Separation....Anxiety?

On my part, not theirs.  I thought they would HATE having their own rooms, the reason we were separating them to begin with - as punishment.  But as the weeks, and the naughtiness, wore on, it dawned on me that they were TRYING to get separated! 

They've been sleeping separately for naps since the fall.  The second room wasn't set up as anything, so it was just a mattress on the floor in a mostly empty room.  I erroneously thought that they would miss each other so much that they would shape up so they could be in each other's company again.  Boy, was I wrong!

After several weeks of all-out naughtiness at bedtime, I finally convinced Hubs that we needed to give M the second room, despite that it also needs to be a nursery in four months (GAH!!!!)  So, this weekend, we did it.  N has the old room and M has the "new" room.  Both rooms are mostly empty because they still screw around with everything in there, making them look sparse and bare. 

But they love it.  N still gives us a hard time when we put him down, but only for 5 minutes.  Without M, there's no one to entertain with all of his goofiness and he passes out pretty quickly.

M is a chatterbox and sings songs and reads books well into the night, probably too late.  But three nights in, I'm just happy he's staying in bed and not crawling the walls anymore - or bossing N around, telling him to do naughty things.  Sneaky.

I, on the other hand, am a tiny bit sad.  Weird, because I wasn't sad to see the breastfeeding go, cribs go, the highchairs go, the toddler beds (a bad idea) go when the big kid beds arrived.  But separating twin brothers?  It doesn't seem right.  We want them to be each other's best friends, inseparable buddies, so I'm just the tiniest bit sad that they are totally okay with having their own rooms at just 2 1/2.  I thought they'd share a room until the day one got married! 

On the other hand, I'm totally happy to report that the last 3 bedtimes have gone (mostly) well.  By that I mean the weeping an gnashing of teeth usually accompanied by bedtime is down to just minutes.  Who are those people who say bedtime is their favorite time of day with the kids?  The ones whose kids listen to stories quietly in laps, and drift off silently to sleep?  Does that really happen, because I'm thinking it's only in the movies.  Like love at first sight.  Everyone wants it to be true, but it's just not.

We will still have to figure out what to do with the bedrooms when Baby Three arrives, but that's so far in the future, I can barely conceive it.  We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.  In the meantime, I'm praying for miraculous bedtime behavior so that we can "reward" them with moving back in together, and therefore giving the baby his own nursery.  

Here are two snaps taken with my iphone yesterday.  M "wanted to do a project," so I gave him the dyed noodles and some yarn.  The project lasted all of 5 minutes, but he was very serious about it while he did it!  The other is N, who found the baby sunglasses they refused to wear this summer or last, and LOVED them yesterday.  He wore them all day and night, as evidenced in this photo, where he's playing with Grandpa A's iphone.  You can tell it's dark because of the screen's light on his face!

Now that I've got that off my chest and I'm over the separation anxiety of bedrooms, I'll have you know that potty training officially starts on Thursday.  So you might not hear from me for awhile.  I'll be scrubbing the floors. 

Veggie Victory!

I'm not sure what to file this under: milestones, lightning doesn't strike the same place twice, Festivus Miracle, or it's about time.

Yesterday, M came right up to me at 10 am and said, "I want a bejabow snack."

Say what?

"Beja-bow." 

Bowl of porridge? 

"No. BEJ-A-BOW!"

Vegetable?

"Yes!"

(Stunned pause) Okay!  Let's go!  Upstairs!  Vegetable snack, here we come!

It was grocery day, so I had exactly 2 bags of frozen broccoli and edemame, and 4 whole carrots other than the standard canned-green-beans for vegetables (the only one I can count on them to always eat).  I've never peeled and sliced a carrot so fast in my life!  The boys climbed up into their booster chairs with great anticipation of this vegetable snack, and with a flourish, both boys received a plate with 3 carrot sticks and what would become an unbelievable amount of ranch dressing. I suspected this might wind up being a snack of ranch dressing, where the carrots are used like a fun dip stick, but I figured it was worth a shot.

Look, Mom, I really am chewing it up!

N actually said, "I like carrots!"

Then, they asked for more.  HUH?!  Okay, carrot number two got peeled and sliced and it went down the hatch, too.  My battery was dead or I would have snapped a shot of them covered in ranch dressing, but I was happy to have even one photo of the miracle that happened in our house yesterday.  I didn't care what they ate the rest of the day because they each ate nearly a WHOLE carrot!

I swear on the Holy Bible this is true.  If I were making up miracles, it would have been that they woke up potty trained.

Big Boy Beds, all made up with spaceship sheets, airplane comforters, teddy and lovie.

P.S. In old news, we are all sleeping better this week.  The boys are settling down more quickly in their big boy beds and not banging their heads - much - N put a small dent in the wall jumping yesterday and has a bit of a goose egg to show for it.  They both have blue hue as well since the new TWIN size navy blue spaceship sheets' dye is bleeding, despite a washing.  I'll wash again in a day or two.  In the meantime, we are calling them smurfs.  And I'm sleeping mostly through the night since Baby has lifted off my bladder and out toward my front.  Thank the Lord for maternity pants - and veggie miracles.

We Did It!

Miraculously, we were able to accomplish yesterday's impossible task of Operation Bedroom.  It took 4 hours, 2 adults, 2 "helpers," 1 trip to Ace Hardware, and 1 delivery truck with the mattresses.  I had in my mind that I would take lots of photos to give you the virtual experience of such a momentous event, but alas, I could not.  Sorry, readers, but I wasn't thinking of you between 3:30-7:30 last night.  I was thinking: MUST FINISH PROJECT! 

Which is no easy task when you're pregnant, your "help" is running off with parts, the dust bunnies are forming an army, and there are three essential bolts missing even though Mr. Nice-Guy-from-Craigslist assured us all the parts were there - oh, and there are no directions, not even the useless IKEA directions. 

Thank goodness Hubs arrived shortly after 5, when I was literally under the first of the bunkbeds, attempting to screw the thing together with those pointless alan wrenches.  Are we not smart enough to use real tools, furniture companies?  We figured out together, because he really is my better half, and smarter, too, when it's 5:30 on a Tuesday night, which parts go where, and which 3 important bolts were missing.  The fellas watched a record number of Handy Manny episodes on demand last night, but I didn't care - the beds were being assembled!

I arrived with the substitute parts from Ace (because of course they didn't have exactly what we needed, so we have 3 Frankenstein bolts instead of pretty brass ones but oh, well) just as the delivery truck was backing in and the wet babies were streaking to get a look out the window at the "Sheep Truck."  I couldn't make this stuff up.

Much chaos and hilarity ensued as we finished assembly, dressed the boys, made the beds and attempted bedtime.  And silly me, in my haste to score a great deal on sheets, bought TWO FULL SIZE sets of airplane sheets.  Anyone need adorable full size sheets, used once, for just $12?  I'm your girl.  Needless to say, it was a very loooooooooooong bedtime, with much explaining of the New Big Boy Bed Rules.

Don't

• Jump or Kick
• Get Out
• remove stuffing from the chair
• play with the blinds or the lights

Do

• Read
• Talk
• Sing
• Snuggle
• Sleep

Thought that was simple enough, but immediately upon closing the door, N got out.  I went in and plopped him back with NO kisses or hugs, as he was warned.  So he kicked the wall.  So he got a spanking.  So he kicked the wall harder.  So he got another spanking.  He sobbed hysterically for many minutes, but the kicking stopped immediately. 

I was folding laundry, Hubs was finding new homes for two cribs and their assorted parts, when we heard more noise. 

Silly me!  I forgot the "No taking stuffing out of the chair" rule.  Out goes the chair, to N's cries of protest. 
So I amended our rules, changes are in red, above.

About 9pm, we noticed all was quiet and upon closer inspection, both boys were asleep in their own beds.

PRAISE THE LORD!

Here's what they looked like this morning:

"Cheese!"

Cheese!

Begin Operation Bedroom!

I just put the boys down for their last nap in their "cribs."  Before I was a mother, I thought there would be much sadness and mourning at the passing of these baby milestones, but if you're a longtime reader, or a mom like me, you know there's not.  When I weaned the boys, I was happier than I'd been in many many months - I got my boobs back!  The kids are eating again!  And now that we're about to put them in really big boy beds, I think I'll be much happier when this milestone is passed, too.  Hopefully we'll all be sleeping comfortably again.

