Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A quick update

"Yum- Yum" -- this is what Ryan says repeatedly while he's eating his applesauce for breakfast and pears for dinner. Today he ate 2 oz at each of the meals. In a couple more days I'll add in a lunch since he seems to like it so much. Barry fed him dinner. Ryan was really hungry and he kept complaining every time Barry took the spoon away to put more food on it.

Alyna will eat almost 1 oz now before turning her head and refusing to eat more. She still makes faces of displeasure the whole time, so we just don't push her to eat more than she is willing.

Project Pacifier -- we have not given in. Ryan hasn't sucked on a pacifier since Monday morning. Last night he only needed a few minutes of P.U.P.D. when they both woke up crying at 4:30 am. Nap times seem the hardest. He's doesn't seem to make it into the deep sleeps, and every time he wakes up he has trouble going back to sleep because he's used to sucking to accomplish this. He's having to learn how to fall asleep on his own, and it's not easy. Hopefully this will improve as the days go by.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Project Pacifier - Night 1

Last night went better than expected with Project "No More Pacifier".

Ryan went to bed without even needing the pacifier, which he sometimes does anyway. If he wants it he whines/cries with a "neh" sound. I woke him up for a 10:30 pm feed, and he again went to sleep without needing it. He slept right through Alyna's 30 minute crying session at 3 am.

Side Note: Alyna has gas pains really bad every night about that time. We've been trying GasX at bedtime, the late night feed, and when she wakes up... but she still wakes up almost exactly 5 hours after the late night feed, and you can hear the gas problems she's having. It usually lasts 15 - 20 minutes. If anyone has suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Back to Ryan...

I awoke at 4:30 to find them both crying... not fun, especially since I was alone. So I calmed her down because I knew she'd probably be easier. Then I went to Ryan. Alyna cried a little more, but I just had to let her go, and she eventually went back to sleep. I did "pick up put down" with Ryan for about 30 minutes. My back and hip were hurting greatly. He finally settled down. I returned to bed, and 5 mintues later I heard him moan, and then cry. I got out of bed, but by the time I got into the room he'd returned to sleep. I usually make myself count to 5 while their crying before I get up, so I resolved to do that the next time. He cried again 10 minutes later, I counted to 5, and he went back to sleep. He did that a couple more times before I drifted off to sleep.

I was in the middle of a dream, when I awoke at 5:45 to hear both of them talking. I knew it meant they were awake and wanting to eat because it had been over 7 hours. They cry loudly when they awake and want to go back to sleep, they talk when they're hungry. So I quickly went and made bottles. By the time I got them made, both were crying loudly to make sure they were being heard. I took the bouncy chairs into their room and set them in front of the recliner, and I sat on the floor in between the chairs to feed them. My hip was really hurting now. I think I need to go to the Chiropractor or get a massage this week.

After eating, both went back to sleep without a fuss. It was about 6:15, and I was hoping for another half hour of sleep. Ryan woke up right at 7 am, so I was happy.

All in all, I was pleased he only had one episode last night. I can expect the same tonight probably, but Barry is home to help if Alyna is crying at the same time. That is the hardest part for me, when they are both crying.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Project "No More Pacifier"

I've decided it's time to break Ryan of his use of his pacifier as a prop to fall asleep. The reason for my saying so is that he has started actively pulling his pacifier out of his mouth, and then crying because it's not in his mouth. This makes the naptime and bedtime routine a longer process than necessary.

So here's the plan:

Objective: Ryan no longer needs his pacifier to go to sleep or to go back to sleep when he awakens during a sleeping period.

Start Date: February 23, 2009, 1 pm naptime,

Subject: Ryan is 5 months, 1 week, and 1 day old

Action Plan: Use the P.U.P.D method to teach him to fall asleep without aid of a prop.

The P.U.P.D (pick up put down) method worked on his sister last month when she kept having trouble falling back asleep at 3 am. When he cries I'll pick him up, and when he calms down I'll put him down.

