April Update

Sizes & Weights

Haven't had them weighed since the last blog - must get round to that soon. Have started to wonder if Ella might have actually overtaken Carl? Will be interesting to find out.
Both babies are now in Size 4 nappies and are about to transfer over into size 6-9 months clothes. So finally they will be wearing the size that matches their age. The babies were six months old on the 6th April.

Feeding

Carl eats everything I give him. So far he has tried baby porridge, baby rice, rusks, carrots, squash, sweet potato, parsnips, peas, broccoli, banana, apple and pear. He more or less has three meals a day now and is full of joy throughout his mealtimes, swallowing and opening his mouth as quickly as possible to get the next mouthful.

Ella won't eat yet. She is struggling with the mechanics of it. She still thrusts her tongue out so all the food comes straight back out. She sits in the high chair next to Carl though and no longer screams to get out. She sucks food off my finger and hasn't objected to any flavours yet.

Interaction 

This is such a lovely age for interaction. We can really play with the babies now. They respond so much to things. It's lovely to see them light up when they recognise things they love. Carl has fallen a little bit in love with a teddy and his whole face lights up when he sees it.

He also loves textiles and is  so happy playing with pieces of fabric. Ella needs people to play with and doesn't like playing alone for very long. She watches her brother intently at times when he is fully engaged with something. Since we've started using the high chairs, we've noticed some lovely new interaction between them. Carl likes to hold Ella's hand while he eats and she likes to watch him eat. Then they quite often just look at each other and giggle. It's adorable.

Sleeping

I'm almost afraid to write this in case I jinx things but.... both babies now sleep through the night. 7 or 7:30pm till 7:30 am. Makes getting up and doing breakfast before going to activities so much easier.

Activities

We attend the following activities;
Mon - free day
Tues morning - local Stay n Play
Wed morning - Gemini Stay n Play or OW Tiddlers & Toddlers (planning to start soon)
Wed afternoon - Swimming
Thurs - day with Nanny and any hospital appointments etc. Sometimes attend Sensory Play session in the afternoons.
Fri morning - Datchet multiples Stay n Play

We used to go to Sing n Sign but we couldn't make the times fit this term but we're hoping to go back next term as that was so enjoyable.

It's nice to have a few afternoons free for play dates and recently with the lovely weather we've been going on long walks around the village, along the river, in the Great Park around Virginia Water and the Saville Garden etc. We are so lucky to have such lovely places on our doorstep. We've also been spending more time in the garden which is lovely. I barely stepped foot in it last year. The hot weather was too much for me during the pregnancy.

Swimming

Today was our first swimming lesson and our first time back in the water since Carl turned a bit blue a few months back. We joined Turtle Tots as they use a pool in a private school in our village so it's very convenient. It's a Catholic private school and I was amused to see a cross on the wall in the pool. Strange place to have a cross.

Both babies did very well, no crying at all and Ella was laughing and making her screechy happy noise throughout the lesson. No turning blue either. The temperature felt fine to me and we all really enjoyed it. Looking forward to next week's lesson already.

Holiday

Looking forward to our very first holiday as a family. May 4th - 11th we're going to Cornwall. The resort we're staying at is 'twin-friendly' in that it provides 2 of all things baby related so 2 high chairs, cots etc. So we shouldn't have to load the car too much. But I expect we still will! It has a hot tub on the terrace of out lodge so Dan and I are looking forward to relaxing with a glass of something nice after the babies have gone to bed!

Other Stuff

Ella has found her toes!

We had a nice visit from Nanny Maureen and Uncle Danny

Carl seemed to really enjoy Elsie and Maia's visit. Outnumbered by females (3 baby girls & 2 mummies) he may have been but shy he certainly wasn't!

Changes

So apparently the last blog left some people curious!

There have indeed been some big changes here in the Boresjo household. It's been a very exciting week!

Weights and Clothes Sizes

Carl is now 14lbs 10oz (6.66 kilos - what a number!) and still wearing 3-6 months but not for too much longer I think. He is still in Size 3 nappies.
Ella is now 14lbs exactly (6.36 kilos) and has just moved into 3-6 clothes. Here's a picture of her in a new size dress -

Change No.1 

Ella has been showing her displeasure at still being pushed around in the carrycot on the buggy recently. She can't sit unaided yet but has been trying to sit up and see more when out and about so I knew we would soon have to change to the seats. However on Tuesday afternoon, Carl somehow got his legs up and outside the carrycot, arched his back, grabbed the side of the carrrycot and looked as if he was going to escape! Gave me a heart attack. Cue the decision to move to seats and a hasty ordering of matching footmuffs! So we went from...

 the old carrycots to.......

new seats which can face forwards or backwards and recline/incline at a number of different angles.

I think they really enjoyed the new view on their walk today.

Change No.2

We went from using only this....

to attempting to use these....

alongside......

Basically the health visitor gave us the all clear this week to start introducing foods to the babies. Not outright weaning for another couple of weeks but 'messy play' if you like for now. It's not exactly baby-led weaning but it's not far off. We are letting them play with food for a couple of weeks then following a more structured plan from then on. If food goes in, great but if not, never mind. There's a lot of research about how having fun with it helps them want to explore much more than having spoons thrust into their mouths. So we gave it a go today.

They weren't very interested in the water. Ella used it as a teether quite violently but I don't think she actually sucked any water out. Carl just didn't want to know at all.

When it came to the carrots, we made a mixture of steamed batons alongside slightly blended mush for them to play with. Mixed results but great fun for all four of us. 

Ella enjoyed playing with the batons to some extent. She wasn't too bothered about the mush although she did suck some off my finger. Think the taste was fine but she just wasn't too hungry.

Carl on the other hand seemed to really love the carrots. He had great fun squashing batons and playing with the mush. Quite a bit seemed to actually get eaten too! This picture really gives a sense of his personality too I think. 

Change No. 3

No pictures of this one yet but Carl now rolls from his front onto his back. He doesn't roll the other way yet, mainly I think because he prefers being on his back. When I put him on his front now he doesn't stay there long and just rolls over! A couple of times also when he has been on his front and I've popped into the next room briefly, when I've returned he has been in a slightly different position from where I left him. I think playpen building may soon be on the cards :-)

Fun times ahead for the Boresjo babies......

Christening

The Christening!

Although it was over two weeks ago, I feel like I'm only just recovering from the Christening. What a wonderful day it was but how utterly exhausting! It was a huge thing to organise and took a lot of advance planning but it was of course worth it.

Ella looked gorgeous in her dress but unfortunately was having a really bad teething day. She doesn't do well at the moment in warm rooms and of course having a lot of people around can add to her stress. Bless her, she cried almost all day long. Here's a rare photo of her on the day not crying.

Carl on the other hand, whilst also looking gorgeous in his lovely suit, was his usual mostly chilled out self. He was happy to be passed round all the different groups at the party afterwards and didn't make much of a fuss at all.

This is my favourite picture of them together.

Thanks to the always professional, personal and calming Uncle Danny, the only voice able to stop Ella's crying!

Thanks to the lovely Karen and Owen who did the readings for us.

and of course to all 4 Godparents, Karen, Owen, Maria and Shane

Here's a lovely picture of Carl and Ella with all their cousins

and aunts and uncles

The cakes weren't too bad in the end. My first attempt at decorating...

and I think a good time was had by all.

Thanks to everyone who came, from near or far. It was lovely to see you all and spend time together. Wish we could do it more often but my energy levels need to replenish first!

The week after the Christening I got hit by a quite nasty bout of laryngitis and lost my voice completely for a while. Not that I noticed Dan complaining but it was a bit odd just whispering and signing to everyone. Good job we've been taking the babies to their signing classes; it definitely came in very handy.

Some big changes in the pipeline at the Boresjo household. Hope to be updating on those sooner rather than later.

xxx

K,D,C&E

Active babies

Gosh. Lots been going on and no time for blogging recently.

Weights
Carl is now 13lbs 6oz (6.06 kilos) and Ella is now 12lbs 7oz (5.65 kilos). They have both been tracking perfectly in range for quite some time and we have no major concerns.

General Health
Carl's digestive issues seem to have been solved by the medicine. We have to increase it as his weight increases but the transformation has been wonderful. No more screaming as if in pain when we lay him down in the evenings. He's so much happier.
Ella's neck seems to be improving very well too. She turns from left to right as she wishes. While she still favours the right, she looks to the left enough that we're not concerned. In fact she often turns to the left in her sleep these days which certainly will be helping with the head shape.

