Sunday, November 22, 2009
11 Months Update
Well, actually they are 11.5 months now - only 2 more weeks of technically being babies?! Wow. I just can't even believe that. In a way, I'm so proud to just have gotten here - I survived! They survived! Bryan survived! We figured it all out! I mean, I can't even imagine when these two were born I had rarely even touched a baby in my life. When at a baby store yesterday, I was looking at all the Christmas clothes. I love holidays and am always excited when the new stuff comes out! But as I stood there looking at all the "baby's first Christmas" things, it struck me how we have come full circle - it won't be their first Christmas anymore, or ever again. They've now had all their calendar year firsts. On the one hand that makes me sad, but it has been an amazing year. And I'm very excited to see them experience everything as they get a little older and understand what is going on. So I know there is still much joy ahead! :) In fact, last Christmas was their first, and it was INCREDIBLE, but it was also surrounded by sleepless nights with 3 week old babies, totally new/clueless parents, and totally new/clueless babies! I'm really looking forward to having the energy this year to enjoy everything and take it all in.
Here are some updates from the last month:
Both babies feed themselves now! Kenna caught on around 10.5 months and never looked back. Her pincer grasp is amazing! She can pick up the tiniest things. If there is a day old pea in her bib pocket, she will surely pick it out and eat it the next day! She is a very independent eater. There are many things she refuses to eat off a spoon that she will pick up and eat for herself if placed on the tray. For some reason, Nathan took a few more weeks to catch on to the whole self feeding thing. I would put the food on his tray but he just wouldn't touch it. I knew he was physically able and that he loves food, so I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, I think it was just laziness! I found that if I turned his chair around so he couldn't see me, he would immediately pick something up and try to eat it. He definitely didn't have the same fine motor skills as Kenna, though, and often dropped the food, must to his frustration. I think he knew he wasn't great at doing it and was anxious to eat so he would just cry until I fed him. I just kept putting food on his tray every day and feeding him with my fingers so he would get the idea. He would play with it once in a while but that was it. Then, last week, he went for it and now has about a 90% completion rate! They both now pretty much feed themselves all of what is on the tray (except stuff I feed them with a spoon). It's amazing how far we've come in a month! The sippy cups are also in 100% use and they are doing well with them.
They are generally great eaters and eat pretty much everything! For example, one dinner this week was salmon, asparagus and fresh mushrooms with a tomato sauce. All parents have their things that are important to them, and for me a major thing is what they eat. I have taken the plunge and give them almost entirely organic food after reading much on the topic. I NEVER thought I would be "that" person, but yup, I now feel strongly about it for them. I am emphatic that they get a great mix of grains, fruits, veggies, proteins and dairy each day and buy a large variety of things for them to eat. My goal is to have kids who make healthy food choices for life and have a taste for a large variety of foods.
Kenna now has 8 teeth! At the beginning of last month she had 6, and by the end she had two more bottom teeth come in. It seemed like Nathan was having trouble teething last month but never had more teeth come in. This morning, one broke through on the bottom (number 7 for him!) and I think the matching one will be soon to come.
Both babies can stand for several second alone without holding onto anything now. Especially in the last week, they just periodically are standing when I look up. Nathan is doing an AWESOME job with his walker. We take him outside on the sidewalk with it and he can push it (walking) forever. Last week he tried to take his first step while standing without it, but promptly fell and I haven't seen him try that again. Kenna soon after did the same thing. She too can walk with the walker, but she isn't as excited about it and just goes for a little bit before deciding she would like to go smell the flower next to her! I can't imagine they won't be walking within another 4-6 weeks. They are very close and ready!
These two are very much a boy and girl in their personalities. Nathan is never happier than when you put him down in a wide open space and he can crawl as fast as he can. He gets a huge grin on his face and sort of pants "ah ah ah ah!" Kenna loves to crawl into your lap to be held and is enjoying books a lot more lately. She watches intently for a little while. This morning when I picked her up out of her crib and rubbed her back, she rubbed mine back. She is so sweet and loving! Nathan likes to crawl into my lap but more for playing. He likes to use me as a jungle gym. :) The exception is when he is tired, and then he will snuggle into me and lay his head on my shoulder. I just love that because it's so much less frequent with him.
