Eating update

We decided that Maya really doesn't seem ready to eat "solid" food yet, so I'm going to wait until next week to try her again. She just spits the rice cereal out and doesn't seem to know what to do with it.

Kate, on the other hand, has decided that rice cereal is very delicious and gets excited when she sees me bring the cup of it over to feed her. Today she slurped down a whole serving of rice cereal and seemed ready for some more. I'm realizing that this whole feeding process is going to be very messy - somehow Kate managed to get rice cereal smeared from just below her eyes to below her chin. Here's a photo:

Kate laughing

My cousin, David, was visiting for the past few days and he was able to get a first real laugh out of Kate. Here's a video:

Update on Twin Pregnancy Costs

I posted a while back about how much it cost to have Kate and Maya - at the time, the total was $110,000. I just added up all the bills for the pregnancy, delivery and NICU time, and the current (and, I think, final) total is now $128,000. And, really, my pregnancy wasn't that complicated. I was on bedrest in the hospital for 10 days and the girls were in the NICU for 2 weeks, but it could have been a lot worse.

Thank goodness our insurance company (Healthnet) has paid every single bill and hasn't disputed any charges. This is a wierd thing to say about an insurance company, but they have been nothing but easy to deal with and helpful throughout the whole process. They even called a few times after the babies came home to make sure we were doing okay and to ask if we needed anything.

Mmm, rice cereal

Since Maya now has teeth, we decided it was time to introduce her (and Kate, too) to something other than formula - rice cereal. I was expecting all sorts of faces and surprise when we spooned the cereal into their mouths, but they both took to it like it was an everyday occurence and seemed pretty happy with the whole thing. Of course, more cereal ended up on the bibs than in their tummies, and Maya seemed to think that it was better to suck the cereal off the bib rather than using the spoon, but all in all, it was definitely successful.

We tried to take a video of the first "solid" food meal, but it was too difficult logistically. So, here's a photo of Maya mid-meal.


And, here's a picture of both girls after a walk this evening. The weather changed from spring like and warm to blizzarding and cold over the weekend, thus the rosy baby cheeks.

Strangers are scary...

Today was the first day that I saw either of the babies react to being held to someone they didn't know. I've always been able to comfort the babies better than other people, but they've never actually cried just because someone was holding them who they didn't know. A new friend came over today and was holding Kate who was happy and burbling until she looked up and noticed that the person holding her was someone she didn't recognize - and then burst out crying. This shouldn't be a welcome development, but in some ways it was kind of gratifying that Kate definitely now can differentiate between me, the person who has been her non-stop companion and caregiver since she came home from the hospital, and a total stranger!

A Twin Moment

Having twins means you sometimes have moments that mothers with singletons probably (and luckily) never experience.

This afternoon, I went out to lunch with friends (to celebrate two 40th birthdays!) and both babies fussed throughout the whole lunch. I was kind of frazzled and tired by the end of lunch, and it didn't help that Kate screamed the whole way home - but at least Maya was snoozing peacefully. Maya continued to sleep in her carseat once I got her out of the car, so I decided to try to feed Kate and hope Maya would stay asleep. I knew I was flying close to the sun with this little gamble and if Maya woke up before Kate was done eating there would be heck to pay.

Five minutes into Kate's feeding, my heart sank when I looked over and saw Maya opening her eyes and staring right at me. Maybe she'd stay quiet a little longer and I can finish feeding Kate, I hoped. After a a few seconds to realize she was awake and Kate was being fed and she wasn't, Maya took in a big breathe and let out a screeching wail. During times like these, I try to just close my eyes, stay calm and block out the screaming, because I know that if I put Kate down to help Maya, I'll just have two screaming babies. Thank goodness Josh was working at home and had a little break in his schedule so was able to come down after a time to fed Maya. I was already frazzled and my last nerve was ready to expire if I had to listen to screaming for another minute.

Poor babies. Someday I'll figure this whole twin feeding thing out - probably right about the time they'll be feeding themselves. Of course, then I'll have to figure out how to herd two babies crawling in opposite directions!

It was a beautiful spring day today and as I was driving home from errands, I noticed that the trail around our local pond had melted off. Josh got off work at a reasonable hour, so we packed up the girls in the Baby Bjorns and headed for a walk around the pond. It was a lovely evening and lots of people were out enjoying the warm weather and snowless, though a bit muddy, trail. Rosie, of course, had a grand time chasing geese and ducks and snacking on fresh goose poop. I wonder what Kate and Maya thought of the many birds, dogs and people.

Here's a picture of Maya and Josh before the walk. The sunglasses aren't just a fashion statement - even in the late afternoon the sun up here at 6,000 feet is very intense and blinding. Kate and Maya seemed to enjoy (or at least not mind) their sunglasses.

I sometimes get tired of hanging around the house singing nursery rhymes to babies, so today headed out with Kate and Maya just to go somewhere. We had a nice day and went lots of places - the carwash, the mall, a restaurant, and Costco. We did all this without a lot of crying - which, in my book, is a big success. Of course, I had to eat my lunch standing up while holding Maya to keep her from crying and feeding Kate in her carseat with a Podee. But, hey, at least we all got lunch.

Here's a picture of Kate and Maya hanging out being goofy. I have yet to capture both girls smiling on camera...

Teeth!

When we saw the pediatrician two weeks ago, she said that Maya was starting to get teeth. Dr. Grandma also thought so based on how fussy and drooly she's been. I was skeptical since most babies don't get teeth until they are six + months old. However, this morning when Maya grinned, I saw two brand new little teeth! Since the teeth broke through, she's been thankfully much happier, eating better and less moist.

Kate has really started to enjoy "tummy time". She used to get really upset after only a few seconds of tummy time, but now she seems to enjoy just hanging out on her stomach on the floor. This is good news because "tummy time" helps build those muscles she'll need to crawl. (I have a feeling that Kate will be doing some sort of crawling in the next few months.)

Here are a few new pictures of Kate. (I'll try to post some of Maya soon. She's been so fussy with the teething, that getting happy pictures of her has been difficult.)
Kate doing tummy time


Kate and Shea (also a twin) doing tummy time together.


Kate sitting in the "bumbo" chair with friend Ariah (Shea's sister)

Today was a nice day. Grandma came over and wathed the babies while I got a little cross country (skate) skiing in. I'm pretty out of shape, but it was awesome to get out on my skate skis again and get some exercise.

The babies napped really well today, too. I think they took three 30-40 minute naps in their cribs which is more than they've ever done, I think. I'm really working on getting them on a napping schedule and I think it may start to pay off. It's nice to have a few minutes during the day when both babies are asleep in their cribs, so I can get a little bit of non baby related stuff done.

Here's a video I took today of Maya "reading" her favorite book.


And here's a video of Kate holding onto a daffodil while sitting in Grandma's lap. I can't wait for spring/summer when the girls can hang out in their cute onsies without having to wear socks (which never stay on anyways) and sweaters!

In case you were wondering what it's like to have two babies crying at you, here's a video clip. Don't worry, Grandmas, babies were picked up and soothed right after filming stopped.


And, here's a video of Maya finding a fascinating new use for her hands.

New Pictures

March is coming in like a lion this year which means Kate, Maya and I were stuck in the house together all day. We had a nice day, but around 4 o'clock I was getting a little bored, so decided it would be a good time for new pictures. Unfortunately, Maya had other plans (like napping/crying), so I didn't get any pictures with both of them smiling. After Maya went down for her nap, I got some good ones with just Kate. Thanks to Aunt Debbie for the stylish outfits!