Twin-isms: Growing Pains

My poor twins have had a bad month of growing pains - teething, colds, chest infections and nappy rashes. This means I've had two very irritable, clingy and upset bubbas. Many people look at twins and think it's so cute to have two little babies to hold, hug, kiss and play with and yes it is cute but not when they both want their mama who only has one pair of arms :(

 

This experience is actually worst than when they were first born and I had the dilemma of who to pick up first as now they both can see me and they can reach out to me or  crawl and cling to me bawling when I already have one baby in my arms - now that is really heart breaking! 

 

Sometimes I wonder if being a twin is a good thing? It means they always have to share their cuddles and time with mum and dad while singleton babies get spoiled with parents fighting for a cuddle. I have to admit that when I am on my own, the only time I get to enjoy one of the twins is if the other is asleep or entertaining them self. I love the one on one time with one baby when I don't have to rush and have the other baby looking at me crying and making me feel guilty that I am holding one and not the other.

 

For the past few weeks,  I have spent most of my days in our bed nursing the twins and playing with them while watching children's DVDs.  It's not very productive but there was a time when the twins got really upset when I left their sight. They didn't like being in the play pen and just wanted to be held all the time so our bed was the only comfortable place where I could hold them both. Lately, they have been ok on their own. After an initial cry they end up playing with a toy or find something to distract them while I quickly have a shower or have a quick bite to eat.

 

There are days when all is calm and I may be busy doing some kind of house chore when suddenly I just hear them giggling really loud - oh how I love that sound! When I turn around to see what they are giggling at, they are smiling me but I know I've missed it. I guess those are the times when being a twin is really special.

 

So, while the twins experience their first growing pains - I am still being positive by making the most of the precious times when  I have my two babies cuddled up next to me - it is the sweetest feeling and one I will make the most of while I can because I know one day they will want to be in their own bed and while I look forward to that, a part of me will miss their cuddles and closeness.

 

I've been chatting to a few twin mamas from around the world on Instagram and I'm so relieved that I am not the only one facing this dilemma. Apparently the first year is the hardest and the mothers with older twins say they wouldn't want to trade places with me for the world! They have assured me though that once they hit the toddler stage - it's very fun seeing them interact with each other - still challenging but not as much as the first year.

 

I can't believe that in 8 short weeks our twins will turn 1 and Keira will be 3 and for some reason it just sounds so much easier than having a 2 year old and 10 month old twins!

 

A sad Montana had a bad morning :( but after some teething medicine and a nap she was herself again :) This pic was edited with Iphone apps Snapseed and Vintique

My boy Lucas really is a Mama's boy as there have been times when he won't go to anyone except me or he'll be fine if I'm not around but as soon as he sees me, he only wants me.  This pic was edited with Iphone apps Snapseed, Noir and Romance

Captured: a twin bond moment. Love it!

 

We have come to the realisation that our twins are the happiest when we go out! No wonder everyone comments to us about how well behaved they are because when we are out in public they usually are!

August Highlight: Nana Lilly's Visit

Nana Lilly (Damo's mum) came for a one week visit from NZ to meet her new twin grand babies Montana and Lucas and of course visit her other Aussie grand kids Keira and Lilly.

It was such a memorable moment when mum finally met our twins in person for the first time and gave them the kisses and hugs she had been wanting to do from when they were first born.

Another memorable experience was when we left the babies with Damo and I took my mother in law to the 24 hour Kmart at 3am in the morning where we shopped up a storm. Afterwards,  we picked up McDonalds breakfast to bring home to the family at 5am.

Lilly slept over and shared a bed with Nana and you could hear them chatting in bed as they went to sleep and chatting in bed again when they woke up. The next night Keira shared a bed with Nana who read her bed time stories. Such special moments which I'm sure both girls will remember one day.

Unfortunately, Nana's stay went by far too quickly but we all had an enjoyable time catching up, laughing, shopping, eating, eating and more eating - that was just us adults. The kidlets got spoilt with lots of hugs and kisses!

