Boys, they are a'growin.

The boys went to the doctor for their 9 month checkup yesterday. Nine months…amazing. It is true what people say about the first 6 months (or longer) with twins being a blur. I don’t know where the time went – it is simply gone.

Milestones:
Raork says Nananana, Mum mum mum, and Puh. Cole grunts.

Both boys sit up unassisted for periods of time, but eventually tip over.

They like to stand and play with things, but are too wobbly to stand on their own.

Cole has two teeth.

They eat cut up regular food, and we are almost done with baby food completely. Last night they ate what we ate – meatloaf, ranch-style beans, and broccoli.

They rock back and forth and roll a lot, but still no crawling.

The doctor said that they are around the 8 month mark in development, which he is very happy with. Since they were 3 months early they are ahead of their adjusted age, and he is not concerned with anything yet. He did say that we will have to bring in Early Childhood Intervention if they are not crawling, jabbering, and cruising by a year. I don’t really know what cruising is, but I think it is where they stand and take a few steps holding on to things. We have 3 months though, so no worries there. Overall, they are fantastic.

The doctor asked if they were sleeping through the night. Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, not so much. We told him that we end up feeding Cole a lot around 3am because he is hungry and grumpy and won’t go back to sleep. And do you know what he said? “Let him cry. He should be sleeping through the night and he doesn’t need to eat at 3am”…yep. So last night I turned down the monitor (could NOT bring myself to turn it off completely) and we didn’t wake up with the boys AT ALL. We finally got up with Cole at 4:50am, after he had grumped around for about 20 minutes…but other than that we slept all night. It was like a vacation. I have no idea if the boys woke up at all, because I didn’t hear them. But I imagine if they had been really crying I would have heard since their room is right next to ours. I hope tonight goes just as well. And – if you don’t believe in letting kids cry, perfectly OK with me…just let me be about it. I don’t need anymore emails telling me what a horrible mother I am. I know I am a horrible parent – leave well enough alone.

It is EARLY

We went running yesterday, for an HOUR! It was fantastic. We took the boys and went to a favorite park of mine in Arlington. It was sunny and warm and simply put – perfect. Although about ½ hour into the run Roark decided to start screaming at the top of his lungs for NO GOOD REASON. He wasn’t hungry, tired, wet – he just didn’t feel like being in the B.O.B. anymore. And he let the whole world know. If you heard his wailing yesterday around 2:00, I am sorry. You will be happy to know that he is bouncing away at this very moment in his Johnny Jump-Up, smiling his fool head off.

Our boys decided to get up for the day at 4:50am, and sadly don’t show any signs of tiring as of yet. How do they do that? I can’t drag myself out of bed that early unless I HAVE to (such as this morning – thank you little pains). Where does the energy go as we age? Why do they get up so early? What in the hell is wrong with babies?????

TV is Expensive

Work is crazy, which has an element of “nice” to it. I don’t mind the real work, simply hate it when I have to do useless things…and the “nice” part is that we are not in a useless work mode right now. Everything I am working has very clear goals and my activities directly reflect the outcome of the project…which is a good thing. The crazy part is best shown in an example of my day yesterday: I had to get up at 2:30am in order to leave the house by 3:30am to drive to a one hour meeting, 4 hours away. I then turned around and drove home. Due to pre-meeting and post-meeting meetings (heh – too funny) I ended up getting home around 3:00pm. Then, I had more work to do. See? Crazy.

The boys are fantastic, but there is really nothing new to report. They like to stand and play now – holding on to the Incrediblock or Walker or Exersaucer. It is not enough to actually SIT in the toy, they have to STAND beside it. Why is that? It is cute – yes. But it makes it difficult to ever leave their side. Which makes it hard to pee, or eat, or pick up toys, or make bottles, or anything at all useful.

