universal translator

I need one of these. Remember? From Star Trek? I wonder if they work on toddlers.

Here are some of the words recently translated from Max's growing lexicon:

wee = eggs. Also, wee-digga-wee

gus = ducks

dwee = upstairs

some are more obvious:

waaa-da = water

fwo = frog

Sho-du = Shoghi

da-da-da (ad infinitum) = sing "What's the Name of that Song"

mo sa = some more

We also have many variations of "It's a..." "Is-a sun!" "Is-a tu-a!" (It's a turtle) "Is-a cats!" "Is-a twee!"

Max probably has about 300 interpretable words by now! But there's so much more endless babble that defies translation! It's really cute, squealy and delightful, this toddler talk!

outside!

The weather here has been so nice recently. After being bound to the inside walls of the house for about 6 weeks in November and December due to rain, we've been thrilled to open the back door again and let the boys loose on the yard.

A couple of days ago, Shoghi even pronounced his first word with two different syllables: outside. It was so exciting for him and us! He is also signing the same word in this video:

potty learning begins

I'm easing into the whole potty learning phase with the introduction of books, the occasional wearing of training pants, baby proofing the downstairs bathroom, allowing the boys to see their new potty, as well as drawing regular attention to their... elimination. I've always used proper body part names with them, and we use the words "pee" or "pee-pee" and "poop." I just talk about it in the context of changing diapers or them peeing on the fl0or if they're naked or wearing training pants. Unlike some of my friends, I don't make up silly song about poop. It's just not my style!

So, all I can say, having just received in the mail my new copies of Everyone Poops (My Body Science Series) and Once Upon a Potty -- Boy, is I don't think I'm ready for this.

"Just like you, Joshua has a body, and this body has many nice and useful parts..." (ok so far)

"A Pee-Pee for making Wee-Wee...." (oh, Lord... Wee-Wee???)

"A bottom for sitting and in it a little hole for making Poo-Poo." (oh, my.... "a little hole"?)

A Pee-Pee? Wee-Wee? Poo-Poo?

Why are they capitalized? Why are we using the word "Pee-Pee" for a p*enis?

Seriously? I'm such a prude. The pile of poop on the floor on Page 28? Gross! And while I'll admit Everyone Poops is pretty funny, it still grosses me out to see all the piles of turd on page after page!

Why on earth must so many books about potty learning involve the child putting the potty chair on their head??? How would they ever conceive of it being a hat without such a prompt?!?

I'm all about the books, though, so I'll put up with all this silliness in the name of getting these guys out of `diapers. They seem to be fascinated, anyway.

There you have it, my friends. Thus begins what will surely seem like a lifetime of potty talk and potty humor. I'll say it again:

I don't think I'm ready for this!

friday randomness

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that by Friday I haven't an organized thought left in my head. Combine that with Max spiking a fever today and napping very little, and I got a little scared I wouldn't get my posting done. Fortunately, bedtime was mercifully easy tonight, and the little munchkins are sleeping already. Thought I'd just show you a few photos from the week. I have a new post up here, too, fyi!

 our first time fingerpainting! 

 

 there was much eating of the fingerpaint...

 

 Max finally learned how to stick out his tongue!

 

 Shoghi, where are your teeth?

 

 why do bark chips and random pieces of cement remain interesting to eat??? 

 

cutest brothers on the block!

clip, snip!

At just 3 days shy of 15 months old, Max and Shoghi had their first haircuts today. We went to Rudy's Barbershop, and had the woman who cuts my hair do the honors. The boys sat way up high on the old fashioned chair and handled themselves really well. No crying or fear - it was awesome!

Max just got a little trim in the back, mostly for the sake of the twin brothers hitting this milestone on the same day. 

 first up!

bye-bye baby mullet!

Shoghi was really quite shaggy, and his bangs were bothering him all the time. I thought perhaps his future self wouldn't approve of me putting barrettes in his hair. I wanted to preserve the curls, though, so we didn't go too short.

this morning

 little mister shaggerton

 

 

It's strange and beautiful to see them with their little haircuts - I love them!

affirmation

This afternoon I was listening to a little Louise Hay. Rather, a little Louise Hay was playing in the background as I busied myself with other things. Just for a moment, though, my attention turned and I heard her say: "I love and approve of you just as you are" and this made me think of my two gem-like sons, so different from each other, so uniquely faceted, and so dazzling to my eyes.

