M4: Cranky

The past week Mom and Dad have been screwing up my bedtime because they're busy singing at church, so Eve and I decided we should make sure they have time with us before we fall asleep for the night, but it's really hard to stay up late, so we've both been kinda cranky at bedtime lately.

It started a week ago. Peg and Mike came to sit with us and play for a few hours while Mom and Dad were gone, but then they didn't get home until after bedtime. I like bedtime. Mom changes our diapers and puts our pajamas on. They turn down the lights and any other distractions and just focus on us. Then she and Dad give us a bottle until we're full. Then it's times for a book (I like "Green Eggs and Ham", but Eve prefers 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie') and then Mom sings to us, which is my favorite part since her voice is so pretty and then we do prayers, which is Eve's favorite part, because Dad almost gets the prayer right every night, and then they kiss us and put us into bed.

But when they're gone we usually just fall asleep in someone's arms, which is very pleasant and warm, but I miss the books, and the song and prayers. So, four times this week it's been late for bed. Mom and Dad have tried sneaking in bedtime a little later, but, like I said, it's hard to stay up late.

My eyelids get so heavy and then usually my tummy growls because it's been too long since I last ate, but Mom and Dad try to put me to bed anyway, but it's hard to go to sleep with a growly tummy. I try to use the pacifier, but that only works for so long, so I cry to get their attention. Usually Mom comes in a tells me I'm a good girl and that I need to go to sleep.

I KNOW I need to go to sleep, but a growly tummy makes it impossible. But I try to for Mom, especially this morning because we got up so early and didn't let her nap, but it didn't work. Finally, an hour late, my tummy was full and I was ready to go to bed.

Unfortunately, after Dad put me into bed I rolled over and accidentally hit Eve in the face and knocked her pacifier out. I didn't care too much by this point because my eyes, which had already been tired were finally too heavy now that I had a full tummy that I fell asleep, but I guess Mom and Dad had to fix Eve next.

I know they work very hard to take care of us, but they don't always get it right. Most of the time, though, they did. I'll have to figure out a new trick to show them how much I appreciate how much they do.

E3: My favorite things

I told Mommy we need to come up with a way in the title so people know who's entry it is, so we're trying this out. My posts will start with an 'E' since that's the first letter of my name, and Mae's will start with an 'M' from now on, since that's the first letter of her name.

I've been thinking about what I should tell everyone about, and I think I'll tell you some of my favorite things. I have quite a few, even though I'm very young.

My mommy and daddy are my favorite things, along with my sister, but I have favorite things about them. Mommy says this might work better if I give a list, so here goes:

Curling up next to Mae at night in our crib. She's very warm.
Greeting the day with Mommy when she gets me out of the crib.
Waking up Daddy in the morning.
Telling Mae or Mommy all about my dreams.
Feeling the water hit my back when I take a shower with Daddy.
Watching Sherlock jump straight up in the air.
The giant yellow thing on our play saucer.
Robin Pink II
My feet
Mommy's fingers.
A full bottle.
Watching 'Teen Titans' with Mommy in the morning.
Snuggling with Mommy and Daddy.
Pulling off my socks.
Going upside down (I didn't always like this, but lately is been fun)
Sitting in my bouncy seat.
Being outside (but not in the sun)
Sneezing
flower toy


There are probably others, but that's all I can think of right now. I'll write more soon!

A visitor is coming

Mom got really excited last night just before bedtime. She kept repeating that Grandpa Ray was coming and talking about all the fun we'll have. Grandpa Ray has to come play with us because Wendy, who normally takes care of us, is having her own baby this weekend so she'll be busy.

I don't really understand why, because she already takes care of us two babies and Brooklyn, so she's already obviously good at it, but Mom says she'll be extra busy because new babies take more work. Since Eve and I were just new babies I guess she must be right.

I really like going to Wendy's to play, though, because she always smiles a lot at us, and calls us funny names, and Brooklyn, her daughter, plays with me a lot, even though she's a big girl who can walk already. I want to walk sometime; I practice standing all the time so I can get good at it, but Mom says I have a way to go before I'm allowed to do it.

Right now I'm getting better at rolling. Mom can't even leave me alone on the floor to go to the bathroom anymore. The moment I notice she's gone I make sure to roll an extra time so I'm off the blanket. I even got myself almost completely under the couch a couple times, but my head doesn't fit, so instead I just started crying. That'll show her to leave us alone. Of course, it does mean that we have to spend more time in the play pen, which is ok, but I'd rather be able to roll under the stuff in the living room. Eve, of course, doesn't mind either place; she mostly says put, which I don't understand. There's so much to explore, I want to touch and taste it all.

