9 Months

So I've waited to do a 9 month post because, although the boys were 9m on January 14th, their well-baby check up appointment wasn't until yesterday.  To be quite honest, a lot has been happening with them too.  I should have been better about updating the blog since this is, afterall, about chronicling their growth, progress, milestones, cuteness - you know, their overall development!  But, with difficulties at night and the pure busy-ness of our days, now that they are both mobile, I haven't made the time.

So without further adieu, here is a list of things that the boys have been learning:

Weekend of January 16-18 (long weekend due to MLK Jr birthday)
- Nick started crawling
- Jack pulled up to standing at the couch
- Both babies got their two front (top) teeth
- Both started clicking their tongues on the top of their mouths (maybe has something to do w/ those teeth coming in!!)
- Both went to their first birthday party for a friend
- We had our first official sleepover when Bella stayed the night (omg, the boys loved it & cuddled right up to her in the morning!!  So cute!)

I spent all of Monday the holiday making lots and lots of babyfood!  Five hours worth of babyfood - sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini, blueberries and peaches!!  There may have been more that I'm forgetting now.  And last but not least, Gma Diane came over to visit!!  That's always a fun day. xoxoxo

January 20
- Boys ate chicken for the first time (pureed & mixed with sweet potatoes ~ yum!)

Weekend of January 23/24
- Jack started grunting & will have a grunting match with us
- Jack surprised Mommy when she looked over (while changing Nick's diaper) to find him standing in his crib!

- Nick no longer likes to lay on top of the entertainment mat ...

Now that we're all caught up, I'm glad to report that the pediatrician was also very impressed with their new developments!  Both boys are right on track with milestones, they're eating well and staying in line with their growth charts :) :)  Jack is 18lbs. 14oz. (25th %) and 27-1/2" long (25th %).  Nick is 19lbs. 3oz. (35%) and 28-1/2" long (50%).  Both boys had the same head circumfrance of 17-5/8" (45%).  Nice growth since their 6m appt!

Our instructions between now and their 12m check up is to increase solids and try to get them on a 3 meals/day schedule.  Right now they are still eating 4-5 bottles per day because they never drink more than 6oz. at a time.  We got the thumbs up to introduce more meat, yogurt, cheese, pasta, bread, a bigger variety of veggies, and finger foods.  Mom is excited to try some baby recipes!

Here is a picture of the boys I got yesterday.  I was finally able to get these shoes on them!  I've been waiting for months to get this picture so I could share it with my friend, Bill, who gave them each a pair with their name and DOB on the bottom!  I think they are ah-dorable ;)

Getting Better ... But Still Not Great

Bedtime that is ... it's getting a little bit better but it's not great by any stretch of the imagination!  The boys go to sleep just fine around 7pm but then they're up about an hour later (same as before).  Sometimes it's a crazy screaming/crying fest and sometimes it's a twin-only party!  If they get up and are content in their room, we can sit in the living room and hear them through the monitor talking to each other or making each other laugh before they fall asleep again around 9pm or 10pm!  Maybe we just have night owls ... I hope not but if it will save our sanity, we might be OK with it.  Maybe it's just a phase ... I doubt it but I still remain hopeful.  In any case, once they are really asleep they usually sleep until 7:30am!  That is the good news :)  At least we are a little more rested, even though bedtime is exhausting!!

I've desperately asked for help, advice, opinions, ideas and sleep training techniques.  It seems as though we've tried everything that is suggested.  Feeding, burping, rocking, patting, playing, changing routines, check & soothe, cry-it-out, etc.  We're getting a better handle on what works best for us but it's still a work in progress.  At the moment, my overall impression is that we're just going to have to wait for the next stage / phase.  We are tweaking our bedtime routine and being much more consistent so I hope that helps - soon.

9 Hours. NINE.

Bedtime hasn't always been the easiest thing for us.  Getting one baby to sleep is hard enough.  Getting two babies to sleep has been quite a challenge for us the past (almost) nine months.  They aren't horrible sleepers by any means but it has taken upwards of 10 trips into the nursery at times to re-insert an Oogie (pacifier) or snuggle/rock a baby to get them to sleep ... and then they'd be up in 3 or 4 hours (maybe 5 if we were really lucky) to eat again.  All of this is expected of a newborn and maybe even up until 4 or 5 months - all of us parents know the saying "all babies are different" or "in their own time" or "when they're ready" - but our boys are still having a hard time.  We had even hoped that when the boys started solids it would dramatically improve.  Not so.
Well, now that the boys are getting older (wow, they'll be 9 months in a week!!!) and bigger (we're guessing they are around 20 lbs., give or take a pound or two) we're doing better at night once they are asleep for the night.  The hard part now is getting both of them asleep for the night.  Jack and Nick are usually tired and ready for bed anytime between 6 and 7 pm.  The problem is that they think this is another nap!!!  Ugh.  They typically wake up about an hour or hour and a half into bedtime SCREAMING.  It's not the kind of screaming cry that a mommy (or a daddy for that matter) can ignore!  At first it was an "Oh my god, what's wrong?!?!  Get in there as fast as you can" kind of screaming cry - which now, after many many many nights, has turned into a "Here we go again" glance between Mom & Dad as we both stall to see who gets up first (not fastest) to go in and sooth a baby!  We even guess which baby it is before going into the nursery!  So bad, but this is the nighttime routine in our house with (almost) 9 month old twins and we're exhausted - with a tinge of frustration since this happens every single night!

So ... all of this leads me up to what this post is really about!  We had our best night in a long long time last night.  It was almost perfect - except for the "bedtime" part.  We put the boys to bed and an hour later they were up and screaming! Nothing abnormal there.  We actually let them cry for a few minutes to see if they'd go back to sleep on their own (ha!) but, after it was clear they would not, we went in to calm them down - in a united front with the agreement that we would sooth them, put them back in their cribs with an Oogie, still awake, and walk out of the room.  The boys let us know immediately that this plan was not going to fly!  So, we gave in.  We brought the boys to the living room since it was time for them to eat again anyway.  We fed them a bottle and put them back in their cribs with a teething ring.  They were both awake for about an hour - content in their cribs.  Chris and I actually got to watch some TV together!  Before we knew it the boys were quiet.  They were asleep!  YES.

The next part of the story jumps ahead NINE HOURS!!!  Our boys were in bed (sleeping) last night from 9:30pm to 8:00am!!!!!!  What?!?!?  I slept for 9 HOURS!!!! Seriously, that is the best night of sleep I've had in - dare I say - a year!!! It was so awesome!  So ... the night was not too bad overall. I'm good w/ them being awake and falling asleep on their own & much prefer the talking/babbling noises to the screaming/crying noises.  I'm thinking the uninterrupted sleep last night was a fluke - or maybe just a start of sleeping through the night - but I'll take it! It was soooo nice :-)  Yay babies ... major points with this momma!!

On a side note: I am writing this post during our "bedtime" and Jack is still up fussing & fighting going to sleep!  Ugh.  I wonder what this night will bring .... I pray it's another looooong period of uninterrupted sleep.  Well, a tired mom can hope!  Goodnight.