Hello.....Is anyone out there?

It's a little before 3am and I am having trouble sleeping, so what better time to update the blog. I often wonder if anyone reads this anymore. I just spent the better part of an hour looking through my old posts, and I must say that I'm glad I have done this blog, I just wish I would have kept up with it a little better. To anyone out there who still visits the blog, my sincerest apologies!

So, I'm sure you are asking: What is going on with the cubs???

Where to start??? The cubs are potty trained and have been for some time. Even at night. I can't remember the last time we bought diapers or pull-ups, but this is now a diaper/pull-up free zone. Emily pretty much potty-trained herself over the summer and I was just a casual (and delighted) observer. Zach took a little more effort, but I think the peer pressure from preschool really kicked him into high gear. We started out the first week in September in pull-ups and by the end of September we were in our "big boys". AWESOMENESS!

The cubs are also in big girl/boy beds. I don't quite remember when that happened either. I do remember that it took 3 tries for Emily to accept the toddler bed, and that was a miserable experience in itself. Now she is in a twin bed (she calls it her "princess bed"). I held Zach's transition off as much as possible, and to my surprise, he did great! We converted first to a toddler bed, and then a twin bed for him as well, and I must say with great relief, that we had no trouble at all with it. Such a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Our first visit to the Dentist was in February. Emily did fabulous. She let them take x-rays, clean her teeth, and do the exam with little fussing. Zach was a bit more trying. He started screaming when they tried to take xrays so they took us to a room for the Dentist to do an "infant exam" (inward groan). I tried my best to calm him down. Then the Dentist walked in. As she was starting the exam, I asked Zach one last time if he wanted to get his picture (xray) taken and he slowly nodded "yes". I am sure this big change of heart had everything to do with the fact that the Dentist was a very attractive blonde. FLIRT. So xrays, cleaning, and exam...DONE! Both cubs are cavity free. Emily is still missing her 2 year old molars on her right side, and Zach is missing both on top. They are there but haven't broken through yet, so apparently we have more teething in our future. Yippee (UGH)!

The cubs are still taking swim lessons. Last session was quite a test for us, especially for Zach. He would resist going and would cry often, even though he would do what they told him to once he was in the water. He would just cry as he was doing it. This session has been a complete turn around. He is excited to go, puts his swimsuit on without a fight, and is really making great progress. By looking at him this time you would never know the headaches we went through last session. I'm sure the fact that he thinks his instructor, Alex, is cute certainly helps. And yes, he told me "Alex is cute". Of course I just rolled my eyes at him. FLIRT!!! Emily is doing great in her lessons too. She always wants to be the first one to do anything. Last week her group got to go down the "big slide" and that's all I have heard about. They are doing great with their kicks and their "big arms", the only problem is getting them to do both at the same time. They hold their breath, blow bubbles, jump in and turn around to back to the side of the pool, and they do it while looking amusingly adorable in their little goggles!

Both cubs are still in speech therapy, both through the school district and TWU. We are making progress there too. Zach is working on his action verbs. He has a book with pictures of actions, and we go through it by me asking him "What is this girl/boy doing?" and he will tell me "the boy is fishing" or "the girl is running". Last week in the car, he took the book from me, held it up for his sister, and said, "Emily, what is this boy doing?". I was so proud of him. Emily is working on her articulation and she still has some trouble getting her words in the correct order. She sings a lot, which is adorable, but it always takes me a while to figure out the song, because she makes up her own words, and sometimes the tune is a little off. Pretty sure she won't be trying out for American Idol. Gotta love her.

Preschool is wonderful! The cubs run to class and barely look at me as I'm leaving. I practically have to beg for a goodbye kiss. Sometimes they surprise me with "Goodbye, Mommy" but most of the time I can tell they are ready to jump into the first activity and I am just in the way. SIGH. They really are growing up too fast. I love their independence but I love my hugs and kisses more.

