C + L = 8 Months!

Woohoo!!  What a FUN age these sweet boys are :)  I'm pretty sure this is the calm before the storm, so I'm going to L.O.V.E. it while I can!

They've both been sitting up really well for several weeks now and they love to play with toys.  This has been a huge development for all of us.  It's nice to leave them on the playmat for a few minutes while I prepare lunch or bottles and know they're entertained.

They love their exersaucers... especially Luke!

They are both rolling from back to front and front to back easily.  And once they're on their stomach, they can spin 360 :)   No attempts at crawling yet.  Thank goodness!!!!

They are both fairly vocal.  Luke likes to make fun little scream sounds and crinkle up his nose.  It's pretty sing-songy sounding... a lot like jabbering.  And Colt likes to hear himself talk.  Period.  He wakes us up all night long talking.  It's hard to convey in writing, but it's basically this throaty "aaaaahhh" sound that he just keeps doing over and over.  Cute during the day.  When I'm dead asleep... not so much.

Luke's hilarious new face he likes to make!

Speaking of sleep:  they still haven't made it through the night without needing their paci.  And, I should probably let them fuss more and figure it out on their own, but I'm afraid I'll end up with TWO awake (and crying!) babies in the middle of the night.  Ugh... so I get up and give them their paci. They've both decided they like sleeping on their stomachs (which helps!!) but I'd like to put this phase behind us.  Colt is still swaddled - - he absolutely loves it -- and then he wiggles out in the middle of the night (and starts talking!).  He has become the easiest baby to put to sleep.  PTL!!!  Once swaddled and in his crib, he turns his head to the right onto this super soft blanket my mom made and is OUT!  Luke has graduated to the sleep sack and enjoys fussing a little before bedtime.  I'm convinced he likes it.  Otherwise he wouldn't do it night after night, right??  LOL!  He's still pretty easy, but does require a few more minutes of attention.  And I hate to admit it, but our bedtime "routine" for the little boys is about 90 seconds.   Jack still demands gets his full routine.  Funny how the second (and third in our case) child change how you do things.    

Mealtimes aren't exactly enjoyable for most of us :/  The boys want more food than I can shovel in and I simply can't get the food from the bowl to their mouths fast enough.  Factor in a second of wait time while the other baby eats, and someone is screaming practically the entire meal.  So, I'll be glad when they learn to feed themselves :)  At least then they could pick up something to chomp on while they're waiting their turn.

They're eating like champs!  I'm still feeding them lots of veggies and now they've had a wide variety of fruits.  Neither of them have teeth yet, so I haven't added much texture.  But, I gave them each a "puff" the other day and Luke was chomping away at it!!  Like I mentioned, they haven't quiiiiite mastered enough dexterity to pick up small bites on their own, so usually Jack helps at the end of meals by giving them each a few puffs or yogurt bites.

I realize I say a lot of "they both like to _____"  and it's really NOT that I'm trying to compare them or make them the same.  I really expected them to master skills at a much different rate, but that just isn't the case so far.  They've been within a few days of each other on everything so far.  According to the Denver II (a developmental assessment I'm addicted to looking at) they are right on track -- especially given their prematurity / age adjustment.  Yea for healthy babies!!  Besides one trip to the pediatrician about 2 months ago everyone has been well!  That's probably due to my "no one in or out" rule.  Sorta kidding... but kinda not :/

Again... with the face ;)

We see a lot of this throughout the day.

Pulling the little boys on the pallet jack at Daddy's office ;)

What we're looking forward to this month:

  * Getting out of the house for pumpkin festivities

  * Mommy and Daddy's trip (ok... that's probably just ME)!  The only time I've spent the night away from Jack was when I was in the hospital for the twins' birth!  And I've only left Colt and Luke with nurses in the hospital.  So this is a big deal for me :D

  *  Flu shots :/

  *  several friends' birthday parties for Jack