Once again another month has come and gone and I'm still in shock at how quickly time is passing. I guess I need to get used to that, but I'm sure I never will. It all goes by in a blur. It probably doesn't help that I'm living a perpetual "Groundhog Day" scenario where each day is pretty much the same and one day blends into the next. However, I'm in no way complaining. I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. It's just funny how when you're working, you're working for the weekend, and now that I'm not I'm pretty much doing the same- both circumstances being that it's the time we get to spend as a whole family. Don't get me wrong, I cherish every moment I spend with the babies all week, but nothing compares to the time we all get to be together. I guess that's just the way life goes. Anywho, the twins are doing well. Hard to believe they are 9 months old! (A little over 6 months adjusted). This will probably wind up being a pretty long post, but I didn't get a chance to do an update last month and there's lots of exciting stuff happening lately!
Let's start with River. Coming in at a whopping 17lbs 6oz and 26.5 inches, he's all muscle with broad shoulders (which will come in handy for water skiing someday!). He is certainly built like a boy! Riv's had his share of ups and downs these past few months. For starters, his reflux flared up pretty badly. The poor little guy was spitting up multiple times after feeding, sometimes even HOURS later, and every few days he would projectile vomit. He was really suffering and it affected his mood daily. We saw a GI specialist who changed his meds and had an upper GI xray done on him. Thankfully it is nothing major, just a bad case of reflux that he supposedly will outgrow. The past couple weeks he's been spitting up less and seems to be in much better spirits! Hopefully it will keep getting better from here.
River struggles with tummy time. We went back and forth trying to figure out why.... If it was his tummy, his neck, something else. We've finally come to realize it's most likely that he just doesn't like it. He can stay on his tummy for short periods of time but then starts getting upset. So that's something we're working on along with his physical therapist.
As for his development, while he's a little behind with his gross motor skills (larger muscle groups used in crawling, rolling over, sitting up), he is doing well with his fine motor skills (doing things with his hands, mouth movements, hand-eye coordination etc). He is good at grabbing toys, switching things from one hand to the other and he loves to kick. He is getting closer to sitting up on his own. He can sit up for a little bit on his own him but then topples over. He's getting there though! We just have to get him more comfortable with tummy time in order for him to eventually learn how to crawl.
Personality wise, he's definitely a sweetheart. When we pick him up, he throws his arms around our necks giving us a big hug. He can be a bit timid with things at first, almost cautious, but then eventually gets a bit braver. For example if I show him something he is hesitant about reaching out to touch it at first. Also the first time we took him to the pool you could tell he was a little nervous but then once he got the hang of it he really enjoyed it. In fact, being in the pool seems to be one of his favorite activities! He has fun in his raft, but he really loves when we hold him and pull him through the water. He kicks his feet like a pro and smiles a lot. We may have ourselves a waterbug! Good thing, with a name like River and a family full of water skiers!
He's definitely a mama's boy (which of course I don't mind!) and he sure does love to nap. He's pretty easy in that way, letting you know when he's tired and he'll go right down. He's a chatty little guy, and does a fair share of babbling. More and more he's pronouncing consonants when he babbles and he gets especially talkative when he hears one of us on the phone. It's like he wants in on the conversation too! He likes to hear himself talk and sometimes just wants to see how loud he can get! River's a happy boy and our favorite thing is making him giggle. He has this belly laugh like nothing I've ever heard!
Then there is Riley. At 16lbs 8oz and 26in, this girl is a pistol! She is strong-willed and determined. A real go getter and much more independent than her brother. It doesn't matter what you have in front of her, she reaches out and grabs for it or slaps it with her hand. She'll shut our phones off when were on them, slaps our computer keyboard if we're typing and steals toys right out of her brother's hands!
She wants every toy for herself and at the same time. She's a little toy hoarder! And usually will go through a bin of toys taking each one out to gnaw on for a minute before moving to the side and grabbing the next one!
Here Riley tries to steal River's toy. He pulls it away but in the end she shakes and hits his hand until he drops it then takes the toy for herself! I'm definitely going to have to teach this girl how to share! http://youtu.be/nhxY6xS54Nk
Riley is babbling like crazy lately and getting really good at moving around on her tummy. She isn't crawling yet, but is well on her way. She can commando crawl if you put your hands behind her feet for her to push off. She's able to pivot and go around in a complete 360 any which way to play with whatever toys she likes. Currently, the piano is her favorite..
She isn't as fond of the water as river. It's not that she doesn't like it, she just seems indifferent to the whole experience anytime we take her. For someone who is usually all smiles it's almost impossible to get her to smile while in the pool. Not sure why that is, or that it will necessarily always be that way, but it's just the way she is at the moment. She just doesn't seem as excited about it as Riv.
She's starting to notice when I'm paying attention to River. If I pick him up she'll stop what she's doing and spin herself around toward me and start slapping my leg and whining as if to say, "Hey, how come he gets to be on Mommy? I want to be on Mommy, too!" It's pretty funny to see!
Riley seems to need less sleep than Riv, and therefore takes shorter naps. Sometimes she'll only nap for 20 minutes! That doesn't help Mommy since it's the only time cooking, cleaning, prepping bottles, etc. can be done. What can I say, she's a feisty one that will surely be keeping us on our toes!
The twins have started solid foods as of the month ago. We are doing Baby Led Weaning with them, which means no purées. They get large pieces of cut up fruits and vegetables soft enough for them to gnaw on with their gums. So far they have liked everything, particularly watermelon.
Gnawing on a steamed carrot. Riley adores her Daddy <3
Organic oatmeal with mashed up strawberries...
Anytime we are drinking ice water the twins grab at our glasses wanting to drink from them. We are hoping to avoid using sippy cups so this is good practice for them at an early age! :-)
I've been making sensory toys for the twins lately (bottles, bags and bins) which they seem to really love!
They are noticing each other more and more. They will touch each other's faces play with each other's feet and pet each other's hair. It won't be long before they're able to really communicate with one another. That's going to be so much fun! It will be interesting to see how their personalities develop and grow and also how their relationship blossoms.
G and I are also doing well. We are having a blast being the parents of twins. Sure it can be exhausting, but also so rewarding. It's made our relationship even stronger as we truly appreciate how hard we both work at what we do each day and we are always striving to be the best versions of ourselves. We give each other a break after work- Some days G gets to go running and others I get to go to dance class. It helps us unwind and energize at the same time, which fuels us to continue being able to put all of ourselves into raising the kids. I'm really excited that this week he home taking a Staycation and is home for 10 days in a row! A much needed break for both of us :-)
That's all for now. Hard to believe only three more months until the twins will be a year old already! Craziness! In the meantime, I'll keep you up-to-date on their development.
Here are the pics from their 9 Month photo shoot I did with them:
