One Month!

Believe it or not, Matteo is now over one month old! And he is doing so well - eating and sleeping are both still great (back to waking up once at night now that his bedtime is a firm 730pm) and as he is more aware during the day, he is starting to enjoy his play mat and bouncy seats more.

The day after his one month birthday, he got to attend his first wedding. My dear friend/surrogate sister tied the knot on Saturday and Tater stayed awake to watch the whole ceremony. The commotion was too much for him, though, and he had to nurse twice during the reception to help him fall asleep. Thankfully, by the time dinner was served, he was out cold for the night. Billy and I even got to dance a bit before packing it up.

Also, I am now officially "on my own" with kiddos - my MIL left after 3 weeks of tremendous help. Tonight went really well though. Not a single tear was shed during bedtime and Matteo only started to fuss right at the end as I was getting Sebastian and Collette into their sleep sacks. I may have to add feeding the baby into their bedtime routine but we'll see. I'll be tweaking things as we go but I now know that its definitely doable. Hopefully things go just as smoothly tomorrow night when I actually have to bathe them...!

Lastly, we will continue the tradition of chair pictures with Matteo. Same chair, new baby! Here he is in his wedding outfit:

Matteo, one month and one day old

Keep an eye out for more posts coming up. I have a lot to share after being away from the blog for so long.

A Day in the Life (with *just* 2)

Via Marcia's blog, I saw that the theme for this week's QOTW at Multiples and More is to describe a typical day in my life. Normally, I would think this is a bit boring because my life is not so exciting when you write about it in that hour to hour way. However, I thought it would be a nice little time capsule to see how things change once Tater Tot comes along. I have this vision that he will fit in to our routine and we will fit into his and everything will (eventually!) run very smoothly. We shall see...

• What is your schedule like? Do you work outside the home or stay home with the kids?

I am at home with the kids. Most days I'm happy about this. Just not all :) Here is our weekday schedule (when Daddy is off in some exotic place, like New Jersey or St. Louis)

6:30am I wake up. Well, I get up. Usually, I'm already awake. My internal clock is set to go off at 5:30 these days. I blame Matteo and summer sun. I head downstairs, let the dog out, get the kids milk ready, eat breakfast, check email and listen for Sebastian and Collette, who are probably awake but not making enough noise yet. Some days, I have to make a batch of oatmeal, which last 4 or 5 days.

7/7:30am I hear S & C gabbing away (or crying, depends on the day) and head upstairs. Feed the dog and go into the nursery to start the day. Give the twins their milk, get them out of their sleep sacks and hang out for a while, playing, reading books and listening to Matty in the Morning.

8:00am By now, we are downstairs. I have the kids watch TV and play with their toys while I get their breakfast ready. Its always oatmeal with fruit mixed in, usually bananas but we have done apples, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, mangoes, raisins, peaches, etc.

8:10/8:20am Twins eat their breakfast

8:30am I clean up breakfast while they play. sometimes they watch more TV, sometimes not. Depends on their moods and mine. And the weather. If its nice out, they can play outside while I clean up and do important things like check Facebook and read blogs. And of course, I play with them. I can be a good mom, too.

9:00am Go upstairs to get the twins dressed. I try to get dressed when I get up but this doesn't always happen. Depending on our plan for the morning, this is either rushed or lazy.

9:15/10:00am Anywhere between those two times is where we will head out for the morning, if we are leaving the house. Tuesday we have EI at home from 930-1030 so we don't leave until later. Thursday we have EI playgroup at 945 so I try to be in the car by 920. Other days, we have play dates, run errands or go to a park and I always leave the house during the time block.

11:30am Come back home and get lunch ready OR have lunch out.

12:00pm Lunchtime! The kids eat and if there is time, they watch some Wiggles before nap.

12:30pm Nap time! I use this time to due chores. Mondays are for mopping, Tuesdays for vacuuming, Wednesday for dusting and changing sheets. In addition to those weekly chores, I do cleaning in a particular part of the house for a week (this upcoming week is the play room and the den). Also, depending on my mood, I may do some cooking. In between, I give myself breaks to write/read blogs, check email, etc. Or, if I'm really tired, a nap.

3:00pm Twins wake up from their nap. We play around in their room for a bit while they drink their milk.

3:30pm If we have errands to run, play date, or other outing, I will start heading downstairs so we can pack up the car. Otherwise, we go upstairs (3rd floor) to the play room and play up their for a while.

