Star Wars Day (May 4th - get it? May the FORTH be with you?) - John Paul said he made this face because he was feeling confused.

They've been teaching me about all the things they can reach that they couldn't last week... This time it was the whiteboard markers. I heard them say, "We're havin' a sleepover! We're paintin' our nails!" and knew something was going wrong, but I was getting Peter down for a nap and they were leaving me alone, so I figured it couldn't be *that* b ad...

And really, it could've been MUCH worse. It could've been Sharpie (and it WAS Sharpie for a second later in the week - Mary Claire's big toe is now black until it comes off on its own).

Mary Claire is OBSESSED with babies right now, so it's convenient that she has one to play with all the time! Unfortunately, she wants to play with him when he's sleeping, so naps haven't been frequent or long.

We used to use bibs. They never worked. Stripping babies seems to be a lot more effective at keeping stains out of clothing!

Mom blog alert! Peter's almost 6 months, I happened to have some ripe avocado, and he was going to have a bath last night anyway, so he got his first taste of solid food!

He. Loved. It. 

John Paul and Cecilia HATED their first tastes of solid food (avocado and peach, respectively), and we put it off for a while longer with the twins (who had flank steak and adored it), so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Baby-led weaning for the win! Normally he sits in Andrew's lap trying to grab at his food and whining, but he was SO happy for the entirety of the meal, and the big kids were happy to retrieve the spoon whenever he dropped it.

Yes, that's pencil on the wall behind him. I've given up - the whole upstairs needs to be painted with paint that is NOT matte, and every time I clean it it strips the paint off the walls!

And that high chair? Going strong since John Paul was a baby! It's awesome because it has a booster seat included, so now Peter's starting to take over the high chair that Mary Claire's been using, and if we decide she's not allowed on the bench at the table, we can put the booster on one of the chairs.

Sunday ice cream for everyone! Very little ice cream, lots of sprinkles, happy kids!

Dress: Forever 21
Top: J.Crew Factory via ThredUP (similar for only $24.50! and 20% off right now, so actually only $20!)
Cecilia's grumpy face: I don't even know - she ASKED to be in the picture!

I had plans for what I was going to wear, but it would have required ironing so I grabbed this dress, which is desperately in need of being hemmed now that I'm not pregnant... It was fine with heels for Mass and I tied it up the rest of the day, but I still kept stepping on it and my shoulders were killing me by the end of the day! So I should probably put it on my sewing table and find the energy to hem it soon...

Throwback to last summer when I was pregnant! Gotta love non-maternity clothes that work awesome for maternity, too!

And in case you were wondering, I DID get a vacuum for Mother's Day! (We needed it anyway, but still!) It's awesome and I've used it a TON, which solidifies my status as lamest person on the planet. But hey, it's not like it's a competition?

Happy Monday! Linking up with Fine Linen & Purple for What I Wore Sunday!

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Seven Quick Takes - Celebrity Edition!

--1--

 

This week the blog here hit the big time.

 

Seriously.

 

I posted 50 Reasons My Toddler Won't Nap and you will NEVER guess who commented.

 

Jen Fulwiler.

 

I just about peed my pants.

 

Now if I can convince Simcha Fisher to comment, I think my life will be complete.

 

Many thanks to Mandi for tweeting the post!

 

(Is it weird how excited that one comment made me?  Actually, I get excited by EVERY comment!  I don't know, I just really like comments...  Maybe because it's one of the few ways I can connect with the outside world when I'm home with the kids all day?  Although now that I'm back at work, I have a feeling I'll like comments just as much...)

 

--2--

 

And speaking of Cecilia not napping, today was a really...  special? day when it came to her not-napping excuses.

 

I know I already posted it on facebook, but her antics are too ridiculous not to share with everyone:

 

Today's reasons? Aside from the usual, she wanted her Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck underwear (that got thrown away several months ago when it got too holey), she opened the door to go use the potty and I found her sitting in the sink, and then she had to bear crawl naked and backwards down the hall to get a new pair of underwear and have me put it on like a diaper because she's NOT Cecilia, she's Baby Bear and she's patendin' her bed is a cwib and she needs Mama Bear to put her in her cwib.

 

 

Shortly afterwards she needed me to hug her while she pooped.  It's a tough life.

 

Then at bedtime she couldn't go to sleep because her hair was in her face.  And then John Paul wanted to know how much he weighs. 

 

Also, Cecilia is NOT Cecilia, she's Baby Zebra.

 

But she's NOT Baby Zebra, she's just Cecilia.

 

Because, you know, sleep is for the weak.

 

--3--

 

I got some really awesome suggestions for getting iron into the babies as comments on this post and through facebook friends.  So we've added breakfast to their meal routine and this coming week they'll be getting lunch as well.  And the mess has reminded me why I take such a slow, lackadaisical approach to solids...

 

 

I took this picture BEFORE it got bad!!!

 

But seriously, have you ever thought, "Hey, maybe if I mix molasses with the cashew-almond butter I made and spread it on a cracker, the babies will like it and they'll get extra iron!"

 

You haven't.  Because you are not an idiot.

 

1.  They LOVE cashew-almond butter on crackers (and I need some iron-full crackers because those townhouse things are just junk...) - I just food processed a cup of raw cashews and half a cup of almonds and it's delicious and full of iron!

 

2.  Molasses has iron, but I hadn't figured out a way to incorporate it yet since I still had the original batch of nut butter.

 

So I decided to just pour some molasses in a bowl and mix it with the nut butter.  But I poured too much molasses and it was just a runny mess.  Then I put it on a cracker anyway.

 

Even John Paul wouldn't eat it.  Mary Claire liked playing with it.  Elizabeth cried.  And the mess was so disgusting that Mary Claire's tears were BROWN when I was cleaning her off, because she had molasses in her eyelashes.

 

Other than that, iron boot camp has been going well - I need to get a cast iron pan to make them eggs, but Mary Claire has been eating really well and Elizabeth has at least been eating better.  Hopefully we can get their levels up!

 

--4--

 

The babies have been more and more aware of each other lately, and I'm just now understanding why people think having twins must be so awesome.  Because while it is a lot of hard work, can you even imagine how amazing it is watching two 9-month-olds play peek-a-boo in a play tent?  Or face each other on the ottoman and drum with their hands, giggling at each other as the game escalates?

 

Or very carefully bite each others fingers and then start giggling.  Or RACE to their dad when he gets home, both eager to show more affection than the other.  Yeah, it's amazing.

Most recently, Mary Claire has gotten REALLY into waving.  It's very VERY serious to her.  Elizabeth has been into it for a while.  So when they started waving to each other, I had to get the camera, but then they wanted to perform just for the camera:

 

I don't know why that one cut off...  But imagine them facing each other and taking turns waving, giggling at each other all the while.  It's the cutest EVER!

 

 

You hear the end of that video?  Yup, that's Cecilia asking me to put her underwear back on.  I think this was after I hugged her to help her poop...

--5--

I got tired of printing so many worksheets for John Paul, so I got him a Brainquest workbook and he's having SO much fun!  And it's a behavior modification tool - if he doesn't obey, he gets no workbook.  He has even been so engrossed in his workbook that he doesn't even notice that it's 4 o'clock (the earliest I'll let them watch TV)!

 

 

--6--

 

Cecilia has made up an imaginary animal.  It's called a Zopey.  At least that's how I assume it's spelled - she told me it starts with Z-O and then since she had stretched herself intellectually, she gave up on that part.

 

In case you were wondering, a Zopey lives in Mary Claire and Elizabeth's room.  It's feeling sick.  It wooks wike a snake.  It has 8 wegs.  And 2 feet.  And wings.  It's owange and wed.  It does siwwy hopping wike a kangawoo.  And it gives siwwy kisses wike waspbewwies!

 

Only yesterday the Zopey wooked wike a tinny tiny mouse.  So needless to say, we're all VERY confused about the Zopey.  But since it's almost always asweep in da babies woom, we can't check on it.

 

--7--

 

I had to do most of bedtime by myself last night (I got Mary Claire to sleep and then Andrew left, so I only had to worry about 3 kids on my own!).  So I decided that we'd skip bath time because really we just spend the entire time refereeing between Cecilia and John Paul and telling them to be quiet.  And then we played "Who can get dressed in their jammies the quietest?"  And since it was a game, John Paul was REALLY good at it and won.  Then he lost the "Don't pour water all over the floor while brushing your teeth" game, but he cleaned it up. 

 

Elizabeth wasn't doing well, so I told the kids that if they went to the playroom and were VERY quiet while I got her to sleep, they would get TWO stories!!!

 

And THAT is a bribe that worked.  Hooray!  And after that they both chose ridiculously short books anyway.  Winner!

 

These takes of mine are never quick...  Hopefully you'll find something more worthwhile over at Jen's!

