Green Eyed Monsters

Two days shy of the 8 month mark, Ren stood up in his crib. I was reading the boys a bedtime story and alternating pages between the two cribs. As I finished Grayden's page, I turned around and Ren was standing with a huge smile on his face. "Look at me, mom! I'm standing!" he said, without any words at all. This picture is from this third vertical feat that evening:

Mmm, crib!

So now not only is Ren crawling wherever he wants to go, but he is also standing, and has even walked a few steps holding on to the couch. Containing him in our small living room area was proving difficult, so we converted our dining room into a giant play pen. Papa Wood installed the Great Wall of Chinaberry to keep Ren from escaping, and he is quite content with his new found freedom in the large room. His favorite toy is the Roomba robot vacuum, which he turns on and then squeals enthusiastically as he crawls after it. 

The Great Wall of Chinaberry

But poor Grayden. While Ren zooms past him, he is stuck where he sits. Or lays. He is preparing to crawl, rocking on all fours just like his brother did last month, but not really propelling himself yet. Ren will crawl in and steal his toys right out of his hands or brace himself on Gray's helmet as he stands up. Ren has also tried to eye-gouge and fish-hook his incapacitated brother. Grayden tolerates such treatment much better than I would, but I fear for little Ren when his bruiser brother is as agile.

Laid back is an understatement.

This morning brought a new dynamic to their relationship: jealously. I am sure it's an issue that Larry and I will deal with constantly throughout their childhood, but one that every parent dreads. And it must be much worse with twins than with singleton births. My sisters were 4 and 8 years younger than me, so we expected differences between the way we were treated and cared for. They were told that they could have what I had when they were older, and I knew that they needed my parents' attention more than I did because they were younger--just as I had received such attention before they were born. But with twins, they expect the same love and attention at the same time. This morning that was clearly obvious when I was snuggling with Grayden. He was sitting on the floor next to me as I leaned over to give him hugs and kisses. Ren noticed this from across the room and came charging. He crawled right into my lap, pulled himself up on my leg until we were eye-level, and planted his slobbery rendition of a kiss on my cheek. Then he smiled and chuckled. "Huh. Huh." Grayden realized that his alone time with mama had been stolen by the free-moving kissing bandit and he began to cry. I set Ren down on the floor and grabbed Grayden to soothe him and snuggle and Ren started to cry. I scooped both babies up but it was too late. They had a full on meltdown in my lap because each had been interrupted by the other. What I hope both boys come to realize is that even though there are two of them, I have enough love to go around and that even though they are twins, I recognize that they are individuals and will make sure that each has his own special time with us.