New Foods and Birthdays: 6 months and 29 years!

Last week, we celebrated two birthday events! Lucy and Stella hit their 6 month mark and Dave turned 29!

Dave and I were able to go out for a bit since my parents are in town. We went to the Gin Mill in Canton for drinks and dinner; I felt pretty lame when I was completely exhausted after an hour of being out! I was pretty excited about the "cake" I made him as well. I thought it was very Baltimore-appropriate; and it only took 3 hours to make and decorate! (argh)

The girls have been doing new things exponentially these days. They are both saying mamamama (who knows if they know what that means, but I like to think they do!). They have been very aware of each other, especially when one has a toy that the other thinks looks interesting.

We started introducing some solid foods as well. We gave each of them a pea-sized amount of mushed up banana on their birthday. They seemed excited to open their mouths, but once it hit their tongues, they both had this look of disgust- and it ended up all over their clothes. A few days later we tried applesauce with the same result. We have not done rice cereal yet, but that will be next!

State of our Union

So the State of the Union address last night got me thinking about how are lives have changed in 2010. Now, of course we were blessed with our two munchkins; however, like our country, we are confronted with economic challenges. We are working through it by cutting costs of our household government (social welfare- ie. happy hour outings etc.). And much to the dismay of the Republican party, we cannot reduce the size of our government-- but we sure added to it! We are working to cut certain costs, but we also must look at new investments in order to secure our future. While there are no crumbling roads or bridges within our living quarters, we do have a leaky roof, scratched up floors, and ugly laminate in our kitchen. Health care is not controversial in our house (of representatives) as we are fortunate enough to all be covered. I am doing my part to help create jobs, as I went part-time last November so I am freeing up space for someone else to potentially carry out the other half of my job. Obama urged programs to "out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build". I like to think that I am out-innovating with my efficient baby feeding methods and spit-up removal, out-educating (or somewhat) through this blog, and out-building towers of dirty baby clothes and maybe someday a roof-top deck! OK, well, maybe some cash will be used for the roof some day, but the rest will be to make sure Lucy and Stella are educated "out"rageously well.

I am hoping that Dave and I's approval rating will remain steady throughout the next year as our children begin to really learn who we are; luckily for us, we do not have to worry about re-election- they are stuck with us at least until they are 18!

And finally, as we look back to the beginning of last year, on the eve of the State of the Union address, we sent out the following email/ poem to my extended family to share the exciting news..

Sent January 27th, 2010

State of Our Union
Two thousand nine
Has been a great year
Both happy and sad
Spread far and near

Our eldest moved on
A few seasons ago
Leaving warm memories behind
Our family continues to grow

News of Missy and Dani
Now bearing kin
The last ones of the bunch
To finally begin!

Dina and Ray
Were happy to know
That their first-born girl
Is now aglow

Excited for grandbaby number two
They received a surprise
When Becky broke the news!

From one grandkid for two years
Now they will have three
All they can say is - yippee!

However, late last week
Dani and Dave had a scare
Worried the news was bleak
Went to the doc with a prayer

Lights turned down
And up on the screen
We saw our baby's heartbeat
On the machine

Sighs of relief
Grinning from ear to ear
We start joking around
"Anythin' else in there?"

Lo and behold
It was no joke
Looks like Baby will have
A brother or sister to poke!

We're having twins!! (Wish us Luck!)

Babies, babies, babies for a Minnesota Christmas

So 2010, brought 4 new babies into our extended family. My cousin Missy and hubs Josh welcomed Gus at the end of May, my sister Becky and Noe met their daughter, Luna, for the first time on September 11, and of course our two girls came in July.I had not met Luna or Gus yet, so I was pretty pumped to see them on our trip back to Minnesota.



Me with Stella, Luna, and Lucy

This was the second time we have flown with the babes and they were definitely more awake this time-- and just a bit fussy. In the shuttle from long-term parking to the airport we were required to take the babies out of their carseats and place them on our lap (which seems a lot less safe to me)- we did not have to do this in August so we were not expecting it and were not very happy. So we thought we were going to have to choose between full-body imaging or a pat down when going through security, as it turns out, we did not. I can feel the sighs of people behind us now when we go through the line however. They see us trying to get all our gear through the xray machines, take off our shoes and jackets, laptop out of the bag, babies out of carseats, seats through the machine, stroller through the machine; I like to think that we are pretty efficient. I brought six 4-ounce bottles of breastmilk with the intention of using it when my sister and I went out. Unfortunately it all went to waste as they have figured out they can get that stuff from the source- so they will only take formula in a bottle and not expressed milk- interesting...

