The Fountain Effect...

Lucas taught Astral and Defy to toast! Cheers to the kale juice!!!


January has been a month of many new adventures in the lives of Astral and Defy, our 22 month old big boys. With the promise of a new year we expected many changes, but not this fast. Within the past month our guys have started making sentences and communicating more clearly. We have always been conscious of our behavior and actions in front of them, but now we realize that even little things that we say are being totally absorbed. For instance, whenever the boys eat a meal Star and Sunny, our canine companions, wait to gobble up any food that is dropped. We have no problem with that, we love them being instant little vacuum cleaners. Sometimes they get overly excited and jump up on the chairs and scratch at the boys’ legs and feet to try to get a hard-to-reach morsel of delight. I have found myself saying “go away” on occasion and had never thought anything of it. Well…until a couple of weeks ago when Astral and Defy started saying “go awaaaaay”. Where the hell did they learn that? They don’t watch television, go to daycare or a babysitter. After thinking about it, I realized it was me! They picked it up from the mealtime chaos of two toddlers and two doggies! I now try to choose my words even more carefully,no matter what the situation.

Along with clearer speech and an extensive toddler vocabulary Astral and Defy absolutely love to sing! They are seriously entertaining and really feel the music. They try so hard to carry the tune. I think we might have two little singers on our hands! They also love to dance and have the best and most randomly creative moves ever. They just need one more member to form their own little punk band…

Potty trainings is going very well. We introduced the potty early on to make them feel comfortable and to ease the transition. Astral and Defy currently wear diapers during naptime, bedtime and when they go outside. They use their potties the rest of the time. We have a bunch of organic training pants, but realized that they posed a problem, a problem we’ve coined as the “fountain effect”. Astral and Defy pee standing up and daddy taught them how to pull down their training pants to go to the potty, but sometimes they have a problem with pulling them down properly, so we end up with pee going straight up in the air. Not a fun clean up but worth a chuckle or two after the fact…

The cutest thing happened two nights ago. Lucas went in to check on the boys during the night. He didn’t see Astral in his bed and after looking around for him in the dark, he found him cuddled up in Defy’s bed. It was super adorable. We knew this would eventually happen. We’ve read and heard many stories from other twin parents about their sets sleeping together. We wonder if they will choose to sleep together often; they haven’t since that first time.

Over the past month we have had our fair share of the usual bumps and bruises that come along with twin toddlers. Astral scraped his back after falling from the handlebars of our treadmill. They are always scaling something and I always tell them when they are at the top of a rock climbing wall at the park or any appropriate climbing apparatus that they are “AMAZING”. I turned my back for like one second while in our bedroom and I hear “AMAZING” in the sweetest little voice and then a big CRASH! Again…they are such sponges! Thankfully he was okay and there was no permanent or severe damage. They are such stealth little danger twins. Lucas and I need another pair of eyes in the back of our heads and an extra hand or two each. EVOLUTION…

Lucas took the guys to their first stay-at-home dads’ play group yesterday. There were around 30 dads and many children. It was such a great opportunity for Lucas to mingle with other dads that understand and can relate to his lifestyle. He’s come along with me to a couple of the mommy playgroups I belong to, but I rarely get to attend since I work outside of the home fulltime. He had been hesitant to go to them without me because he just wasn't sure if the moms would feel comfortable with some dude hanging around, cramping their all-mommy style! We are very fortunate to live in an area with plenty stay-at-home daddy support. Now if only we could find a vegan stay-at-home dad playgroup. Ahhh vegan parents can dream, can’t they…

all photos are Astral Defiance and Defy Aster at 22

The Perfect Circles…

The so called “terrible twos” are fast approaching, though at times it seems like this stage already started a while ago! Astral and Defy will be 21 months in a couple of days and they are constantly entertaining and terrifying us at the same time. They are super funny and already show promise of great senses of humor. They are also little dare-devils and seem destined for a future of professional skateboarding (daddy would love this) or stuntmen! There is no holding these two little guys down. They know how to get out of anything that confines them, including tightened car seat straps and booster seats. One minute they’ll be eating at the table and the next they will be standing on top of the table dancing. Super cute, but super dangerous as well!