Mom is starting to get really funny lately. She and I will be playing and then she'll move her head away from me and just as I'm getting worried she comes back really quick. She always has her mouth and eyes wide open when she comes back and she looks so silly that I laugh at her. That makes her laugh, and her laughing makes me laugh, so we just laugh a lot at each other. She also roars at us, which at first was kinda scary, but then I noticed Eve thought it was funny, so I tried really hard not to be scared and it worked. Now I just laugh at Mom, too.

Daddy has started dancing with us, too, which I really like, because he moves around the room so I can see everything and try to touch it, though usually he doesn't let me, which I think is unfair. I heard Mom and Daddy talking about 'baby-proofing' the house. That sounds like they'll take away some of the fun stuff in the house. I'll have to talk to Eve about it.

Ok, it's time for my morning nap.

Eve's second post

I LOVE the pool! At first I didn't think I was going to, because Mommy said "Let's go outside and sit in the pool", but what I heard was, "Let's go sit outside in the pooh." Sitting in pooh is one of my least favorite things to do; not even a minute goes by before I cry to let Mommy and Daddy know I need to have my diaper changed.

But this pool thing is really quite fun. It's like an outside bathtub, but it's all pink and has pretty little bees and flowers on it. Mommy and Daddy took a video of it, too and Mommy helped me to load it up, so if you want to watch, here it is.


As you can see, I especially liked being on my back, because then I could splash both my legs and arms, and since I don't yet have very good control over my arms (Mae is much better at that right now), I liked the feeling; it was like the bath, but we were outside and I really like all the noise and stuff outside.

And today we got to go outside again while Mommy and Daddy worked in the yard and some of our neighbors stopped by to say how cute we were, which Mommy and Daddy always like. We also met our 'down the street' neighbor friend who was born just five days before us. I think I liked her, because when her Daddy held her so we could look at each other she didn't cry. I think I heard Mommy say we'd try to get together soon; that would be fun.

Today I've been trying really hard to work on grabbing things the first time I reach for them, like Mae does, but I still can't quite get it. I try, but usually my hands go to the side of whatever I'm reaching for. Although, I am getting better at grabbing Mr. Moo, which is a good thing because it means I can pull him closer so no one can hear the secrets I tell him.

I am getting at standing up when Mommy and Daddy help me. I know this because Mommy keeps telling me I'm getting stronger and stronger. Then she usually pulls me in for a close hug and kiss (those always feel so nice).

Well, it's getting close to bedtime, so Mommy wants to give me my bedtime bottle. Good night!

Mae here

It's a holiday weekend, according to the tv and everyone else, which really hasn't changed much, except that Mom will be home with us on Monday. And I guess it gave both Mom and Dad a whole bunch of energy, because we did so much stuff today!

Mom woke up a little disappointed because it was raining, so we didn't get to the farmer's market until later in the morning, but that was ok, because it meant we gave her more time to sleep, which I already know she appreciates, even though she's always smiling, no matter what time we wake her up. I still woke up on time, but after my morning bottle she snuggled me close on the couch, which always makes me warm and sleepy and we slept together for awhile longer.

At the square there was so much to look at. There were so many babies, and grown up people and everyone kept looking at us and smiling. Mom dropped some sugar on me when she was eating her donut, and she and Daddy kept fussing over Eve, who didn't want to be in the stroller very much. After awhile though, it got to be a bit too exciting, so I remember Eve had mentioned about just closing my eyes to escape for a little bit, but I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up were in a brand new place with lots of loud music.

Mom smiled at me and told me I could sleep more if I wanted to, but that she understood if I didn't. Instead, we all went and sat down at a table with two very nice old ladies who thought I was beautiful and very smart, so I gave them both a big smile.

Finally we went home and played some more before Mom and Dad started acting funny and making all sorts of big plans. Then, Mom changed our clothes, something she never does in the afternoon unless we've spit up, which doesn't happen very often. The clothes were different, too, like a onesie, but without any arms and tighter, too, even on me, and I never fill anything out (says Mom, because I'm a string bean).

