In Chinese saying "acting like a live shrimp" describes someone can't sit still and move one's legs and arms around very quickly like a live shrimp in the water.
Haha, lately, I have been using this term on EY. EY got this strong kicks of her legs that she could escape our of my hands when I held her and jumped somewhere. For example, when I bathed her, once she laid down in the tub, her legs kicked the water in a fast and regular pattern as if she have learned how to swim and she was doing the frog kick style. Her kicks were so strong that her bath tub was shaking up. She was so excited and had her mouth wide open and looked at me "Mama, water is so fun. Look at me, I am swimming. " Of course, I could barely hold her in place to clean her. Once we put her on the changing table, she started her kicks again. This time was in the air. With her flapping arms, she thought she could fly! Ohh, trust me, I sweet just to keep her on the table not flying off somewhere. Her last famous kick was when we held her up in the air. She kicked and laughed and if we landed her on a hard surface, she would have jumped so high and escaped our hands. Now, we learned from grandma, we gave EY and HY a toy to hold onto so that they would be occupied and not to escape and increase the difficulty of the simple task - diaper changing.
HY had her live shrimp moments as well. Her move was to arch backwards if she was put down to sit or she had enough food. She waved her hands very fast across her face and no spoons or face cloth would escape that quick swift - creating a big mess on her clothes.
Now, do you understand the term "live shrimp" more?
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
We gave up sleep train for now
Already?! Yes, it seems to not be productive for both babies and parents at this point. We got even lazier than before. I just put EY in between us in our bed. When she cried, then, we didn't have to leave the bed, either put the pacifier in her mouth or gave her a few strokes to help her back to sleep.
Yeah, not just for the convenience, when you woke up, seeing the girls playing next to you was so so heart melting. They seemed to know that we were sleeping, so, they just played on their own with the pillow cases or the bedding. "they"? Yes, by 4am in the morning, HY would end up in our bed also. Yes, all four of us in a queen size bed, very cozy. Their little cute faces were specially cute after they woke up and relaxed. Their faces were glowing with those red cheeks and sparkling eyes. HY always had a sweet smile and soft look on her face. On the other hand, EY would have an exciting expression when she saw us waking up.
Yes, yes, in my head I was telling myself that we can not do it all the time because they will get used to sleeping in our bed and not be able to sleep in their own bed. What's called a temptation? This is definitely one of them! Need to go back to the RIGHT WAY again!
Yeah, not just for the convenience, when you woke up, seeing the girls playing next to you was so so heart melting. They seemed to know that we were sleeping, so, they just played on their own with the pillow cases or the bedding. "they"? Yes, by 4am in the morning, HY would end up in our bed also. Yes, all four of us in a queen size bed, very cozy. Their little cute faces were specially cute after they woke up and relaxed. Their faces were glowing with those red cheeks and sparkling eyes. HY always had a sweet smile and soft look on her face. On the other hand, EY would have an exciting expression when she saw us waking up.
Yes, yes, in my head I was telling myself that we can not do it all the time because they will get used to sleeping in our bed and not be able to sleep in their own bed. What's called a temptation? This is definitely one of them! Need to go back to the RIGHT WAY again!
Monday, April 5, 2010
No sleep training tonight
After two nights of screaming and listening to the screaming, WY and I were mentally exhausted and the girls were physically strained. HY had a big vomit episode today and her tummy must be not feeling well. So, we decided to take a break tonight. No sleep training! Yeah! Two girls both went back to their own bed in the room to sleep and I did my house work in the kitchen after they slept. It was nice to know that no heart breaking cries in my ears tonight. The trade off, I might need to get up 2-3 times during the night. What's better?
ma ma ma...
During the second night sleep training, EY cried out "ma ma ma..." the very first time. Ohh... It was so hard to resist the temptation of picking her up!
HY today cried out "ma ma ma..." while I walked to the kitchen to make their milk. They noticed the new words "da da da and ma ma ma" and they used it in different time. I didn't think they understood the meaning of those words yet but they will soon. Every time they made the sound "da da da", WY and I would point at WY. When they cried for "ma ma ma" and I would talk to them " Ma ma is here, not going anywhere. Ma ma is right here."