We have two budding artist who proudly know how to say and indentify all of their basic colors and shapes. They've recently moved on to drawing perfect little circles and they’re working on hearts and straight lines! We have some pretty strong "artist genes" in the family so maybe they will inherit the talent.

They continue their love for books and can sit and listen intently, completely engrossed by a story. Their attention spans are great for their age. They enjoy going to the library, and as soon as we walk in the doors they are so excited they can’t help but scream, “BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS!” while running toward the shelves. They don’t even wait to get to the kiddie section, sometimes they choose the most ridiculous non-children books! So cute!!!

The weather has been really nice and has allowed lots of playtime outside with just hoodies and not big bulky coats. I am sure that will be ending soon, but we are thankful while it lasts. Astral and Defy have been having so much fun playing with leaves this season. They love to roll around, bury themselves, gather and throw all the beautiful fallen leaves. Snowsuits are ready to be broken in with the first big snow, which will be a new adventure for our little boys.

Potty training is going great at full speed ahead! We are researching organic training pants right now for the next phase. We are so ready to retire their cloth diapers because cleaning them is every bit as pleasant as it sounds. Astral peed standing up last week, which they both have been doing for a while, but this time (GASP) he didn’t get any pee on the floor, it all went right into the potty. Totally perfecting his aim! LOVE IT!

The boys continue to eat pretty well and are still devouring their green juices and smoothies. Their favorite snack right now is nori (seaweed). They can’t get enough of the stuff. We love pulling out their healthy snacks at the parks and play dates and telling people about our vegan family.

The 20th month of Astral and Defy’s life, like every other, has passed by in what seems like a blink of an eye. Every time we meet another twin mom or dad, they always say the same thing: “it gets easier”. Just last week a mom was jogging by at the park and she yells out without stopping, “It gets easier…I have 7 year old twins”. Raising twins hasn’t been easy, but it isn’t as hard as people make it seem. Maybe because we had twins in the first round and we don’t know how easier the experience would be with a singleton. I think it gets easier for all parents as children grow and mature. Having twins may actually be easier at times because they have a fulltime partner to play and laugh with. They can entertain one another while lunch is being whipped up or while the floor is being swept. Even if it does get easier, I don’t really care, I’m all about relishing the now. Even when there is a tantrum and bodies fall dramatically to the ground, I cherish every second. I know one day Astral and Defy will be grown up and I will wish I had just one more love-filled toddler cuddle or high-pitched, squealing tantrum. When we decided to have children the last thing we thought was that it would be easy…

All photos are of Astral and Defy at 20 months old

Protein, Potties and Peaceful Sleep...

18 month photos

Another whirlwind month in the journey of raising vegan toddlers! The boys are 18 months old for another couple of days, and there have been many exciting transitions during this pivotal month.

Astral and Defy had their 18 month well baby check up (their first visit to the Dr. for any reason since they were 12 months). Their pediatrician said they were doing EXCELLENT! I had been worried because they had not been eating as much as usual, but the doctor said they were both really healthy weights and there was no reason to be anxious. Pediatricians aren’t nutritionists, and as supportive as our doctor has always been of raising the boys on a vegan diet, she never ceases to amaze us with her questions and concerns. While discussing all the nutritious foods the boys eat she asked, "so what are their protein sources?" Lucas and I just paused a second, shot each other a quick look, and continued slowly naming all the foods they eat. It seems like most people just automatically assume you can only get sufficient protein from animals and their bodily functions, and doctors are no exception. I mean seriously, FRUITS, VEGETABLES, BEANS, NUTS, LEGUMES, SEEDS, GRAINS (virtually all plant foods) are all sources of protein, people!!!!!

What Astral and Defy ate for dinner one night this week:

adzuki bean cutlets

mashed red skin potatoes

kale, bok choy, romaine hearts, flax seed oil smoothie

coconut milk yogurt with fresh strawberries

banana slices with peanut butter

Does this meal lack sufficient protein??? I think not!!!

