Yosemite Family Vacation

Last weekend we took our first ever family vacation! The four of us, along with our friends Amar and Ami and their 2.5 year old son Arjun went to Yosemite National Park for a four day weekend. We travelled out on Friday and back home on Monday with three nights in cabins at the Yosemite Bug.

Things I learned:

1. Family vacation means family vacation. It does not mean that mom and dad get to go visit the hot tub alone (oh, I guess someone has to watch the kids if we want to do that - luckily for us Ami and Amar did keep an eye on the monitor one night after they had gone to bed so we could take a quick dip).

2. Renting a mini-van is where it's at. I still would not actually want one of my own, given that it's huge and a pain to park in SF, but to rent one for the trip was fabulous. We didn't feel cramped at all in our 2010 Town and Country, especially once we put seats 5 through 7 down below the floor in storage. It felt like we had a flat bed pick up to fill with goodies such as our gigantic stroller, bags of diapers and disposable bibs, food for adults, food for kids, clothes for adults, clothes for kids, sun block, toys for kids, cameras, boots, pack and play, travel tent, etc etc etc etc.

And some things we did:

We visited Badger Pass Ski Area and did some snow tubing with our boys, scooting down the hills with babies between our arms and the tube. I also was lucky enough to catch the end of the Butler - Syracuse game in which the Bulldogs won their way to the Final Four! On Sunday we went to Curry Village and then to Yosemite Falls. The boys slept better each night we were there. They didn't nap much but weren't too crabby as a result.

Next Stop: San Diego in early October for Jeff's wedding (unless we find something fun to do in the meantime).

8 months

The boys passed their 8 month birthday a few days ago. Sometimes the boys are all giggles and take 2.5 hour naps. Sometimes (like this weekend) they forget they need to sleep at all during the day and like to see how many diapers they can go through. Friday Kristen and I were happy to resume our pre-baby routine of going to bed early on Friday nights (this time it was 9:12pm). Kristen was up at 6:15am when the boys woke up, I got to sleep in until 7:42! Aaah the luxurious life!

Here are some pics from a recent trip to the Golden Gate bridge and misc others:

Haha

Two videos of the boys giggling! There have been a lot of laughs lately.



Max


Kennedy

Life goes on... and it officially "does get better"

We haven't posted in awhile. Probably because nothing dramatic or traumatic has happened lately.

The boys are progressing nicely into little boyhood. They are babbling, saying "ma ma" and "baba" - although it's hard to say if we can count this since I don't think it's aimed at us as words. They are trying their best to sit up and can do so with a little help (one finger for each hand to pull them up with). Max can roll over from stomach to back and vice versa, although Kennedy seems like he's not interested in that yet (but certainly has the strength to do so). Grandma and Grandpa bankrolled two wonderful high chairs and the boys have been experimenting with spoons and "solid" food (rice cereal added to milk).

And .... drumroll... they are much improved in the sleep department. We saw the doctor in December and he told us to start sleep training the boys since they are now physically capable of sleeping through the night (a term that technically means 5 straight hours of sleep, not the 10-12 we crave). In any case, we started doing some sleep techniques and have gotten them to only wake up twice a night (around midnight and 3AM) then wake up at 5:30-6AM. To you non-recent parents this may sound like hell, but for us this is pure bliss. We are even fantasizing about getting a baby monitor and reclaiming our own bedroom downstairs (both of us, at the same time!) once they maybe get down to only 1 wake up during the night.

If this isn't life "getting better" than I don't know what is.

baby streaking!!!

mmm, solid food...

kennedy and our nanny erika

kennedy with his new bear

Videos on Blogger

You may recall the video of Max taking a bath that we posted months ago (when he fit into a small plastic tub!). Well, it was a royal pain to get that clipped to the right size and uploaded, so I've decided to post our next video on youtube. It's a fabulously cute one of the boys talking with one another. Max is on the left in the stripes and Kennedy is on the right.

The Sweetest Sound

My favorite sound lately is that of my babies squealing and squeeking and trying out their newfound vocal cords. Matt calls them pterodactyl's. It's great to have a couple of happy healthy (despite my current status as a flu carrier in the house) little boys after being near to having 26wk preemies earlier this year.

