To All a Goodnight…

5/29 14 months old

Defy Aster

Astral Defiance

14 months old

Whew…This month has flown by. I struggled all month to get a post up, but I REFUSE to let a month go by without updating this blog at least once. There are so many reasons I strive to keep the blog going, but the most important reason for this blog is to combat all the misinformation out there about veganism. Vegans can easily have healthy pregnancies, healthy children and healthy lives. Astral and Defy are proof of this. They are the best examples, times two!

There are a lot of people who read this blog from all over the world and every time I check the stats I feel an ever-growing responsibility, even with limited time. Almost every time I find a new vegan parenting, family or pregnancy blog I am disappointed with what I read and see. I just want to find consistent vegan, no-compromise messages out there, but there are few and far in between when it comes to children, pregnancy and families.

As I write my eyes are red and itchy from being outside in the 100 degree, pollen filled air at lunch. As I have said before, I hope Astral and Defy DO NOT inherit mommy’s allergies. Maybe this can be my excuse for ranting a bit. I never usually use this blog as a platform for complaints, but sometimes you just have to let it out.

Breathe out…

Our little guys are now 14 months old, though they will be turning 15 months in 3 days. Astral and Defy continue to learn new things at record speeds. The amount of objects, animals, people, etc they can identify is amazing. In addition to constantly pointing out things and explaining what is going on around them, we use flash cards and books to teach them new items. I think there is a lot to say for the no television rule. These kids are always engaged and never pacified by the magical branding machine. For 14 month olds they have a great amount of patience and are very observant. The boys are still a little shy at first with new people, but they are warming up faster and faster as time goes by.

With the scorching temperatures comes pool season! The boys have been thoroughly enjoying outdoor water play. They love playing outside, going on long stroller adventures and walking around the neighborhood with daddy. Recently walking indoors and out has morphed into very fast, reckless running which has led to various minor injuries. In one week we had a busted lip and chin. For the lip debacle I totally panicked and almost drove to the ER, but Lucas always the voice of reason calmed me down and everything turned out fine. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the bumps, bruises or scrapes…

DnA continue to eat an amazing vegan diet and have added even more new foods. I’m sure I’m forgetting something on the yummy new foods list, but here goes:
Swiss Chard
Cantaloupe
Sugar Snap Peas
Watermelon
Cucumbers

Grapes
Tahini
Black Strap Molasses
Papaya
Tamari
Canola Oil
Romaine Lettuce

We are gearing up for the second plane trip with the boys in the next couple of weeks. NOT EXCITED. This time we don’t have business class seats with the extra room. The boys were just learning to walk the last plane trip so obviously now they are way more mobile. We will be bringing lots of snacks and distractions. Wish us luck!!!

Astral and Defy are obsessed with the children’s book we read to them before bed. We both read the book out loud to them in unison in silly singsong voices. The very last page reads “Goodnight!” so now of course every time we get to the last page the boys say, "GUH-NIE". They are so adorable greeting the mornings with "hehwo wohd" and ending the nights with "guh-nie". Little things like this make all the bathroom totally drenched after bath-time, oatmeal in your hair and on your clothes right before you walk out the door to the office, random cry fest in the middle of the store moments of parenting so worth it…

Spring Bees and Scraped Knees...

Astral Defiance and Defy Aster @13 months old (nice undies daddy...)

Spring is officially upon us and the boys are enjoying the beautiful weather. Astral and Defy are leaving the stranger anxiety phase behind and for that we are totally grateful. They quickly become acclimated to their new surroundings and seem to enjoy interacting with others outside of our immediate little pack.

We are constantly running after these guys, they are attracted to anything and everything that could possibly hurt them or get them into trouble. Defy fell outside while playing and had his first scraped knee, he didn’t cry but I almost did. I know this is only the first of many scrapes. Keeping track of them is definitely a full time job! Baby proofing is a never ending when you have two toddlers.

With Spring now in full effect I hope DnA don’t inherit my pollen allergies. Thankfully Lucas doesn’t have allergies, so maybe they’ll luck out. I really just need to stop over-analyzing ever sporadic sneeze. They are enjoying their time outside and all the animals and insect friends they are meeting. They watch the squirrels play in the trees and have met some big buzzing bees for the first time. Our boys have such great attention spans for 1 year olds.

Astral and Defy just love when we sing I’m a Little Teapot; they do the motions with us. Their favorite part is the “tip me over and pour me out” motion. These little sprouts catch on so quickly and their comprehension is through the roof. They are constantly learning new things and pointing to objects they find interesting. They seem to be saying “wa dat” (“what’s that”) as they point to specific things. We aren’t sure if that is what they are saying, but we act like it is and engage them. They now say their own versions of dog, girl, baby and ball as well. Again, these guys are so in sync with one another and so are their milestones.

