Toddler Bed

Edited 9/28/10 - We had our first toddler bed casualty last night.  No problems with the door being closed or pacifier lost but apparently O fell out of bed right as John was getting into bed.  All of sudden we hear her crying and when he went to check on her he couldn't see her but got a night light on and she was sitting on the floor next to the bed saying "bed!", "bed!" over and over again.  Poor thing.  J told her she could just climb back in bed, helped her in, and she was fine after that.

J and I have been talking about converting O's crib to a toddler bed for a couple of months now and we finally got it done this past weekend.  She is almost 2 1/2 and not once had she tried to climb out of her crib but we're going to be moving her to our guest bedroom so we wanted to do this transition piece of it first so she's used to it when we switch rooms on her.  I was nervous about how this was going to play out because whenever we'd read books or look at pictures of "big girl beds" she act like she wanted one but when we asked her she'd say no.  But we knew it was time and we did it Saturday before nap time so she'd have a few times of going to sleep in it before the week started up again. 

O was so excited once we got that front piece off it that she climbed right in and laid down.

Eventually I was able to get the barriers on the sides.  She likes to sleep in the lower left hand corner of the bed so that's why I wanted them on there, at least temporarily, until she gets used to being able to get in and out on her own.  Of course she had to load all her dolls in there as soon as we were done.

It was not nap time but she wanted to pretend that it was so she got her blanket and laid down.

I was amazed at how open the room felt with that big front section removed.

I have to say that I was expecting the worst when we put her down the first few times but once again my daughter has surprised me.  Since Saturday, not once has she woken up and climbed out of bed.  She has slept awesomely even with the change.  I don't know if she realizes that she can get up on her own now.  I think she still feels like she needs us to come in and get her after she's woken up.  I am not going to clue her in otherwise!  The only problems we had were last night when she woke up and realized that her door was closed (we close her door every night after she is asleep but I don't think she realized it because the bumper was blocking her view) and then she woke up again a little bit later on when she lost her pacifier (once again, the bumper wasn't there to stop it from falling out so I think we are going to rethink the removal of the bumper - at least until she isn't using the pacifier anymore (don't even get me started on that, you know how I feel about it)).

Yay for a "big girl bed"!

Cute O Story

This won't take long but I wanted to get it down while I was thinking about it.

Yesterday when I went to pick up O from daycare I happened to wearing a shirt that really emphasized my every growing belly.  I guess O hadn't really noticed it before until then and this is what happened:

O walks up, notices my stomach, points and touches it - "Oh!" (her facial expression was pretty funny too, kind of a mix between surprise and confusion)

"Yep, my belly has gotten big.  What is in there?"

"Babies."

"That's right.  How many babies?"

"Two!"

I think in theory she understands that there are two babies in there but doesn't really get it.  It's cute to hear her say that there are two babies in there though.

Belly Pictures

I've been asked for some belly shots so here you go.

This first one is 7 weeks.  And I will apologize in advance for the look on my face in some of the pictures.  John wasn't supposed to get my head in the shot but obviously that didn't happen.

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10 (and the "Give Me A Break" look).  What I needed a break from I don't know.

Week 11 (and yes, if you look closely, you can see my old stretch marks - I am NOT looking forward to those bad boys coming back).

Week 12 ( two days before finding out it was twins).  Again, my head was not supposed to be in the picture thus, the popsicle wasn't supposed to be visible.

Week 14

Kapow!  I popped around week 15 and these shots are from week 16.  Love the maternity clothes.  Wish I could wear them all the time.

I hit 17 weeks yesterday so this is the most up to date picture of me (and a comparison picture of me at 16 weeks with Olivia).

 

 

A Lesson on Twins

Since finding out I was pregnant with twins I have done a ton of reading and research.  I have learned a lot about twins and how they come about.  I didn't realize that identical twins, for instance, come in three different "combinations".

Twins, while becoming much more common, are still rare and people who don't have them probably don't know much about the biology behind twins.  I know I didn't!  So here is a short lesson.

Twins are either monozygotic (come from one zygote, or egg) or dizygotic (come from two different eggs).  Monozygotes are identical, and fraternal twins are dizygotic.  And just so everyone knows, twins can't be identical if one is a boy and one is a girl.  The sperm that fertilizes the egg determines the gender so you would need two different sperm and two different eggs in order to have one of each.  (Yes, I have been asked that question.)

