Soldiering On

I won't go into my love of all things technical and how easy they make our lives...our big computer is running wonderfully (thank you Kevin!) but it is upstairs and I don't get here very often. Even now I hear the babies waking up and this post is going to have to wait because "baby computer," my little net book hasn't been working for weeks. And now to the point! The boys.

Is it silly that as we approach the 25th I become a little anxious and maybe a twinge depressed? I begin to understand why the holidays are so tough for so many people. Allow me to say, we received the best presents possible last year and I haven't lost sight of that, but the way they arrived wasn't exactly the best...and so, yes, Christmas last year sort of stunk. And as we approach the first anniversary of Sam and Liam's birth, I remind myself that this is a wonderful event and that we have come so far, and I do my best to ignore the sour feeling in my stomach and the elephant on my chest and the tears that keep welling up in my eyes that my instincts (emotions? not sure of the best word for it here) have decided to gift me with this year. So we'll move on to the good stuff!

Sam has decided to give us one of the best gifts possible for Christmas, forward motion! He has become so tired of watching  his brother move around so much that he has begun to "crawl". Just this week he has begun getting up on his hands and knees and rocking! (Liam began rocking in early September). Before we had to force Sam to his knees and hold him there ignoring the screaming so that he would build up the right muscles. Recently one of Ben's employees cleaned out her basement and brought us some wooden puzzles and they are the boys' new favorites. Sam loves it when I stack up the square pieces and let him knock them over to a raucous cry of "uh oh!" The first time this brought uncontrollable laughter (from Sam) and it was AWESOME. He still likes to do it, but now I only get grins. So it was with these blocks that I motivated him to do some forward movement, and we went all the way from one side of the living room to the other with me stacking blocks and Sam creeping forward like a soldier. He pulls with his left arm and pushes with his right leg as he uses his bent right arm as a sort of lever underneath himself. It is pretty funny, and pretty wonderful. Yesterday he began creeping across the floor on his own (without the block stacking motivation) and he is rocking on his hands and knees with greater and greater repetition.

Sam's little brother Liam is also moving and shaking. His favorite game is to leave the living room and head to the dog bowls in the hallway. He always stops and looks back when he is halfway there to check on our progress, determining how far he is going to get before we come to snatch him back up. He is  pulling himself up and learning to walk along the couch and other obstacles to get at toys (or dad's glasses). He is also experimenting with standing without aid. He lasts longer and longer between the moment when he lets go of whatever he has a hold on and the moment when his rear end meets the floor in a heavy thump. Needless to say, his poor head is covered in bruises. The firsts of many. And his personality is beginning to shine.

I have mentioned before that Liam doesn't seem to be as social as Sam. When playing in "The Baby Cage" as Ashley so loves to call it, Sam gravitates towards the books and stuffed animals while Liam goes straight for the balls. Every time one of us does something to make him laugh, he looks immediately away. But this week whenever I get the camera out, he looks at me with a scrunch nosed grin. Of course my child should know how to pose for pictures before the age of one! This has also led to a never-ending stream of The Ramones "Sheena is a Punk Rocker" playing in my head, replaced with the words "Liam is a Nose Scruncher." I think you may be able to hear the Ramones sing it here; the version in my head is likely to stay there.

We are really and truly looking forward to our first Christmas at home with the boys sans incubators and tubes and wires and fear. I think that we will probably give them cupcakes on Christmas Day to mark the day of their birth, but we still plan to really party on March 3 because that is the day they came home.

I hope that you all have fabulously wonderful Christmas Holidays and thank you again for all the love and support that you have afforded us this year.

And now for your viewing pleasure:

Sam and Liam's first co-bath, possible now that they both sit so steadily :)