Baby Mum-Mum

So we're currently working on teaching the boys to take bites out of larger food items such as crackers, cookies, fruit, etc. I have seen these in the store and thought I'd try them out. They are great for our first attempts! Dissolves easy without a mess. The boys love them and are pros now at taking bites!


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Cheerios Update...

Okay, so if you read my previous posts, I mentioned being so paranoid of the boys choking on hard finger foods. So I'd been building them up for Cheerios by introducing other things that encourage chewing crunchy foods that might not be as big at first, or so I thought. I opened up a box this morning... They are MUCH smaller than I remember. So yeah, the boys had had bigger crunchy foods already! Needless to say, they loved them and are pros. Silly Mama!


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9 Month Update - 3 things I forgot in my previous post...

Both boys are now cutting (it's already out) their 8th tooth; 4 on top and 4 on the bottom.

Also both boys have fun 'throwing' and 'bouncing' balls these days. They'll lift it over their head and throw it down on the ground. They have a shaking ball that goes crazy after they do this, as well as a ball that makes really neat sounds when they do this.

The boys still live peek-a-boo using towels or blankets. Wyatt especially will get tickled every time. Just this past month, they have actually started to playback with us. They'll walk over to us or each other and put the towel on our/his head. They cant put it over heads yet, but they hold it up on the side usually. They'll then start cracking up. It's great seeing them play back with us and each other these days!

That's it for now... ;)


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Two Amazing 9 Month Old Big Boys!!

Another month has gone by, and I as always, I often stand (well, sit on the floor) in awe of the miracle of life develop right before my eyes. I watch as my sweet sons explore the world God created for us. I watch as my sweet sons develop into the young boys God created them to be. I see their wonder, excitement and innocence and a smile comes to my face as I am reminded that it is like children we are to come to our Lord and Savior. I watch as they test their boundaries and learn to express themselves and I think of how God must feel watching us do the same. I am reminded daily that I am to guide them and point them to the Father. Daily I try to remind myself this instead of focusing on the word ‘disciplining’. It helps my attitude and response I’ve found.

Another month has past; yesterday was Gavin and Wyatt’s 9 month birthday! As always I try to look back on the past month and capture all I want to remember, but I find myself always forgetting so much. Here are some of the highlights (although I think I’ve captured a lot already!):

Communication and Interaction
This month they have really begun to interact and talk with each other all the time. They will ‘share stories’ and just laugh and laugh at each other. They often follow each other around and love to play together with their ‘house’ and chase each other through the door. They love to play bumper cars in their walkers, love to touch each other and play with each other’s hair. They also love to play with the toy their brother is playing with!

Aside from each other, they also love to interact with other children these days; whether it be at Gymboree, a playgroup or the store. They love to watch the ‘big kids’ walk around, and love to go up to the ones still on the ground and talk to them, touch them or just laugh and wave.

The boys are jabbering more and more each week. They just love to ‘talk’! Their stories are full of so many different pitches, tones, stresses, etc. Each week it seems they have a new sound that they love to focus on and explore. Over Thanksgiving Wyatt’s was Nananananana! Now it’s any sound starting with the letter D; especially the long and short A sounds! The week after Thanksgiving, Gavin’s was Hi-Ya-Hi-Ya! Overall, Gavin uses a huge variety of sounds in each story. Gavin has even started to say the ‘T’ sound which is pretty hard. Both boys still love to say Mama and Dada and sometimes it sounds as if they are saying Hi when waving. Just last week, while reaching out to pet Noodles, Gavin said ‘Dog’. I was completely shocked and said, ‘What did you say? Dog?’ He then said, ‘Da.’ I said, ‘Da-G’. Gavin then said, ‘Dog-g-g!’ He’s said it many times since then, but doesn’t say it all the time. Then the other day he yelled ‘Daddy’ as Jason was walking up the stairs after work! (Every day when Jason gets home from work, the boys race to the gate at the top of the stairs as soon as they hear the door open. They squeal and clap the whole time until he picks them up. They are all smiles!! They sure do love their daddy!) Just yesterday, Wyatt said ‘Door’ as we were playing with the door and learning open and close; although it sounded like ‘Doow!’ Then he went around going ‘Doow, doow, doow. DaaDAA Daddyyyyy….!’ Then today he said ‘Dog’ as we were petting the dogs. He kept saying Dog, dog, dog and then Doggyyyyy! It’s just so cute. So, so far the boys are focusing on all the D words! We always thought the boys might be early talkers after watching them watch our mouths when we spoke since they were newborns. Gavin used to watch and then move his tongue every which way when he was only a month old. Both boys started cooing and jabbering very early too. I started talking between 8-9 months too, so that is about right.