The girls are good as far as I know. They get their report cards today so I will talk to them tonight. They are at their dad’s this weekend, so that stinks. I wish they were going to be at our house. I always wish this though. I WILL see them Monday and next weekend. Not sure what we will do – I think I will pull up guidelive and see what is going on in the area that they may be interested in.

So this weekend we plan to take it easy, do the usual grocery shopping and washing of the laundry, and will break out our latest Netflix...

Downloaded from iTunes today:
Bad Day Daniel Powter
Free Loop Daniel Powter
Song 6 Daniel Powter
Jimmy Gets High Daniel Powter
Breathe (2AM)
Slave to Love Bryan Ferry
Father Figure George Michael
Ride Wit Me Nelly

These are all a result of TV shows...stupid TV. The Daniel Powter song was on American Idol as was Father Figure, Breathe owas on Gray's Anatomy, and all of the others have been on Scrubs. TV cost me $8.00 in songs today.

Why I am here

I have never had very many close friends. I have written about this before. Writing, to me is an outlet of feelings and thoughts that some people may simply discuss with their friends. So, I suppose it is my ‘replacement friend’ and it is good for me. This journal is seldom judgmental and I never have to plan a ‘girls night out’ in order to come here. It is always welcoming. I have been able to get through some confusing and difficult times in the past few years and I credit some of that to being able to write about my feelings and work through the right way to handle things. It helps me clear my head and feel better about decisions. And, for every post here, there are ten others that were too personal, half-baked, incoherent, or simply stupid… but I write them anyway and it makes me feel better.

I also write for the memories. I like to look back and see where I was / what I was doing a year or two ago. I like to see that I have made progress, or changed. And sometimes I just like to be reminded of days gone by. I love writing about my kids and seeing the changes in them over time. I like keeping track of things they do and say, knowing that someday I will treasure these entries.

I do not write to cause conflict, to upset anyone, or even to acknowledge anyone. This is purely for me. It is selfish, and it is mine. When I created my journal I left comments opened out of curiosity. I wondered if anyone read this, and wondered what they thought. Over time, I realized that I don't care what people think about my writing, my family, my life. I have them opened now because there are a few people that comment that I like hearing from. I enjoy hearing from them and following their lives. That is it.

I don’t want to hear about anyone’s dislike of my life choices, how I raise my children, what I do in my free time, or what my future plans are. Sometimes I ask questions – and I love to hear feedback. If I am asking, I consider it an open field and am very open to differing opinions. If I have not asked your opinion and you have negative feedback, it may be better used elsewhere and on someone else. It won’t affect me, I won’t change because of it. Just so you know.

20 Year Reunion

I have run 20 out of 22 days. I had wanted to run 21 days straight, however I took a few breaks due to being tired or lazy or something. My last blood test showed a fair decline in red blood cells due to the Zyvox, so I guess that explains the tired. Once that came back showing anemia, I cut myself a break and took a day off. It felt good. It also made it easier to run the days after that.

Running along with weight training a couple times a week should be making a dent in the weight I want to lose, but it has yet to show any significant changes. I am doing the whole South Beach Diet thing, and although we had meltdown Friday and ate not only a bad lunch (I had a burger and fried pickles), but also had wine, we have done very well. I am hoping to see a nice drop this week. If there has not been much change by Saturday I will have to come up with a Plan B. Plan B is never fun. It has such an ominous sound to it doesn’t it?

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I received an invitation to my 20th high school reunion. Wow, I am aging. 20 years… No – I am not going. Wouldn’t even consider it. I was never friends with most of the people in my school and it would be fairly pointless to pretend otherwise. I was shy, pretty quiet, and a huge geek. I broke out of my shell my junior year, but hung out with kids at other schools more than my own. The few kids I was friends with have drifted away and I suppose it doesn’t really matter to me. But it is still unbelievable to me – 20 years.

