Molly Piper

There are people who tell me, “Awww…I’ve always wanted twins!”

One thing I bet they’re not thinking about when they say that is illness. Yep… pretty sure they’re not thinking about illness!

Because when you have twins, they both get sick. (Now, I know that if you have multiple kids, this delightful phenomenon is also likely to occur as well, but not always.)

With twins, so far, we’ve had a 100% twin-to-twin transfer rate.

Yesterday the twins had to miss their first trick-or-treat because they came down with really horrible colds and fevers. They both looked like they’d been hit by a bus.

Two two-year-olds with colds means that there’s always someone (or both someones, as it were) needing a nose wipe. And they will often choose the closest target to wipe their disgusting noses on (which is usually me).

True confessions: Today I didn’t even bother to change out of my pajama pants and wore the same sweatshirt from yesterday, figuring I might as well not dirty another set of clothing. After all, I’m the one who’s going to be washing it all!

Another true confession while we’re at it: I’ve used my bare hands today to grab the flow from under Whitsun’s nose. And since I had no towel or tissue nearby, it went straight onto the already-nasty aforementioned PJ pants.

Needless to say, I’m a vision of loveliness today. And yes, I washed my hands.

Thanks for putting up with me, y’all. I’m so disgusting.

My Dad always loves to buy presents for the kids when they come to town. We all go to Target, and he makes sure everyone has something that they really want. It’s ridiculous and sweet and awesome.

When he was in town last spring, Orison must have been asking him to buy a movie. I have no idea how they arrived at this decision, but somehow it was decided that Papa was going to buy Shrek for the kids. Fine, whatever.

So we go to Target, we’re in the movies, and Dad pulls out this boxed set. I’d seen the original Shrek when it first came out, but somehow missed that there were…wait, what?…three others??? My kids didn’t even know there were four Shrek movies. But now they were the proud owners of all four Shrek movies.

“Well, now they can have all of them…” my overindulgent father happily explained.

Turns out, of all the children, Whit (one of our 2-year-olds) is most enamored with Shrek. He’s been known to approach random trees and holler into them for Fiona (which is from a scene in Shrek 4…AAHHH! How do I know this???). But it’s actually really hilarious when Whit does it.

They’re even getting some music education out of the experience! Now my twins know the song “Funkytown,” (which Whit excitedly calls “Talk About It”) from just the first few bars. And of course you can’t forget the timeless music of… The Baha Men.

So Dad, this is for you. They love this song by the Baha Men. It’s because of Shrek and you.

And at the end of the video you can hear how Cadence says “peanuts” (just wait for it).

At this point in the summer, I have a 7-year-old, a 3-year-old, and two 1-year-olds. Here’s the swimming skills breakdown:

7-year-old: Can dog paddle and keep head above water for short distances. Improving his skills, but not independent.
3-year-old: No swimming skills (but he keeps close to the shore anyway).
1-year-old boy: No swimming skills (and also prefers sand and shore in his nautical pursuits).
1-year-old girl: Thinks she has mad swimming skills, but in reality has none.

I’ve taken them swimming by myself a couple times now, and here are my observations:

Splash Pads

-Easy in and out.
-Don’t have to worry about anyone’s head going under.
-Might have to worry about running and therefore subsequent stitches (thankfully that hasn’t been our story this summer).
-No sand. (NO SAND!!!!)

Pools

-I can really only do them by myself if they’re those 0-depth-entry ones. I don’t have enough arms for 3-year-old and two 1-year-olds in a typical “shallow end.”
-Life jackets, life jackets, life jackets. Life jackets are awesome. Morrow still fits in the infant one (cuz he’s only 32 pounds) with the head pillow thing, and he LOOOVES to lay on his back and just kick around. That’s his version of “swimming.”
*Side note about life jackets: I’ve found great ones at thrift stores. Keep your eyes out for those!
-NO SAND!!!

And in Minnesota, of course (the land of 10,000 lakes)…

Lakes

-God’s version of 0-depth-entry, so I must give credit where credit is due.
-The downside, of course, is SAND!! Two diaper-wearers in sand is just the worst, especially if you have a dirty diaper situation.
-More options for keeping busy (trying to catch fish, digging in the sand, etc.)

General Observations

-Put sunscreen on everyone before you leave the house. (Mom included, because once I get to the water, taking care of myself no longer exists as a possibility.)
-Mom, don’t expect to relax. This will not be relaxing. I remind myself that while I’m exhausting myself at the beach or pool or splash pad, they’re not at home trashing the house!
-I prefer a smaller, less populated beach for lake swimming. Simpler for head-counting, and less surface area if I have to run after one (or two!)
-I’ve been bringing after-clothes for my 3 youngest (any who can’t dress completely independently when you get back home) and getting them all dressed before we leave for home. It’s a little chaotic in the van, but at least the van is a confined space. Waaaayy preferable to them running every which-way in their swimming stuff when we get in the house.
-Don’t bring a lot of crap. A couple buckets and shovels or cups or balls, but the less you bring, the less you have to remember to bring home!

That’s what I’ve learned so far.

Any other awesome swimming tips?

The other day, I made my kids chocolate pudding. (I promise I wasn’t just trying to use up nearly-expired products from my baking cabinet. Promise.)

But I thought it would be funny to let the babies have a go at it after dinner. I got them started and they were doing really well! Whit especially is very good with a spoon. My girl…she struggles. But whatevs. They were doing pretty well with the pudding and I handed the rest of the time off to Abraham so I could go upstairs for a few minutes.