Last night we took the boys to the mattress store down the road and in what must be a record-time purchase - seriously, it took me longer to schlep them to Kmart today to buy the sheets - we dropped 200 bucks on two new Sealy bunk bed mattresses.  Taking all your wisdom into account (thank you for your sage advice), as well as the time and effort it would take to maybe save money hunting around for deals, we decided to go the quick, easy, and definently bedbug-free route and purchase new with our trusty credit card.  They will be delivered - FREE - this evening.

Today's schedule goes like this: get the kids to nap, wash the new airplane sheets, disassemble the cribs, clean their room (hello, dust bunnies!), reassemble the beds, make the beds, bathe the boys, and tuck them in.  And feed my family some kind of food and maybe just maybe clean up the kitchen.  But I doubt that will happen - the clean kitchen part.  Stay tuned for our progress tomorrow.

Bigger Big Boy Beds? Advice!

I'm beginning to think we need to move up to twin size big boy beds.  People warned me that toddler beds may not work, but since they didn't cost us anything (the cribs converted) I figured we may as well try.  Maybe they'll love them, I thought.  I think it bought us 3 months' time.  Here's why:

M and N in each others' beds.  Note the BIG rail and the drawer?

• N is stronger than his brother, so he has the heavy-duty crib rail.  It clamps down and reduces the crib bedwith by about 4 in.  He can rock it back and forth so violently that he can flip the mattress and bed rail upside down on top of himself.  CRASH!
• After that, he climbs into M's bed, which would, theoretically, be a little bigger if there were only 1 child in it.
• After that, if we didn't respond immediately to the first CRASH (you kind of get used to it), chaos ensues.  Last night they were playing inside the drawer underneath M's bed, which used to hold items, but now remains empty to keep the items from being flung about.  However, with the empty bed-sized drawer, they were enclosing each other inside of it.  It cannot hold the weight of two toddlers.  CRASH! Again.
• We've been separating them for naptime and at bedtime when they are very naughty, like last night.  M seems to LOVE the full-sized bed we use for this.  I think he knows the mattress is a better quality than the crib mattress.
• With all this monkey business happening, the beautiful wooden blinds in their bedroom are now broken.  Guess they're coming down.
• And we are going to need M's crib for the new baby in May.  Surprise!

Bedtimes aren't going well, obviously.  I'm not sure that new beds will solve this problem, but it certainly can't hurt. We purchased a nice-looking wooden bunk bed set (stackable and unstackable, btw) off of Craigslist this weekend - it was a good price and close by.  I didn't plan on setting them up till Christmas (look what Santa brought you!) when we actually got around to purchasing mattresses.  (Some gift, right?)  We'll leave it to Grandparents to buy the fun stuff I guess.  So now it's looking like bigger big boy beds are in our very near future.

But how does one go about purchasing mattresses for two yet to be potty trained two year old boys, affordably?

Do we need boxsprings or just the mattresses?

Do we go used off of Craigslist?

Do we go inexpensive, but new, at IKEA?

Do we just get brand spanking new stuff from the mattress store down the road, despite not really wanting to buy it with our credit card?

What did YOU do?

P.S. If you are one of my darling friends of two year old twins who are still sleeping in their cribs, don't reply.  Just count your blessing.  Then bookmark this page, because your day is coming!

Big Boy Bed Update

I was going to tell you all about the fun time we had last week at the pool and show you the cute pics.  And I still will.  But I can't think about that right now.  Because I'm home with the munchies by myself and it's naptime. NEWS FLASH: NAPS AREN'T GOING WELL IN BIG BOY BEDS. 

Yeah.  Today is day 5.  They've taken a "nap" two of the four previous Big Boy Bed days.  I am still clinging to a shred of hope that Big Boy Beds does not mean than the afternoon nap is over - that they are just temporarily derailed due to the absolute funness off Big Beds.  Because I just don't think I can handle that.  I NEED naptime.  My family needs me to HAVE naptime!  Or they won't eat or have clean clothes.  EVER. 

I put them down at 1:30 today, about 30 minutes late, but I have my reasons.  (Like an airport run, impromptu visit and Sam's Club.)  I figure that it wouldn't matter because they just mess around the first hour or two of nap anyhow. 