4:45/5:00pm Come back home (if we were out and we're not eating dinner out - we usually don't when I'm alone) OR come downstairs from the playroom. I get dinner ready while the kids play. I often recruit Yo Gabba Gabba to help keep little hands and feet out of the kitchen while I'm getting things ready.

5:30pm Dinnertime. Sometimes they eat quickly, other times, not so much. Either way, when they're done, we hang out and play downstairs (where we already are) and, weather permitting, play outside. I also clean up dinner and declutter in general.

6:30pm Head upstairs to get ready for bed. Every other night is bath night. After bath (if there is one), we get dressed, play a bit, brush teeth and then read some books. Lights out no later than 7.

7:00pm I'm off mommy duty and can relax. Ha! This is usually when I cook for me or for upcoming days. More cleaning may need to be done now, depending on how bad things got during the day and/or how much I slacked off during nap time. I eat, check email, check FB, read blogs, etc. Not too much TV these days as nothing is on. Very different case in October when I can barely keep up with my DVR. If I have a book, I might head to my bedroom early (8ish) to do some reading.

9:00/9:30 Head to my room for the night. before I go upstairs, I make sure all the dishes are in the dishwasher and that the toys are all put away. Also, I let the dog out one last time before we go up.

9:30/10:00pm Get ready for bed and hit the hay. If its early enough and it needs to be done, I will fold some laundry while watching TV. Lately it's the Rachel Maddow show as nothing else is on and I love her. Total girl crush.

• Do you follow it very closely?

Yes. Pretty boring but blissfully predictable for the kids and me. Spontaneity may have once been fun, but is mostly just scary now. For me anyway. Kudos to those of you who can do spontaneous on your own with little ones in tow. Me, I would run over someone's grandmother to make sure we made it home for nap time.

• How much (or how little?) "help" do you have?

I don't. Not during the week. My mom and my sister do visit but it's not part of our routine and does not help me get things done. We just get to enjoy their company and hopefully do something fun with the kids that I wouldn't want to do on my own.

• What chores do you do on a daily basis?

Dishes, picking up toys, cooking (almost), laundry (every other), sweeping (every other, maybe more if the kids got the place really dirty), carpet sweeping (just the dining room rug), toilet bowls, and pick up doggie doo.

• My favorite and least favorite parts of the day?

My favorite part of the day is either waking up the twins or putting them to bed. Both are relaxing and rarely rushed. I also like hanging out in their room - it's very calming. My least favorite part of the day is getting lunch and dinner ready. The kids freak out as soon as they see me head toward the fridge, acting as if they haven't eaten in days. Makes it hard to focus on the task at hand. I'm sure there is a way for me to do it ahead of time, but part of me thinks that they need to understand the fact that food does not magically appear, that it has to be cooked/prepared for us to eat it. And that it takes time.

I wonder what I will think of this list in a month or a year from now. Will adding #3 throw this all out of whack? Or will we find a way to get back to this predictable little life?

One, for better or worse

Sunday we finally made the switch to one nap. I have been gearing up for this big transition and when I looked at the weather forecast I decided that this should be the week! I'm not sure how I will do once the sunshine disappears but for now, things are going pretty well.

To my surprise, the kids don't seem really tired. They will fall asleep in the car, given the opportunity, but out and about, they are full of energy. Even after lunch (at home, so I can get them down for nap quickly), they seem ready to play. Also, their one nap isn't as long as I'd like it be. I've been putting them down at 1230 and they never make it until 3. They are gabbing away usually by 230. I make them stay in their cribs until 3 but it seems like they should sleep more. Or is that just wishful thinking? I'm wondering if it's a timing thing - maybe I'm not putting them down at the exact moment they need to nap so they don't sleep as well as they might.

Anyway, we are a one nap household now. At least until Tater Tot makes his debut. Then all this order goes right out the window!

9 Month Check up and other 9 month stuff...

So, we saw Dr. C on Monday and all went well. This was my first solo doctor visit - usually Grammy comes with me but I was under the impression that there would be no shots. Turns out they did have to get one shot for Hepatitis B, which I thought was an STD but I guess not. Collette was a trooper, just a whimper and then she was A-OK. Sebastian cried but calmed down with a little mommy-time. They would have had a flu shot ('tis the season!) but I hadn't talked it over with Billy (I wasn't expecting the pedi to offer it at this appointment) so I said I would wait. I'm not sure if we should do it or not. If they were in daycare or had school-aged siblings, I would say yes for sure. How have other people made this decision?

