Monkeying around

We had an engagement with another mother of twins. She also has B/G twins, but hers are 3 yrs old, while mine are not yet 3 months old.

This place was sensory overload for me. But, apparently my two older children and her kids were having a blast.

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Loads of jumping, laughing, running. One moment here, one moment there. Where have they disappeared?

Oh, and here's one of Jen's twins: Ada.

And her brother, Logan.

I'm beginning to realize that once the twins are no longer sitting in infant car seats, sharing a stroller, not so many people will stop dead in their tracks asking whether I have twins. Perhaps, at some point, people will think I have one set of twins instead of two?

When I snapped a couple of pictures of Logan, I heard a little voice of my oldest, but I couldn't locate her. She said she was hiding.

Where are you?

Ohhhhh. There you are, silly.

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Didn't seem to wear them out much. Came home longing for rest not to be had. But, we had wonderful friends who lent helping hands. Christian with Christian.

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Francesca with Christine.

Good friends, long time friends, true friends

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Today, perhaps because I'm feeling a bit blue,

or perhaps because we have all been taking turns having a stomach bug that's been going around all over the country,

or maybe because a snow storm is hitting us here right now and I did too much grocery shopping in preparation for it,

or maybe I just love my friends ever so dearly and want to acknowledge them;

I miss you so very much.

Most recently amongst my long-time friends, Haiying and Karen (in the photograph above) visited, affectionately known as Auntie Haiying and Auntie Karen to my children. We've known each other a very long time now. That they came to see me through the thick in their own busy lives already warmed my heart.

One of many examples: Auntie Karen was an amazing auntie to the older two, allowing them to play rough with her. Auntie Haiying, on the day she left, rose early to help Isabella get ready for school and give Victoria her breakfast. Moved me deeply.

Winner of Kenzie's Bow Hat

I had said I would announce the winner this past Monday, and it is now Thursday. My apologies.

The winner of Kenzie's Bow Hat is: AmandaBedanda

E-mail me @ lilliput_tigerlily@yahoo.com with your mailing address and the head circumference (size) of the little one's head for whom the hat is to be given.

The twins at 2 months

Thursday of last week, the 1st, my babies, the twins, turned 2 months.

Saturday, Karen (my college roommate and dear friend) and I slid our way to the pediatrician's office for the twins' wellness check. We won't talk about my panic driving on very slippery ice (how could I maintain my cool when I was sliding in the ever so small attempt to go from 0 mph to 5 mph?!), stopping in the middle of a more major road, and having Karen (who drove in Boston on a regular basis when attending Harvard Divinity School) take over driving.

Both babies are doing well. Although I must say, in terms of weight and size, Christian isn't looking so much like a newborn these days; he went from the birth weight of 6 lbs and 14.5 ounces to over 10 pounds!

Nursing exclusively. Takes work from all concerned parties. I have to eat and drink extremely regularly to keep up breast milk production. Something is going well, otherwise Christian wouldn't still be gaining loads of weight, even though he's spitting up enough to compete with Niagara Falls.

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I must confess, seeing the twins sleep, catching their scents, witnessing their smiles, watching them fidget, hearing them sneeze all make me swoon. Or perhaps drip breast milk.

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Taking care of twins takes no small amount of effort, time, and work. Who are we kidding, taking care of four children, five years old and under, requires super human effort. But, I love all my munchkins and I'll do it!!

Kenzie's Bow Hat Giveaway

Photograph taken by Brittany Baker

The maker of this adorable little hat, Brittany Baker, has donated this as a giveaway prize. There are two conditions for being entered into the (random) drawing for this hat:

1. visit Brittany Baker's etsy shop: Brookeleigh Grace.
2. leave a comment on this blog post, sharing your favorite Brittany creation.

The opportunity to be entered into a drawing for this hat ends on Sunday, December 11, 2011, at 11:59 Pacific Time. Only one entry per person; don't make me open a can of whoop on you for not abiding by that. If you recommend someone else to this blog post and they enter, you may have an extra entry into the drawing. I am willing ship anywhere, I believe, not just within the United States.

I plan on announcing the winner by Monday afternoon.

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Tis the season of giving; billions of dollars projected to be spent this holiday season says so.

I am motivated to help support local effort, instead of buying stuff made in some third world country where we might not know who is making the stuff (a child?) or whether that person has a choice in the matter (forced labor?).

Brittany's creations are excellent gift ideas, and the prices are affordable. Treat your child(ren) to these handmade creations. She plans on making hats for little boys as well. If you have any hat or hair accessory ideas that you'd like to see made, but are not on her etsy site, I'd encourage you to contact her. Or buy some gifts for friends or family with little ones. And, support a family's efforts!

Twins are more common than I realized

In primary school, I remember girl twins - Sharon and Karen - who, I am pretty sure, were identical twins. Since then, I have met twins or heard of twins off and on but have formed the general impression that twins are more the exception than the rule. From the time I've been pregnant with twins, I no longer believe twins or multiples to be as in rare form as I once thought. All kinds of people, young and somewhat older, have come out of the woodwork to tell me that they have had twins or that they are twins themselves. A few days ago, I was at Target doing my weekly shopping, and a stranger saw me with my twins and said that she is a twin herself. Still close with her twin brother, but they don't live close to each other. All of the sudden, I am welcomed and ushered into an otherwise unknown (to me anyways) world of multiples. I'm in.

These are a couple of twins from Victoria's preschool class. Michael and Geovanni. To Victoria, it is obvious who is who. Not so obvious to me. I'm told that children somehow have a gift at telling apart identical twins that fewer adults are able to do.

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Then the wonderful mother of these twins has taken me under her wing and has been looking out for me. Parenting one newborn has its own struggles, especially for a firstborn. Parenting multiples, however, I must say, made rearing challenges exponentially more challenging and difficult, especially when I already have two other small children. All this is to say, I am ever grateful for the helping hands, including Jen's, wrapping around me, around us. Meet Ada and Logan, girl-boy twins.

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Growing up too fast, the twins

I'm smitten. Totally smitten. Yes, yes, I am aware that these smiles are involuntary. Still, be still my heart.

Though I am sleep deprived with newborns (and a three year old and a five year old), I feel like the twins' newborn period is flying.

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They smile.

They coo.

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They try to hold their head up and look, when held upright.

They can turn their heads.

A few times, they have flipped from their stomach to their backs.