The Last Week of Infancy...

Astral

Defy

49 weeks

The boys have entered their last week of infancy! They are 51 weeks and in one week they will be one year olds! My sweet little munchkins…

They are rapidly progressing and doing so many new things and perfecting things they’ve been doing for a while. They are responding to simple requests very well and will point to many different body parts when asked. It seems like every day I come home from the office Luke has taught them a new body part to point to. They both say mama and dada but Astral is now saying “bye-bye” while waving!! When daddy counts from one to five and gets to four, Defy holds up four fingers. They also can open doors with great ease (ugh). I think my absolute favorite thing they do is blow kisses!!!!! Such smart little guys…

Astral and Defy love to climb and have us living in constant fear that they’ll fall and hit their heads. Watching them climb up on the couch is absolutely horrifying at times, but so far so good. At times I wish we had carpet downstairs instead of hardwood. We retired “the cage”, or the large play pen and the soft baby mat. This thing was a great while they learned to crawl and walk and were always falling. It also helped us keep both of them entertained in one safe place. Many parents of multiples have the same set up. Those carefree days are long gone. Defy started climbing over the gate and we knew it was time for it to go. He is the expert climber and if it can be climbed he will climb it. DANGER!!! We now use the “cage” as a “fence”…

These boys are VERY strong and will do pull ups on different pieces of furniture. We watch in awe as their feet dangle while they support all their body weight with their arms. I’m not sure if babies are supposed to have this kind of upper body strength, but Astral and Defy definitely do.

We are still co-sleeping in the family bed…all six of us.

DnA are feeding themselves quite well and eat a variety of organic, healthy foods. They love all the random mixtures we make for them. Daddy will throw lentils, strawberries, ground flax seed, kale and mushrooms into the blender with some amaranth and they’ll eat every bite. When they turn a year we’ll start using the juicer that grandma bought for them to make nutritious juices every morning. As they enter their 2nd year of life we know that they will be getting most of their nutrition from solids so we are very excited to come up with fun vegan meal plans for them. We will soon introduce plant milk, though I plan on nursing for at least 6 more months.

Astral and Defy’s most recent additions to their diet:

Puffed Kamut

Whole Wheat Pasta

Puffed Corn Cereal

Sunflower Seed Butter

Bok Choy

Edamame

Broccoli

The weather is getting nicer and daddy and the boys are getting to enjoy the outdoors a bit more. We all can’t wait until spring has settled in and they can enjoy outdoor playtime every day! They are two tiny walkers with a ton of energy.

This year has flown by and we are excited to enter a whole new realm of vegan parenting. I love that our little guys are growing up, but sometimes I’d like to keep them all little, sweet and perfect for myself. Right now I am the center of their universe and completely flawless in their eyes. (Lucas finds it amusing that I wrote that since he is the stay at home parent, but he doesn’t have boobies so I remain the center of their universe!) I know this will not be the case one day, but I’m cherishing it while I can. They will always be my beautiful babies that I carried for 37 weeks and three days, that I laid in the hospital on bed rest for nine weeks with and that I dreamt of my whole entire life.

Love had a new meaning once Astral and Defy entered our world! We hope that we will bring them as much joy as they bring us…

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…

We've Come A Long Way...

DnA's lovely cribs that we hope they sleep in again!

Nice organic bedding, what baby wouldn't want to sleep here?? OURS!!

35 weeks

33 weeks

The boys are 37 weeks now (8 months old). They seem to be getting prepared to walk. Astral is standing unassisted for 30 seconds and has taken a step followed by falling! Defy can stand unassisted for about 10 seconds before falling!!! They both like holding on to their baby gate and cruising around. A & D love music and will dance to any beat.

The twinsies are also in love with our furry companions, Star and Sunny! They follow them around and love playing with and petting them. The relationship is beautiful. They are just amazing and joyful little guys!

They each have the same exact 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom. They enjoy getting their teeth brushed with their tiny little baby toothbrushes. They are just too freaking cute!

Astral and Defy have eaten several more foods including; yams, peas, mangoes, peaches, pears, lentils and quinoa (all organic of course). I can’t say they all were a big hit, but you are supposed to keep trying. They both can drink out of their sippy cups now. I only put a small amount of water in them so that they can practice drinking without filling up and spoiling their appetites.

The boys love bath time and splash and play like crazy. We have tried giving them baths together, but that seems to still be a little too dangerous and chaotic. We will try again when they are a little bigger.