As for stats, Collette is a whopping 21lbs, 3oz. and 29.5 inches long/tall. Sebastian is 19 lbs, 3oz and 29.25 inches long. Not sure of the percentiles but I know that Collette is up there and Sebastian is average-ish for height and around the 10th percentile for weight. And this officially makes Lola the smallest baby in the house, as she weighed in at 18lbs, 7oz at her vet check-up last week. So, watch out Lola - those babies will be chasing you around the house soon enough!

***
In other 9 month doings, I am considering tweaking our daily schedule. As it stands, our schedule looks like this:

6:00am - I get up.
6:30am - Get twins out of their cribs and have bottle. A bit of playtime in the nursery.
7:00am - Downstairs to play while I make breakfast.
7:30am - Eat breakfast.
8:00am - Up to the playroom for more playtime.
8:30/9:00am - Nap.
10:00/10:30 - Get up from nap. Have a bottle upstairs. Playtime.
12:00pm - Downstairs for lunch. A bit of playtime.
12:30/1:00pm - Nap.
2:00/2:30pm - Get up from nap. Have a bottle upstairs. Playtime.
3:30pm - Outing of some sort.
5:00pm - Back home for dinner. Playtime.
6:00pm - Start bedtime routine: bath, bottle, story, bed.
6:30pm - Lights out.

This mostly works but there are some kinks. First off, Sebastian often gets very fussy in his high chair, to the point where he often eats very little of what is being offered. Now, this wouldn't be such a big deal if I didn't have Collette to keep feeding. My thinking is that he is not so hungry and would rather play. If this is the case, then I am considering doing breakfast before bottle. But that comes with its own issues because they have not been drinking their full bedtime bottle, leaving them very hungry when they wake up. I just feel like feeding times are not well-aligned with hunger times. This also has me considering 3 8oz bottles instead of the 4 6oz bottles - same total amount just spread out differently.

So, my two questions are: At this age, did you do *real* food before bottles? And at what age did you move from 4 to 3 bottles? Eventually they won't have bottles at all, so I assume I have to start reducing the number of bottles at some point...

As always, I am open to suggestions! Your solid food suggestions have been very helpful and I will be trying some different pasta shapes, (very) steamed veggies and more frozen fruits.

What's Up, Doc??

It was that time again - time for weigh-ins, vaccines and an ego stroke for mommy. I think that last one is my favorite part about seeing the twins' pediatrician. Dr. C is always so nice to me - she must think I need the boost, what with the monumental task that raising twin infants can be!

Anyway, it was a typical visit - all good news so I'm a happy momma. The doc took one look at them and was pleased. She could tell that they are growing and developing just fine. Although they aren't sitting unassisted yet (for longer than 3-6 seconds, that is) she said not to worry, that it will happen soon, within a month probably. They weighed 17 and 16 lbs - Collette the chunkier one. Surprisingly, Sebastian is taller (longer?) than Collette at 26.5" vs. her 26.25". Also, the doctor said we could start adding *lunch* to their daily to routine to get them up to three meals per day.

Our next appointment isn't until August 31st - the twins will 9 months old. I simply can't fathom that. 9 months seems so...old! Billy always jokes that they haven't changed since they were born. I see his point - we still have hold the bottles for them, put diapers on them, dress them. They don't sit up or crawl or walk or talk or feed themselves. But I think we'll get some of those by their next appointment. I hope. Then I can at least say they do something. Gosh, babies. get with the program already.

And, I should have included this in this post but Mommy Brain got the better of me, here is what a day in the life of the Soto Twins looks like at 6 months of age:

6:30am (or 7, if I'm lucky) - Get twins out of bed. They might already be awake but this is the earliest I do. Then, we have a bottle, then some breakfast downstairs followed by playtime upstairs.
8:30am - Nap #1. Lasts about 1 - 1.5 hours for Sebastian; 1.5 - 2 hours for Collette.
10-10:30am - Bottle, some playtime.
12:30pm - Nap #2. Same deal as Nap #1.
2-2:30pm - Bottle then either a walk or inside playtime if the weather isn't nice.
4:00pm - Nap #3 OR and errand. Depends on how good the other 2 naps were.
5-5:30pm - Dinner, then bottle in their nursery.
6:30pm - Bedtime! Lights out.

If I'm not alone, we'll do a bath after dinner but before their bottle. Otherwise, this is pretty much what a typical day in the Soto house looks like. Well, a typical good day. They're not all good days. Just enough to keep me off medication.