When I found out about the reunion I went out to classmates.com and started browsing through the list of people from my graduating class. I wondered what happened to different people – the first guy I ever really liked, the first guy I kissed, some of my friends old boyfriends, girls I knew but didn’t end up staying great friends with, and then there was the random people that I ran into at a game or party that for some reason stuck in my head all these years later. I didn’t want to sign up for the “gold” package so I could only see limited information on people…but it was funny to drudge up the old memories.

Would you go back to high school again? No way in HELL you could get me to. It was hard, and it wasn’t very much fun. I didn’t have a lot of friends, and I was a geek. I had a few good friends, and for that I am grateful, however those were some hard times that I don’t want to repeat.

When I was a junior in high school a friend of mine moved in with us. Her parents moved to Arkansas in the middle of the year and she wanted to finish the school year before moving to be with them. She was very popular and had a huge network of friends. She had a boyfriend, and he had tons of friends too. She was also a little demon…loved to party and drink and cause trouble. She didn’t like to study or hang out at home. She loved to stir things up. As for the partying – she decided on several occasions to have them at my house while my mom was working (she worked nights) and published the events to the whole school. It was nice to have all of those kids at my house, but 1) I didn’t drink and 2) I didn’t really know most of the people there. I would kill myself getting the house clean before my mom got home and of course the instigator was NO HELP as she was always hung over. I did end up getting a date to junior prom through her, although that is a disastrous story for another time. And I am sure I owe the fact that I ever dated at all to her…

The end result of those parties was the neighbors told my mother what was going on, she sent my friend home to Arkansas early, and then tried to send me to a private school. Thank god they wouldn’t accept incoming seniors or I would have been in a Baptist school hell my final year of high school.

So – the high school experiences were not the greatest. And those were certainly not the best times of my life. And if they had been, wouldn’t that just be sad? I can honestly say that now is the best time of my life. Every day is better and better than the one before. I have a rich, full life. My kids and husband are wonderful and I cannot imagine things being any different.

Insert Mission Impossible Theme Here...

I am at work today. I am also a thief.

There is an empty section of our building. It has furniture and ‘stuff’ in it, but no people hang out there. So – enter my thievery. I pulled a mission impossible this morning and returned to my office with a big fluffy chair and an end table, which works great as a foot stool. Don’t expect me to EVER sit at my desk again – because the chair – totally rules. I now need my slippers here and it will be more comfortable than staying at home. Ah – love my fluffy chair. I do hope nobody steals it from me. I will kill them.

Cravings

I have not lost much weight over the past week while on this diet. I am hoping that week 2 is the big one for me. Meanwhile, I so badly want many, many bad foods (bad = anything with carbs). I am craving carbs. Of any kind.

I would LOVE to eat:

• Oatmeal
• Cheerios
• Bread
• Pretzels
• Margaritas
• Pizza
• Oranges
• Bananas
• Pumpkin Bread
• Candy (there are currently two boxes on the island in the kitchen from V-Day, untouched by me)
• Tortillas
• Peanut Butter Toast

Oh my god, I am making myself miserable. Thinking about all the food I want is killing me. Must stop thinking about apples, plums, potato chips, rice, pasta, and ice cream.

WAHHHHH!

I am upstairs in our bedroom with the door closed and the fan on trying to work. I can still faintly hear Roark SCREAMING downstairs as he no doubt is upset about the tilt of the earth on its axis or perhaps the impending global warming, or even more likely that his bottle is a teeny tiny bit too cool for his delicate palate. He is THAT high maintanance. Cole on the other hand sprouted two teeth last night and has yet to complain about anything - ever. Explain that to me please.

Environmental and Parental Nightmare

I drive a BIG, gas gussling SUV
My boys wear disposable diapers
I throw batteries and paint in the dumpster without a care
I feed my babies formula instead of breast milk
I do not believe in co-sleeping
We did the CIO method to get the babies to sleep all night
Both boys have already eaten junk food (tasted chocolate pudding, ice cream, and smoothies)
We do not recycle
I print EVERYTHING, and end up throwing much of the printed material out only a short time later
I do not make baby food
I throw away leftovers
Hearing the boys cry usually makes me laugh or at least grin (well, unless there is actually something wrong - duh)

And you want to know the real kicker? None of this bothers me. Seriously.

