Our Twins: A Three Month Update

This past Monday, our adorable little nuggets turned three months old. Since we last updated you on the twins, their life has been flipped upside down. Literally. A week before they celebrated another month on this earth, they flew halfway around it to Sydney, Australia, where we are now planning on raising them.

The twins really surprised us on the long haul flights. With the help of our baby-obsessed flight attendants on Delta and Korean Air, we survived three flights, 30+ hours of airports and layovers, and intense luggage juggling before arriving in our new home in the leafy, harborside neighborhood of Birchgrove, Sydney.

The twins are on two very different growth paths since arriving in Oz. Stella is focusing on gurgling and drooling. Cooper is mastering smiling and running imaginary marathons in his bouncy chair. Both twins are sleeping for longer stretches each night (we’ve had four 7-hour gifts this week), enjoying our daily walks, and are huge fans of wearing no clothing – like father, like twins. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

As of December 11, 2017, our son is…

• 11.5 pounds (5.2 kg).
• A very happy baby who has a huge smile and isn’t afraid to use it. He just really discovered his smile this week – or maybe he discovered his eyes, and was so thrilled to see the world (and our faces?) that he can’t help but smile. As other parents can attest, this is a game changer. It makes all the sleepless nights and cry-fests totally (or kind of) worth it.
• In love with being outdoors. Thank goodness for the beautiful Sydney weather.
• Still loves his sing-a-long time with dadda. Crossing my fingers that I have someone in the family to harmonize with! Current favorite: The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole.
• Just learning that his feet can move him. If we leave him alone on his back, when we return he will have rotated himself 180 degrees like he’s drawing perfect crop circles on his play mat. Can’t keep your eyes off the little guy.
• Still in a love/hate relationship with his car seat. Minus the love. He absolutely despises it and cried 9 out of 10 times he’s placed in it. Any and all tips and tricks are greatly appreciated.
• Still not aware that he has a twin sister. Crossing our fingers for month four!

Our daughter is…

• 11.46 pounds (5.25 kg).
• The Queen of Drooling. Seriously, it’s basically all she does.
• Obsessed with her weekly Skype dates with her Abuela, in which my mom hosts the internet’s greatest talk show, Abuelly-Telly. Stella tracks her every move and giggles as soon as she hears her voice!
• Just starting to reach for her feet. When she’s on her back, she pulls her legs up to her stomach and gives herself a magnificent foot massage.
• Learning to reach and grab. If we add the toy attachment to our BabyBjorn Bouncer (thanks, Lucy), she will sit and whack at that thing for 30 minutes or so. Her dexterity isn’t great, but if you’re after someone to randomly slap at bright objects with a jerky paw, she’s your gal.
• Starting to respond to our words with random sounds. If she’s in the zone, she will do a fun call-and-response for two minutes or so. And whether it’s on purpose or not – because let’s be honest, who really knows – she sometimes responds to two sounds with two sounds and three sounds with three. One time I said “Ho Ho Ho” and she responded back to “Ma Ma Ma.” If I was a mother, I’d be convinced she was talking to me.
• Still not aware that she has a twin brother. Crossing our fingers for month four!

And as for us? We are…

• Stressed. Moving halfway around the world, setting up a home and raising twins at the same time isn’t easy.
• Falling into a nice sleep schedule. It doesn’t always work, but about 60% of the time the twins are napping at the same time, twice a day, and going to bed at the same time each night. Fingers crossed this 7-hour sleep burst continues!
• Beginning to explore the wild west of babysitting. We’ve already begun using close friends and family, but over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll be using highly recommended strangers. Eek!

For real-time updates on the nuggets, you can follow me on Instagram. And stay tuned for our four-month update coming on (or around) January 11th!

Until next time, stay crafty.