They might not look exactly alike, but every day we are still blown away by their actions and interactions. They still fight over toys sometimes, but they love one another so much. They hug and kiss and make the other laugh uncontrollably, which totally makes up for the fighting. It must be so awesome to have a permanent partner in crime to do everything with. Whenever I see a kid playing outside alone I am reminded that twins may be double the work of a singleton, but they have a built in playmate and soul mate.

Being parents to twins is extraordinary. The approach to parenting two children at the exact same age is very strategic. We are very laid back people, but we do live by scheduled naps, feeding times and bed time routines. We find peace in our schedule and I think the boys do too. It makes the day flow easier. Lucas stays home with the boys and has established a great routine with them. He takes DnA outside to play and on walks in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. It is perfect, because they all get to release some energy (super veggie power), get a bit of exercise and some good old vitamin D. He has them on a really nice nap schedule where they sleep around 2 hours (sometimes even 2.5 hours).

Astral and Defy’s molars are really coming in and they are also getting (the same ones of course) 2 new teeth each in the bottom front. With their new teeth they will be able to eat more coarse textured foods. More organic and vegan fun feeding adventures are ahead. Recent additions to their diet have been:

Raisins

Apricots

Peanut Butter

Walnuts

Collard Greens

Garlic

Onions

Pure Maple Syrup

Nori

Lima Beans

Navy Beans

Kidney Beans

Red Chili Beans

Barley Flour

One of their biggest and messiest new skills is spoon feeding. They are able to feed themselves with their baby spoons. Everything is happening so fast!

I love writing and I feel a sense of obligation to continue documenting the healthy existence of our vegan twins. All of the disinformation out there on vegan pregnancy and raising vegan children must be combated. When I peruse other “vegan” pregnancy blogs I am astonished by the number of people that think exploiting animals during their pregnancy is okay. Vegan pregnancy isn’t hard and neither is raising vegan children. Though I was hospitalized due to a shortening cervix, my pregnancy went extremely well especially for carrying identical twins that shared a placenta. Now our babies are almost 14 months old (next week) and are vibrantly healthy, happy and eat plants…yup PLANTS! Yes people babies can survive and thrive with no animal bodies, no animal secretions or other bodily functions (and no television either)!!!

I wish I had more time to blog and expand my subjects and posts, but as you know time is limited. It won’t always be this way, but it is for now and we’re cherishing every moment of them needing us and wanting us. Hopefully in the future I can expand my blog and express all of the great ideas I have floating around in my vegan mommy brain…

Astral and Defy Walk...

@ cosmo's vegan shoppe (42 weeks)

47 weeks (1/27/11)

46 weeks

44 weeks

43 weeks - 10 months old

42 weeks

Astral 42 weeks - officially walking!

Happy New Year! I know it’s been a while…

As you imagine we have been extra busy raising our sweet vegan twinsies! I haven't blogged since December, but I am determined to get a post logged for January. I have less than 2 hours left so here goes.

Our amazing little Astral and Defy will be 11 months in 3 days. So much has happened since the last blog post! The most exciting news is that Astral and Defy now walk!!!!!! Can you believe it? Astral took 3 steps when we were in Atlanta over “the holidays”, then a few days later he took 7 and never looked back. Defy launched off about a week or so after Astral! It is super entertaining to watch them toddle around the house. Astral was walking while still 9 months old and Defy when he had just hit 10 months. They are truly outstanding and already have us chasing after them like crazy…

The boys had their first plane ride in December and to our surprise were absolutely great flyers. They didn’t cry at all. They were complete angels. And to think I had nightmares about uncontrollable screaming among other scary things before the trip! We upgraded to business class on both flights so that we’d have more room and also so that we could sit next to one another. In economy seating there is only one extra oxygen mask in each little seat section so they have restrictions prohibiting more than one lap baby in each section.

When we were in Georgia we got a chance to hit up Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe’s (http://www.cosmosveganshoppe.com/) storefront to pick up some awesome vegan goodies. There is nothing better than going in to a store where you know everything is vegan! We were able to meet Leigh, one of the owners. We love supporting vegan owned businesses...

All of DnA’s milestones seem to progress so fast! Their next well baby check up is in March when they turn 1. It will be so interesting to see how much they’ve grown!

They already seem to have their own language and unique way of communicating. They only say Mama and Dada, but I imagine they say a lot more to one another.

They are always switching personalities on us, Defy is in the bully stage right now where he steals Astral’s toys away and then holds whatever it is up in the air to show it off. He is really good at defense too. Astral was the brother bully for a long while, but all of a sudden they've reversed roles. When they aren't fighting over toys (many of which they have double of) they are the best of buds and show great affection for one another. Sometimes while they play they sit back to back. It is seriously the sweetest thing EVER! I hope they remain best friends for life!