What I am doing:

I am jogging / working out everyday
I am sticking to my diet and actually losing weight
I am watching the boys grow and change every single second
I am looking at the laundry and thinking about folding it
I am wondering where all of the baby socks are sneaking off to
I am curious why I wanted to go back to work now that I am in the thick of it and realize how hard working and taking care of babies is
I am spending time with the girls only to find out that it is never enough time
I am trying to mold my girls into strong, intelligent people and am struggling with the little influence I have
I am anxiously awaiting summer
I am looking forward to our trip to Mexico in May and secretly wanting the time to pass just a little bit faster
I am trying to spend more time reading books and less time reading journals
I am watching the news everyday and finally know what is going on in the world
I am interested in the Olympics, however have only managed to watch a few very disappointing events such as Women's Hockey. Puhhhlease!
I am falling deeper in love with my husband every day
I am better person than I was a year ago, five years ago, ten years ago

Baby Proofing

The boys are getting bigger, and more advanced. They roll all over the place. And – they are interested in outlets, sharp corners, cabinets, and anything else that makes me think they are going to kill themselves at any given moment. Roark is more interested in the danger than Cole, but they are equally as wiggly and it is only a matter of time before we end up in the paper with BAD PARENTS above our picture if we don’t do something about baby-proofing. Which led us to Babies R Us yesterday.

While at the bad baby store, we ended up spending a crazy amount of money on baby-related items. We bought outlet plugs and covers, plastic doorknob covers, cord wrappers, and cabinet locks. We also decided to look at car seats because the boys are practically busting out of their infant seats, and they are too big to carry around in them anyway. Wow the car seats are expensive. The Britax ones are crazy amounts of money. Which we didn’t buy. We did however end up buying the Alpha Omega 3-in-1 car seat because we were all giddy over the advertising: “One car seat for life” and “Works for infants, toddlers, old people” as well as “Will double as your child’s first car at the age of 16”. Seemed like a bargain anyway. And – they are cool. So there is that.

I was not sure what to do with their old car seats. I could donate them to some charity (if they would even take them) and let them resell them. Or we could throw them away. I finally decided to list them on craigslist.org to see if anyone wanted them. I listed them for the amount of $0.00 stating that we didn’t need them and wanted to give them a good home. Right after I clicked “publish” we received a phone call. No kidding. Inside minutes there was someone coming to get them. That was so easy.

Now we need to actually install of the various baby-proofing things that we bought. It is a shame that just purchasing them won't work...

RoarkASaur

Coley Kong

What the boys do all day...

Tomorrow

So I am staring another round of Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet in the face. I plan to start (wait for it) … tomorrow. Only, I really mean it. I am going to the store this evening to get things that I can eat and then I am on my way. Today was fairly diet-friendly so far – eggs this morning with leftover burrito stuffing (beef, bean, and onion), with a little salsa and some low-fat cheese. Then I had some nuts for a snack later. I have had about a million glasses of water, but no coffee, soda or juice. The hardest part about this diet is all of the junk we have in the house…from beer to granola bars, to cereal, to chips, to wine – all things I LOVE, and cannot eat on this diet.

So the grocery list consists of rabbit food – celery, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers – as well as other stuff like eggs, cottage cheese, laughing cow cheese, and Canadian bacon. Not at all exciting. I may pick up some teas (herbal) and some sugarless jello or pudding. Anything to add spice to my eating life. My weight loss goal is 20 pounds by May, which is achievable – it will just be difficult. If I continue to run (5 days a week) and work out (2 days a week) it shouldn’t be as hard as it has been up until now. I also will be cutting out alcohol which although a disappointment, will help with the weight loss.

