Paccy and potties

I know, know I, I always have an excuse as to why I havent blogged lately. BUT truth be told a few big things have been happening in our house the last 2 weeks. They involve two very important things. Paccys and potties. I know sounds so exciting but really it took some work.

Paccys- Many of you know I have attempted to kick the paccy habit a few times and FAILED with a bog fat F. I knew the boys were ready but very strongly attached. I kept making excuses as to why I needed to put it off. First I got pregnant and was so tired I was napping when they napped, then I was to busy, after that came the potty (more on that later) and I didnt want to many changes at once. Lastly we got sick (10 days of coughing no fun). We were already down to only getting them in bed. I spend a lot of time in Target (we are there at least once a week). Well the boys BEGGED for pillow pets every time they saw them. So we started talking about the paccy fairy. We told the boys all about how one day she would come and leave a gift for them and take the paccy away forever. That she only comes to big boys and girls. When they started telling me this I moved on to asking them what they wanted and pointing out the pillow pets in Target telling them that one day soon the fairy would bring them one if that is what they wanted. The whole process took about two weeks. We knew it was time when we would put the boys down and they would take their paccy and tell us about the fairy.

This last weekend we were at Erick's mom's and we told her about our plan. We were at Target to get toothpaste and showed her the pets. She decided to get them and let the boys pick the ones they wanted. When we got back to her house I went and tossed the paccys.

Owen and Wim the turtle

Ethan and T-bone the dog

We had the boys name their own pets and whenever they asked about the paccy we asked them right back. The boys always responded with "the fairy came and took paccy forever". We had about 5 min of crying/asking for the paccy the first nap and about two days of asking without crying. They are doing AWESOME without it.

Potties- We have been working on using the potty for some time now. Not forcing but letting the boys know it is there and putting them on it when they want. We were only making them use it before bath. In the last two weeks we have stepped up our game and the boys are rising to the occasion. I am extremely proud of Ethan. Im sure Erick will agree that when we started this we thought that Ethan would train last. He proved us wrong. He has decided he no longer wants the rewards. If I have him in a diaper and tell him to use it he has and will cry. He hasnt pooped in underwear in a few weeks and we are able to take him out in underwear without accidents. He even made it the 2 hr drive to and from Erick's mom's house dry. Owen is totally in it for the jelly beans. And he knows how to work the system. If we are home they are in undies for the most part. We keep the undies in the bathroom under the sink. Accidents arnt a big deal and the boys pick their own undies out. So far so good.

My boys are growing up at a rapid pace. Yes I know that doing this now could mean doing it again after the new baby comes but I am glad we are laying down the foundation now. It isnt hurting the boys and they are loving the attn and praise.

I will try my best to keep you updated. PS No new news on the pregnancy. We still dont know the gender and are looking forward to finding out at the party. Lots of movement and kicking going on.

Escape artist

Owen is an escape artist. He loves to see what he can get into or out of. It is no longer safe to buckle him in his highchair/booster because he can twist and get out. It is sad to say it is safer to leave him unbuckled so he can just get down without the fight or fall risk.

This need to escape is also in the bedroom. First it was his crib now it is the room itself. The problem is that he wakes before 6 and he wants to come in our room. This was all fine when he was trapped in his room by the closed door. Now the game has changed because he can open doors. So mommy thought she was being slick and got a knob cover. I thought those damn things were kid proof! Owen opened the door and tried to get in our bed the very first night.

Now what? He can knock down/ climb over gates. He can open the door (even with the safety knob on). I think it is a safety hazard to physically lock them in the room. So what do I do?

Little Monsters

If you at all noticed the lack of posts it is because I no longer have 2 sweet little boys. I have MONSTERS. They are taking joy in driving me batty. Limits are being tested. They both like to wait til my back is turned to do something (usually the thing brother just got in trouble for). I am having difficulty keeping them out of the books, and DVDs as well as off of the table. EVERYTHING is a jungle gym. And if they can get to the top before I can make them get down they proudly put their hands in the air and yell "tada!" I have to keep telling myself that it is just a phase. BUT let me tell you correcting the same thing 20 times in 4 mins is not fun. Naps are spent recovering or trying to get as much housework as I can seeing as it is no longer safe to do anything wile they are awake. Bedtime Is spent cleaning up from dinner and spending time with Erick. So I am sorry for not posting how smart, cute, talented etc my kids are at this time in some time but right now I think they are MONSTERS. Now it is off to bed because they seem to think 6 am is a good time to wake up now.

