#93: buy a new phone

I got a new phone a couple of weeks ago.

And, I absolutely LOVE it!

Click HERE to see the rest of my 101 in 1001 list.

March 2010 Photo Dump

Since my camera is out of commission, I thought I would post some of the random photos from March that never made it on the blog. Enjoy...

FYI...

... my camera is broken. So needless to say, I will not be posting many photos until I figure out how to remedy this situation.

Avocado

Today, we gave the twins avocado. They willingly ate it and I think they actually like it! They didn't even wince or wiggle upon first taste. We never would have thought that they would ever be fond of this fruit that tastes like a veggie.

Good Eats

In recent weeks, Gavin and Vivian have been expanding their real-people-food intake. Lately, their all-time favorite foods are: bananas, ritz crackers, and graham crackers. They have also become moderate fans of carrots, pears, and strawberries. And they only mildly like peaches, noodles, and yogurt. Not surprisingly, they really hate green beans and peas.

When it comes to sitting down and eating this stuff, Gavin is a much better eater than Vivian. He will try anything at least 2 or 3 times before refusing it and he'll shove anything in his mouth that he finds remotely appetizing. Viv, on the other hand, will make faces, wince (which is accompanied by a little quiver and is HILARIOUS by the way), and actually cry if you try to make her eat something she has already refused.

Easily Amused

Gavin is so easily amused. We can get him to giggle at just about anything.

By the way, thanks Elizabeth for lending us the extra walker- the kids love that they can now chase each other around the house!

A Bad Idea

Last night, I had a bad idea. A very bad idea. I didn't think it through when I had it. It seemed very logical at the time.

It was my day with the kids. Wes wasn't going to be home until 7:30pm. So, I had to get the kiddos fed, cleaned up, and ready for bed by myself. They ate cut up pears and bananas for dinner. Then, it was time for a bath. I thought, "Hmmm, I haven't showered in two days. I think I need a bath too." Side note: for the first few months of their lives, we would always shower with the kids. To us, it was easier than getting out the baby tub and all the other shit that goes along with that. And, it killed two birds with one stone. So, Wes would shower with one and I would shower with the other. But since they've gotten bigger (probably since about 5 months of age), they've always bathed together our tub. Okay, back to last night: "Maybe I could shower with them sitting on the floor? They'd probably stay in there if the curtain was closed, right?" This sounded like a perfectly fine idea. Actually, it sounded like a damn good idea. I hadn't showered in days, the kids needed a bath, perfect! So, I took them upstairs, de-clothed them, and sat them on the floor of the shower. Then I got in, closed the curtain, and turned the shower on.

Then. The. Unthinkable. Happened.

Vivian pooped. Not just any poop either. It was a huge, monster, squishy, all-over-the-place poop. Let me stop for a minute and say that this has never happened to us. We've heard all these stories of babies pooping in the tub, but it has never happened on our watch; and we have two! Well, the stars finally aligned and it happened. It. Was. Disgusting. So what did I do? My original game plan for when this happened was always to drain the water, take the babies out, carefully remove the baby droppings, clean off the pooped baby, and then put them both back in for a good scrubbing. I think I would have done this (or some version of this) if I wasn't in the shower too! I had to rethink my strategy. Quickly!

I picked up Vivian and held her under the running water to wipe off her butt without actually having to touch it. At the same time, I had to use my left foot to hold Gavin back away from the poop and my right foot to push it all down the drain. Yes, I pushed it down the drain. With my foot. What were my other options?! Don't judge until you have been in my shoes. (And when you have been in this same situation, call me and let me know what you did. You probably will do the same thing. You think you won't, but you probably will.) The worst part is that a lot of the poop wouldn't go down the drain in an orderly fashion, so I had to squish it through the cracks with my foot.

While all of this is happening, Gavin is crying because he wants to touch the poop and my left leg is in his way, Vivian is screaming because she doesn't like to be dangled under running water, and my foot is COVERED in shit.

After a few minutes, Viv's butt was clean, my foot was scrubbed, and Gavin was set free. Even though we all got clean in the end (which was the purpose of the three person shower), it was not my finest moment as a parent.

Funny Faces

Tooth Update

Gavin- 1 tooth; on the bottom, in the center.

Vivian- 3 teeth; two on the bottom and

one on the top- all in the center.

It's Springtime!

And we're outside enjoying the weather!