I am sure there are other diets out there that work – I just have not found them. I have not spent a lot of time dieting in my life anyway, so my experience is pretty limited. I have never done Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig or any organized program. I tried Atkins a few times and gave up. Then I tried South Beach and it worked…so it is the one I go back to. So – this is about to turn into my food and exercise journal for a little bit while I try to work off the months of laziness that have settled in my butt.

Tomorrow – Day 1.

And THEN...

I have bitter-sweet news. There was no monster in our attic. There was also no source of the leak that is over-taking our bathroom. The first bit of news was the sweet. So does that make it sweet-bitter news? Does anyone care?

I keep thinking the boys are on the verge of crawling and then another day goes by of their rolling/scooting/squirming/rocking with not a hint of crawling. They are not sitting on their own either…they still topple over. And, they have no teeth. So what are they good for? Huh? Well, I will tell you. They are good for getting me up every hour all through the night. They are fantastic at getting so tired during the day that they refuse to sleep. They are great at spitting out anything resembling a vegetable. They are really Vikings when it comes to whining and fussing. And, they are pretty fly for white guys. Sorry – song stuck in my head. Danger of the IPOD.

I was “rated” at work today. It is what we officially call a performance review or something more confusing..not sure anymore. Anyway – they rated me as exceeds expectations. All I keep wondering is how that is even possible. Are their expectations so low of me that I exceeded them while being out for months upon months pregnant, giving birth, and then recovering from the ear-sucking MRSA illness? Damn, I didn’t know it was this easy. All these years I have worked my ass off for them and I coulda’ been slacking. Who knew? If I NEVER work, maybe they will rate me as Far Exceeds Expectations. And then I can be the queen. Or you know, not.

The Grudge

I worked out today. At a real gym. With weights, and steps, and an instructor. And HOLY COW – my legs, they are a hurtin’! I took a Flex class this morning at 10:15 for an hour, and now it hurts to walk. I cannot imagine how I will feel tomorrow. And – I didn’t go jogging. I had planned to run after the class…but that didn’t work out since I had already spent an hour goofing off at the gym and my company is trying to get me to actually work. Bastards. I would like to do that class every Monday and Wednesday if I am in town – what a great feeling to know I worked muscles that have started to atrophy over the months of doing nothing. Maybe – just maybe I will be in shape by May.

Perfect segue…

In May my husband and I and another couple are going to Mexico to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. I am so excited. We are flying to Phoenix and then driving to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point). We are sucking up an expensive hotel bill because it is right across the street from the concert, and then we are hanging out on the beach and drinking – more than a person should ever drink. I just can’t wait. So this means that I have to actually look decent in scantily clad clothing…hence the working out. I put on my bathing suit this morning for motivation, and then I practically ran to the gym - it looked THAT bad. It is not so much the extra weight as it is the location of the weight. I don’t know that I look HUGE, I just look flabby. Hate flabby. Hate bathing suit. Hate my body. HATE!

I am currently on a conference call – and I happen to be the only one on. Does that make it a conference call at all? I am not conferencing with anyone. What a loser I am. I am like the kid who sits all alone in the cafeteria wolfing down her food so that she can hurry to the library where it is not such a big deal to have no friends. Not that I know anything about that…yeah.

In other news – our bathroom ceiling is caving in as I type this. We have some mystery leak that is threatening to take over our bathroom. My husband (who is conveniently out of town) suggested I climb up into the attic, all Grudge style, and see if the air conditioner is causing problems. I don’t know about you, but The Grudge was creepy and now I am not willing to climb into the attic for anything. Damn movie. Damn ceiling. Damn, damn, damn.

If you never hear from me again, it is because the monster in the attic ate me.

