Toddler Bike Seat/Helmet Advice Needed

Hello....

We are entering into the biking world with twins. So, we need great bike seats and helmets.

AND we need a bike seat that is lightweight, easy to install and.....can fit in a large suitcase.

Because there's a good chance these boys are going to be biking both in NYC and in far away lands....

So far, I'm sold on the iBert bike seat.

Helmet?

Thanks!

I Don't Need Help Wiping, But Thanks

Warning: A whole lot of poop and TMI talk ahead.

We started in on some various methods of potty training.

Hippie Potty Training:

You let your kids be a 'part' of the experience. So, every morning--without fail, no matter what they are doing--when I announce that "Mommy has to poop, who wants to come watch?" I can guarantee you that they will follow me to the toilet like I am the Pied Pooper. W2, especially, likes to crouch down like an umpire waiting for the pitch (so to speak).

We started this about a month ago.

They are both really into watching the action, but possibly even more interested in 'helping' with the toilet paper and flushing. I give them each tiny pieces of TP and they put them in the toilet bowl over and over (no full squares!).

One day Grunter thought he'd 'help' me and proceeded to take his TP and start patting my pubic hair. Oh thanks honey, but we're not going to go there.

Elimination Communication:

You watch your kid for signs that he/she has to poop/pee.

We were out at the beach a couple of weeks ago and let the kids roam 'free', so I guess this also falls under Naked Potty Training (sort of). Out on the deck, I noticed W2 starting to walk with clenched butt checks and knees together. Hmmmmm.

I asked him if he needed to go poop. No, he shakes his head.

I ask him if he wants to try to go poop on the potty. He looks at me quizzically and very interested. We go in, I prop him up and in no time, he poops! In a strange house and a strange toilet!

Yeah!!

Last night before bath time, he indicated he wanted to go on the potty and I put him up there and he peed!

Then, Grunter wanted to try, so I put him on, but I didn't wait long enough and he peed on the floor afterwards. Oh well. Practice, practice.

So, here we are. I think we need to get some potty seats and start hanging out in them. What kind are best for boys and for small apartments? I'm going to need two.

Also, I want to do the potty training in 3 days. Anyone done this?

But, if I'm going to do this...and I don't know when I'm going to do this....then we have to move to toddler beds so they can get out and go to the bathroom, right??

Oh man. It's a whole lot to think about.

Hard Day's Night Off

How many of you have taken a full 'day off' or 'night off'?

Have you spent the night away from your child/children? How old were they the first time?

Who took care of them?

I haven't had a full day or night off since the twins were born. That's almost 19 months of non-stop baby care. Granted, I've had help and I am so fortunate for that.

But, lately I'm really feeling like I need some time alone. For US to have some time alone.

It's hard, with the breast feeding and lack of family help. But I would even be willing to pump some again in order to take a bit of a break away.

These last 2 months with no nanny have been some of the toughest and also rewarding. There are days (or mornings) that I'm radiant with love and just can't get enough of their wonderfulness followed by afternoons where I want to shoot myself and I raise my voice and then feel like shit and cry after they go to bed.

It's fucking hard. My kids are hard. God, how I love them and I love their spunk but they are hard. I see parents with easy kids--even twins--and I think, "Man, you have no idea."

These boys are spirited.

Chicken's brother has a baby the same age as Grunter and W2. My BIL get free babysitting all the time--because, well, they live within 30 minutes of both sets of grandparents.

This past weekend, I found out that my BIL and his wife went away to Cape Cod for a few days--sans kiddo--and stayed in a free beach house (friend of the family's) and the grandparents kept the kid.

I admit that I burned with white hot jealousy. We have never been offered this beach house. We have never been offered free babysitting. Not for an afternoon, a night and never a weekend.

We have never heard "Hey, why don't you bring the twins up here and we'll watch them while you two get a break." Yes, we would even rent a car and go to them.

Chicken has had some child care breaks in the form of business trips, but neither of us have ever really had a 'day off'.

Chicken says I need to get over it. I probably do.

But it still pisses me off.

I actually don't even think my MIL and her husband could handle them--especially not in her house upstate. I really just want them to offer. Even if I know I wouldn't take them up on it. I'm so petty. Seriously. I am. I know.

(Be) Coming Clean

It took a year and a half but I have finally had a shower every day for almost a week now. Can you believe it? No, neither can I. It's the cleanest I've been since they were born. I even wash my hair every other day. Wow.

My secret? Showering with the boys.

Besides putting the bed in the living room, this is the second best idea I've had since they were born.

Of course I have to make sure I'm not sleeping with bits of PlayDoh or toy cars and you have to be pretty careful in the shower that you keep to your own end and don't step on a small child or their bath toys...but hey.

I'm up to that challenge if it means I'm clean and well-rested.

And besides, we all know that being clean and having a nice bed could actually lead to sex, right?

Maybe.