Big boy beds

This is what the boys room looks like.



But the last two days Owen has decided to prove that he can escape the crib. Today that resulted in a rainstorm of q-tips all over the room and Ethan getting really pissed that Owen was out and he wasn't. The good news is that the boys cant turn a doorknob. The bad news is they can lock their bedroom door.

So this morning Erick and I talked and decided to make the boys room look like this




Their reaction to seeing the big boy beds...



This is all great except it was HELL getting them to nap today. It took almost an hour for Ethan to get it an fall asleep. 2 hours later Owen was still up. He finally fell asleep on the floor in front of the door so I couldn't get in. Owen ended up sleeping about 45 min and Ethan slept a little less than 2 hrs. We will keep with this and see how it goes.

car trip with toddlers part 2

I know I know "where is part 1?" well part one is Not off to a good start. Really though if that is the most interesting thing to happen to us I am OK with that.

After our exciting and late start we finally got on the road at 3pm (only 9 hrs after when we were hoping to make the trip. We were mean parents and wouldnt let the boys nap until we got in the car or heard from the Dr. They were tired. So after being up for 9 hrs they finally took a 3 hr nap while we drove. When we stopped for dinner we found a place with a play area. When we sat down to eat we read a sign that said "no children under 4 or in diapers". WE were the only ones in the place so I begged the guy to turn a blind eye and promised that the boys wouldnt climb into the tubes. He allowed us to play. When it was time to get into the car the boys went willingly having spent a good 30 min running. We got them strapped in and put on an Elmo movie. Ethan started singing as soon as he saw the red furry monster. And not another peep was heard from them. I kept checking to see if they were sleeping but nope they were hooked on Elmo. When that ended we had to stop for a second so I could change the movie (the boys are still rear facing) it was a far reach to the player so I didnt want to do it at top speeds. The boys love cars and it has a good soundtrack so that went on next. Not another peep. After continued checking we saw that at around 9:30-10p Ethan was trying to block out the light with his blanket so the movie went off. Owen was out cold and we were only about 2 hrs form our destination. We thought we were in the clear.

Not long after the movie went off Owen woke and he decided he was done being in the car. He would cry for his paccie, i would give it and he would throw it. Then the same process for juice, water, blanket, goldfish and brown bear book. But at this point we are 40 min from where we are headed and it is a little after 11p. Rather then stopping and fighting over getting back in the car we continued on our way and with Owen's process.

At midnight we pull up get the boys out and into the house. I get them a snack and come milk. We let them run while we bring things in and set up beds. As soon as they saw the beds they were asking for nigh night (poor things). We go ahead and do the normal bath process just quicker and get them into bed. Not a peep was heard til after 9am. As soon as the boys were up we got ready for breakfast. By the time we were leaving for breakfast they were asking for bed again (only took 15 min to get ready). Breakfast and family visits then nap.

The boys really are taking it well but are really testing their limits because we are in a new place. Today is more family and naps. Tomorrow another 8-10 hour drive. I hope this one is as easy as the last one.

ummmm yeah

Ok so I couldn't think of a title. I thought I should do a better post seeing as the last one was so short. 4th of July was spent with my mom tired and sun burned doing a yard sale. We cant complain to much because we did make some money.

Being away from cribs and holding the boys so much did cause a little disruption in the sleeping pattern. this is what I found when I heard Ethan playing in his crib during nap.







Evern grocery shopping was hard work


But the 4th of July was still fun





After a hard weekend I thought the boys needed to let loose and have fun.



In other news...Owen got up on his knees and rocked today. I am excited because that is the next step moving towards crawling.

a start of something new

Our normal schedule:

7am wake bottle 7oz
730-8 bouncer chairs (must sit up 30 min for reflux)
8-9 floor play/ baby yoga
9-11 nap
11 wake bottle 6-7 oz
1130-12 boppys (must sit up 30 min for reflux)
12-1 floor play/ tummy time
1-2 nap
2 wake bottle 7-8 oz
230-3 bouncers (must sit up 30 min for reflux)
3-6 play/tummy/yoga (if I am lucky there will be a 30 min nap in there)
6 bottle 7 oz
6-630 cuddles and snuggles with mommy and daddy
630-7 bath book and top off 1-2 oz
7 bed

Bed time is ALWAYS at 7 but they may not wake til 8 pushing back all bottles before 6 by one hr.

