Yummy! PB&J!!

Andrew, left; Patrick, right eating blueberry pancakes!

Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope it was as wonderful as ours was. We spent it down in Boston at my aunt's house which also happens to be where my father grew up and I have tons of my own childhood memories. Now, for some pics of the boys having PB&J for lunch today. I think it may be Patrick's new favorite!

Patrick

Andrew (although he gets tired of chewing the bread and pitches a fit when eating one of these)

Newest Frustration

I would say that one of the biggest frustrations with raising my twin boys is figuring out how to teach a couple of ten month olds how to properly play with one another. Sometimes they attack one another and laugh away like they are having the best time ever, as you have witnessed in a couple of the videos I have posted. However, other times they start crying and get very upset.

I have tried to start to teach them not to steal each other's toys and not to just crawl up and smack their brother in the face. However, apparently at ten months this is an incredibly difficult task to get your children to understand. UGH!!!

The hardest part is when one of the boys steals their brother's toy, and then I tell them no, and give it back to the original toy holder just to have the one who stole it in the first place break down in tears because they don't seem to understand why I gave it back to their brother. I try distracting them with a new toy, but this is definitely one of the rare times that I cannot wait for them to be old enough to start to understand me better!

Differences Are the Spice of Life

On a day to day basis, the most amazing and interesting thing to observe is the vast differences between my two identical little boys. While sometimes their personalities switch some (Andrew was more shy in the beginning, then Patrick started being more shy, but now Andrew seems to be back in the shy role), the ways they see the world and learn new things is very different.

Patrick

For example, Andrew has newly mastered the ability to stick his tongue out at us and finds it fascinating that he has that control over it. He also likes to shake his head in a 'no' motion a lot. Patrick does neither of these things. Then there's Patrick who has now figured out how to clap his hands and wave, things Andrew hasn't really done yet. Patrick also likes to make a clicking sound with his mouth. It's just amazing that they are in the same environment observing the same things on a daily basis, but pick up on different aspects of what it is they see.

Andrew

Then there are the things that the boys teach each other. Andrew started crawling around with toys in his mouth all the time, and shortly after, Patrick has decided it is very fun to do too. It is hilarious to watch them crawl around chasing each other with toys sticking out of their mouths.

Andrew, left; Patrick, right

It is going to be such a wonder and a joy to watch how these differences continue over their childhood. I am one lucky momma! :)

Andrew is a goofball! 

Ode to Our Animals

From the very first day we brought our baby boys home, our dogs instinctively knew that these two new little people were part of the family. They have always been just as happy to give the babies kisses when we come home from being away, as they are to welcome home Dave and I. It has been absolutely fantastic!

Andrew with Kaya, 6 weeks

Of course, now that our babies are crawling everywhere, the dogs tend to run scared whenever the boys start heading their direction. The dogs 100% would never do anything to them, but they do prefer to be far away from those grabby little hands. However, it seems they are learning. Sierra, our brown dog, is the first one to start coming around. While we are trying to teach Andrew and Patrick how to pet the dogs and not just attack them, Sierra has decided that it's okay by her if they grab her some. She even stays asleep through it occasionally.

Bruschi cuddling with the boys, 7 weeks

Also, we cannot be more thankful for our amazing cat, Layla. She lets them grab her and pretty much torture her and never even lifts a paw to them. Sometimes she lets out a very sad meow to let us know that she would like us to help her escape, but other than that, she is the world's best family cat. She is aware that harming our children is not an option, and when she has had enough she just stalks off to a different part of the house.

Sierra cuddling, 4 months

Don't worry, we always keep a close eye on everything, but we honestly could not be luckier to have our pets. I know having three dogs and a cat on top of having twin boys sounds a little crazy, but it keeps life that much more exciting and interesting! After all, our pets are our family too!

Andrew, green, Patrick, grey, with Layla, 9 months

Patrick grabbing Sierra, this morning :)

Favorite Time of Day

I have started to have a new favorite time of day with Andrew and Patrick. While it is still amazing when they wake up first thing in the morning and I can hear them interacting on the monitor, the time I now cherish most is after they wake up from their morning nap until they go down for their afternoon nap.

Patrick loves blueberry yogurt!

Andrew loves his spoon :)

Up until recently, Patrick and Andrew could rarely go more than three straight hours being awake. Now, during the afternoon they go closer to four hours, so I get an extra hour of laughter and play! Plus, this is now when I go for my jog with them, which is by far my favorite bonding activity. The peace and serenity of a nice long run, the endorphins it gives me, and getting to spend it with my little men is a fantastic combination!

Patrick reenacting Polamalu's latest Head & Shoulders commercial

As for a feeding update, Patrick seems to be over whatever it was that was causing his fuss for now. However, Andrew has decided that towards the end of a meal if he is tired of chewing, he refuses to finish his food. At least we make it almost through the entire meal before he fusses though! 

Andrew crawls everywhere with something in his mouth

Eating Issues

So far pretty much every single one of my posts has centered around how wonderful and amazing my children are. This is so very true, but sometimes motherhood can be incredibly trying and difficult.

For the past week or so, Patrick has decided that he will only eat the first few bites of his meal and then will fuss the rest of the way through it. The hard part is, it is obvious he still enjoys the taste of the food he is eating because the second we can find a way to trick another bite into his mouth, he immediately chews it up as if he was never fussy in the first place. Then, as a result of all of Patrick's fussing and taking longer to eat, Andrew starts getting very upset. He is so young, I think he believes that I am feeding Patrick more than him and so actual tears start to stream down his face in between his bites. It breaks my heart.

Needless to say, I am SO ready for this phase to be over. At least once the meal is over they both instantly return back to their smiley selves! Also lucky for me, I finally got a break from this horrible cycle at lunch a few minutes ago. I finally got through a meal with both of them happy the entire time!!! Keep your fingers crossed that this means Patrick might be over his issues!

Pictures

Here are some pics as promised of during the hurricane and their halloween "costumes".

No power! Andrew, left; Patrick, right

Andrew as a lumberjack (just like most days)

Patrick as a lumberjack

Storm Update

First of all, we survived the storm just fine up here. We lost power for a couple of hours in the late afternoon. Patrick and Andrew had a lot of fun playing with their light up toys in the darkness. As it got later they started getting fussy, but lucky for us, the power came back on just in time for their dinner and to get them ready for bed! As soon as power was back, the boys were so happy again. In their world, darkness usually means bed time so I think they were relieved it wasn't quite that time again yet.

We lost power again after they went to bed but it came back on as we were feeding them breakfast the next morning.

Now, I know two days ago was their first Halloween and everyone is probably hoping to see pictures of their costumes. However, after much discussion, in the end Dave and I decided it would be better to just skip it this year. Costumes are not cheap and with zero plans for trick or treating and zero trick or treaters that come to our street, we honestly didn't see the point in spending the money just for a picture. Plus, I haven't exactly had the free time this year to make them one! With that said, we did put them in red flannel and declare them lumberjacks.

I promise next year will be a lot more fun!

I will try to post some pictures later today, but I left the camera in their room last night where they are currently sleeping away!