We were delayed about 4 hours total (some at the airport and some circling Wisconsin). I had to feed them on the plane which was interesting; Dave and I cannot sit in the same row since apparently there is only one extra oxygen mask in each row. So each of us (armed with our respective babies) were placed next to strangers; fortunately we could not have found better people to sit with on the extended flight.

We stayed with my sis in their non-official in-law suite in the basement: full bathroom to ourselves and we had our fill of HGTV 'reveals' (we do not have cable at home). They just moved back from Texas in May 2010 and they are living in Como Park with my nephew Nico (3), Luna (4 months), and their two pups Wilma and Dash. There was lots of action, but we enjoyed staying with them since we are all dealing with similar things in our lives right now!

Noe, Luna, Becky, Nico

Me, mom, and Lucy; Dad and Stella

We celebrated my immediate family's traditional Christmas eve on Dec. 23rd. My dad made guhuctus and german potato salad, Noe made Oxtail soup, we made, well...nothing;)



The guhuctus is raw meat that is hand-ground and mixed with egg, onions, and some salt and pepper. This year he made it with Kobe beef- it was very tasty!


We spent Dec. 24 with the Treiber family for my father-in-law's birthday and then again on Christmas morning. We had fun watching them roll around and play with their new toys- they grabbed onto them as soon as we presented the owl and caterpiller (we don't go anywhere without them anymore).
Paul, Karin, Dani, Dave, Bob, Lucy, and Stella (before and after Stella's big Burp)


The rest of Christmas day we spent at my cousin Shawn's place in Lino Lake. There was a total of 28 people there (10 of which were kids, 6 under 3). It was a riot with 4 babies under 7 months in the house. Looking at how they all sized up was interesting too: Lucy and Stella are 13 and 11.5 lbs respectively, Luna is close to Lucy (and 6 weeks younger), Gus I believe is somewhere around 20lbs and is 7 weeks older than our girls. Everyone was commenting on how chill Lucy and Stella were- they slept a lot, and they were mostly smiles the rest of the time!

Lucy, Stella, Luna, Gus (from left back to right front)

Our oldest twin is doing things first!

It happened while we were back in Minnesota for Christmas. We were at Grandma and Opa Thron's house. Lucy was in the crib and she dropped her toy and she started turning to reach it, and over she went! She has done it a few times since.

Lucy figured out breast-feeding first, she laughed first, started grabbing for toys first, and now she has officially figured out how to turn over at almost 5 months on the nose. No more hanging out on the bed just in case she has multiple rolls! In the last few days she has also figured out how to get her binky back into her mouth if it falls out (she takes it our herself frequently as well). She will even drop it next to her and turn over to grab it and pop it back in!

Now, Stella usually emulates her big sis and begins doing things shortly after Lucy does. It's kind of neat that she is learning from her 'older' sibling. I guess 7 minutes makes a difference!

I should mention that Stella was the first to find her feet and to 'talk' ; when she gets going, she just wants to be heard- and I'll tell ya, we can hear her throughout our entire 3-story house!

This video is of Stella... and her feet.

Sleeping through the Night

I did not believe it would ever happen. The week before we left for MN, so Dec. 18ish, the girls BOTH slept through the night. I am talking a good 8 hours. Of course I woke up several times to make sure they were OK, but after a couple weeks now of mostly sleeping through the night, I am actually getting a normal amount of sleep (in a row) again!!

It makes a difference how much they eat during the day I found. If I feed them every 2-3 hours during the day, they will sleep through the night. When they are home with Daddy, they eat less and I notice that they are more likely to wake up in the middle of the night.

They are still on our room in the pack and play, the plan is to move them into their own space after my parents visit in January!

Eggnog, hot buttered Rum, and invisible Christmas trees

Last weekend (first weekend of December) was Fells Point's annual eggnog tasting and tree lighting ceremony. We decided it would be worth packing the girls up and going for an outing. We went to the tasting in 2009 as well- we tryed around 10 different eggnogs (including egg nog cookies); and the bars had spiked nog- which I couldn't try since I was newly pregnant at the time. So this year, with babies in carriers, we were looking forward to tasting a bunch of nogs and maybe even a few spiked samples too. However, for the life of us, we could not find any store that was participating this year- or they had already run out- bummer!

