Best Friends!

These two are definitely best friends. They love each other so much and are such sweet sisters. They still fight, but they truly care so much about each other. Love these two!!! The last picture was taken one day during lunch. That shows how "well-behaved" they are during meal time - ha!

Let The Potty Training Begin

When I picked the girls up from school on Tuesday their teachers told me the both like going on the potty and to start sending them to school in pull ups. Since the girls have been going on the potty for a while, I decided to bite the bullet and try potty training. If they are willing to reinforce it at school I may as well take advantage of it. I have not read any books, but intended to use the 3 Day method when I was ready for this adventure. Since I am a procrastinator and don't like to read, I did not think ahead and read what that actually entails. So, I decided to wing it and throw some big girl panties on Cate and Ava and see how it goes.

I took them to Target last night to pick them out. Cate picked out Tinkerbell and Ava Princess. We started this morning when they woke up and they did really well. I put them in a diaper to go to playgroup today because I was really unsure of everything. They went potty there and actually kept their diapers dry until I took them off when we got home. Neither one had an accident today, which is really encouraging. I got bold this evening and took them to Target in panties and they stayed dry.

What I did today and plan to do is ask them every 1/2 hour to an hour if they need to go. I am going to use diapers/pull-ups at nap and night because I am just going to day train them right now. I will send them to school in pull-ups and will also use them for longer trips and play dates until they get really consistent at home. I am a little unsure about me asking them to go so often because I'm not really sure it is teaching them to know when they need go before it's too late. I think I will just continue and play it by ear. I really want to have them trained by the end of April, so I am going to take it slow and hope for the best.

My babies aren't babies anymore! :( Here are some pictures of them in their new big girl undies. And a couple from helping me make cupcakes on Valentine's Day. Such sweet sisters!

Do I Really Have to Potty Train Them???

I think the girls are pretty much done with naps. I still make them stay in their room at least an hour a day to "rest", but I think they both sleep about one day a week. On Friday the girls were pretty lively, but I put them down any way. I heard lots of singing, banging, doors opening and closing, you know the normal things I hear during "rest" time, so I just left them alone. Once I heard Cate say "pee-pee potty", I got a little nervous.

You see, the girls have been going on the potty for a while now, but I am in no way ready to potty train them. The extra $ we spend on diapers is worth it for me not to have to find the nearest potty on every errand and deal with them touching all the grossness that is the public restroom. I know I will have to do this soon enough, but I am still getting over the big girl bed transition, and the idea of asking them to go potty every hour sounds annoying! Annoying to me because the whole potty thing takes 10 minutes with both of them wanting to sit on their potty, then the big potty, then they each have to flush and generally start fighting because it was "their turn". Then the hand washing that floods the bathroom.

Anyway, back to Friday. I got nervous because this is what they tell me when they do want to use their potty so I went up to check on them. When I opened the door I found their entire closet on their floor, Ava was completely naked and Cate just had a shirt on that had a huge wet spot on the front. As I looked around the room I saw their old Bumbo chair was sitting in the middle of the floor. As I got closer I noticed it was completely wet. Looks like Cate thought I was storing a porta-potty in her closet and decided she needed to go.

This lazy mama needs to get it together and potty train these two. I think they are officially ready!

Fighting, Oh the Fighting!

Wow! Growing up, my sisters and I fought all the time! We fought over everything and anything. From the day the girls were born I knew the fighting would start eventually, but I had no idea how soon it was coming. I think it really started around 18 months, but lately it is WWE everyday at our house. They fight over toys, books, not wanting the other to give them a hug, the other touching them, who gets to be held by mommy, who gets to go first for washing hands, getting their hair brushed, putting their shoes on etc. I pull them apart at least 25 times a day. I'm not kidding. It is wearing me out! They pull hair, bite, scratch and push. When I picked them up from preschool today the teacher even told me the girls had a fight at school. They usually do really well there and don't really even play together, so it did surprise me.

I know it has to be hard for them being twins. There are so many great things about being a twin, but there are also a lot of things that are no fun. It breaks my heart they have to share everything. They never get a break from each other. They share a room, they are in the same class at school and at church. I even nursed them at the same time. They NEVER get time with me by themselves or a much needed break from each other. We try to split them up on weekends to run errands, but once we get home they are back at it.

I know they love each other they get so excited to see each other when they wake up in the morning. Too precious. I know the fighting won't end anytime soon, but I pray they will be best friends one day and I find a way to get rid of some of the twin mommy guilt and enjoy this age.

I'm a Big Kid Now

Cate and Ava are now in big girl beds!!! This was the transition I was most terrified about. Every part of it scared me. I was scared they would stop napping, they would destroy their room, they would work together to never go to bed or sleep through the night again. I thought they would end up in our bed or me sleeping on their floor. I had no intention of moving them until they turned 3, but they had other plans.

