Taking a break

I am sitting in my basement surrounded by ribbon and tulle, so I am giving myself a timeout and writing a long overdue post.
So whats new? HITTING! WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!???? Ashlyn is the worst, it is full on hitting me in the face if she doesnt get her way. The girls are giving each other hugs and kisses(((can I get a collective AWWWWWWWW)) but the next minute they are hitting each other. This isnt like before when they would hit each other because of their lack of coordination and somehow end in a toddler pileup. No, this is on purpose and I know it is just frustration. Nothing says good morning like getting bitch slapped by a 16 month old!
I am also thinking that they should start having designated toys, but I dont know how this would work logistically. If Ashlyn has Fiona's toy, do I take it away from her and vice versa? Any tips?
Speaking of toys, we received not one but TWO American Girls catalogs, one for me and one for the husband. I dont know how we got on their mailing list. So I obviously looked through mine, I gave Tony's to the girls so they could look at it/rip it up, and I am obsessed with their bitty twin dolls but I know the girls are too young...right?...plus the dolls are $$$$. It is something to keep in mind for their 2nd birthday.

Scary stuff

This morning we were heading out to storytime. We've taught the girls how to go down the stairs by sitting down, turning over on their belly and sliding down. So both girls headed down the stairs but Ashlyn decided that she wanted to go up. I had one girl going down, one going up and suddenly I saw Fiona at the top of the steps and she took a step down. OMG, it all happened in slow motion. I saw her tumbling down like a rag doll and she landed on her back at the bottom of the steps. I was hysterical, Fioan was hysterical and Ashlyn was crying as well.
I strapped them both into the car, preparing to go to the ER, and called the doctor's office. I got a nurse on the phone and she calmed me down. She gave me all the signs to look for and just told me to observe Fiona for a few hours. At this point Fiona was fine and laughing. She was fine for the rest of the day, her cold bothered her more than the fall it seems.
I dont think I will ever forget what she looked like going down those stairs. I cant help but feel responsible. Blahhhhhhh motherhood is so hard sometimes!

Who needs sleep? Ya never gonna get it....

Who needs sleep? Whats that for.
Yeah I am stealing some lines from Barenaked Ladies. Their lyrics seemed appropriate given the state of sleep in this house.
The twinsies are 15 months actual, so 13.5 months corrected. A quick look at moxie shows that there is a common sleep regression period around 13 months, so it seems to jive with what is going on with the girls. They wake up in the middle of the night and SCREAM. It isnt whimpering, it is blood curdling outright screaming. We go in and thus begins the dance. Fine when someone is in there, screaming begins again when we leave. We try to co-sleep, something we've done in the past, but the offender wants nothing to do with that. To them co-sleeping is an invitation to a late night party.
It seems like Ashlyn is having the rougher time, well aside from mommy & daddy, and I know her starting to walk is probably playing a role as well.
Another surprising development is Fiona is clinging to daddy, so much that if he leaves her sight, it is a full out temper tantrum. I have to be honest and say I feel a bit slighted. While they are still beating down the bathroom dorr while I am in there, I dont get the clinging to daddy thing. Is it because he works so much and they are already sensing this? I just feel like a total bad guy when I have to take her out of the office so he can work.

Sleep training for twins

First, I want to say that I am trying not to judge. I am just speaking for what works for us. I've read a ton of books about this and I tried to make an informed decision for our girls. I think what is most important is that parents are informed in whatever sleep training method they choose. That means reading the books as opposed to googling for a brief synopsis.
After reading ferber, I could see when & why it would work but I knew it wasnt for us. My girls were flipping out from just being put in their cribs. I needed a method that would help them realize that their cribs were a safe place and that they would be okay.
I decided that The Good Night, Sleep Tight method was the best choice for us. Now, I am on the crunchy side of parenting and I am a very small minority in the multiples community. I just felt that the Sleeplady's methods were what jived with our parenting point of view and it seemed like common sense to me. I could comfort both girls by just being close to their cribs. With ferber, I would've been going in there every five minutes. I just dont see how it would work with twins when both babies are crying. I could see it working if you had a singleton or if just one of your multiples was having problems.
We started sleep training at 10 months. We also had to take time off because of obvious developmental milestones which impact their sleeping, such as teething or walking. I think it is really important for parents to realize that sleep is not a clear cut issue and that is the major problem I have with crying it out. Classic crying it out doesnt make exception for those developmental milestones and there are no guidelines of when to CIO depending on age, health, etc,etc. There are so many varibles that can impact sleep.
On the preemie front, my girls were not dismissed from the state early intervention. I am okay with this because it means they are getting the help they may need. I will say that I was surprised they still qualified. They are tested at their actual age vs. adjusted age and they should be doing things like going to get a toy if you tell them to, or helping with getting dressed by lifting up their arms. Those developmental acheivements never ever crossed my mind. Now that I know what they shoud be doing, I know what I should be working on. I can already see changes in the girls in the last two weeks.

and now for something completely different-
The fabulous Tobi is having a giveaway on here blog. She is giving away a beautiful blooming baby bouquet. I can attest to these bouquets. I got a kitchen one for my mom for Mother's day and she LOVED it. Actually it has been her dining room table centerpiece this whole summer.
Here is the link to the contest and good luck!
http://drbabymamadrama.blogspot.com/2009/08/giveaway.html

The Multiples...and more blog is having a giveaway of orglamix mineral makeup, eco friendly!
http://multiplesandmore.blogspot.com/2009/08/product-review-and-giveaway-orglamix.html