We had a really fun first Halloween with them. We went to the Disneyland trick or treat party the night before and had a blast with our friends who have twin 2 year olds. We took them real trick or treating the next night on Halloween with grammy, papa, and their aunt, uncle and cousins and had a great time then too - although they slept through most of it! I had SO much fun having an excuse to go door to door myself and realized I was excited to see what kind of candy WE got! lol Nathan was a perfect lion, and Kenna a perfect flower.
Yesterday we got professional 12 month pictures taken. The timing didn't work to get them done later so they had to get done a little early. We couldn't get Nathan to smile for the life of us...BUT we got some absolutely fantastic pictures of them both despite that. I will post them next. I'm long overdue for some pics to be posted!
Here are some updates from the last month:
Both babies feed themselves now! Kenna caught on around 10.5 months and never looked back. Her pincer grasp is amazing! She can pick up the tiniest things. If there is a day old pea in her bib pocket, she will surely pick it out and eat it the next day! She is a very independent eater. There are many things she refuses to eat off a spoon that she will pick up and eat for herself if placed on the tray. For some reason, Nathan took a few more weeks to catch on to the whole self feeding thing. I would put the food on his tray but he just wouldn't touch it. I knew he was physically able and that he loves food, so I couldn't figure it out. In retrospect, I think it was just laziness! I found that if I turned his chair around so he couldn't see me, he would immediately pick something up and try to eat it. He definitely didn't have the same fine motor skills as Kenna, though, and often dropped the food, must to his frustration. I think he knew he wasn't great at doing it and was anxious to eat so he would just cry until I fed him. I just kept putting food on his tray every day and feeding him with my fingers so he would get the idea. He would play with it once in a while but that was it. Then, last week, he went for it and now has about a 90% completion rate! They both now pretty much feed themselves all of what is on the tray (except stuff I feed them with a spoon). It's amazing how far we've come in a month! The sippy cups are also in 100% use and they are doing well with them.
They are generally great eaters and eat pretty much everything! For example, one dinner this week was salmon, asparagus and fresh mushrooms with a tomato sauce. All parents have their things that are important to them, and for me a major thing is what they eat. I have taken the plunge and give them almost entirely organic food after reading much on the topic. I NEVER thought I would be "that" person, but yup, I now feel strongly about it for them. I am emphatic that they get a great mix of grains, fruits, veggies, proteins and dairy each day and buy a large variety of things for them to eat. My goal is to have kids who make healthy food choices for life and have a taste for a large variety of foods.
Kenna now has 8 teeth! At the beginning of last month she had 6, and by the end she had two more bottom teeth come in. It seemed like Nathan was having trouble teething last month but never had more teeth come in. This morning, one broke through on the bottom (number 7 for him!) and I think the matching one will be soon to come.
Both babies can stand for several second alone without holding onto anything now. Especially in the last week, they just periodically are standing when I look up. Nathan is doing an AWESOME job with his walker. We take him outside on the sidewalk with it and he can push it (walking) forever. Last week he tried to take his first step while standing without it, but promptly fell and I haven't seen him try that again. Kenna soon after did the same thing. She too can walk with the walker, but she isn't as excited about it and just goes for a little bit before deciding she would like to go smell the flower next to her! I can't imagine they won't be walking within another 4-6 weeks. They are very close and ready!
These two are very much a boy and girl in their personalities. Nathan is never happier than when you put him down in a wide open space and he can crawl as fast as he can. He gets a huge grin on his face and sort of pants "ah ah ah ah!" Kenna loves to crawl into your lap to be held and is enjoying books a lot more lately. She watches intently for a little while. This morning when I picked her up out of her crib and rubbed her back, she rubbed mine back. She is so sweet and loving! Nathan likes to crawl into my lap but more for playing. He likes to use me as a jungle gym. :) The exception is when he is tired, and then he will snuggle into me and lay his head on my shoulder. I just love that because it's so much less frequent with him.