Sleeping
I can't really complain to be honest. Both babies are now in their own cots in the nursery. They go to bed around 8pm and wake just for a feed sometime between 4 and 5 am. They then sleep again till around 8 and are happy to play till feeding at 9.
During the day there are plenty of naps but rarely at the same time! Need to work on that so I get some time back.
When we put them down to bed, Carl just lies down and drifts off without complaint. Ella will have a mini cry just to register her protest but normally by the time we've got downstairs and poured a glass of vino she has stopped and is asleep!
Carl loves his sleep! Even in his Jumperoo!

Clothes 
Carl moved up to 3-6 months a couple of weeks ago but I don't think he'll stay in them too long. Likewise with Ella who is now in 0-3 but again I don't think it will be long before I have to do the big wardrobe shift again.
They are both in Size 3 nappies.

Personality
It's been a while since I specifically wrote about this and things have definitely changed since then.
Carl is still very placid and quite content in his own company. He can entertain himself when needs be and loves touching and holding onto things. He is a real grasper! He also chuckles away randomly and hilariously at God only knows what! However when he isn't happy he rages as if he is being murdered. He screams the house down and his face is screwed up in the angriest way possible. It never lasts long though as he can be pacified almost instantly by being picked up and recently by having his dummy put back in. Think the gums are hurting them both at the moment. Carl is quite good at Tummy Time and lifts his head to look around. He moves his legs as if he would like to crawl. He hasn't rolled yet but looks almost ready to do so soon lifting almost half his body up when on his back. He's not keen on sitting up even when supported. He has started paying attention to Ella recently and will often whimper if she cries. His face lights up when he sees Mummy or Daddy or any hanging toy that sways above him. Oh and he can babble for Britain!

Ella is a much happier baby that before. I'm pretty sure that was neck related. She has a lovely smile and can be a little coy sometimes but if you tease it out of her she lights up. We think she has a sense of humour coming through too as she sometimes seems to tease Daddy into getting something for her then smiling wryly once she's got it as if to say "Ha I got my way!" She's only happy in her own company for a short while. She prefers people to play with her and loves attention. She is more precise in her hand movements and studies our actions carefully before trying to copy them herself. When we show her a new tactile toy, she will watch us play constantly with it for around 5 minutes then have a go herself, usually getting it right. She seems to be a 'practice makes perfect' personality as she will keep going again and again getting better and better each time.

She is not a big fan of Tummy Time and will usually cry quite soon after being put there. She loves to sit up though (aided of course) and even when being help by one of us, sits with her back upright rather than snuggling in. Ella too seems to be having gum trouble and needs to chew on things constantly. She has VERY rosy cheeks all the time at the moment too. She chats away at times but not so much or so often as her brother. She loves bouncing, whether in the jumperoo or in the door bouncer.

Classes & Groups
We now attend Sing and Sign on a Monday morning in Central Maidenhead which is going very well so far. On Tuesdays we have attended a Stay and Play in Old Windsor which is our most loval children's centre. Wednesday mornings we go to the Baby Incredible Years course. Thursdays are free and Fridays we go to the local Multiples (Twins & Triplets) play group in Datchet. Afternoons tend to be spent at doctor's appointments or just chill out at home time.
On Saturday we will all be attending a TAMBA talk for expectant parents of multiples. We went to this when I was pregnant and it was very helpful. We loved the bit where the families came in with their twins to answer any questions and now it's our turn to give something back.
In the same vein I have signed up to be a Parent Advisor on the Children's Centre Advisory Board. 1st meeting was very interesting and I am looking forward to being involved.


Babies are looking forward to being the centre of attention at their Christening very soon. Mummy is looking forward to a rest after the Christening and Daddy is probably looking forward to a beer!

Four Months

17 weeks old (4 months)

Ella is 11 pounds exactly and Carl is 12 pounds exactly. They both look healthily chunky now!
Ella went into 0-3 months clothes today for the first time and they fit really well.

Carl doesn't look like he has much time left in his before moving up to 3-6 months.

This weekend they are attending a 1st birthday party (Happy Birthday Jasmine!). Social invites already! I'm glad Ella's gone up a size now because I have far more choice in what to dress her in for things like this.