We look forward to seeing Nana Lilly again and the rest of the family when we all go to NZ in Dec :) xo

Here are some pics of my children and their Nana Lilly: (Note I took the pics of Keira and Lucas while I was holding Montana hence the frame being out of alignment)

Lilly with her two Grandma's Nana Lilly and Nanny Kate:

My children with their two Nana's  my mother in law and my mum:

 

 

My dad jumped in this pic:

Twin-isms: Interactions

Our twins look so grown up in the picture below. To me it looks like they are discussing the very important subject of shopping tags and stickers ;) I love seeing them interact with each other more and more everyday. In our eyes, Montana is the adventurer and Lucas is  the safe player. We can just see the following scenario in a few years time where Montana will be coaxing Lucas to follow her 'C'mon Lucas' in some kind of adventure and Lucas will hesitantly respond "But mum told us to stay here"....hahaha

 

Well they are only 8 and a half months old so there is still plenty of growing for them to do....meanwhile it's really fun watching them together. Sometimes I wish I could just wake up with a camera in my hand to capture them saying good morning to each other by putting their foreheads together or capture the look they exchange to each other when big sister Keira is doing a funny dance or acting silly in front of them. Their cuteness just makes my heart burst with happiness xo

 

Playing with my new toy

I bought my sisters Canon DSLR camera when she bought herself an upgrade. She gave me a good price and I was excited to finally own a flashy dashy camera! Even though it's second hand and it's at the bottom rank of DSLR cameras - I love it and I was eager to play around with it straight away which happened to be the weekend that my niece Lilly was staying over.  

 

Now, there was no instruction manual included (my sister is yet to give it to me) so I just basically did a point and shoot with no idea of what I was doing. We all had fun though and here are some of the results of our playful photo shoot in my front  and back yard. All unedited.

 

Lilly getting close to nature with our back yard tree - the top shot is my favourite



I took a few pics of Lilly and her cousins -  I shot these pics in the wrong spot as there was too much shadow caused by the sun but it was hard to move the twins around plus it was starting to get windy so I had to do a quick photo shoot hoping I'll get some half decent shots!

Lilly and my adorable little man Lucas

 

Two beauties. My beautiful Montana was all smiles for the camera :)

 

 Lilly and Keira started to get sick of posing and just wanted to play around the front yard





Lilly showed off her gymnastics skills (she asked me to make sure I included this cartwheel photo)

 

Jumping around.... 

 

Ring o ring o rosie....

We all fall down....

 

The girls had fun playing in the front yard and I had heaps of fun playing photographer although it's quite evident that I need some photography lessons. I am hoping to do a basic photography community course which my sister did and recommended for new starters.  I don't want to be a pro, I just want to learn how to make the most of my new toy, capture lots of memorable moments and have fun along the way :)

July Highlights

Lia's Birthday

My cousin Lindsay (Lia) celebrated her 23rd birthday on 20th July.  Lia has been doing 'work experience' with me since when she was 15 years old! Her first job was assisting me with the clean up of the events storage room when I was a PR Assistant at Marrickville City Council. This room was called the 'cage' and it was situated underneath an old town hall. Not the place one would like to clean out alone! Even now, we cannot look at flags or banners the same way! I got her to work by telling her it would be good work experience for her and she could put it down on her resume. I then started working at Cancer Council as an Events Coordinator where for the past 7 years Lia has volunteered at my events including Australia's Biggest Morning Tea, Daffodil Day, Pink Ribbon Day and has been a Fairfield Relay For Life committee member for 6 years. In that time Lia completed her HSC in the States top 8%, graduated with a double degree in Economics and Commerce (or something fancy like that) from University of New South Wales and now has a HR job at a top firm so obviously she does not need to volunteer with me for experience any longer! This year she told me that she wants to volunteer for another charity.........as if I'm going to let her go!!! Haha

Apart from being a wonderful volunteer, Lia is also a talented cake baker/decorator. We give her a theme or concept and the result is a brilliantly decorated cake. So, for her birthday this year, her sister Tildy, my sister Flavia and myself went all out to make some delicious desserts for her. This is the result:

Clockwise from top right: Creme Brulee by Tildy and red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting by me, Triple layer white buttermilk cake with buttercream and coconut icing Birthday cake made by me, White chocolate oreo cheesecakes made by my sister and Strawberry fruit jelly made by my Aunty Zinda. Lia was impressed by our efforts and felt the love.  It was all so delicious!

Happy Birthday Aunty Lia! Keira and Jaime love singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles

Cheeky cousins creating their own fun at the party. Jaime rode the bike pulling Keira who was sitting on a chair behind him and then they swapped. Clever kids :)

Lilly's Visit

Cousin Lilly stayed over for a weekend. It was great for me as I had an extra pair of hands from a very willing helper! The pictures above are snapshots of what Lilly did over the weekend which included looking after the twins when we were at Play School, changing nappies, feeding the babies their solid food and comforting crying twins (she was pretending to scream in the picture or did she really want to scream? haha) Lilly also played with Keira and read her books. What a wonderful help she was and great practice for when her twin sisters arrive. She is going to be a great big sister! xo

Play School

Play School has started and on our first day, it wasn't as hectic as we thought it be! Hopefully it will continue to be haha but I know that Keira and myself had an enjoyable time.  They had a fun lesson on the Human body and next month they are learning about the Olympics :)

The 2-3 year old class learning shapes and colours. Hyrum looks disinterested, Mercedes is concentrating on colouring in, Kingston playing with cars and Keira playing with shapes.

