experimenting with toddler passtimes

fridge lotto magnets

I've been trying a lot of new activities with the boys lately, experimenting with what they're ready for and what is still too much of a challenge, too dangerous (to the other twin), or too messy. I'm pretty resigned to cleaning up messes, and believe strongly in allowing the boys to explore objects that engage their senses. That said, all of these were from over a week ago - for several days, I've just been too tired to deal with it!

Here are some of the ways I've modified our space and activities we've tried.

Table and Chairs

This little table is set up in our kitchen/dining area. I use it right now to put snacks out - I'm working diligently (and not yet successfully) to help the boys learn to keep their food on the table, both here where they have the freedom to come and go, and at the big table we all use for meals. I have tried placing activities, like sorting games or stacking rings, on the table, but that really only works when I am sitting with one of them. I had to replace the chairs that came with the table with these shorter stools - although they both loved the idea of having chairs, they were just too tall for now.

Fridge Lotto

Shoghi has been captivated by flowers for quite a long time, but recently he has learned to actually say "flowers," so we hear about these spring beauties all day long. I got the book "Planting a Rainbow" for him at the library a couple of weeks ago, and he's been quite delighted by the colorful blooms on the pages. On a whim, I whipped up this little fridge matching game. I simply drew a bunch of different flowers and a sun, which at the time was Max's newest word, and stuck it to the fridge with a piece of contact paper cut to a larger rectangle size. I glued corresponding images into baby food jar lids, and stuck a magnet on the back.

Although they both point to the flowers and sun, the magnets mostly just get thrown. We've already lost two of them! Clearly, this matching game is too advanced. They love magnets, though, so I think we'll make more.

Frozen Colors

I got this idea browsing the forums on Mothering. I just took a silicone ice cube tray, putting one drop of food coloring in each cube with water.


This has turned out to be a nice activity for the floor in the kitchen. It's messy, and I have to make sure they don't walk away with these potential carpet stain cubes, but they both liked handling the frozen ice. If you're sensitive to the idea of the kiddos ingesting food coloring, look for a natural version at your local health food store.

We have many books about colors right now, so this is a great hands-on activity to reinforce color differentiation. Some of the favorites this month: Flaptastic Colors and Planting a Rainbow: Lap-Sized Board Book.

prepping the colors

Fingerpaint

This speaks for itself... Max in his typical full body exploration style has taken to fingerpaints with relish, but I think I'm going to have to get some paint brushes for Shoghi, who seems pretty grossed out by the feel of it.

What are some of your favorite toddler passtimes?

Click these links to see more photos of our activites or join our flickr group and share your toddler fun photos?

pool in the kitchen

If there's one thing I know about getting through the day, it's that late afternoons before dinner time are of critical planning importance. No matter if the little fellas wake up from afternoon nap at 2:30 or 4, they whine, cling, and cry their way through until dinner is on the table. By this time, I am also tired, and sadly, I rarely have a solid dinner plan. I do a lot of wandering around the kitchen, looking blankly into the cabinets the same way a person like me might look under the hood of a car, dumbly expecting the solution to emerge with neon lights and a happy little tune.

As I enter this new year, I have rededicated myself to planning this time of day ahead of time. I have reserved Sunday nights for menu planning, and unlike many of my friends who only make dinner menus, mine will include all three meals plus snacks. How much easier is my life going to be when I know what needs to be cooked when, which snacks to pack up or set on their little table, and what meals are on the way? It is a relief just thinking of it.

Last week, the whining was really wearing me down. Typical meal-prep video distraction was not working. I was too tired to try to make dinner with one 30-pounder on my back and another 20-pounder in my arms.

making dinner is challenging with only one hand.

I ran out in the rain and grabbed the summertime wading pool, flicking off those ugly Portland slugs as I jogged towards the door. I carried it in over the pulling hands and whiny cries and dumped it on the floor, then put two small bins filled with warm, soapy water into the pool right in the kitchen and let the boys go at it.


