Author: The Wee Family Blog

We don’t call S&R “the twins” but, of course, that’s what they are. They share a unique bond and will have experiences growing up that no other siblings, even ones very close in age, can have. They are also two very different boys. Different in personality and very different in size…R is bigger and quieter/ more serious, S is small and giggly/ more sociable! I can’t wait to see how their relationship develops as they grow and are better able to communicate. Here are some things that they are currently enjoying…

Rolling on top of each other in bed.

Crying at night and waking the other.

Pulling each other’s bibs off at the dinner table.

Stealing food from the other ones plate.

Wanting the toy the other one has.

Playing with each other’s eyelashes when tandem feeding.

Sticking their fingers in the other’s ears when they’re lying down being dressed.

Being sick over each other (and me) when snotty and tandem feeding.

Getting jealous of the other getting boob if they have to wait.

Playing peekaboo and giggling together.

Splashing each other in the bath.

Stealing the other’s toothbrush.

Sitting in the shopping trolley together.

Pulling off and sooking on the other’s socks.

Let’s see what this weekend has in store!

Some of the things that E has attempted to eat this weekend. Some attempts have been more successful than others…

-a tulip stem

-a whole spring onion

-raw pork

-raw broccoli florets

-3 apples stolen from the fruit bowl

-the water from the bottom of the box of strawberries

-noodles straight from S&R’s hand

– a trumpet (crumpet)

-my apple as soon as he’d finished his own

-stagnant water from his mud kitchen

-a pinch of butter straight from the tub

We do feed him, I promise!

E was only 21 months when S&R were born so he probably won’t remember life without them! It has definitely been a rollercoaster for him though and, with my time now being split three ways, he has come up with some inventive ways of attracting my attention. I know some of these will be standard toddler impulses but here are a couple of recent examples of things that he has been doing to make sure that I’m still noticing him…

He sooks ketchup out of the bottle while I’m not looking.

He enjoys taking S&R’s socks off as soon as I’ve struggled to get them on in the morning.

He dances around the room and denies needing the loo unless I’m going to take his hand and go with him.

He unravels all of the toilet roll so that I will sit on the edge of the bath and wind it back up while he’s doing the loo.

He wants to lie down like a baby and for me to dress him like I dress S&R.

He clambers into the other seat in the pram just in time for me bringing the second baby through to put in.

He takes the utensils back out of the drawer to play with as soon as I’ve put them in there from the dishwasher.

He puts his fingers or his spoon into his cup of milk/ water and inevitably ends up knocking it over and spilling it everywhere.

I sometimes find it really hard to divide myself three ways! I also find it difficult not to react when a few of these things really frustrate me.

I try to make time for one-to-one time with E every day but it sometimes isn’t as easy as it sounds. We often have a snuggle and some stories while the babies nap but it sometimes makes things worse as he resents S&R even more when they wake up. Can’t win sometimes!!

Ingredients

1 tired mummy

1 excited toddler

1 snoozy baby

1 grumpy baby

3 comfy car seats

A boot full of belongings

Multiple idiot drivers

Slow trucks

Many traffic lights

Excessive amounts of rain

1 Bookbug CD

1 Miffy audiobook

1 drive thru latte

1 caramel shortbread

No wee accidents

Method

Mix all ingredients together for two and a half hours. Sprinkle with some yawns, tears, toys and snacks. Remove from container and stretch.

E eats everything and more! I’m not talking about him eating paper or chewing on play-doh… thankfully he has never been one for eating inedible things! But his incessant desire for food is sometimes a bit worrying.

Tonight at dinner time, for example, he polished off his portion of enchilada, some broccoli and a plum and then leant across the table, stole my plum and gave it a bite! Once he was down from the table, while I was cleaning up, I heard him say “please can I like your food R?” and took a bit of uneaten carrot from R’s high chair tray. After a few minutes, he then went back to R and tried to take something half chewed out of his pelican bib to munch on!

At lunchtime he’d tried to pinch Rhuaraidh’s burnt toast crusts and yesterday I suddenly became his new best friend as I tried to eat my cereal bar with him clambering onto my lap, while dodging his attempts to snatch it on its way to my mouth.

His new phrase is “I need it” which he uses to demand anything edible. If I’m chewing something he instantly spots it and chirps up “what you eating Mummy?” or “my like a wee taste” and doesn’t believe me when I insist I’m only eating my tongue! That’s the line my Mum and Dad used to use!

Another problem that we have is that our food cupboard door has a squeak- never a good thing when I’m trying to sneak a biscuit! Should really get the WD40 on that one. He can hear a packet rustling from a mile off so I’m very rarely able to sneak a nibble without him knowing!

Now I know most of this is probably standard toddler behaviour but, those of you who know E, know that he isn’t exactly wasting away. Having always been a chunk, it’s something we’re very conscious of! He was 10lb 6oz (4.7kg) at birth and his weight has always been way above the top line on the growth chart! Infact, he’s only now starting to come down onto the top centiles. His weight shot up in the first few months of life while being exclusively breastfed and I don’t think the Health Visitor had ever seen anything like it!

I’d say we have a pretty healthy diet and always avoid giving him too many treats. Infact, he now calls chocolate “adult chocolate” because he isn’t given it. I’m hopeful that he is just be a ‘big boy’ and that we aren’t overfeeding him. In comparison to some of his peers, he does seem tall. I suppose we are a tall family and have seen growth charts like his before… my brother was 10lb 8oz, grew like E and is now 6ft 5 so maybe he’ll be a tall man too!