Zach eating has been amazing. It definitely isn't because he is trying new things, because he really isn't, but when I look back at where we were two years ago, I am so relieved at the progress he has made. We still have our few select foods, but at least he is eating. He has added "quesadilla" to his food rotation (as well as his vocabulary - so cute to hear him say it). Just this week he asked me for a cookie. He ate two mini-oreo cookies (what mom can say they are excited that their kid ate a cookie?!?!) but of course the next day he had no interest in them. BUT, he asked for a cookie! AND he tried it! I will never complain about that! He loves pasta in almost any form as long as there is no red sauce of any sort on it. There must also be no ketchup within a mile radius of his plate. He still loves Bueno burritos and recently he ate a whole mini pizza by himself. He likes Chuck-E-Cheese pizza too! Can you believe it?? We are still supplementing his diet with Pediasure. I look forward to the day that he will no longer need it, it is quite expensive when he gobbles down 2-3 bottles a day. Emily is still dealing with her addiction to nuggets and fries. She still loves strawberries, bananas, and mandarin oranges, but refuses all veggies. Occasionally I can get her to eat a taco with meat only. Who knew this little monkey would turn into a picky eater. When she was a baby she liked everything except watermelon. Now she is on picky diet too - and of course it can't be anything that Zach likes. That would be too easy. I know there are those out there who feel that I shouldn't cater to them, but when you have a baby with eating issues, you will do whatever it takes for them to eat. Believe me, I have tried the "he'll eat anything if he's hungry" approach, and he will literally refuse to eat. All day. And it won't phase him a bit but it will make the rest of us miserable. I stand by the advice of my pedicatrician..."if you find something he likes, then feed it to him". Even if it is the same thing day after day, because right now, the important thing is maintaining his weight. He still gets his nutritional needs met by vitamins and Pediasure. I have no doubt that when he becomes a teenager I will need a second income to feed him, but for now this is just how things are going to be.

Zach still LOVES golf. Whether he is playing it or watching it on TV, he LOVES it. Which makes his Daddy very proud. He says "Titleist, number one golf ball" every night before bed. I should record it and then see if Titleist will endorse his future golfing career. I am sure that he and Steve will be glued to the TV this Sunday for the final round of the Masters.

My last day of work was March 31st. It was just getting too hard to work and maintain the cubs' "social schedule". Between school, therapies, swim lessons, family time, and my other household duties, I was having difficulty trying to manage work too. I was staying up late at night to work, or passing up on family activities to work, and Steve finally told me I needed to choose one or the other, and of course he was right. I am really thankful that I was able to work for so long, and I am grateful for my boss allowing me to have such a flexible schedule, but now I am thankful that I have one less thing on my plate. I will miss the income, but spending time with the cubs is more important right now.

Steve is still incredibly busy with work and we really enjoy the time when he is home. He is trying to golf once a week, but sometimes other activities keep him from doing so. Eventually we will get a schedule worked out. He has been really great letting me do all my "girl stuff" in the evenings. I still enjoy our neighborhood Bunco group and getting together with the girls for dinner and conversation. I served a year on the Board for my Mothers of Multiples group, but have decided this year to pass that torch on to someone else. Our neighborhood has started a Women's Association, so I've enjoyed meeting new friends and neighbors through that as well.

It's just a crazy, busy time of year for us at Cub Central. I can't believe that my precious cubbies are about to celebrate their fourth birthday. We love and appreciate all of you who have taken this journey with us. Thank you for remaining patient with me as I sadly neglect my blog. We have some exciting things planned this year. The cubs' first airplane trip is scheduled...not sure what to expect there, but we'll make the best of it. I'm sure I'll blog about it six months after it happens! Just pretend that we are in our own special time zone with a six month time delay!

Hugs and kisses from all of us!!

Molar Central

The molars have landed and they just keep coming and coming. At the last tooth check little Emily Bear had three molars (two on bottom, one on top) and Zach had two molars (one on the bottom and the top). For those who are curious, they hurt. They hurt them and they hurt me. Yes, I was bitten at the last tooth check and then someone suffered lock-jaw at that very exact moment, because it took forever for my finger to be released. SHARKS! Insert Jaws theme here....

