Right Now

Right now, the twins are 8 months old and Adam is 33 months old. Right now, we get very little sleep, someone is always sick, crying or awake, and we make a whole lot of chicken nuggets and corn dogs for dinner just to scrape by.

Right now, Colin can't stop fussing. We can't figure out why. He is a sweetheart, very social and loves his siblings, but lately it seems like he really just likes the sound his voice makes when he complains.

We have seen a lot of this lately.

Of course, with both Colin and Claire sick last week it was magnified, and then with Claire starting to fuss because she didn't feel well, I have to admit there have been many times when Shannon or I had to leave a fussy room to regain composure before going back in to be yelled at again.

But Colin's eyes have morphed into this pretty green-gray-blue, and he gets so excited when he smiles that he kicks and flops and tries to launch himself right out of your arms. He is getting ready to crawl and can get on his hands and knees and rock, so I'm sure we'll have three to chase soon. I believe his main desire at the moment is to walk instead. I am curious to see how much crawling this strong little guy will actually do before he just stands up and walks off.

Don't push me, Man. I'll do it. I'll drop it. Don't think I won't.

Both Colin and Claire are eating the very basic table foods now (favorites being peas and carrots, cut up pasta, cut up green beans, black eyed peas (Colin goes nuts for black eyed peas), and mandarin oranges). They just turned 8 months old, and both would prefer to feed themselves on their own, but can't get enough in to satisfy them so it's a combination of puree and table food for now.

That's my boy. Skipping the pasta and going straight for the veggies. (Do as I say, not as I do).

Funny, Mom.

MMMMMM. Black Eyed Peas.

They are also working pretty steadily at this sippy cup concept.

Right now, Claire is... hilarious.

I don't always eat Cheerios for breakfast. But when I do, I prefer Honey Nut.

She is ambitious and not fussy. She's a control freak. When she isn't allowed to crawl into a room or when an unapproved toy is removed from her reach, she bursts out a loud scream to voice her frustration. She is a smiley girl, but so determined that her days are pretty much filled with discovering her world and nailing this crawling thing. She has stopped drinking her milk nearly completely, which is frustrating because she will only sip her water and juice as well, so it's starting to feel like we spend most of our time wrestling with an alligator to get her to drink. And because she likes to be in control, typically we have better luck when she grabs the bottle out of our hands and does it herself.

Claire is army crawling, and she can do it fast. Her main targets are Adam's snacks.

She prefers the hunter-gatherer method of survival.

Tonight, I swear if she could talk she would have responded to Shannon when he told her it was time to go to bed with, "You can't make me." She would have been right.

the perfect bubble.

Right now, when the twins are together, they are entertaining. Colin steals Claire's pacifier. They beat each other up, they laugh at each other, they climb on top of one another. And they get very mad at each other. But Adam can come into the room and knock them down and they'll suck it up and be okay.

Colin stealing Claire's paci.

This was breakfast entertainment for Claire last week.

And this is Claire's view.

     
The boys were cuddling one morning while Claire was napping...

And the below is what happens when there is a very long wait at the doctor and only two babies and a phone camera are available to provide entertainment.

a look of concern.

I'll be here for you.

It looks like she's pushing him, but their reaches for one another are still pretty uncoordinated.

 

Claire thinks she can fly.

Right now, I simply cannot believe that Adam will be 3 in less than 3 months. We are having trouble landing on the right theme for his third birthday. I tend to lean towards a soccer party (duh), but the truth is he'd be happy anywhere, doing anything (as long as it allowed him to run or jump) and his friends came. He is bright and active and pushes boundaries like it's nobody's business, and then gets extremely upset when his tactics fail to "trick" us into letting him get what he wants.

He is afraid of the dark and while he will go down very easily at naptime, will fight to the death to go to sleep, coming out of his room several times between 8:30 pm and 10:30 pm to tell us he's scared, has to go potty, needs milk, or needs to "talk to momma." He wants us to sleep next to him, and I'd say more than 60% of the time, he ends up in our bed by 3 am. Tonight he even came out to tell me his cup had rolled onto the floor (he pushed it off the bed, walked past it, came out calling for me to see and came back in and pointed to the cup on the floor). I told him to get back in bed, and he pointed to the only bed in the room and said, "This one?" No, the bed on the ceiling, smartass. Is it possible to not be 3 yet and still be a smart ass?

He and Colin have mastered the art of not going to sleep until 11 pm, and Claire typically falls asleep very easily but does not sleep through the night (she wakes up once between 2-3 am for milk and goes back to sleep). Suffice it to say, we are very tired.

Adam is fully potty trained with minimal accidents, even through naptime, and all that is left is learning to hold it all night long. I'm so proud of him. It's like one day, it just clicked.

Mamie and Grandpa got Adam a subscription to Highlight's magazine for Christmas. His favorite is the hidden puzzles.

There are times when I actually do wish we had three highchairs. Not that Adam will stay in one for more than 10 minutes at a time.

Adam's sense of humor always catches us off guard, and it's usually at the perfect moments. His timing is perfect and he is straight and to the point.

As Shannon was changing Colin's dirty diaper...
Adam says in passing: "Ewww. Colin. You need a bath."

As Claire was crying because she didn't get exactly what she was crawling for:
"Claire is sad. She needs a nap."

When Colin was fussing:
"Colin. Take a deep breath, it's oooohhh-kaayyy."
(Then a few hours later, as the fussing continued).
"Colin, chillax!"

(As a side note, Adam has been using the word "chillax" forever. If you see him, tell him to "chillax." He'll immediately respond, "YOU Chillax."

I'm not really big on potty humor, but this one got me when Adam passed gas one afternoon.
Adam: "What was that??"
Me: "I don't know, what was it?"
Adam: "My butt!! My butt is barking!"

Adam loves to help "Backwar" (Vacuum) and do the "wander-ee" (Laundry)

Rocking out with Dad.

Claire can make everybody laugh.

Doing a puzzle with Dad and Colin.

Baths with Adam are not always relaxing.

But they still have fun.

Peek a boo with Claire

Right now, the house is filled with lots of smiles to make up for all the crying and the frustration. It's a good thing I take so many pictures so I can remind myself that even though it felt like all I did was throw my hands up in the air or fold my arms and lay my head in my lap in frustration, maybe it wasn't all that bad. When I see all the smiles from pictures I took just in the last week, I think: maybe my kids are still getting what they need. Seeing these pictures reminds me that we read books, went to the doctor, ate meals, took baths, and smiled at each other. Sometimes... when you're exhausted... those things are easy to forget.

Right now, life is exhausting. That about sums it up.