Assorted thoughts on twins and more

As the shock of raising two babies at once (with an almost 3 year old in the mix, too) is wearing off, I am starting to see a lot of wonderful things about having twins.

Autumn

It seems no matter how we place the girls in their crib, the wriggle wriggle wriggle until their heads are touching and they are holding hands.

Autumn, Mikaela

It reminds me of their first night in this world. See, in the womb they had been positioned head to head, with the top of Mikaela's head touching the side of Autumn's. Their first night in their incubators, Mikaela, tiny as she was, managed to scoot all the way up to the top while Autumn wriggled all the way to the side. I think they were trying to find each other.

Mikaela

I walked into their room the other day to find them chattering to each other in their crib. So adorable. And they both giggle in their sleep! What's up with that? Z did it too. Quite wonderful.

Mikaela

I am getting excited about going back to school in the fall and starting work on some creative projects coming up. I'm not sure how it is going to feel juggling work and the newly-enlarged family, and I get little pangs of sadness to think that I might miss out of those great moments that the kids have. I was complaining to Jason that it is hard having both a family and work that I love. Then I paused and we looked at each other. He said, "Isn't that exactly what we have been trying to create?" Oh, yeah. I guess I am actually incredibly lucky. Nice to have it back in perspective.

The first time Z saw one of his sisters spit up, he recoiled in disgust (which is particularly funny to those of you who recall how much he used to spit up). Then just the other day, his sister spat up and he casually got a kleenex and cleaned it up. Jealousy issues and all, he is still a pretty great kid.

So he does alright most of the time, but when the girls get particularly needy, Z kinda falls apart. It reminds me of this idea I had years ago of doing a variety show lit entirely by the audience. Upon entry to the theater, each audience member would receive a miner-style helmet with a light. There would be several things happening on the stage at once, so whatever grabbed the attention would be lit, and everything else would go dark. I realized it would probably just dissolve into a bunch of attention-getting tricks. This is pretty much what happens to Z. "Oh, the girls are crying? Well . . . look at me! I just dumped out all my legos! Still nursing? Um . . . then I will dump a water bottle on the couch. Did you see that, Mommy? Look at me! Pay attention to me! Mommy! Mommymommymommymommymommy!!!" Totally transparent, totally understandable, and totally exhausting.

The world's cutest triceratops

The jealousy issues we are experiencing are basically the typical new baby problems that every older sibling has, only more so because, well, two babies. Plus we cannot go anywhere without attracting at least a few gawkers. While I am the first person to agree that the girls are gorgeous, these onlookers fail to notice that they have an equally wonderful older brother who stands silently by while people "ooh" and "aah" over his little sisters.

So if you are one of those people who likes to stop someone pushing a twin stroller and comment about the babies, please take a moment to notice if there is an older sibling you are overlooking, and send a little love that way.

Zander sharing his buddies with Autumn