I made a lot, though not all, of our twins’ food when they first started solids.

I had nothing against jarred baby foods, but I wanted to provide M and J with fresh foods and more variety than I could get from the baby food shelves at the store. I started out using the jarred stuff, but soon realized that with two enormous baby appetites, it was far cheaper to make purées in larger quantities. At age 18 months, our twins averaged an even 12 lbs in weight, but could down the equivalent of three jars of baby food per meal, three times a day, each. That could easily have me spending over $100 per week on baby food.

The girls’ daycare didn’t start providing meals until kids started table foods, and was very accommodating of the frozen or fresh purées I’d bring in every day. It actually wasn’t that much work. Once M and J were exposed to a pretty large variety of foods, I’d simply leave half of each dish unpuréed, salt it, and eat it myself. I don’t think the girls were any better nourished than kids fed Gerber or Earth’s Best goodness, but it worked for us.

There were definitely folks who found my choice to minimize prepared baby food in the girls’ diet to be pretentious. Perhaps it was. One thing that raising identical twins who are far from identical has taught me is that there is no right way to parent.

When new and expectant mothers tell me that they’re considering it and ask how I made it work, I give them a list of my favourite tools. Here’s what goes in my baby shower gift for friends who’ve asked my advice on how to start making their own baby food:

• Annabel Karmel‘s book, Top 100 Baby Purees. The recipes were good, but even more helpful to me was the idea that baby food didn’t have to be bland. Onions and garlic in baby food? Cinnamon in fruit purées? Why not? I didn’t introduce salt or refined sugar until after Jess and Mel’s first birthday, but used other more mature flavours with abandon. Note that Karmel is British and follows Great Ormond Street guidelines on introducing new foods to children, so the age guides don’t always correspond to the recommendations of the American medical establishment.
• KidCo food mill. This produces food that corresponds to a Gerber Stage 2 texture. The mill comes apart completely and can be washed in the dishwasher. There are no sharp edges, which is a necessity for someone as clumsy as me. It’s perfect for taking to restaurants so that you can share your meal with your baby. You turn the mill upside down, pop in your food, insert the base and set it on the table. Then you push down gently while turning the handle, and the ground up food gets pushed up into the bowl at the top of the mill. You can feed baby straight from the mill, and then pack it up in its carrying case to take home and wash. It’s the perfect size for one child; I did have to refill it to get enough food for both girls.
• Ikea flexible icecube trays. Unfortunately, Ikea no longer carries the triangular icecube trays for portions that fit perfectly in Ziplock sandwich bags. Whenever I made a new batch of baby food, I’d keep out enough for a couple of meals, and freeze the remainder. Once the cubes were solid, I’d pop them out and store them in the freezer in Ziplock bags labeled with the contents and date. Three to four fully defrosted cubes made a full meal for both J and M.

There are a few generic tools that I consider a necessity.

• A good quality blender. This is how you get the smoothest purées for a first introduction to solid foods.
• A full-scale food mill. I used a handcrank food mill that I still use for applesauce and apple-pear-sauce. When I first started to introduce texture in the girls’ food, I’d process half of each batch of food through the blender and half through the food mill and mix them back together. Once they were ready for chunkier foods, I switched to the food mill.
• Small bowls with lids and, yes, baby food jars. You’ll want to transport baby food from time to time. Baby food comes in jars for a reason! They’re a great size and very sturdy. I reused baby food jars many many times. I also loved Gerber Bunch-a-Bowls with lids.

Do you have any other tips or recommendations for cutting food costs without compromising nutrition and taste? Please share!

We received this stroller as a gift from my family, and began using it when Tiny and Buba were just about a year old. For over a year and a half, it was the only way we rolled when we were out and about. The kids could sit facing me, facing each other, or facing forward, and I became quite good at changing the seating arrangements with kids in their seats if and when a quick change was needed to detour any brewing trouble between them. For the most part, they were happy and I was happy.

But for the last few months, it seems no one is happy when I have to pull out the big, red stroller. The only way they can sit these days, is facing forward with Buba in the back and Tiny up front. But Buba can now pull down the canopy shade to torment Tiny when he becomes bored, and Tiny can easily Houdini herself out of the 5-point harness, turn herself around, and grab at Buba’s feet and legs in retaliation. And while I can contain and entertain them both much more easily in the stroller than I can with the two of them walking, I often find myself debating whether it’s worth the time and energy to pull out the stroller and wrangle each kid into his/her seat when I need to run in somewhere for just an item or two.

