5 months

The girls are 5 months old today. To reminisce, last year at this time I was 7 weeks pregnant, experiencing my first bout of morning sickness, and up 5 lbs (dang, I'm up 10 lbs now... Time to put down the Oreos... Though they say 9 months up 9 months down)

Claire and Audrey bring so much joy to our lives- The other day Justin said they're becoming less like creatures are more like little people. I have to agree with him... They both smile, flirt, roll over, and giggle- plus countless other tricks. Some people ask if having twins is overwhelming, but I wouldn't have it any other way. One of the best parts is almost always being able to hold one of the girls (ok note to self, work on sharing...that is a value I want to instill in the girls) 

I am excited to see what adventures this month brings!

are they identical?

Here is a sampling of the most interesting comments and questions I've received about the girls over the past few weeks... for your reading pleasure, I've also included the thoughts that run through my head when receiving commentary from strangers.

Are they identical? Umm do you even know what identical means? They don't look anything alike!

Typical boy and girl the boy is so much bigger than the girl. Hmm... This would make a lot more sense if Audrey wasn't wearing a pink dress...

Did you plan on having twins? Sure I just told my body "hey I only want to do this pregnancy thing once so make sure you give me twins" 

Are they natural? Nope they aren't even real... Just very lifelike dolls.

Are they your only children? (Asked when Justin and I are both out and about with the girls) Naw... We have another one at home... He just isn't as cute so we don't let him out of the house.

You've got your hands full, kiddo. This comment is twofold... We'll start with "kiddo"- the person making the comment was only 10-15 years my senior... If it was a sweet little old lady, I would find the term endearing. The girls certainly haven't been a handful out in public... I strap Claire in the ergo and put Audrey in  the basket (yes in, not balancing dangerously on top) of the shopping cart and I navigate those isles like nobody's business. Wait until I have two screaming toddlers and mashed up bananas and cheerios in my hair...

Are they twins, or just siblings? Umm... I'm not sure how that would be biologically possible... Justin said the lady probably thought I was the babysitter or was borrowing a friend's kid. 

water babies

Claire and Audrey have taken a liking to water. We recently visited a splash pad. The girls are a bit young for it, but seemed to enjoy themselves.

The girls also love bath time (but only if I am the person giving the bath).

Claire relaxing after her bath.

first pedicure

I gave Claire and Audrey their first pedicures. They seemed to enjoy it and surprisingly weren't too wiggly.

future athlete

Audrey checking out her baby mouth guard (ok it is actually a teether) I think we might have a future athlete on our hands... the look suits her!

sleeping beauties

Are we lucky or what? It is almost 11:30 am and our babes are still sound asleep. Claire woke up around 8:00 so I fed her and then woke Audrey up for a feeding and put them both back into their cribs.  They still don't nap during the day... But with a nightly sleeping pattern like this, I don't care. Justin and I slept in until 10:00 am... I can't remember the last time I slept that long! 

I only have one minor bragplaint with their sleeping routine... Lately they have been sleeping in until 7:30ish on weekdays, so I don't get much of a chance for snuggle time before work. Oh well, I am sure the day will come when they barge into my bedroom, pry my eyelids open, and demand that I play with them at 5:00 am (my mom tells me I did something like that in my younger years... I'm sure I was an angel child and she is just remembering wrong)

things that go thump in the night

Last night was like any other- I put the girls to bed around 8:30, had an hour and a half of me time, and then decided to go to bed. The nursery is across the hall from the master bedroom- I sleep with the doors to both rooms open so I can hear the girls without using the baby monitor (the monitor picks up every little noise and Claire is a noisy sleeper) and have a fan going and the tv on- what can I say, I fall asleep better if there is some noise. Anyways, I drifted off to sleep around 10:15 or so, and slept soundly until 2:00 am when I heard a "thump, thump, thump".

Since it was the middle of the night, my first thought was "omg, someone broke in" you would think as a protective new mom, I would have immediately ran to the nursery to check on Claire and Audrey, but I just laid quietly and kept still (apparently I thought the best defense against a potential intruder was to pretend to be asleep?). I kept hearing the "thump, thump, thump" and was racking my brain trying to figure out what the heck the noise was... I decided it wasn't an intruder, as the dogs were still sleeping (they are neurotic little yorkies that respond to most noises with shrill barking). After a minute or two of contemplation, I realized that it was most likely Audrey, practicing her new trick. I turned on the video monitor and sure enough Audrey was busy doing her leg exercises... she brings her legs up to a 90 degree angle, and slams them down- the silly girl does this in her sleep. I will have to turn up the volume on my tv a notch or two to drown out the thumping- Claire and Audrey have been sleeping until 6:30 am pretty consistently... if I have to wake up in the middle of the night I want it to be because the girls need tending too, not because they are doing crib calisthenics.