5 Months Old!

Posting this a  few days late, but Adam & Scott are officially FIVE MONTHS OLD!! I say this all the time, but how are things happening so fast? Life is really good! We've kept busy, and the boys are getting cuter and cuter. We are still seeing decreases in the crying, and it's actually not really a 'thing' anymore. They are still a little fussier than the average baby, and would rather be carried over sitting in their stroller (the strollers I did so much research for!!) but that just means we're getting a lot of use out of our ergo carriers.

 So what's happened over the past month? Well, for starters, the boys got their first movie role! I saw a posting that a casting director (for extras) was always looking for twins and I e-mailed in some photos not expecting a response. About a week later I had a call and the boys booked a job! They were used for a scene in a new movie coming out called 'If I Stay'. It was a neat experience! Scott was the baby we used in the shot (sorry Adam, your turn next time!!) and he'll likely be on screen for about 1.5 seconds, but STILL. My baby is a superstar! Proud Mommy right here, and hopefully we can do it again.

Blue Steel

All costumed up! Where's hair and makeup?

I find these monthly updates so difficult. I have so much to say, and it's hard to really organize my thoughts. So I apologize once again for the spewed out, unorganized ramble that's going to follow. The boys love to stand! One of their favourite things is to be in a sitting position, and then hold our fingers so we can 'pull' them to a standing position... Wobble around like that for a bit and then sit to do it all over again. I wonder if we'll have early walkers. They can both easily roll tummy to back and are SO close to rolling the other way, but it's tough getting all the way over. After losing all of their hair (aside from a tiny bit right at the back of their heads near their neck) it is growing back, and actually pretty quickly. So far they are blond haired and blue eyed, super cute. I wonder if it will stay that way.

Sleep: We're still not getting much at all. It seemed like we were having big improvements, but now we're going backwards. We usually have them down by around 8:30 or 9, and the first waking after that was anywhere from 2.5-4 hours. After that, it's pretty often. I think they just love to cuddle, and are waking up for that. That's my expert opinion at least. Now, it is pretty much 2-3 hours to start and then almost every hour after that. UGH. Although, last night was a good one with only 3 wakings!! I really want the boys to learn how to put themselves to sleep. We have to put them down pretty much completely asleep or else they cry. We're not interested in letting them cry it out either, they get WAY too frantic and panicky. I just keep telling myself they will only be young once and these days will be long gone before we know it. It could be worse!!

Bathtime: We decided shortly after they turned 4 months that we wanted to move them into the basement bathroom. First we bought some of those little bath 'slings' which really didn't work too well! The boys kept sliding down, there was an uncomfy bar that kept hitting them, and they didn't fit too well. Jamie ended up finding these amazing bath seats on Amazon and they are PERFECT. The boys fit right in there, and they can kick and splash to their hearts content without going anywhere. Best purchase ever. For the first few nights, Adam LOVED bath time (splashing like crazy) and Scott was indifferent. Jamie and I would always joke that Scott would rather be sitting and sipping a glass of wine with a book rather than splash.... Within a few days, Scott decided he wanted to be a splashy-splasherton too, and he joined in the fun. Now, Adam seems to HATE bathtime. My poor guy. He went from having the best time, and now he cries after a few minutes. I think he's just tired by bedtime. He had a super long nap last night and we did baths right after he woke up, and he actually enjoyed it. Only problem was that he didn't want to go to sleep afterwards, can't win!

Doesn't work too well with slings

Hanging out in their new bath seats!
We now have them facing each other though

What else? They are working on sitting up, and can usually sit for about 5-10 seconds (supporting themselves on their arms) before flopping over! They love the ergo carriers and will gladly hang out in there for shopping trips. It's funny, we bring a big double stroller to the mall and end up wearing both babies! At least strollers are great for hauling around all of your purchases! The babies still love watching TV (don't judge unless you have twins) and naked time before their bath. They are becoming so vocal, especially Adam. He loves squealing when we're out to let everyone know he's there. They are laughing now, and Scott has the widest shy smile ever. If you catch his eye, it will spread across his whole face and he'll turn his head all coy-like. My 'perfect for going from breast to bottle' babies now refuse bottles. We've tried a number of them already, and just got two new brands tonight. I'm convinced they will pull it together eventually. If not, I guess Mommy just won't have time off until they're on solid foods and nursing way less. They are now in size 2 diapers, and almost outgrown their 3 month clothing! Excited to break out all of the 6 month stuff!

