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Time is just flying by and I am having a hard time keeping up with it through our blog. I apologize for the length of time between posts, but I have two demanding little ones that do not want my time spent at the computer!
Eli and Emry Jane are so much fun right now! They are definitely keeping us on our toes, especially Eli who has learned how to CRAWL this month and seems to find all sorts of things to get into already! You think your house is baby-proofed then they are crawling around and… you feel like you have shards of glass all over the floor! Everything is dangerous! At least, that’s how I feel. Noah’s playroom is the most dangerous room of all… all those tiny toy parts just perfect for choking 😦
Now that the twins have hit 7 months, I think we are FINALLY on a predictable schedule. They wake up for their first bottle around 5:30am. I warm their milk, change their diapers and pump while feeding them then everyone goes back to bed. I get Noah up at 6:45am for school and then get the twins up around 7:15 to take him to school, if they are not up already. Eli tends to wake up on his own around 7am. We usually eat breakfast at 8:15, usually oatmeal and/or fruit. This morning, it was half a jar of apricot, apple, pear puree per baby. They have their second bottle around 9:30am. Each bottle is between 7 to 8 ounces, 5-6 ounces of breast milk and 1-2 ounces of formula mixed together. It has to be warm or my picky children will not take it 🙂 I use a crockpot of warm water to warm the bottles since my Keurig died a few weeks ago. It has been working well so far. I pump during each feeding for 20 minutes. The babies are finished within 5-10 minutes with their bottles, but they usually fall asleep or play in the floor of the nursery beside me until I am finished. They nap after their bottle until 11/11:30am. We eat lunch around 12pm. I offer them chunks of fruit or vegetables that they can feed themselves or a jar of fruit and a jar of vegetables to share. Third bottle at 1/1:30. Second nap around 2pm. Fourth bottle at 4/4:15. I usually do not offer them any baby food between those feedings since they are closer together. If they are really fussy or tired, I will put them down in their cribs for a short nap between 4:30 and 5. I do not let them nap past 5:30. We have dinner around 6pm as a family. We offer a vegetable that we are eating for dinner and sometimes a puree as well. They also like to eat organic sweet potato puffs and yogurt melts if I put them in their high chairs while I make dinner. We do baths around 7:15pm and have their last 8-ounce bottle at 7:45pm. By 8pm, they are both asleep for the night. We are still cloth diapering during the day and I change their diapers every 2-3 hours. We use disposable Pampers Swaddlers size 3 at night. We go through 2 per baby a night, so we can make a box of diapers last a long time– not too shabby!
We spend a lot of time playing upstairs in their nursery. Until we get the playroom divided and set up, we have a foam mat and toys in their room. The babies no longer enjoy their swings, bouncers, or jumper/exersaucer like they used to. Entertaining them has become a challenge, especially if I need to get things done! We go several days without using the bouncers and swings and I often wonder if I should sell them just to have some of my living room back! The jumper/exersaucer time lasts just long enough for me to have my coffee in the morning. I have contemplated using the playard that we bought them for Christmas (currently in their closet) and the foam mat from their nursery to make a baby “play area” downstairs for them. You may see pictures of such in next month’s post 🙂
The babies love to be held and want constant attention. They like to feed themselves and are getting really good at picking up small pieces of food and getting it into their mouths! They are very attached to their lamb pacifiers, especially Emry Jane. She has started taking Eli’s pacifier from him and putting it into her mouth. Then, she smiles because she knows it isn’t hers. They enjoy bath time and have started leaning forward and trying to climb up the slanted part of the tub. They also have more interest in the rubber bath toys. They both prefer to sleep on their stomachs or sides. Eli sticks his little butt in the air when he sleeps, so cute!!
Emry Jane wins the first baby tooth award! She has one bottom tooth. It feels like a little razor blade. She doesn’t crawl on her hands and knees yet, but she can army crawl, scoot and roll to something she wants. She can beat Eli in a race to the phone using this army crawl/scoot combo! She is our Miss Independent. Tommy says her first sentence will be “Me do it.” Haha. She has Daddy TOTALLY wrapped around her fingers. She grins from ear to ear when she sees him or hears his voice. She also really likes Noah. She is smiley and happy at home with us, but still observant and shy around new people and surroundings. It takes her a little bit to warm up, even around immediate family. She is ticklish. Her hair is growing slowly but surely. It looks to be blonde like Eli’s. She likes to be thrown in the air and to “cheer” with Auntie Amy and Mommy. Perhaps she will follow in their footsteps 🙂
Eli does not have any teeth yet, but is definitely teething. He has started drooling like crazy– way more than Emry Jane does or Noah ever did! He can crawl on his hands and knees. It’s a slow crawl but he is getting a little faster every day. He is very interested in crawling into Noah’s playroom and finding things to chew on (hence, my fear of choking on tiny toy parts!) He is a Mama’s Boy and will throw his body towards me if someone else is holding him. He is very smiley and social. His hair in the front is very long but we push it to the side. I do not plan to cut it until after his first birthday (old wive’s tale.) His Daddy calls these hairs his “overachievers” and apparently Tommy’s hair was just like that as a baby. Eli has started making “mamama,” “dadada” and “bababa” and other sounds. “Mama” tends to come out most when he is tired or whining but I cannot count it as his first word or directed towards me just yet. So far, Emry just squeals to communicate. Eli is very ticklish and his laugh is the sweetest thing ever. I just love it. He no longer yells out before he sneezes. I miss that funny part about him.
Most Memorable Moment this Month: Noah read them a book a week or so ago. He chose “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. He read all the words himself and, for the most part, they listened attentively. It was a really special moment for the Teacher Mom in me 🙂 It’s the little things.
christianson6 