Vlogging Diary - teething woes

Before you watch this video - I've decided it feels too awkward saying 'Mr A' and 'Miss E' when I'm vlogging, so I'm giving them a name-change! Miss E is now Ez, and Mr A become The Fonz (Fonz, or Fonzie). Anyway, here's what we got up to last week...

Eight months and we're on the move

Apologies for being a blogger gone AWOL, but I was suffering with a poorly tummy last week and felt too sorry for myself to blog. Now I've dragged myself out of my hole of self-pity, given myself a talking to about neglecting my blogging duties and am reporting back for duty.

Being sick unfortunately coincided with Young Daddy's first night away (on a work course). I know I've been incredibly lucky, considering the babies turned eight months last week, to have lasted so long without having to do a solo night, and to be honest I had actually been looking forward to the challenge and a night in on my own. I survived to tell the tale, though it was touch-and-go for Mr A after I managed to drop him on his head. He had an egg-sized lump and an incredibly impressive bruise (I'm too ashamed to post a picture), but I'm pleased to say that he was fine. Phew.

It's really hard work taking care of two babies totally on your own, and has renewed my huge respect for single parents, especially those with twins. I take my hat off to you.

Mr A and Miss E's eight month highlights are listed above, the most notable of which are Mr A cutting three teeth, and Miss E's new mobility. She is one determined little lady, and applied her total focus to getting on the move this month. She perfected crawling backwards before she mastered forwards motion and there's no stopping her now. Of course, in typical Miss E fashion, she's now bored and now wants to walk. Knowing her it won't be long!

Lining up the excuses...

Young Mummy

Young & Younger

Blogosphere

Dear Reader

Please accept my apologies. I'm suffering from a drought of blogging inspiration. It's been a couple of days since my last post about friendship, which got some really interesting comments, but I've drawn a blank since then. I have been tagged in a few memes recently, but I'm feeling like my noggin is stuffed to bursting point and my thoughts are a bit like the pureed mush I'm feeding the babies at the moment. Kind of like someone took the hand-blender to my brain. I can't even get my mind round the memes. Then there's Little Film Club and Just Vlog It to do and I haven't a clue where to start.

I can only offer the following excuses in my defence:

1) We've had some sleepless nights this week. Mr A has cut his first tooth (bottom left - woohoo, go Mr A!) and, unlike Miss E, this was not a fuss-free milestone for him. We were up with him most of Monday and Thursday nights. 'Pah!' I hear you cry. 'Only two nights of wakefulness?' But because we've become so used to uninterrupted nights, it's like my normal sleeping state has been all messed up. Some part of brain is now on constant 'baby alert' throughout the night so I am waking every hour, listening for noises from the nursery. I'm guessing this sleep-deprivation is the reason for that foggy feeling I can't seem to shake.

2) I've had the sniffles and my nose has been stuffed up. I suspect it's hayfever rather than a cold as I haven't really had any other symptoms, but it has made me feel a bit under par.

3) And finally, nap-time is all over the place. I'm sure this, too, is due to teething pain, but the babies' usually predictable sleep patterns have become completely erratic. This would be hard enough with one baby, but when two babies sleep at different times it's a killer, because you don't get any respite. I often write my blog posts when they nap, so without this opportunity, it's left until the evening, when I'm totally exhausted.

I can only promise that normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Yours apologetically,

Young Mummy x

A tale of two teeth

I can't believe I haven't got round to blogging about this yet (bad mummy), but Miss E got two teeth a couple of weeks ago! Both babies have been drooling for England for months and have red, rosy cheeks a clown would be proud of. Then one morning Miss E was on the change mat and I noticed something on her bottom gum. I had a feel and lo and behold it was a tooth. She had made absolutely no fuss whatsoever, unbelievable when you consider what a little drama-queen-in-the-making she is, and so the tooth's appearance was highly unexpected. In hindsight, it was probably the reason she's been sucking her gums like a toothless old man for a week, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. By lunchtime that same day she had cut the second bottom tooth, and now we're enjoying the cutest toothy grins. I've tried to capture it on film, but it's proving tougher than I thought. Here's a little video I made yesterday - you can just about catch a glimpse of those two little toothy pegs right at the end...

This post has been retrospectively added to It's A Mummy's Life's new Little Film Club, which launched this week. Head over to her blog on Monday for next week's prompts. I think this one fits into this week's prompt, 'Excitement'.

Teething Times Two: The Beginning

I've been in denial. But today, after a visit to the Baby Clinic, I'm facing up to the fact that the twins are started to teeth. For a few weeks now they have both been dribbling like mad and chewing on anything they can get in their mouths. All the dribbling has left poor A's cheeks dry and red, and E has been noticably more grizzly than usual, often crying for no recognisable reason (so what's new?!). And both babies also seem to be sleeping a lot more during the day. I don't know if this is because they're not sleeping as well at night (although as yet, they're not disturbing us any more than usual - touch wood etc. etc.), or just because they're feeling a bit sorry for themselves.

The health visitor has advised olive oil for A's cheeks and teething granules to ease the discomfort. Unfortunately at £4.80 for six sachets I think the granules will have to be a special treat! A cheaper option, also suggested by the health visitor, is to pop some carrot sticks covered in clingfilm in the freezer and give these to the babies to chew on. We've got plenty in the fridge so I'll get chopping tomorrow.

I know it may be weeks and weeks before a single tooth appears, so we're in it for the long run...