Week 22: April 18 - 24

This week the boys celebrated their 5-month birthday. The day would have gone by unnoticed except Sandra bought them adorable outfits.

We decided the clothes made them look too old. They've been back in their pajamas ever since.

I'm behind on blogging and I didn't take any notes from this week, so I have little recollection of the events. I do recall, though, that Everett had a really good string of evenings while my mom was here over the weekend and Monday night, but as the week progressed it got worse and worse. Guess it's time to schedule that upper GI I've been avoiding.

Here are some cute pics of our guys. Yes, they are as soft as they look ;)

Above is Everett has just woken up from a nap. Those are great snuggly moments, and here Grandma is enjoying him. Below is Levi. The skin on his cheeks is a bit dry. I sometimes wonder if it's because I kiss them NONSTOP. I'm actually not kidding.

Grammie and Papa Matteson sent the boys a care package full of wonderful clothes, but for now I'm most excited about these sleepers. Figuring out how to dress them at night in this hot-day, cold-night weather is always a mystery. Not anymore!

Levi (husband) has been really sick with a nasty cold and then a sinus infection, so he's been sleeping in the basement guest room. We're trying to limit his contact with the boys (and they never did get sick, thank goodness). I've been bringing little Levi's basket into our bedroom and the separation from his brother has allowed me to experiment with a little bit of crying it out at night time. Recently he started getting up at midnight, which he hadn't done in months! Once I let him cry for just a couple minutes he went right back to sleep and only did it one more night. We decided the temporary displacements have been a good thing.

I was talking to a friend the other day about what is most surprising about motherhood. For me it's a struggle to not feel guilt all the time, and this has nothing at all to do with working. I love my job and honestly think I might go nuts without the change of pace. It's more the feeling that I could be giving them more time or energy or stimulation, even though I logically know that I give them plenty and they are getting great care. I don't think it will ever matter, the feeling is just there. Maybe it's because there are two? I'm also amazed at how much judgment comes with parenthood! I feel judged, and I'm definitely more likely to judge. I noticed the "sleeping through the night" measuring stick right away--it seems to be everyone's quick means of assessing your success as a parent. Or like my friend says, for toddlers it's the potty-training question. What's so funny about the sleeping thing is that every book I've read on the subject (I'd be embarrassed to admit how many) claims a different number of hours as full-fledged "sleeping through." It ranges anywhere from 5 to 12! How crazy is that?

A couple of videos from the week. The first is Everett laughing--pretty much the same as last week, although it never gets old for me. The second is Levi under one of the baby gyms, kicking like crazy and talking. So cute.