Exploring a new park

We found and explored a new park today.

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Busy builders

Ben and Ethan making a block tower.
I really enjoy them playing and working together now they are getting older.

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Not an animal

This morning Ben kept playing with his breakfast and not eating it properly. After two threats that I will take it away he still wasn't actually eating it (I don't think he really wanted it) so I took it away.
He threw a tantrum, like I knew he would. Bens latest tantrum style is to jump forward, from a standing position and intentionally land on his bottom. He tries to do this with enough force to make as loud of a thump as possible. He also cries as loud as he can at the same time.

During Ben's tantrum Ethan asked me what we were going to do this morning. I jokingly said "put Ben in a cage?!?"
Ethan took a moment to consider this option, looked at me closely and said "no, Benny's not an animal!" and laughed.





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So tired

We (especially the boys) have had a busy few days lately.
Starting last week...
Wednesday- playgroup and the news paper was there to take photos
Thursday - day care enrollment interview and then madly shopping for last minute school items
Friday - first day of school
Saturday - grandma here and multiple birth club fun day at the trains
Sunday - grandma here (runs the boys ragged playing with them)
Monday - shopping and swimming lessons
Tuesday - quieter day at home, but we did go grocery shopping
Wednesday- chipmunks (indoor play centre) all morning

Makes for a tired little boy who fell asleep in the car on the way home






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Height and weight updated

I was chatting to my friend Monica today about car seats, and realized I didn't know recent heights on Ben and Ethan. So I weighed and measured them for the record.
They will be 3yrs old in about 5weeks.

Ethan 95cm tall (37.4inches)
Ethan 14.8kg (32.6lbs)

Ben 93cm tall (36.6 inches)
Ben 13kg (28.6lbs)

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Multiple birth club family fun day.

Today was our family fun day at the model steam trains.
Unfortunately it rained in the morning, and again after lunch, but despite the rain, we got a good turn out and had heaps of fun!

Grandma, Ben, Mumma and Ethan enjoy a train ride.












Ben and Ethan had a GREAT time wearing their rain coats and boots and stomping in the rain and mud puddles





I didn't take our good camera due to the rain, but a couple of other people from our committee were snapping shots all day. Hopefully they will get something good and I will upload some more if I can :)


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School (day care)

Well, after much decision making, and enthusiasm, especially from
Ben, we have found and enrolled the boys in a day care centre. They call it "school" (pronounced gool in toddler speak.)
They will attend school one day a week, with the possibility of increasing to two or more if they enjoy it.
Today was their first day. Ben was so excited he was awake at 5am!
They were super excited getting ready in the morning, and were ready to leave around 8:30.






They ran into the room this morning, and we left after a short time. We picked them up around 2pm, and the teachers tell us they had a great day, and were very happy, good boys all day.
They are exhausted this afternoon!
Some art work from today


They are already talking about going back next week.

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In the news paper

It is multiple birth awareness week this week. To celebrate, our multiple birth association is holding a family fun day on Saturday.
The local news paper did a story about us to publicise the day.
Sal, Ben and Ethan got their photo in the paper along with the rest of the mums and bubs at our twin playgroup.







Fingers crossed for nice weather on Saturday. We will post some photos after the event.

Families celebrate multiple birth week - Local News - News - Express Advocate Gosford Edition

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Ethan's laugh

Ethan has developed a funny new laugh.

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Troublesome toddlers

Why is it that toddlers can get up to so much mischief so quickly when you're not looking?

On Saturday, Ben was supposed to be resting on our bed during "nap" time, and Ethan in his own bed.

So, when they started giggling together I just knew they were up to trouble!
The troublesome two had gone into my bathroom and pinched my new (still full) tub of hair gel, and had proceeded to paint it ALL over them selves, their heads, their beds, the wall and the floor. A HUGE sticky mess!

I was a little to shocked and mad to get a photo of the incident, but as you can imagine, it was a big mess.

Today, I came down stairs to see Ethan helping himself to some cream or his feet!



Trouble I tell you!

As I type this, Ethan is supposed to be in a time-out for pulling on my curtain when repeatedly told not to, Ben was sent out of the room, but kept coming back to sit with his brother. They really don't like being apart at the moment.


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Swimming lessons again...... still my favourite day of the week.
Just a couple of highlights of today's lesson.

Ethan is rapidly gaining confidence in pushing off the wall and swimming to the instructor. In the video below, he swims the furthest he's ever swum.




And Ben floats on his back, the best he has ever done.

All better - hand foot and mouth disease

I am pleased to say Ben and Ethan have made a full recovery from (presumed) hand foot and mouth disease.
They are back to eating and drinking normally.
Yay!

We think the virus made Ethan lose about 500g (600g = 1lb). We did not have any recent weights to get a definite weight loss, but that is a rough guess.

We are so pleased they are better

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We are in trouble now

Oh no!
Look what Ethan learnt to do today. We are in trouble now, he isn't even 3 yet!

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Musicians in the making.

A preview of this mornings jam session

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Brotherly love

Today the boys were playing outside in the sandpit. Ben threw sand for the 3rd time, so came inside for a time out. Ethan waited for him near the door, once he was allowed outside Ethan was so happy "Benny! Benny! Benny is outside!!" and gave him a hug as they both ran back to the sandpit.