We are getting over a pretty bad cold, and it's been tons of fun, hah! I felt myself coming down with something last week and assumed that the boys would get it. Sure enough, they were congested pretty quickly after me. We actually even had to break out the snot sucker, which was interesting. Ended up buying a 'nose frida' (google it... it's gross, but effective!) They never had a fever, so aside from some crappy nights where they were up pretty often, and them sounding just so snuffly and sad, it hasn't been awful. They seem to heal quickly like me, and they're almost completely back to normal I'd say (knock on wood!!)

Overall, they are AMAZING little kids and I can't believe how much I love them. Twins is a lot of work, but it's starting to be so fun. They are noticing each other a little more every day, and during a walk last week I swear they were talking to each other from their comfy seats in the baby carriers. They hold hands all the time when we put them next to each other, which melts my heart. They do so many hilarious things and keep me laughing all the time. It's amazing how your life can completely revolve around two little people, but yet it is so natural.

As per usual... Photo time!

Adam and Scott - Little bugs after their bath 

Scott & Adam - with the twin teddies 

Adam and Scott after a nap in their swaddle sacks

My loves - Adam left, Scott right 

This is how you do restaurant lunches with twins!
Scott is on the left, Adam on the right 

Elvis Adam and Rocky Scott

Cuties with Dad - Adam in dark blue

How we do dinner most nights, Scott on the left 

Bat Adam and Super Scott 

It's getting chilly out! Double cozy suits! Adam in blue 

Adam

Birth: 3 lbs, 15 oz

1 Month: 5 lbs, 6 oz

2 Months: 7 lbs, 6 oz

3 Months: 9 lbs, 12 oz

4 Months: 11 lbs, 10 oz

5 Months: 13 lbs, 8 oz

Driving a car

Trumpets are yummy

Happy boy during his nap (after not sleeping at night!!)

My sassy little man standing!

Sweet smiles

Snoozing in the ergo

My little toy hoarder! 

Scott

Birth: 3 lbs, 9 oz

1 Month: 4 lbs, 13 oz

2 Months: 6 lbs, 12 oz

3 Months: 8 lbs, 13 oz

4 Months: 10 lbs 8 oz

5 Months: 12 lbs 8 oz

Scott with Nana on a walk

Sweet smiley boy

Hanging out at the Apple store

Daddy and Son

'Hey Mom'

After bath selfie

Ahhh, this is the life!

The stroller chronicles

To start, I am about the most indecisive person in the world. And I ramble, so beware - this will be long! When I found out I was expecting twins, one of the first things I thought of was strollers! I had all these visions of shopping for travel systems (before I knew there were two) and all of the sudden it was a little more complicated! When you're pregnant with one baby, you can basically buy a carseat and stroller together in a set for about $250-300ish. These ones usually have pretty cute patterns and whatnot too. Unfortunately for twins, they don't sell any travel systems, so you need to look at things a little differently. There is definitely a little bit more of an investment too. For a starting point you need to buy two car seats and then a double stroller on top of that to hold those car seats/ babies! Not the cheapest thing in the world of course! 

I started off by buying the Kolcraft Contours Options LT. This is a stroller I researched quite a bit, and thought it seemed great. It is a front to back tandem stroller, and the seats can be facing forward, backwards, together, and apart. You can also fit both car seats on with adapters. It only came in red in Canada, but you could get it in yellow and gray in the States. It was on sale at Babies R us, so I picked it up. I brought it home, built it and immediately stuck it upstairs along with all of the other baby stuff I had been buying. I wasn't super sold on the car seat adapter (thought the two seats would be too close), and I wanted it to have a parent tray. I need a spot to stash my phone and keys!