We did manage to visit Santa and Mrs. Claus on Thames Street. They were not your traditional merry pair;they were sitting in a tent drinking natty bohs, smoking skinny cigars, and handing out egg nog with brandy to bundled pedestrians. Needless to say, we did not plop either of our new children in St. Nick's lap.

We wondered over to the pier and watched the Christmas light laden boats in the harbor; and then watched the grand (or not so grand) lighting of the tree- but wait!- I see lights, but where is the tree??!! I know times are tight, but a few strands of lights hanging down to kind of look like a tree was a pretty sad sight.

We decided to stop in Max's for a beer to warm us up; however, when we got to the door they wouldn't let us in- no kids allowed. Now, I know babies in bars are frowned upon by some, but it was 6PM, and it's not like Max's is a crazy party joint- they sell food and have a nice fireplace in the back. Well, we didn't fight it, we just didn't go in. It all turned out for the best as we ended up in Bertha's Mussels (bar) listening to Irish music, sharing a hot buttered rum, with babies sound asleep in our lap (it still amazes me what they can sleep through).

I have never had hot buttered rum before, it tasted good, but extremely rich. I had to ask what was in it. I think one of the owners is the one who told me this- so hopefully it's not a secret recipe or anything!

1 pint dark rum; 1 lb butter; 1 lb sugar; cinnamon, nutmeg and boiling water; and then to serve they add more rum plus the above mixture- wow, sounds healthy eh? I did not have anymore after I heard that!

Twins and Sleeping : The Crib Conundrum

During our hospitable stay at Mercy, (is it coincidence that hospitable and hospital are essentially the same word?) we received two bassinets, labeled Baby A and Baby B. They were so tiny we just couldn't put them in two separate 'bins'! Afterall, they did just spend the first 37 weeks of their lives smooshed right up next to each other! So, we had them both in "Baby A's-aka Lucy's- bassinet". Apparently there is a reason for separate sleeping quarters; when the numerous nurse staff, tech staff, or pediatric staff came to check on the girls, or do tests etc., that was how they could determine, who had what, and when. It didn't matter however, we still kept them together, and just made sure to clarify who was who and who had what.

We got home. We have one bassinet. We weren't sure if we needed another one, but as it turns out- we did not. The girls slept in the same bassinet from July 24 until approximately October 10 ( I only remember this because we had just arrived back from Boston:)). However, at some point in September, they absolutely had to be swaddled (not just in a blanket, but a "SwaddleMe velcro blanket so they couldn't escape) while sleeping, otherwise the smacking ensued... and if they were not swaddled, ensured waking up a sleeping sister.

So the bassinet was awesome; it fit perfectly next to my side of our queen sized bed in our baltimore-rowhouse-bedroom- and, with good advice from my sis, it was one that rocked- not just figuratively. I was sad to see it go in October, but babies do grow, and Stella and Lucy were 8 1/2 and 10 lbs respectively (as of their 2 month appt), and the max in the bassinet was technically 15 lbs.

In comes the Pack N' Play; a lot larger all around, however, the bassinet portion still only technically holds 15 lbs, but it has worked fine. And-it still fits in our room-- unbelievable!

So, to date, the star light girls are sleeping in the pack and play in mom and dad's room- they are 4 1/2 months old. They still wake up to eat every 3-5 hours, so it is very convenient for mama.

However, their mini-mattress is starting to cave inwards a bit and we know its time for them to move into their own room soon. It's somewhat comical when you think about how crazy new parents go when trying to set up the nursery and then don't even really use it for a few months. We have a cute nursery, but with the girls sleeping in our bedroom, all the changing diaper materials are in here too-- for now. And, we have TWO diaper pails- one for cloth, one for disposable... and let me say that we can't smell a thing. GO Diaper Champ, and GO free diaper pail that we got from Modern Diaper Service for use with our cloth dips.

Currently, we have one crib set up in the nursery. We figured, we only needed one for at least the first 6 months. Well, that's a bit over 1 month away now, and we only use the crib for playtime. I have noticed that, in order to have them both in the crib, we would have to place them vertically- the short way- in the crib. We couldn't really do head to head or feet to feet since they would ultimately knock boots, or noggins. The problem is, when they are in the crib this way, they can push off one side and hit their head on the other- they are just too long!

So... maybe its not really a conundrum... maybe we just have to set up the second crib... but we were hoping to stretch it out a bit longer!