He yells a few minutes later, “You owe me big time for this one!”
“What do you mean?” I holler back.
“This clean-up! They have pudding everywhere!”

And he wasn’t kidding. It was on the walls. It was on the backs of their necks. It was in their ears. Honestly, it’s been a few days and I’m still finding dried flecks of pudding.

But instead of stopping the insanity, what does Dad do? He takes pictures.

The twins also love to “tell” knock-knock jokes.They hear the big boys telling them all the time, so naturally they try it too!

(P.S. I have no time to video edit, so you get what you get.)

Abraham captured a cute moment the other night:

Why don’t they ever do that stuff when I have a camera close by?

There’s lots of cute moments around here at 18 months. They can kind of say “I love you” to each other, and it’s a real heart-melter. Capturing that on camera is next on my list! Or maybe I should just have Abraham do it. Apparently they do their cute tricks for him.

The twins are 17 months old now, and they’re doing new things every day! I can’t believe how many new words come out every day! And I can’t believe they can show me their tummies, ears, eyes, noses, mouths, and hair!

Here’s some pictorial evidence of how grown up they are.

You can’t tell from this picture, but he thinks he’s so awesome when he does this:

And Miss Cadence is having a big day too! Here she is from the front (juice spots and all):

And the big excitement for the day! Her first PIGTAILS!

I like to call this look “a trifecta of ponytails.”

I apologize for the poor quality of this video (taken with my phone), but I just had to show you why I don’t blog anymore.

I had walked out of the room for a minute and then found all three of them up on the bed when I came back. I have no idea how they did that! And then they were all rockin’ out and dancing together. It was awesome.

This is why I rarely have bloggable thoughts. Imagine this kind of energy, all day, every day–awesome and exhausting.

Having two bouncy seats with twins is an absolute necessity, in my opinion. Of course they’re helpful for when they’re little, just because you can’t possibly carry or wear two babies all day long (especially if you have older children and/or you want to get anything done in your home).

Many people use bouncy seats when the babies are little, but I found that with twins I used them until 11 months!

Here’s the evolution of the bouncy seat for multiples:

• Infant (0-6 months): I used them for a place to set the babies down during wake times. I also used them for feeding. I would sit between the bouncy seats and administer the bottles. It was a crazy time, but not as crazy as nursing both (which I only did for about 2 months). So if you’re bottling (formula or breast milk), just kinda wedge yourself between them and hold the bottles for them! Whit especially needed the incline of the bouncy seat because he spit up so much.
• Roller stage (4-12? months): When giving two babies a bottle at the same time, it’s impossible to keep them from rolling over. Once they start holding their own bottles (mine did about 6.5 months) it gets easier–kinda. If I tried to hold both of them in this roly-poly stage, I’d be covered in formula and literally involved in a 20-minute wrestling match. Not too great for bonding.

When my babies were 10 months, they knew when bottle time was coming! They would see me getting out the bouncy seats and start doing that excited baby giggle-cry. Then I would strap them in, and they’d start kicking their feet like mad (still doing the giggle-cry), and then I’d pop the bottles in their mouths! They were so happy that way, and able to get the calories they need by focusing on bottling.

So if you want to survive feedings as twins get older, I think dual bouncy seats are very important. Beg, borrow, steal… (okay I’m not really promoting theft, it’s just an expression) but have two bouncy seats.

Other twin tips

• Use Earplugs as Necessary
• Cook Meat in Advance
• Snacks for Mom
• Easier Bathing
• Boon Squirty Spoons
• Dry Shampoo
• Hair Tourniquets
• LOTS of Burp Cloths
• Surviving Spitty Sheets

So I got an email the other day asking me what double stroller I use for my twins. I was going to write that person back, but figured I might as well make it into a post!

Here’s what I used/use for twin strollers!

Infant Phase

When your babies are using the bucket car seats, it’s so nice to have a double Snap & Go stroller. Actually I’ll just go ahead and say it’s a necessity.

Because it’s really impractical to have to carry two infant car seats into the doctor, into the grocery store, anywhere really….

After you graduate from the infant seats, you move on:

Toddler Phase

I know there are so many options out there for a double twin stroller. This is only what I use. I chose to go with the Combi Twin Sport.

(except mine's red)

Here’s why I chose it:

1. It’s a lot lighter than most double strollers.
2. I like the side-by-sides (especially for twins, who I think will want to see each other, since they’re together all the time).
3. It collapses pretty small (compared to other doubles) so you have more room in your trunk.
4. It’s affordable.

I imagine some people object to the Combi because:

1. The baskets underneath are small. (I remedy that with The Mommy Hook.)
2. It doesn’t “handle” as well as some of the other high-end side-by-sides. I didn’t really care about that as much. If I lived in New York City and used my stroller daily, then perhaps it’d be worth the extra cash for better handling. Wasn’t worth it to me.

So there ya go! MollyPiper.com is (un)officially endorsing these products! ;)

As some of you recall, the twins turned one last week!

They heartily enjoyed their smash cakes from Wegman’s (my favorite grocery store EVER!!)!

Cadence was hesitant to dig in at first, but thoroughly enjoyed the taste once she got it in her mouth. But when she was done, she was done–just started crying, and waving her hands out at her sides (like she does).

Whit was so into it that he literally got into it–stuck his face right down in there! We were laughing so hard at this point because he looked like he had shaving cream on his face! And when Cadence was done with her cake, he finished it off for her. Brothers are always good for the human vacuum thing, right?