It is hard to believe that a year has passed already!! It is strange to think that a year ago I was sitting here wondering when I would ever sleep, shower or finish a meal again. It was about this time last year that we were coming home from the hospital with two skinny wee babies dependant on us for everything. Now those babies are chubby cheeky rascals who are rapidly becoming more and more independent.
In retrospect the first year with twins was hard. Some days it was like being on a production line.... feed, wipe, change, bed..... There was very little time for "me" and very little time for Brian and I as "us" But you get through it because you know this stage lasts such a very short time and in no time at all we will be wondering where the baby years went. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with twins i decided to have zero expectations and to take things as they came. That was a good plan!! If the babies didn't want to sleep or threw another curve ball it was easier to handle when i wasn't putting pressure on myself to make them fit a particular mould.
I did and still do have to keep reminding myself that they are individuals and what suits one may not necessarily suit the other. In fact Xander and Maia are so different it is not funny. A number of people have commented on the fact that they were born the same day, to the same parents and are treated exactly the same BUT they are like chalk and cheese. Their wee personalities have shone from the beginning. But because they are so different they wanted to sleep and eat at different times too. Like every twin Mum before me and all those to come I was given LOTS of advice and well meaning people insisted that I make the twins eat and sleep at the same time. I tried it and gave up when it became clear that trying to make them follow the same routine was like tying to fit a square peg into a round hole!!! So i let them call the shots and now they are one they have decided that eating and sleeping at the same time is a good plan.
But despite all the sleepless nights and full full days I feel like i have been given a special gift with the twins - it is so special to stop and just watch them. It is amazing to watch them interact with each other and with their older brother. It makes your heart swell!!! i have also been so proud of Joshua and how he has coped with the Twinvasion!! He is a wonderful big brother and has managed to accept the babies with very little jealousy (apart from around their first birthday LOL).
One of the hardest things to deal with while the twins were young was other people's negative comments. My way of coping daily is to try to be extremely positive so negative comments from complete strangers always threw me. If I am living it and can still be positive how dare they try to drag me down to their pessimistic level. It actually makes me quite mad and my family know how grumpy i can get when people are being negative around me Hahahaha.
Having young twins has meant that we have had to make a number of compromises in our lives and can't do all the things we used to do. With Joshua we attended Gymbaroo, Mainly Music and got out of the house almost every morning to do something. But with Maia and Xander the wet weather has put paid to almost every planned activity as we would all get drenched just trying to get to the car. So life has slowed down a bit in some ways but honestly it is quite nice not to be rushing from place to place for a change. The are happy and don't care or even know that they are missing out on activities. There is plenty of time for all that later... may be in summer LOL.
It is hard to remember that Maia, our speed toddling climber, and Xander, our lego builder, were wee tiny babies just a year ago. But I am not sad. I am really looking forward to the year ahead and watching how their personalities unfurl....
Joshua and his new friend
Joshua jumping off the bouncing pillow