The Milligans

Last week, my best friend/sister, Rachel, and her parents, Renee & Dave, came to visit. Rachel and I grew up together (since I was 2 years old) and our parents are best friends too. It's always a great time when we get to see each other, which isn't often enough since Rachel lives in Boston and goes on bike tours all over the U.S. and South America. This visit was particularly special because Rachel had just completed a 3 1/2 month bike tour from Florida to California. We all loved staying up late listening to stories of her adventures. Here are a few pics of the Milligan visit.

#82: take the kids to the park

Yesterday, we took G & V to the park. This was really the first time they went to the park and got out of their stroller (we went a few times last summer, but they were too small to really do anything). Our first stop was at the swings, which they absolutely LOVED!

Then we went on the slides.

Overall, it was a great day at the park!

They don't work like they used to...

There are so many things that have made our lives, as the parents of twins, a hell of a lot easier. From the car walker to the baby cage to the boppy to the twin stroller. But one of the most useful items that we've used multiple times a day for the last TEN months is the bouncy seat. And, we have two of them. They are wonderful. You see, when you have twins, you have to be a bit creative when you're trying to figure out how to manage both of these little beings at the same time. In the beginning, the bouncy chairs were great places for Gavin and Vivian to sleep, eat, and just sit. They are comfortable and secure. These days, we mostly use them when one of us needs to feed both babes at once or when one of us needs to take a shower (we just put them in the seats on the bathroom floor and give them a toy), but G & V will still sleep in one if the time is right. These bouncy seats have saved our lives on numerous occasions. We just hook them in and do whatever it is that we need to do. It's glorious. Well, they just don't work as well as they used to.

Just the other day, I was putting the kids to bed with their bedtime bottles. I had each babe in a bouncy seat and I was sitting in the middle shhh-ing and lightly bouncing them. Viv fell asleep immediately. Then, Gavin slowly drifted off to sleep. Once they're both asleep, I usually put them to bed individually. I picked up Viv and started to carry her to her room. I got a few feet away and Gavin (our amazing sleeper) woke up for no apparent reason and started screaming. So that Viv wasn't woken up, I quickly ran upstairs with her away from Gavin. I placed her in her crib, shhh-ed her some more and then left the room. Meanwhile, Gavin was screaming the entire time. When I got back downstairs (where the lights were already really dim), Gavin was not where I left him! Crap! I didn't even notice that the bouncy chair wasn't where I left it either. I looked everywhere for a few seconds and couldn't find him, even though he was SCREAMING. I tried to focus in on the crying and then- I- saw- him. He had leaned over in the bouncy seat, gotten on all fours (still strapped into the seat), crawled around with the bouncy seat on his back, and was now stuck in the corner of the room. All I could see was the bottom of the bouncy seat; he was underneath. Don't worry, he was fine.

The next day, he got out of the bouncy seat by flipping it over (while still being strapped in) 2 more times. I guess they just don't work like they used to.

We're movin' on up...

... to the big kid car seats!

Gavin and Vivian officially grew out of their

infant car seats last week. Tear.

March Photobooth Fun

Couch Love

Fireplace Love

Fridge-Obsessed

Tickled

Strawberries & Bananas

Gav & Viv have recently begun eating cut up bananas and strawberries. They love eating these two fruits. At least I thought they did. On day one, they both stuffed their faces. On day two, Gavin continued to stuff his face, while Viv ate a few strawberry pieces and then was only really interested in the bananas. Finally on day three, Gavin still loved it all, but Princess Vivian decided that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with anything strawberry and only wanted a little banana. She ate a few pieces of banana and then started fussing. What was she fussing about? I ran down the list. Was she done eating? No. Did she want to get out of her high chair? No. Did she want milk? No. So, I went into the kitchen to get another banana for Pig Gavin and Vivi watched me. Still fussing. As I got close to the microwave, she stopped. Silence. I looked over at her and she was smiling and kicking her feet. "What do you want?" I asked. She just smiled. I turned back around and saw a bag of graham crackers on the microwave. I picked them up, "Do you want these?" More kicking and smiling ensued. As my friend Elizabeth said, "Graham crackers are like baby crack." She's right. I gave Viv a few graham crackers and she stayed in her high chair for another 25 minutes. She LOVES those damn things.

Here's a video of Gav & Viv eating some bananas...

Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

Gavin is an active little man (except when he's sleeping of course). Extremely active. He crawls everywhere, stands on everything, and climbs over and under all kinds of objects. There's a lot of danger involved in this hobby of his. In fact, he has been known to fall 10-15 times in one day. He usually falls on his face, which means that more often than not, he has a nice deep purple bruise smack dab in the middle of his forehead. Well, the other day he had two huge bruises on his head. He looked pitiful. If this is any indication of Gavin's future, we're in trouble.