CIO

“Cry it out” is wonderful, in theory. However in reality it sucks. Bad. It is hard to hear the boys crying and watch the clock just to reach the minimum 10 minutes until I am supposed to go in and check on them…especially when Roark screams loud enough to wake the dead. It is sad to hear them cry. I wish that they were so well-adjusted and happy that they would lay their little heads down and simply drift peacefully to sleep all the while smiling happily at me and possibly mumbling “mommy, I love you.” Is that so much to ask?

We have been doing the whole jogging 21 days thing and have already missed one. We ran 6 days straight and then I caved and took Saturday off. We then ran yesterday and today – but I have not been up to par and have not jogged far any day. I am so out of shape and even the slightest northern wind makes me tired. Add a hill to the picture and I am barely able to function while running. Seriously. I used to run A LOT, and now – 3 miles is HARD…and I have to walk. That – is sad. I have run marathons for god’s sake – this shouldn’t be that hard. Yet – the year off to have the boys and recover from the ear-infection-from-hell has taken a toll on my body. Perhaps if I quite complaining it would be easier – but we will never know…

Names

We are guilty of nick-naming our kids and using those names way more often then their real names. I am sure it is going to be a great source of confusion when they are a bit older...

Roark:
Raorkasaur
Roark-a-dork
Dork

Cole:
Coley-moley
Coley Kong
The Mole
Kong

They both get called Butt at various times during the day - as in "you are such a butt" or "god, he is being a BUTT" - but only out of love...yeah.

There is also this really stupid cheer I do with Roark - and no, I don't know why:

Your big, B-I-G
and your bad, B-A-D
and your Roark, ROAR!!!!!

Stuff I think about...

It is hard to work and have kids. However, I think it would be harder for me to not work and have kids. I love my boys. More than I thought possible. I love being with them. I love the weekends and evenings with them. I love seeing them in the mornings. I love them – I do. But I am not sure how stay home moms stay sane. Where is the ‘break’ from the constant crying, whining, and needing? How do you find a ‘self’ outside of being a mom, or is the feeling of accomplishment from being a full time mom what makes you able to face each day? I struggle with this. I wonder how I would be able to do such a hard thing – take care of the boys 24x7 and still feel like a person outside of being a mom. Does that make sense or make me sound like an asshole – or both? I never wanted to be a stay-home mom. I don’t resent having to work. I am guessing that I just have not experienced the joy of being with the boys all the time, so I don’t what I am deciding against… you tell me.

I am starting to feel the subtle effects of my husband’s mother living with us. She is a wonderful person and I love her very much, however these days the house seems smaller and many little things that never used to matter are driving me crazy. I just really want time with the boys and my husband that is just ours…and we really don’t have that now. She isn’t intrusive in our lives, but she does live here, so there is really no down time from that. I can’t really explain it without feeling like I am ungrateful or mean – which isn’t my intent at all. I just really, really want to feel like a grown up that has her own family instead of a teenager babysitting while her mom is around to make sure nothing goes wrong.

I want a new job. One that doesn’t suck so much.

I actually do know how to write in complete, grammatically correct sentences – only I don’t feel like I think that way, so why write that way? Dilemma.

My ear…I am finally not taking high-powered pain killers but am still on the Zyvox for a few more days. I am seriously looking forward to finishing these evil drugs so that I can see if my energy will return. My vision is strange since I have been on this drug, my skin itches and my eyes are puffy. Dr. Google says it is an allergic reaction. I just want to finish it and get better. Do you realize that I have been sick since August with the damn ear thing? MRSA has kicked my ass this past year, and I looking forward to a healthy 2006. Seriously.

I have started running again after a very long break due to above freaking illness. My goal is to run 21 days straight and see if I can get back in the habit of it. I have heard that after 21 days of repetition an activity becomes a habit. I don’t know if it is true, but I do know that I need to start living a healthier life and this seems to be a good start. In addition we are eating healthier. I hate healthy eating. I love fast food and garbage. I also love all of my old clothes because I already own them – so instead of buying new bigger ones, I am going to get smaller and save some money.