Well last night the boys slept in their own beds for the first time (well Ethan was in the crib and Owen in the pack n play). They slept til almost 8 so we just let them talk in there til 8. I got them up while Erick made bottles. They finished eating at about 830. We put them in their highchairs and ate breakfast ourselves. Then we did something else new. WE STARTED OATMEAL.

Before playing with spoons:


What is this thing?


I dont need your help I can eat on my own

Owen had to have his spoon taken away because he kept actually getting it in his mouth but he was gagging himself on it.

First bites:








After all messy:

How not to beat the heat

It has been 2 days of the high 90's here. My boys have started a new phase at the same time. Can you guess what that is. Yep they only want to nap if I will hold them and let them drool down me. FUN TIMES

Easter and more

For Easter we went down to Salinas. It totally messed with the boys. First off being in the car on the drive there made the boys nap later then they normally do. When we got to the house they were just waking up. They knew it was time to shower and eat (we hit traffic and the drive took a little longer than normal). So I go to bathe them and they are not happy. They want to eat. This task is not made easy by people that want to make sure all is well and see the babies. Finally I get them bathed, dressed and downstairs to eat. I had the bottles made before we left the house and in a cool case but that meant I was offering cold bottles. That didn't go over well but they didn't want to wait for warm ones. To add to it when we are at home we don't have company during baths and bottles well you cant help that when you are the company. So while feeding the boys we had eager grandparents wanting to ooo ahh and fawn. Which is fine but distracting. Once we got the boys fed and down (took almost 45 min longer than normal). WE got to eat. Once we got to bed we were in for it. Ethan woke up at midnight screaming we would just get him down and he would do it again. This went on every 45 min from midnight to 7 when they got up. We hadnt had a night like that sense maybe week 3.

Saturday we went to visit Erick's grandma. She was excited to see the boys and we hung out and watched the Giants game with Erick's dad. When we got back to Erick's moms we were informed that more company was coming tonight. In my head I am envisioning a repeat of the night before. See our boys know the schedule and the bath, butts, books, bottles and bed pattern isnt something we EVER mess with. Im sure I wasnt as nice as i should have been when I found that out and was trying to get the boys routine done but we did bring them down for family to see. Then we had pizza and played cards. Erick won. Then bed.

Sunday.... slow morning then lunch at Erick's grandmas. The boys got a chance to meet family they had not yet met and i got a chance to show off a little. Erick's family was impressed that I could tell the difference in my boys cries and what the cry was for. hehehe that was fun showing off. I am with the boys all day every day of course I know what each cry means and who is doing it. When we left there we headed to Erick's best friend's house. He had a little boy the month after our boys were born. This was our first meeting. He was so small compared to my behemoths. From there we headed home. We made a quick stop at my mom's so she could see the boys on Easter. Ahhhhh Home!

Monday... Nothing interesting.

Tuesday...ahhh another busy day. The boys and I were out of the house by 8 am. Why you ask because we wanted to have some fun. We were to meet my MoMs group at the Oakland zoo. First we had a little stop to make. My friend Ariel (from wishing for my miracle link on the side) need some adult interaction too. I went a little out of my way to pick her and her son R (20 days older then the boys) up. We had a great tiring hot cold day at the zoo. Then went back to Ariel's house and learned some moves and took some pics.


The boys and R on the floor

On the way home I had even more fun. I hit traffic. Why did I hit traffic? Well for one I left late and it was rush hour. But the biggest thing that made my drive home taxing is that people are afraid to drive in hail. Yes you read that right there was hail.

Wednesday...One of the coolest things happened. Erick came home from work and I was showing him some of the new baby yoga that I learned (from a book Ariel suggested). Well the boys, Erick and I were on the floor and Owen laughed. I mean a real honest to god laugh. I am so happy Owen did that for the first time with Erick home and he got to witness that first with me. It was the best sound. He did it for about 3 min and now refuses to do it again (little stinker).

what I didnt do anything

That is how I found the boys this morning after they woke up at 7:45. The funny thing is they slept good last night 6:30pm - 2am 2:30-7:45am I think its time for two beds and that makes me sad.