Twin-isms: Twin bond

When we were told we were having fraternal twins, the Dr told us it was like having two separate pregnancies at the one time. People like to think of twins as having a special bond because they've grown together in the womb and when they are born they need to be put together because they are so used to each other and can't be separated. Not my twins. When they were first born it was each to their own. Like most newborns they just wanted their mama and there was no indication of trying to reach out for the sibling whom they had shared a womb with for 38 weeks. Our boy Lucas, even though the youngest by a minute was more domineering and attention seeking. When Montana cried Lucas would cry louder - he always wanted to be held and he did not want to share. Even when they slept in the same cot - they still cried and preferred to sleep with me. You would think that they'll be comforted having another baby next to them. Not my two. They had their first separation when they were one week old when Lucas went to the hospital to get his cast and there was no separation anxiety at all. I remember thinking how right the Dr was - it did feel like I had two pregnancies at the same time as I saw no twin bond between them whatsoever. I was beginning to think that maybe it only applied to identical twins until one day - 11 days after they were born, I checked in on the sleeping twins and saw this:

Awwww YES they do have a bond and they ARE aware of each other. They show it in their own way. Now that they are older, I catch them looking at each other and there is an unspoken, unique communication only between the two of them. There is no denying that they have their own special twin bond. We love it when they share this with us.

Below are pictures of the twins playing around - Lucas was trying to get onto Montana's bouncer and she was kicking him off and he thought it was so funny. Too cute!

We look forward to seeing their twin bond grow, nourish and develop together and with others (as long as they don't gang up on mummy and daddy!)

Snap Happy Aunties

Every time we see my cousins, they whip out their mobile cameras and take heaps of photos of my three babies which they then post up on instagram and Facebook or they sms me the photos a few weeks later with an 'I miss them' message. It is really sweet that my kidlets have snap happy aunties :)

My cousin Teia took these photos of Lucas last week and I am so impressed! I love these photos of my handsome little man. I told her so and she replied that it's all him because he is so gorgeous and I couldn't argue with that! :)

My sister Flavia upgraded her SLR camera and wanted to test it out on my girls when we went to my parents place for a visit a few weeks ago. Below are some of the photos she took. Fabulous new camera + great photographer + gorgeous models = beautiful photos :)

Keira

Montana

June Highlights

June was a busy and exciting month. Here are some of the things we got up to:

We started going to Story Time at Casula Library which is on every Monday. We first went there with our church play group a few weeks ago and the library had a Science Play expo on which was fun for the kids. Keira also enjoys choosing the books and DVD's to borrow which keeps her entertained and busy at home (a little relief for me) so I've added a weekly library trip to our routine :)


Keira having fun exploring the different and fun activites at Science Play

The twins got into the action too at Science Play

A new milestone for the twins - they are now eating solids :) They started on organic baby rice cereal and are now onto their fruits and vegetables. They are great eaters and enjoy their food although the flip side is that now their poos are starting to change as well! :( 

Lucas is having a bad hair day! haha

Montana has an Islander appetite and loves her food :)

I decided to take Keira out of pre school until I go back to work in 3 months so I can spend as much time with all the kids at home. I put Keira in twice a week when the twins were born so that she could continue to have the learning and socialising of child care and so I could spend time with the twins as Keira still commands so much attention which was hard for me whilst nursing two new borns. Now the twins are older and settled and I can give Keira the attention she needs. I know I'm really going to miss being at home full time with all three babies (as chaotic as it is) so I need to make the most of it while I still can.



Keira with her teachers Miss Joanne and Miss Angela from Kids United. They only cater for children 2 years and up so I would've had to take Keira out anyway as I would prefer all three go to the same centre. We might return in 2 years time if we still live in the area :)

The saying goes that when one door closes, another one opens. My friend Kristall and her sister Jasmine have a play school for their children and we're going to join in together with our other friend Darcel and her kids. I'm excited because now that Keira is finished with child care, she will still have that weekly learning and social environment with this play school and who better than with my friends kids :) Between the four of us plus Kristall's brother's daughter - there are 13 kids under 6!! We are going to rotate a teaching and activities roster between the 4 of us mums which will start later in July. From the pictures below, it looks like the kids are having too much fun playing  but I'm sure we'll be able to get a few ABC's in there or we might be a little too ambitious with the teaching part but I guess time will tell - play school could turn into just play dates but I'm sure the kids will still have fun!