E does love eating and only very rarely doesn’t finish what is served up for him. He loves olives, broccoli and humous and I can hardly think of anything he doesn’t like… he did try Rhuaraidh’s marmite recently and wasn’t a fan! He’s also not starving all the time like he would make out- he snacks regularly but not too often and has plenty on his plate for a boy his size! May need to put a combination padlock on the food cupboard before too long…

Having said that, Rhuaraidh went shopping today and all I can think about is the cupboard full of snacks… so maybe it’s me he gets it from!

Parenting insecurities strike again! Snack time then bedtime for me!

Broccoli photo credit Uncle Lorne.

Sometimes, things that I used to consider easy, every day activities, seem like amazing achievements! With a 2 year old and 9 month old twins in tow, I no longer only have my own bag to pack, my own jacket to put on and myself to get into the car.

Yesterday, for example, we were scheduled for our 6 monthly dentist check up. I had made the appointment for 4pm in the hope that Rhuaraidh would have been able to leave work early to help me out. He couldn’t. 4pm is not an ideal time of day for doing anything with kids… everyone is getting tired, you don’t want any of them to have a late nap for fear of an even later bedtime and dinnertime hunger is quick to land, shattering moods and positive spirits for everyone. Mainly mine.

Anyway, despite all of these potential issues, we all made it to the dentist on time, filled in 9 pages of health forms and opened our mouths for examination without any tears, tantrums or stresses! I was so proud. Proud of myself for making it there on time, proud of the boys for being so chilled while my teeth were checked and proud that they all let the dentist look at their teeth without a peep! I know for a fact that this won’t be how our trip to the dentist goes every time but yesterday I felt an immense sense of achievement.

Helpful tips for visiting our dentist

1. You can fit a double pram into the rooms as long as you’re willing to bump the back wheels over the bottom of the examination chair.

2. Bring your own trains because the trainset in the waiting room consists only of track. (Much to E’s disappointment!)

3. If you are a 2 year old who has never seen Spider-Man, you won’t be excited by the choice of stickers.

I can’t remember the last time I slept more than three hours in a row and even three hours is a rare event these days! The funny thing is, I used to think I was tired. At uni, working at the bank, teacher training. And I was tired, but not this tired-to-the-core feeling I have now. I sat down at the dinner table tonight and really couldn’t find the energy to get back up to do baths.

Nights are pretty bad. Toddler sleeps really well, babies wake up really well. Multiple wake ups from two babies every night means that we don’t get much unbroken sleep. I thought things might be different this time as they were amazing sleepers until 4 months. Then they hit the dreaded ‘4 month sleep regression’ that I’d read so much about and everything changed!

It’s easy to think that I’m doing something wrong during the day to make night times so rubbish. I just can’t seem to nail the naps. Too much sleep= ready to party, too little sleep= overtired and wailing, napped too late in the afternoon= ready to party, napped too early in the afternoon= overtired and wailing. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I just can’t seem to get it right day in, day out. Maybe it’s because I’m not one of these people who stays at home with a strict routine. We go out to groups or to meet friends so its snooze in the car here, sleep in the pram there. Winging it, I think they call it!

I felt like a champion last night. Rhuaraidh was working in Inverness for the day so was due home late. For the first time since S&R were born, I was completely alone to do dinner, bath and bed with all three. I’m very lucky that this is the first time I’ve had to do it myself to be honest! I was ready to give it a shot. “Don’t want curry, Mummy” was followed by a clean plate without even one grain of rice left. Singing while bathing one baby kept the other distracted from wailing on the changing mat at the bathroom door! Even managed a story before the babies had a meltdown and got everyone upstairs and into cots/ sleeping bags. Obviously as soon as I sat down to tandem feed S&R, E shouted “need a wee, mummy” which is a standard “give me some attention” shout after bedtime. Since he isn’t in a bed yet, he thankfully couldn’t escape. Anyway, Rhuaraidh walked in the door at 7.15 and looked at me in amazement. All three children were in their beds. It wasn’t to be for long though. 45 minutes later, both babies were wide awake and downstairs for some play time. Just when I thought I’d done so well!

I’m hoping nights improve. I’m trying to stay positive and enjoy the snuggles before they grow up. Everyone thinks it is so easy to do. I do enjoy cosying in with a baby under each arm each night but it also means that I sleep in the tiniest sliver of my bed and wake up aching and sore from being contorted into weird sleeping positions. It is also blooming hard to stay positive waking up every hour or two. Some nights it’s easy, other nights staying positive at 2am, 3.30am and 5am is the hardest thing in the world. Thank goodness for boob.

Sleep is developmental, this is a phase that will pass. It’s just so exhausting. E slept through the night for the first time on the day of his first birthday party….hopefully these two will be similar.

Anyway, I should be sleeping. Goodnight. 😴

I haven’t really had any time to write my first post the last few days. The hour I have in the evenings between feeding the babies to sleep and wanting to go to sleep myself has been taken up with trying to tick things off my ‘to-do’ list. Pay roofer- check, choose toddler bed- not quite decided yet, email HR about maternity pay- check.

I’ve been wanting to start a ‘mum blog’ for a while now but something (not sure what it was) finally pushed me to do it at the weekend! I think I’ll be writing a wee bit about family life- the highs and the lows- the funny bits, the stressful bits… I’d also like to review some places that we visit based on their suitability for double prams/ twins/ multiple young children so we’ll see how that goes!

Today’s low point was comforting a sobbing two year old who didn’t want me to park our car in our driveway. That’s where we always park our car so I’ve no idea why it was such a problem…