Preview of Coming Attractions!

As of this morning, our little Butterballs weighed in at slightly over and slightly under the size of our Thanksgiving turkey! (13lbs that is).

This year we'll be having Thanksgiving at our house with Jeff and Sang and Garrett and a few of his friends. After the big meal and a (small) slice of pie, we'll head over to the Edmonds gathering for dessert mania courtesy of Amy!

Aquatic Park

Yesterday Kristen and I took the boys to Aquatic Park to show them where Dad went swimming (from Alcatraz to shore and practice swims in A.P.) when they were just a few weeks old. We even saw two groups of sea lions playing around near the swimmers!

In other photos - Grammy Chris displays her ability to care for two babies at once and the boys are outgrowing the cats!

The Grasp!

It's here ladies and gentlemen, The Voluntary Grasp. I noticed it this morning and it was confirmed this evening as I hovered my hand over Kennedy's face and he in a very determined and calculated manner, with what looked like steam coming out of his ears, reached out and grasped my fingers! Repeated again with dad's hand!

These are the kind of things that are very exciting to a new mom like me. Now my babies can start playing with toys and exploring a whole new universe of tactile interaction.

Next stop - putting everything in their mouths!

By the numbers...

Today the whole family went to the pediatrician. Here is a recap of today's visit by the numbers:

8 (number of separate appointments crammed into one)

3.5 (total hours it took including car ride)

2 (number of H1N1 (swine flu) vaccines delivered to Matt & Kristen)

6 (total number of vaccination shots delivered to two screaming boys)

$1,000 (cost per synagis (vaccination) shot delivered to each boy. we have to get these monthly for the next 6 months and there is no co-pay. thank you kaiser!)

Max -
Weight 11 lb 11 oz
Height 23.5 in
50th percentile in height (adjusted age)

Kennedy -
Weight 12 lb 3 oz
Height 24.5 in
90th percentile in height (adjusted age)

Busy with Twins!

Hi everyone -

Yes we have been very busy with the boys and visitors...with more on the way. Here are a few photos to tide you over till I have time to write something more substantial.

Hand Studies & More from NewParentville

The boys are really into making some controlled movements with their fists these days. Bringing the arm and fist to the face (eye, nose or otherwise) and studying the movement in detail. It seems like they're learning that it's their hand and they control it. Really neat and I can't wait until they open that fist and start grabbing stuff and putting things in their mouths to start the next phase of exploration.

And here are some unrelated thoughts:

Burger King sounded SO good today after a pathetic attempt at a cobb salad made of random half rotted left overs from our fridge. I ran out and got us some burgers, fries and a chocolate shake. What doesn't sound so good is that we're going to have the other halves of our burgers re-warmed for dinner. However, this does sound better than taking the effort to cook something then have dirty dishes sitting in the kitchen again. I just don't have the energy and frankly, it's almost my bed time. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I go to bed around 8pm. If I can. That's cause I do the "late shifts" on baby sitting. Matt keeps an eye on them from their bed time (also around 8pm) till they wake up to eat. This is the longest period they sleep for, usually 3 - 6 hours. We love the 6 hours. The 3 hours is a little tough to digest. Then I get up and stay with them till morning, and on a week day, the whoooooole rest of the day. Granted we do get a little more sleep between midnight (or so) and the real "morning" but never as peaceful as the off-duty shift.

We had a funny weekend with lots of laughing, a little bit of sleep, even less cleaning, a visit to the newly arrived cousin Aralyn in San Jose, the occasional shower. I can't believe I only have three weeks of maternity leave left! I also can't believe how expensive childcare is. Maybe I should become a nanny because they rake it in, as do day care centers.

Oooh, sounds like my BK is fresh out of the micro, gotta run!

Sustenance

Lately Kristen and I have been having meals that can be categorized as "life sustaining". We have no real time to plan for, much less prepare and eat our typical meals that, say - taste good.

