The Rocking Horse

Tonight we went over to Sherri's for dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera with us, but Sherri brought out a wooden rocking horse from the garage and the girls loved it. They got the hang of rocking very quickly. They were almost too good - rocking way back and way forward. But it was fun to watch and they had such a good time.

Quick update on the sleeping - I'd say for the last five days, maybe a full week, I've had to get up at most three times a night. The last night, I only had to get up once, I think. Sarah and I both agree it's much better not having them in the bed any longer. We loved it while they were with us, but we are sleeping much better.

More Talking

The twins are saying more and more words. The biggest change was that they don't "whine" or "screech" as much when they want something. Instead, they say Mama or Papa. In a related story, they are sleeping better through the night, but when they do wake up, they often say Papa instead of just crying. It's pretty neat.

Emily is getting at least one more tooth. It hasn't broken through, yet, but her gums are very red and she's been cranky. I'm sure it'll pop through in the next few days.

As for me, I'm going to the gym now. Sarah gave me a gym membership for Christmas and I have been seven times in eight days; although, to be fair, I went twice the first day - once to sign up (and I did workout) and a second time for a class.

Pictures

We misplaced the camera for several days. Sarah just found it a few minutes ago, so I'll upload some photos later (hopefully today).


Also, a couple updates:

• We're continuing to get them to sleep on their own. Some nights are better than others.
• They really are saying Mama and Papa more often now when they want something, rather than just whining or yelling to get our attention.
• They're enjoying their toys from Christmas. They love when we read to them, so the books are seeing a lot of action. They also got some water washable markers that they play with in the bath tub.
• We went down to my Dad and Roberta's house in Sacramento this morning and had a good time. The girls were shy at first - they don't see Grandpa Bud and Pa-Pa (Roberta) often enough. But within 30 minutes or less, they had warmed up. We stayed down there about three hours and had lunch with them.
• Ella is getting another tooth in the lower-left part of her mouth.

Night Three

Last night was the third night the twins slept in their own cribs, and WOW, it was great. Yes, you heard me, it was GREAT! Everything started the same as it did the last two nights - we put them to bed by reading to them. They fell asleep in my arms, and Sarah helped me put them in their cribs. I don't remember the time now, but I think it was around 2:30 am when I heard the first cry. It was Emily this time, not Ella. When I went to check on her, I saw Ella stirring. I thought for sure Ella would wake up. However, to my surprise, within 2-3 minutes of me leaving the nursery, all was quiet. No one made another sound until about 7:15 this morning when Ella woke up first. Emily slept until maybe 7:45.

I'm not ready to call this war won, but I think at this point, Sarah and I are winning every battle. :)

Sarah's Birthday

Today is Sarah's birthday. We had a small gathering over at Sherri's with pizza and cake. It was really nice. I had fun planning (most) of it.

The main reason for today's update is, as always, to talk about the twins' progress. Last night was the second night we had them sleep in their own cribs the whole night. It started the same as always - I read to them, put them in their cribs, and they went to sleep. Ella woke up first, around 1:30 am and started crying. We started the cycle of checking on her every few minutes. This time, it only took about 35 minutes for her to fall asleep again. However, from 1:30 - about 3:00, she would wake up, cry, fall asleep, and repeat the cycle every 15-20 minutes. I think Emily woke up twice. Eventually, everyone fell asleep, and didn't wake up until after 7:00 am.

The last update I have has nothing to do with sleeping. Ella and Emily both say "Uh-oh" now, and I taught Emily "pee-yew" (as in stinky diaper). My mom (Sharon) has been trying to teach them "Woopty-do".

Last Night the Earth Shook

Well, we finally made the decision to get the girls to sleep the whole night in their own cribs. I'll write more later - gotta get ready for a Birthday Party.

We decided it was time to start getting the girls out of our bed and into their own for the whole night. And since Sarah and I have several days off between now and New Year's, we thought this was the best time to start. We started by putting them to sleep like we normally do - we change them into their PJ's and read them a few books. Everything was as usual. Then Sarah and I went to bed. Around 1:00 am, Ella woke up first. This is where things for the girls changed. Instead of bringing her straight to bed with us like we would have done in the past, we put our pediatrician's advice to work. I checked on Ella right away, said some soothing words, and laid her down in her crib. Then I left. She kept crying. Five minutes later, I repeated the same thing. Then 10 minutes after than, then 15.

At this point, 30 minutes has passed. Ella cried the whole time. Emily hadn't woken up at all. After 30 minutes, you're supposed to wait another whole 30 minutes before going in again. I think I fell asleep sometime in that second 30 minutes. I woke up a little after 2 am when the alarm went off and Ella was still crying. I checked on her and stayed with her a little longer to settle her down. Maybe two minutes. Soon as I left, Ella started crying again.

Basically, she cried constantly for 90 minutes. Emily didn't wake up at all while Ella was crying. At some point, Ella quieted down. Then, around 3:00 am, Ella started crying a little again. She finally woke up Emily, so I checked on them both. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep. Then they didn't wake up until 8:30 (for Ella) and 9:30 (for Emily).

It was an exhausting night, but an important one. We have to keep it up now until they have fully transitioned to sleeping in their cribs all night.

What a Great Christmas

I'll share some pictures in the coming days, but let me just say what a great time we had. We went to Gary's on Christmas Eve and Sherri's on Christmas Day. We were supposed to go to my dad's today, but Sarah has gotten a virus and saw the doctor today. He said it's nothing to be worried about, but she's going to rest up and we'll reschedule with my dad.