marking the boys 10 month mark. As you can see, they are becoming two of the silliest and least identical twins out there. Zevon continues to be sweet yet demanding, and sensitive yet throws his weight around. Guthrie is goofy yet smart, fearless yet loves a good cuddle. They continue to keep us on our toes.

So big!

Their favorite games are 'so big' which Zevon can do with flair (see the video from a few weeks ago). Guthrie has joined in, but he only raises one arm as if to say, "I'm so big, but not as big as Zevon". Gus continues to be the smaller twin, but is small only in comparison to our big lug Z. They can stand with support and will pull themselves up to standing when you hold their hands. Lately they are trying to pull up on furniture and can get to their knees. Zevon is mostly content to sit and stretch to reach what he wants. This includes the back of his brother's shirt, pulling them both to the ground. Guthrie hops on his butt, rolls, scoots from belly to sitting, and does just about everything except move like a normal baby. They are turning me into an anxious mother who is worried about their delay in crawling, much less walking. I'm trying to remain calm and tell myself they are hitting every other milestone (babbling, feeding themselves, making eye contact, laughing at goofy faces, playing peek-a-boo). I'll be chasing after them soon enough.

A Year of Preschool

Yes, I know I have a giant head.


Evangeline just finished her first year of preschool and Kaia and I are amazed that we have a four year old who has learned so much. In this last year she has matured so much that there are times I'm not certain whether we have a little girl or a young woman who is going to be asking for the car keys next week.
Evie Lu's teachers told us they saw a big difference between the three year old who started in September and our girl now. She still isn't the most comfortable in big group settings, Evie definitely has her mom's introvert tendencies, but she made some great friends. One of her best friends was a little boy who didn't speak much English. (Leave it to my daughter to find a friend where she can dominate the conversation.) I am excited to see how our big girl continues to grow and find out who she is as a person.
This morning Kaia and Evie headed out to a concert at the local symphony and it amazed me to see the love of my life and my first born dressed up going out on the town. Where did the time go?

Do The Guthrie!

Guthrie is our goofy boy. He is fussier than Zevon, but he also cracks us up with random looks and actions. Why is he doing this? I have no idea.

So Big

It seems everyone else's children are crawling or walking by ten months, but our boys are content to stay mostly in one place and entertain us. (Maybe they are afraid we won't follow them if they crawl away.) Zevon is such a ham. We love our big guy.

We May Skip Crawling

The day when our boys are mobile is coming sooner than we might like. Although in typical Zevon and Guthrie fashion, they are going about it in non-traditional ways. Here's how Gus is getting around.

Tiptoe through the tulips...and mud

Flowers and mud. Evie couldn't be happier!

Despite rain in the forecast, our family decided to travel north to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival on Easter Monday. The fields didn't disappoint, though the weather did. The tulips and daffodils were beautiful. Fields and fields of color filled the countryside. Unfortunately, mud filled our boots and shoes. It was a scene perfect for our princess tomboy Evie. This is the girl who will be digging in the dirt with the boys one moment at preschool and dancing in a tutu and tiara the next. So it was no surprise that she loved the mud. In fact, she made up a song titled "I love mud". She ended up running too fast down the lane and the mud sucked her boots while she kept on going. Thankfully I had brought her a second pair of socks and pants for her. I was hoping that I could take a super cute picture of all my children sitting among the tulips, but I'm afraid the mud puddles would have drown the boys. I can't imagine what this trip will be like next year when the boys will not be in front pack carriers. I'll need to follow the lead from another large family we saw at the fields: the mom led all her children up to the van, and one by one they removed their boots and she put all the boots in a bag and put the bag in the trunk. That's thinking. I think Will and I will also invest in our own rain boots. How we have lived in the Pacific NW for this long without owning rain boots is beyond me.

Tulips, tulips, and more tulips

Needless to say, the boys were not happy in the rain.

