Happy Easter

And hope you had a Happy Passover to my Jewish friends....

I generally love to revel in the doings & evolution of my peanuts on this blog. But this time I decided to post some of the typical twin situations that make up the substance of our days. Before that, I have to say of course we had a GREAT Easter despite all challenges we face!

When we're out in public I get asked the same FAQs sometimes by complete strangers or well intentioned friends & family. How do you manage with TWO? I know how hard one is I can't imagine TWO the same age? Gosh you look like you have a lot of work on your hands? So who's tougher? Who's got the stronger personality? etc. etc. Depending on the day, time, alignment of planets & stars, my answers will vary. On a especially stressful day my answer can range from..."Ya think?!!" to "Actually it's a walk in the friggin park!" Sometimes I say "Ignorance is bliss b/c I have no idea what 1 child is like". But most days I simply smile & say, "We have our ups & downs but the benefits far outweigh the tough times." The truth is I could really have you sit for a few hours & tell you all about our days. But how can I complain or sound disgruntled when a simple smile from one of my daughters is enough to fill me with a lifetime of joy & the rest of the world could fall apart around me.

This Easter weekend was a pretty good example of up moments & some really down moments. We had a schedule Easter egg hunt that got rained out. Getting rained out with two kids stuck at home really means a day of challenges ahead. And just to help complicate things a little more, doggy class also got rained out too so that meant two disgruntled pooches to deal with at home too. Gotta love what life throws at you. Thank goodness for Gymboree who DID have class despite the rain & holiday weekend. YAY GO GYMBO!! We had some good distraction for about 45 minutes or so. Every minute between naps counts in our day!

Back home we dealth with things like this...fights over abundant toys & boo boos as collateral damage.



Fighting over space...personal space that is. I guess they've been having that problem for a LONG time :)





Cabin fevered dogs....who refuse to stay out in the rain to handle their potty business.



But they aren't all that happy indoors either. Sigh.



Easter Sunday things were looking up. The sun was shining. And I managed to get through breakfast without a major food explosion all over their pretty spring dresses. Photo op time! We didn't do the offical Easter Bunny photo momento but I did want capture the day on film in their dresses with their pretty home made hand knit sweaters that were delivered all the way from Peru. IS that too much to ask?



Apparently so...



As you can see I can't always get two cooperative ladies for a photo shoot. Depending on the day, time, alignment of the planets at the particular moment in time, someone can be happy & someone not so happy. And as that moment passes & another emerges, the reverse can happen.







And then it's just..screw it let's go out to eat!





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Clean bill of health!

We had our 10 month well baby visit last week & the girls got a clean bill of health! Dr. M says the girls are growing & developing beautifully. Like most doctor visits this gives me a huge sense of relief for a moment & then the moment passes & my mind fills with worry all over again until their next visit. This month was especially stressful since the girls had a brief hunger strike for a couple of weeks. They refused to drink any milk down to half their normal daily intake & solids were on a selective basis. I was worrying myself sick over this.

Anyhow I've gone through these cycles since the girls were in utero...and nothing's changed. I wonder if it will ever subside. I guess as a new parent you always worry if you're making the right decision for your child. For me it goes something like this...Did they eat enough?? (they were preemies so I always worry about weight) Did they sleep enough?? How did they get this scratch?? Did that last fall cause a concussion?? Are their motor skills developing right?? Are they babbling the correct # of syllables?? Should they be walking?? Should they be talking?? Can they tell I'm exhausted?? Am I terrible mom for wanting them to go to bed already??!!

So those are the kinds of thoughts that keep me up at night. But then for about 40 minutes my wonderful doc reassures me that they are doing just fine. They're doing incredible things like reaching for the doc's beeper (woops!) & fighting for the wooden tongue depresser in the doc's office (sorry!) & laughing at each other while the other one's getting examined. And the stats speak for themselves.

In this corner...Catalina Martinez
19lbs 4.6 oz (45th percentile) 29 inches tall (75th percentile) head 17 1/4 inches

AND in this corner...Valentina Martinez
18lbs 7.5oz (25th percentile) 28 3/4 inches tall (75th percentile) head 16 3/4 inches

So technically the girls should be compared to babies a month younger since they were born 5 weeks earlier but since they are doing pretty well we compare to children their age. As you can see we have NO issues with height...I wonder why that is?? Hmmmm....

Then they do things like this & I start too think maybe they're evolving a little too fast. Sigh.



Someone started out with an idea...the little hand you see on the bottom left is her sister who thought it was a good idea to follow!



And while one was working on her side...



The other was busy too!

And it ended like this...


There goes my blood pressure :O

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