I hear a lot of talking, giggling, then squealing and jumping.  Things are escalating in there, not winding down.  So I check on them around 30 minutes.  They are both in their beds, but they both have their pants off!  The room reeks of poo, too.  Immediately, my mind floods with stories told of kids who "decorate" their bedrooms with poo during naptime, like my mother-in-law, who LOVES to tell me this!  (It wasn't hubby, but one of his sibs.)  N's diaper is hanging like a plumber's pants and I know he's been trying to take it off.  And I don't blame him.  It's nasty stuff he's got in there.  As I approach, I see it.  On his sheets, his comforter, his legs, and the rug.  The RUG!  That can only mean one thing - he's been escaping!  Which is confirmed by the presence of the Children's Bible in his bed.  Maybe he was praying and interceding that I would arrive to change him? 

Hasitly, I change him, change his sheets, digging out new sheets and blankets to the chorus of M saying, "Poo too!  Poo too!"  because he, of course, was also poopy.  Thank goodness it was...uh, firmer, and did not necessitate and entire change of bedding.  Still, the whole twins-pooping-simultaneously isn't so cute anymore.  Not that it ever was, but it's...getting old.

(Sigh) It could have been worse.  Nothing was truly "decorated," although I think it could have happened if I hadn't arrived when I did. 

Now we're well into the second hour of "nap," headed toward the point of no return, since I can still hear the monkeys chattering and kitties meowing (that's M's new thing) and generally still NOT settling down.  See, the point of no return is the moment when I give up on nap and resign myself to a cranky CRABBY night with the munchies, which is exacerbated by the fact that Hubs is out of town and I'm solo tonight. 

There is a silver lining, however: no-nap days end peacefully and quickly with a relatively easy and early bedtime. 

I often wonder how our parents survived toddlerhood?

Big Boy Bed Bonanza!

Last Friday, I found N howling like a hyena on the floor beside his crib.  He was crying because he'd gotten himself out and couldn't get back in (to avoid a spanking like he received on the previous escape).  Wednesday, he was found balancing the length of his body on the three-inch rail of his crib, teetering four feet in the air, as if trying to decide whether to jump off a bridge.  That was the last straw. 

He'd been escaping occasionally for six weeks, he'd taught his brother how to escape from a pack and play, and the two of them had made some horrific messes in both Aunt L and my friend E's bedrooms after doing so.  After his trick on Wednesday, I decided that changing the cribs into toddler beds HAD to better than taking both boys to the ER in the middle of the night next week when M tries to copycat his brother balancing on his ONE inch crib rail - by myself.

So Thursday morning, the front sides came off and the bed rails went on.  The boys had a heydey in there for a couple of hours playing!

Daddy tickles N in bro's bed

If you say jump I'll say how high!

Brudder's bed!  Brudder's bed!  Brudder's bed!

I consulted my experts - those twin moms who have gone before me - before embarking on the adventure.  I was prepared for the worst, especially after reading the horror stories posted on the MVMOM's club website.  At naptime, I told them the rules, then parked myself outside their door with a book.  I was ready for some Super-nannying.

Naptime started at 1:00 and they gave me a run for the money.  See M in that last pic?  The only thing he wanted to do was get in his "brudder's bed!"  So I quietly removed him and placed him in his bed, taking a lovie item each time.  About 20 times.  An hour and a half after beginning, he was asleep, followed by his bored twin.  I was in the hallway accompanied by 2 teddy bears, 2 lovie blankets, 2 board books (bad idea) and a Barney, and snuck away around 2:45.

Both boys were sleeping in their own beds on the first day, so I called it a success!

They slept only an hour, short for them, and we exhausted them after dinner with a visit to the city pool - on purpose!  Aunt L took some great shots, so look for them in another post.  They were rubbing their eyes on the way home, to my great delight!

However, my little munchkins can be quite deceptive, so I didn't think they'd go to sleep without a fight.  We did our normal bedtime routine and I parked myself in the hallway again with a book. 

Guess what?  The one time I went in there last night - because I thought I heard little feet - it was really a seahorse toy bouncing across the floor.  They were both in their own beds! They passed out shortly thereafter and slept quietly all night.  M even called me to come get him in the morning.  I'm okay with that.

Seriously, I have the greatest kids in the world.  Maybe I'm bragging, maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse, but maybe I'll just beat this dead horse and say we've had another Festivus Miracle!  Thank you, God. 

Bottoms Up!