Meet my new puppies!

Okay, that's misleading. There are no new puppies here. Just babies who seem to think they're puppies.

Now that the things are getting more mobile, I've been noticing how many similarities there are between babies and puppies. Sure, there's the obvious stuff: they sleep a lot, they poop and pee a lot, they drool a lot. But there's so much more!

What's that you got there, mom? Looks tasty...

Recently, the babies have been really interested in people food. Sure, their own food is just fine, and they'll eat it when you give it to them. But, obviously, it can't compare to what mommy and daddy are eating, right? That has to be the best food, ever! Hubby and I usually eat breakfast in the living/dining room, with the babies playing around us. I used to eat on the floor with them, but I soon realized that's a bad idea. I'd end up with two puppies babies looking at me with a mix of longing and judgement, while Mischa waited on the sidelines, ready to step in on a moment's notice.

Things have gotten even worse, now that they're both pulling themselves to stand! I was eating breakfast on the couch the other morning, when both babies crawled over, stood right in front of me, and proceeded to engage in some of the most shameless begging I've ever seen. Thing 1 actually reached up and grabbed at my bowl, and would have pulled it out of my hands if I'd given him the chance! Apparently, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cheerios are way more interesting than all the baby toys scattered around the room. Lesson learned.

Mmmmmmm....cereal!

We're getting close to letting the babies eat real food--Thing 2 has 6 (yes, 6) teeth already, and Thing 1 is working on his first (I think he's getting 2 at once, but we'll see). Thing 2 is already a good gnasher, so I'm excited to start letting her try more things. Given the teeth marks all over her crib, I'm thinking she'll be a natural with corn on the cob!

Even though they're both showing interest in food, there's still a lot of mess involved in feeding them. Mischa comes running as soon as she hears the sound of the highchair tray snapping into place--she sets up camp under the highchairs, and just waits for the fun to start. Inevitably, the babies drop (or throw) food overboard, and Mischa is right there, ready to clean up after them. Who needs a vacuum cleaner? I'll admit, we don't always completely wipe the Things down after they finish eating. Sometimes, we just plop them on the floor and let Mischa clean up for us. Dogs are so useful!

The 4th of July has come and gone, which means that I have officially finished the Runner's World Run Streak! Yay! I'm not gonna lie: I got kinda lazy at the end, and didn't write down each run as soon as it happened, so I don't remember each of the runs. I have distances and times for each one, and I figure that's all that matters. The important thing is that I proved to myself that I can do it! And now, I don't have to do it again. I actually got sick during the last week of the challenge, so the last few runs were a bit of a struggle. It's really hard to get out and go for a run when you're really congested--breathing is an important part of running! Anyway, here's the breakdown of my last 9 runs:

32.Thursday, June 26th: 3.1 miles, 28:24, average pace: 9:09/mile

33. Friday, June 27th: 1.14 miles, 10:40, average pace: 10:40/mile

34. Saturday, June 28th: 6 miles, 1:01:06, average pace: 10:11/mile Felt sluggish and almost called to be rescued, but managed to do the whole run--despite getting rained on and some wardrobe issues. Finished my run to an awesome rainbow in the sky!

35. Sunday, June 29th: 1.1 miles, 10:39, average pace: 9:40/mile

36. Monday, June 30th: 1.11 miles, 9:52, average pace: 8:53/mile

37. Tuesday, July 1st: 1.5 miles, 14:42, average pace: 9:47/mile

38. Wednesday, July 2nd: 1.6 miles, 17:00, average pace: 10:34/mile

39. Thursday, July 3rd: 1 mile, 8:40, average pace: 8:40/mile A nice shake-out run with the hubby after a long day in the car. Had to explain to him what a shake-out run was (he thought it meant something much grosser).

40. Friday, July 4th: 1.5 miles, 15:18, average pace: 10:09/mile An easy evening run with hubby on Madeline Island. Beautiful way to close the challenge!

After finishing the challenge, I celebrated by taking a week off from running! It was totally necessary for recuperation, and it was nice to not have to worry about finding time for a run for the rest of our vacation. I'm back in action now, though, and had an awesome run Tuesday, and a decent one last night. Training for my half starts next week--wahoo!

Since I mentioned vacation, I'll close with a few pictures of the Things from their first trip to Madeline Island. It also happened to be their longest car ride to date. It was a good and bad experience. Vacation while sick just stinks, and a 10 hour car ride with 2 babies and a dog who hates car rides doesn't make my list of favorites either, but we managed to have fun, too. The babies did a great job on the ferry ride (no sea sickness, yay!), and they loved exploring a new place. They also learned how to climb stairs, so that's a new, exciting thing we get to deal with!

Vacation fun!

 

You're HOW old now?!?!

Tuesday marked the Things' 9 month/39 week birthday! I can't believe they've been in our lives for so long already--it feels like it was only yesterday that I was still enormously pregnant with them! (And, I mean enormously pregnant: talk about cankles!)

Good morning!

