My children are alligators.
I recently won the lottery. A couple days before Mother’s Day, we had our first MAJOR blow out... not up the back, but down the leg, all over the bed, all over the toys, ALL over the baby. After the stomach dropping initial realization of what had just happened, the frantic but very careful cleaning commenced... a half hour, a package of wipes, a load of laundry, and a few grey hairs later... I came downstairs with the other baby! I saw none of that action! Berto looked a little worse for wear but otherwise I never would’ve known what had happened. Color me impressed. And so lucky... for so many reasons.
We’ve been practicing social distancing for 25746799 days (accurate count from October-now, yes?) Every single one of those days has had its share of ups and downs but these girls continue to make sure that, even in the midst of meltdowns and blowouts, we keep having reasons to smile.
My favorite recent (since January ... I’m really bad at this regular updates thing 😳) developments include:
Both girls are physically SO BUSY. Cruising on furniture, sure, but they’re both bigger fans of nonchalantly standing up unassisted in the middle of the room... I start counting every time they do it. Ladies, slow down. We actually have nowhere to go (#socialdistancingforever!) Walking is in the very near future. I’m not ready. I haven’t grown my second set of arms yet. And baby proofing will take years. Please send leashes.
Neither Sia nor Farrah are short on opinions and they’re very vocal about them... but very differently. Farrah read a textbook about infant speech and language development somewhere along the way. Her reduplicative babble game is strong and P, B, M are her favorite sounds. “Mamamamama” is really proud. Sia is taking her own path and is loving an aggressive lateral S (with face to match), playing with F, and making tongue clicks back and forth with whoever will play. Mama is still very proud... and glad she knows so many speech therapists 😂 Anyone need volunteers for twin language studies?
Water! The girls’ favorite thing is water. Bath time, sure, though Farrah insists on standing in the bath (and while taking a bottle 😳) which is not my favorite. But drinking water. They get SO excited when you bring out their little cups. If you’re holding them while drinking they also try to steal whatever you have. The other day they stole Grandma’s adult water bottle and decided they magically knew how to use straws... ok then. I admire their determination and healthy life choices.
Waving (the cutest!!), mostly sleeping through the night (though I wouldn’t argue with an earlier bedtime), clapping 👏, “hooray!” arms, smiles and laughs for days (it’s the #1 comment from people we pass on our walks ... “they’re so happy!”), working on solid food (Mom is still working on being brave and having confidence in the girls’ ability to protect their airways), loving hikes in the front packs (though, Ergo, if you could accommodate smaller forward facing children and eliminate chin rub rash, that’d be stellar), and starting to play WITH each other... these are a few of my favorite things.
Things I will not miss... there’s really only one thing (every stage so far has had its share of magic.)
Why must I have baby alligator-octopus children??? As soon as they know there’s outfit changing or a diaper change involved, the death rolls and incessant grabbing (and crying)commence. Changing #2 diapers is a two-man event whenever possible just so whoever isn’t on the business end can hold the top half/distract the baby and keep them sunny side up. It’s THE WORST.
I remember having a conversation with a friend when we were still in the NICU. The friend was describing how furious they were with their toddler... I couldn’t wait to be confident enough in my child’s day to day survival that I could allow anger to have a place in my emotional relationship with them. The changing table rolling has made this a reality. Thank you? Yay? Like I said, I won’t miss it... but I am, underneath it all, grateful for every shitty diaper I get to change... and for all of those I don’t have to.
Oh! And happy (couple days late) 10 month birthday, little girls! You are, now and forever, my favorite things.