I already started at today's 1 pm naptime. He had trouble falling asleep at the morning nap, and halfway through was wide awake so I put him in the swing for the rest of the time. He did not fall back asleep. So he was really tired at this afternoon's naptime. He kept pulling his pacifier out and then crying, so I decided today was a good day to start the plan.

Ryan cried through P.U.P.D for about 20 minutes which is exactly how long Alyna cried the first time we used it with her. As I laid him down, for what turned out to be the last time, he looked up at me and sighed, closed his eyes, turned his head to the side, and fell asleep.

He woke up 40 minutes later. Usually I'd stick the pacifier in his mouth so he'd go back to sleep. This time, I did P.U.P.D two times, and he fell back asleep.

I'm very hopeful that he'll be broken of the pacifier before his Aunt Krista gets here next week.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

first bedtime stories

At 7 o'clock last night I was trying to think of a way to entertain the 2 munchkins at least another 15 minutes, so they wouldn't have bedtime much before 7:30. Barry wouldn't be home until 7:40, so it was just me.

We'd already had the night time feed, had been playing for about an hour with their various toys, and had gone through the half hour songs DVD they love so much. So I decided to try to read them some books.

I got the bouncy chairs set right up next to the couch so I could sit there an show both of them the pictures. I should have known better... When other people are holding them at Ladies Bible Class or Church and showing them a book, I always have to say, "they like to touch it."

Ryan was immediately fussy upon seeing the Bible story book because he couldn't reach it. Alyna kept looking at the book and then over at Ryan to see what the fuss was.

So I decided to try to get them in my lap. I put the next book down on the couch within reach, picked Ryan up from the bouncy seat, and laid him next to me on the couch so that his legs were over my leg. Then I picked Alyna up and set her sitting up on my other leg, with my arm wrapped around her. I managed to pull Ryan up with one arm into a sitting position on my leg, and even managed to reach over and grab the book. I was holding the book with both hands in front of them. It seemed to be working. Ryan was touching, and Alyna was looking and listening.

After a while Alyna reached out for the book, and Ryan's hand reached over and grabbed hers. I'm not kidding. He was upset that she wanted to touch it. They are only 5 months old. He did this repeatedly, and I finally gave up after the second time through "Goodnight Moon."

I put the book down, put my hands under their legs, and stood up. Yes, both of them were in my arms. It's not fun, but I've done it before when they were already up at arm level. I carried them to the bedroom, and laid them in Ryan's crib so I could get them ready for bed one at a time.

At this point it was 7:15 which is what I was aiming for. I don't think we'll try that again tonight though. I'll have to read them stories separately unless Daddy is here to help.

Friday, February 20, 2009

going outside...

I often take the babies for walks around the neighborhood, or the 3 blocks to Sonic, but today was the first day I laid a blanket on the grass and took them outside. It is somewhat of a challenge because I had to take Ryan outside and go back in to get Alyna while trusting that our beagle Henrey wouldn't step on Ryan. Henrey hasn't every hurt them before, he just smells them. I called to Henrey and he followed me back inside to get Alyna, so it worked out well.

The blanket was in the semi-shade of our pecan trees which have no leaves on them. So it offered a break in the sunshine while letting enough through to keep us warm. The weather was perfect for sitting outside with the temperature in the 70s, a warm sun, and a cool breeze.

It was about 30 minutes from nap time and the twins were already getting fussy because they were bored playing on the floor. Being outside had them entertained for about 20 mintues. I'm sure the texture of laying on the blanket on the crunchy grass felt good to them. Alyna kept turning her head toward the sun which made her squint and caused her eyes to water. Ryan had fun rolling side to side. I sang them songs about the sun, trees, flowers, and the butterflies we saw.