I’ve tried letting them walk with me in a store, and while it’s going much better than it did at first, it’s still not easy-peasy. They still can’t help but touch almost everything that interests them, and they’re not great at staying close to me should I let go of their hands in order to carry something. And it’s so frustrating, because I even though I loved this stroller for months and months, I’m really feeling the itch to ditch it. I mean, my kids will be three years old in three months, and they’re capable of walking without easily fatiguing. So why am I still wrestling with the non-automatic doors and running into displays as I try to round a tight corner? Why? Because sometimes, though I wish it weren’t so, it seems that’s the only way to accomplish the mission we’re on.

Have you successful transitioned to life without a double stroller? If yes, tell me your secrets, please.

The winner is:

Commenter #2, Barbara!

Barbara, I’ve emailed you, just respond with your info and we’ll make sure the book gets to you shortly!

Our two-story house that we so blindly bought 3 1/2 years before children, has been driving me NuTs. Stairs + babies/ toddlers= don’t mix. The girls are good at crawling up the stairs, but both often decide to stop in mid crawl to check on me or their sister and almost fall. (don’t get me started on going down the stairs- yikes!) Did I mention at the bottom of the stair case is TILE? Reese’s latest “Miss Independence-ism” is wanting towalk up the stairs, which requires a little help from me. So just the other day when focusing on her walking, Riley flew by me- down, down, down. I shove my leg behind Reese so she doesn’t fall all while catching Riley from plummeting to the tile.  I’m forced to be a contortionist, I tell you! I keep thinking someone should invent a little chair with straps that will electrically bring children safely up. Ski-lift like. Then it dawned on me. George Costanza did just that (but not for babies)! In an episode of Seinfeld when he was lying as usual- pretending he was unable to walk- in order to get this job, he rode up the stairs in a little seat. It is one of the best episodes! Everyone is walking by so quickly as his slowwwww chair creeps up and he waves at everyone passing… when he could very well be walking with them.  The song “My Baby Takes the Morning Train” is playing all the while. What a crack up! I now can’t go up the stairs (aka perform my juggling act) without singing that song. For your viewing pleasure in case you haven’t seen this genius of George Costanza:

Click here for the clip

What would you create/invent to make your life with multiples a bit easier??  A girl can DrEaM!

Amy is mama to 18 month olds Reese and Riley.  The latest ‘comment’ she gets out in public, due to the girls’ size difference, is, “Your babies are really close together!”  Then when Riley talks to them in little sentences, they’re REALLY blown away. Like  she has a genius 9 month old. ha ha!  Read about their adventures at http://lovestarbucksalatte.blogspot.com

]]> http://www.hdydi.com/2010/03/easier-please/feed/ 13 http://www.hdydi.com/2009/12/having-twins-doesn%e2%80%99t-mean-you-have-to-buy-a-minivan/ http://www.hdydi.com/2009/12/having-twins-doesn%e2%80%99t-mean-you-have-to-buy-a-minivan/#comments Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:56:05 +0000 jenna http://www.hdydi.com/?p=3785 At this time last year, we were shopping for a new car.  When we planned for a second child, we knew we’d need to replace our Toyota Corolla because it wouldn’t hold two car seats.  My main request was a car with power locks so I didn’t have to put everything down to unlock the car.  Then when we found out we having twins, we  knew we’d really need to do some serious car shopping. In fact when we told people we were expecting twins, they often replied with “so, I guess you’ll be buying a minivan.” With a brother-in-law with three kids who sells cars, we knew where to start. He assured us we’d need a minivan, so we test drove a couple of different minivans.

I’ve always driven small cars, and the thought of driving a huge minivan was scary. Plus, I didn’t really want to be a “minivan” parent with all that implied. I endured a few more test drives until we settled on a Toyota or Honda minivan as the best options for safety, layout, fuel efficiency, features, etc. We didn’t like the dealership after the test drive for the Toyota, so we decided to try another dealership.

In between, I was curious about car seat arrangements in the vans so I called the health unit to talk with the nurse who runs the car seat clinic. She answered my questions, including “is it possible to fit three car seats in  a car?”  She said that yes, in a full size sedan you can fit three car seats.  I did some more research on the topic at http://www.car-seat.org.  (They have a great forum where parents share questions and information about car seat safety. Many of the participants are trained car seat inspectors.)

So, armed with two borrowed baby seats and our son’s car seat, we headed to another dealership.  We tried installing the seats in a number of different cars. And, guess what, it is possible to fit three car seats in a car.  So, we abandoned the idea of buying a minivan and settled on a Toyota Camry instead.

Now, with 11-month-old twins and a three-year-old, the Camry is serving us well.  There is room for three car seats and the double stroller fits in the trunk.  We can pack enough stuff, including a playpen, for a weekend trip to visit family.  But, we really look out of place at our local twin and triplets club events where we’re almost the lone car among the vans and SUVs.