And every visit she brings up concerns about B12 although we tell her every time that the boys receive a weekly oral methylcobalamin spray supplement in addition to all the fortified coconut milk and nutritional yeast they consume daily. She seems to think that just by being vegan they are at risk of B12 deficiency. Nope, they're no more at risk than anyone else, thank you! We're happy she's concerned but it is getting rather annoying.

Astral weighed 27 lbs 13 oz and Defy weighed 26 lbs 11 oz, they were both in the 50-75th percentile for weight (not that we give a flying crap about those statistics, but just to give people out there an idea they might be able to relate to). As for height I don’t remember off hand how many inches they were, but the pediatrician said they were very tall and the exact same height, coming in at the 90-95th percentile. They’ve come a long way from those delicate little infants that we could hold in the palms of our hands. We don’t go back to the doctor for another check up until they are 2 years old.

I have been so excited to announce that DnA officially sleep alone in their rooms in their own toddler beds!!!! We started by weaning them off of night nursing (so emotional for me) with Lucas going back to being the one that comforts them during the night if they wake. Once my boobs and I were taken out of the equation the boys started sleeping better and for longer stretches of time. It has been about 2 weeks, and every night gets better. If they happen to cry out during the night Lucas goes into their room and rubs their backs until they go back to sleep. At times he still ends up falling asleep in there with them for a little while, but mostly they are on their own. They sleep at night from around 9:30pm until about 8:30am. Nice!

So now that we have our room and bed back Astral and Defy have decided that their nice afternoon naps of about 2.5 to 3 hours should be slashed to a short 30-45 minute nap. Lucas would use that time to get things done around the house, wash the cloth diapers, exercise, read, prepare food, and on the rare occasion relax, but now he basically has no time to do anything. Hopefully, this is just a phase. These kids just have so much powerful energy.

As far as nursing goes, I am down to nursing the boys once a day during the week and twice a day on the weekends. I usually nurse them right when I get home from the office. I still cherish that mommy/baby time with them. I don’t know when I will completely wean them, but I am pretty sure I will just let them naturally lose interest as they are already beginning to do.

They are doing so awesome with potty training and already try to pee standing up! They have a new thing they do where they refuse to keep their diapers or pants on. We let them run around naked when it is time to try to use the potty, but they want to be naked all the time. I wouldn’t have a problem with nakedness, but it equals pee and sometimes even poop on the floor and that just gets to be a big stressful mess! I don’t know what other people have done about their own diaper bandits, but any advice is appreciated. We’ve tried the backwards diaper thing and keeping pants on them, but they still know how to rip off the diapers and the pants! One day this past weekend I think I put their diapers back on almost 15 times in like 5 minutes. Talk about DRAINING!!!

Another messy but less annoying change for the boys is that they are now sitting at the dining table with us. We are so thankful that their appetites seem to be back on track. They joined us at the “big kid table” only a few days ago and they seem to really love it. Their highchairs have been retired as highchairs. Not only are they made of recycled materials but they also transition into little toddler desk/chair sets, so they will still be of use. Astral and Defy have already figured out how to break free by unstrapping themselves from their booster seats, so keeping them distracted during meals is very important. They are still the most dangerous tiny twosome around. Sometimes we feel like we are watching a toddler version of the show Jackass with the gnarly stunts they pull, only Astral and Defy are actually interesting and fun to watch. They play off of one another jumping, rolling and swinging off of anything and everything.

Our guys are continuing to add more words to their vocabulary, this week they both said Tofu in their adorably angelic little voices! They are learning to indentify objects by their colors and to point out the numbers 1-5 in pictures. They are perfecting their fine motor skills and really try hard to use their fingers to represent the numbers, but so far have only mastered 1, 4, and 5, though 2 is right coming along.

We continue to be thankful every day to have the opportunity to witness these two phenomenal beings grow into the people they will become. We learn so much from them and for them every day. Being a parent can be the most challenging and the most beautifully rewarding part of life at the same time. We still think back to when we thought that we were having one child. We had no clue what the future had in store for us at that time, and the same is still true…