8 Months Old!

You blink, and then the boys are 8 months old! How did that happen?

So it's been awhile since I've posted, but a lot has been happening over here. The boys are doing great! They are at a really fun stage where they small a lot, play with their toys, roll around, giggle when tickled and even seem to be a bit playful with each other.

Major milestones to report:
- Sleeping through the night! This week 5 out of 6 nights both boy slept through the night. We are ecstatic! It's amazing what a full night sleep can do for you. We're hoping this isn't a fluke and they really are going to continue sleeping this long, but who knows?
- Solid foods! Both boys are on solid foods now. Jeremy is a bit more ahead of Nathan. He has tried most stage 1 foods and loves them all. He seems to really enjoy eating and opens his mouth big and wide for each bite. We've worked up to 2 solid meals a day now.

Nathan had a slower start. He was a bit gassy after trying rice cereal so we took a break and just now got him started on oatmeal which seems to agree with him much better. I also tried him on applesauce today which was messy, but successful.
- Rolling! Both boys are rolling now. Jeremy in particular is quite adept at getting where he wants to go by rolling. Nathan just recently discovered his rolling abilities and is having a blast rolling around and playing with his toys. We are keeping a close eye on them for signs of crawling. We're excited to see this next stage, but frankly a bit scared too. Mark is convinced that Jeremy is going to skip crawling and just start walking.
- 1st colds :-( Sadly both boys came down with their first colds. We knew it would happen eventually, but you sure hate to see it. Jeremy was first spiking a high temperature (104!) and clearly staying home from daycare for a few days. He didn't have any other major symptoms, but he can't go back to daycare until he's gone 24 hours without a fever without the help of Tylenol.

Finally, both boys made it back into daycare and wouldn't you know it, but 2 days later I got the call to pick up Nathan. He was running a low-grade fever so he had to stay home until it passed. And, unfortunately, this all happened about 15 minutes after Mark left for the airport for his football weekend away. I was on my own with a sick baby for the weekend. It was pretty miserable as the poor guy didn't sleep much at all and wanted to be help constantly. Let's just say we're not looking forward to cold #2.

No updates on weights... we'll have a weigh-in at the next well visit in mid November. Now for some photos...

Fun at 6 months

We're getting the hang of this parenting thing! At 6 months we bravely get out and about and are really enjoying the kids. Here are a few photos of some fun we've had this past month:

Estes Park:











Walking around the hood:



Steamboat:

6 month check-up

The boys had their 6-month well visit appointment today. Besides getting their latest stats, they also, sadly, got 3 shots :-( The boys did about as well as expected when they are getting stuck in the leg 3 times. But they are resilient and bounce back really fast.

As for their stats...
Jeremy
Height - 25 3/8" (25%)
Weight - 15lb 9 0z (25%)
Head Circ - 17" (45%)

Nathan
Height - 23 1/2" (<3%)
Weight - 12lb 1.5oz (<3%)
Head Circ - 16 3/4 (25%)

The doctor was pleased with Jeremy and no huge concerns. They just want us to keep an eye on his neck and shoulder strength.

Nathan on the other hand... she had a few concerns. She would really like to see him get on the curve. The good news is that he continues to grow. She just wants to see him grow at a more aggressive pace. We just need to pump calories in him as best as we can. Which unfortunately means that we will be waking up for night time feedings for quite a long time it appears.

Both kids are trying out more solid foods and doing well. We've moved on from rice cereal to peas. What a mess! But, both of them appear to be getting the hang of it. Sweet potatoes next!

6 months... can you believe it?!

So it's been 6 months. Happy half bday to Jeremy and Nathan.

The big news is that they started a new daycare today. This new daycare is equally convenient, but a little more hands on with the boys. We felt that they should be getting more attention and play time than they were getting at the first place so hopefully this place will do the trick.

What else is new:
Jeremy - he is rolling all over the place. We figure he's not far from crawling at this point, but he can sure get where he needs to go by rolling. Jeremy is super smiley and also super ticklish :-)

Nathan - is starting to roll. If you put him on his stomach he'll eventually roll to his back. And, he's starting to show more interest in rolling from his back to his tummy. Nathan is also very smiley and cracks up at most things daddy does.

Both kids are testing out rice cereal on a pretty regular basis now. We'll likely try a new solid food next week and see how they do with that. Feeding rice cereal takes forever, but it's super entertaining watching both boys figure it out.

A Few Firsts at Five Months

We have now entered the 5th month and I have a few 'firsts' to report.

1. Mark does daddy-duty all alone for a weekend!
I took one night away this past weekend to spend some time with my friends Eve and Lara. Mark, on the other hand, got to spend some quality time with the boys. He did great! A little more tired than usual, but all-in-all, he survived. I'm on duty next weekend while Mark goes on a weekender with his guy friends. Payback!

2. Jeremy tests out the exersaucer. See for yourself:

3. Nathan and Jeremy test out 'solid' foods.
Okay, so it's not exactly solid, but we tested out the boys with rice cereal. Let's just say, one of the boys took to it better than the other. See for yourself:

4 month appointment

A mere 3 days before the boys are 5 months old, but we managed to get them in today for their 4 month appointment.

The doc thought they both looked great and they handled their shots like champs (3 shots!)

Nathan weighed in at a whooping 10lb 7oz. The doc wasn't super concerned, but would definitely prefer that he put on weight faster. This month has a few variables that might have affected his weigh in. We switched his formula which caused some stress and we started daycare.

Giant Jeremy weighed in at 14lb 7oz. This weight puts him at the 35% for weight which is great considering he is a twin!

Here are a few photos taken last weekend while we were in Steamboat. They are so smiley and cute these days!!!

4 months old!

Can you believe it's been 4 months?!

The boys hit their 4 month mark and I can't help but be shocked at how much they've changed and grown in a mere month. Both kids are smiling and giggling a ton which is so darn adorable, Jeremy is rolling all over the place, and Nathan slept through the night for the first time last night. Now if we can just time it so both kids sleep through the night on the SAME night!

The kids are officially in full time daycare and I'm back to work full time. It's been a tough adjustment, but I think it's good for me mentally to be back at work. I certainly can't wait to see the boys at the end of the day and I appreciate the time I'm home with them a ton. They seem to be adjusting just fine at daycare. They are eating and napping well and are all smiles when they are dropped off and picked up. I guess you can't ask for much more.

I was welcomed back to work with a fun gift from a co-worker. Check out their new Polycom onesies! These are the hit of our Marketing department. These photos were shown to the executive staff today: