...Developmental Doldrums...

Since the twins were born premature, and with a low birth weight, we qualified for a bunch of services from WIC (supplemental food for low birth weight multiples is provided to families regardless of their income) to regular developmental screenings.  By the time we found out about WIC the twins no longer qualified, but we have taken advantage of the developmental screenings through The Alliance.  

The screenings are generally fun.  A wonderful woman named Mary Alice comes to the house and basically plays with the kids while asking me questions about their abilities.  The activities gauge their gross motor skills, fine motor skills, problem solving skills, and personal-social skills.  At first, the twins were being screened monthly ( at both their adjusted age and their actual age), but now they are screened every few months.  In between screenings I am sent a questionnaire to complete called the Ages and Stages Questionnaire.

As I looked at the latest questionnaire, I got overwhelmed.  For the first time there were more questions that I couldn't answer right away than ones that I could, mainly because I hadn't tried these activities with the twins.  Here are the questions that I didn't have answers for:

Gross Motor:

5.  Does your child jump with both feet leaving the floor at the same time?

Fine Motor:

2.  Does your child stack six small blocks or toys on top of each other by himself/herself?  (You could also use spools of thread, small boxes, or toys that are about 1 inch in size.)

3.  Does your child use a turning motion with his/her hand while trying to turn doorknobs, wind up toys, twist tops, or screw lids on and off jars?

6.  Can your child string small items such as beads, macaroni, or pasta "wagon wheels" onto a string or shoelace?

Problem Solving:

2.  While your child watches, line up four objects like blocks or cars in a row.  Does your child copy or imitate you and line up at least two blocks side by side?   (You could also use spools of thread, small boxes, or other small toys.)

4.  After watching you draw a line from the top of the paper to the bottom with a crayon (or pencil or pen), does your child copy you by drawing a single line on the paper in any direction?

6.  If you give your child a bottle, spoon, or pencil upside down, does he/she turn it right side up so that he/she can use it properly?

Personal-Social:

4.  Does your child drink from a cup or glass, putting it down again with little spilling?

Ugh!  Don't they know that I have twins and I don't have the time, or mental fortitude, to experiment with small objects being strung onto a string???  Do you know what that would turn into?  The twins throwing said small objects at each other while simultaneously attempting to whip their strings around like Terrible Towels.  No thanks.  And drink from a cup without spilling???  Who in their right mind wants to test that one out?  Maybe we can try that in the tub...

So here I am, in the Developmental Doldrums because I have to answer these questions, and because I'm disappointed that I don't know the answers to these questions.  Not knowing makes me feel like I'm not doing my Mom-job.  In my defense, no one ever mentioned freaking spools of thread, beads, or one inch toys as GOOD things to have around toddlers.  They're usually classified as choking hazards...

RMH 1/9/14

...(insert blank stare here)...

Thank God for the calendar on my phone.  Connected to both my email account AND Scott's, it's basically our personal assistant.  It even reminds me to clean, because, let's face it, I hate cleaning and I'll forget to do it if my phone doesn't remind me to do it.

I don't think that I was ever completely disorganized.  Yes, my bedroom was not the neatest place, but you could generally walk in there barefoot.  So why do I feel so disorganized and behind the game now?  I know it's all part of the territory with kids, especially multiples, but it still gets to me sometimes.  I wanted to be the crafty and creative mom, but that's obviously not where I'm at right now.  Instead of celebrating my inner Craftista, I'm celebrating the fact that I 1.  got home and everyone had pants on, 2. the kids ate something other than peanut butter and honey for dinner, and 3. no one peed on the carpet after bath time.

So, obviously the answer to your question is no, I am not on Pinterest.  Wait, I don't know the correct lingo here.  Is it supposed to be I don't DO Pinterest?  I don't pin?  I don't know!  I don't have an Instagram either(is that the way you say it?).  I don't have the time!  Honestly, I have a monthly reminder in my phone to set aside 30 minutes each month to "blog."  I use the term loosely.  As you can see, November's post didn't happen.  Someone recently asked me if we did Elf on the Shelf.  I stared at them blankly for a good minute before I burst out laughing.  I didn't even know what Elf on the Shelf WAS until last year.  And that was only because of Facebook posts.  Believe me, I was very confused as to why everyone had toy elves in their cereal boxes.

How do people have the time to do this stuff?  To be crafty, and organized, and bake, and have their Christmas cards created, addressed, and mailed before Thanksgiving?  I literally just did mine tonight...on Shutterfly...because I had a coupon.  It took me 45 minutes to do it, and I swore at the site the whole time.  Oh, and the cards are expected to arrive between December 20th and December 24th, so I'm really glad that they say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.  Hopefully I'll get them mailed before 2014.


Maybe the craftiness and inventiveness and creativity will come as the kids get older.  Or maybe each year I'll be swearing at Shutterfly...

RMH
12/10/13

...How Did He Do It???

I just received a text from Scott:  "Both asleep."  Seems pretty innocuous, right?  WRONG!  I. AM. PISSED.