HY talked to herself a lot while playing. "Da da da da, da da da, da da" all in different tone. That was the little language of her own. Lately, she has been using her tongue to make funny noises and being entertained by her own sound.
EY lately had a new kind of laugh. She wrinkled her nose, squinted her eyes and opened then closed her mouth quickly with a loud "HA". That was it. It almost was like the fake smile we adult would make. Ohh, yeah, I am sure she picked that up from her Da Da :-P
HY today cried out "ma ma ma..." while I walked to the kitchen to make their milk. They noticed the new words "da da da and ma ma ma" and they used it in different time. I didn't think they understood the meaning of those words yet but they will soon. Every time they made the sound "da da da", WY and I would point at WY. When they cried for "ma ma ma" and I would talk to them " Ma ma is here, not going anywhere. Ma ma is right here."
HY talked to herself a lot while playing. "Da da da da, da da da, da da" all in different tone. That was the little language of her own. Lately, she has been using her tongue to make funny noises and being entertained by her own sound.
EY lately had a new kind of laugh. She wrinkled her nose, squinted her eyes and opened then closed her mouth quickly with a loud "HA". That was it. It almost was like the fake smile we adult would make. Ohh, yeah, I am sure she picked that up from her Da Da :-P
2nd night of sleep training
It started well with EY. After a bath, HY fell in asleep as usual on her own sucking her thumb. EY cried for about 15 minutes then she fell in asleep as well. The bath helped them relaxed. About 10pm, EY woke up and got onto her tummy. 5 minutes later, she fell in asleep on her tummy position. I repositioned her back to her side. She seemed to like to sleep on her side.
1pm, HY woke up and noticed she was not in her bed and she couldn't fall back in asleep as usual. We gave her some time to try but she would not stop crying. Her cry in the living room actually woke EY up who was in the bedroom with me. They were echoing each others' cry and they didn't seem to want to give up. 30 minutes passed. Finally, HY was picked up by WY and had a big big burp then she quite down. EY stopped and fell in deep sleep as soon as HY stopped crying.
It was a bit easier but the real challenge: Will they ever learn to fall back in asleep after they wake up during the night without crying? If not, one cries and the other wakes up and cries at the same time, I am not sure how that will go if we don't intervene.
Sleep training for twins is not the same as sleep training for individual babies. It is more than double the work:-P
1pm, HY woke up and noticed she was not in her bed and she couldn't fall back in asleep as usual. We gave her some time to try but she would not stop crying. Her cry in the living room actually woke EY up who was in the bedroom with me. They were echoing each others' cry and they didn't seem to want to give up. 30 minutes passed. Finally, HY was picked up by WY and had a big big burp then she quite down. EY stopped and fell in deep sleep as soon as HY stopped crying.
It was a bit easier but the real challenge: Will they ever learn to fall back in asleep after they wake up during the night without crying? If not, one cries and the other wakes up and cries at the same time, I am not sure how that will go if we don't intervene.
Sleep training for twins is not the same as sleep training for individual babies. It is more than double the work:-P
Sunday, April 4, 2010
sleep training
Well, after 9 months of lack of sleep and the "strong suggestion" from our Ped doc, we decided to sleep train EY - no pacifier and no holding, she should learn to fall in asleep on her own.
EY normally could fall in asleep sucking a pacifier no problem. But, once she fell in asleep, the pacifier would fall out of her mouth. Then, when she woke up in the middle of the night, she could not go back to sleep because she had nothing to suck on. We would get up 3-4 times to help her find the pacifier and put in her mouth throughout the night. Otherwise, when she woke up, she cried and woke up sister HY. If there was no loud noise, HY would be able to sleep through the night usually. If she was woke up, sometimes she got mad and refused to go back to sleep on her own.
It was not easy. EY woke up at 11pm and I didn't pick her up. We had put HY in the living room so that she would not be bothered by EY's cries. I told EY that she needed to go back to sleep and mama would be next to her. We prayed for her that Jesus would bless her sleep so soft and deep. EY kept on crying, crying and crying. She got up and tried to pull herself up holding onto the crib. I had to put her back down to her back at least five times.