We'll definitely do it more often when there's not too much wind. I enjoyed the time outside the house... even though we didn't go anywhere.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Twin Updates

Here are some updates on my recent blog topics:

Sleep: We had a breakthrough a few nights ago. Alyna wouldn't calm down at 3 am, so Barry convinced me to give her a bottle because she'd only eaten half a bottle at the 11 pm dream feed. But after 2 oz, she stopped eating and got fussy. She immediately went to sleep when I re-swaddled her in her crib. Ryan slept through the whole thing. Since then we haven't had to feed them between the 11 pm feed and when they wake in the morning between 6:30 and 7:30. Alyna still wakes up because of gas somewhere between 3-5, but we've been giving her infant GasX at bedtime and when she wakes up which is helping.

Play: They are both starting to squirm and roll around a lot more. I often return from another room to find them a few feet from where they were when I left. Ryan likes his exer-saucer a lot, as long as he can stand up. When he falls down into the seat he can't quite reach the toys. Alyna likes to be thrown into the air, and pretend to be falling back from your lap so that you catch her. She laughs a lot.

Eating: Ryan has eaten about 1 oz of Pears every morning since Tuesday. Alyna ate a few bites this morning without gagging, but she made the same faces she makes when we give her the medicine for her acid reflux. I stopped after a few bites because I didn't want her to get upset about it. We'll do it again tomorrow.

Picture Books: I haven't had much motivation to sit and write in the baby books, or get pictures printed for their books and photo albums. So I made several picture books on the Kodak website and we received them today. They look absolutely wonderful. They are 10X9 hardback books that have personalized covers with a title and caption. I made one for each of the twins that is their own, and has pictures from the first 6 weeks or so of their lives. I wanted it to be just the newborn photos. Then I made a keepsake book for Barry and myself of the twins first 4 months. It is amazing to see how they've grown so far. I am now putting together a book for each of them of their first year... with pages for each month. (Obviously there are lots of pages still to be added.)

Monday, February 16, 2009

First Fruits

Alyna and Ryan had their first taste of solid food today. The fruit of choice was Pears. I purposefully waited for a day that Daddy was home to help feed and take pictures. This is also the first time in their high chairs which are booster seats that strap to our dining room chairs. They recline to give support for young infants.

They had wake up bottles at about 7, and this is breakfast at 8:30. The pictures tell the story the best.


Alyna's first bite


"Hmmmm... what's this stuff?"

"I don't know what this is and I don't think I like it"


Alyna proceeded to gag, so we stopped. We'll try again in a couple days.



Ryan's First Bite



"Hmmmmm..."


"Ok, I think I like this food stuff..."


Ryan ate a full 2 tablespoons which is about 1 oz. That's amazing for the first time. He might have eaten more, but we didn't want to shock his digestive system too badly the first time.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Playtime

The twins are now 5 months old, and they love to play.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Great adventures

Monday we made a shopping day trip to Lubbock, the second time with the twins. It was a little easier to go this time because we are fully on formula feeding now so I didn't have to mess with the pump in the car. It is about 1 hour 40 minutes to the shopping areas of Lubbock from our house. So we left at nap time and they slept for the first hour of the trip.

We spent 2 hours at Kohl's taking turns pushing the babies around in the stroller while the other tried on clothes. They like going for walks, so they were content for a while. Barry ended up feeding both of them while I tried on clothes. Then we went to lunch at Olive Garden, and went to Retool, a shop where they buy and sell used tools. Barry bought a couple specialty saws that he wanted for a project he's working on. The next stop was Target for baby items, and then we walked a few stores down to Burlington Coat Factory to try out double strollers for babies who can sit up. The twins are almost at that stage, and since the seats in the strollers we're looking at recline, I think we could even start using them now. I'm going to do some more comparison on Amazon.com this week. After a gas stop, we headed home.

15 minutes from home, the engine of our 11 year old Chevy Blazer started making loud knocking and whirring noises. We made it home okay, and took it to the shop Tuesday. The mechanic said the engine probably needs to be replaced, and after a second opinion next week we'll decide what to do with it. We were already planning on buying a minivan in March so we'll just have to change out which of our current vehicles we get rid of. Hopefully our 10 year old Buick won't shut down on us too.