ZZZZZzzzzZZZZZzzzzZZZZZ

Ok Ok I know much of my blog has been about sleep lately. I cant help it. Sleep is a large part of my world right now. If they don't sleep I don't sleep. If I don't sleep I'm not happy. If mommy isn't happy NO ONE is happy.

Well I am happy...VERY happy. Ethan slept 7 hrs or more for the last 3 nights. That's right my good eater is now also my good sleeper. Its kinda funny because he used to be the one to keep us up at night because we were afraid not to watch him. Now all we need is for Ethan to teach Owen his trick because we are still only getting 4 hrs a night out of him. Owen has been sleeping more as well but it more like between 5-7 hrs.

And you cant talk about sleep without seeing how cute they are sleeping. And yes I know Ethan drooled yucky stuff but I was not about to wake him to clean it.

sleep

So last night started like any other night. Bath, lotion, book, bottle then bed.



well I guess the story really worked because...

Owen
730-955 2.5 hrs
1030-124 3 hrs
205-630 4.5 hrs

Ethan
730-124 6 hrs
205-350 2 hrs
440-620 1.6 hrs

see that 6 hours from Ethan.

Today's happenings

I have a few things I need to talk about that have happened in the past 24hrs or so. Most of which is good news.

We started an improved bedtime routine. Now the boys get play time, bath, massage, book, bottle, swaddle, then bed. Here is how it really goes. Erick plays with the boys while I prep the bath. When it is almost ready he cleans butts (most the time someone is poopy at this time) and gets the first baby nude. As I am washing whoever is first Erick is getting the other one ready. When washed I bring the wet baby wrapped in a towel to the living room and take the other one. Erick begins to dry, massage, lotion, and dress that baby. When I am done washing the other one I join them. We finish about the same time so while sitting on the floor I pass the baby I have off to Erick who reads them a book. I get up and go make bottles. When the book is over they eat, swaddle then go down. This seems to run smoothly maybe a little to smoothly. Both nights we have done this the boys have fallen asleep in our laps eating.

Last night we tried this new thing. We decided to let the sleeping baby lie. The boys were in bed by 730. We sat up and finished things that needed to be done. The boys had been eating again at about 10 or 1030. We waited to hear them stir and heard nothing. 11pm nothing. Finally at 1130 we decided to just go to bed. We were finally woken up at 1220. yes that's right nearly 5 hrs. So I get up not even a min later Erick has to get up because Ethan decided he didn't want to sleep in he wanted fed too. So they go back down 330 Ethan decided he is hungry. We let Owen sleep. hahah he fooled us 10 min into Ethan's bottle Owen was up and hungry. They go back down. 713 comes and both boys are hungry. That's right we were going to let the sleeping baby sleep and they decided that they wanted up too.

By the time the 713 bottle was empty the boys were awake and we started our busy day. First was Owen's heart appointment. We got there a little early and the place was empty (same place I had my NST done) but we still had to wait. When we get to a room I strip Owen he is measured and weighed (not releasing this info til tomorrow when I tell you about them getting shots). The Dr comes in and listens to his heart and says it will be about 15 min til we can get the u/s done. That 15 min turned into almost 40. The guy comes in to get us and tells us to bring everything because we are going to switch rooms after the u/s. So we pack everything and go into the room with the machine. I hold Owen while they get the pictures they need. By this time though the appointment has run into bottle time and he is no longer holding still or being quiet. They finally get the needed pics and we gather everything again and move rooms again. Once in our third room I got Owen dressed and made bottles. About the time the bottle were made the dr came in. Are you ready for this? I dont think you are. So the dr saw me put mylicon... just kidding ...INNOCENT... It is already closing and working itself out. There is no need for a follow up or anything. Ok really the dr did see me with the mylicon and started this whole discussion about how and why it worked. Then we left.