We've decided to give swimming a break for a while as Carl especially seems to just turn blue in no time. We tried Windsor Leisure centre and the only place warm enough was the jacuzzi! They'll have to  make do with baths at home for a while.

Speaking of which, they are almost to big for their baby bath now so we need to figure out logistics for having them in the big bath very soon. They are also finally outgrowing the Moses baskets. Carl still sleeps with us in his basket. He doesn't have much room left once he stretches out his legs so we are about to start the adjustment to the cotbed in the nursery. I've tried putting him down for daytime naps there but he's not so keen yet.

 Ella has already moved into her cot in the nursery 

The trip to Scotland went well. The snow was beautiful and it made for serene scenes both at the hotel (shown in pic) and from the crematorium window where we saw swans on a loch surrounded by snow.

Daddy did a great job looking after the babies. I keep hearing this week at the groups how well he did last week. The other Mums were impressed so it must be good.

The jumperoo is keeping them very well entertained and using up some energy. Ella bounces around loads and seems to keep time with the music.

Carl sits, strokes it, bashes things and occasionally bounces.

Their hand eye co-ordination is coming along very well and they can both grasp things quite effectively now. They have both learned to put their fists into their mouths and they are very 'helpful' when I put the bottle in or try to take it out!

Carl finally has the prescription for Ranitidine that I've been asking for since they were 6 weeks' old. He now lies down on his back in the evening without screaming and therefore is able to sleep at nights. 10 weeks of pain is terrible and utterly unnecessary considering the first doctor said this was what he needed but we had to jump through far too many hoops to get it. In the same vein I will have my first physio on Mon when they will be 18 weeks old to try to solve the back problem I've been left with since the C section. Here's hoping I will be able to finally feed/pick up the babies without soaring pain. Again another unnecessary wait. Rant over!

Otherwise all is well in the Boresjo household.

xxx

Catch-up

It's been far too long since I updated the blog. Life just flies by so fast with twin babies.

Swimming
We have taken the babies swimming twice so far, both times to Langley Leisure Centre. LLC is one of the few places that has a dedicated baby and toddler swim time at weekends. Most pools are full of larger children at weekends so it's less appealing for little babies. I really liked the pool itself and the changing room te,temperature was very good but I'd like to try somewhere else next time as the water being 31 degrees was just a bit too cold for Carl so we barely managed 10 mins each time. Must try to research other pools soon.
Good news is though that they boy loved their swims. They both felt very comfortable in the water and moved around a lot. Both were happy to have their faces in the water and we did a little swim underwater both times which went very well. I really want to keep this up as a regular feature now that we've got the hang of the logistics of getting 2 babies and 2 adults in and out of the water in the least stressful way possible!

Cranial Osteopathy
We've been very concerned about Ella only turning her head to the right, never looking left and only rarely looking straight ahead. This resulted in her having a very lopsided shaped head with the right side being quite flat. It's called Flat Head Syndrome and is more prevalent in twins and babies who have been in incubators. Opinions on treatment differ from some doctors who say do nothing to those who believe in helmet therapy where the baby wears a helmet 23 hours a day. That was obviously not top of my wishlist. Our doctor said not to worry as it would eventually right itself but we weren't too happy with that as even the health visiting team thought it essential to check the neck muscles were OK. A large number of people suggested Cranial Osteopathy to me. I admit to not really knowing much about it or even what it was really but after so many recommendations I couldn't ignore it. We booked in for an appointment in Windsor and the osteopath immediately felt that Ella's neck muscles on one side were extremely tight. A 30 minute session later and Ella was looking straight ahead and to the right in equal measures. The second session this week now has Ella looking left as well and one more session next week should be the last one. We have also been using Mimos pillows that help align her head favourably and her head shape is SO much better now. In comparison with other people who I know have experienced this issue, I feel C.O. has got us a solution in the most timely manner and at a fairly reasonable cost. Carl has also had 2 sessions to try to improve his digestion issues but we're not seeing much improvement in him yet. He does however have a Paediatric Consultant appointment on Thursday (finally) so we're hoping they may have some answers for us to help him with this.

Baby Incredible Years /  Funeral of a dear friend
I have been given the opportunity to take part in a 9 week course along with the babies called Baby Incredible Years. It's run by the children's centre and is entirely free. The first session was this morning and I met some other lovely mums and their babies. The course itself felt a bit basic today, a tad patronising i.e. parenting for dummies but apparently that's just the first session and it should get better. Dan will be going in my place next week as sadly I will be attending a funeral in Scotland so Dan is the stay-at-home dad for 3 days. RIP Marlene. It's a shame you didn't get to meet the twins. We'll all miss you.