 

The last highlight of the month - Montana has just started to crawl! She is such a little adventurer  and can't stay still. Lucas is on his hands and knees and not far off from crawling either. These pics were taken by my cousin Mathilde (Tildy) while she was babysitting the twins with her mum Aunty Zinda. It's hard to believe how fast they have grown!!

  

Kids Half Yearly Update

Keira

Our big girl Keira Olandina is growing up into a beautiful little lady who always makes us laugh - even the twins. At 2 years old she's had to grow up pretty quickly having two baby siblings to share mummy and daddy with. She did ignore them for 2 days and she finally accepted them when they came home! Now at 2 years and 7 months she is, in our eyes becoming a little lady and not so babyish anymore. Of course she will always be our baby but she can now dress herself, feed herself, put on her shoes, run little errands for us like putting things in the rubbish or grabbing things for us . We still need to toilet train her but we've been advised to wait until Spring when the weather is warmer. We were initially worried about her lack of English vocabulary but she surprises us everyday with new words and she loves to read and learn so as we spend more time teaching her, we anticipate that she'll be talking non stop - something to look forward yet dread at the same time haha

Keira is so active, loud and independent. She is real Daddy's girl and the two have gotten even closer since the twins. She can be a handful but I guess that's just the age she's at. She is affectionate, loves hugs and kisses and we love to see her being so attentive and loving (sometimes a little too much) to her baby siblings.

Keira loves:

Dancing - especially to music by Beyonce, Jessica Mauboy and Timomatic

Singing - favourite songs include Happy Birthday, You are my Sunshine and nursery rhymes

Reading - Cat in the Hat and library books

Watching DVDs - favourites include Wriggles, Hi Five and Sparkles and William

Housework - washing dishes, hanging the clothes, folding the clothes, cooking, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming but at the moment, as much as I appreciate her help sometimes it creates more mess!

Colouring in, wearing dresses, hand bags, dressing up, wearing big people's shoes (especially mummy's), anything sweet!, pasta and noodles, bubbles and playing with water

Dislikes - anyone brushing her teeth, getting her hair blow dried, getting her hair done, getting her hair cut, rinsing shampoo out of her hair, cereal, the dark, bread crusts and unpeeled fruit

 Montana

 At 6 months, our gorgeous Montana Rose is a very clever little girl. Even though she was the smallest of all our babies, she has really blossomed and has caught up, if not pass her twin in weight and height.

She is practically crawling already, babbles non stop, is very adventurous, very attentive to everything around her, the last to sleep yet the first to wake up, loves her food, is a little 'thinker', a Miss independent who knows what she wants and lets us know it! It always seems like she is in a rush to grow up! She doesn't like loud noises, is cautious with people and she really loves her mummy and is another daddy's girl.

Lucas

Our youngest by a minute and our only son, Lucas Orlando Halo is a real mummy's boy. He loves his daddy too but his mummy just a little more! (for the moment) He has the most softest, silky skin, is so friendly and is very smiley with everyone he meets although he's not so independent and prefers to stay close to mummy and daddy. He loves being held, loves his sleep and is pretty comfortable to grow at his own pace. He is a happy go lucky little fella and not much bothers him. He used to be a cry baby but it may have to do with his foot when he had weekly casts for the first 8 weeks of his life. Before we had children, I told Damo that I always wanted a daughter and if I never had a son, it wouldn't bother me and now I just can't get enough of our handsome little man. Damo teases me all the time about what I said and now I have to eat my words because I can't imagine life without this little man in our family!

  

Six Months later.....

It's been six and half months since we've become a family of 5, since I've been a stay at home mum with newborn twins and a 2 year old. They say time flies when you're having fun and yes time has flown and it has been fun but not without its ups and downs.

I remember some of the early challenges we had when we bought the twins home.  Firstly, we had just moved into a new place one month before the twins were born so there was still unpacking and sorting to do (there still is as we are still looking for 'time' to finish it!) Secondly, Lucas was born with a right club foot (where the foot is turned inwards) so we had weekly hospital plaster appointments for the first 8 week weeks of of his life to straighten his foot and that was on top of helping Keira adjust to her new baby siblings as well as us trying to adjust the demands of two newborns ourselves.

