We are 7 months old!!!

Ok, so I won't say it again... "where did the last 7 months go???".

Ooops.

Anyway, here we are on 7 months and the babies are making strides everyday. They amaze me with what they are able to soak in and it seems they have a new trick for us each day.We had several milestones this month - namely we had our first dinner out as a family of four. We have kept the twins pretty sheltered so it was a big event for us. The first night we went to a local Mexican restaurant and they did wonderfully. Better than we expected actually.  It's so nice to feel normal and get out like a little family, just as I had always dreamed of. We get no shortage of stares which is amusing - but at this point I am growing accustomed to it.

We've also made strides in finally getting big enough to use the Exersaucers and some of their "bigger" toys and actually have them be entertaining -- before now they would just kinda slump in them and not have a lot of fun. But now they are full-fledged enjoying the heck out of them. 

We are now rolling EVERYWHERE. So much so that we finally had to break down and move out the coffee table and a couch to give them more room. Of course, no matter how much room we give them, they always seem to head straight for where everything is, so they are always getting wedged between toys. Long gone are the days where I could leave one on the play mat and go change the other. Or even leave them to use the restroom. Next step will be putting up the playpen gate, but I am delaying that little milestone as much as possible.

Ryan & Quinn are both starting to shine with their personalities. While they are very (very!) different babies, they are both wonderfully sweet and happy. In fact, I was telling someone the other day that I don't even think about them so much as "twins" anymore. To me, they just seem to be two very different babies who happen to be born one minute apart :)

All of that said - here's what they are up to at SEVEN months old!

We are 7 Months Old!!!

This pretty much sums up their personalities --- Quinn alternating screaming (with joy!) & laughing and Ryan just chilling with a bemused look on his sweet face.

I think they love each other.

I realized when I was getting them dressed for their mini-photo shoot that I haven't thoroughly embarrassed them and posted a naked baby pic. So here ya go.

These aren't exactly "January"-type outfits, but I was afraid they would grow out of them before the weather would be appropriate. My mom & I bought these for them when I was still pregnant at the most adorable boutique in Rice Village.

Hey, brother! Pay attention to ME!

Ryan: What You Are Up To @ 7 Months Old!

Usually Ryan is all about looking at the camera --- he wasn't cooperating this go around.

In his favorite "superman" pose - he looks like he is ready to fly away!

 - You weigh about 16lbs 9oz now - my big boy! I have to say that you are in a "growing out" stage and not a "growing up" :) Your legs get chunkier every day and I love it. You are most comfortable in 9 month sleepers now, although you can fit in some of the stretchier 6 month ones. But I have a feeling that won't last long. You are fully in 3-6 month pants, but those are starting to get tight on your waist. But when we have to move up to 6-12, we won't be able to see your feet! You are 100% wearing 6 month+ tops and sweaters. I had to pack away all of your 3-6 month tops which broke my heart.

- You are getting your THIRD tooth. I don't know the technical term for that particular tooth, but it's on the top row to the left of where your middle front teeth will be. You have dealt with getting your teeth pretty well & haven't been too fussy thankfully! The week that 3rd one came in you didn't eat great, but you are back on track now.

- You still eat between 6 and 7 ounces every 3 hours or so. I've tried stretching you into every 4 hours so we can drop a feeding, but you are not quite ready for that. You are slowly getting the hang of spoon feeding & you actually get excited now when we put you in your high chair. You also got your first taste of "real" food this month - smashed up peas. You were not a fan and quite frankly, I don't blame you. Peas Schmeas. Yuck.

- You are making the funniest faces now. You do this "fish face" thing, where you smack your lips - "open, close, open, close, open, close." Repeat 100 times. You also make the strangest and coolest noises. You don't open your mouth to make them - you just do this ventrilioquist thing with the sounds. It's awesome. You make a lot of "mmmmmm" sounds, as well as some double syllables, "ga ga ga ga goo" and "ba ba" and a few others.

- You are still a great sleeper. You are pretty much dead to the world by 7:20ish and typically can sleep until 6:45-7:00. You had a few rough nights when you got sick over Christmas but we are starting to get you back on track.