We turned up the heat, stripped off their clothes and dropped in some toys, and I bought myself 20 minutes to get dinner ready. Granted, it resulted in a wet floor and extra cleanup for me, but this is definitely a trick to remember for hard days that I will no doubt be using again.

flying with 9 month old twins

A friend asked in comments for some advice for flying with 9-month old twins and 3 adults, so here you have it! I posted twice last January about my experience flying alone with 4-month old twins -- at that age, their prematurity still showed, so they acted more like 2 month olds.

At nine months, and with three adults the trip should be easy, I think!! Assuming you have no seats reserved for the babies and will be having them on your laps on the plane, here's what I would do:

• Check as much luggage as possible, both carseats and the stroller at the ticketing area.
• For this age, I would recommend using a pouch for the plane, but you might want a regular back or front carrier like a meitai or ergo for walking through the airport. The ergo will be easier to get on and off for passing through security - the carrier will have to go through the xray machine, while both babies will have to be carried through the checkpoint. This is a challenging point if you are traveling alone with twin babies, but you should be fine, given that there will be three of you. Back to the pouch, I found this type of carrier great for the plane. The babies were comfortably contained while sitting on my lap during the flight, and it was nice to have them swaddled in this way that left my hands free. I really missed it this time when we flew - both of my boys are too big to cradle in the pouch now!
• Plan to carry on one or two diaper bags. Include enough diapers that if they each poop every hour of the trip, you have enough. I know this might seem excessive, but I definitely travel in the "better safe than sorry" camp, especially after our experience in December of being stuck at the airport over night.
• If you are not traveling with the nursing mama, be sure to bring double the amount of EBM or formula than you will need. I like to travel with Playtex bottles - one bottle for each baby, and plenty of liners and clean nipples so I can swap them out easily.
• Aside from the diapers and feeding supplies (if needed), I'd just bring a handful of the favorite toys and a couple of books for this age. Novelty can be important later, but I think at 9 months, favorites would be enough. When in doubt, though, bring something new. Tie long strings onto each toy so that when they fall on the floor, you'll be able to pull them up by the cord. Traveling with 1 year olds, I found the single most important item was a portable DVD player. Without it on our last trip, it would have been pretty unbearable. My boys didn't pay any attention to TV until very recently, though, so again, I think you'll be fine with just toys.
• Although I couldn't get my hands on any for the last flight, a friend and naturopath recommended getting some Herbs for Kids Super Calm. I tried using melissa and valerian alone on the last flight and didn't notice any really helpful effect. I did call my pediatrician about using benadryl, and they strongly discourage it. The APA does not approve the use of benadryl in this situation, according to my physician's office.
  
• Finally, know that legally the airline cannot allow two lap babies in the same row. If you got three adult tickets seated together, they will move one of you with a baby. Pack your diaper/food/toy bag accordingly, because if you don't change your seat assignment early, you might be sitting quite far away from each other. This happened to us this time on the way to MA - I was flying with my mom, and we were split up.
  

I think the most important thing for me is to assume that people will be helpful, and to say "yes" in any way I can when people offer. This makes the trip much less stressful!

I hope this helps! Have fun, and let us know how it went, along with any new tips you might glean from your trip!

night time diapering

I always thought I would be a cloth diapering mama. It only made sense - I remember it well from my own childhood, it's economical, seems like it would be a lot more comfortable for baby, and of course there are the environmental benefits of not throwing away thousands of disposable diapers. Cloth has come a long way since my own childhood in the 70s. Now you can use the traditional prefolds, but you can also get cloth diapers that are as easy as a disposable in the form of pocket diapers and all-in-ones. I haven't tried too many varieties - quite early on I settled on fuzzy bunz pocket diapers. They have a semi-waterproof outer layer, making it so that you don't have to use a wool diaper cover. They're easy to use, easy to wash, and pretty inexpensive - I bought mind for less than $15.50 each, and currently I'm rotating about 30 diapers for twins. We've been using this set of diapers since about March, and all indications are that they will continue to fit for probably 10 more pounds of growth. That's just $465 for maybe a year of use!

