growth

MNJ

It has been a week or so since I've reported on the house, the twins, and our unified efforts concerning sleep training. We are back in one of those long-lasting cycles of sickness, having happily graduated out of the flu symptoms into this uncomfortable respiratory cold. This has lasted longest with my sister, making sleep itself hard enough to come by. But sicky or no, the clock was ticking on our parents' imminent visit, and the urgent need to get both boys on a healthy night's sleep schedule was its own motivation. So I took a break from the blog through the third, triumphant, attempt at sleep training.

For three nights I stayed with MNJ, who C had started with. He is doing just fine at putting himself back to sleep if he wakes up at night, we even got through one of my notorious migraines together. C, meanwhile, worked with SL in a separate room. Somehow the whole deal, much shorter in duration than with MNJ, unfolded with a more sweet sense of normalcy. Right from the first night SL got more solid sleep stretches than he had since our moving in, two months ago, and the arrival of teeth.

SL

It really does take days leading to weeks leading to stages to see the routines that eventually get set, those that fail, and those that either cause stress or are delightful. Cues from the boys sometimes take days to decipher, and most predictably~ once a patten emerges it is *very* hard to critically review it, perfect it, unless a change occurs to insight observation. The boys' babysitter came at night during the "witching hour" of bedtime/ dinner, allowing us an hour of transition time that was truly precious (and scrumptious!) for three nights. Having help, too, at an hour that is usually really intense for the mama, boys, and Aunty, as we all juggle each others needs, helped us to see how we can reorganize the time into 1/2 hour increments... by my estimation starting at 4 (dinner prep) and ending at 7 (bedtime).

***

MNJ

I want to talk a little bit about the stage the boys are in, too, since it effects so much of our days, and since both C and myself have been reporting about sleep. Other things that are happening with the twins are more teeth, more skills, and more ridiculous noises from MNJ. MNJ got his first tooth what must be about a week ago now, though the anxiety his teething caused took several more days to clear. We are waiting on the next round from either one of them, but for now the sight of those pearly whites is more heartwarming than I ever, ever thought possible. He is practicing a variety of noises, incorporating his tongue as often as possible, and seems to be finding a new noise of interest every two or three days. He no longer growls, for example (which I really wanted my dad to witness, damn!) or spends the day shrieking... this morning it was raspberry raspberry, "dit", raspberry.

SL

SL, owner of two teeth and scooter-across-rooms (in order to use them) is into doing push-ups on his toes right now, or any number of gymnastics that prove his agility and curiosity of his body's abilities. A couple of times while talking very closely with SL, he has reached out his hand and gone straight for my teeth. A look like, "Wow, you've got those too?" written on his face. You can see him comparing his internal world to the outside; discovering teeth and chewing, feeling texture on our clothes or between objects, grabbing at 2D pictures, peering over the edges of things. Both boys are delighted by clapping, the only thing that consistently works for me if they're both in a crying jag, MNJ just yesterday attempting for the first time to slap my open palm in between claps.

MNJ & SL, both a little bored :)

At 8 months, discovery is the name of the game right now, for both boys, and it's taken the pressure off of the constant, constant, constant entertainment phase they were going through last month. Just a little, but enough that those moments of watching them with growing patience to explore this or that has become part of the daily routine, discovery is a welcome addition to playtime. They are both mad about books, MNJ with his favorites (only the favorites, please) and SL more open to new stories, pictures, playing with them when other toys won't do. This makes their bookseller/ book artist Aunty *beam* with pride.

***

There has been a lot going on over here through the last month and a half, and hopefully night sleep has turned a corner.