RSV

We’ve had a bout with RSV…come to think of it, we’ve had a bout with every.respitory virus. under the sun in the last few months. 😦

This illness was serious enough for Rock to spend the night in the hospital. Luckily for him, he had the same nurses he had when we spent weeks on the peds floor after birth. MO2 spent the night with him and I stayed home with Roll. This is their second round of antibiotics and includes heavy use of the snot sucker, warm steam vaporizer, inhalers, vicks baby rub and Mama love. They have been out of day care at a minimum one day per week since Christmas. This means that one of us has to stay home with them. It is inconvenient but at least no one at work gives us a hard time. However, we move at the end of February, I’m not sure how our new bosses will fear.

Despite our illnesses, R & R are developing right on target. Both have mastered rolling, both from tummy to back and back to tummy. Roll (aptly named) is more agile and he is starting to scoot on his belly and can inch his way across his play quilt. They weigh 18 lbs and 16lbs respectively. They hit the chronological 6 month mark on the 21st but adjusted they are about 4 months and 2 weeks old. They are more ahead than 4 months. Both are enjoying solid food introduction. So far, their diet consists of rice cereal, prunes, peaches, bananas, applesauce, sweet potato, carrots, yams, and peas (although not at the same time). I think the hands down favorites are the applesauce, prunes, sweet potato and carrots. They have their next developmental screen the first week in February. Strangely, Roll’s anterior fontanel has closed (which apparently isn’t that odd) but still requires monthly monitoring to ensure his head is growing (it is). His hair, absent one day, is coming in thick and blond. Rock has rubbed most of his birth hair off and the new growth is blond but not as thick as his brother’s. He has long hair on the top of his head where he was unable to rub it off and it makes him look like he has either a comb over or a high and tight!

No news on the house front other than we continue to have lots of showings and people have expressed interest. All the feedback has been positive and the negatives have been things we can’t do anything about like lot size, etc…We are worried the house will not sell but are trying to remain optimistic. We are headed to DC on President’s Day weekend to look for rentals. Wish us luck!

Daily Life With Twins-Day Care

We jump for joy at day care

This is another installment of our life with our twins….

The boys go to day care on post. It works just like a civilian day care except that most of the children belong to soldiers. It is subsidized and the fee depends on your rank which in theory is a good thing. (It doesn’t make a bit of difference for us, unfortunately). They are open from 5 am to 6 pm. I believe there is one center on post that does 24 hour care for parents who work the night shift. In the military you can have three subsidized options; center based, home based and hourly. The only one that probably requires an explanation is the home based care. Those are private homes where a person provides care for a regulated number of children. The homes are regularly inspected by the military and have to pass rigorous standards. The providers and their household members must pass background checks. Some people prefer the home based care as they feel it is more intimate and sometimes their hours are more flexible. We use the center based care. I made that decision because I feel twins are challenging and I feel more comfortable with more eyes, but that’s just me.

We usually get to day care around 0715 in the morning and try really hard to pick them up NLT 5pm. I hate to be later than 1645 but sometimes MO2 is low leaving the office (that’s another story).

 Our day usually goes like this…up at 5 :15 or so. We have to bring in bottles for each baby every day that have to be labeled with name/date which we do the night before. I get the babies up AFTER I’m showered and in my uniform.We try to leave the house by 6:20 but more than likely is it 6:30. MO2 drives and I sit in the back and feed the boys. We bring coffee in the car (it is a 40 minute drive) and I usually also pack breakfast to eat at work.

Our classroom has 8 babies and usually 3 providers. When we drop off there are normally 3-4 children there already. Everyone in their room is under a year and noone is walking. When they walk, they move to a walking infant/toddler room. I am grateful for day care for many reasons. It has been very reassuring to me. For example, I often follow their lead. I didn’t know how to structure my time with the babies and so I do what day care does at home. For example, I now know that the boys can play on their quilt for tummy time, then go to the swing, then to the crib, etc…Before I had day care as a model, I wasn’t sure exactly what to do with them for activities, especially when they were very little. I appreciate their teachers’ feedback on things. The boys eat their food (rice cereal, carrots, peas, bananas and sweet potatoes currently) at school. I don’t have to bring in formula (it is provided) unless I want to bring my own or if I am bringing in breast milk. I don’t really have too many complaints about their care. Every day we get a little progress sheet regarding their day and what they did. We are welcome to drop by any time and I do, between meetings or if I am missing them. I had a tough time letting go at first but I’m more confident now. I have to admit I enjoy working because I miss the variety of interactions when I am home. I really look forward to seeing the boys at the end of the day so for now it is working for us.

Daily Life With Twins, part 1-Sleep

Sleep. My kids sleep through the night.

I wish I could take credit for this but it seems to be their nature. We did follow a sleep training book somewhat.

Here is how it works for us:

R & R go to bed between 7 and 8 pm. Bedtime consists a few things…

1. Pajamas/sleep sack. My kids don’t normally wear footed onsies as clothes so we put them in the onesie at bedtime and also the halo sleep sack (the one with the vest)  at night. It is the only time they wear the sleep sack and I like to think it is a mental cue for them to wind down. All diapers are changed before bed and I never change in the night unless they are poopy.

2. Sleep signs. My guys exhibit clear sleep cues. Both get cranky and Rock and Roll turn their faces away from us in their seats. Rock rubs his blanket against his face and Roll puts his Dad’s scarf up over his eyes. Both tend to be wiggly and fussy. That is our cue to know they are tired.

3. Food.  A bottle for Rock and a smaller bottle and BF for Roll (Rock does not have interest in BF, never has). The bottle has rice cereal in it, about 1 tablespoon. They rarely get up in the night to eat. Rock’s bottle is about 5 ounces, Roll’s is about 3 oz plus the breast milk.

4. Places to fall asleep. Roll normally falls asleep in my arms while BFing. He also will fall asleep in his bed but it takes longer. Because we have twins, I usually let them fall asleep separately (I doubt this will work later). Rock falls asleep in his bouncy chair with his favorite knitted white blanket. Roll’s fave is a cashmere scarf, go figure… I’m an absolute nazi about nothing in the crib but the baby so the boys don’t go to sleep with their transitional objects. ever. We offer pacis at bedtime. Once they are asleep, into their respective cribs they go and other than checking, that’s it.

If they have a cry out (lost paci or dream), we go in and replace paci and stroke their head and then we leave. We don’t turn on lights, we don’t talk to them. If they do get up (normally between 0500-0600) we give them their bottle/BF cuddle them during the bottle/BF, keep the lights and tv sounds down during the feeding, burp and put back to bed.

Nighttime is usually easy in our house….unless someone is sick and then it is MUCH tougher. The other thing that makes our nights easier…the boys sleep in their room, not in ours (unless they are sick and NEVER in our bed). Because our house is small, we have a monitor but don’t use it. We keep both bedroom doors open. I always hear them (I’m a light sleeper, thanks Uncle Sam) and we all sleep better.

Day to day care, not so easy…more on that in the next post