The featured blogger this week is Lea of Becoming SuperMommy! A lot has changed since the last time I’ve interviewed Lea, including the addition of a new baby! Lea is the proud MoM of twin girls, SI and DD, and RH!

The last time I interviewed you SI and DD were just 13.5 months old, now they’re almost 3! How much has changed for you in the past year and a half?

I can’t even remember the way our lives functioned back then. Having almost-three year olds is completely different. Our relationship has changed, we have more fun and more fights… And of course, now we have a new baby as well. Quite simply, it’s as though we have a different family now than we did when the girls were first toddling.

How was your singleton pregnancy different from your twin pregnancy?

In all the wrong ways! I really thought that a singleton pregnancy would be easier, but I was wrong. I had tons of complications, and every once in a while when i was feeling really down and wondering why on earth it was so much harder the second time- I had to remind myself… when I was pregnant with twins, being pregnant with twins was my whole job. Bed rest, collecting the items they would need, taking classes. But this time, I had another job. Being a parent of toddler twins. And it’s a job that never gives you a few minutes to sit down or take a nap, and that can be really taxing when you’re pregnant!

Were the girls excited about welcoming a new sister into the family?

SO excited! At first, SI seemed to think it was a game. When somebody would mention the baby in mommy’s tummy, she’s joke, “No baby in mommy’s tummy! Baby in mommy’s nose! Baby in mommy’s elbow!” But once they could see and feel their new baby sister spinning in circles inside my belly, that seemed to make it much more real. It also helped that one of their best friends got a new baby sister ten weeks before they did! When they saw their friend’s new baby sister, I think everything clicked for them. They’ve been practically perfect big sisters since the moment they met their new baby.

What are some tips you have for making a smooth transition when there is a new sibling in the family?

Talking about how the family is having a new baby, versus how mommy is having a new baby. Because the family is a unit that they know they are a part of, but the idea of mommy somehow something special that excludes them… that’s a little harder to accept. So we talked about “our” new baby, we got lots of books about the new baby, and we looked at TONS of pictures of the girls when they were babies. And we always told the girls that they were having a new baby sister who would love them very, very much. So they felt that the baby cared for them, as
opposed to just being expected to care for the baby. We answered questions as honestly as we could- we told them that at first the baby wouldn’t be very fun, but that some day soon the baby would play games with them, and laugh at their funny faces, and want to be just like them. They really liked the idea that they were important to the
baby, and it was true. 🙂

Last time I interviewed you, you asked about competition between twins. Has the competition gotten any better?

It’s gotten much better. They’ve become best friends in a way that shocks me and warms my heart. They team up to play games, they share their toys.. there’s still a little competition for my attention, but they also sometimes ignore me completely to keep playing a game I’m not invited to. And that is a new, wonderful, and bittersweet thing to experience.

What questions do you have for the other families in the community?

My girls are getting ready to start preschool. What recommendations do you have about separating or keeping them together?

Be sure to leave your answers to Lea’s questions in the comment section and then head over to Becoming SuperMommy to leave some bloggy love!