Smiles... so worth it all
I know it's been a long while since the last post. We've done lots in the intervening 10 days. The most exciting thing to report was our first trip out of London. Last weekend the last holiday of the summer (over here they are called Bank Holidays - they often coincide with a US 3-day weekend, but not this one). Auntie Sam drove down from her house to pick us all up in her giant van. It turned out that we actually needed it, given the shear amount of gear that is involved with going anywhere with twins. We then drove to Abersoch in Wales (see previous post for webpage with Abersoch info). The babies were fantastic in the car. They just fell asleep in their car seats and lasted almost the whole way from Burton to Abersoch. We were gone from Friday morning to Wednesday afternoon. Phil came back on Monday, while Alex, Libby and I stayed on a couple more days with Auntie Sam and Grandad Frank. Auntie Sam and Uncle Paul have a boat that we got to go out on and see some of the surrounding country side. It was beautiful and sunny most of the days we were there.
One of the most fabulous things that has happened in the last couple of weeks is that they are both smiling now, and it's not just wind! :D See pics below.
Now we are back in London, where it's a bit dreary. And we are going through a growth spurt. Last night Libby and Alex ate for 4 hours straight. Although it was very tiring, we reaped the rewards with smiles and new weights. We took them to the doctor this morning and Alex has zoomed ahead in the weight gaining race. He is now 9lbs 12oz and Libby is 9lbs 9oz. They are gaining about half a pound a week. And boy, can you tell! :D
Here are a variety of pictures from the last few days.
Big smiley Girl
Big smiley Boy
Uncle Paul having a serious conversation with Alex
After the boat ride
This is how the boats are towed out into the water - all kinds of tractors, big and small, pull them out
A sleepy cousin Fin on the couch (pic before the above one) and Auntie Sam and Grandad Frank found a big chair to rest on at a local craft workshop
Alex in a cute sweater knitted by Althea - friend of Gran Vicki and Grandad Gary
Making the most of the holiday. Getting a good snooze in
bit slow on the posts
Welll - who knew that a week could fly by THAT fast? And I realize that it's been more than a week since the last post.
Not too much to say other than the weather has turned yucky again and has been grey and rainy for the last week or so. We still go out every day though, otherwise we will go stir crazy in the flat. But we have to bundle up a bit more. Although its been very rainy, it's nothing like what it was a few weeks ago when all the flooding occured. And it mostly just sprinkles. The stroller has a rain cover so we just go out and about like normal.
The little guys are doing well. Got weighed last Friday and Libby's up to a whopping 8lbs 9.5oz and Alex is just behind at 8lb 8oz. Of course, they are probably inching their way up to 9lbs this week. Let's just say they are good little eaters, despite all the spit up. Also my arms are getting quite fit with all the lifting of the babies. Still have to get a picture of the double front carrier that I use when I'm on my own. It's quite a contraption.
Nothing much else to report. Libby (as you will see in pictures) is getting better and better at holding her head up. She loves being on her tummy and is really unhappy to be on her back, except when totally asleep. Both seem to be in the midst of some kind of growth spurt and have been a bit sad lately, but hopefully that will end pretty soon and they will get back to their involuntary smiles (mostly associated with wind) and gazing around.
In other news, we're taking our first family holiday this weekend. It's a 3-day weekend here and we'll be going to see the family and visiting Wales. We'll be going to a
Abersoch. I've never been to Wales and am looking forward to it.
Here are the pictures of the week.
Libby's favorite position - on her tummy and looking around 
A view from the front 
Putting the breastfeeding pillow to another use - as a prop for the babies in the morning 
the pillow can also cause sleepiness 
Cassie cat keeping an eye on things
1 month old
We missed putting this on the blog yesterday, which was their official one month birthday. Wooo hooo - We've survived a month. Can't believe how fast its gone. They are growing really fast. We don't have any updates on weight, but from the feel of them and the fact that they are starting to fit into their clothes, it seems like they are pretty close to 8lbs.
Things are going well - we seem to be in the midst of a growth spurt for both little guys at the moment. It's non-stop feeding for mom and eating for babies.
My sister, Meghan, who sent out the fantastic birth announcement for the kids, has put together a really nice
reminiscence of the announcement and e-mails that she got that were directed to us. It was so nice to read all of the nice things that everyone sent. Thanks to Meghan for putting it together and thanks to everyone for their kind words and thoughts.
And now... for pictures!!!
No pictures please!
Libby doing her best Wallace (of Wallace and Gromit) impression. 
Libby on her tummy 
'sup, Dude!!
(Alex in the little cap that came with an outfit we got from Kristin and Jesse - The babies are now big enough to fit into the outfits, but we tried the hats first.)
wow - a big week...
Bit of a delay since the last post. We had a pretty big week last week. Wednesday we took the babies out to the doctor's office where they have a drop-in "baby clinic" on Wednesdays. We just decided to check it out, even though the babies are just fine. We did get them weighed, which was good. And Libby is now bigger than Alex in both weight and length. Most excitingly, they have both passed the 7lb mark. Libby weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and Alex at 7lbs 2oz. So they are running neck and neck in the race to 8lbs. Then we met up with Auntie Gemma and checked out the new smoke-free pub near our flat.
Phil went back to work on Thursday. Bit of a shock to the system. Although to be fair, on Thursday the babies mostly slept and I was sort of bored (I know - shouldn't say that). Luckily, I was put to rights on Friday when the babies decided to test their lungs and also to provide massive quantities of spit-up. I then proceeded to read everything about spit-up (which is called posseting over here - how posh) and reflux. I think after a few days of getting used to the new emanation - I'm happy to think that they don't have reflux - they just eat too fast and don't know when to say stop. After getting this all squared away, I took the babies out for the first time by myself. I put them in the double "baby bjorn" (will add pic later to show this contraption off) and then dragged the stroller down the stairs. Got them all set and walked up to a park to meet up with the mums from our pre-natal course. It was a very nice walk. Alex was hungry the whole way up there and by the time I found the mums he was more than ready to eat. As soon as the stroller stopped moving, Libby also decided she was hungry. So I also experienced another first - trying to feed them both at the same time out of the house, usually Phil is with me to help get everybody all situated. We got it figured out and then it was better. In the end, I called Phil to help me get them home, cuz it was a bit much to do all in one go.
Satuday was pretty mellow. Just did some shopping and took the babies out for a walk. Sunday was a gorgeous day and we met up with Charlotte, Lou, little Imira and Gemma for a picnic in our park (Battersea Park - just across the street from our flat). It was really nice. We spent the whole afternoon just lazing around. The babies certainly seemed to enjoy it as well.
Today the big news was that we registered the twins, which means that we finally got their birth certificates. Over here, you have 6 weeks after the birth of your baby/ies to register them to get their birth certificates. So they are now legal! Hurrah.
Okay - that's the week so far.... Now here are some pics.
Libby in her bouncy chair 
Alex in his bouncy chair 
Showing off Libby's new double chin Phil decided to play hairdresser tonight and here are the results. Clearly, Libby's hair is much easier to play with! 
Big smiley Girl
Alex in a cute sweater knitted by Althea - friend of Gran Vicki and Grandad Gary