Contours stroller

I am never happy with my first decision so I eventually saw a Graco Duoglider stroller on Sears.ca and saw that I could get matching car seats with it! I love the idea of a travel system, so of course I had to get that too and make up my mind from there! I got the car seats from a store where I couldn't do returns, only store credit, so I knew I'd be stuck with them. Luckily I love them, and haven't had any buyers remorse over them whatsoever!! I ordered the Graco stroller from Walmart.com instead (half price of what sears charged!) and picked it up at a pretty significant savings over the Contours stroller. Brought it home, built it and plopped it down next to the car seats and Contours stroller, I could make up my mind when I was ready.First thing I noticed was that it was HARD to get the car seats in!!! Jamie was already shaking his head at me. I was about 15 weeks pregnant at this point and already had two strollers, neither of which I loved.

Graco stroller without car seats

Graco stroller, with both seats crammed in

So, now I had to make a decision. We brought both strollers over to my parents house for Easter Dinner (At least I think it was Easter dinner) and after driving them both around their main floor (complete with 20lb weights in each seat) we eventually decided to go with the Graco. I still had trouble getting the car seats in, but was convinced it would loosen up eventually and become easier. Plus, it was a little skinnier, had a parent tray, the back seat fully reclined into a bassinet of sorts (which I somehow thought would contain both babies for a long period of time), it rolled while folded so I wouldn't have to actually carry it, and most importantly it matched! It was also about half the price of the Contours, so I was pretty happy with that. I returned the Contour stroller the next day and thought I was all done.

Comparing both strollers

The twin teddies testing out the car seats.
You can see the stroller comparison in the background!

Time went on and other stuff was purchased like the cribs, changing table, dresser etc. I eventually came back to the whole stroller thing and decided I hated the Graco. It wasn't a good fit at all. The only option was an inline tandem, so one baby would always be stuck in the back seat with nothing to see. The front seat was very short in the legs, and the back seat only reclined either all the way down, or sat all the way up. There wasn't a 5 pt harness (only 3 pt), it was too tall to fit comfortably in the back of my hatchback, the car seats still didn't fit in well (they overlapped, and they weren't getting easier to put in!!) and it just felt cheap. I realized I had made a very rash decision with keeping it, and it was back to square one. I bought a double snap n go from another local twin Mom and it fit the car seats great! It had a parent tray, was light, easy to fold. Pretty much perfect for when using just the car seats. I also bought a Britax B-Agile double, which is a side by side stroller. I figured that the boys would like to be able to sit next to each other, and it was a really great quality stroller, and fit through all standard doorways. I took the Graco stroller back to Walmart and my mind was made up, finally. Plus, I bought the Britax online, so neither of them were easily returnable - there was no turning back! I put the strollers I was keeping in the basement and was happy with my decision! 

The babies' room was pretty much stroller city at this point

My beautiful baby boys made their way into this world on June 23rd, and had a 25 day stay in the NICU. When they came home, we used the double snap n go for neighbourhood walks and it worked perfect! Even though the Britax reclined to an almost flat position, I didn't want to use it because it didn't quite feel tight enough for my tiny guys. One day Jamie went to work with the snap n go in his truck, so in order to get my Starbucks, my Mom and I decided to just line the Britax stroller with towels and cram the babies in. It worked great! I absolutely LOVE my Britax stroller. It turns on a dime, and has tons of storage. I was able to buy a attachment to use as a parent tray, which I barely even need because the backs of the seats are huge zippered compartments. It is a nice sleek black colour, so it never clashes with the boys' clothing! Shortly after we started using it regularly, I bought these little body pad things, which kept the boys cozy and secure, minus the bath towels! 

First time out with the Snap n Go

How we got the boys to fit in the Britax Stroller

First time out with Britax! 

Comfy little bugs! 