I never did write their one year birthday post. It seems that these major milestones come upon me, and I think "I must write about that" and then the significance swallows me up and nothing is written. The more of them pile up, the greater the mountain of things to reflect upon grows in my mind, and soon these moments of beauty become a chore to write about. I never wrote about their birth, never really told you all about our nursing experience in its fullness (and how it came to a close when they were 11 months old), and haven't kept up with the sleeping updates.. all of which continue to have effects on us to this day! Knowing how I tend to forget details, I'm disappointed that I haven't written these things down.

So, when I heard that affirmation, my mind turned here, to tell my boys how I do love and approve of them, now... in the moment... for everything they are - the things that make my heart sing, and the things that challenge me to my core. I love being a mama to them - I always knew I would... and sometimes, in the quiet moments before bed, or late in the night when one of them is up, I whisper "thank you for being my baby" in their little ears, and yes, I am overcome by a wave of the deepest gratitude. It is a prayer to bypass even their bodies, and speak directly to their souls... it is a prayer of thanks to God or the Universe or whatever Name you use for that creative, animating Force that unites us all.

Here's just a little happy glimmer of what is going on for the boys these days:

At 14 months, Shoghi, you are a little wonder. You are so tall - if we don't adjust your age for prematurity, you are in the 90th percentile for height and weight, which is crazy for a family of short people! Your feet are so big, they remind everyone of hobbit feet - you're wearing shoes that Ruby wore when she was 2! You have many new words that are trying to form - you make a funny sound for "juice" and another for "cheese" which sounds like a "shhh" sound in your cheek. It seems like learning to talk for you is going to be as much a physical experience as everything else! You are still learning to walk, you love the slide and all the other playground equipment, and continue to experience the world most through exploring with your body. You rarely get hurt - it seems like you just accept that bumps and bruises are part of the deal of loving to use your body so much.

Max, my little social butterfly, we all take such delight in your language skills! Where your brother is towering physically, you are soaring with your words. I'm guessing you probably have between 40 and 50 words now, which is really quite remarkable and fun! Mama, Auntie, Ruby, Memmae, Popi, and Emilia are people you will name; cheese, fish, cookie, cracker, juice, bottle, apricot, pear, peach, toast, apple, berry, yogurt, and puffs are some of the foods you ask for; sounds like moo, baa, ooo-ooo (what a monkey says), meow, woof, hoo-hoo, neigh, peep, tweet, shhh, ding, gobble, choo-choo, beep, roar, quack, and bawk animate your days; and words like car, belly button, nose, teeth, gorilla, moon, chair, bird, shoes, puppy, bunny, cold, rain, wind, book, ball, tree, walk, and more help you to tell us what you want. It's really quite an amazing time, listening to you learn to tell us what you see, what you want, and how you feel. All the while, you exercise your mouth and tongue, making the funniest sounds like "gobbledy-gobbledy" and "weddygo-weddygo."

signing "more" to Auntie

**

Now your Mama must acknowledge her own state of weariness and sign off. Until next time...

one small step for man, one big leap for a baby!

Today, 13 and a half months after his birth, little Shoghi took his first steps. Of course, they weren't for me --- he walked his first three, and then four steps for his babysitter. Good thing we love her!! He repeated this incredible feat for his mama and auntie this afternoon, much to our delight and urging. Forgive the video soundtrack - we were using a woodwind recorder to entice these precious steps out of him.



I love you, little man! I know you're going to love your new walking life, and it fills me with joy to watch you grow!!!

Looks like our ride with twins is about to get a whole lot more interesting!

ta da!

One fun thing that's been going on, pretty much since the boys' birthday a few weeks ago is that they are imitating songs and finger plays. Laurie had taught Shoghi to clap a month or two before we left, and the boys were both starting to do the signs for more and milk, but now it seems like a giant leap in understanding has taken place.

signing "more" after his first ice cream cone during our visit to cape cod.

My mom, dad, and I sang songs with them quite a bit, and now they will make the hand motions for pat-a-cake, 5 little monkeys jumping on a bed, some of them from the wheels on the bus, peek-a-boo, and open, shut them. Max has mastered blowing kisses and making the "shhhhh" sound with his finger in front of his mouth.

"throw it in the oven for baby and me!"

We have a new DVD of some old Sesame Street songs, and Max has started actually singing - I kid you not - "ba-ba-bamba" and "quack-quack-qwamba"(only the ba and quacks!) to one of the songs. It is pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen or heard.