Here was my menu today:
Breakfast
1 yogurt & powerbar (for a source of protein). Time allotted for consumption - 45 seconds.
Lunch
Plain pasta w/ tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. Soy milk.
Snack
Coffee, brownie bits
Dinner
Half a TV dinner (split w Kristen), tiny bowl of cheese & bacon soup, cheese on four month old crackers.

Time to buy stock in companies that make frozen pizzas...

Baby Yoga

Today I took the boys to Baby & Me yoga at kiki-yo in Glen Park. The class is taught by the same woman who taught my prenatal class. It was a lot of fun, and I was able to see a few of the moms from prenatal again. The boys were very well behaved and loved watching and listening to everything going on. I may have to make a habit of this for the rest of my maternity leave!

Grandma & Baby-tanical Garden

Grandma (Rampe) and Phil came to town for two weeks to visit and had a great time holding the boys and watching them grow before our eyes!

Yesterday we took the boys to the Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park yesterday. It was filled with lots of cool plants... and babies! (We speculate this because dogs aren't allowed and there are nice grassy places to sit while looking at plants.)

These Babies are GREAT!

Everyone always tells parents of newborns "it gets better"... and sometimes it's hard to believe them when you have no sleep and can't figure out what the current cry is demanding. But, I am now part of the crowd that can officially offer the same advice. Over the last week or two Kennedy and Max have gotten much more fun and easier to take care of. They are both smiling and actually spend a good amount of time each day awake and not crying. We talk, we play, sometimes we sleep, though not as much as I think they should (or me!).


Yesterday I received the prestigious Mother of the Year award, as voted on by all five males residing at 21 Bessie (2 boys 2 cats 1 husband). My prize is a massage which I'm redeeming on Saturday. Anyone want to join me? I'll be at Burke Williams in SF at 9am and plan to be the first one in the hot tub!


Pictured above: Kennedy, Max

Drum Roll Please...

A message I got from Proactive Genetics today:

"We are pleased to report to you the results of the twin zygosity test that you requested. Analysis of the DNA indicates that Kennedy Henry Rampe and Max David Rampe are monozygotic, or more commonly referred to as identical twins.

We first isolated DNA from cheek cells from the swab kits that were returned to our lab. We amplified the DNA using a technique called PCR. Next, we analyzed 7-8 standard DNA markers (D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, vWA, TH01, TPOX, and CSF1PO) and determined that the highly variable DNA markers were the same for both twins. Thus, there is greater than a 99% probability that the twins are monozygotic."

Translation - it's ok if we get them mixed up now and again!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday, Matt and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary. Wewere lucky enough to have a fabulous "team" of babysitters watch the babies while we went to dinner at Emmy's, our favorite neighborhood restaurant. Shelby, Andrea and Rebekah all took great care of Max and Kennedy who didn't cry at all while we were gone.

Matt brought home a long stemmed rose for me. And by long we're talking 32" (what were they feeding that plant!?). Max and Kennedy even got us a gift - they both slept for over four **consecutive** hours last night! I went downstairs to our little front room which has an aero bed setup for the off-duty-trying-to-sleep parent around 9:30 pm and didn't hear any crying until just before 2 am. Even then they were still half sleeping, but not for long.

As for two years of wedded bliss - here are some highlights:

1. Our wedding and reception - probably the best party I've ever been to :)
2. Our "honeymoon" in hawaii
3. Matt's 30th birthday lunch at French Laundry
4. One year anniversary trip to China and Japan
5. My 30th birthday at MacArthur Place in Sonoma
6. Thanksgiving with my big family in Atlanta
7. Finding out we're not just having one baby, but TWO
8. Hearing two babies scream as they're delivered
9. Sleeping for four hours in a row for the first time in many months!

"Real" Babies

In the baby department much progress has been made. Since Kristen and I see them every day - it can sometimes be hard to see the changes in the boys, but there is no doubt the boys are growing up. We went to the pediatrician again on Friday, and we did the usual - spew out all our new parent concerns while he does his best to listen quietly then tell us that yes, everything is still very normal and healthy. They weighed the boys and Kennedy weighed in at a hefty 7 lbs 2 oz., with brother Max at 6 lbs 12 oz. They passed their due date (Aug 18th) recently, so with these "hefty" weights to boot, I am starting to feel like they are "real" babies now. They can hold their heads up for much longer now too and are doing more baby pushups during tummy time. They have also given us some Mona Lisa type smiles recently, but we think they are going to break out in full-on grins any day now.