So, that's how we did things! It worked really well. I used the snap n go for most mall trips, and anytime I wanted to not wake up the boys by taking them out of their car seats pretty much. I took the Britax any time we would be a little longer because it's comfier for the boys, easier to get them in and out, and WAY easier to push. About 2 weeks ago, I decided that I'm not loving the snap n go anymore. It was perfect for when the boys were teensy, but now that they were getting a little heavier it wasn't quite as easy to push. Also, they are tall and the seats overlap just enough to make me start to worry about crushing little toesies between the seats. Luckily I barely paid anything for it, and should be able to resell it to another new twin mom no problem. 

Size comparison: The day boys came home & now.

I had been thinking about getting a front to back tandem stroller again, as I stopped using the snap n go as much. I need one for malls - A couple weeks ago I was stuck on the sidelines at Macys because my Britax wouldn't fit into the tight area where they keep all of the baby clothes. I wasn't thinking too much about getting one soon, but the Baby Jogger City Select went on sale for a free second seat, so that got my butt in gear. The City Select is 'the twin stroller'. Everyone who has twins says it is THE stroller you need, etc. It's similar to the Contours stroller I had in that the seats can position in, out, forward, back, one seat, two seat, car seats... you get the idea. It is a single stroller frame, where you can attach a separate seat. This is not a cheap stroller, so the free seat deal grabbed my attention. I checked it out in store and although everyone seems to love it, I wasn't sold. The seats are pretty close together. Our boys are already pretty long legged so I just imagine them booting each other in no time. When facing each other one baby would pretty much be in the storage area, and in a prime spot to be kicked in the shins! You cant see the baby at the front of the stroller when using two car seats. You need to remove one seat to fold it. Lastly, it is EXPENSIVE! The car seat attachments are about $70 (each) and every other add on such as snack trays, belly bars etc are just more and more expensive. It did push like a dream, and I loved that the baby in the back would be able to see so well with the stadium style seating, but I wasn't quite ready to drop that much money on what would essentially be an extra stroller, as I still love my Britax! 

City Select in store

Not much leg room! 

With car seats on (they shouldn't be tilted, they were put on wrong in the pic!) 

Once I ruled out the City Select, I decided I still do want a front to back tandem... And wound up right where I started with the Contours! First of all, they now have it in black, which I like more than the red. I tried it out in store with both car seats and they fit really well. It was much more secure than I remembered, and I could still see both babies. It has a cupholder and I already had a little pouch thingy that attaches to the handle to stash my phone and keys in. There is plenty of room between the seats for the babies to fit in, I love that it has a belly bar - I really like the idea of being able to attach toys to it without worrying about the babies throwing their toys out of the stroller. I can also get a generic snack tray for it in the future if I want. The basket is huge, it pushes really well, it's actually 3 inches shorter than the City Select with both seats on, it comes with 1 car seat adapter (second one is only $20), and so overall it is a much better choice for me! And it's less than half the price of the City Select! Also, I can fold it with both seats on, or both car seat adapters. It's not small once folded by any means, but it is a double stroller, so I guess I need to live with a little bit of bulk! It fits in my car no problem. This is a stroller I'm really only going to use for going to the mall or indoorsy things. I'll still use my Britax for walks around the block, going to places like the PNE etc. Best thing is; I decided I would buy it on the Wednesday... Checked the flyer for Toys R US and it was on sale starting Friday for $50 off! Can't go wrong there. 

Scott testing out the seat on a red Contours!
We'll still use it with the car seats for a little while

Boys snoozing through a stroll at the mall

It holds a lot of crap! Especially when it's not carrying babies! 

Phew, that was long... Even longer than I expected!!! Overall I'm happy with my choices. I feel I got a good deal on both strollers, and now I have something for the days where the boys want to sit next to each other, or face each other, or forward, or back.... You catch my drift. As someone who would always buy the backpack with the most pockets when I was in school, I like having options! Now to get out there and use the strollers. Funny, we have two great strollers, but still end up baby wearing for many walks and mall trips, haha.

Adam & Scott say 'Our Mom is crazy... But we love her anyways!'