Since the weather has been getting colder, I've been shopping for warm, VEGAN and organic winter coats or bunting. I can't find anything that actually looks like it would keep them warm. They are in 12 month clothes already. Bundling up will probably work while they aren't walking, but I have a feeling they will walk this winter. If any one has any suggestions please let us know!

Last week Astral had Roseola, the exact same virus Defy had in October (fever with no other symptoms followed by a rash lasting 3 days). I guess we should just be thankful that it wasn’t anything more serious and 1 virus for each baby in 8 months isn’t nearly as bad as it could be. Once a child gets the virus they are usually immune and won’t get it again. Astral weighed 21 lbs 5 oz. when we took him to the pediatrician because of the fever. They are both so big for their age and so advanced in their milestones! WE love proving all the negative vegan myths WRONG! Can't wait to get both of their stats at their big 9 month check up in December.

About 2 months ago we brought the boys in our bed while they were teething and had stopped sleeping through the night. It was easier for me because they both wanted to comfort nurse and I wanted them to feel secure during their tough time. I originally wanted to follow the attachment parenting style and co-sleep before I found out we were having twins. Now that the boys are bigger we aren’t as scared to have them sleep with us. We really like having the family bed (dogs included), but now that the boys are waking less during the night we really want to try to get them back in their nursery in their own cribs. It is lovely to wake up to their smiling faces and have the comfort of feeling them breathing next to us, but honestly it is very hard to get sound sleep with them in bed. We plan on beginning the transition (yes…again) this weekend. Wish us luck…

It is so strange to think that last year around this time I was prepping to leave my office and go on full time bed rest at 24 weeks pregnant and now I have 2 healthy and rapidly growing baby boys. I practically missed all winter last year being hospitalized from December 28th until March 5th. The seasonal transition has brought back a lot of memories from our pregnancy. I would do it all again to get Astral Defiance and Defy Aster…

And We Have Teeth...

Astral and his two teeth!!

Defy and his one tooth!

25 weeks old

24 weeks

23 weeks old

22 weeks old

Yikes!! I have been seriously slacking on the posting, but as you can imagine life is pretty busy these days! Astral and Defy are becoming more and more mobile and require entertaining! The boys are the center of our universe and so much fun, especially compared to the eating, sleeping and pooping cycle of a newborn.

The boys are 25 weeks old and will be 6 months old in 4 days! Half of a year, it seems like just yesterday they entered our lives. DnA are barely recognizable from their former tiny selves. They are fully animated, strong and very vocal.

In the past 2 weeks they have come one step closer to being able to chew the yummy vegan food they'll be raised on! Little brother Defy sprouted his first tooth and then a few days later, not to be outdone, big brother Astral sprouted 2! They are the cutest little bottom teeth ever. At around 4 months they started drooling and chewing on their hands a lot so we knew it was coming, but we didn't realize how soon. Defy and Astral were both a little more fussy right before the teeth popped up and also the day they first appeared. It seemed to happen overnight. We give them cornstarch and frozen silicon teething rings and they also really love chewing on organic stuffed vegetables and fruits toys. We haven't given them unnecessary drugs and they are just fine. Astral really wanted to be held by me and no one else during this time, I was his all natural remedy! Thankfully we were on a trip visiting family so I was available 24/7. Fingers crossed that the rest of teething goes this well.

So we had our first road trip, the boys were awesome on the way there. It was a 12 hour trip each way, we rented a van to fit all of our stuff and so I could be comfortable in the back with them for entertaining and feeding along the way. On the way back they had one major freak out session, where they cried for a while. It was horrible, there was no place to pull over and I couldn't take them out of their car seats. It broke my heart to have them crying like that. I do not believe in the cry it out method at all. If my babies cry I comfort them. We have so much baby gear so flying would have been difficult as well, plus I am worried about them being trapped in a flying germ incubator at this young age. They will no doubt get on a plane, but I want to wait until they are at least 1.

The babies love their rice cereal now and will soon be transitioned to sweet potatoes/root veggies, we just want to wait until their 6 month appointment next week. They are so adorable eating their big boy cereal in their Bumbo seats or high chairs! Now that we've reached the 6 month mark, I am also going to slowly reintroduce soy back in my diet to see if they have a reaction to it.

They both love standing up while holding on to us and jumping up and down. They roll over both ways and army crawl or wiggle their way to whatever toy they want to get a hold of. It is so cute to watch them worm their way across our bed or the floor. They are well on the way to sitting up unassisted but balance has not been mastered. They do that tripod thing, where babies use their arms together in front of them to balance, but they are leaning so far forward I feel like I have to spot them very closely. Sitting up will lead to a whole new world for these guys and for mommy and daddy too. They're still sleeping through the night for the most part, they wake up on occasion, but usually a nice back rub or a cuddle will work to get them back to sleep.