But once we got outside it made sense. Mom and Dad had set up a little bathtub outside for us to play in. I admit I did not like baths when I was little. What's to like? Mom had to take off all my layers, inckuding my diaper, and our house is just not very warm in the winter, and then plop me in the kitchen sink, under the bright light and expect me to enjoy it? But, now that I'm older I've started to notice things about baths, like the being naked part is actually fun when it isn't so cold. And there are these silly little white things called bubbles that don't taste very good, but are very shiny, and the water is nice and warm. And splashing.

Splashing is so much fun! I pu my hand in the water and it just feels wet, but if I move my hand up and down quickly it makes a wonderful sound and make the water go all over. I like a lot, but I'm still not big enough to sit up on my own, so Mom had to help me.

It's just been such a fun day; so many new things. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow. Mom said something about a garden. I don't know what that is, I think it's like a play pen for plants. It's getting late, so good night.

From Eve

Mae and Mommy both say it's my turn, so I better get this started. I'm Eve. I'm also five months old, like my sister, and I live with her, my mommy and daddy, and our two dogs, Bailey and Sherlock.

I like Sherlock quite a bit, since he jumps straight up in the air, but Bailey's chin is always dripping water and doesn't feel very pleasant when she comes over to sniff me. I do like that Bailey sleeps by our crib when Mommy and Daddy let her, since I feel safer knowing something so big and wet is protecting us.

Mae and I sleep in the same crib with each other. Sometimes, like in the mornings when I wake up and want to talk about my dreams with Mae I like it. But other times, like last night, it can be a bit of a pain, since Mae has started rolling around a lot and likes to roll towards me and then ends up with her arm thrown over me, even though it's really hot in our room sometimes. And other times she'll just keep pushing me away with her feet and I don't really enjoy that either. But, I always wake up if Mommy or Daddy comes in and tries to take her out. They think I don't notice, but I do.

This afternoon Mommy took us out to lunch with all her coworkers while Daddy stayed at home. We normally spend all of Thursdays with Daddy, but this was nice, too. There were lots of ladies to hold us. Susan, who fed me lunch, has twins that are 19 year-old. That sounds really old. I mean, Mae and I are only 19 weeks old.

The only thing I don't like when Mommy and Daddy take us out in large groups is they always talk about us as if we're not there, rather than talking to us. They let everyone else talk to us. I did get to see Ann and Peg and Sarabeth again. I like all of them. And I do like having everyone smile at me just because Mommy carried me into a room.

There was another little baby there, but no one was paying her as much attention as us. I think it's because she could sit up on her own and feed herself. Mae and I are still fairly helpless, really, even though it feels like we're big girls, because we don't nap much anymore, and we're starting to eat real food (well, I am. Mae won't because she's stubborn) and we can roll over.

I need to work some more on sitting up all by myself. I did it for five whole seconds yesterday before the floor shifted and I began to fall over. I think tonight I'll try it again, but I'll make sure both Mommy and Daddy are home to watch me.

Mae's Day

So, Mom says we're supposed to start keeping a blog because it's just what people to these days. I'm five whole months old and, until today, it's not what I did, so I'm not sure Mom's right, but she IS Mom, so I guess I can't argue.

I'm Mae. I'm five months old and I have a twin sister. At first I didn't know that was weird, but every time we go out people make such a fuss over us and lately I've been noticing that all the other babies we run in to at the stores and park are by themselves, or with an older kid. And everyone always asks Mom if we're twins, so I guess if people have to ask, it mustn't be that common. To me it is. Eve's been with me since forever. I can't even think of a time when she wasn't right there with me.

Fortunately I like her. A lot. She's silly. She bigger than I am, which I don't quite think is fair, since I was a whole pound bigger than her when we were born and now she's more than a pound bigger than me, but she doesn't move as much as I do, so I guess that's why.

She also eats more. She's kind of a pig about it, actually. Last night, Daddy tried giving her applesauce and guess what?! she ate it! Mom tried doing the same thing to me, but nu-uh. I'm not falling for that. It's too much work. Bottles are easy, I can even hold it up by myself. Eve can't do that.

But I do still like her a lot. She laughs at me when I sneeze or cough, which makes me forget that I don't like doing those things, and in the morning before Mom comes to get us out of the crib she listens to me tell her about my dreams. She never interrupts.

I can't really think of anything else right now, so I guess that'll be it. This blogging thing isn't all bad, I guess. But I will make Eve write next time.

Tales from Twin Land, the initial post

Well, here goes. If nothing else, I'll just save this for the girls to have when they're a bit older.