Easter

My little Easter bunnies

The night before Easter, I was nervous about how I was going to: a. dress 3 kids in cute Easter outfits that would survive through church, b. get to church with enough time to find a parking spot and a good place to park my brood in the sanctuary, c. keep the peace among my children without my usual help of Kaitlin and Laura (both busy at the Easter breakfast), d. get to the Easter breakfast and enjoy cinnamon rolls while feeding 2 hungry boys. Oh, and celebrate the risen Lord, of course. I am happy to say that I was able to accomplish it all! It was an Easter miracle.

Guthrie looking very dapper

Zevon in his Sunday best

Nine months old

Can you handle the cuteness?

Our boys are eating solid foods, sleeping through the night (for real!), taking decent naps (sometimes), and are making motions toward crawling. They laugh, shriek, babble, and are getting closer to saying mommy and daddy each day (at least we can hope). Every day they wear us out, but they also make us laugh until we cry. There is giggly goofy Gus who has discovered he can shake his head no and rock back and forth to the music and has become a cheerio eating machine. There is also zany Zevon who could can pull himself up to standing (and probably to a chin up) and can launch himself out of his jumper. A few days ago, a guy saw us on a walk and he told me, "Looks like double trouble!" Once they get their act together, get their legs coordinated and voices in sync, we will really be in double trouble. But for now, they are sweet happy boys who are content to bang blocks together and scoot on floor.

At their 9 month check up, the doctor had not much to say. They are healthy growing boys. Zevon is 24 lbs 9 oz (95%) and his length is 29 in (75%). His head is huge (19 1/4", 95+%) and it is still a little bit of a concern. A while back he had an ultrasound to check out his giant head and it came back normal, so we are guessing he just has a big head. Guthrie is a perfectly average 9 month old and in the 50% for all measurements: 20 lbs 4 oz, 28 1/2" long, and 18" head. Yep, they are not identical.

My two little cubs

All bundled up and ready to go!

Last Wednesday we experienced some weird weather. It was nice enough and sunny, so I wanted to get the boys out for some much needed outdoors time. But, there was a little chill in the air, so I thought their cute winter hats were not a bad idea.

The boys kept on trying to take off their brother's hat. Perhaps they thought they looked ridiculous (ridiculously cute, that is!).

Later, when we had returned home, there was thunder, lightening, and much later, snow! I usually think of weather around here as pretty mild. April snow and thunder are not mild events.

Zevon and his toothy smile

You can see from the above photo that Zevon has 2 lower teeth. Thankfully, he has kept them mostly to himself. Guthrie has 2 teeth as well, but he has tried them out on just about everything (toys, brother's hand, nurse's gloved fingers in the hospital, my fingers, bottle nipples). Thankfully, they have not turned into little vampires during nursing sessions, so breastfeeding continues. Zevon has become quite the flirt. When he is feeling sweet, he'll smile and tilt his head to the side and sigh or squeal. It melts your heart!

Guthrie giving a grin to his sister off camera.

Guthrie's latest trick is eating with his fingers. He went on a bit of a solid food strike after coming home from the hospital and would only nurse (much to my dismay). But, when provided cheerios or the like, he would carefully pick them up and pop them in his mouth and eat them! This is the only time that Guthrie has mastered an eating skill before Zevon. Zevon looks at the smooshed pea in front of him, looks at me, looks at the pea, and seems to expect the pea to jump in his mouth so he can eat it. He does have the pincer grasp, but would much rather scoot the food off the table. Gus has finally gone back to solids and now would like to hold the spoon himself. That is one trick I'll let him master a bit later. I get a little tired damp mopping the floor every night...don't want to start mopping the walls as well!

Let's not do this again

We have been experiencing the usual late winter/early spring crud. The joy of having 3 kids is that you get to experience it three times over. A fever runs into a cold, combines with teething for the boys, and melts into another respiratory illness. It has been made extra special by me getting whatever the children are experiencing (minus the teething, of course). But this last round of illness hit us exceptionally hard. The boys were extra snotty and crabby last week and no one was sleeping well. But, while Zevon started to get better, Guthrie got worse. By Thursday night his cough turned to wheezing and he didn't sleep unless held by Will or I. We got him a doctor's appointment that morning.