Mobility
The boys crawl faster and faster every day; it really does surprise me just how fast they are. Sometimes it takes me multiple attempts to corral them in a specific area I want because the first one will crawl away before I can get the second one there! This is getting much better though as they learn to listen to mama and what ‘stay/sit’ means.

Their balance is also much better when walking along or crawling over from one object to another. It’s almost as if they don’t have many issues balancing while playing. They love to climb and are getting very good about climbing down too without landing on their face. They do practice this at Gymboree too which helps build their confidence.

Standing! The boys are both doing great at standing on their own these days. They both will let go of an object while playing just for the fun of it or to use both hands. They also will let go of us so they can clap or play with their toy. Wyatt will average about 15-20 seconds of standing on his own these days. Just two nights ago Gavin shocked us when he stood for a good 45+ seconds all by himself. They think it’s the greatest thing and just starts laughing and looking all around!

Walking! Both boys took their first steps without assistance over Thanksgiving break. We’ll put them in front of us, let go and they’ll stand a while and then take 1-2 steps toward us. They often don’t fall, but reach us and just stand their bracing themselves smiling and laughing. Just the past couple of days, Gavin will let go on his own as if he’s wanting to try walking without our coaxing! They also love to walk around from one thing to another; more than ever. They’ll go round and round the coffee table, from the coffee table to the couch and back again like it’s nothing. They’ll walk all along the couches upstairs to the tub of blankets to the fridge, to the bookshelves and work their way down until they find a toy that really gets their interest! They are just a lot more confident these days and their balance is incredible! They are so happy and proud of themselves too which is great to watch.

They now use everything as a walker if they can; laundry baskets, boxes (aside from climbing on and into!), toys, books, scooters (forwards and backwards), etc…

This past month, Gavin has become ‘tougher’ too. Before when he’d attempt something and bump his head or fall, he’d cry and just lay there (not always of course, but it was a normal occurrence throughout the day). Now he just picks right back up and tries it again! Both boys are very tough. Which is good, because boy oh boy do they bump their heads a lot or fall on their bottoms if they’ve stood too long. They haven’t quite figured out how to avoid objects above their head or out of their line of sight.

Temperaments
Gavin and Wyatt are such happy children. They truly love life and exploring it. The majority of our days are filled with lots of smiles and laughs. They have the greatest giggles in the world!!! They both have such amazing and yet different smiles. They melt my heart and make it leap for joy all at the same time!

They are still into exploring everything around them and their abilities. Gavin is also still very much into doors, buttons, latches, switches, etc. The past couple of weeks, he’s very much into wheels. He’ll flip over all the cars or scooters and study as he spins the wheels.

This past week, Gavin has been expressing himself a lot more. He’ll begin to shout very excitedly when playing (sounds like our house is swimming with testosterone sometimes!). Other times he lets me know when he does NOT like something. I’m working on showing him that he can express himself without being disrespectful. We will not tolerate anger yelling or slapping my hand. I think after a few days, he’s understanding a little more. When yelling obnoxiously, I’ll slightly pop his mouth (very soft and appropriate just to get his attention) and then talk very firmly. When he slaps my hand away or throws food off the highchair tray, I either grab his hand or slap it slightly to get his attention; again followed by a stern voice. I always follow up with a thank you for listening (which he does do) and how much I love him. I have to do this for Wyatt too of course, but he’s not as into expressing his dislikes yet. He does however slap my hand away during meals or when I’m wiping his nose (which he HATES).

