Did you know that twins suck each other’s thumbs? Or noses, or shoulders, or whatever happens to be in range. They weigh nearly12 kilos between them now. That’s a lot of baby to be hefting round.
They are developing personalities. Daniel is a big baby with an amiable grin and relaxed manner who reminds me forcibly of his uncle (my feckless brother – I foresee a lifetime of getting extra keys cut). He looks very like his big sister and moves like she did at his age (why should I hold my head up? No, really, why? I don’t intend to crawl until I reach 11 months).
Michael is a very different child. Unlike the Princess and Daniel,he is not a bald baby (how extraordinary). He loves having his legs bicycled and already puts weight on his legs,an ominous sign that he may walk early. Where did we get an athletic baby from? Unlike his older and bigger brother he believes that sleep is for wimps but he is a lot more amiable on his four hours a night than I suspect Margaret Thatcher ever was. Â I, however, am finding the regime challenging and, of course, the Princess likes to add her mite. I am sure you can imagine the joy in the Waffle household when after a night awake with the boys, the Princess knocked on our bedroom door at 6.02 this morning.
kristin
(Homepage)
on 21 January 2006 at 15:54
look at those contented visages! what happy boys they seem.
on 22 January 2006 at 14:54
Sez – afternoon nap, you say? Ha ha ha (come on, join in waffly) ha ha ha. 
on 23 January 2006 at 01:52
ahhh. So cute!!
on 23 January 2006 at 09:10
Sez, Jojo is right as ever. Kristin, Berry, thank you.
Tiring in a Whole New Way
Email from my friend D:
Saw this and thought of you -particularly your description of bringing Princess to school with the twins in tow, one in a sling and the other in the buggy. I feel that this is not a viable option into the future as the twins get bigger..http://www.magicmum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18600
Hope all is ok with you. Baby A has a cold and was awake crying from 1am to 4 am last night. I am shattered. I don’t know how you possibly manage with three. In fact I am surprised that anyone in the world has siblings at all, now that reliable contraception is available….
Yours in exhausted bewilderment,
You will note her wisdom in the matter of siblings.
Comments
belgianwaffle
on 23 January 2006 at 09:08
Good Lord Kristin, how extraordinary.
School and logistics
Monday went fine. Tuesday was ok. This morning she was in floods of tears. The problem is that she won’t sleep at school and she’s exhausted. I am collecting her at 12.10 today with a view to
giving her a nice long nap at home. If she does not nap at home,
I will shoot myself. Mr. Waffle is away on a business trip and
not coming back until tomorrow. Blind terror prevails.
Today will also be the first time that I have to collect her with the
boys as on Monday and Tuesday, I had people in to mind them. I am a little concerned that I will not be able to marshall all three of
them home (Princess on foot, Michael in sling and Daniel in buggy) so, despite the fact that the school is only around the corner, I think I might drive to collect her. Farewell, ozone layer. I cannot
tell you how much I am looking forward to trying to get her out the door to school tomorrow (up to now this has been her loving father’s task) with the boys in tow.
Thought I should mention that yesterday I was superwoman. Drove to the creche to drop off a little present and pick up a portrait of the Princess. Went to my place of work and passed the (immensely well behaved) boys to swarms of admirers. Left before they started to cry. Breastfed them both for half an hour in the back of the car while covered by cloth of decency and reading the LRB.
Lunched with Mr. Waffle while saintly Michael slept and I breastfed Daniel. Mercifully, a kind providence had placed us sitting beside two nordic gentlemen so, being Scandinavian and right on, they didn’t bat an eyelid, I’m not even sure that they noticed.
Came home, dropped the boys with G, set out for school, took Princess to the park and for a cup of tea. Came home, relieved G. With the Princess’s assistance, bathed both boys and prepared dinner for Mr. Waffle’s return at 6.45. Promptly collapsed with exhaustion thereafter.
on 11 January 2006 at 10:22
Sweetie(s) given
on 11 January 2006 at 10:23
Sweetie(s) given ���
on 11 January 2006 at 14:49
Sweetie(s) given ���
on 12 January 2006 at 08:40
Sweetie(s) given ���
on 12 January 2006 at 09:56
Ta Kristin, GPM, UC and Ms. Splog. Special thanks for the sweeties GPM and Ms. Splog. You are wise to continue to be scared of the week alone GPM..
SSC, yes, I used to love the sandpit myself.
The boys were christened. Rejoice. Mr. Waffle got two blankets from Marks and Spencer to serve as spotless garments. By the time we got to the church, one of them had been trailed in the mud. Alas.
The boys were very virtuous and slept and were therefore left in the hall. In fact the poor mites spent a lot of Christmas sleeping in halls.
