Wednesday, March 27, 2019

The Twins: Month Two


The twins are two months today!

Cami, Katy, and Catarina.  Katy can't be left out. 
The girls are sleeping more consistently at night and sometimes for longer stretches.  They are cranky in the evenings; the witching hour is definitely a real thing with these babies.  They love (LOVE) being held and do well in the various baby carriers we have (three different ones, to be exact, because I'm addicted to baby wearing).  They are learning to use a pacifier out of necessity.

In one of our tandem carriers.

Cameron eats faster, more efficiently, and more volume than Catarina.  She smiles a lot but also frequently gives us an intense stare that almost feels condescending.  She makes serious faces like Katy did when Katy was a baby.  When she's really tired, Cameron has a dry, raspy cry that sounds so sad.  She's a pro at falling asleep in the swing.

One of Cami's serious looks.


Catarina likes to grab the neck of our shirts or a clump of my hair in the ball of her fist.  When she's awake, she likes to tilt her head back as far as she can.  Her cries elevate to all out screaming in very little time.  When in her car seat, her cry transforms to a foamy, teeth-clenched, gurgling mess that turns her face red as a tomato.  She started making the sweeting little cooing sounds within the last week.


Catarina's hair is lighter than Cami's hair.

Tilting her head back while riding in one of our tandem carriers.
People talk about the bond between twins, and I swear I've seen videos of infant twins calmed by each other's presence.  Our twins appear to have none of this special bond so far.  When we leave them next to each other, they are either unaware of each other's presence or they are annoyed by each other's uncontrollably flailing arms and legs.  One time Chris left the girls next to each other in the crib and returned to find Cami crying because Catarina was sucking on Cami's ear.  So, yes, we're still waiting for that magical twin bond to develop.

Katy, however, finds endless entertainment in her sisters.  She sings to them. She hugs and kisses them.  She tickles and smashes them.  She asks if they can watch her play.  She talks to them and uses a baby voice to pretend they respond.  She is eager to help choose their clothes, throw their diapers in the trash, and bring us baby items we need.  She has more fun with all the baby gear in the house, and thinks it is so exciting that she sits between the babies in the car.

Reading to her sisters.

Breakfast time with Cami.

Bath time with Cami.

Bedtime snuggles.
I expected Katy to be disappointed with the twins' inability to interact with her or even jealous of the attention they demand, but Katy doesn't seem to mind much how demanding the babies are or that her relationship with them so far is very one-sided.  She really is a fantastic big sister, which she proudly declares multiple times a week.
Grandma and Papo came to help us when Chris, Katy, and I were sick. 



Cami's smile!

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Grow Babies, Grow

The twins eat all. the. time.  All that milk is starting to show in their chubby legs, bellies, and faces.  The twins are also awake and alert a lot more now.  The sleepy newborn phase is so, so short.  

One week.

Seven weeks.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Katy's Art

This week Katy came home from Adventurers with an awesome piece of art.  Chris explained that her teacher, Ms. Esli, asked the kids to draw a picture of a story from the bible.  Katy drew this picture of the story of Jonah by herself, without any prompting or help.

At first I thought it was an upside-down turtle.  My mom thought it was Noah's ark until she saw the fish eating a "ghost."
I think she did a fabulous job for a little girl who only recently turned four-years-old.

Katy has also been drawing our house and our family a lot lately.  Here is her version of our house, including the posts on our front porch.  We are all standing out front, Chris and I each holding a baby.


I cannot get enough of this girl's drawings right now.

Spanglish Conjugations

Earlier this week, as we were waiting for some ice cream to thaw so we could serve it, Katy told me, "El helado esta muy freeze."  I explained to Katy that the proper word to describe the ice cream is frozen.  She thought for a  few seconds and responded, "Es que Español es muy difícil."  Poor girl.  She thought frozen was a Spanish word.  We then discussed the proper sentence in both English and Spanish.  A couple days later, Katy said, "esta muy freeze," to describe a popsicle.  Apparently, we eat a lot of frozen novelties, and Katy needs a little more help with the correct use of frozen/congelado.

Later during the week, Katy was standing next to one of her baby sisters, who was sitting in the infant swing.  Katy pushed the swing seat and then told me, "La empushe."  I looked at her quizzically and asked her if she meant, "La empuje."  She grinned and explained that Grandma Lulu uses empushe.  I doubt Grandma Lulu uses the  clearly Spanglish "empushar," but I am impressed with Katy's ability to correctly conjugate a fake verb in the preterite tense.  At least her Spanglish wasn't a total loss this time.



Friday, March 1, 2019

Important Firsts

Baby books document all kinds of firsts in a baby's life; first smile, first tooth, first food, first steps.  Lifeasasias documents other important firsts, like baby's first trip to Target.  Cameron and Catarina, on March 1, 2019, you took your first trip to Target.  If you are anything like your mom and her family, this will be the first of many, many trips to this shopping mecca. 

Mom with her twins, Katy with her twins, and Grandma Dorothy bringing up the rear.