The most difficult thing for me was when they were both crying I didn't know who to pick up first and when I held one, I felt like I was chosing one over the other even though I wasn't. The first few days were heartbreaking for me as all newborn babies deserve and demand a parents full and undivided attention - at least for the first weeks of their lives and our twins had to share ours. I tried to take turns or held the one I thought would be the hungriest etc. I always wished (and still do) that I had an extra pair of arms to hold all three of my babies. It was worst when Keira was crying too and sadly most times she ended up being the last one I tended too (unless it was an emergency). There were times when she was upset she'll just bypass me altogether and go to her father because she knew that most times when she came up to me I would be holding a baby or two in my arms. Yes - lots of adjusting for all of us! There were some days when they would just be a blur - it seemed like it was going slowly but by the end of it I felt like it went by so quickly yet nothing seemed to be done.

After a month, the twins started to adjust to their new world and us with them in ours. I was up a lot during the night - as I would feed one, put baby down, go to sleep and a few mins later the other baby would wake up wanting their feed.  Damo was up to holding the other crying baby or helping me with putting the two babies on me to nurse and then taking them off as they started to get heavier for me to do it. Sleep was a luxury. I really wanted to train the twins to sleep in their cot from day 1 but it only lasted a few weeks as in the end it was just easier for me to sleep in between both and turn to nurse on demand. It's not the ideal solution but I got more sleep, the twins were really happy to be fed straight away, they cried less as they both loved being close to me and overall a happier household. I know people advise against co - sleeping and it can be seen as the lazy way out to parenting but to be honest I really enjoyed it with Keira and I enjoy it with the twins.  I love the cuddliness and closeness of my babies. I love watching them fall asleep and even when they are asleep - I just love watching them, smelling them, kissing their beautiful little features and baby smooth skin, always marvelling at their perfection and that I am their mother. I'm fortunate that I am a light sleeper so I can do that but I am hoping that they will be happy to sleep in their own bedroom when I stop breastfeeding. It may seem like wishful thinking but I am an optimist!

Being an optimistic person is what made me get through the first six months. Yes, there were (many) tough days but luckily I would only be upset or stressed for a few hours after which I would assess the situation or life in general, look on the brighter side and get over it. That is one of my good traits - the ability to always be positive and move on when faced with challenges. I'm no where near the mother/ wife/ person I want to be. I have definitely learnt and grown up so much as a mother, a wife and a person. I still do everyday and always strive to be better and the best I can be.  

No matter how tough and challenging it was or it can be - I am always grateful because I think I had a pretty good first six months. I am so grateful that I had a trouble free pregnancy, a safe delivery of two healthy babies, plenty of breastmilk to nurse both twins, a loving husband/ father and plenty of support from our extended family.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't let my Heavenly Father know how grateful I am for the many blessings He has bestowed unto me and especially for entrusting me with these three precious babies.

Six and a half months on - we still don't have the perfect schedule, our days can still be hectic, chaotic and crazy, our home is still not fully sorted, the house is almost always messy and hard to keep clean, socks are always missing their pairs and Keira is starting to write on the walls but we are slowly adjusting to our little party of 5 and we all healthy and happy!

I thought the the first six months would be the hardest but thinking of the next phase of our lives which will include weaning, teething, solids, crawling, toilet training Keira and my return to work - it makes the first six months look easy when the babies just ate, slept and pooed! However, the ever optimistic person in me says Bring it on! (with a smile :) )

Our little family when the twins were 3 months - Gees we look tired but happy :)

Lilly is back!

After living in Tamworth for a year, cousin Lilly and her mother Natalie are back in Sydney and are here to stay! Lilly's dad Bowen is Damo's brother. When Bowen and Natalie divorced and Bowen moved back to NZ, we regularly had Lilly over on the weekends from when she was was 6 months old for so she is like our first daughter. We missed her so much when she moved to Tamworth but we are so glad they are back in Sydney and now Keira has a girl cousin to hang with :)

Nat and Lilly are currently staying with Nat's mum Kate who are my children's 'white Nanny'. Nat is also back because she is expecting identical twins in November! How exciting for Lilly to have her own little twin brothers or sisters.  

Last Sunday, we caught up with Nat, Lilly, Kate and Dees at the Fish Markets as they just live down the road in Glebe. It was a sunny, windy day but it was great to see them as Lilly missed her cousins and her Aunty and Uncle of course! No doubt there will be plenty more catch ups in the future now that they are back plus Nat and Lilly need as much twin practice as possible! ;)

Happy to have Lilly back in Sydney! Lilly, me and Keira

 

Master Lucas and Aunty Nat

 

Damo, Lucas, Keira and Lilly

 

Miss Montana and Nanny Kate

I'm so glad my twin pregnancy is over! Lilly, Nat, me and dirty Keira in the background

Aunty Dees with her gorgeous nieces - Montana, Keira and Lilly

Gaybo couple pic haha