Nearing 9 months...

We took the boys out of town for the first time this past weekend. We had our entire SUV loaded for a quick weekend trip. It's ridiculous how much you need for two 8 month old babies. We ended up taking two pack and plays for them to sleep in. Originally we had planned on taking one big playpen and having them both sleep in it... but there is no way that would work since Matthew is standing up and crawling all over.

We stayed w/ J's brother and they watched the boys on Saturday night while J and I went to a party. I've mentioned it in a previous post. It was at a beautiful home that a friend of J's had recently built. The master bath is the size of our master bedroom. It was so nice! We socialized, enjoyed some food (especailly the dessert bar) and made it until 11:15 before getting really tired. We are usually in bed by 8:30pm so this was late for us. I'm a girl that needs my sleep :-) Plus...we're always up at the crack of dawn.

The best part of the trip was just having so many hands around to help w/ the boys. My arms got an actual rest. I spent the majority of Sunday playing w/ my niece and nephew. They are super sweet kids and it was fun to play out back and have a change from my normal routine w/ two infants. Matthew has been pretty fussy lately. He has moments when he just screams and screams and nothing you do calms him down. We worry at times that there is something wrong. I don't think it can be anything serious b/c he has many happy periods throughout the day too. Maybe he's just having a rough time w/ the teething. Teeth have been coming in like crazy. Matthew has two bottom teeth and Andrew has four teeth (2 on top and 2 on bottom).

Other than Matthew's unhappy screaming moments he's doing great. He's all about getting into everything. His crawling gets quicker everyday. He can now pull himself up to a standing position and he will put one foot in front of the other (a bit wobbly) and walk holding onto to your hands. I bet he will be taking his first steps by himself before 10 months. I've also noticed that his speech has advanced lately. He says MA MA and DA DA non-stop. I don't think it has any correlation to mama and dada. I think he's just practicing new sounds but I'd like to think he's calling my name. It does seem that he says ma ma when he's crying like he's calling for me so maybe... he is?

Andrew hasn't started to crawl yet but he's rolling all over the place. He tries to crawl but pretty much swims in place :-) Neither of my children are mellow or laid back babies but Andrew tends to be more content. If Andrew gets upset he's much easier than Matthew to comfort and distract. Andrew loves to be held and we'll sit in the recliner and cuddle throughout the day. My Matthew doesn't want to waste time being held. If I try he's wiggling to grab something or trying to crawl off my lap. He prefers that you play actively with him...throw him in the air, tickle him, etc.

Nights continue to be hit and miss. Andrew is a wonderful sleeper. He pretty much sleeps through the entire night every night. Matthew... *sigh* doesn't. Matthew wakes up many times each night and will cry out. Usually he goes right back to sleep but by then J and I have woken up and one of us usually goes in to check on him. And funny enough Matthew is my good napper. He will take two decent naps a day. A long 2 hour one in the late morning and a shorter one in the late afternoon. I think he just play so hard that he tires himself out. Andrew on the other hand fights nap time. I have to hold him until he's sleepy and he won't sleep nearly as long.

We are starting to introduce a few finger foods. Right now we are doing four bottles a day of formula and three meals. Meals still consist of pureed foods. In between we eat the puffs and little pieces of watermelon or banana. We didn't start solids until 6 months so they are really only just starting to show signs that they are ready for more texture. Before they would gag and spit it out. Now they are figuring out how to mash w/ their gums. I'm looking forward to doing more finger foods. I'm tired of all of the pureed stuff.

Oh....and new rule at our house. NO TV! I don't turn on the TV at all during the day. I started this a few weeks ago. The only exception is if they are being super fussy and I'm getting worn out... then I may put on a Signing Time DVD to give myself a short break. They are both totally transfixed by those DVD's and I really want them to learn baby sign language. I just don't want my kids staring at a TV all day and almost all TV is crap. I think we get into a habit of having the television on when we aren't even watching it. I see so many older children that don't know how to play or entertain themselves. They only want to watch television and that's sad. I see no positives in having my 8+ month old twins watching TV.




Mommy & Daddy





The boys having fun in their walkers. I rarely use them since I've heard some negative associations but figure it can't hurt once in a while.