They're 10 Months Old!

Are you guys sick of these monthly updates yet?  Well, there's only two more left so you better enjoy it while it lasts.  The closer we get to one year the faster it seems like it has gone.  I am so proud of everything they have accomplished in such a short amount of time.  Here's what they're up to at 10 months (7.5 adjusted.)

They are both pretty much experts at sitting now.  They only occasionally topple themselves over when they reach too far.  They are enjoying toys more, which has been really nice.  They finally learned how to roll from their backs to tummies, which has made diaper changes fun...  They can now get pretty much anywhere they want to go by rolling and wiggling around the floor.  Their favorite place to get to is the Christmas tree.  They love reaching for the branches, pulling lights/ornaments off the tree, and terrorizing the presents.  Jensen has learned how to get up onto his hands and knees and rock forward and back.  I hear that's a sign he'll start crawling very soon.  He is also starting to try pulling himself up on tables and etc.  He is bound and determined to get into everything.  He's already eaten a few bits of paper and a small sticker (and who knows what else.)  I'm going to be in big trouble when he can actually crawl.  Everett is not interested in getting mobile yet and is happy to just sit and roll around.  They love chewing on anything and everything they can find.  They learned how to splash the water in the bathtub, and might finally be starting to enjoy bath time.

Jensen has become quite the silly boy.  He laughs and giggles at so many things.  He thinks it's hilarious when Everett touches him or tries to eat him or takes his toy.  He thinks it's funny when you throw (light and soft) things at him.  He thinks it's funny when you tickle him or tease him.  Everett's a little harder to get a laugh out of, but he giggles too.  Everett is still the more social one, always flirting with all the women sitting near us at church.  He seems to have gotten over his stranger anxiety too for the most part.  They have picked up a new habit that's not so great, which is 'cry whenever you see mommy so she'll feed/hold us, even though we were fine with daddy/alone before.' 

My biggest accomplishment this month is that I finally got them on a (somewhat flexible) schedule.  It's the first piece of advice all twin moms give and there is a good reason for it.  I actually have like an hour total (somedays more!) of free time every day to do whatever I want while they're both napping.  It's amazing.  I usually use it to shower, eat, and do housework of course.  I feel so much less helpless because I know approximately when they will wake, sleep, eat, etc.  It makes it easier to plan our rare outings and makes me feel more balanced and less stressed.  So basically, I give scheduling your twins' day a big thumbs up.

I'm doing my best to soak up their cuteness and not let their (frequent) fussy/crying times get to me.  They will not be babies anymore before I know it.  The thought of that makes me want to cry.  Pretty much all I do all day is tell them how cute they are.  I'm in love with the way Jensen open and closes his little hands, and the way Everett decided to start sucking his thumb and pokes things with his pointer finger.  I love how Jensen tilts his head and lays it down sometimes when he's getting tired.  I love how Everett puts his head back and makes cute raspy squeaks.  I love it when Jensen gets a look on his face like he's about to do something naughty.  I love it when I lay Everett down on something soft and he just lays there all splayed out.  I love the fast, frantic breathing they do when they know I'm going to nurse them but I'm not getting them on fast enough.  I love it when they cuddle up with me for snuggles.  I love their beautiful smiles.  They're so wonderful.

Ev helping me decorate a little tree

Ahhh, so soft and cozy

Mmmm, Jensen loves his beans

'We're helping!'

Jensen especially likes this small present

Snake tongue

Jensen's ready to crawl

Jensen with santa

Everett was trying to grab santa's bear

Hi Jensen!

Jensen's fun box

Jensen says he's getting tired

Attack!  Attack!

Ev snuggling with daddy

Snug as a bug and ready to go!

Ev snuggling with mommy.  He needs lots of snuggles, poor guy.

9 months!

It's pretty much unbelievable to me how fast these little guys are growing up.  I'm writing this post a day late because I really wanted to know how much they weigh now and their pediatrician appointment was today.  At 9 months old (6.5 months adjusted) Jensen is 15lbs 2oz and 26.8" and Everett is 14lbs 4oz and 27.7".  So basically they are both extremely tall and skinny.  Go figure.  They have actually caught up to the non-adjusted 9 month growth curve for height (5th percentile for Jensen and 25th percentile for Everett) but are still below the curve for weight.  Jensen's head is on the 9 month growth curve too.  That boy has a big head.

They can both sit unassisted now for a short amount of time.  They love it!  Playing with toys is more fun when you're sitting up apparently.  They have developed object permanence and separation anxiety, and that has been fun... or not.  Everett especially has been pretty hard hit by the separation anxiety and wants to be held by mama all the time and doesn't want to see any strangers.  I'm happy to see them developing right on time for their adjusted age though.  Everett has become quite talkative.  It really seems like he says 'hi' or 'hey' when he sees people.  He has also said 'dadadadadadadada' and makes crazy dinosaur noises.  Jensen has always been the more silent type, though he does do some sweet little babbles and coos himself.  He has expressive facial movements that are even more communicative.  Jensen legitimately winked at me the other day.  They are getting really good at using their hands.  They can even get their binkies in their mouths the right way.