The babies did well on our long day, though they didn't like being in their car seats for that long. Fortunately, they napped and got fussy at different times, so we usually only had one baby to hold at a time. They missed their long naps that day, and you could tell, but they napped enough to make it through. When we got home they were tired but I didn't want to put them to bed at 5:30, so we gave them baths and stretched it to 6:15.

They actually slept really well Monday night. We woke them and fed them at 7:15 and then again at 11:15. Then they slept until 4 am without needing anything. We fed them and then they slept until 8 am. I was going to skip Ladies Bible Class on Tuesday morning because of the long Monday, but they slept so well that we went to class anyway. It pushed their morning nap back by an hour, but the rest of the day was a normal routine, and they seemed to do fine.

They had another early bedtime on Tuesday night at 6:30 because the schedule had been off, but they slept really well. We fed them at 7:30, and then I woke at 11 to feed them again. They slept all the way through to 6:30 this morning when Alyna woke with a really poopy diaper. That was okay though because she had already been in bed for 12 hours which is normal. Ryan woke a little before 7 am. I had gone to sleep from 9 - 11, and then got to sleep from 11:45 to 6:30 am. It was awesome.

They ate and then played for 2 hours, and now are taking their long morning nap. I really like the 4 hour routine, and the babies seem to do well with it.

The next milestone is coming soon. Probably at the first part of March we will start solid foods. The pediatrician said they could start last month, but they still weren't really taking a full bottle every time, so I thought it was a little early to add in solids. Now, they take at least 5 oz at every meal. We already bought two high chairs that are actually booster seats that recline a little bit and strap to normal dining room chairs. It saves us a lot of space to not have to large high chairs in the house. They are also very portable if we need to take them with us on road trips.

They continue to eat, play, and grow. They like to look at books which comes in handy during comunion at church and other quiet times. It's funny to watch them try to grab the pictures on the pages. It's so much fun to watch them learn new things.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The playful duo


At 4 months old, Alyna and Ryan are becoming much more playful. They grab everything that touches their hand as they scoot around. They both will arch their backs and push with their legs so that they turn in circles. Alyna can easily move from one end of the playpen to the other on her back.

They both especially love the keys because they can grab them and make lots of noise. Of course, they also bonk themselves in the head quite often. The keys must really taste good too because they always find their way up to for a good tasting.

Alyna is a real people person. When we go to Ladies Bible Class or church functions she smiles at everyone. Ryan is more reserved. He prefers to get to know someone first before showering them with precious smiles and sound effects.

They are learning new things every day. It's amazing to watch God's little creations grow.

Sunday, February 1, 2009

No P.U.P.D. needed

5 days after starting the P.U.P.D. with Alyna at naps and bedtime... she took 2 long naps yesterday and slept for 8 hours last night without incidence.

The more amazing part... so did Ryan. (except for the occasional pacifier retrieval)

Their schedule was a little off yesterday, so instead of eating at 7 pm and 11 pm, they ate at 5 pm and 9 pm. I was in bed asleep at 10.

Ryan woke at 2:30, but was soothed back to sleep with his pacifier. Then he woke at 4:30 and 5 for the pacifier again. They both were awake at 5:30, so I went to make bottles. When I returned to the room they both were asleep again. Alyna woke again at 5:50, so I fed her and changed her. When I finished with her, Ryan had just woken up again. He had wet through his diaper, clothes, and blanket, so I changed him and then fed him. Both went back to sleep after their feedings too.

All in all, it was a great night for me. I got 6 1/2 hours of sleep with just the 2:30 incident which I count as a bathroom break. I'm really praying this will continue.

It also helps that they are fully on a 4 hour eating schedule now. They are awake for 2 hours (including the eating time), and then they nap for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It's really a nice schedule for me. I feel like I can get things done now.

Our next step is to use P.U.P.D. to break Ryan of his need for the pacifier.