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!

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.

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.

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.

Welcoming the Twins to the World

A big thank you to Norma Hess Photography for beautiful photos from the twins' birth and their first hours in this world.

Going to the OR to deliver. 

Catarina's first seconds in this world. 

Meeting Catarina. 

Chris gushing over Cameron.  You can see the vacuum mark on her head.  Poor baby. 

Chris celebrating.  He was so excited to have two girls. 

Catarina in her warmer; nurses working to make Cameron respond in the background.

Cameron finally responding while Catarina rests in the background.

Cameron.

Cameron holding Papi's fingers minutes after her birth. 

Photos from two days after the twins were born.  Mom and Catarina. 

Catarina (right) was quite a bit bigger than Cameron (left). 

Cameron on left, Catarina on right. 

Papi and Catarina. 

A little door decor.  Grateful to have carried the twins to such a healthy size.

Tiny kisses for a tiny hand.

Cameron cozy with mom.

Catarina.

A baby for each of us. 

Cameron was so tiny and skinny. 

Cameron was also more alert from the beginning. 

Somehow all of this baby was inside me just two days earlier. 

A chest full of baby. 

Alert little Cameron.

Her dress says "Super Awesome Sister"

Our first family picture as a family of five. 

Valentine's Day 2019

Despite having newborn twins, we somehow managed to makeValentine's day a special day for Katy.  She needed it, too.  She was so excited to go to her Valentine's party at her ballet class wearing her Valentine's socks, decorate heart-shaped cookies, and make a little Valentine's party for Chris at the dining room table.  She even wore her princess dress all day to celebrate. 

Ready for the ballet party. 

Her Valentine notes from Mom and Dad.

Decorating heart-shaped cookies. 

Big Sister Blues and Privileges

Katy has been such a loving, helpful, and enthusiastic big sister.  I really am proud of how well she has handled the changes in her life over the last four weeks.

My aunt Denise visited last week to help with the twins while Chris was out of town for work.  On Wednesday evening, Denise took Katy to her Adventurer's class in McAllen.  Katy fell asleep on the drive home.  A nap so close to bedtime is never a good thing and usually makes for an extra cranky Katy come bedtime.

Despite the nap, the bedtime routine went well and Katy was in bed soon after arriving home.  Half an hour later, however, she was standing in the kitchen telling me she could not sleep because she napped in the car.  I knew she was tired, so I told her to go back to bed several times.  Katy eventually asked me to lay down with her but I was busy feeding one of the babies.  After several minutes of discussion about going to bed, I told Katy that part of being a big sister is sharing me with the babies sometimes.   All of the sudden, Katy began sobbing.  I wrapped my free arm around her and asked why she was crying.  She responded, "because of the babies." And then she added, "I don't want to be a big sister."

My aunt, who had finished feeding the other baby by this time, offered to finish with the baby I had.  As I walked Katy to bed and laid down next to her, I could see that she was trying not to cry anymore.  I explained to Katy that it's okay to cry when we are sad about things changing.  This, of course, made Katy cry even more.

A couple days later when Denise left, Katy went with her.  The plan was to spend a night with cousins Elayna and Kaylie and a night with cousins Evie and Elijah before returning home when my parents came to visit.  Katy was so incredibly excited about the trip and the prospect of playing with so many cousins.  She had more fun packing a suitcase, filling a bag with activities for the car ride, and preparing snacks.  When it came time to leave, I talked at length with Katy about her trip: where she would sleep, who she would visit, and how she would return home.  I also explained that going on a trip to visit cousins without mom and dad is something special that big sisters can do but that the babies cannot do.

It was a big week for Katy.  She has her first episode of the big sister blues.  She also went on her first trip without mom and dad (and she loved it, even if she did cry when she came home).

So Small and So Soft

The twins have very soft hair on their tiny little heads.  I'm sure Katy had similarly soft hair when she was a newborn, but I don't remember this little detail.  I want to remember it this time, however.  I want to remember how much I like to run my hands across their soft little heads as they doze in my arms.  Soft, newborn hair is one of my favorite things right now. 

Four-Years-Old and Shopping

Tonight Katy and I went to Target.  We've done this countless times before but this time was extra special because for the first time, Katy had her own money to spend.  She dressed herself in all blue - blue Mary Jane shoes, blue capri leggings, a blue floral shirt, and a blue peacoat.  She proudly carried her money (and nothing else) in a small woven purse embellished with little embroidered flowers.  She talked non-stop about what she would buy as we drove to the store.

When we arrived at Target, Katy first offered to buy popcorn and a drink for us to share.  Touched as I was, I insisted that I buy the snacks.  Fresh popcorn and a bright-blue Icee in hand, we headed for the toys.  We looked at so many toys.  Katy picked several items to put in the basket as possible choices for her money - two different doll sets, a Polly Pocket set, a fairy house, a Cutie Car carrier, a basket for her bike, and a Peppa Pig play set, to name a few.  After we walked the isles, I unloaded all of her choices in a row on the floor and she choose which she wanted to buy.  It was a surprisingly easy decision for her as she quickly eliminated items almost as quickly as I pulled them from the basket.

Katy went to the store with two twenty-dollar bills and two five-dollar bills.  The Peppa Pig playset she choose cost almost $40, or both of her twenty-dollar bills.  When we arrived home, Chris asked Katy how much her toy cost.  She replied, "Two dollars."  To her, all the bills carried the same value.