This morning, Laurie was doing "ta-da!" with them, and I got these cute photos of Shoghi:



Today was a great day. I opened the back screen door and the boys went in and out of the house to the back yard for probably an hour or more. It seemed to prevent the stir-craziness that occurs here about twice a day. Our back yard isn't great - there are prickly plants in the "grass" so I have to keep them contained on the "patio" (which we call "the slab"). It started to rain and I just let them keep going:


To answer Jen's question from comments, I started giving the boys pasta when they probably each had 4 teeth. I cooked some rice pasta really soft and let them eat it with their hands. For a good month or two, I mostly fed them orzo or alphabet pasta if I wanted to give it to them. As of today, they both have 8 teeth - Shoghi has 4 front tops and bottoms, and Max has 4 top fronts, the bottom middle two, and newly the top two molars! I just stayed close and really observed them to see if they were ready for the pasta. Lately I've been giving them sauteed polenta - they really love it with marinara sauce (or pesto!). HTH!

words, muscles, and messes

Here's another highlights post - happenings from the past week or so:

There's been a lot of fun and laughter around these parts as the boys play with each other more and more. I remember those days of wondering when Shoghi would even begin to smile - Max smiled so much earlier. Now Shoghi is our laughing, squealing boy, full of vivacious, high energy, while Max is full of good cheer, loves to be tickled, and giggles for his "bra-bra".

the twinnies received their first First Birthday gifts - hank knit sweaters from Auntie Knittah!
They have no idea how lucky they are!

Here's Shoghi looking rather cheeky...

***

Max's language skills are improving by the day.
He can say mama, no, more, brother, and done, and he signs hi and more!
Looks like Auntie might be the next word, just in time for her birthday...

Fun with Food!

I decided to let the boys have at it, and defrosted some raspberries and marionberries.
What a hit, but what a mess! Thankfully it was warm - after it was all said and done, I plopped them into the kiddie pool to get cleaned off.

Shoghi looking a little dazed...

Max definitely got more on his lap than in his mouth!

***
Finally, yesterday Max surprised me by pulling up to standing! Since he's not truly crawling, hasn't figured out how to push into a sitting position from his tummy, and wasn't doing the kind of acrobatics Shoghi was when he stood, I really didn't even see it coming!

best foot (or hand) forward

Max has started crawling! Well, actually, he's scooting forward, but what progress! These kids are so different in their acquisition of skills, and it makes things very interesting. I love watching them each unfold in his own way. I posted about Shoghi crawling way back in March! But, of course, Max has been busy developing his linguistic talents, while Shoghi is just beginning to experiment with new consonant sounds.


Anyway, without further ado, here's Max. Korin let us borrow a play tunnel, and as I suspected, my fort-loving son used this as the setting for his first crawl:

more and more again

Life sure does feel abundant right now... very full. After a hard week of disturbed sleep, Shoghi and Maxwell both have two new teeth to show for it bringing them each to four. Max has the two bottom middles and his two top incisors, and Shoghi has his bottom and top middle two. Not only that, but it's been a huge week of firsts! Here are some of them:

• First time playing in a pool!
  
• First trip to the zoo! We went with Ruby and Korin just today.
  
• First sunglasses!
• First eggs, turkey, spaghetti squash (not such a hit), and Cheerios!
  
• First restaurant experience, involving first congee and some chow fun noodles, and a million laughs!

Max kept making this funny face upon tasting the congee!
It was so bland (just rice porriage), I still can't figure out what all that was about!

Shoghi sitting up in the highchair at the table.

• First time the boys have laughed at each other!

and two events that really require much fanfare and celebration:

Shoghi pulled up to standing and Max started saying "Mama." My heart leaps for each of them - their new accomplishments are so aligned with their individual proclivities, and it's such a complete wonder to see them take those next steps. Shoghi takes such delight in his physicality - when he stood up, he laughed with glee! How lucky Laurie and I both were to be here for it.

Truly, hearing Max say "Mama" when I walked into the room yesterday was one of the most significant moments of my life... he does say "mamama" to convey a lot of meaning (mostly desperate desire), but when he says it to mean me, it is clear. And wonderful. And miraculous. I suspect that some version of "Auntie" and "brother" are likely on their way.

Video coming soon.

well babies

I'm finding it very difficult to post as often as I'd like these days! I must have 3 or 4 posts that I've started, only to be distracted by one or another pressing matter.

We had our 9 month well baby visit this afternoon, and the kiddos are doing fantastically well.

Shoghi
height: 27.5"
weight: 19lb 8oz
he's climbed from being off the charts for low weight at birth, to now being in the 25th percentile for all 9-month babies.

Max
height: 26"
weight: 18lb
he's climbed from being off the charts for low weight at birth, to now being in the 12th percentile for all 9-month babies.