Here is a picture of Emily practicing very good dental hygiene. We are so proud of her! Mom still has to chase Zach down, but he gets his pearly whites brushed twice a day too.

Too tired to think of a title.

How sad is that? I can usually think of something but sheer exhaustion has taken over.

The house is now on the market. While we still have some minor things to finish up, the sign is now posted and we are officially listed. Steve and I have been incredibly busy trying to get everything moved out of the house and into the apartment or into storage. We have been taking alternate turns, one staying to cubsit, and the other going to the house. The process has gone much slower than we would have liked, but at least we are making some progress. The housekeeper should be coming this week and the carpet cleaners are scheduled for Wednesday.

The cubs have been handling everything pretty well. With the exception of Emily's molars coming in. She has been a real handful lately. At the last tooth check, she has three molars coming in. They haven't yet broken through but they must be causing some extreme pain for her because we are all feeling it. Too bad she isn't following Zach's example. He has a molar that has already come through and he didn't fuss a bit. He is such a trooper. Emily is not. She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night and won't calm down unless one of us is in there with her. So Steve and I have been taking turns sleeping on the floor in their room because we are afraid that her screaming will alert the neighbors, who will in turn alert CPS. It has been miserable. If I ever needed a back massage, it is now. I seriously doubt that there is any carpet padding installed in this apartment. I feel like Wilma Flintstone sleeping on a rock slab. Yabba Dabba Do. It will sure make me appreciate the upgraded carpet padding we are having installed in the new house.

We did drive by the house this weekend. Things are progressing very quickly there. It now looks like a house. I'm a little overwhelmed by how fast this is happening. It is exciting, but ulcer inducing as well, at least until the house sells. Steve's friend Brian has helped us move some of our really heavy furniture and we are very thankful to him. We have really great friends and family who have helped us with this huge transition. Many many thanks to all of you!!

Emily and Zach have been trying some new foods lately. Emily had some pineapple. She also had fruit cocktail which the first time she ate the whole serving while the next time she totally refused it. Fussy monkey. Zach has tried scrambled egg. I don't think he liked it very much but at least he tried it. That was huge for him. He also ate #3 Gerber spaghetti. This is the first time he has eaten a #3 food and been able to keep it down, so we are very proud of him. It's been slow going but at least we are seeing some progress. He has even started drinking some of his Pediasure from his sippy cup. I'm starting to feel a little less discouraged and a little more optimistic that he will be eating something other than pureed foods before he enters preschool.

The weather has taken a major downturn. Yesterday the temperature was in the 70s and today the high was only in the low 30s. It is sleeting and the overpasses and bridges are icy and dangerous. They said the temperature last night dropped 30 degrees in 30 minutes. I believe it. I had made a grocery run and stopped to fill up the car and the change was unreal. CRAZY weather. By Thursday the temperature is supposed to be back up near 70. No wonder everyone is always sick here.

We have more teeth

Emily is sprouting her ninth tooth. I guess that explains her most recent bout of crankiness! Tooth brushing is going quite well. The cubs get their teeth brushed twice daily and I don't even have to tie them down anymore to do it. Yay!

Cub report

It's been a week since my last cub report and I am struggling to remember what happened over the past seven days. My memory just isn't what it used to be....I've been told that I have "Mom"nesia, a brain sucking occurrence that strikes most moms of multiples.

The most important event of the week was a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Bear. They arrived on Saturday to cubsit for us and we can't thank them enough for it (see next post). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

The time changed this weekend, which I guess I find noteworthy because it is affecting me so much. I always loved the fall time change because it meant that I could get an extra hour of sleep. Unfortunately someone forgot to inform the cubs of that little detail and I am paying for it. I want my extra hour! Yesterday everyone was grouchy, especially the cubs. Today was much better.

