1. Elizabeth wakes up from her nap and nurses briefly and then sits on the floor playing.
2. Mary Claire wakes up shortly afterwards and sits across from Elizabeth, swiping toys back and forth (no, not swapping... swiping from each other!).
3. Elizabeth starts her terrifying high-pitched shriek of glee. Mary Claire starts sobbing because it is a TERRIFYING shriek!
4. I strap on the nursing pillow, unhook my nursing tank top, pull up my shirt and latch each baby on.
5. While latching Mary Claire on, Elizabeth unlatches, squeezes, and sprays milk all over her face. Fun!
6. I try to pin Mary Claire's arm under her to keep her from exploring Elizabeth's eyes, nose, and mouth while her sister tries to nurse (sometimes I'm successful... sometimes not)
7. Elizabeth finishes nursing and NEEDS to be bounced immediately! I flip her to a sit on the edge of the nursing pillow and jiggle one knee as Mary Claire finishes nursing.
8. Mary Claire finishes nursing, pops off, and sees GOLD for the taking. Hands free, she squeezes to her heart's content as I desperately try to put Elizabeth down and detach her grabby little hands. Thank goodness their nails have been clipped recently!
There's a reason I pretty much only tandem nurse them while they're swaddled these days...
So what's up with these 8-month-old twins?
They LOVE being around each other - if I put them down NOT next to each other, they immediately find a way to one another.
They've both been crawling for several weeks, and recently started sitting up well. Sitting is actually the very first milestone Mary Claire accomplished FIRST! Everything else has been Elizabeth all the way, but I had a feeling Mary Claire would sit first since Elizabeth is our little mover!
They love to play in the tent together - they can crawl into and out of it and they have a blast chewing on various toys scattered around.
They're starting to be VERY interested in the contents of various containers, so I can keep them busy for a while if I just stick a container filled with ANYTHING in between the two of them.
Of course, then they have to fight over custody of the container...
Other information?
Elizabeth beat Mary Claire to the first tooth - Mary Claire still shows no signs of any popping through, and I think Elizabeth's second will cut through any day now, judging from the lack of sleep...
Mary Claire still sleeps through the night, from about 7:30ish to anywhere from 4-6 AM. Elizabeth... Sometimes makes it from 7:30 to 12, usually is up for the first time around 10 or 11 and every 2 hours from that point on. So yeah, we're tired. But at least one baby sleeps, right?
Both have developed a really solid pincer grasp, so they're feeding themselves nicely from their high chair trays. Favorite foods are broccoli, blueberries, goat cheese (ohhhhh how they love it!), cucumber, and beef. Once again, I'm thankful for baby-led weaning - I don't know HOW we would deal with all the time and mess of purees with twins!
They still nap 2-3 times a day, and I'm going to work towards cutting that 3rd nap soon, since they've both been resisting it more lately. I'll certainly miss it! But I think that if we can get on a 2-nap schedule, I *might* be able to get simultaneous naps to occur more often. I hope.
This is post #1 of Jen's 7 Posts in 7 Days blogging challenge. I don't think this'll be a stretch for me - I try not to post every day because I feel like people probably get tired of reading the same old stuff from me! So this challenge is my excuse to write more and you can't complain about it! Is there anything you want to know? Give me your questions!
You're doing it right! And much better than the royal parents will, I'm sure. Plus your babies are cuter.
ReplyDeleteI thought that a thing inside a thing would be interesting, and so did one of the babies (can't remember which, but it was probably Mary Claire), but she wasn't wildly interested. Still, that's a great step—just keep a bunch of containers of baby-safe things near the tent, and you'll be set!
Tandem nursing while commenting and thinking I don't know how much tandem nursing I'll pull off when the boys are 8 months. Props to you!
ReplyDeleteI love your post, shared by a friend. I myself have 11 kiddos with the latest being twins. They are identical girls 14 months old on the 19th. So much fun. I nursed until they were a little over 13 months (I just finished a few weeks back). At the end I was nursing for my cuddle time with them not for them. I have loved the difference in the twins to the singletons. My girls love being together to. I was told that once they started walking that they would go separate ways but that has not been the case. They now follow each other at a faster rate. Continue to enjoy, I know I do. Please don't stop posting after the girls hit two. It seams like bloggers call it quits about then but other moms still need to see how a family can enjoy a houseful. http://allthisandheaven.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteThey are so precious! Nursing them together sounds like a challenge, but it sounds like you found a way to make it work.
ReplyDeleteMy Cecilia just got her first tooth a couple months ago at almost 15 months old!
Omigosh they're so sweet Rosie I just want to squeeze them! And I think its pretty awesome they're napping three times a day and going to bed at 7:30ish. I usually cut out the third nap around 4-5 months.
ReplyDeleteI need to look into baby-led weaning for Sophie. I didn't mind making the purees that much, but if life can be easier, I'll take it!
ReplyDeleteSo cute!! Good job Mamma!
ReplyDeleteGuess I'd better enjoy the tandem nursing while its calm, huh? :) I love it when you do these updates.
ReplyDeleteThey are so yummy! And feel free to write so much all the time please!!! Just hand on your motherhood wisdom to those of us who don't yet have that privilege- we'll take it all :)
ReplyDeleteNo, no...keep posting every day! I love your blog. Those twins are just adorable! And, I HATE it when babies do that grabby thing while nursing...I always try to hold her fingers so she can't do it, but with twins, I could see how that would be REALLY hard.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I was just over at Amelia's blog saying I'm ready for another and now you have me wanting twins!!! That's something I haven't said since before having my first. I tandem nursed Gabe and Zeke for about 6 months and your description had me rolling!!! Post all the time!
ReplyDeleteHA! You're welcome to come watch my twins any time, that might cure your desire ;)
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