Both boys have gotten very very good about listening to us when we say ‘no’! You can see in their eyes that they want to continue, but instead, obey and find something else to do. Before touching something new or out of the usual, they will often turn to look at us before they touch it. I then say yes or no… They did excellent at my mom’s house in El Paso during Thanksgiving. The house was not childproofed (but my mom did a great job of making it child friendly! Thank you mom!) and they did great. They typically stay in area that you want them too without gates. I do not like to pin them up unless it’s an emergency and they prove that they do not need to be either. The two exceptions are not really exceptions: They both love to play in front of the gate at the top of the stairs. This area is not off-limits to them, but I’d prefer they play in the game room, vs the ‘hallway’, etc. I know they are just fascinated watching people or dogs go up or down the stairs; along with toys! The other area is our hallway downstairs. Sometimes they don’t want to stay in our living room, but prefer to pay with cars or balls or the door stoppers on the hallway tile. It’s cold floor which I prefer them not playing on, but they love it! So, our house is childproofed very well for safety, but not for confinement at all. It takes a lot more energy, time and effort now, but I want them to learn from the beginning to explore safely and with self-control.

Christmas Tree and Other Decor
We have decorated for Christmas and the boys love it! They are excellent with the tree; very gentle. We let them touch it, but only touch and not pull, shake, etc. We also have the bottom two rows of the tree branches decorated with some of their toys so they can enjoy and learn to put them on and off the tree. They LOVE this!! They also have a few special ornaments they get to touch which they find a great treat and beam with joy when playing with them. I have also decorated slightly different this year to include lots of décor they can touch at their level; everything else high. We have a giant stuffed Roudaulf and another reindeer for them to play with. I also have a box of Christmas kitchen towels and pot holders that they love to dig through and drag around the living room and hallway. They also have fun little stockings to play with that say ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’, teddy bears in Santa hats that sing Jesus Loves Me, A&M snowmen, books, etc… and their favorite… a tin Santa and Snowman platter. They love to bang this to make ‘beautiful music’ and scoot around on it.

Favorite Things and Other Notes
Both boys have started to dance this month; Gavin a few weeks ago and Wyatt started yesterday morning to Christmas music! It is just precious watching them move their shoulders, hips and legs. It’s so cute as they sit on their knees bopping up and down moving their arms! Just this morning, Wyatt started to ‘shake his sillies out’ all by himself in the tub as we were bebopping to that song!!

They love their dino walker and 4-wheeler scooter my mom bought them for Christmas! They also love their 'house', activity centers, ball pit, and tunnel their Aunt Selina bought them for Christmas! They also LOVE balls, cars, rings, blocks and other things with buttons, switches and latches! Just this past month, the boys have really started to use their pacifier again. They love to suck on it throughout the day. They don't care if they don't have it, but they are enjoying it again.

They love to clap ALL the time! Wyatt does this I’d say the majority of the day it seems! They are also still loving to bang one toy, ball, etc in one hand with another in the other hand. They find it great when we do the same thing when playing with them!

The boys’ wave has become a lot more ‘aggressive’. Instead of just lifting their hands and moving slightly, they wave like crazy now. They even sound like they say ‘hi’ sometimes while doing so! They are also still ‘hi-fiving’, etc.

They love to dance with Mama or move to songs like ‘The Wheels on the Bus’, ‘Shake/Clap Your Sillies/Crazies Out’, ‘Patty Cake’, etc! Wyatt loves the song, ‘If you’re happy and you know it… CLAP YOUR HANDS!!’ He just can’t wait to clap his hands to that song! Gavin started today shaking his arms as I do when I say let's dance!

Bath time is great fun these days. We’ve moved them to the bathroom upstairs. They get to play in there now without any chairs or support. They love the extra freedom, and just splash and splash, and play with all their toys. They love bubble baths too still as a fun treat. They are getting much better at learning to ‘sit on their hinnies’ and not stand up in the tub.

For a couple of months the boys have been working on trying to stand up on their own from the crawling position (without luck though of course). Just yesterday morning though, Gavin decided to look upside down between his legs while up on all fours after bath time. He thought that was great fun! He tried this again this morning!

We ‘celebrated Christmas’ with my side of the family while we were in El Paso for Thanksgiving. (I’ll write a separate post about our trip!) The boys LOVED opening presents. They were pros from the very beginning! They’d rip the paper off (all after us saying it’s okay of course) and then spend forever playing with the paper!!! It was so much fun watching them!

They also traveled very well. We split the trip into two day each way; so a total of 6 hours a day. We are thankful we did this for all of us. It was very easy for the boys to adjust this way.

