The girls recently turned one. Thought it may be a good moment to post a little update on how thing are going.
In
a nutshell - quite good! I went back work when they were 6 months old
(Sept), then DH took over the parental leave. My sister stayed on to
help until ~Dec. So we've been managing on our own since January. DH himself has been back at work for awhile already. The twins
have been in daycare since ~Feb. It's the same one DS went to, the
staff is wonderful there, and the girls seem to enjoy it.
People
I run into tend to assume that life is sooo difficult wlth 3 kids,
especially with twin babies, but as I explain - we've built a structured
schedule, and everything seems to flow well. As long as no one is
sick! In that case, logistics can get messy. We dread anyone being
sick. lol
When we take the kids out, we get stopped
regularly by people who want a closer look at the girls, or to talk to/about
them. It tends to be mostly older ladies or older couples. Unless
we're in a hurry, I'll always stop to let people interact with our kids
- I think it's great for socializing them. DS is super chatty and
likes the opportunity for attention, and the girls seem to love it too.
DS has turned out to be a wonderful big brother - usually very
helpful and protective. He plays with them often (he seems to actually
enjoy it!) and will keep an eye on them for short periods in another
room if we need
him to. He's now decided he's old enough to lift them, so we let him
carry one out of the stroller sometimes when we get home from being
out.
The girls are different in appearance and personality.
Baby A is a little larger, louder and looks more like her dad. She
likes to sleep and is often content to just suck her thumb and hold her
blanket. Her favorite book is a picture book about kitties. She's
been the first to pull-up and stand. Baby B is a little smaller.
People say she looks more like me. She is super active and curious.
She scoots around and wants to investigate everything! She pays very
close attention to what people are doing - she's very interested. She
can emulate facial expressions and sounds quite well. She
was the first to speak - she can say 'banana' and 'clock'. So cute!
Oh
yeah - and I did get their ears pierced! lol DH wasn't so keen on it, but made a nice surprise announcement one night by agreeing. I think it looks so
cute.
Meanwhile, the girls are still wearing hand-me-downs from our
friends, I don't think it's worth it yet buying too much new/special
stuff since they are growing so fast and tend to stain all their things
anyways.
In short - we love having the girls,
and we are actually glad we ended up with twins. They have added so
much to our lives. Yes, sometimes it seems a lot of work, but most of the time it's great and we love it. My GD is long gone, and I love finally having
daughters. We are glad we tried the HT path. Actually, I usually don't think about how we got them, except for the times people ask if they are natural or IVF and I say... natural. lol
Part
of me wants them to hurry and get bigger, so they can be more
independent, but part of me is trying to also enjoy their babyhood, because
it's so sweet (and is my last time). One year is such a cute age too.
Anyways, everything is going well for now, let's see what the future brings!