I have to admit there are some limitations to having a car.  We can’t take any extra passengers, adult or children.  So, to make our playschool car pool work, I have to borrow our friends’ minivan.  It has only been a few weeks, but I can already see the advantages of a minivan when come to loading and unloading children, and buckling car seats.  The van doors that open with the push of a button are nice when you’ve got a couple of three-year-olds with their backpacks to get to and from playschool.

So, I’m guessing at some point, we’ll be back on the market for  a minivan.  Maybe it won’t be until the children are ready for hockey or some other sport that requires hauling equipment, or maybe it will be much sooner when the girls outgrow their baby seats and we have to figure out how to buckle in three children every time we leave the house.

What decisions did you make about vehicles?  Did you buy a minivan or not? What suggestions would you have for other parents making this decision?

Sleep and related topics have been on my mind quite a bit recently. We’ve just moved to a new house with more bedrooms, lots more bedrooms. Thought it wasn’t the only reason, one of our reasons for looking for a new house was to have enough room for the girls to each have their own bedrooms, at some point, if they want them, or a very large room to share. There will also be enough bedrooms for office space for Mom and Dad, and still there will be rooms to spare.

In the new house, the girls will share a bedroom.  For the first time they will be in separate cribs in the same room.  Now this isn’t the first time they’ll be sleeping apart, nor the first time they will be in cribs, just the first time they will be in separate cribs in the same room.

Since we brought the girls home in January, we’ve tried a wide range of sleeping arrangements.

When they first came home from the hospital…

• two babies sharing cradle in our bedroom
• two babies sharing bassinette in the playpen in the living room
• one baby in the bassinette in the basement TV room for quick naps when we were watching TV.  Usually the other baby was eating.

But they soon outgrew the bassinette, and we needed to find new solutions…

• two babies sharing crib in our bedroom
• two babies sharing playpen in dining room

After just a couple of days of lifting two babies in and out of the playpen, we needed a different solution…

• two babies sharing crib in our bedroom
• two babies sharing a new (second) crib in dining room

Then we decided they were ready to sleep in their own room …

• two babies sharing crib in my office their bedroom (or “babies’ office” as my son called it)
• two babies sharing crib in the dining room

But, they didn’t always share the same sleep schedule…

• one baby in the crib in their bedroom and one in the bassinette in the playpen in our room at night
• two babies sharing crib in the dining room during the day

Then we decided to put our house up for sale so we had to remove the crib from the dining room and the playpen from our bedroom…

• two babies sharing the crib in their bedroom

Then I took the children to stay with my mom while the house was for sale

• two babies in two playpens except when they took turns sleep with me

Then we came back home…

• two babies sharing the crib in their bedroom

Until the fan in our son’s room broke, and for a short time…

• two babies sharing the crib in their bedroom and one toddler in the playpen in their bedroom

About  in mid-October, the girls seemed to be waking up more than usual, so we decided to separate them…

• one baby in the crib in their bedroom
• one baby in the playpen in their bedroom

Which has meant more sleep for me since one of the girls is usually sleep through the night, and her sister is usually only up once.

Now that we are settled in our new house, the girls are sleeping in two cribs in their new bedroom.  One of our girls still wakes up more than her sister, so her crib is closer to the door.

We certainly didn’t plan to try all these different sleeping arrangement, but as their needs and our needs changed, we adapted. And, I’m certain their be more arrangements to try out as they grow in our new house.

Read on with me- as we walk down ‘The Many Uses of the Boppy Pillow Lane!’

*During and after the NICU stay, when I was able to attempt nursing, the boppy was my right hand man- or woman- or thing- whatever- you know what I mean!

*After realizing that nursing wasn’t going so well (that’s a whole other post), the boppy became a PERFECT incline to feed my babies their bottles.

*It soon helped me feed both girls at the same time- I came up with some GREAT set ups sometimes with one sometimes with both when they got bigger.  (Survival mode at that point- right moms?)

hee hee!  This makes me laugh!

*It helped prop the girls up after eating which helped with their reflux.

*When the girls were a bit bigger (they started so tiny!), it was a great help with tummy time. 

*Once Reese and Riley started sitting, but were wobbly, the pillow was perfect to have behind them.  It certainly broke many falls!

Whoa!  Riley in mid fall

* As they learned to hold their bottles, but had difficulty keeping their balance when tilting back, the Boppy was a perfect place to lay, bottle in hand!

* Still now (Reese and Riley are 1), when my sleepy girls first wake up in the morning, they love to lie on their pillows while they drink their milk from their sippy cup or bottle.