In other news, it has been like an ongoing family reunion over here. If Kristen's family isn't in town mine is. It will be this way until the new year, and let me say to all the would be parents (especially if you have twins) -- DEFINITELY GET FAMILY HELP. They have been a Godsend and there is NO way we could have gotten this far without their constant help. Being a parent is a tireless job and it's nice to have someone to do a baby hand off to. Gramy Chris, Great Aunt Betsy, Uncle Garrett and Aunt Shelby all were around this week.

Max and Kennedy August 09, by Kristen Hebert

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

Meet your 17 lb cousin, Caden

This weekend we went down to my cousin Jessica's baby shower in San Jose. We also got to see Aunt Leigh, cousin Kat and her 6 month old baby boy, Caden. Caden is a BIG boy. Everyone always says how small our boys are, and after meeting this guy we can see why. Here are a few more perspectives on the size of our boys...

Slightly longer than a strip of bacon, slightly heavier than a bag of flour:

Hungry?

When you have your first baby you learn facts about kids like "babies eat every 2 - 4 hours". Sometimes it's recommended to wake up a baby at the 4 hour mark or whatever your doctor's thought is on the maximum time limit for your baby and feed them. With preemies this is even more unanimous because they are often sleepy and might just rather sleep than eat. Well our boys are over that stage, and have no problem letting us know they're hungry.

Kennedy and Max eat about every two hours. For those of you who aren't yet parents this means from the start of one feeding to the start of the next is two hours. Each feeding takes about 30 minutes, more if you add in the related burping and diaper changing, which means the Breastraunt is only closed for employee breaks for about 90 min at a time. We also learned from hanging out with our neighbors who also have newborn twins about a neat thing called "cluster feeding". Expecting parents read up! We used to think "you just ate two hours ago you can't be hungry" and tried to kind of keep the boys at bay between these two hour intervals - not the right answer.

Are you feeling tired from not getting enough rest last week or over the weekend? If so, read below to add a new perspective to your fatige.

Max & Kennedy Rampe's feeding start times for August 6th and 7th:

2:30am
(3:30am - Max only)
5:45am
(6:45am - Kennedy only)
7:45am
9:50am
(10:35am - Kennedy only)
(11:35am - Kennedy only)
12:05pm
2:35pm
4:05pm
5:50pm
7:45pm
9:35pm
11:50pm
(12:30am - Kennedy only)
1:55am
4:30am
6:30am
8:40am
11:50am
2:20pm
4:20pm
6:10pm
(7:40pm - Max only)
8:45pm
10:20pm
(11:00pm - Max only)
(11:30pm - Kennedy only)

If that doesn't leave you ready for a nap yourself I don't know what will!

Trouble Brewing

Earlier this year I started brewing some beer to celebrate the birth of the twins. That beer is now ready. It's called Dubbel Trouble (pronounced Double Trouble) and is available for consumption at a Rampe residence near you. The beer is a Belgian Dubbel and has a pretty strong flavor that I think should mellow out nicely with age. Although I have brewed a handful of tasty beers in the past, this time I somehow over-carbonated it. All of these beers I have opened so far have lost about half their contents to upon opening without any shaking on my part. Trouble indeed! Here is the label - get a cold one today!

Which one is that?

A common question in our household. Just today we've started assigning hats to each boy, so hopefully that will help some of the "which baby am I holding now" confusion that comes at the wee hours of the morning (and really all day long). In addition to the traditional Max and Kenedy monikers we have compiled the following list of

Top 5 Nicknames:

5. Milk Master

4. Super Baby (when arms are extended as if in flight)

3. Burrito (when swaddled)

2. Milk Man

1. Milky

All above names are used to refer to either Kennedy or Max. Milk related names have to do with either the amount of drooly milk left on the face after feeding, or the uber heavy eyelid look after a big milky meal. See attached depiction of "Milky" (Kennedy).