Nights are a different story. My struggles to get the boys to sleep well at night are well-documented here - the choice to use disposables at night so I wouldn't have to do overnight changes was a no brainer. Even with using cloth all day long, I still spend about $50 a month on disposables, as we have also been using them for car outings. Sitting in the carseat for a couple of hours seems to always result in wet pants. I've been bummed about using the disposables, but felt like I had little choice unless I wanted to deal with wet clothes and extra nighttime wakings.

So, last week when I read this post from one of my favorite twin/parenting blogs, I was excited to find a cloth diapering solution that seemed to be a good option for nights. On the same day, I found the brand of cloth diaper she recommended on craigslist for a great price - only I found dream-eze's new all-in-one diaper with a PUL outer layer, which could mean not even having to use an extra layer of a wool soaker on the outside. I was really excited to pick up these gorgeous new diapers.

Upon seeing the dream-eze AIOs, I knew I was going to love them. They're trim, comfortable-looking, and as an all-in-one, I wasn't going to have to pull out a liner from a dirty diaper. We tried them that very night, and I was thrilled to have absolutely no leaks - about 60% of the time, even our disposables leak!

Sadly, that first night was our only success. Max got a terrible diaper rash for the first time, due no doubt to the detergent used by the previous owner. While his poor bottom healed, I kept him in diaposables at night, and Shoghi continued to wear the dream-eze. His sleep became very disturbed. At 10 months old, I guess he just couldn't get used to the different feeling of the cloth's wetness. He was waking every couple of hours, and for a few nights in a row, I ended up changing him into a dry diaper at about 3am.

I'm sad to say that I've given up on nighttime cloth. Maybe I didn't try for long enough. I really think that if we had been doing this from the beginning, it would have been fine, I just don't like the sense I get of making the boys get used to a different - and clearly uncomfortable - feeling in their pants. Not to mention that I don't like to be waking up to crying babies all night long.

The investment in the dream-eze diapers isn't a total loss, though not being able to use them at night was definitely disappointing. I'm now using them for car rides, with terrific success. If the boys are still in cloth when they graduate from the medium fuzzy bunz, I will be really tempted to switch to these amazing diapers.

If you're thinking about cloth, I say give it a try - it's easier than you probably think. I'm surprised to be still using it myself - when we moved from Korin's, we all figured that cloth would be the first to go, but here we are, still going strong. It's not a lot of work, and it's quite rewarding, somehow! I'd just suggest that you invest in good nighttime diapering supplies early on so that the baby(ies) gets used to it from the beginning. I wish we had!

everything is easy, part 1

Here I am, with my reporting of traveling cross-country with 4-month old twins. I’m trying to squeeze this in between all the busy-ness of caring for the boys, so forgive if it’s not well thought-out. Also, I didn’t take any photos while we were traveling, sorry!

First, I will admit that I’m a “Secret” junkie, and this did inform my approach to the trip. A couple of years ago, I was coached to approach my day with mantras like “the sun is shining and the grass is green” and “everything is easy.” The latter has stuck with me, and it is what I reach for when I do things that, from the outside, might seem insane. Like traveling alone with my twins.

For starters, I got a fast-moving stomach flu the day before we were set to travel. Because of this, and because I didn’t know whether the boys would get sick or not, I first thought I would have to travel on a different day, but in the end, I just missed my 6am flight out. To make a long story a little shorter, I ended up traveling on the same day as planned, but we got on a 2pm flight instead. Because things were less than ideal, I started in on my mantra…. Everything is easy…. Everything is easy…. Everything is easy.