* AND my Reesey who LOVES to roll away, crawl away, or pull away while I’m changing her diaper, has a bit of harder time getting away when I lay her on the Boppy when I change her!  :)

* Oh ya!  AND my little dog has assumed them as her own personal dog beds for over a year.  

* Do you have any other uses I’ve forgotten?!

I LOVE these things!  In my opinion, you MUST get 2 nursing pillows!

 Leave a comment telling the new mamas and mamas to be: 

In my opinion, you MUST get two (or three, or four… ) _____.

I’m not a stroller snob. I had an Evenflo travel system with my first child, and got a Combi Twin Savvy when my boys were born, even though what I really wanted was the Mountain Buggy Urban Double. (You should click that link just to see the price. It’s worth the chuckle.) I needed a double stroller with a sit and stand but they didn’t exist when I was cranking out my brood.

When we found out I was pregnant with #4, the twins were 1.5 and A was 3. I mentally calculated my boys’ ability to walk alongside me plus my daughter’s capacity for obedience, multiplied by my anxiety level and divided by the number of hands God saw fit to give me, and found that I was lacking. I knew I could make do for a short time with the baby in a sling and the boys in the double stroller, but my aptitude for sling use drops off sharply once a baby moves out of the limp doughy phase.

I wanted a triple stroller, and scoured the resale shops for one. Instead, I stumbled upon a J Mason Quad Carriage for $100. You can bet I snapped that thing up and dragged it home. I want to make some shoes reference here, like, “…Carrie Bradshaw finding a pair of vintage blah blah somethings at a thrift store,” but I don’t know enough about high end footwear, plus I bet Carrie Bradshaw would never step foot into a thrift store.

The quad stroller – or “four stroller,” as my children call it – wasn’t perfect. But alas, what union between parent and stroller is? The quad was heavy, bulky, and a real beast to maneuver on uneven terrain. But for trips to the zoo, for example, it was a godsend. And let’s be honest: I was staying home with four kids 4 and under. I wasn’t going much of anywhere.

Three days before the twins 5th birthday, I sold the four stroller. The kids were devastated. They wept in protest as they watched me clean it up, and they begged me to keep it. We settled on one final ride.

A’s gangly legs didn’t fit in the back; she had to throw them over the lap bar in the front seat. The boys climbed into the back, I placed baby #4 into the open front seat, and we set off. As I sweated and gasped for air, I reflected on my maiden voyage with the quad stroller, three years ago. Then, too, I sweated and panted my way around the block, Braxton-Hicks contractions kicking in as I pushed my 90 lb toddler payload. This 2009 haul was more like 150 lbs, and left me grateful that I don’t have to do this anymore.

When the couple purchasing my stroller arrived, I was happy to saunter back inside and watch from the window as they wrestled that mammoth into the back of their van. Never again will I watch my husband sweat and curse quietly while struggling to fold it. Never again will my children stream out from the quad stroller’s depths like it’s a clown car. Never again will we look like a circus sideshow in public. The moment was bittersweet, until I remembered I’d just made $75, and then it was only sweet.

However…and why is it that things things always come with a “however”?….on the days when they still get up early…6:15am, 6:00am, 5:30am….they are unbearable. When they were younger they were cheerful and happy in the morning and it was only Mommy and Daddy who were grouchy. Now, they really NEED that extra sleep in the morning, but don’t seem to be able to get themselves back to sleep if they are woken up earlier in the morning (freaking cats) or happen to stir earlier. I’ve yelled. I’ve ignored. I’ve been grouchy all morning. Nothing has been effective.

So, I turned to the source of all things wonderful….my twin club. And low and behold, someone sent me to this product.

http://www.goodnitelite.com

It’s this cute little nightlight that you can program to show either a sun (time to get up!) or a moon (time to sleep!). You can set it for whatever time you want—they recommend setting the sun to “rise” at their normal wake-up time at first, so they can get used to it, and then setting it later in 15 minute increments. It arrived in the mail a few days ago and the kids were intrigued. Then, when they went in at bedtime, the moon was lit up. They were enthralled. In the morning, they started yelling, “Sun! I see sun! Mommy!” when they woke up. The next morning, it took some talking about the moon, but they were able to stay in their cribs the extra 15 minutes they needed until the sun “rose”. Again, they were enthralled.

I’m not sure if it will be long term successful, but it is better than yelling. It’s cute, the kids like it and it’s a clear visual sign to them of whether it’s time to get up or not. Maybe we’ll start to see a few more of those 7am days. (And please, any of you who have kids who sleep until 8am—or later—please don’t share!!! It’s sad enough how excited I get about 7am.)

What products can the rest of you not live without?