About a month after we took away the pacifier, Cate was still having some trouble figuring out how to self soothe and was having some rough nights. She would go to sleep fine, but wake in the middle of the night tossing and turning. She had also had trouble napping, but I insisted she stay in her crib at least an hour hoping she would get back on track. One day she decided she did not want to be confined so she jumped out of her crib and came downstairs. She ended up with a black eye from hitting the chair in her room. I figured this out whe she and Ava kept saying "no climb chair eye". We kept her in the crib and just made it clear she was not to climb out. This worked for a couple of weeks, but then she started doing it more often. On Sunday, December 19th, Erick went in their room to find Cate in Ava's crib and Ava on the floor. That is when we decided we would take the cribs down that night and put their matresses on the floor. They did pretty well the first couple of nights, but they went on a nap strike for 2 weeks. We have had a couple of nights where they have been up in the middle of the night, but so far nights are going well. I still make them go in their room for a "nap" every day, but they only sleep about 2-3 days per week. I am still trying to figure out how to get consistent naps back. I really need to split them up but we don't really want to baby proof our guest bedroom just for naps. The twin dynamic in this transition is brutal.

Up next - potty training. Not looking forward to this one AT ALL!

Pulling the Plug, 2

Nap - Nov. 1st
Both girls talked about 30 minutes and then Ava fell asleep. It took Cate an additional 15 and they slept about an hour.

Night - Nov 1st
Last night went pretty well, the girls went down fussing, but went to sleep within about 15 minutes.

Nap - Nov 2nd
The pain has begun. As I type Ava is hysterically crying and Cate just stopped crying, but is talking a lot. Neither one wanted to get in their cribs and they both asked about the paci. Ava kept saying "broken, trash, all gone". And Cate "fix it". I knew it was a little too good to be true, so I am not the least bit surprised by this, but it is no fun. I hope they get at least a little nap in or we are going to have a long evening! My parents are keeping the girls tonight so we can go to Community Group. I feel guilty leaving them to deal with this mess, but we can't give in now. We are too far in to it!

Edited: Ok, it took Ava about 20 minutes and she got quiet. Cate is now singing, which is common. Hopefully she will at least rest. It is the best sleeping weather - cold and rainy!

Pulling the Plug

We literally pulled the plug. Since the girls turned 2 on the 23rd we thought it was finally time to completely get rid of the pacifier. Ava refers to it as "Patsy" and Cate "Boppy". When they turned one we cut it back to cribs only, nowhere else, no exception. Not even the car! For the past year I have dreaded taking it away during sleep because they have been so obsessed with them. They ask for them when they get tired and have to take a couple of last sucks each morning before they will get out of their cribs. They LOVED them. I wanted to jot down how the transition is going because I have been so bad at keeping records for their baby books etc.

Night 1: Friday, October 29th
Cut the tip off the paci. When they got in their cribs they both said "broken". We said oh no, it's broken. Then asked if they wanted to throw them in the trash. They said yes, trash. So we took them and walked to the door and they lost it (especially Cate). We told them they could either throw them away or hold them. Ava decided to hold hers, but Cate was torn and kept going back and forth while crying. She ultimately decided to hold hers too. We left and they didn't cry. Ava went to sleep, but Cate talked and sang for 2 hours. From 7:20 to 9:20. (This isn't unusual for her. She does this quite often any way.) Erick went in at 9:20 and told her night night and she went to sleep. They slept through the night.

Nap 1: Saturday, October 30th
They got in their cribs and tried the paci again and said broken. Same discussion from night one occurred and we left their room. Cate talked nearly her whole nap and cried for me to get her a book. I don't think she really slept at all. Ava went right down and slept about an hour.

Night 2: Saturday, October 30th
They still chose to hold them, so we let them keep them in their cribs. They both went down relatively easy and slept all night.

Nap 2: Sunday, October 31st
Put them down and they both talked through their entire nap. I don't think either fell asleep, but we kept them in their cribs about 1.5 hours so we did still get a naptime break, just not a completely quiet one. When I went to get them, they both told me their paci's were broken and I asked if they wanted to throw them in the trash again and they said "yes". I took them both downstairs and they threw them in the kitchen trash and walked in to the living room and did not think about it again.

Night 3: Sunday, October 31st
Put them in the crib with no paci in sight. They both asked for them and we told them they were broken and they threw them in the trash and they were all gone. They were both a little distraught and asked for other stuffed animals we let them each have one and left the room. Ava cried for me for about a minute and then it was all quiet. They went right to sleep. It has been about an hour and they are still asleep, so I hope they make it through the night.

All in all, so far so good, and I hope it continues. I am aware they can regress so I am not holding my breath, just hopeful!!!!