Zach's eating has been going pretty well. I'm sure that since I mentioned it, I have jinxed it entirely. Today he had real macaroni and cheese and some baked potato. He kept it all down and I am doing the happy dance. Don't you wish you could see it? I am SO excited that we are finally starting to make some progress.

Emily has been doing great. She eats everything under the sun and is becoming Mommy's little helper. She brings me things when I leave them within her reach (most notable is the TV remote). Today I told her to take something to Zach and she did it. Next week I'll have her unloading the dishwasher and folding clothes! Just kidding, but I am impressed with her ability to understand me even though she doesn't verbally respond to me in a language I can understand. She blabbers all day long and I have yet to understand any of it.

At their 18 month check up the Dr. noted that he thinks their little molars may be starting to work their way out. I am dreading that. I hear they are the most painful. Emily can't shove her little hands in her mouth far enough, and I have to mop up after her all day long. I have never seen so much drool. I have stocked up on teething rings and baby Tylenol because I know it is just around the corner.

On a sad note, my grandmother fell last week and was hospitalized, but we are now happy to report that she has been released and is at home. We are hoping that she is resting comfortably and that she is back up on her feet in no time. We miss her and we don't get to see her as often as we would like, but we are always thinking of her!

Week in review. --How's that for a catchy title?

The cubs are 17 months old today! I can't even believe how fast time goes by!

Now for our weekly recap. Looking back it appears that we didn't do much this week, but as exhausted as I feel today you would think that we've been going non-stop.

Zach had an appointment with an Orthopedist on Tuesday. Zach is a bow-legged little man. Dr. Gray says that most likely he'll grow out of it but he wants to see Z-man again in four months just to keep an eye on it. Zach did have an xray, which he screamed through, and everything looked great on it. Zach has perfect growth plates. Apparently they were looking for elongated growth plates which is caused by a calcium deficiency, but Z-man's were perfect. Hopefully his little legs will straighten on their own and braces will not be needed.

I took the cubs to my office on Friday. They were having a potluck lunch so I took my famous banana pudding. It's been a while since we've been up there, and it really makes for a long day because my office is almost an hour away, and that's without traffic. Considering that we went during nap time the cubs really did pretty well. Zach flirted with all the girls and Emily ran circles around the conference room.

Today was our pre-redline construction meeting where we selected our brick, stone, and trim colors, along with our garage door design and stain color. Lucky for us there was a house that we both liked the brick and stonework on, so we just told the salesperson that we wanted the same ones. Easy enough. We also went through our structural changes and options. Busy day!

Both cubs have some more teeth coming in. Yippee. More crying, more drooling, more sleepless nights. Such fun times!

All he wanted was his two front teeth!

WHEW!!! We are jumping for joy that Zach's missing tooth is no longer missing. Bless his heart, he only had three teeth on top because one of the middle ones was stubborn and late to arrive. I was starting to get concerned that we were going to have to get him a dental implant or something. Have no fear, his two front teeth are here!

Playing catch-up

It's Thursday evening and I'm desperately trying to catch-up on my blog. My mom (Grandma Bear) has been here this week and has been a big help to me. I am so excited to be off of diaper-duty for a while. I haven't had to put my HazMat suit on once since she arrived. Awesome!

On Wednesday, Kelli came over with her 6-month old twin girls for a short visit. It was nice to have little babies in the house again. It really makes me realize how much the cubs have changed in such a short time. Kelli's girls are just now starting to roll over. I miss those days where you could put the cubs down and they would stay right where you put them. Now, the cubs won't stay still for 5 seconds. Both cubs are walking everywhere. They have figured out how to open doors, they won't leave the curtains alone, and they are always trying to test the waters with me. I told Zach "NO" today and he looked at me and laughed. This is NOT good! We are also having sharing issues. Emily wants what Zach has, even if she already has the exact same thing. If it's in Zach's paws, she wants it, and she wants it now. UGH. Being the referee is just exhausting. I still get the "make-up hug", which I still love. I'll take any hug from the cubs, because I know one day they'll be too busy to give Mom hugs. They just grow up so fast!