The doctors (yes, plural, because they kept on calling in another collegue for a second opinion) were concerned that he was working so hard to breathe. But his oxygen saturation was still 100%, so they told us to keep an eye on him and bring him in again later that afternoon for another listen. He was no better, and perhaps a little worse. We were sent to the ER at Children's in Seattle. One of the worst drives I've ever made was stuck on I-5 at 4pm on Thursday with a sick kid in the back. The worst part was that he was silent the whole way, meaning I never knew if he was breathing or not. Ick. We got to the ER and they treated him with a few rounds of nebulizer treatments and tested him for a variety of viruses. Because the treatments helped only marginally, and because his saturation levels were going down, he was admitted to the hospital late Friday night.

Our poor little Gus Gus still finding a smile despite a tough couple days

By the next day, we learned that he had RSV and the treatments for asthma could stop. Instead, he was put on oxygen and suction as needed. We simply needed to watch and wait and hope he got better. RSV is a common virus and it hits different kids different ways. Usually it causes problems for kids that were preemies or those that have lung or immune issues. Guthrie has none of those, so he is one of the lucky few healthy kids that still need hospitalization. Zevon, who probably had it as well, was one of the usual cases who get a bad cold and cough and then get better.

I had milk stored in the freezer at home, so it made sense for me to stay with Guthrie. Will became a single dad of 2 kids at home and I camped out at the hospital. Both of us wished we could be in 2 places at once the whole hospital stay. There were some scary moments that I hope I never have to experience again. Parenting has been a lesson of learning when to be patient and let things happen (waiting for a virus to run its course, for example) and knowing when to take action (hauling a kid into the ER). The really tough parts are when you have to make a decision of which route is the correct one.

Thankfully, Guthrie improved enough he could go home on Monday. We are very happy to have our goofy little guy back. It was interesting to spend time with the twins separated. Will found that Zevon sleeps a lot better and eats more without his brother around making a ruckus. I learned that Guthrie is super active and delightful when he gets a lot of one-on-one attention. The nurses kept on commenting on how chubby and big and 'robust' Guthrie was and all I could say was, "you should see his brother!" I found it was hard to talk about Guthrie without mentioning that he was a twin. In fact, one night I woke up in the middle of the hospital room looking for Zevon. Sleep deprivation has led to sleep walking, I guess.

All better and ready to play with his brother and sister

We aren't completely out of the woods with Gus, yet. He still has a lot of noise in his lungs and continues to wheeze. The hospital stay has messed with his sleep cycle and eating habits, and 3 days later we continue to fight with those habits. It seems like everything gets in the way of sleep training these boys! At least they keep us on our toes.

8 months old!

Gus is wondering what his brother is so excited about. The really funny thing is that Zevon was totally cranky before this shot and instantly smiled when I held up the camera. Guthrie was the opposite.

I'm a few weeks late with this post, but I'm sure you are all used to my poorly updated blog posts. The boys have made it to 8 months, and we are rapidly approaching the age where they have been out in the world as long as they were inside me. Kind of weird to think about, especially since it felt like I was pregnant FOREVER with the little guys and life since they have been born has raced by.

They are growing and developing their own unique personalities. Zevon is still low-key yet sensitive and Guthrie is still a mover and a shaker. But they are also adding layers to those personalities.

Zevon the drool monster

Zevon loves faces and will try to chat with any welcoming face. I caught him talking to his reflection yesterday...pretty cute! He is very social and tuned into people, so it isn't any wonder that he is showing early signs of stranger anxiety. He knows when there is a new face around and now he isn't sure about it. He loves touching your clothes, faces, hair, necklaces, and he is very gentle. He is also a brute, and when he is upset he is a little difficult to contain (makes me nervous for when he is a tantrum-filled 2 year old). We had a little scare a week ago with an odd rash that appeared on his arm. At the doctor's office, they weighed him and he was 22 lbs 6 oz! Oof. No wonder my back hurts. The rash is still a mystery, but everything else seems fine so we are just watching it.

Goofy Guthrie

Guthrie is a total wiggle bottom. He has discovered how to clap his hands and use his voice. The best is when he combines the two and he looks like a little protester ("I will not stand for this!-pounds his fist-These peas are terrible!-claps his hands-Feed me more applesauce!"). He is not crawling, yet. But he is getting very good at the belly rotate and pivot with a little bit of creeping. I caught him pulling things out of the coffee table the other day. He is such a goof ball!