Excellent!
Max's eczema is a little more controlled now, except it's appearing on his chest and arms, which really makes me sad. It's the worst on his little hands. We are using the Weleda cream (thanks for the recommendation, none-such!) and hydrocortisone (not on his hands). Shoghi still has a persistent cough, so he was evaluated for asthma today, which they concluded he is not showing signs of at this point - hooray, that was wonderful news.

We also took a walk over to the NICU for the first time since their discharge. It was strange to walk those halls, and a little meditative, too. The last time I made the walk from the Children's Hospital to the Main Hospital where the NICU is, I was still pregnant, and was not in fact walking. Every other day, if I had a visitor while on my month of hospital bedrest, I would get my 30-minute break from lying flat, and they would push me through the halls, finding a terrace in this wing or that to get some fresh air.

Taking the boys there today was like a little graduation. I'd actually been meaning to go there for a few months, but the last time we were at the campus for a doctor's visit, the boys were too fussy. Anyway, it was good to go, to stand out in the hall (we weren't allowed into the unit) and chat with some of the nurses who cared for them for the four long weeks they were in the hospital. One of the nurses remembered that Shoghi had been readmitted for reflux that was causing him to stop breathing, and it touched me that she really remembered them after so long. They made all the appropriate oohs and aahs about thier robust, perfect, big bodies and said how cute they were. It was very sweet.

At the same time, the whirring and beeping of all the monitors, the sterility of the NICU pods... it was all right on the other side of those locked, swinging doors. The grieving parents, the ailing, growing, crying, sleeping, kangaroo care-loving babies.... it was all right there. That was hard. Remembering so viscerally that time of longing, fear, disappointment. I have been thinking a lot about that time lately, realizing that 9 months later, I still haven't written about their birth. Our nursing woes began in those rooms; their first hours were spent without me in those bright, open beds; our sense of triumph and amazement to wrap their incredibly small (but 5 pounds!) bodies in our moby wraps and carry them out, first through those locked doors, then down the elevator, through the lobby, and miraculously, outside, into the open air and sunlight....... that whole time was charged with more emotion than I can even bear to open myself to.

And now here we are. We spend our days exploring, crawling, chatting, reading, singing... doing all the simple things babies this age are meant to. Maxwell and Shoghi, thriving. It gives me pause. What an incredible, enormous, humbling gift to be their mama.

growing, growing

This week, the boys will be nine months old. How astonishing is that? I know I've been putting up comparisons a lot lately (at least it seems that way to me), but really, their development is happening so quickly right now, I'm just constantly amazed. Laurie and I have been talking a lot lately about their growth, transporting ourselves back to the days when they were first born in amazement. I remember one friend asking how big their heads were - and my response that they were about the size of a big orange now shocks me... because of course their noggins are now probably the size of a big cantaloupe, and just as heavy, lol.

Soon after we moved to this house in February, I took this photo of the boys. They were just pushing up high on their bellies:


Yesterday I repositioned them at the door for a comparative photo:

this is a little deceptive... although they are obviously attracted to each other, Shoghi tends to be a little too aggressive for Max's taste, and we usually have to protect them from each other. Shoghi loves to screech and bite, and Max is very sensitive to the noise. As a result, they don't play "with" each other as often any more, although they are of course always together.

just 4 days shy of being 9 months old.

Now, as you can see, they are sitting unassisted, and Shoghi is not only properly crawling, he's also climbing under the exersaucer, pushing himself into a kneeling position, and starting to try to climb into things, like the bouncy chair.

Shoghi on his first successful under-the-exersaucer mission

Max, on the other hand, is now starting to get up on his knees and rock back and forth - so cute! It's a little sad, because he keeps pushing himself backwards when he wants to move forwards, but that's just part of the learning. While Shoghi is clearly a kinetic learner, Max is all about the words. Amazingly, he repeats syllable sounds, saying things like "this" and "dit" and "gook". He also tries to repeat the Dr. Suess rhyme: "dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum" by going "da, da, da" - it is incredible to realize what he's trying to do. The other day, we were playing peek-a-boo for the video so that I could capture him putting the silk over his own head, and realized that he was also saying "boo"!



I tell you, the acquisition of new abilities never ceases to amaze. We take such pleasure, such awe at the new things that emerge every day.

And now for Self Nurturing, Day 2:
Our napping schedule still isn't as pretty as I'd like it to be, and that means that we're still doing a LOT of car naps - particularly the last nap of the day, which is usually sometime between 2 and 4pm. In fact, the boys are waking up consistently between 5 and 6am, and that results in them taking THREE naps a day. This whole thing is a great frustration for me, and when they're car napping, I can't even stop the car for very long - maybe 5 or 10 minutes maximum. I listen to Fresh Air, or a book on CD, and drive the neighborhoods around Mt. Tabor. In this glorious spring weather, this drive isn't very much fun - I'd rather be doing chores around the house so that in other free and awake time we could be out walking.