- Speaking of sick, you have now had 2 awful colds :( It makes me so sad to see you so miserable. The first few days of this most recent one were AWFUL. You couldn't breathe well and so you just kept waking up and crying. So you spent your first night in Mommy & Daddy's bed and we took turns holding you all night upright so you could sleep. This particular cold has seemed to linger and you are still coughing some (although it doesn't sound croupy or anything) and are still a little snotty. Hope you feel better soon!!!

- You are really working on the crawling thing and trying to lift your butt up to move. You sometimes get frustrated when you can't scoot the way you want but then you figure you'll just roll to what you want :)

- You can now sit unassisted for a good 30-45 seconds. I was so excited when you did it for the first time that I yelled for Daddy to come see and scared you and then you fell over. Ooops, sorry, Son!

- Ryan, you remain my sweet little cuddle monkey. I love your sweet smile, the way you search for me when I walk into the room, your adorable laughter and just your overall peaceful and happy spirit. Your daddy and I are so lucky to have a special son like you!!!

-

Quinn: What You Are Up To @ 7 Months!

What's up, Mommy?

 - Quinn, you are about 14lbs now (I think - I'm guesstimating a bit). You are wearing 6 month sleepers all the time but some of those are even getting a little tight. You can still fit in some 3 month Carter's stuff, but most of your things are now 3-6 months. Your cheeks get chubbier every day & your arms are getting these precious little rolls. Love them!

- You are eating about the same as you were last month, bottle-wise. You have good bottles and bad bottles. Good days and not-so-good days. But GONE are the days of hysterical screaming during your feedings. When you are done, you are done and we don't fight it. Most of the time, you will just make up for it later. Plus, I figure that if you have as much energy as you do, you definitely are not starving!

- You are such a great spoon feeder. You absolutely love feeding time and you get really mad when your bowl is empty. You always finish before your brother and then you bang your hands for more. It cracks me up. I had always prayed you would be a good solids feeder after all the struggles we had with bottles, and it seems like my prayers have been answered. Next up, we are trying some veggies this weekend once the dietician comes and puts her stamp of approval on it. I bet you will love that, too!

- You don't sleep very late too often, but usually will make it until about 6am for me. Thank you, sweet girl! Your bedtime is a little later than your brother's, but that kind of allows you and your daddy to have some bonding time. He loves to lie with you next to your nap nanny and just hold your hand as you digest and drift off to sleep. Melts my heart. You are 100% a daddy's girl, through and through!

- You are making tons of noise and sounds these days. Lots of good ole fashioned babbling and double syllables. You like "uhhhh, uhhhh, uhhhhh" and "ppppp, ppppp, ppppp". You are doing this new blowing bubbles and sucking air thing that is the strangest sound I've ever heard. You also like to chirp like a bird for some reason, and sometimes I swear I hear you make "puppy" sounds as well. Quite the menagerie in our house these days.

- Speaking of sounds... you have 2 noise levels. Loud and LOUDER. You laugh loud, you giggle loud, you scream with joy loud, you scream with anger LOUD. Little girl, I love your personality. You are truly starting to shine this month and all I see you in is this fiesty, wonderfully sweet, and incredibly happy baby. You smile huge at us all the time and constantly want us to be watching you do your tricks. If we aren't watching, you will kinda scream for our attention, then give us a sweet, gummy grin, and do your trick (which usually consists of banging stuff around in the exersaucer or rolling yourself from one end of the room to other)

- Speaking of tricks, you are so good on balancing on your feet. You get your back so straight and you can grasp onto a table, my leg, a bouncy seat or whatever happens to be available to stand up for minutes. You definitely prefer being on your feet than on your butt. You are not a huge fan of sitting yet. I think it's because it requires you to stay still and you would prefer not to do that very often :). But I think you have the strength to do it - you are just a teeny bit stubborn.

- You are still hanging in there like a champ with your heart. All glory to God for that one. Your stats remain stable and we will see Dr. S at the end of the month to start all of your pre-op stuff. I am soooo proud of you for being so strong through all of this --- I know this is just going to make you even more courageous and brave!

- Quinn, you truly are our "fiesty angel". I love how you have rallied to beat out the predictions of where the developmental specialists said you would be at this point. I think if they saw you now, they wouldn't believe how far along you are. You are so smart and must be into everything - and I actually adore that about you :) Keep growing, sweet one. Love you with all of our hearts!

 

Love you, my sweethearts!!! Daddy & I could not be more blessed with wonderful children.