Up to 3 months

The week the boys turned 6 weeks old was a big week for us in the Oakley household. We took them to church for the first time to the Christmas Eve service and they did great! And... they started sleeping in their own crib!!!!! It was an amazing experience. I thought it was a fluke, so I didn't go to bed right away, but was so excited to sleep in my own bed. Of course, it was only for a few hours, but that is okay, because, they slept in their own crib!!! And New Year's Eve, they both slept through the night. Of course, due to the fireworks and partying going on outside, I did not get as much sleep, but I was still excited.

Sadly, sleeping through the night did not last. But sleeping on their own did! It is still far better than having to hold them constantly, and I do get more sleep now than I did those first 6 weeks. I am grateful for that, but longing for the day they both sleep through the night. And the hard thing about twins is that just because one is sleeping doesn't mean you get to sleep, because the other twin could be awake and needing you. People always say, "Sleep when the baby sleeps." But that doesn't necessarily help me, because they don't always sleep at the same time. So they both might sleep 7 hours, but I might only get 4 because they don't coincide. Still better than 2 hours, though! I am trying to remind myself to be grateful!

The cute thing about the boys is that I sleep them in the same crib, which they love! I will put them on opposite sides of the crib, and when I check on them a little while later, they will both have scooted themselves to the center of the crib and have smooshed themselves together. It is completely adorable. Since I discovered that, I put them close together, although not touching, so that they don't have a long way to go to connect themselves. Recently, the difficult thing about doing that is that if one baby wakes up, is crying, and getting mad, he will T-bone his brother. Literally. I need to take a picture of it, but I am too busy grabbing the one doing the T-boning so he doesn't wake his brother up. But yeah, he will situate himself, so that he is parallel with his brother, usually against his head, and just slamming into him. Also funny, albeit frustrating if he wakes his brother up!

Another milestone: they started laughing, cooing, and smiling for real. I say smiling for real because they have always smiled in their sleep, since day one. It is the cutest sight. Of course, their faces go blank and confused when I pull the camera out, so I haven't been able to capture the really big smiles.

They love to interact with you. Ask them questions, and they will start cooing. It is like you are having a conversation, which, I guess you are. They also smile really big when they have your full attention. Laughing is rare, and not for a long time (I think they surprise themselves!).

Andrew is funny. He will be nursing, and I will be looking at him. He'll catch my eye, his eyes will brighten up and he will pull himself off just to smile at me for a minute, maybe give me a coo, and then resume eating.

Matthew gets so excited when it is time to eat. Remember, Matthew has braces on his feet. When he gets laid on the nursing pillow, he will pump his arms and his legs in celebration, smiles (sometimes whines), and when he latches on, he grabs my hand with his hand, and digs his fingers in as if to say, "You are not getting away from me!"

They also finally like their bouncy seats. They are little seats that vibrate and have something over them that makes music. The one has bubbles and little fishes in it that spin around. The other has a mirror hanging down and then the sides have stars that light up. They think they are so funny, and have long conversations with those seats. It gives Mommy a nice break to get some things done.

With all their sweet qualities and all the wonderful times we have together, it is not always wonderful. The boys are hard work. There is usually someone crying. I described them as colicky to Paul the other day, and he said that they weren't colicky. There was just someone always crying, but not always the same baby. That might be true, but it works on my nerves just the same. And they don't like to just sit and rock. They insist on walking around. I can't wait until it gets warmer outside so we can go for walks. I think they will love it! But for now, I can usually be found holding both babies and walking around the house just to keep them calm. I am constantly sore, but it is better for my nerves!

Although they both cry when they are tired, Andrew has this high pitched scream and sounds like he is dying or being tortured or both. The worst is when they both are nursing, but Andrew is done and exhausted, but won't let himself go to sleep. He will then start screaming uncontrollably while I am nursing Matthew. So I can't walk around or put him down or anything. He just turns his head and screams into my ear. I try to put my ear to his cheek to drown out the sound. Poor Matthew. He will be nursing and Andrew will start screaming, and Matthew's eyes go wide and looks at Andrew and starts nursing faster (or sometimes refuses to nurse at all). I can only imagine what is going through Matthew's mind when Andrew starts. And Matthew can reach insanely high octaves too. Matthew is a little bit easier to pacify, though. Don't be fooled. They might be cute, but they can go from 0-60 in seconds! They will be happy as a lark one minute and screaming their heads off 5 seconds later. It drives Mommy a little crazy.

Everyone says, "Oh, it won't hurt them to cry." However, both boys now have umbilical hernias from crying so much and so hard. Because they were premature, their stomach muscles didn't have a chance to close the whole way and screaming has caused part of their insides to go through this to the belly button. It sticks way out. My sister commented that it looks like a second penis. I don't think so, but they are quite large. The docs say that there is nothing to be done, and that it should resolve itself in time, but if not, they will have to have surgery to correct it when they are around age 4. We are praying that it will resolve on its own!

It is also hard to get out of the house with them by myself. They are both ridiculously heavy. Even if I carry them out to the car and then put them in their seats- how do I get the van door open while holding both babies? If I carry them in their seats, then I am really sore. And then I have to factor in how long I will be there and if I should even go, because they might be cranky or hungry, and I am not confident in myself to feed them in public, but I hate pumping. Dealing with all of these challenges, I have to ask myself: Is it really worth going out?

I am trying to keep things in perspective and not get so frustrated. After all, they are only babies and crying (screaming) is really the only way they have to communicate with me. I am sure it will get better, only to have different sets of challenges. They are really sweet and I love to cuddle with them and spend time with them. All in all, I think we'll keep them. :)