Most of the time it is easy to tell whether a woman is expecting identical or fraternal twins.  About 30% are identical while the remaining 70% are fraternal (with about 1/2 of fraternal twins being boy/girl).  Fraternal twins will each have their own amniotic sac and their own placenta (termed diamniotic and dichorionic, or Di/Di).  Identical twins, however, come in three different combinations.  They can be Di/Di if the egg split within the first 3 days of fertilization.  If the egg splits between 4 and 7 days the twins will have two different amniotic sacs but one fused placenta (diamniotic/monochorionic, or Di/Mo).  The last combo is if the egg splits 8 days or after.  In this case the babies will me monoamniotic and monochorionic, or Mo/Mo, with one amniotic sac and one placenta. 

Mo/Mo is the most rare type of twin sets out there, and also one of the most concerning because of the complications that can arise during pregnancy, including twin-to-twin transfusion which can lead to one baby being born healthy and weighing much more than the other baby who may be severely underweight.  Take a look at Raising Twins or Wikipedia for some good information if you want to read more into that.

My babies are Di/Di, but this doesn't necessarily mean that they are fraternal.  I think I read somewhere that I have a 30% chance that they are identical and unless they are different sexes we won't know until they are born whether they are identical or not.  And even then it may be difficult to tell and a DNA test may be needed.  I've been asked if I would do the DNA test to find out and I don't know that it really matters whether they are identical or not, just as long as they are healthy.  Though in the long run it may be good to know because if one has some sort of genetic disease and they are identical then the other will have it too and we can do what we need to do for both of them.

I am currently 16 1/2 weeks along and this is what fraternal twins tend to look like in utero at 16 weeks:

I have to say that I look much bigger than the drawing!

If you guys have any questions please ask away!  I am an open book and not scared to share my experiences no matter how embarrassing.  =)

Our Oldest

John and I got some couple time this past weekend when we were able to go stay at the Westin Kierland for two nights.  My parents came into town to watch O for us and they (or my mom really) wore her out.  Or maybe it was the other way around.  Probably a little bit of both.  John and I had a wonderful time.  We ate, laid by the pool, read, slept and ate some more.  Though we were in the heart of North Scottsdale we did not venture off the hotel's property.  It was awesome.  Of course, we still returned home exhausted but refreshed.

With all that is going on in our lives I didn't want to forget getting new pictures of our first baby.  The summer has been busy on and off.  In June we had O's birthday and a birthday party for two other kids.  The pictures below are from Mavic's birthday (his sister is Emma, who is about 2 1/2 weeks younger than O, and whose party was the one where we went to see Sesame Street Live).  After last year we weren't sure if O would be at all interested in the pool, but we have now learned that our daughter is a fish.  She loved it!

She still isn't interested in putting her face in but we'll get there

Our 27 month old is starting to become very independent.  She loves to take pictures of herself and others and has finally decided that she is going to smile for the camera again.

She has also taken to not liking clothes, but don't worry, she is always clothed when we go out.  I will not be one of those that takes their kids to the store in a diaper.  When the twins arrive I can't guarantee that will continue.  I may be lucky to make it out of the house dressed.

One of O's favorite things at gymnastice is the trampoline.  She loves to jump on it (and on the beds at home) so when my mom told us that my aunt had a mini trampoline that she wasn't using we jumped (excuse the pun) on the chance to get it for O.  While it isn't always used appropriately (as evidenced by the pictures below) it has been really great to have.

Peek-a-boo!

This is a hippo baby pool that Erin gave O for her birthday.  It has been too dang hot out to use it outside so O has gotten creative (it is on top of the mini tramp).

O likes to pick out her own clothes and for the most part I just go with it.  She actually does a fairly decent job.  Below is a picture from one Saturday when she picked out her clothes.  What you can't see are the pink stretch pants.  Why she wanted to wear pants on a 110 degree day I don't know.  But the flower hairpiece is a nice touch.

John is a WONDERFUL father.  But he really hasn't gotten the fixing of the hair part down.  In the next pictures he was just trying to put rubberbands in O's hair to keep it out of her face.  I think he's afraid to make them tight and hurt her head.

It doesn't matter.  She always looks cute.