9 months

So its been another several weeks since my last post.  I swear my life is passing before me.  I think about this blog everyday, but either cannot find the time, or the energy, or the inspiration to write about anything of substance.  We hit another milestone in this house, so that always proves to be a good time to update everyone on the babies and life in general in this household.

The boys turned 9 months on the 25th of February.  I cannot comprehend where the last 9 months went.  Or even the last year for that matter.  We are approaching the year anniversary of when I was put on bed rest and that whole ordeal seems like it was yesterday.  The fact that I have not had one solid daytime nap for almost that long is the only reality keeping me in check with how much time has actually passed.  Oh and I suppose the fact that the babies are huge - and I look at them everyday in absolute wonder regarding how they are here and how I could have carried such perfect little beings in my belly.  It really is a wonder.


To me the babies are big because I carried them and I saw how small they were for so long.  Even at 6.3 and 5.2 birth weights they were decent for twins.  Now at roughly 17 pounds, they are only around 5th percentile for 9 months.  But when I look at my stomach, and where they lived for 8 1/2 months, they are plenty big to me!  And healthy - main concern of course - they check out perfectly healthy at their 9 month appointment.

Sam Bear

Will Bean

We have hit a slight bump in our ever winding road here.  We are dealing for the first time with a baby that seems to have a little separation anxiety.  Lillian never had it, which I always took kind of personally.  I guess we get what we ask for right??  Sam is ok, he went through a little period at bedtime for a week and then was fine.  But Will, this kid is persistent, angry, and frankly makes my heart just hurt when I look in on him in his crib and he's crying for his mommy.  Its causing some major nap issues.  The kid was never a great napper, but there was a time when he was working out some hour and a half naps a couple of times a week.  Now we are down to two half hour naps a day, waking screaming at each one (most of the time).  He works himself up into such a tizzy, that there is no possible way the kid is going back to sleep.  So I think now we have a habit that is just so hard to break.  I've tried the Ferber method and just leaving him in his crib for "nap time" and for 3 weeks nothing has changed.  According to the doctor, most babies take to a method of sleep training within a week.  So I think we're screwed.  Maybe when he outgrows the anxiety or turns 4 and drops a nap entirely we'll be able to forget about this trying time.  But for now, man is it hard.  I've seriously contemplated going back to work over this issue.  It just seems that whatever I am doing is not right, and while I've tried everything, nothing changes.  And yes I mean everything, as well as reading every sleep book known to man.  I know the baby needs more than an hour of daytime sleep because by dinner time, he can be an absolute mess.  And yes, I've tried a 3rd nap, but most of the time he just cries for 45 minutes at which point its too late for him to fall asleep unless I want bedtime demolished as well.

Other than the nap issue making me crazy, the boys are really great.  When they get just enough sleep to make them happy, they are so HAPPY and cute and amazing.  They laugh and talk to each other, they crawl around after each other down the hall, they climb all over each other and play very well.  I love them to pieces.

While Will struggles with his naps, Sam is a great sleeper and would be a fantastic napper if he could sleep through his brother.  Sam is my snuggle bear.  He is friendly and curious and hates table foods.  He gags when you put a puff up to his lips, its hysterical yet annoying at the same time.

Will is a good nighttime sleeper, he's actually gotten noticeably better at it.  He is a mama's boy.  He is spunky and thoughtful and likes to bite.  He has taken quite well to table food, which means he could be bigger than his brother any day now.

Thankfully we have one boy moving to solids.  We buy 50 cartons of baby food a week.  Yes, 50.  We go through a canister of formula a week, and I am still nursing the morning feeding.  We spend easily $50 a week on feeding the boys.  That is half of what our previous weekly grocery bill was.  Needless to say, we are hopeful Sam will soon take to table food.  But there is also the hope that they don't start eating like their sister which would mean they eat half a banana and some cheese curls about every 4 days.

 All in all, life is good.  If it weren't hard, it likely wouldn't have so much reward.