4 Months In

We are a third of the way through with the year of three under three. (Say that sentence three times fast!) To mark the occasion, I thought I'd offer a snapshot of our lives at the moment.

It's not completely chaotic anymore! I was trying to maintain a schedule, but schedules are stupid. I was never able to make it work, mostly because I don't wake up sleeping babies and I do let them comfort nurse. Oh well. We have fallen into a bit of a routine now. The boys take a short morning nap, a longer midday nap, and a short evening nap. I try to use the morning nap to play with Miss Two, the midday nap to make lunch for Miss Two and put her down for a nap, and the evening nap to make dinner. Usually the days do not work out that perfectly, but they aren't utter disasters either.

Nursing 4-month-old twins is both easier and more difficult than nursing newborn twins for different reasons. I definitely can't feed them at the same time anymore. They're too big for the nursing pillow. Often I am nursing one while the other is hungrily crying. It's emotionally draining. I've heard of people nursing one while bottle feeding the other. I might start doing something like that. Still, nursing has gotten easier in the sense that the boys have really gotten the hang of it, and they are efficient now. 

Nursing is also a little easier because Miss Two is not as jealous of the activity. She used to climb all over me while I was trying to nurse. Now she just does her own thing. I'm so glad that phase passed so quickly. 

I'm getting a little more sleep! Big Guy sleeps through the night sometimes. It's amazing. Little Guy not so much, but last night he only woke up twice. That's not so bad. They got too big for the cradle next to my bed, so we moved them to a crib in the nursery. They don't sleep in the crib together every night. Often they both fall asleep in separate swings, and we let them be. 

Leaving the house with the twins is tricky. At home we often nurse on a bed, and if they fall asleep nursing I move them to a crib or a swing. Or if they are tired but not hungry, I let them fuss in the swing for a few minutes until they fall asleep. So when we go places without the swing and the crib and a bed on which to nurse them, I feel completely at a loss as to how to comfort them. Usually other people help me by walking around with a baby until he falls asleep.

I did go to the park with all the kids one day! My sweet sister came along and chased after Miss Two while the boys and I played on a picnic blanket. It was lovely. I hope I can do many more days like that. We all need to get out more, but I think we will now that the first four months of the wildest year of my life are over.