Jensen and Everett had their first Halloween!  They were unbelievably cute in their costumes.  We didn't get many trick or treaters, but the babies were happy about that because they got to play with the bowl of candy.  They're still enjoying playing with the Laffy Taffies.

Blake left us for four days and four nights for a job.  I was pretty sure I would die.  But I have the most amazing mother in the world and she stayed with me pretty much the whole time Blake was gone INCLUDING nights!  She made it so much easier on me.  I don't think I could have made it without her.  Blake was happy to get a few nights of uninterrupted sleep and a few days without hearing crying all day long.

Everett is really into solid foods.  Jensen usually only wants a few bites.  They have tried lots of new foods and are taking to new ones pretty well so far.  They've had all kinds of fruits, veggies, meats, and they still like their beans.  Their pediatrician encouraged us to increase the amount of food we're giving them every day so we're aiming for three square meals a day to compliment the 1,000 times I breastfeed them every day (approximately.)  But really, Jensen nursed 13 times yesterday.  That kid likes his liquid diet.

It's a good thing these kids are the cutest babies ever because they are seriously wearing us out!  Here's some proof of their cuteness.

Jensen wants all the binks

Ev caught red-handed

Ev

Awww cuddles

Our Halloween costumes!  Cutest crab and fish ever :)

The back of Jensen's costume is so cute

Halloween spoils

J chillin with auntie

Ev in his fat little crab suit :)

They love grandma's teepee

Foxy babies.  Look at that red hair!

Boys with hats :)

Oh hi there Jensen

Jensen likes his fuzzy hat

Bonus video of Everett being silly :P

The 8 Month Old Update

Woohoo!  My babies are 8 months old (5.5 adjusted.)  They are really starting to develop their little personalities and it is so much fun to watch.  They are great at grabbing things now and can even put their binkies back in their mouths, just not always in the right direction.  They love playing with toys and chewing on everything, which brings me to the big scary thing.....

TEETHING.  It seems like Everett is teething, although I can't be sure because after three weeks we've still yet to see a tooth make an appearance.  But he's been super cranky, sometimes screaming in pain, and acting like his gums hurt for what seems like forever.  Hopefully that darn tooth with show up soon and he'll start feeling better.

Last month I mentioned they had started going crazy with their naps and whatnot.  I figured out that it was actually the four month sleep regression.  It's been hard, but we've been making some progress.  It's amazing how much happier Jensen is when I force him to take naps haha.  Everett is doing so good with night sleep, he's doing up to 8-9 hours pretty often.  Of course sometimes he's up in like 4 hours, but what can you do.  Jensen is still up many times during the night, but we had a couple nights where he was only up twice, so maybe we're getting there.  I will probably get some sleep eventually...  Although there was one night where everyone slept until 3:30 except for me.  I'm so used to them getting up so much that I woke up before the babies did and then couldn't go back to sleep because my body didn't understand what was happening.

After a little bump in the road where Ev refused solid foods for like 2 weeks, feeding them has been going great.  My dad figured out that to get Everett to eat you need to eat in front of him too.  Now their menu includes beef, beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, oats, carrots, and mango.  Everett still doesn't like apples, but Jensen is crazy about them so it works out.  They are enjoying eating and think it's fun to be like mommy and daddy.

They're still really social little guys.  Everett gives everyone he meets the biggest smile.  Jensen loves watching kids run around and play.  They prefer mommy and daddy but aren't usually too upset by other people holding them yet.  They've started smiling at each other pretty often and Jensen laughs at Everett sometimes.  It's the sweetest thing ever.

We went on a few adventures this month.  I brought them to the zoo with my mom.  It was fun to show them the animals and actually leave the house haha.  Another adventure was their first appointment with an eye doctor.  Preemies commonly have retina problems, but we got them checked out and their eyes seem to be doing just fine!  We also ventured to a corn maze, which Everett liked so much he fell asleep.  I had an adventure of my own today and yesterday as I took a quick break from maternity leave to photograph a wedding.  It was nice getting back in the groove for a couple days and doing something besides feeding, diapering, napping, and just generally trying to get babies to stop crying all day long.  Of course I missed them terribly, especially when I saw babies at the reception, and wished I could have mine with me. 

Here are some pictures of Jensen & Everett's 8th month:

The zoo!  They liked sleeping by the giraffes lol

This monkey (ape? chimp?) acted JUST LIKE A BABY!

By the stego

Ev really liked the armadillo

This owl was just laying there like it was dead.

Jensen is a pretty cute little guy

My little giraffe (he's wearing a giraffe onesie too)

Riding on the train!

It's really hard to hold them both at the same time

Jensen was really scared when daddy used the drill so he was showing him it's not scary

Handsome boys

Jensen fell deep asleep while we had friends over for dinner.

It's getting cold out there.

He looks so cute sitting up on the couch like a big person

Everett playing with grandpa in the teepee

Style

They tried sippy cups!

The eye doctor checking out their retinas

Play date with Stephanie!  Jensen loved watching her girls play on the playground

Corn maze!

Everett loves his hashtag teether.  #everett