A Puppy and a Kitty

I had to include this picture because it shows how difficult it is to actually get a good shot of both of them looking at me. How weird is it? Where is Chase's right arm?


Chase and Owen have not been real interested in stuffed animals until Valentine's Day when they got a puppy and kitty from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. They just loved them! They smiled, reached for them and hugged them. It was so sweet. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Updates:

Chase: sees himself in a mirror and pats himself, rocking on knees, likes to eat food-bananas are his favorite, is working on new sounds daily like /dada/, has thighs that are 10 inches around and feet that are 4 inches long, loves his brother, sleeps on his tummy, wakes up too early in the morning (4 am), doesn't sleep through the night, likes to put his face very close to yours and look you in the eyes, hates loud noises and cries, moves his arms like a bird and rotates his hands when he is excited, rocks back and forth when sitting and excited, has a runny nose always.

Owen: working on crawling, scoots backwards very quickly, gets what he wants by grabbing your arms, cheek, hair, spoon to pull you in, loves loves to eat anything (except thick foods-they make him gag), has thighs that are also 10 inches around and feet that are also 4 inches long, loves to swim, sleeps on his tummy, kicks when excited, is an excellent sleeper, napper and takes after Mommy, loves loud noises and laughs, likes to scream, loves his brother and touching him in the eye, loves to grab your head (hair) and pull you into his face with his mouth wide open.

Choosing

Owen made a choice yesterday-the choice was Jeff. It was one of the most sad moments for me. Jeff was trying to pass Owen off to me to try on some clothes at the mall. Owen turned around and hugged Jeff and wouldn't let go. He chose Daddy over Mommy. He's supposed to always choose me, Im the Mommy! I guess the rejection has to begin sometime. It was very sad realizing he is going to make choices that do not always involve me. Daddy is more fun-he bounces and has more energy than Mommy. I can be fun too-hey we danced in the store-that's fun right? (I'm happy Owen chose Jeff-his Daddy (kinda))

Grandma Sandy Visits

Grandma and Chase with his pants pulled up way too high! Outfits are gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Berger for Valentine's Day.

Owen in his cute new outfit. He's a little puppy
Grandma Sandy (Jeff's Mom) lives in FL during the best months of winter. She came to visit to see her grandkids and we were happy to have her visit and bring some Florida sunshine. Sandy was able to spend all day Friday and Saturday with us. The boys had fun reuniting with her. We were able to take her swimming with us. Pat, Lindsay and Sophia came over Saturday for swimming and hanging out, as well. Enjoy the pics.Grandma Sandy holding Chase and cousin Sophia and Owen

Jeff and Chase and Sandy and Owen

Sandy and Chase

Sandy feeding Chase with Susie and Owen in the background

Swimming

Jeff and Chase after leaving the waterfall.
Owen and Jeff goofing off.

Look at those chubby smiles! Susie and Owen, Chase and Jeff

Chubby Owen floating with Mommy.

Owen just LOVED floating on his tummy while kicking his legs. He laughed and laughed, we had the best time.

We were finally able to go swimming again after getting rid of all our sicknesses. We went with Pat, Lindsay and cousin Sophie. Grandma Sandy came along to watch the fun. Chase and Owen had an ever better time than last time. I don't think Owen stopped smiling and laughing with glee the entire time we were in the water. Chase loved exploring, splashing and reaching into the waterfalls. Please forgive our white Minnesota bodies. :)

Friends

I'd heard from many mothers of twins that the babies become good friends and playmates. I believed it, but didn't understand the extent of the "friends" relationship. Chase and Owen LOVE each other. They really do! They smile at each other, look for each other, are comforted by each other and play best when facing each other and playing together. It is such a blessing. I could watch them smile at each other all day. There is a look in their eyes that says, "I know you intimately, we've been together forever". It's really cool. I wouldn't trade the twin experience for anything. Others, such as those who work in the church nursery, have started commenting on it as well and how happy and smiley they are. It's great to hear reports like that.

Owen has been known to take toys out of Chase's hand. Owen's a little more assertive and Chase allows him to be like this. However, today I was watching them from afar. Chase had a ball Owen wanted. Chase had it in the hand closest to Owen and when Owen would reach to take it, Chase would transfer the ball to the other hand and extend his arm out as far as it could go, thus making it farther away from Owen. This happened at least 5 times that I counted. It was hysterical. I'm sure it wasn't purposeful, but it's a good story.

These pictures show Chase and Owen eating (Owen is on the left, Chase the right) wearing "Twins" bibs, Chase's smile, Chase looking at Owen and smiling, the boys playing on the kitchen floor yesterday while I cooked, and Owen trying to drink out of his sippy cup.

On the Mend and Go ISU!

I was looking through the boys' closet and found the ISU t-shirts from Bruce and Deena Jones. For some reason they were in the 12 month section and they are 6 month shirts. Oh no, I thought. Luckily they fit the boys and they look soooooo cute on them. I was excited for them to wear them to church today and others thought they were cute too. They are wearing the socks that look like shoes from my mom. They look like little boys. Go ISU!!!! In the picture of Owen and Chase together, notice Chase looking at Owen with wide eyes. Owen had just taken the remote out of Chase's hands-I don't think he was too happy about it.

The boys are also on the mend. Chase is very verbal and whiny still-but he gets his way when he whines. He gets picked up. Owen is just a little active boy. I didn't remember him being this active before he was sick, but now he's wild! He turns his head at every noise-loves to touch everything, stand, roll, etc. He's hilarious. He's feeling much much better. We are still doing nebulizer treatments and will do so through the week, I think. It's a lot of work but really helps them with their cough. I got a cold, of course, and am working through the cough. Is spring here yet?!