I am addicted to American Idol. It is my crack. I look forward to it and no matter how horrible it is, I have to watch. Oh the silliness I fill my head with. Do you think I secretly wish I didn’t sing like a skinned cat and could audition and be loved by millions when I was the only remaining star at the end of the season? That WOULD be fun, but alas I cannot even hum without the neighbors calling animal control claiming there was something being tortured in our home – so you won’t ever see me on that show. Instead I will sit at home and make fun of the people trying to make it.

Dinners are boring. I am running out of new things to make and now only search for the easiest recipes I can find that don’t make me want to throw up. I – am lazy.

I wish I could take 3 naps a day every day.

My kids have been in their pajamas all day long and I have NO intention of putting anything different on them. No – I don’t live in a trailer and I am not currently wearing a tank top, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer while holding the babies. Plus – the little snowman footie pajamas are cute. So what if it is 60 degrees and sunny out.

Milestones

I am worried that I will forget all of these things that fill my days now. It seems like the boys are changing daily and I have not captured much of their progress. I don't take pictures anymore. I don't capture cuteness on video, and I don't write at all. I just know that my memory will fail me and I will wish I had kept better track of changes...

Playing: Roark and Cole are smiling a lot now, and they roll around quite a bit. However, they refuse to sit up on their own and tip over if you try to make them sit them up. They like to stand holding onto someone’s hands, but have no real balance of their own. They are very social now and love to jabber and watch everything around them. They both love to play with their toys on the floor – a little cheap blue rattle is one of the favorites. They also enjoy chewing on plastic books. They love the jumping chair, and tolerate the exersaucer-chair-thing. They each have a walker, but are only interested in those if they are by a window so that they can look longingly outside. They LOVE outside, and are usually fantastic on walks.

Demeanor: Roark still enjoys a good scream. He is a very serious child, and simply will not tolerate anything less than perfection. He is at his most annoying when in the car – he HATES the car. He hates it, and wants everyone on flippin’ earth to know. Have you heard distant high-pitched wailing lately? It was my son, and I do apologize. Cole is still the polar opposite of Roark in both looks and personality. He is the most fun-loving, easy-going baby I have ever been around. Everything is funny. Schedules do not matter to him, and he eats ALL THE TIME! 3:00am? Cole is hungry. Midnight? Cole is hungry. 45 minutes after his last bottle? He is hungry.

Sleep: We have started putting the boys to bed while they are still awake (instead of rocking them to sleep or putting them in the swing) and I have to say – they are not fans. Roark will hang out in his bed and play a bit, but when he gets really tired he begins his irritating screaming. He can keep that up for at least 20 minutes…maybe longer. He eventually roles over and goes to sleep. Cole on the other hand will fall asleep while hanging out in his bed, but if he conks out on his back, he will wake up way too early and refuses to go back to sleep. He seldom cries when going to bed, and will usually only cry when he wakes up if he is really hungry.

Food: The boys drink around 4 bottles a day. They eat cereal (oatmeal or rice cereal) for breakfast and have vegetables and fruit for dinner. They are learning to master the sippy-cup (if master means they are able to pour more on their faces then in their mouths) and are huge fans of cookies and other foods they can pick up and chew on. They HATE the baby foods that have any kinds of solids in them, but they can eat zwieback toast, baby biscuits, and cheerios. What is up with that? Freaks.

Crawling: They don’t crawl. They don’t walk. They don’t have jobs or pay taxes, but the do roll and scoot. They will sometimes rock back and forth on their hands and knees, but show no signs of mobility beyond that. Still, we can tell that it is right around the corner and are going to start baby-proofing this weekend. If we wait too much longer we could end up with injured kids.
Overall Analysis: Two normal 8 month old kids, who are only supposed to be 5 months old. They are a little slow if you judge based on actual age, a little a head if you go by adjusted age. Busy - busy, busy, busy. Always eating, or pooping, or crying, or playing. Always doing something, and very seldom are they sleeping.