On Due Dates and Don'ts
The folks posting messages on my local twin group's web site seem to think 8 weeks is a peak of horrible. Can't say I disagree where fussiness and refusal to be pacified are concerned. The problem with pinning my hopes on things getting better in the immediate future is that all the experts' sleep and other milestones are based on weeks after the due date. So this could mean no relief for three weeks or more. This is a bit daunting. Yes, I know this will ease up; unlike with Ada I know this stage will pass. The problem is that I am tired now. (On the up side, I have gotten some good naps when kind friends have stopped by to walk the babies - Thanks!)
Since We Both Know Preschoolers are Filthy
A woman at the farmers market approached Mira, who was in the stroller. She and her young son looked at Mira, and then the kid reached out and touched Mira''s face. Without asking me first. More importantly, without the mother asking. I know from experience the range of nasty that a four year old can carry around. Please don't touch my child with those hands, unless you are prepared to sit up with a cranky, stuffy-nose baby in three days. Thanks.
Smiles, Everyone Smiles!
Week 8 brought a happy milestone for both Mira and Ian - they both smiled for the first time. Wel, they have smiled before, but only those internal "I feel good with my full belly and cozy cradling" smiles that are nice to see but not related to the kids interacting with us. Early in the week, Chris was holding Mira. She was alert, not hungry, and not fusssy. Ada started cooing and talking to Mira, who rewarded her big sister with big toothless grins. It was great that we saw those smiles together, and even better than Ada was the smiles' recipient. She was thrilled, and it has encouraged her to interact more with her siblings. Thursday afternoon, while I was sitting outside with my feet in the kitty pool, Ian smiled at me. Now that we have reached this milestone, can crawling, talking and driving be far off?
Their Best Trick
I don't know if it is because Ada was pretty much exclusively breast-fed when she was two months old, but Ada was not much of a spitter. We burped her, but my memory is that she rarely spit up. Not so with Ian and Mira - they routinely spit up, whether they have been fed by bottle or breast. This is fine; it is not as if I am wearing fine silks and linens. But. Ian and Mira have somehow figured out that the best place to spit up is down my shirt, between my breasts. It has happened more times than I would like to admit - I burp one of the babies, and do or don't get anything out of them. Then I turn the baby to face me and suddenly: BRAAAP! a big spit-up is sliding down my chest into my bra. Chris laughed when it happened again this morning, saying "I think it is their best trick." Best trick indeed. Let's see who's laughing when then learn to spit up on his pants zipper.
My Number One is Still So Number One
Ada has really been fantastic. The first few weeks were pretty rough, and sure, we still see more than our share of tantrums and difficult behavior. But overall, and given the abrupt change in her circumstances, Ada has been amazing. She loves Ian and Mira (especially Mira, who she favors possibly from some gender-based bond) and enjoys holding them, feeding and bathing them, and offering opinions about why they might be crying. But more importantly, she has shown herself willing to play independently in a way that is fairly new for her. When I need the time to pump or to put the dishes away she jabbers away to her dolls, busts out the pens and stamps, or reads herself books. She still needs (and deserves) a lot of attention, but she has been able to adjust to our changed world, showing a lot of maturity and charm.
Edited to add:
Chris is still the best husband ever. We had a night nurse come for part of the night (more on that later, hopefully) and we both got up with the babies at 2:30. Mira woke up again around 4:30, and he got her fed and back to sleep before bringing her to me in bed and then taking care of Ian. I just left Chris and Mira snuggled up in bed together.
Chris is incredibly kind, much nicer than I am, and about eleven thousand times as patient. All I have on my side of the balance sheet is the good sense to have found him so early in my life.
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