From the Dr we had to go straighten out Ethan's social security number. We find the office and it is full. We get our number and sit down. The boys are still hungry so we start to feed them the bottle made at the Drs. I just get Owen eating and my number is called. CRAP I don't want to stop him but i need to do this. I hand him off to Erick who starts to feed him. I leave everyone at the seats and take the stuff needed to get Ethan's card. I just get to the window when I hear Ethan crying to eat too. Poor Erick. I try to hurry the lady. i get the print out and rush back to the seat. Erick has Owen in his lap and is hunched over feeding Ethan in his car seat. I take Owen and we decide to sit there and feed the boys then finish our errands.

After finding lunch for ourselves we dropped off some papers at the school for a friend. I love taking the boys to the school they get oohed and ahhed over. Then we went and opened savings accounts for the boys. After that it was off to target then home.

Whew what a day!!!

EDIT: Erick was just putting away the paperwork form SSA and noticed that the lady that entered our info wrong. Wrong address #, apartment # missing and wrong zip. Guess I get to go back to social security tomorrow. crap I know its my fault for not checking it while I was there but I needed to help feed my babies.

Life happens

I have been so caught up with the boys that I have been a bad blogger. We went on our first overnight trip with the boys and let me say they did great but it was hard on me. They stuck to their schedule which was wonderful but unwanted input and advice can get overwhelming at times. I dont understand how people can poopoo the wishes of the parents or even blatantly ignore them. BUT that is another story for another time.

Our little trip took us to my MILs house so that Erick's grandma could meet the boys on her 89th birthday. She was so happy to get to meet them and hold them. Over the weekend the boys also met Erick's aunt and uncle. I really missed our small apartment because we stayed on the second floor about as far in the house as we could have gotten from the kitchen. Going down stairs holding a baby while half awake at 3 am is not something I enjoyed and is something that is enough to wake you from any amount of drowsyness when you get to a landing and think you are missing a stair. That is how we spent our Valentines day feeding babies and visiting family away from home. Romantic right? To add to the romance Erick got me exactly one thing for Valentines day. Are you ready for this? He got me NOTHING. No card...No note... No chocolates... No not one little thing.







In addition to the family the boys met while we were away we stopped at my grandpas and the boys met more family. All this meeting family has made me realize one thing. When babies are around you you have no personal space. People touch you and them and sit as close to you as they can. It doesnt matter what you are doing. They want to see and touch the baby so they will.

The boys have a lot going on this week too. Thursday is Owens heart check and Friday the boys get their first round of shots. I cant wait to find out how much they weigh. It finally looks like Ethan is going to be bigger then Owen for the first time sense birth.

To sleep for chance to dream

Well it is 11:38pm and rather than being in my nice warm bed I am on here writing. A few min ago when I noticed that it was after 11:30 I figured that at this point I might as well stay up because by the time I get into bed and comfy it will be time for the boys to get up and eat. This is getting easier and easier which is strange because last night I got about 2.5 hrs and the night before though was more still wasnt 8 hrs.

So the whole sit the boys up for an hour after eating doesnt work. They are just as likely to spit up if we hold them for an hour and put them down as they are if we hold them for 30 min and put them down. So now we are trying mixing formulas if that doesnt work we will add rice cereal to the bottles. Today it wasnt formula coming up but chunky water ... yum.

The boys are getting stronger and more vocal. Again Owen rolled over while no one was in the room. Of course the little stinker wont do it when we are looking. They both are holding heads up and looking around for short bits. They also squawk in conversation. It is so funny to watch Chloe's reaction when she yells at them and they yell back.

Things are still in the air for a lot of things with the boys but I wouldnt trade it for the world. Yeah some days are tiring and I want nothing more than to take a nap but when you look in those little eyes you just melt. Owen has this big pouty lip that would make you hand over your life savings if that is what he wanted and Ethan has this little half smile that makes up for all the tears and vomit.

Good news

Ethan is starting to catch up!!! His appetite on the new formula is great. He is eating about 50ml at a feeding. It still takes twice as long to feed Ethan as it does to feed Owen but he is eating so we are happy. Owen is rapidly outgrowing the preemie clothes. shoulders on outfits are starting to pull but Im not really for him to be in the next size up yet lol. Last night for the first time Erick and I slept at the same time. We slept while they slept. I think it was really hard for Erick at first. He kept getting out of bed to check on them. After about the 3rd night feeding it looked like it was easier for him. It really was great not only did I get just over 6 hrs sleep last night (even if it was broken in 2 hr chunks) I got to sleep with Erick which is something I really missed.