The boys love church. We’ve moved from sitting in the very back to the very front so they can watch the band. They just stare in awe. They often love to tell stories and laugh throughout service. They wave and flirt with EVERYONE around us which causes lots of smiles!

The boys are still sleeping very well. They sleep all through the night still. They typically go to bed about 7:30 these days; sometimes earlier or later. They are now waking up sometime between 5 and 5:30, but I’ve been getting them out of bed at 6. We’ll then change diapers, feed them milk and then either at 7 or 7:30, we’ll head downstairs for a good breakfast. They love pancakes, waffles, eggs, fruit, oatmeal, biscuits, etc. We then head upstairs for our bath and more playtime. Their first nap starts about 8:30 or 9 typically depending on the morning. This is typically their longest nap, about 1-2.5 hours in length. About 11 or 11:30 we eat lunch. Another nap is between 12 and 12:30 depending on the morning and what’s going on that day. They eat a ‘snack’ about 3 and dinner about 6 or 6:30. Some days if they haven’t slept well, they’ll take a 3rd nap in the late afternoon, but this is not the norm any more. They are getting very flexible about their schedule which is great. This allows for us to do more things like the playgroup activities, Gymboree and other fun things.

The boys are still eating very well. While they only drink about 8-10 oz of milk a day, their diet is rich in a large variety of nutritious foods. They are not picky at all; although some days they seem to not enjoy certain dishes that they might usually love. This is typical for us all though I would think. They love to feed themselves, but I still feed them with a spoon certain foods that are just too hard to eat with their fingers. We will start to increase our efforts in using the spoon soon. Just this past week I started to give them things like spaghetti and a mild form of my chili. I want to make sure their stomachs can handle certain foods that tend to be harsher. They are doing great and love it all. So this next month we’ll be introducing a lot more of these types of food as appropriate by age of course.

I’ve been super paranoid about them choking on hard foods such as Cherrios. I’ve gone through so many different products trying to work up to that and build my confidence in their chewing abilities before I jump into that. I know they are find and ready, but like I said, I’m paranoid. But this week we did take the leap and they are eating Kixs and other type of hard cereal finger foods. They chew excellent and really have no issues. Perhaps next week they can try Cherrios.

They still love their sippy cup and are now able to understand to hold it up in order to drink the water inside! They do however still have issues with making sure the spout is close to their mouth and not on the other side. We tried drinking from a straw this past month and they just laughed and thought it was funny. I know; too young, but it’s all al learning and exposure process.

Speaking of exposure. I’ve started getting the boys use to their little potty chair this past month. I wanted to do it even sooner, but with TWO boys, I needed them to be very mobile before tempting this. They love sitting on their potty. We mainly do this now before bath and after naps. I’ll start increasing it as they start to walk which will be a whole lot easier since there’s two. Gavin’s actually gone number one on it before bath time! We’ll of course wait to ‘potty train’ them until they show signs of readiness, but it’s great to expose them to it now so they aren’t afraid of it and they are accustomed to sitting on the pot!

The boys have been enjoying their new swingset!! They just love the swings and then crawling in the grass. They are getting much better about not trying to continually eat it now!

The sicknesses continue. My heart is so sad watching them be sick. They were really sick over Thanksgiving. Wyatt actually needed breathing treatments too because he was wheezing. Jason and I got sick, then we gave it to my sister, who then gave it to my mom. The boys were feeling pretty well for almost a week, when Wyatt came down with a 103+ fever and Gavin a bad cough. We are on day two of this new sickness. This means this is their 6 sickness in two months I believe…sigh… I feel like I’m doing something wrong as a mother, but I know this is just part of having little children, having twins and not keeping them in the house each and every day. The doctor keeps telling me it’s building their immune system which is wonderful in the end. Meanwhile, I thank God that I am able to snuggle my boys and love on them at home instead of having to get them ready for daycare as I head to work even when sick. I love being able to stay home with my boys and will be forever thankful.

Both boys had a great 9 Month Check-up yesterday! We are so thankful for their health and each development God blesses them with. Both boys weigh almost 21 lbs and are 28 and 3/4 inches. Their weight has really slowed down the past two months, but zero concerns! The majority of their clothes are 12 months, although they do have to wear a few 18 month clothes here and there.

I know there is so much more I could write about, but I think I’ve captured enough for one post! Happy 9 Month Birthday precious sons Gavin and Wyatt. I love you with all my heart!