Today was Zach's nutrition visit. I was a little concerned because the Nutritionist told me that when they start walking that it is not unusual for them to lose weight, but today his numbers looked pretty good. He actually gained weight since his last visit. I guess keeping your food down helps with that. We are now at a record breaking 27 days without a Mt. Vesuvius-type spit up. He's had two small ones, but I don't even count them. It's nothing compared to what they were! He now weighs 19 lbs 1.5 oz (up from 18 lbs 9.8 oz on 06/24) and is 29" long (up from 28 3/4 on 06/24). He is now in the 3.93 percentile (up from 3.16 on 6/24) for weight and 18.31 percentile (up from 17.35 on 6/24) for height. Way to go Little Man! Mom and Dad are very proud of you!

Zach's eating has been going pretty well. He's getting two bottles of half milk/half formula, and one bottle of Pediasure, as well as his three solids per day. He still doesn't like the sippy cup, but he'll take sips from a big person cup (go figure!). He still doesn't tolerate any chunky foods or table foods, but we're continuing to work on that.

We still have an occasional teething episode. Zach's been waking up at 4am, much to my dismay. At last check, Emily still has 4 teeth coming in on top, and Zach now has three. With all this teething, there is definitely some irritability issues, but that's to be expected. Poor little guys, it's tough being a growing cub.

Steps, teeth and cheese

I'm in trouble because I didn't write about Emily's first steps. Apparently she took three steps on Sunday. The reason I did not write about it was because I did not see it. No videotape, just Daddy's word. So, via second-hand information, our little Emily bear took her first steps. Still, just to egg on the competition, Zach took five. For once, Emily has a little catching up to do.

We did a tooth check tonight. Emily now has two bottom teeth and four top teeth. Little man has his two bottom teeth and three top teeth cutting through. He has been incredibly fussy today, so I imagine it's because he's hurting a bit. So with a friendly proactive dose of Tylenol, I'm hoping we all get some sleep tonight.

Last night was girl's night out with my LCMOM group (Mom of Multiples). We met for dinner at The Melting Pot. Yum! What can be better than good conversation, cheese fondue, wine and chocolate?! And it's always nice to come home and find the cubs sleeping soundly in their beds.

Orange nose and snaggletooth

I look at Emily's pictures and wonder when will the orange nose go away?? She makes Frosty's carrot nose look pale. Why is practically every Gerber's food (with the exception of fruits) orange? Chicken noodle, mixed veggies, turkey and vegetables, veggie beef....ALL ORANGE!! Does everything have to be made with carrots? YIKES! Poor baby girl. Until we make the transition to big people food, there will be plenty more orange nose pictures to come. Speaking of big people food, today she actually seemed to like the smashed banana. Previously we would get a funny face, now she gobbled it right up. She also had one of the Gerber Graduates -- beef ravioli...she seemed to like that too.

All Emily wants is her two front teeth. SERIOUSLY! I'm a little concerned that Emily is getting two teeth coming in on the top, but they aren't the ones in the middle. Where are her middle teeth? Is it normal for the ones on the side to come in first? We may have a snaggletooth on our hands. And to make matters worse, Zach has a tooth coming in on the top too, and it's not one of the middle ones either. I'm having very bad mental images of my cubs in overalls, picking at their teeth with straw, spitting and calling each other Bubba. I can hear the redneck jokes now, "you know you're a redneck when...."



Emily's orange nose and drool from her snaggleteeth coming in.











Zach's eating is unpredictable. It's like the weather. Several really good days, with a few bad thrown in. Right now, we're in the bad. A few spit-ups, and total pickiness on what he wants. The solids aren't a favorite right now. Maybe he's getting too much formula....who knows??? Tomorrow will be the opposite of today, you just never know. Steve and I have both commented that he feels heavier, but when I weigh him on my home scale there isn't much change. Stupid scale.

I do have to share that Steve made dinner for us last night. Move over Gordon Ramsey....shrimp and scallops with risotto. YUM! I could certainly get used to this!