Twins Group
As well as the privately run Gemini group near Maidenhead that we have attended, the local children's centre has a special Stay n Play session on a Friday for multiples. We've been twice now and I have to say I really like it. It's very chilled and only a few families attend so it's nice in that we can have a good chat. Most babies there are under a year so they are not to far apart in age. We have a play and a chat and I look forward to these sessions very much. Hoping Dan will take them next Friday in my place.

Back to Work
I went back to work last Saturday, examining at the University of Reading. Dan looked after the babies and sent me a photo during the day. It proved to be a great photo for challenging friends and family on Facebook to try to identify which baby is which! They really are starting to look alike, especially as Ella is now catching up and putting on a good amount of weight.

 Can you tell who is who? Please do feel free to comment at any time. Apparently the comments section wasn't working at first but it should be now. We'd love to hear from you.

Weights
They are due to be weighed this week but it's not easy to get to the clinic as I have things on including my NCT reunion which I'm really looking forward to. SO these weights are 2 weeks old now. Carl - 10 lb 15 oz (4.98 kilos) Wearing 0-3 months clothes and Size 2 nappies Ella - 9 lb 5 oz (4.24 kilos) Wearing Newborn clothes and Size 2 nappies

Vaccinations
2nd set done 1 more to go this year. Carl went off his food 2 days later for a couple of days. We're fairly sure it was due to the vaccinations. Got a bit worried about dehydration with him not taking any milk but he did then take some water and steadily increased his milk intake thankfully.

Developments
Both babies smile away now. Ella has smiled and chuckled all day today which is a massive difference. I do wonder if it is the release in tension from her osteopath session yesterday. She's smiled non-stop and snuggled in for cuddles more than she ever used to. A much happier baby today all round.

This week has also seen both babies working on hand-eye co-ordination. They've started taking a lot of notice of the toys that hang on their bouncer chairs and have been trying to touch them constantly. Carl is working on using his hands to put his dummy back in his mouth too!

They have been sitting in their bumbos as you can see in the picture further up.

Carl looks as if he is about to roll at any time whereas Ella has pretty good head control.

Hoping to update more frequently but I have twins so who knows....

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 

from all of us.

We had a wonderful Xmas with 4 days of family gatherings and 2 overnight stays.

Having never taken the babies anywhere overnight before, we were rather shocked at how hard it was to fit everything we needed into the car. They're just little babies but the accompanying equipment takes up a lot of space. Thanks to the Copperdells and to Mum for allowing us to take over your houses with all our stuff - do you miss the smell of Milton now?

Anyway, the babies' 1st Christmas was wonderful. They were very spoilt and received lots of presents from family and friends.

I've only just finished putting things away. They've been dressed up as a penguin, a Xmas pudding, Mrs. Claus and in a Xmas tutu dress, (Ella of course). They've been held by all the family and have smiled, laughed and cried a lot.

The babies saw New Year in with us although Carl was asleep.Godparents Karen and Owen joined us and we sang Auld Lang Syne and thoroughly indulged. They weren't keen on our lie-in mind you but we insisted, getting up only for feeds.

We've managed to get a fair bit of work around the house done over the last couple of days which is great and will free me up to spend more time with the babies when Dan is back at work, rather than trying to fit that in around feeds etc. We've sorted out the cot bumpers and put their name posters on the wall (thanks Nanny Maureen).

Between the books I've been buying for them and those we've been generously given, Carl and Ella have quite a good library building up now. Can't wait until they learn to read!

Tomorrow we are planning on taking them for their first swim. Fingers crossed all goes well.

WEIGHT / CLOTHES SIZE
They have both been putting on weight despite fluctuating appetites due to the blocked up noses and sniffles brought by their colds. The last weigh in was on 22nd December and  Carl was 4.48 kilos / 9lbs 14 oz. Ella was 3.85 kilos / 8lbs 8oz. Carl is now moving into the next size of clothes (0-3 months) and Ella is moving up to Newborn. Carl now wears big boy clothes in the daytime and sleepsuits at night!