Some Random Pics (that should have been on other posts...)

They love this house!

Mama and her dragon and frog before a Halloween Party

Aquadoodle

Bubbles

Finger Painting

Mr. Bubbles!

Zooming around the game room on two feet.

First Pumpkin Patches and Halloween Festivities

The first weekend of October, Jason and I took the boys to their first pumpkin patch. We were able to take the boys in the petting zoo part and walk up to the horses, as well as take a hay ride. They soaked it all in. These past several weeks, it's been so hard to get them to take pictures looking at the camera when outside somewhere new; they just love to look around, observe and soak it in. You can see the wheels turning as they look around.

Wyatt loved the hay and kept rubbing it on his face for some reason.


Gavin seemed to enjoy the pumpkins.



The boys kept standing up from this seat in between pictures, and of course falling forward. Just imagine Jason on the side catching them in between the shots!


The week before Halloween, I took the boys to another pumpkin patch with our friend Natalie and her son. The boys were much more into it this time and standing and walking from one pumpkin to another. Here are the pictures below.

More Halloween picture fun:

The Saturday before Halloween, we went to Bridgeland's Howl-o-ween fest and our church's trunk-o-treat. The boys were wide eyed the whole day watching all the people, dogs and festivities. By the end of the day, they were pooped!

Halloween was on a Monday this year. We decided not to take the boys trick-or-treating because their dinner is typically around 6:30pm and they go to bed around 7:30. So after dinner, we put their Halloween shirts and sweat pants on them for pjs, put their costume hats on and passed out candy. They boys enjoyed watching all the kidos come up with their costumes. Gavin enjoyed taking the candy out of the box and chewing it. We have to admit, I think we passed out some slobbery pieces ;)

8 Months and Enjoying Socializing and Continual Exploring

• The past few weeks, Gavin and Wyatt have truly enjoyed and been very enthusiastic about getting to get out and socialize in different environments. The Thursday before Halloween, we had a party with our playgroup. The boys spent for the first 45 minutes with their mouths open in awe as they watched all the children dressed in their costumes run around and play. Before long, the boys were crawling everywhere and grabbing my fingers trying to ‘chase’/walk after the kids. They laughed and lit up when the kids would play with them. Wyatt so enjoyed one of them playing tug-o-war with him, hehe. Later that day when we got home, Gavin started to ‘talk’ up a storm. His brother soon joined him. Now the boys talk all the time.
  


• As time goes, they are interacting more and more with each other as well. They’ll make each other laugh and talk to each other sometimes. They are forever trying to touch each other’s face, etc… but… they just don’t understand how to be gentle yet. I’m forever trying to explain to them that they can’t poke their brother’s eye or yank on his ears or lips! It does warm my heart to see their interactions increase though!
  


• Last week we joined Gymboree; the boys had a blast!! They were nothing but smiles and giggles and EVERYWHERE! They loved to interact with the other children as well. They enjoyed crawling and climbing on everything, walking from one thing to another, and work on balancing their bodies as they went up and down inclines. Their abilities forever amaze us. We found out it’s not just us though, even the teachers there were amazed that they weren’t even 8 months yet. I LOVE to watch the pure joy and wonderment in their eyes and they try new things, explore the world and their abilities, and then watch them master what they set out to do!
  


• They continue to win records with their crawling speed, and often go in different directions ;) They both love to climb and pull up on everything and anything in every sort of position. Gavin is getting braver and braver about walking from one thing another, even things that require bigger steps, turns and perhaps a step on his own or fall towards it. Both boys are excellent at lowering themselves softer and softer these days instead of a big bang sit… They both are getting great at bending over and picking up a toy while standing as well.
  


• They are trying to stand up on their own as well (feet and hands on the on the floor, legs straight...) Gavin practices this the most these days. They still have a ways to go, but in just a week’s time, I’ve seen big improvements.
  


• Wyatt’s new thing is to be a ‘rollie pollie’! He loves to roll around the floor by himself or with mama. He loves to go from the standing position to an awkward position with his hinny in the air and head/shoulders on the floor, then flop as in a roll. Then away he goes rolling this way and that.
  


• The boys love to use the ‘push walker’ these days! They are great at learning to walk and balance on their own as they push it straight and turn it. Even when it starts to get away from them, they learn how to adjust their bodies to keep from falling. They are so proud of themselves.
  


