Sleep has improved dramatically since we underwent some serious sleep training but along with feeding it's still the main cause for stress and frustration! The boys do generally sleep through (as any parent will understand I daren't celebrate this as it could all change at any moment!) and they obviously wake when ill or when we've had a late night ourselves. They like to keep us on our toes at all times! But overall, we get more sleep (thank you, thank you, thank you boys).
The day time naps are now the main issue. I've had a couple of shockers when they've disturbed each other mid nap and after an hour of screaming babies, room shuffling, mattress jiggling, hiding on the floor of their room so the other cant see me, twinkle twinkle humming, holding and rocking one whilst using my foot to turn on two white noise machines to try and calm the other, I lose the plot call my mum and beg her to come and help as I can't take any more. I then call Matthew and tell him how unfair it is that he's at work and I'm at home tearing my hair out! He will normally answer sounding quite out of breath and at first I thought I was really stressing him out but it turns out he's at the gym. THE GYM!!! Bitter? Me? ....YES!
These shockers are getting more and more frequent so something has to be done. People say to decrease the morning nap so the lunchtime nap is more consistent. So we tried that. We've tried making lunch later, trying to give them more food, more stimulation, less stimulation, more fresh air, less tv, more tv. Nothing seems to make a difference. So, until this delightful phase of putting the boys to bed and holding my breath and crossing every part of my body hoping that they make it through long enough to get through the rest of the day without losing it...I'm pretty much on edge!
We've regressed slightly in that we're back to sleeping in the living room (bless you ikea daybed) as since the boys have become slightly more active, the sound of their legs thrashing about in their cots keeps us awake all night as their room is right next to ours so we've left our beautiful super king and we sleep downstairs. We're also thinking about separating them if they keep waking eachother in their nap times so we'll officially be using the living room as our little studio apartment whilst the boys take the first floor...not sure this counts as progress really?!
Feeding is generally better - we still have to sing to them and make funny animal noises to keep them distracted whilst we spoon food in but generally they are doing much better. They can't take any sort of finger foods as they gag and are sometimes sick but it's apparently quite normal for prem babies to do this and we have a speech and language therapist coming to help us soon who will help them to learn to swallow. She has recommended that we stick to bite and dissolve foods for now such as baby carrot crisps, ice cream wafers, prawn crackers (Matthew nearly fell off the chair in delight at this and promptly ordered a chinese take away), Jaffa cakes (not a problem, a staple part of our weekly shop) and rice crispies. Prawn crackers are the favourite so far.
Other than these two factors the boys are AMAZING. Their personalities are emerging in full force and I love them more and more each day.
Both boys love to reach up to us to be picked up and held and just as you think how sweet it is that they want a cuddle or kiss, they give you a hand off and want to be put down again. Another little reminder of who's in charge hey boys!
Xander cub loves his bro and if you sit them too close to each other he will pull at Joeby who will inevitably fall over and cry. Xander is a the cheeky one. He loves wooden spoons and bashing his angry hand on the sofa. He likes his bell and when he's done making as much noise as possible, he'll hold it in the air like a sword and gasp at it like it's the best thing he's ever seen. He also loves talking to Matthew on facetime after he's had lunch. He giggles so much at the screen as Matthew laughs at him and I LOVE watching him smiling and laughing with his big open mouthed gummy smile.
Joeby Joe; he's still a scaredy cat and hates loud noises, big boxes and tall loud people! He has started dancing (bouncing)and clapping hands which is adorable and likes shaking things. Especially Matthews vitamin box! He's a bit of a mummys boy (I'm talking about Joey here..not Matthew. Those who know Matthew will understand the need for clarification!) and needs a little more affection than his bro. Although he's a mummys boy he's also the more boisterous of the two and likes to be held upside down and thrown about. He's also trying really hard to crawl and has so far managed to go backwards with great efficacy! Getting stuck under the sofa is his latest trick.
They're both feisty little ones which we find quite unfair as we're both the complete opposite but we're hoping this is again, a phase. It's quite a long phase as they've been feisty since we brought them home but we live in hope! Trips away are difficult as they're quite high maintenance little ones and if anything alters slightly from their routine then they become irritable and the day is ruined by bad tempers. So, we spend a lot of time at home trying to make life as easy for them (and therefore us!) as possible. When we first brought the boys home, we were told that the first year with twins is the hardest. Now, I hear that life is easier when they're 3. Please can people stop moving the goalpost?!
As for us, we're slowly getting our lives back a little bit. I have a new part time job for 2 days a week which I absolutely love and I'm also doing hypnobirthing again. We go out and see friends mostly separately and like most parents of babies, we make an effort to have a date night once in a while so we don't forget we're a married couple and not room mates! Every day is hard and life is relentless but one day we'll get there. Hopefully before they're 3!
Big boys love the bath
A family photo on the boys first birthday!
Um, Xander, you're meant to be asleep...we can see you and we're not impressed!
Happy Birthday to youuuuuu....
And now celebrating Molly's birthday!
How to feed twins simultaneously (when they're too lazy to hold their own bottles!)
Loving the swings!
Haircut at home...sorry boys!
We finally found a way to get them to chill out in the buggy, facing each other!