The Things decided we needed a present for their special day, and greeted us first thing in the morning like this:

Talk about a surprise! We knew Thing 1 could do it, as he demonstrated the other day (I promise, he has more than one pair of pajamas), but Thing 2 hadn't really shown any interest. She'd pull herself up if she was sitting in your lap and could use you as leverage, but that was about it. So, to walk in on this was quite a surprise!

In other Thing developments, Thing 2 now has two teeth! We're still waiting for Thing 1 to cut his first, but we've been expecting it any day, with all the drooling he does!

Yesterday was their 9 month check-in with the doctor, and they passed with flying colors! They're both huge (he's slightly above 50%, and she's slightly below 50% in weight), and they haven't been on an adjusted scale for a while. We've seen the evidence of their development every day, but it's really nice to have the doctor agree with what we've been seeing! Two health, happy babies, who are growing just right!

I'm proud to say, that today is day 18 of the Runner's World Run Streak, and I'm still going strong! Okay, maybe not strong (at least, not this morning), but I know I'm developing good stamina for my big race this fall. This morning in particular was a challenge, since I was just so tired (thanks, kids), but I knew I had to get out there and get my run in, and I did it! This week is pretty busy for us, so I have to fit in three morning runs in a row, which is really rough for me. But, I've already knocked out two of them, so I feel like tomorrow should be a piece of cake! The runs may not always be my fastest or best, but I'm still running smart and feeling good about my effort. Plus, just think about how well I'll be able to power through feeling tired in a race when I'm done with this!

Without further ado, here's the current tally:

10. Wednesday, June 4th: 1.05 miles, 10:30, average pace: 9:56/mile Mischa had a great time running with me--finally some nice weather for her to run in!

11. Thursday, June 5th: 3.5 miles, 34:42, average pace: 9:54/mile Too hungry to make it a speed workout or anything, but another beautiful evening for a run!

12. Friday, June 6th: 1.25 miles, 12:50, average pace: 10:14/mile Mischa’s longest run in a while, and aside from some issues with sharing the sidewalk, she did pretty well!

13. Saturday, June 7th: 5.5 miles, 57:55, average pace: 10:32/mile A slow, hot run, but it felt pretty good. I think I ran a lot smarter than I did last week, so I’m pleased with that.

14. Sunday, June 8th: 1.12 miles, 11:01, average pace: 9:48/mile A run with the whole family! Babies, Mischa and hubby all out together!

15. Monday, June 9th: 3.1 miles, 28:50, average pace, 9:18/mile Some cooler weather came in, so I had a nice, quick run.

16. Tuesday, June 10th: 1.12 miles, 10:40, average pace: 9:31/mile Yup, Mischa still hates running in the rain.

17. Wednesday, June 11th: 1.12 miles, 9:57, average pace: 8:50/mile Just a quick dash in the morning rain before taking the Things in for their 9 month check-up!!!!

18. Thursday, June 12th: 3.1 miles, 30:05, average pace: 9:42/mile Not a hot day, but really humid.

I'm at 42.31 miles for the challenge, and it's a lot of fun to see the miles rack up! I've got 22 days to go, so I'm almost at the halfway point! Wahoo! Then, I get a little break, and it's on to half marathon training... Yikes!

Soooooooooo big!

We're heading to Nana and Grandad's tomorrow for Father's Day weekend--I'm really excited to finally get to take the babies to the pool, I think they'll love it! We tried to go to the pool when we visited last, but that's when we were all struck by the dreaded stomach bug...shudder... This visit should be lots more fun! I should have cute pictures to share next week, but to tide you over, here's the Things' 9 month picture.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! Have a great weekend!

Streaking!

Well, I've completed 9 days of the Runner's World Run Streak, and after tonight it will be 10 straight days of running! I passed the "most days I've run in a row" mark around day 3 or 4, so every day beyond that is an adventure. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it through the whole challenge, but I'm sure going to try. I've had issues with shin splints before, and I don't want to go into half marathon training with an injury, so I want to be careful while I do this crazy thing. So far, it's going well! I've been feeling good during my runs, and I'm not sore, so I don't feel like I'm pushing myself too hard. Hopefully I'm able to maintain that feeling for the next month!

Here's an update on my runs for the past week: 

3. Wednesday, May 28th: 1.1 miles, 10:56, average pace: 9:55/mile. Mischa likes running much better when it’s not raining.

4. Thursday, May 29th: 3.5 miles, 34:50, average pace: 9:57/mile. A cloudy morning run, with a little hill work thrown in.

5. Friday, May 30th: 2.3 miles, 21:00, average pace: 9:03/mile. A fast, hard run with hubby.

6. Saturday, May 31st: 5 miles, 52:32, average pace: 10:30/mile. Maybe, just maybe doing a long run at noon in 80+ degree weather wasn’t my best idea ever, but I did it! My farthest run since before the babies were born!

7. Sunday, June 1st: 1.12 miles, 9:39, average pace: 8:34/mile. So that’s what a mile feels like when you don’t drag your dog along with you…

8. Monday, June 2nd: 1.12 miles, 10:10, average pace: 9:02/mile. Not as fast as Sunday, but I was paying more attention to my stride (I was trying new shoes).

