13 Weeks and counting..

Only 13 weeks and already the girls are ready to take the family car for a spin :) 

Ada says, "Please Mommy? I promise to be back by nap time!"

Things are picking up around here. I know it is only the 5th of November (Remember remember the 5th of November.. anyone ? Anyone..? Go here if you are having trouble) ..but I broke down during play time this morning and started playing Charlie Brown Christmas.. oh how sweet it is. I can not WAIT until Christmas this year!!! Snuggly babies on Christmas morning!?!?!? Fresh hot cinnamon rolls?!?! It's gonna be amazing. 

We have just emerged from 4 weeks of very trying times. The days have had their ups and downs the but nights have been consistently difficult. The girls got into a habit of waking every hour after about 12:30AM to eat. You can imagine how tired the two of us have been. After the 3rd week of this I started to suspect that this was not the growth spurt that I had previously thought but instead a habit forming. So, I devised a plan to break them of this killer (after consulting the web and several of my baby books). I decided to see if they would take a binkie instead of food since they only were eating for a few minutes when I fed them and then falling back asleep. I started getting up on the hour with them and giving them the binkie. I found it easier to just stay in their room during this whole process so I made a bed next to the crib and settled in. I watched when they squirmed in their sleep and when they stared to wake up. I watched to see if they showed signs of hunger and was pleased to see that they did not. The next night I felt confident that they didn't actually need the food and that they were perfectly capable of sleeping for longer stretches. So when they woke I would get them up and hold them like they were going to be fed but give a binkie instead and they would snuggle down and suck and drift right off. Then I moved to just giving them the binkie while they were in crib when they woke. The waking was getting less and less frequent. Monday I started them napping in separate cribs and they did so well I decided to do the same at night and .. VOILA !!! Suddenly my waking babies are sleeping 8-9 hour stretches again!!! They go down around 8 and don't wake until 4 or 5 at which point if they are truly hungry I give them a snack and they go back to sleep until 7 when I get them up for their first feeding. This morning I actually had the energy to get a shower before Stephen left for school, I didn't feel like a deflated balloon like I have been feeling in the AM. Sigh of relief. Hope they keep this up. 

They are growing so much. Smiling all the time in response to being smiled at. They love to play and listen to Mommy talk her head off and sing songs to distract them when they are cranky. Ada still really loves to observe her world and seems to be so sensitive. There are times when she screams and I can't do anything to help and I really feel like that is her just needing to get her emotions out. So I hold her and she kicks and wails and before long she settles down for a snuggle. Margot loves to be held and feel like she is participating in whatever you are doing. She loves to be talked too and isn't as much a fan of the toys as Ada is. She is more interested in your face and interacting. Ada does this as well but I can tell Margot is really into it. 

Stephen and I are doing well despite the recent lack of sleep. I do feel a little trapped some days but lack the energy to get myself up and out. I think that will be changing very soon. Sleeping at night is heavenly. 

I must admit, moving the girls into separate cribs has been a little tough. I love seeing them snuggled together and I felt like they were happier that way. But apparently, that time has come and gone. Aside from the waking up, they were also doing a little traveling in their sleep so I am sure it feels better to get sleep without your sibling smacking you in the face with a runaway arm or having your sibling squish you with her diaper butt. Sigh. Maybe they will start liking to sleep together again when they are older. I don't know why this is so hard for me!? They look so alone in that big crib on their own. I suppose it will just take time for me to adjust. It is obviously better since they are sleeping so much better. 

Yes, I voted yesterday... and no I don't want to talk about it here. I have never brought up politics on this blog and I don't plan to start now.