The boys are eating more nutritious, organic vegan foods and enjoy their finger foods almost as much as Star and Sunny, who are very happy to wait to see what treats come falling down to them while the boys eat in their high chairs! We are still waiting a few days in between introductions to watch for possible allergies. The most recent foods we've added to their diet include:

Brown Rice Snaps (crackers – only ingredient brown rice flour)

Brown Rice Cakes (only ingredient brown rice)

Brown Rice Pasta (only ingredient brown rice flour)

Puffed Brown Rice Cereal (only ingredient puffed brown rice)

Black Eyed Peas

Pineapple

Red Skin Potatoes

Tofu

Oatmeal

Blackberries

White Button Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas)

There is so much joy ahead and so much behind. In February Lucas and I will have been partners for 9 years. In August we will celebrate our 5th year of marriage. It is so interesting to look back at our lives then in comparison to what they’ve become. Time has flown by and this year is no exception, it is almost unbelievable that in a month our babies will be 1. Being parents has changed our lives profoundly and there is nothing that can compare with the love and happiness that Astral and Defy bring to our lives…

First Times...

40 weeks

39 weeks

37 weeks

Astral and Defy are now 41 weeks old (9 months old). They are doing so many new things! They can give five (both high and low), wave, clap and even give kisses! There is nothing better than an unsolicited kiss from your babies! They are both attempting to walk and stand unassisted like they’ve been doing it their whole lives. Astral often takes two perfect steps before falling.

The boys witnessed their first snow last week. I can’t wait until they can run around and really enjoy it. Of course with the winter weather comes everyone’s favorite consumerist holiday! We are not thrilled to say the least…

They are eating a bunch of new foods including; amaranth, pinto beans, black beans, ground flax seed, nutritional yeast, blueberries, kale and green beans. They are both such great eaters now! It brings us great joy and giggles to see their little green food mustaches!!

Here is a list of everything they’ve eaten so far. They have a more diverse diet than most adults out there!

Sweet Potatoes
Asian Sweet Potatoes
Acorn Squash
Butternut Squash
Golden Potatoes
Turnips
Carrots
Avocados
Apples
Bananas
Strawberries
Peaches
Peas
Mangoes
Yams
Pears
Green Beans
Blueberries
Kale
Lentils
Black Beans
Pinto Beans
Ground Flax Seeds
Nutritional Yeast
Rice Cereal
Amaranth
Quinoa

DnA are still sleeping with us, we tried for about 5 minutes to get them to sleep in their cribs before they started scream/crying. It was too much for our hearts to handle, especially my mommy heart. I had a physical reaction to my babies' discomfort where I felt sick to my stomach, I immediately ran upstairs to soothe them (and of course bring them back right where they belong). I figure if all they want is me, I can surely accommodate them. After all, we chose to bring them into this world. I was slightly influenced by a lot of negative talk about letting them sleep with us, but I have done a lot of research and co-sleeping is very healthy and normal. I have since joined an attachment parenting meet-up and have shut the door on all the co-sleeping naysayers out there! It works for us. I feel like sleeping with my children allows an extension of my parenting time. Since I work outside of the home I feel like I am getting quality time with them that I missed during the day, even if it is only while they’re sleeping and nursing randomly through the night. Lucas and I still find private time for one another; you just have to be a little bit more creative and unconventional, which totally suits us!

Astral and Defy are going through the stranger anxiety (or more like anyone who isn’t mom or dad anxiety) stage and have been for a while now, Astral more so than Defy, who will eventually warm up to a stranger. The craziest thing happened when my college friends that are identical twins came to visit; Astral let them hold him and played and interacted with them right away, which NEVER happens. He barely lets his own grandmothers hold him! It was very intriguing to watch. Both babies kept looking curiously back and forth between the two adult twinsies. I wonder if they had some crazy identical twin connection.

Oh yeah and I’m not sure if you recall me previously writing about my “nipple anxiety”. Well my horrible fear has come to life and I have been bitten so badly that I bled more than you’d ever like to imagine due to one of the babies chomping down during a night nursing session. TALK ABOUT PAINFUL. And that was just the first time, it has happened since then with less of an extreme result, yet still PAINFUL. Of course I am still nursing, though I could just stop and exclusively pump. I just know how much they enjoy it and I can’t take that away from them just yet…

We will be taking the boys on their first plane trip in a couple of days. Thankfully it is a short flight. I can not say that I’m excited to finally be those annoying people with screaming babies X 2! Hopefully we will get through it will minimal screaming and crying and a maximum amount of sleeping and being cute…