• Gavin’s favorite thing is still walking around the house as he holds on to my fingers. He is great at just holding on to one finger now though, and will let go of one finger on his own. You can tell he loves to try to balancing while doing this because he just lights up and grins like crazy! Wyatt enjoys this too, but prefers to try things on his own more often than not. We’ll get several steps and then he sees something he wants to play with or somewhere else he wants to go and gets down and crawls there. It’s fun to see how Gavin loves to practice and think things through and Wyatt just tries things out as he goes. Such precious children!!
  


• Their new favorite game: standing! They LOVE for me to hold their fingers as they stand and then let go! They crack up as they try to balance and then finally fall and I catch them. They often stand straight for a good 4-5 seconds on their own then bend half way with their arms moving as trying to catch their balance and then I catch them as they fall. They can do this forever it seems. They both also are trying to stand up on their own when we aren’t there. The other day Wyatt was at his toy box in the living room, playing with his snuggle bear that was draped over the box, without holding on to anything. Because he was concentration so hard on the bear, he didn’t realize he was standing on his own! He must have done this for a good 15-20 seconds, then grabbed the box, a new toy and took off. It’s amazing watching them do things like this.
  


• Gavin and Wyatt LOVE cords and outlets… sigh… They are learning the word NO. They understand to stop when we say NO, but then try to do it again. There are some days, Wyatt thinks it’s absolutely hilarious when we say NO, DANGER, and HURT/OUCH! Sigh… But, they are learning and we are being consistent which is the important thing in teaching them. We do not smack their hands, but rather hold their hands firmly and have a stern voice to explain the importance of our words.
  


• The boys have wonderful attention spans; I’m actually amazed. They will spend 15-20-30 minutes on one activity. They enjoy their times of movements as I mentioned above which enjoys zero toys or the larger toys like the activity centers or their ‘house’. They enjoy reading time and looking at books. They enjoy playing with blocks, boxes, balls and cups. They enjoy playing with cars, and they enjoy their ‘box of toys’. They also love two Baby Einstein videos we put in every now and then; First Signs and First Movements. As I mentioned before they love the puppets and the children. These two videos capture their attention for 20-30 minutes.
  They also enjoy our daily activities like:
  -Flash cards (animals, shapes, colors right now which include lots of other fun discussions with this!)
  -Music time (using their keyboard, tambourine, drum, rattles, and other instruments in the set)
  -Art (playing with dough, writing, finger paints, bubbles, etc)
  Sensations (we explore different textures and temperature of things around the house and outside)
  -OUTSIDE (The boys LOVE to be outside. Walks, park, art activities, whatever… and their swing set is going up this week! We are so excited, they boys are going to love it!!!)
  


• Just as a brief update, we have started to feed the boys milk when they first wake up in the morning followed by breakfast an hour or so later. This has helped drastically with their daily milk intake; freeing me to not have to stress about it the rest of the day. They continue to eat great.
  


• The boys have gone through a growth spurt the past couple of weeks. They have increased in length drastically (not sure what they are now…) and now weigh 20 ½ lbs.
  


• They now have new carseats! We got them the Graco SmartSeat and love it! The other car seats should have been retired a long time ago because their legs were dangling out for a while… Anyways, getting out and about with the boys just keeps getting easier and easier! They love to be in their strollers and the carts at the store. They are great in the double buggies/cars attached to the carts and look really cute as we shop!
  


• Shortly after the boys recovered from their first cold, they caught a stomach bug which caused about 7-8 bowl movements a day each. This lasted about a week. Then just yesterday, Gavin gave us a very big scare. He had a low grade fever of 99.8 Friday night and Saturday morning. Then between 2:30 and 3:30 it rose quickly and drastically to 103.4 and he was very very lethargic. We took him to the pediatric emergency clinic. It took over 2 hours to get it to come down slightly. All tests came back fine. He went to bed with smiles and fever free, woke up fever free, but it has started to rise again to 100.3 by his first nap. I am praying it stabilized and goes away so he can feel much better. I am thankful he is playing and happy today though. I will write more on this later.
  
  

There are a million other things (and pictures, I promise…) I’ll have to write more about. For now, this is a good glimpse at our precious blessings at 8 months (tomorrow!)