They are also starting to interact with each other. To our amusement, they display this interaction through stealing each others' toys. They will play tug-of-war with a toy until one wins (usually Zevon). If you've seen the video Will posted a few days ago, you'll know what I mean.

One thing hasn't changed: they still aren't sleeping well. The only difference now is that we know they can sleep through the night because they have! They just don't do it at the same time. I guess we can count ourselves lucky that they aren't both up, but I'd much rather have neither up at 2 am (and 3 and 4 and 5...). They are fighting colds, and teething is bugging them, I'm sure. Zevon has sprouted 2 teeth and I can tell he is proud of them. Guthrie is constantly gnawing on everything, so he isn't far behind. With these guys there is always something that is bothering their sleep patterns. A small success is that they are napping sort of consistently with a morning and an afternoon nap. But they often don't last more than an hour. This makes for a cranky household. We continue to put one foot in front of the other and hope for a better night tonight.

Let's hope Will's eternal Cubs fan optimism will rub off on us in surviving the remaining 4 months of this challenging first year with twins!

Sharing Is Not What We Do Best

Our boys are frighteningly good at taking toys away from each other. At this point Zevon has the strength advantage, but Guthrie is showing some craftiness. I love the point when they both realize they are being watched.

Evie and Zevon

Sometimes I'll ask Evie to talk one of her brothers for a minute while I take care of the other. This is what I walked in on after I asked Evie to talk to Zevon.

What's for dinner?

Guthie getting his first taste of sweet potatoes and rice cereal

Zevon trying rice cereal for the first time

Our boys are not small. They are what I'd like to call 'pleasantly plump'. So you can imagine that we have gotten quite a few comments like, "what are you feeding those boys?!" Up until January, they had been enjoying meals straight from the cow (I'm the cow). I can't say it has been the most pleasant experience nursing twins, but I feel very fortunate that I've been able to continue as long as I have. Still, I have been eagerly waiting the day that I could feed them something else and start to phase myself out.

While home in Minnesota for Christmas, we had the boys sitting with us in high chairs. We suddenly noticed that both Zevon and Guthrie were watching every bite of food we would eat. In fact, they would open their mouths if we brought the spoon close to them.

Guthrie sitting in the high chair his mom and aunts sat in.

Zevon in the high chair that used to be his grandpa's

Doctor recommendations state to wait until 6 months before starting with any solid foods. I'm such a stickler for rules. But we realized that these boys were ready to eat. When we got back to Washington in early January, we purchased 2 new high chairs (Evie had destroyed her old one) and bought our first of many boxes of rice cereal. And what do you know, they loved it!

Guthrie wasn't sure at first, but soon warmed up to the new food. Zevon loved it from the start (surprise surprise). Since then we have tried oatmeal, whole wheat cereal, carrots, apples, peas, sweet potatoes, squash, peaches, and green beans. They aren't the biggest fan of green veggies, and Guthrie doesn't like cold food, but for the most part they eat everything. Or, at least they attempt to eat everything. Zevon likes to suck his tongue, and sticks his tongue out so much while eating that most spoonfuls end up back on the spoon. Guthrie takes a little more coaxing to open his mouth and eats less than his brother (by far), but is the better eater when he is hungry (opens his mouth more, doesn't spit food back out).

So how do you feed twins? Most mealtimes, when feeding is going well, I feel like a momma bird trying to keep hungry mouths full. At its worst, it is a circus. Or an episode of Double Dare with goop flying everywhere. I have one bowl with 2 servings of whatever I'm feeding the boys, and one spoon to feed both. I try to make sure each guy gets an equal number of spoonfuls, but I'm pretty sure Zevon usually ends up with more. Guthrie will lose interest pretty quickly and I swear Zevon gets more hungry as the feeding goes on.

What meals look like in a home with twins. Not sure anyone is actually eating here...