7 Quick Takes - 9 month update!

--1--

We had the twins' 9-month appointment today - only a bit over a week late!  Considering I skipped well visits for Cecilia for an entire year (she had one at 6 months and then not again until she was about 20 months...), I'm pretty proud of myself for actually getting it scheduled!  It was going to be a week of well visits - John Paul had his on Tuesday and Cecilia's was scheduled for yesterday but then Andrew had court and there was NO way I was taking all 4 kids to a doctor's appointment by myself!

And now I know that I'm not trying to take both babies by myself again any time soon...  WOW that was hard!  We skipped any immunizations at the end because it was just too much!

Still not out of all of their 9-month clothes, but quite a few outfits have been retired!  I'm hoping we can stick it out through the fall with their summer outfits so I don't have to buy any larger sizes...

--2--

Because I know you want their stats, Mary Claire is tipping the scales at 17 lbs 10 oz and Elizabeth is 16 lbs 12 oz.  That's right, Elizabeth is less than a pound away from Mary Claire!!!  Considering Mary Claire has a *much* chunkier frame, is longer, and was 2.5 lbs bigger than Elizabeth back when Elizabeth wasn't gaining weight, this is HUGE!!!  Mary Claire's between the 25th and 50th percentile for weight and up near the top for head circumference, because that's what we breed for.  Elizabeth is between 10th and 25th percentile for weight, which is also huge considering it took forever to even get her ON the growth chart!

See?  Mary Claire no longer totally dwarfs Elizabeth!

--3--

They're doing great with milestones, and the doctor was pretty surprised that they're not delayed at all, since twins often are.  They've been crawling and sitting up for quite a while, and they're now good enough at pulling up that they pretty much don't need to be spotted anymore.  HALLELUJAH!!!  Mary Claire has started cruising veeeeeery slowly, Elizabeth hasn't quite figured it out yet.  I'm predicting walking by 11 months, which will be the latest of any of our kids.  Again, HALLELUJAH!!!

Buuuut they're pretty severely anemic.  Our pediatrician is pretty low-key, so the fact that she was worried about this is telling.  Soooo I'm going to cram them full of iron-rich solids for the next few weeks until they have another blood draw (just from their toe, which they totally didn't mind, so I'm not concerned).  Any suggestions?

Corn on the cob is a big favorite, but rather lacking in nutrients...

--4--

I think a big part of the iron deficiency is:

1.  I'm pretty much always anemic, so they aren't getting much from me
2.  They weren't born at or after 40 weeks like my other babies, so they didn't have time to get all their iron
3.  We started solids late and are still only feeding one meal a day, at dinner time when they're at their fussiest so they generally don't eat much.

So I'm going to have the babysitter start giving them lunch when I go back to work on Monday and hopefully that'll help!

--5--

That's right, summer is over and school is starting!!!  We start about as late as possible, with the first day of school right after Labor Day.  Teacher work days start on Monday and I'll have a full week of inservices, meetings, more meetings, and getting everything ready for the classes I teach.

I know, you probably didn't even realize that I work!  I pretty much never talk about it, but I teach part-time at a local secondary school.  2 girls' choirs (7th and 8th grade) and a music lab for 8th graders, which is mostly piano and guitar.  It's pretty awesome, I LOVE my students and I love teaching music, and it gives me a little break from the kids!  Plus it's not yet financially possible for me *not* to work...

--6--

I was trying to get a picture of the twins alone, but then Cecilia joined in (refusing to put on a shirt because she wanted to wear "just my tummy!"), and John Paul couldn't be left out!

--7--

John Paul has been spending most of his time writing and drawing these days - for a kid who REFUSED and showed absolutely zero interest for so long, I'm kind of amazed at his progress!

This is the first representational drawing he has EVER attempted:

Above you can see a baby in his mom's tummy, the dad on the far right, and a man named John in between them.  Who is John?  We have no idea.

Then I asked if he wanted to write anything else and he decided to write "Disney Classics" since that's the CD we were listening to...

 

And for some reason because it was a card, he wanted to write everything vertically on the front...

 

So...  That's pretty much all we need to do with homeschooling for the rest of the year, right?  I mean, he just turned 4 and is reading somewhere between a 5th and 8th grade level (according to the same reading test we did last year), writing fluently, doing simple math problems, etc...

 

Okay, I'll leave things off here.  Have an awesome Friday and go check out more takes at Conversion Diary!