We had a really fun first Halloween with them. We went to the Disneyland trick or treat party the night before and had a blast with our friends who have twin 2 year olds. We took them real trick or treating the next night on Halloween with grammy, papa, and their aunt, uncle and cousins and had a great time then too - although they slept through most of it! I had SO much fun having an excuse to go door to door myself and realized I was excited to see what kind of candy WE got! lol Nathan was a perfect lion, and Kenna a perfect flower.
Yesterday we got professional 12 month pictures taken. The timing didn't work to get them done later so they had to get done a little early. We couldn't get Nathan to smile for the life of us...BUT we got some absolutely fantastic pictures of them both despite that. I will post them next. I'm long overdue for some pics to be posted!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Putting the bottles away
October has just flown by! We were all sick for a week, then my parents were visiting for a week, then we were on vacation for a week, then I was catching up on work for a week after 3 weeks of being off schedule...and here we are in November! I'm long overdue for an update. But a full one will come soon. This is just a small one.
This morning I realized that I need to catch up on reading what key things I should be doing for the babies in this age group. It's easy to get into such a routine that you figure you know all that needs to happen, and that's where I've been for a couple of months. But, my little babies are older babies now and there are some changes I need to start making to transition them to the next stage - things like moving 100% to cups rather than bottles, focusing more on labeling objects, working on simple instructions with them, helping them practice walking (not just when they decide to cruise on something), etc. I made a list of a bunch of things I feel I need to start doing more mindfully and put it on my desktop. :)
As of yesterday, they are now only drinking from sippy cups. After I put them to bed for their nap just now, I started to gleefully put the bottles together on the counter in preparation for storage, joyfully reclaiming that counter space (enough space for so many bottles per day with twins is a lot!). Just as I was about to scoop them all into my arm to place in a big bag to put away, it hit me. No more baby bottles. Ever. That's it. I will never again feed my babies a baby bottle. My heart started to pound and my eyes welled up with tears, just like they are as I write this. I never used to understand why moms got emotional about their kids getting older, as there are always new things to look forward to. But my heart is practically hurting right now as I realize I'll never again hear those sweet sucking sounds on their little bottles. Then I started thinking about how they are almost a year old. In another month they will have already had so many of their "firsts". I can't believe that time is already behind us.
I put all the bottles away...except two. I have to hold and feed each one of them this afternoon with their bottles one last time! I think I'm having a much harder time letting go of their bottles than they are. :)
This morning I realized that I need to catch up on reading what key things I should be doing for the babies in this age group. It's easy to get into such a routine that you figure you know all that needs to happen, and that's where I've been for a couple of months. But, my little babies are older babies now and there are some changes I need to start making to transition them to the next stage - things like moving 100% to cups rather than bottles, focusing more on labeling objects, working on simple instructions with them, helping them practice walking (not just when they decide to cruise on something), etc. I made a list of a bunch of things I feel I need to start doing more mindfully and put it on my desktop. :)
As of yesterday, they are now only drinking from sippy cups. After I put them to bed for their nap just now, I started to gleefully put the bottles together on the counter in preparation for storage, joyfully reclaiming that counter space (enough space for so many bottles per day with twins is a lot!). Just as I was about to scoop them all into my arm to place in a big bag to put away, it hit me. No more baby bottles. Ever. That's it. I will never again feed my babies a baby bottle. My heart started to pound and my eyes welled up with tears, just like they are as I write this. I never used to understand why moms got emotional about their kids getting older, as there are always new things to look forward to. But my heart is practically hurting right now as I realize I'll never again hear those sweet sucking sounds on their little bottles. Then I started thinking about how they are almost a year old. In another month they will have already had so many of their "firsts". I can't believe that time is already behind us.
I put all the bottles away...except two. I have to hold and feed each one of them this afternoon with their bottles one last time! I think I'm having a much harder time letting go of their bottles than they are. :)
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