It was a cute moment of brotherly love.

(once again Ben seems to be only wearing underpants!)


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Play-doh for sick boys.

Today, Thursday, mouth ulcers are still troubling the boys and they are still off their food.

We are doing all we can to keep them hydrated, but with Ethan it is a constant battle. :(

Last weekend nana gave the boys some play-doh, something they had not played with in over a year, so it was essentially a new experience! To take their mind off their sore mouths, we bought them some play-doh toys and they (especially Ben) have had a great time with the play-doh!









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Awful virus

Both Ben and Ethan have come down with an awful virus. It started on Sunday when Ben was a bit grumpy in the morning and had a runny nose. By Sunday afternoon both boys had a little temp (38.1) and were pretty tired.

About 4am Monday morning they both woke with higher temps (39ish) and were miserable most of Monday. Monday evening both boys had quite high temps 39.1- 39.8 (102-103F). Monday evening Ethan didn't eat much dinner, and told us his food was too spicy (not spicy at all)


Again at 4am Tuesday, we had two crying hot, miserable boys.
Tuesday both boys were off their food and told me they had a sore mouth. Upon inspection they both had 5-10 painful looking ulcers in their mouth. Mostly on the soft palette and the tongue.

Poor little boys have been in a lot of pain with their mouth ulcers. Tuesday evening was bad for Ethan. He cried at dinner time as the purée hurt his mouth, he cried when we tried to very gently clean his teeth, he cried in bed. He fell asleep around 7, and woke up crying again at 8ish, 9ish and 10ish. Finally after the 10pm wake up he was due more medicine again. This time we gave him pain-stop ( panadol and codeine - stronger pain killer) with good results. He slept till 5:30am when he woke while Tracie showered. He had more pain-stop, water and did a wee before going back to bed till 9:30am! A sleep he desperately needed.

Today (Wednesday) they are still suffering. They are not eating much. Ethan seems to have it worse than Ben. Ethan has only eaten one small container of yogurt, one glass of milk, half a glass of supplement drink and one glass of water... All day!
I have been trying to encourage him to eat and drink all day but he says "no mum, my mouth is too sore". He has had Panadol (Tylenol) and nurofen (Motrin) all day, as soon as it's due every 4-6 hours he gets it again.

He hasn't been weeing as much as usual either. The nurse in me is measuring his fluids in and out to make sure he stays hydrated enough. Kids need to have 0.5mls per kilo per hour. Based on this he needs 174mls in 24 hours. Today he did 220mls. Enough, but no where near normal. I am measuring bens too, but he is doing better and did about 360mls today. I am glad they are happy to use a potty and are pretty much toilet trained, makes things easier!

The boys went to the doctor today, just incase.... Like we expected, she checked them out and said they had a viral infection. Said it should run it's course and they should pick up soon. The virus sounds very similar to hand, foot and mouth disease, (HFMD) but the boys do not currently have any hand or foot rash. They do have every other symptom, and one parenting forum I read mentioned that you can have HFMD without the body rash, or it can appear a few days later. The doctor said it may be HFMD, or a similar virus, but either way, the treatment is the same. Fluids, rest, pain killers and keep them away from other kids as it is contagious.

We certainly hope they get better soon.

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Tissues

Ben decided he needed a tissue to wipe his runny nose during his (non) nap time today. He helped him self to the tissues, and this is what he did.






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Potty training update.

Potty training is going really well lately. We gave up pullups all together a few weeks ago and made them wear underwear all day (rather than t-shirt only and naked bum at home).
It has work really well, and we are now going days without accidents, rather than hours.
They are both now in underpants at night as well. Ben has been for 2-3 weeks and going great, we learnt the hard way that milk after dinner is no good for a little boy. Apart from one accident, he's been great.
Ethan has been in night underpants for about a week ( we accidentally ran out of night nappies) and also doing well. Only one accident so far.

Ethan is still stubborn about his weeing habits. He only goes on his schedule, and doesn't often wee on command. Ben is very good at weeing on command and can usually squeeze out even a few drops when asked! (like before going out or before bed)

So finally, 4-5 months after we started we are making some consistent progress. Yay!





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Changing grammar

In the last few days I have notice Ethan's grammar has changed a bit.
In the past, he would say
"I not like ......"
Now he says
"I do not like ......"

Both us mums would say "I don't like ...." so I am not sure where he has picked up the change in grammar. It reminds me of the book "I do not like green eggs and ham". I think he's only heard that book once or twice, so I don't think it's from there.

Im not sure if I would have even noticed the change, but he is a little sick at the moment and there are a lot of things he tells me "I do not like...." lately!


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Little boys love construction.

My little boys love diggers, rollers, dump trucks and all things related to road works and construction.
In the past few weeks there has been a lot of this type of activity in the surrounding streets. They are digging up the grassy nature strip, laying electrical cable and then back filling the big hole.
Ben and Ethan have been very interested in the whole procedure.
This week, they are in our street, and it's very exciting to a little boy.

Ben and mumma watch the digger





They parked it right out side our house and left for an hour, so the boys had a good close look


Ben watches from the front door





Such excitement for a little boy. Ben asks to go outside and look several times a day. Ethan prefers to watch from inside as it's too loud out side.


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