The Twins are TEN Months Old!

Today, Vivian and Gavin are TEN months old! To celebrate, we decided to write about their top ten favorite things.

Gavin's Top Ten

10. Knocking over books that Mom and Dad have stood up

9. Falling asleep in his car

8. Playing with his paci, refusing his paci, playing with his paci, refusing his paci, playing with his paci...

7. Driving his car up to the cabinets to trying and open them

6. Eating bananas, strawberries, eggs, graham crackers, cheerios, puffs, and anything else he can get his hands on

5. Laughing at/chasing the dog

4. Standing, climbing, and sitting on the fireplace

3. Escaping from the baby cage

2. Exploring the fridge whenever its open (post to come)

And his #1 favorite thing to do as a 10-month-old...

1. Doing whatever he wants to do without being confined

Vivian's Top Ten

10. Playing with toys that spin

9. Watching Chubbs run around

8. Kicking her feet and flapping her arms whenever she's really happy or really angry

7. Standing, climbing, and sitting on the fireplace

6. Playing with strings, ribbon, & cords (unplugged of course)

5. Examining her toys

4. Making her mean scrunch face

3. Yelling

2. Eating graham crackers

And her #1 favorite thing to do as a 10-month-old...

1. Poking her tongue in her cheek and/or sticking it out of her mouth

Happy 10-Month Birthday V & G!

A Letter to Our Dog

Dear Mr. Chubbs,

I'm sorry that we have to move your dog bowls everyday, sometimes several times a day. I'm sorry that on some days, like today, you have trouble finding your food. I'm sorry that you now have to eat behind large objects, furniture, or in other awkward places. There's nothing I can do about it. These two new people in our house are obsessed with everything that belongs to you. I know, you hate them now. But one day, you'll love 'em.

Sincerely,

The two people who forget to feed you

They just can't get enough

Under the Table

Gavin and Vivian love playing under the kitchen table. Gavin especially loves to crawl around under the table and then stand up in between the two chairs.

She's a Mean Face

For some reason, Viv has been making this scrunched up face that looks rather mean lately. It's her mean face. Well actually, we just call it her mean face. She usually does it when she's perfectly happy. Whatever it means, it's hilarious. And yes, she stood up on her own on the other side of our coffee table.

#50: write a rosier rundown post everyday for a month

Well, I can now cross off #50 on my 101 goals in 1001 days list.

Feb 4: Gavin vs. The Cabinets

Feb 5: She's a Punky Kid

Feb 6: Alright Mom, I'm ready for my close-up

Feb 7: MMM... Biscuits

Feb 8: It's definitely a...

Feb 9: The Twins are NINE Months Old!

Feb 10: He wants out...

Feb 11: Payback's a Bitch

Feb 12: The Breakup

Feb 13: Happy Birthday Dada!

Feb 14: Eating Graham Crackers is Fun!

Feb 15: #37: throw a party for someone & #16: go bowling

Feb 16: Similarities

Feb 17: Good Times on the Fireplace

Feb 18: Yummy

Feb 19: Fireside Chats

Feb 20: Two Toofs & And it's gone in a flash...

Feb 21: Sharing Cheerios

Feb 22: Cutie & Off to Charlotte!

Feb 23: Maryland: February 2010

Feb 24: Sleep is...

Feb 25: Drivin'

Feb 26: Concentration

Feb 27: He's a Clothes-Hater

Feb 28: So Tired

March 1: February Photobooth Fun & Contraband

March 2: First Headband & Yesterday...

March 3: He's a Fugitive

March 4: Too Sleepy to Eat

March 5: This post!

Too Sleepy to Eat

He's a Fugitive

Gavin is a fugitive. He's on the run. We've known for a while now that he has some escape artist skills, but we didn't know how big of a role trying to break free of things would play in his life. Whatever you put him in, he's always looking for a way out. Over the past couple of days, Gavin has really been trying to get out of the baby cage. First, he pulls on a side of the cage and sticks his head in between the cage and the wall. This of course causes him a great deal of pain. He screams while quickly pulling his head out. Then, he tries again and again and again, screaming and pulling his head out each time. When it seems like he just can't take it anymore, he braves through the pain, keeping his eye on the prize of freedom, and pushes his little body all of the way through. Success!

Yesterday...

... was tough. Let me just say that there was a significant amount of pooping, crying for no reason, pooping, squealing, pooping, eating of foreign objects, and did I mention there was a lot of pooping? Well just to be clear, there was. But, last night made up for yesterday.

First Headband