Mika's not the only one who wants attention!

Tonight Allison decided to serenade us with the soothing sounds of a veloceraptor. We kept checking to see if she was alright, but apparently, she just wanted to make that sound. Let me explain. The song starts by screeching, but while breathing in. This is followed by a note that Maria Carey would be hard pressed to reach. The finishing touch is the raspberry at the end (which I think is all wrong and doesn't go well with the composition, but will she listen? No! Anyway, I digress).

Both Mika and Allison have figured out the raspberry. Mika thinks it's done best with a mouthful of whatever mush she's eating at the time. Words are sure to come soon. Since the word they hear most from us is "burp" I'm betting on that.

Should we start bets on who's going to talk and walk first? Too competitive?
My money's on Mika with the first word and Allison with the first step.

Not so much "we" time -- Mika wants more "me" time

Rush, rush, rush. Run in the door, shove boobs in mouths, shove mashed food in mouths, rush rush rush, off to bed.

That's the typical weeknight in our busy household. I've left many steps out so as not to bore you loyal readers (all three of you), but you get the gist of it. The poor babies get hardly any time with daddy and mommy. In an effort to get our 1,001 tasks done as efficiently as possible each night, we typically feed the babies together.

Lately Mika has been objecting to always having to share the boobs (whoops, I mean Mommy) with her sister. Last night repeated what has become an almost daily occurance: After nursing for a brief period, Mika started fussing and refusing to eat. Allison continued to nurse, then went to bed.

Mika was still hungry, so I attempted to nurse her again after putting Ali down. "Wait a minute Mommy," she seemed to say as she pulled away. She looked up and locked her eyes on mine. A soft coo escaped her lips as she gently reached up and petted my face. We spent at least five minutes together, gazing at each other in the soft light, exchanging sweet little love sounds. After getting her fill of Mommy's love, she finally finished off Mommy's milk and went to bed without a fuss.

It took a five-month-old child to remind me of the obvious: These girls need individual love and attention. When I'm so focused on getting them to bed on time, I forget that efficiency shouldn't be the primary concern. Loving each baby and cherishing every moment is all that matters. I'll never forget the sweet look on Mika's face as we bonded last night, and I'll do my best from now on to give both her and Allison the solo Mommy & Me time that we all need. Efficiency be damned.

Pictures This Week

This is Allison waking up after sleeping all night, three nights in a row!

Here's Mommy giving Mika some well deserved raspberries.

Auntie Beth stopped by and got to visit with Allison for a while
(Mika was taking a nap).

More to come soon! Keep posting those comments.

Five Months Old and Feelin Fine

Big news -- Allison and Mika turn five months old today! The girls celebrated by sleeping through the night. When asked to comment on their big-girl status, Mika responded with a hearty "Aaaeeeeeeee!" while Allison giggled and tried to blow raspberries at the interviewer (aka Mommy).

Mika and Ali declined photos this morning, as they were in a rush to get some breakfast in those empty tummies. A photo op is tentatively scheduled for this evening.

THE TWIN TEST

As the twins get older, we've gone back and forth as to whether they are identical or fraternal. Let us know what you think! Look at these two pictures and tell us if they look exactly the same or a little different.

Bonus:

For people familiar with the girls, see if you can guess which is Mika and which is Allison

Hello World!

As of April 20th we have become a family! That was the day that Allison and Mika were born. This blog is for all of our family and friends that would like to follow our progress as we raise twins!

We figured that this would be a good way to update out-of-towners and baby-phobics. In the last four and a half months we've had a lot of adventures and we'd like to share them with you!

Welcome to our blog!