The boys now steal toys from the one another, they interact all time. They stare at each other and laugh and baby babble. I think this is the beginning of their special twin language. They still enjoy exercising those vocal cords by screeching and screaming. At times I worry if they will hurt one another because they grab, bump, scrunch, pinch, poke and roll over the other. I guess this is only the beginning of having rambunctious little twin boys! Brothers...

We've been using the organic Boba baby carriers, as the boys get heavier and grab at anything and everything it is getting more difficult to hold them while doing things around the house. These carriers are really comfortable and help when they need to be soothed, but you need to make a bottle or do other things. If alone with the twinsies, we can strap one in and carry the other.

Astral has a hemangioma (red birthmark, collection of blood vessels under the skin) on the back of his neck, but it hasn't gotten any bigger in a while which is great. Hopefully it will start involuting soon. They go away on their own and are pretty much harmless depending on their location. They are really common in multiple births. Defy actually has one on the top of his head, but it is a pin point hemangioma and is super small and is being covered by his hair.

Their hair is growing so much!! It will be interesting to see how it turns out. We can't wait to find out their growth progression next week at the pediatrician. They are in 9 month clothing already and actually fit two pairs of 12 month old pajamas, though as you can see from the pics they are usually chilling around the house in cloth diapers only! They are happy healthy and have the most beautiful little spirits, we are thrilled to be their parents...

Our Big 20 Weekers...

19 weeks

18 weeks

17 weeks

16 weeks

15 weeks

Time has just flown by and our sweet little sprouts are 20 weeks old today! At their 4 month well baby check-up they both weighed in at 16 lbs 8 oz and both were the exact same height (26 inches) and even had the same head circumference. AMAZING!!! The pediatrician said that identical stats are very rare even for identical twins. They are in the 75th percentile for weight which means they are larger than 75% of babies. Those stats really mean nothing to us, but so much for the scrawny, malnourished vegan baby theory...

After their 4 month appointment we tried to start them on organic rice cereal, but they did not like it. They didn't want it from the spoon or a bottle with a y-cut nipple. Since they are doing so well the doctor said it wasn't necessary to add it to their diet, so we have given it a rest for now. After their 6 month appointment in September we will begin giving them solids, so that should be very interesting. At 6 months the doctor said I could slowly start introducing soy back to my diet. I could totally live without soy, but Lucas' delicious tofu scramble on a Sunday morning would be nice sometimes.

Astral can roll both back to tummy and tummy to back. The pediatrician said that he was advanced in the rolling from back to tummy department. He has been doing it for over a month now. Defy is rolling tummy to back and attempting to do back to tummy. It is a great new milestone for Astral, but this milestone has a scary aspect to it. As you may now, doctors recommend that babies sleep on their back. When I was a baby they told our parents to put us to sleep on our tummies, when my 14 year old brother and my 13 year old sister were babies they recommended that they sleep on their sides to reduce the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Since the boys were born they had been doing fine on their backs, but now that Astral can choose how he wants to sleep he has decided that his tummy is the most comfortable position. He seems to have total neck and head control and moves his head from side to side with ease, but we are still so paranoid and are constantly checking on him and staring at the video monitor during the night.

Astral and Defy are both laughing out loud now and exercising their vocal cords with coos and glorious screams of joy! We haven't felt any teeth coming up from their gums yet, but they are constantly gnawing on whatever they can get their hands on, including their actual hands. They hold hands and interact more than ever. They love their Exersaucers and standing up with our support. They don't really like their Bumbo seats and seem to be growing out of them already, thankfully they finally enjoy being in their bouncer seats while they watch us in the kitchen. They absolutely love their baths and are generally happy little guys.

Next month we are going to take the boys on their first real road trip. We still aren't comfortable taking them on an airplane, so we've decided to drive. This should be a great adventure. Sometimes they like the car, but most of the times they don't. They seem to be fine if we are moving, but if the car stops it is all over.

The weather has been atrocious, I can't wait for it to get cooler so the boys can stay out for longer periods of time. We went to our first vegan family meet-up last weekend. We had never been to a vegan bbq before so it was very nice to know that every thing to eat was vegan! The boys were able to meet other vegan kiddies. It is very important to us that as they grow up they are around other children who are being raised with the same values.

Our lives totally revolve around these children and we would have it no other way. They enrich our lives and we are excited to show them how to live a compassionate life...