My Mom came over the weekend and helped and now she is home sick. Sorry Mom! She dusted (do you think it needed it?) and even did our plants. She cooked, helped with the boys and provided that comfort that only a mom can give. It was wonderful having her here. The boys just loved time with Mop Grandma. Her hair was so long and in their faces like a mop, so now she's Mop Grandma. She got to feed them, change diapers, help with nebs treatments, bathe them and babysit. What a great time.

Owen has learned to "kiss" and hug. He just loves to grab your face and pull you in to him so he can kiss you. You can see pictures here of him doing that with Jeff.

The boys try to crawl so differently. Owen is up on his hands and knees pushing backwards. Chase is on his face, hands out, feet doing a swimming motion. It's so funny. You can see a picture here. I'll also post a video of it.

Rockin'

Owen has figured out how to get on his hands and knees and rock back and forth! This occurred yesterday and I managed to get it on film. Enjoy!

Nebs

So, being a mom is great but there are times that you wished you were not the one to put your kids through something they don't like-for example, nebs treatments. They are getting better at them, but still cry and get annoyed. Jeff took some video last night of Owen and I. The only thing that keeps Owen from crying is when I sing his favorite songs. Warning: I am singing-it is not good.

I took Chase back to the Dr. today because he was sounding worse. The Dr. clarified that yes, he was worse and prescribed some steroids. Hopefully they will help him breathe better and get over this. Owen is doing much better and seems to be himself. Hopefully Chase will heal soon, too. I'm worn out. Pooped. Exhausted. Drained. My mom is coming this weekend to help out-Praise God!

8 months! (32 weeks) and RSV

We are 32 weeks old today! Mommy and Daddy can't believe we are closer to 1 than to being itty bitty babies! We still have our colds, but we are trying to be in good spirits. We love to smile and we will do so to most people. We especially love smiling and wiggling when we see Mommy and Daddy. We love to take baths! Chewing on cups and letters in the bathtub is so fun. Owen even learned to splash with his hand. We really really like to hang out with each other. We say "huh" and "uh" to each other and laugh and smile. We feel lucky to have a brother. We are getting better at eating and now enjoy it. Mommy seems to feel better about that. She likes it when we eat well and don't make a mess. She is so nice, though, because she gives us our own spoons to play with. How fun! We still like to put toys in our mouth and we like toys we can manipulate. Our favorite "toy" right now is probably the shiny paper towel holder. Boy is it fun to chew on and pull paper towels out of. Hope you aren't getting sick of hearing about us, we just love to talk about ourselves. Mommy says this is developmental and some day we'll think about others, too. What is developmental?

AND, we just found out we have RSV. We are not too excited to wear the mask over our faces as Mommy gives us our nebs treatments. We hope to feel better soon.

Colds

Just when I thought things were looking up and the diarrhea was over along came a cold. Lots of dripping noses and coughs. What is going on?! We didn't go anywhere last week-we couldn't! Poor Chase and Owen. At least we are over the 26 diapers a day-that was intense (not to mention expensive). The boys are no longer sleeping through the night. When they were sick they decided it would be nice to get up in the night to each-which was fine because I knew they needed the nutrients. Now that they are better Jeff and I have had it. No more. There might be some crying at our house tonight.

These pictures are of Owen and Chase watching Jeff play guitar. Chase grabbing for Jeff's cookie. Susie feeding the boys dinner. Chase and his favorite toy-the blue block. Owen and his favorite toy-the seahorse.

We are on the move around here. I thought better put outlet plugs in the outlets, just in case. Sure enough, the next day I find Owen near the wall just staring at the outlet. I just know he wants to put a piece of gum in it like I did when I was little. Owen is moving backwards. He can make it quite far. He also goes in a circle and has gotten up on his knees a few times. Chase goes in a circle and sometimes backwards.

Winter Boredom

What do you do with twins in the dead of winter in Minnesota? You drive them around in the stroller in the basement, of course! Chase and Owen have not had the chance to sit up in a stroller yet. They have always been in their car seats in the stroller, which is nice, but not the same as sitting up. I'm not quite sure what they thought about the ride. They liked it because there was no crying, but I think it almost put Owen to sleep. There are just so many exciting pipes and boards to look at in the basement, I don't know how they could have been bored!

Sick little boys

We have 2 sick little guys at our house. :( Chase and Owen have had some intestinal issues (if you know what I mean) and have thrown up a couple times a week. This has not been a fun adventure for Jeff and I, as you can imagine. Jeff put it well when he said, "We knew it was going to happen sometime so we might as well deal with it now." So true. Owen has fared well-he seems to be acting normal and eating normal. Chase is eating about half of his normal amount and just isn't himself. He's very whiny and needs a lot of attention (like Daddy). This has made the cold winter days seem eternally long for me and I long for the days of summer when I can feel the wind in my hair, the sun on my face and watch the lawn grow . . . ahhhh. I haven't quite figured out why we have chosen to live in the tundra-seriously-there are so many warmer places to live. Basically anywhere else would be warmer. Oh well. We love our summers.

I noticed yesterday that both Chase and Owen respond to their names. I wondered if they would respond to the correct name-given they are always around the other when both names are spoken. They have also started to look for each other and don't stop looking until they see one another. This happens mostly after naps.