I haven't completely phased myself out. If it all continues to go well, I'll continue to breastfeed the boys until they are about one. I can't nurse them in tandem any more...they keep on poking each others' eyes out during the feeding. I have to play the role of nursemaid and referee all at the same time. Now, I feed them one at a time. Much calmer for everyone, and they seem to be okay with waiting their turn.

Check up city

I know that we have nightgowns, but night skirts? Evie is modeling her new pajamas from Grandma Bev and Grandpa Wayne

Evie had her 4 year well child check up two weeks ago and her first dental appointment yesterday. You would all be so proud of her! She had 5 shots and barely shed a tear! Such a big girl! The doctor was impressed with how well she did. Her stats are pretty impressive too: 44 lbs and 42 1/2 inches tall. That puts her in the 90% and 95% for weight and height. As the doctor said, she is a 'solid' girl. The doctor encouraged us to get her into the dentist, which is something that we have meaning to do for a while. We would like to be a good first experience instead of waiting until she has a cavity or a tooth is knocked out. I was able to get her an appointment yesterday and I will say it was a good experience. She got to watch a movie and they gave her a bag full of tooth-happy treats. She sat still for the x-rays and the cleaning (though each time the hygienist paused in the cleaning, Evie asked if she was done yet). Her teeth look great and she is very proud of them now. I am still having trouble coming to grips with the fact that I have a preschooler. Sometimes she acts like she is 2, other times like she is 14. We are all trying to figure this growing-up thing out!

Belly Time

It used to be that Zevon hated belly time and Guthrie loved it. Now they both agree it is a good time. Guthrie regularly rolls over now, but Zevon still hasn't made his move yet. I am starting to think Z will crawl before he rolls. You can see how close our boys are to getting mobile. That is a frightening thought. Check out the video and listen carefully near the end.

6 months old

Happy boys, happy daddy!

We are halfway to Zevon and Guthrie's 1st birthday. Where has the time gone? Where has my mind gone?

The boys had their 6 mo check up on the 14th and they passed with flying colors. Here are their stats:

Zevon: weight 19 lbs 3oz (75-90%), 27 1/4 in (75-90%) long, head 18 in (90%)
Guthrie: weight 17 lbs 7.5 oz (50%), 25 3/4 in long (25-50%), head 17 1/4 in (50%)

We had some concern over Guthrie's cold that won't go away, and the doctor told us to keep on eye on it (but it might be a long winter). Since then, his chest isn't as full and he seems to be feeling better. There was also some concern over Zevon's large head. It is a joke in our family that several of us have big heads (literally). For example, I wear the same hat size as Will. Grandpa Hanson used to say, "you can't keep your brains in a teacup!" But Zevon's head size jumped a little more than the doctor felt comfortable, so she ordered an ultrasound of his head to check. Thankfully, the scan showed nothing of concern. Turns out our little guy just has a massive heed.

In other development news, the boys continue to show us new tricks. Guthrie, on the day before we left Minnesota rolled over from back to belly. It was met with loud cheers from all of us, which then made Gus and his brother cry. He did it once more about an hour later, and has not done it since! Zevon continues to be more laid back and is taking his time with rolling over. But, Z is working on his verbal ability, moving from simple coos to "da da da" and "ga ga ga". He is also a fan of the raspberry. Guthrie is vocal, too. Of course, he is louder and it is more of a squeal/scream than sweet baby sounds.

Both boys are moving closer to sitting up on their own. Zevon is so close! I could probably just call it and say he is sitting, but it is more likely his baby chub is acting as scaffolding more than his own muscles doing the work. I can pull both boys to a stand and they will stay up with me only holding their hands.

The twins are also giving us a hard time in the sleep department. They can, and will, sleep through the night. But lately they have been refusing to go back to sleep when they wake up at 2 am. Because there are two of them, both Will and I don't get much sleep as a result. To make matters worse, their napping has been nonexistent. The whole "crying it out" technique meant the boys would scream for an hour, leaving everyone frazzled. Together, this makes for some cranky parents, not to mention cranky kids (Evie included). After hitting a crisis point, I bought a book that promised to help twins sleep. We'll let you know how it turns out. Currently they are in the middle of a decent morning nap, and I'm really hoping it is a sign of things to come.