Many days my sister ends up taking the boys for a walk just so I can get a half an hour to get something accomplished. I find that my post-pregnancy body is very much changed - one of the biggest differences is that my knees and my feet are always sore, probably from the pregnancy weight I am still carrying around.

So, yesterday was Tuesday, which is also chores day. This means that we spend several hours outside the house, doing groceries and other errands. Because it was raining, I knew that we wouldn't be likely to have the opportunity to be outside walking, so I planned our walk at a mall. This wasn't the most ideal way to get in a walk for my sore body, but it was important for me, and the walking with my sister and the boys was pleasant. We gawked at the store fronts and expressed our gratitude that there wasn't anything that we actually wanted! Although it was a pretty exhausting day, the walk was definitely the best thing I did for myself. :o)

day to day

Today was a good day. It started off with a good night for les enfants, and then flowed into a sweet cuddle for we three in bed, the coffee and playtime, our dear and wonderful caregiver was with the boys while Sister and I went to a Marketing for Mama Micro-Business Owners session that I held (part 2 in a series), and then this afternoon proceeded to be easy and nice. Went to post office, shopped for new pants, magazines for Treasure Mapping, and printed photos, came home and made delicious dinner... The only bad thing that happened was that my sis got a migraine and poor little Max has his first ever runny nose, which is unimaginably pathetic and earned him lots of snuggles and extra TLC at bedtime tonight.

Laurie and I have been cooking dinnerfrom scratch almost every night!
We have a core of weekly menu items, and add one new recipe a week. Last week, it was this fantastic butternut squash pizza - we made it with chevre instead of milk-based cheese.

Things are evolving nicely, I have to say. Here are some photos of our daytime antics:

Max, playing with his wooden rattle.

Shoghi is so mobile, he has taken to carrying things around in his mouth!

I just love how they can both manage to find their way over to me, now, and climb all over me. Shoghi is just like a little Sunny Beaudelaire (sp?), biting everything with those two little teeth, so you gotta watch out!

Max can now sit for quite a couple of minutes, completely unassisted!
Just look at that darling smile, would you??

Nights continue to progress. Bedtime is a multi-hour process that takes us all the way back to a 2:30 nap (which sometimes lasts until 4!), then playtime or a walk, dinner, then a full half hour of time without clothing, which the boys LOVE. Their typically challenging late afternoon demeanors are almost always transformed when every last stitch of clothing is removed, and they roll around, cooing, playing, and practicing all of their new moves until the mood shifts again, and it is time for pajamas, bedtime stories, and bottles. Then we bring them upstairs (usually Max first) and do a little crib-side routine for each of them. Actual bedtime still involves mmore unhappiness than I would like, but we're working on it.

Shoghi loves to look at us upside down - it makes him laugh every time.

Snuggling with mama - it's almost bedtime!

One of Shoghi's many amazing physical feats!
These boys can hit more yoga poses than I can!

toothy

On Saturday morning, we awoke after a long night of wake-ups and crying to discover that Sir Maxwell got his very first tooth! Way to go, little one!

Taking a walk later that day, we stumbled upon a shop that sells amber teething necklaces, and got him one of his very own in celebration.

more milestones

So, I mentioned a few days ago that Shoghi got his first tooth? Well, it's really just barely broken the surface, so he's still in a good deal of discomfort, poor little muffin. Today, the tooth right next to it is also peeking through!

It's a huge day for little Shoghurt, because today he put a bunch of mental and physical pieces together and managed to propel, half creeping and half c r a w l i n g, himself across the living room. Yes, mama is now officially in a great deal of trouble. Six months? Couldn't they have waited just a little longer? Max is totally doing the army crawl, too, with nose to the ground and butt in the air. It's only a matter owf time before I'm using the word "crawl" in the same sentence as his name, as well. I feel both celebratory and a little freaked out! That's normal, right?

Finally here are some photos just because.... today I got my sister's photos from our trip back East and these are some of my favorites:

my dad, playing to the babies

shoghi with his great-grandfather

the boys with their sweet auntie

my mama and shoghi

max with his favorite book. i'm not kidding;
we read and recite this book at least 10 times a day.

ps: there was a story today on NPR about families who use donors to conceive seeking out their half siblings. hmmmm.... interesting.