Our friend and doula, E, came with much grace with us to the airport, and thank heavens she was able to. I can’t imagine how I would have gotten my luggage into the airport, as I had to carry one baby in a carrier, push the other in the car seat snap-and-go stroller, and also push the luggage cart, bearing two large suitcases and, two car seat bases, and the second car seat. We got into the airport, checked the bags, and then found out that E would not be allowed (by the airline) a pass to accompany me to the gate – something I had been assured was standard practice by both the airline and the Portland airport prior to our travel date. Point of Advice #1 – I learned this from a blog I used to follow (Better Make it a Double) – when traveling with young twins, dress them especially cutely – you will attract positive attention and assistance. We parted ways at the security check, where I was met by our first angel, a TSA agent who brought us aside to a much shorter line and helped me get all the gear (2 diaper bags, 2 blankets, fleece suits for both of the boys, my winter coat) out of the stroller, get the stroller and the car seat and my shoes and the baby carrier onto the conveyer belt, and the get through the metal detector (holding both boys). Point of Advice #2 – You may think you need to bring 2 diaper bags, but try not to. You’ll be surprised by the amount of stuff you never have to touch. Nice to Know #1 – I brought a full day supply of expressed (donated) breastmilk with me. I had read on the TSA website that this would not be tested, nor would I have to taste it for the agents as long as I separated it from my other items at Security. This proved to be true – I had no problem carrying this liquid with me. So, anyway, with the help of this very sweet and loving woman, I made it through Security, repacked my stuff, and went to the gate.

At the gate, I went up to the counter and told the airline rep my situation (traveling alone with twins) and that I would definitely need someone to help me get both babies on board. This woman was so kind – she actually left the counter in her quiet moments and came and sat with me in the gate area, even giving one of the boys a bottle. She helped me onto the plane before boarding any other passengers, and went as far as looking up the passenger who was supposed to sit next to us and assigned him another seat (with his permission), giving us the whole row. What a kind and wonderful woman! Everything is easy!

On the plane, we had the serendipitous luck of being seated across the aisle from a mom traveling with her nine-year-old fraternal twin boys. She was nostalgic about having twin babies and was eager to help me. She ended up holding either one of the boys for that whole flight! Her boys were totally charmed at the thought of themselves as Max and Shoghi. We managed to anticipate their needs and honestly, there wasn’t even a full two minutes of crying in the whole 6 hours we were on that plane.

The other thing that happened on that flight was a departure delay, for which passengers were allowed to get off the plane. Because the people sitting behind me had paid us friendly attention when they boarded, I asked them to buy me a sandwich when they got off to get some food. Thank God I did – that would be the last food I would eat for more than 12 hours (it was also the first food I’d eaten in 36 hours because of that flu!). Point of Advice #3 – Say YES! Traveling with twins gives one many opportunities to exercise trust in humanity. I was lucky to always be offered help, so I didn’t have to ask strangers for assistance, but by saying yes and finding small things they actually could do to help me, the trip was much, much easier. I had people to hold babies, get me food, and watch a twin while I went to the washroom. The last was probably the scariest – trusting people with the babies in my absence – but because I had connected with multiple people, I could feel comfortable that the group was actually watching out for the baby… and on a plane, where’s anyone going to go, anyway? Nice to Know #2 – neither of the airplanes I flew on had changing tables in the airplane lavatories. This was a complete shock to me. I had to change a messy diaper right on my seat! Point of Advice #4 – put your babies in overnight disposable diapers in case you end up stuck on a plane and can’t change them!

And so, even though we were delayed on the plane for over an hour, and the flight itself took nearly 6, the first leg of our trip was remarkably successful. Even the flight attendant was fabulous - when we got in late to Chicago, she came with me herself to the next gate, allowing me to take the staff elevator to save some time getting to the other terminal. We were surrounded by lovely, truly helpful people, and even with the mishaps (not having E at the gate with me, flight delay), everything was easy!

It's almost 10:30pm, and I still have to get things ready for bed (the boys are mercifully sleeping right now), so I should go. I'll come back another time with Part 2, in which I end up stranded in Chicago overnight with my small baby boys...