Let me go back a week.  Lizzie managed to climb out of her crib a few times.  Knowing full well that Neil would soon follow (and that he'd go head first), we switched the cribs to toddler beds last Friday.  Being the practical person that I am (or so I thought), I decided that we needed to do the switch for bedtime so that they would get used to them easily since they would be tired.  Cuteness ensued as we showed them their new beds, and they ran around like free-range chickens with their heads cut off.  Finally, they fell asleep, and stayed asleep in their beds for the entire night.

The next morning they got up and started playing.  No major issues.  "Awesome," I thought.  This is going to be an easy transition for them.  Then nap time came....and went...without a nap from Lizzie, and with a very late and short nap from Neil.  Short/No naps make for cranky kids, and an even crankier me.

Long story short, there hasn't been a nap in our house for almost a week...until today, apparently.  So, now the questions:  How the hell did he get them to go to sleep???  Why wasn't I able to get them to sleep???  WTF???  Is there a family conspiracy against me??? ;)

I can't wait to get the answers to these questions, so that I can figure out how he did it, and get us back into our routine again.  Mommy needs a nap too, apparently!!!

RMH 10/9/13

...Teething Bites.

Literally.  I know that Neil and Lizzie are 19 months now, and that dealing with teething should be a piece of cake by now, but it still bites.  The two constants that we have are drool and usually a slight fever.  We're fortunate in the fact that neither of the kids scream for hours on end when they are cutting teeth, so I'll try not to complain too much (someone ALWAYS has it worse), but this time around seems to be particularly taxing for all of us.

So far, we've had pretty decent fevers (maxing at 102), major drool, and some added gnawing.  We can handle all of that, thanks to Tylenol.  What's different is a huge drop in their appetites.  My kids are picky eaters to begin with, so getting them to eat can be a struggle sometimes.  This makes me overly sensitive to their eating habits, I guess.  But when they refuse to eat their favorites ( thank God for pb&j)...UGH!

Stressful is the first word that comes to mind, but even that word understates the feeling of helplessness that you feel when your kids refuse to eat.  Add the misery of a bone slowly making its way through their gums, and, well...teething bites.

I just keep thinking, "Only about six more teeth each..."

RMH 9/9/13

...Time Flies When You're...Falling Off Of Stuff.

Another jump.  Neil and Lizzie are already 18 months old.  How did that happen?  We've reached the climbing stage.  End tables seem to be their favorite.  So far the big ones involved Neil knocking the wind our of himself, a few bloody lips, and a pretty hard bang on the head for Lizzie, and lots of tears.  Most of them belonged to the kids...only a few were mine.

The best/worst part of this stage is that you can't turn your back on them.  For example,I was upstairs, in the middle of changing Neil's diaper, and I heard a loud crash.  There was a 5 second period where I waited for the appropriate scream to follow from Lizzie.  Nothing came.  I scooped up Neil and ran downstairs, sure that Lizzie had knocked herself unconscious.  Nope.  She figured out how to get into her high chair, and pushed the tray onto the floor (the bang) so that she had more room to move around in the chair.  I just stared at her.  Neil and Lizzie laughed.

This is not my favorite stage.  They want to do so much, but they're not quite coordinated to pull it off, and they don't understand how dangerous some of their climbing adventures are.  It's a learning process for them.  It's another gray hair every day for me.

Beyond that, I worry that they're going to permanently injure themselves.  So far I've imagined broken bones, brain damage, worse...the paranoid thoughts of a first time mom, I'm sure, but scary nonetheless.  Sometimes it's hard to remain calm and rational when your kid takes a big fall.  One day they'll get it.  Until then, I think I'm just going to wrap everything (including them) in bubble wrap!

RMH 8/20/13

...The March for Babies.

After experiencing a month in the NICU, and (still) learning about what being parents of preemies entails, we decided to become involved with the March of Dimes.  Okay, by WE I really mean I.  ("The royal We," right, Lewbowski fans?)  I felt compelled to do something to help MOD, so I created a family team and decided that we were going to participate in the MOD's annual March for Babies this year.  I invited family and friends to join our team, and even came up with a clever name for our team:  The HenderTwins.  It's part play on The Wonder Twins, and part tribute to my students who have decided that everything in my classrooms and life should start with "Hender."

I'm really excited for the walk next weekend, and I'm hoping that it can become an annual event for our family.  Who knows...maybe the HenderTwins will become some sort of epic MOD fundraising machine!  HenderTwin powers activate!

RMH 5/24/13

...Uh...Now What?

Mother's Day was yesterday.  After a full day of playing with the kids, going shopping, and having dinner with my parents Scott and I ended up sitting next to each other at 7:30 with two sleeping kids and nothing to do.

Nothing.

Eventually, after deciding that cleaning was overrated, we settled on watching a movie, which is fun, but we do that all of the time.  Watching movies is becoming repetitive, and boring.  We just end up sitting, and not really talking or doing anything.  We need a hobby.

I need suggestions.  Stuff that we can do at home while the kids are sleeping that doesn't involve yet another movie, or video games.  Ready?  Set?  Go!

RMH 5/13/13