As promised earlier, please admire photograph of me breastfeeding twins and maintaining a
semblance of decency. Yes, I know you were all desperate to see that.
The Princess eats eggs. My parents-in-law are the proud possessors of one egg cup. One day it went missing. My mother-in-law said, “Don’Â’t worry, you know what makes a great egg cup? A toilet roll”.” She scurried off to the bathroom to get a roll of toilet paper. I said defiantly, ““I am not feeding my daughter an egg from a roll of toilet paper”.” ““But it’Â’s a fresh roll,”” she said. The
Princess started to wail. I conceded defeat and gave her the egg from the roll of toilet paper. It works perfectly. I said to my mother-in-law, ““I’Â’m almost afraid to ask but how do you know this?”” ““Well,” she said “”when I was an air hostess in the 60s and we went to New York overnight, you would get a breakfast allowance. We wanted to save the money, so we would buy eggs and boil them in the hotel kettle and eat them from the roll of toilet paper. That woman is determined to ruin my vision of the glamour of the glory days of aviation.
on 09 January 2006 at 11:13
All of life is, in a sense, about one of two blankets trailing in the mud. 😉
Lovely pics: I particularly like the one where Cha is sleeping among the wine bottles…
Friar Tuck
on 09 January 2006 at 16:07
After drinking all that wine, it is no wonder that they were snockered!
Great pics though. Your breastfeeding pic is even decent enough to be shown in America. It was surely a disappointment to the NSA folks, who, I am sure, have set a filter to find all references to ‘breastfeeding’ passing through the air.
Ha ha. Just kidding. I’m sure they are only looking for terrorists. No, really. I love America. I love G.W. Bush. Please don’t arrest me.
on 10 January 2006 at 21:16
So THATs how you breastfeed two – I’ve always wondered – they’re very accommodating little chaps aren’t they?
on 11 January 2006 at 10:03
Lilo, yup, they are what is known as “good babies”.
Thanks Diva.
Friar Tuck, where have you gone? Why are you wearing an orange jump suit?
JD, profound.
Ta Norah.
on 11 January 2006 at 20:15
I love Friar Tuck. Perhaps this is the wrong thing to be saying about a man of the cloth and all that jazz and I may be going straight to hell, but I shall quote him come the day of being judged….
ali
(Homepage)
on 12 January 2006 at 01:54
you definitely are a wonderwoman! i have enough trouble breastfeeding one!!!!
on 12 January 2006 at 09:52
HJB, quite. I think he should start his own blog..
Ali, forget breast feeding, am deeply indebted to you for the info that Angelina Jolie is pregnant.
All Quiet on the Western Front
The other night the boys both slept at the same time. Mr. Waffle arrived downstairs and announced to me, “Our gums are silent””.
UndercoverCookie on 22 December 2005 at 10:53
haha, that is great. does he blog?
belgianwaffle on 09 January 2006 at 10:20
Pog, mmm…UC, nah, he relies on me to transmit his bons mots.
Leaving on a Jet Plane
Yes, indeed we are off to Ireland for Christmas this afternoon with our mountain of luggage, as yet unpacked. As it happens, I do know when I’Â’ll be back again. We will return to the kingdom of the Belgians on January 4 and I expect updates, if any, to be few and far between until then. Pause here to laugh cruelly at the duration of American holidays as opposed to European ones.
In the interim, I wish you all a very happy Christmas and leave you with a Christmas photo. Note the look of fear on the boysÂ’ faces.
Comments
poggle
on 17 December 2005 at 10:06
Note the evil smile on the face of the Princess … oooh dear.
kristin (Homepage) on 17 December 2005 at 12:17 I agree with pog — not only the fear on the boys’ face, but the gleeful mischievousness on the princess. have lovely hols, waffley.
Friar Tuck
on 17 December 2005 at 16:21
They do have that “deer in the headlights” look about them.
Lilo
on 18 December 2005 at 11:32
I think your boys look like they’re trying to keep very, very still.
Happy Christmas Ms Waffle x
jackdalton
on 18 December 2005 at 18:12
‘Now if I just knock these together…’ thought Princess. But then she realised there was a camera present. So she smiled her big smile and waited for a better, less camera-prone moment.
🙂
Have a Happy Christmas, ‘waf and co.
Minkleberry
on 19 December 2005 at 07:37
Those pregnancy hormones have really kicked in. This piccie’s got me wailing. So adoreable!
Bobble
on 21 December 2005 at 11:07
Have a fabulous natale all of you – hope my card arrived?!
belgianwaffle
on 09 January 2006 at 10:20
Thank you all very much – have been poor at replying to comments recently but all is now restored to normal…