9. Tuesday, June 3rd: 3.1 miles, 29:40, average pace: 9:34/mile. Beautiful, balmy weather, and an easy run through our nearby forest preserve. Didn’t see any deer like hubby did a few minutes before me, but it was great!

So far, I've run 16.45 miles during the challenge. It feels great to be over a week into it, but I know I still have a month to go, so I'm not getting too excited yet. I'll just keep plugging away for now.

And, in Thing news: Thing 1 has decided that he's ready to stand up! We went in to get them Friday morning, and he greeted us like this:

"Hey mommy! Let's play!"

We'd heard some extra giggles before we went in, but had no idea what was waiting for us. Obviously, he's very proud of himself, and uses every opportunity to practice his new trick. Thing 2 isn't far behind, but she's not quite there yet. Hubby decided she was jealous this morning, and gave her a little help, so we got this precious moment:

Let us out!

 I am sooooooooooooo not ready for this!

I'm Baaaaaack!

Aside from being an awesome three-day weekend, with great food and great weather, this weekend was a huge confidence boost for my running! I had a fantastic 4.5 mile run on Saturday, which was my longest run since February, 2012, and it was a very smart run too! The weather was perfect, and I managed negative splits, which I tend to struggle with on my longer runs. I was so pleased with that run, that I would have been okay if that was my only run of the weekend, but I was really thinking about trying to run Monday night, too. I figured, if I went ahead and got a run in, I wouldn't need to worry about running in the morning, and the weather didn't suck, so maybe... The lazy part of me said "But, it's a holiday! You should take the day off! Take it easy! Plus, look at those rain clouds! You should stay home." I managed to ignore that voice, put on my running clothes, and headed out during what I thought was a break in the rain. I was totally wrong about the rain. Got really wet on my run, but I managed to bust out another sub-30-minute 5k, and missed hitting a PR by 3 seconds.

I've realized that I really don't run that many races, since my 5k PR is from July, 2011. But, I was thrilled with that race, since I managed to PR, despite the fact that it was July in Washington, DC! If you've never been to Washington, DC in July, all you need to know is that it's ridiculously hot, and stupidly humid. Not runner-friendly weather! Looking back on the race, I've realized that it wasn't really one to be proud of, since I didn't run it well at all. I busted my ass on the first mile, and then got waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay slower on the second and third. That's not how you want to run a race at all! You want to fly, not crawl across the finish line! So, when I managed to come this close to my PR on a dumb-ole run, without the adrenaline of race day, and nowhere near my physical peak (where I was in October, 2012), I was shocked, amazed, and hopeful. Maybe, just maybe this means I can get back to where I used to be as a runner!

Then yesterday, my BFF asked me if I want to do the Runner's World Run Streak with her. It involves running at least one mile every day between Memorial Day and July 4th. I've heard about streakers, but never really thought I would be one, since I would tend to stress out too much about stuff like that. The last thing I want is to end up not enjoying my runs. But, since this streak has a definite end date, and a short distance requirement, I think I can manage it. I figure, at the very least, I can take Mischa on a quick mile run on days I don't want to do a longer run. It will be good for me to get out every day, and I know she'll love it! So, I'm two days in, and so far so good! We'll see if I manage to keep it up...

Here's a breakdown so far:

1. Monday, May 26th: 3.1 miles, 27:29, average pace: 8:58/mile. An awesome run in drizzly weather.
2. Tuesday, May 27th: 1.11 miles, 11:06, average pace: 9:58/mile. Another wet run, with an unwilling running buddy. Yes, Mischa looooooooves to run, but she hates the rain, and the two kind of cancelled each other out.

A weekend of serious fun

And, and update on the Things: the babies had a great weekend, with family time, a playdate with another set of twins, and lots of time outside. Unfortunately, yesterday wasn't so great. While they were on their way back to our house with our nanny, the Things and Mischa were in a car accident. They were rear-ended while at a stoplight and the car was pushed forward into the car in front of it. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and hubby and I were nearby, and got there shortly after the accident. We decided to take the Things to the hospital, since Thing 2 was clearly upset, so mommy got her first ambulance ride! It was one of the most terrifying moments in my life, but it quickly became clear that Thing 2 was more scared than anything, and she had calmed down by the time we made it to the hospital. Thing 1 was a trooper the whole time, and just took everything in, from the flashing lights of the ambulance, to being held by the EMT. What a mellow boy! Actually, I think Mischa had it the worst: she literally had the crap scared out of her (yup, she pooped in the car), and was just relieved to be home safe and sound and snuggle all night.

After we got to the ER, the babies were admired by all the hospital staff, and quickly pronounced "perfect." We've checked with their pediatrician, and have been given the all-clear for them. They've quickly bounced back to their happy, active selves, which is a huge relief. Obviously, we're cuddling them a little more, and keeping a close eye on them, but they seem to be feeling no ill effects from the accident.

Speaking of active: we now officially have two mobile babies! Thing 1 decided enough was enough last week, and is now crawling almost as fast as Thing2 (of course, often in opposite directions)! We're quickly learning what babyproofing needs to be done, but it's so much fun to watch these two explore their home together.