1 Today Keith left pretty early and Gregory woke up late and somehow that combination made me feel like it was an "up and at 'em" type day. So I thought we'd try an outing. Maybe to Babies'r'Us because I needed to buy a shower gift, and because I can really only go places that have carts with all three children. Michael was pretty excited about driving in the car. I'm glad, because that's all we ended up doing. I made a wrong turn somewhere, and while I wasn't exactly lost, all my guesses ended up being wrong ones, and we came back to the highway exactly one block where we'd left it. One great big squiggly circle! It was fun though. :)
The best part was that right before we got back to familiar territory we passed a church with a sign that said, "Do you know where you're going?"
Apparently not!
2 Michael's been looking for ways to interact with his brothers. He occasionally likes to join them for tummy time, and a few times he's tried to pick them up. (One hand on the head, another grabbing a foot ... not very effective.) The funniest thing is he will look at them, stretch out a hand (and pat a head if he's close enough) and shout, "MIN!" (Or "men" or "mahn," depending.) I have no idea where he got this. I think he made it up on his own.
3 Unfortunately--predictably--affection sometimes turns violent. Getting up from tummy time=stumbling=sitting on a baby. "Showing" them a toy=hitting them on the head with it. Today he made Dominic cry by ... I'm not quite sure what it was, because I only saw it out of the corner of my eye. And after very sadly saying he was sorry he tried to make up for it by hitting his brother in the head with a camera. Sigh.
4 Anyway. I haven't been blogging much because I have no time. This week has been somewhat awful because "bedtime" has been more of an abstract concept than a concrete reality. Michael's had a fever/runny nose that keeps him waking up, Dominic's been gassy and won't sleep for more than half an hour unless he's in bed with me, and Gregory is always hard to put down. (Also I've taken up swearing after 8pm for Lent ... :-P Even little things seem SO HORRIBLE at night.) But last night Michael didn't wake up and we finally got Dominic to sleep on his belly so we actually had from 10pm-1am without any crying. Yay!
5 I think Gregory suffers from reflux. I'm not positive and may change my theory in a day or two, but right now I believe that's what bothers him so much. Does anyone know of any natural remedies to help him out, especially when it comes to sleeping?
6 And while I'm asking for tips, we're thinking of starting the twins on a few ounces of formula at bedtime. Partly so they'll sleep longer; partly to give me the option of a break; and partly so they'll take a bottle and I can go places without them. (And no, I'm not pumping. I've tried with very little output ... and frankly I just don't have it in me to try again.) But they are pretty resistant, particularly Dominic. I'm not sure if it's the bottle itself or just the taste of formula. Any advice about getting them to take it would be appreciated! (My husband offers it to them, we warm it up, and have tried two different brands.)
7 Blah blah blah. Sorry, I don't even have any pictures to include with this post. I'd make a horrible mommy blogger. I guess I kind of am half mommy blogger so I suppose that makes me horrible. ;)
Go and read many posts of much more interest at Jen's place!
I loved reading this! so sorry about the lack of sleep... a season I know but so hard when you are in it!! Sounds familiar, the older brother/younger brother dynamic... one of my friends has three boys ... the younger 2 are around age 4.5 and 2... and there is a pretty daily constant correction of the older one who does not understand 'gentle' and 'he's younger than you' going on...
ReplyDeleteMay God bless you all! :)
I know a lot of babies who've been willing to take expressed milk in bottles but NOT formula because they don't like the taste - do you have friends with a freezer stash to spare or an oversupply who would be willing to pump? Maybe that would help?
ReplyDeleteI don't have any good advice about formula, but I will say that you should do what you need to. I was so prideful about exclusively nursing my twins but really I was so crazy, crazy sleep-deprived. Seek out whatever break you need. Find a way. I'll be praying for you that it clicks into place. Much love!
ReplyDeleteMaybe they would take a different type of bottle? Like one that is supposed to mimic breastfeeding? I know the French are big on adding purées to formula to get kids used to the taste if fruits and veggies. They'll start out with just a tad of purée and then increase the ratio. But basically, what if you added a bit of banana or apple or something to it to make things sweeter?
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't try formula. It will only make your babies sleep longer if the reason they are waking up is true hunger... and by this age that's probably not the primary reason they wake up. It won't make a difference if they're waking up from discomfort/reflux, and it might make reflux worse; and it won't make a difference if they're waking up from the existential angst that sometimes seems to plague babies ("do my parents exist? Oh my God. OH MY GOD. WHAT IF THEY DON'T. OH NO.")
ReplyDeleteHow long do you want to be away from them? If you only want a couple hours, you can probably get away with nursing right before leaving and immediately upon returning. If you want more than a couple hours, I hate to break this to you, but... your breasts will hurt. Like, a lot. You'll want to run to the bathroom and hand express just to stop them from hurting. I imagine it'll be even worse if your breasts are used to output for twins.
With reflux the simplest low tech solution is to raise the head of the mattress to form an incline. This also helps when babies have colds.
"Violent affection" is the story of my life some days between my girls. Tickles that scratch. Hugs that suffocate. Even Mimi is starting to get into the action... grabbing her big sister's tempting shiny GLASSES! Actually sometimes it makes me crack up a bit internally when Pippa is being a bit rough with the tickles and then Mimi gets a big handful of hair and yanks! Insta-karma. But, the best moments are when they are really connecting and enjoying each other. Makes me glad they will have each other, hopefully even when I'm gone.
Paige had reflux. Elevate the rad of the crib. You can put some books under one end. Use a swaddle blanket under his little tush so he doesn't slip down to the bottom of the crib!
ReplyDeleteMiss you lots!
Hope that the formula gives you a little break! Paige even fights expressed milk bottles sometimes so I don't have anything helpful there! I know the nurses put Paige on a preemie nipple to control the flow. You could try that!
Hey, no pictures are ok. My friend Christi takes enough pictures of her daughters for all my friends with kids combined... and posts them on her blog... you can tell she has a degree in graphic art... http://christilynnphotography.wordpress.com/
ReplyDelete