After 75 minutes, EY finally was too tired and she cried herself to sleep. Every 10 minutes or so, she still woke up and screamed a few times and then back to sleep. Then, it was every hour, she woke up and cried a few times and then she went back to sleep on her own. It was not easy 75 minutes. I was constantly praying for EY that God would calm her down and help her. Every loud cry she made, I wanted to give up and just picked her up. By praying to God, I was able to hang in there and allow EY to learn to sleep on her own. It was hard to let go and not jump in to help. Thankfully, I had peace from God and so did EY. She did it! I was so so proud of her!
That was the first night!
EY normally could fall in asleep sucking a pacifier no problem. But, once she fell in asleep, the pacifier would fall out of her mouth. Then, when she woke up in the middle of the night, she could not go back to sleep because she had nothing to suck on. We would get up 3-4 times to help her find the pacifier and put in her mouth throughout the night. Otherwise, when she woke up, she cried and woke up sister HY. If there was no loud noise, HY would be able to sleep through the night usually. If she was woke up, sometimes she got mad and refused to go back to sleep on her own.
It was not easy. EY woke up at 11pm and I didn't pick her up. We had put HY in the living room so that she would not be bothered by EY's cries. I told EY that she needed to go back to sleep and mama would be next to her. We prayed for her that Jesus would bless her sleep so soft and deep. EY kept on crying, crying and crying. She got up and tried to pull herself up holding onto the crib. I had to put her back down to her back at least five times.
After 75 minutes, EY finally was too tired and she cried herself to sleep. Every 10 minutes or so, she still woke up and screamed a few times and then back to sleep. Then, it was every hour, she woke up and cried a few times and then she went back to sleep on her own. It was not easy 75 minutes. I was constantly praying for EY that God would calm her down and help her. Every loud cry she made, I wanted to give up and just picked her up. By praying to God, I was able to hang in there and allow EY to learn to sleep on her own. It was hard to let go and not jump in to help. Thankfully, I had peace from God and so did EY. She did it! I was so so proud of her!
That was the first night!
Change of position
It was new that EY and HY were able to change their playing position.
About three days ago, EY were rolling around the room to explore. Once she got to the busy zoo toy, where she could hold onto something, she was so brave that she attempted to pull herself up. Sometimes she could actually stood up by pulling onto the top of busy zoo and lift up those chubby legs. Sometime she ended up in kneeling position. If she couldn't get up there, then, she would settle with a sitting pose instead. She even was able to get to her butt and sit up from a crawling position. That was pretty cool. I used to help her sit up if she cried. Now, I tried to encourage her to sit up on her own instead. But when I was next to her, she preferred the help over trying. So, now, I watched her in a distance to allow her to figure things out.
HY didn't quite like crawling but she was the expert on standing. Often after she stood there for fifteen minutes, she would turn around and talked to me and bent her legs at the same time to signal me to help her sit down. Today, she slowly lowered her upper body while bending her knees. By holding tight onto the busy zoo toy, she was able to land her butt on the floor safely without falling.
About three days ago, EY were rolling around the room to explore. Once she got to the busy zoo toy, where she could hold onto something, she was so brave that she attempted to pull herself up. Sometimes she could actually stood up by pulling onto the top of busy zoo and lift up those chubby legs. Sometime she ended up in kneeling position. If she couldn't get up there, then, she would settle with a sitting pose instead. She even was able to get to her butt and sit up from a crawling position. That was pretty cool. I used to help her sit up if she cried. Now, I tried to encourage her to sit up on her own instead. But when I was next to her, she preferred the help over trying. So, now, I watched her in a distance to allow her to figure things out.
HY didn't quite like crawling but she was the expert on standing. Often after she stood there for fifteen minutes, she would turn around and talked to me and bent her legs at the same time to signal me to help her sit down. Today, she slowly lowered her upper body while bending her knees. By holding tight onto the busy zoo toy, she was able to land her butt on the floor safely without falling.
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