Benefits of a Brother

Woah. What a rollercoaster of a week.

The boys have each thrown up twice. A lot. And for both of them, their puke was 24 hours apart. They've been clingy, but I thought that was mostly because of their desire to hold in their bowel movements. It wasn't until I woke up on the afternoon of Day Three feeling really sick that I realized we had been victims of a nasty stomach bug.

And let me tell you, it was nasty. It seems that I came down with the worst of it, which I think I should be grateful for. I couldn't eat anything for more than 24 hours. This bug was being very careful to clean out absolutely everything in my body. I tried drinking water, but even that was being forced out. The only thing that made it more uncomfortable was my active little one growing in utero. She was moving like crazy, all hours of the day, making my already nauseous tummy feel even more nauseous.

I didn't sleep at all that night. Well, if I did, it was never for more than ten minutes at a time. I couldn't get comfortable and it feel like my tummy had multiplied its weight to that of a fifty pound anvil. Every time I tried flipping turned into an aerobic exercize, which is bad when you're doing it every five minutes. Just horrible.

Andy took off from work yesterday so he could be home to help me. My mom came over in the morning to watch the boys so I could go to a scheduled OB appointment. My loving husband accompanied me because I still felt too weak to be alone. Thankfully, I was able to hold down some soup in the afternoon and then a grilled cheese sandwich (cooked to perfection, thanks to Andy) for dinner. Once food was welcome in my body once again, I could feel my strength coming back. I won't even mention that I actually LOST weight from my last OB appointment or the fact that I didn't even have any liquid in me to give a valid urine sample! Aye.

But the boys are making some great strides! Jack has now gone poopy on the potty - voluntarily - about five times (three of which were all before naptime today!) Ben has gone once. And that was this morning when he didn't quite make it to the bathroom in time and I had to empty his poopy in the potty so he could be praised for it. They continue to keep an exceptionally high accuracy rate with their pee.

With (seemingly identical) twins, you would think there would be more similarities between them. But there really isn't. They have a similar potty dance, the movements they take on when I know they have to go poop. They want to be held... then they sit on the couch... held again... then walk around with their hand over their backside... held again... run to the bathroom saying, "I go potty," then returning a second later repeating, "No poopy, no poopy." This process could repeat for a dozen times before their constant rushes to the bathroom amount to anything. It takes everything in me not to just sit them on the potty and say, "Just push!" Or bribe them with treats. But what's so interesting is their execution.

Ben likes the attention. The praise. The prizes. That kid would do almost anything to please his mommy and daddy. One of his favorite phrases during this past week is "Mommy and Daddy, soo happy!" It really is quite adorable. It will be interesting to get to know his Potty Style a little better once he starts going poop more frequently.

Jack, on the other hand, is much more private. I've gotten to the point where I let him go into the bathroom by himself and finish the whole process, waiting for him to call me in. And that's usually when he's all done. I tell him that I want to give him a present for going poopy on the potty and he'll say, "No prize." It's also not uncommon for Jack to give his M&M (the prize they earn for going peepee on the potty) to his brother, if he takes one at all.

Both boys, however, don't like seeing their poop in the potty. Each time they go pee, they dump it into the big toilet and flush. I've been encouraging them to do the same with their poop, but they seem to be very disgusted by it. Each time they've gone, though, they've said, "No, is yucky. Ben do it." And his brother does! So funny. Good thing they've got a brother to pawn off their disgusting jobs on!

Now, if only I could find someone else to wipe butts and clean toilets and launder sheets for ME! :)

Guess that's just one of the benefits of having a brother.