During this month, the girls experienced their first Halloween. :) Of course, they are much too young to partake in the usual festivities and Lord knows, I don't give them candy so, instead, they just wore their little Halloween onesies and cute hats.
Thinking back to how they used to be as newborns, there are definite differences compared to their current age. For instance:
- They are much more independent. I can remember those long, awful days when I was by myself in California trying to deal with two fussy, needy babies who wanted to be held all day long. They even went through a phase where they didn't nap, so I had no peace. Now, they can play with toys and play with each other for periods of time which gives Kyle and I a chance to do something for ourselves (mainly Kyle, since he's the one at home with them all day).
- They are allowed to sleep at night for as long as they want to. I do not miss the days where we were required to wake them up and feed them every 2-3 hours. Oh. My. Gosh. I thought I was going to die during those first few months. If we overslept and the girls went 4-5 hours without a feeding, I would literally have a freakout and bawl. I'd get mad at Kyle for not waking us up and feel awful that I let my newborn babies starve. Exaggerating? Absolutely. Though, I do think my feelings were justified. First time Mom and all....
- Their feeding schedule is not as rigid as it once was. Kyle has established a good routine with them for the day and he sticks to a pretty good schedule. It's not as stressful as it used to be, though.
- I HATE pumping. I used to think pumping was so much easier and saved time. Boy, did that change. They did used to want to nurse for an hour at a time, every 2 hours. Lord, have mercy. I would sit on the couch for hours everyday just nursing two babies. I couldn't do anything but sit there. Finally, they became much more efficient nursers and the time slowly decreased. Now, they'll nurse for only about 5-15 minutes which is awesome. When they would nurse for forever, I'd prefer pumping almost just to save time. Now, that I'm a full time employee, I have to pump. Ugh, I hate it so, so much. Then, at night, when I'm home, after the girls to bed, I do a final pumping just so Kyle has some breast-milk to give to the babies when they wake up in the middle of the night. It's nice so I'm not the only one who feeds them and has to wake up. But, I hate it.
- They're mobile. Duh. This one is a pro but also a con at the same time. It's cute that they can go places. I like to lie down on the opposite side of the room and watch them battle over who can get to me first. However, you have to be much more careful about watching them! They love cords and various things they find lying on the floor. Of course, they're also notorious for putting things in their mouth...shocking!
- They recognize people...especially me and Kyle. Emmalyn absolutely adores looking at Kyle and trying to figure out where he is. If he goes out of her eye sight, she'll lean really far towards whatever direction he went to try to find him. It is one of the cutest things to watch. She's definitely a little Daddy's girl and I still think Harper is more of a Momma's girl. They both also get really excited when I come home from work. They bounce and kick their legs and throw their arms in the air while making excited noises. I hate being away from them all day, but seeing them get that excited about seeing me warms my heart.
We've had snow this month. Not very shocking since Kentucky's weather is notorious for having bipolar tendencies. The girls were born in February, which is usually one of the coldest months of the year...but they've experienced colder weather in Oct/Nov than they did in February. I find it somewhat humorous. Although, I shouldn't be surprised since they were born in southern Cali!
The desire to stand on their own is real! They are both pulling up on everything they can. They even do yoga poses (downward dog) because they want to stand up on their legs, but they have nothing to pull up on, so they have their head on the ground and butt in the air. It's rather funny to watch. You can tell they want to stand up on their own without needing to hold onto anything.
Emmalyn says ma-ma now. They both have been saying da-da for probably 1-2 months now. Finally Emmy actually looked at me and said ma-ma! I was super excited!! I think she is learning that me and Kyle have a name. :)
They wear 6 month, 6-9month, and some 9 month clothing.
They recognize the sign for EAT...on top of the word MILK. I think I've seen Emmy try to sign MILK a few times. She used one hand and makes the motion of squeezing a stress ball which is similar to the sign for MILK. She tends to do it right before I nurse her and she knows it's food time.
The girls have experienced fruit! Ah!! They've only had vegetables for a while because I didn't want to just start them off on sugary goodness. Let's face it...fruits are usually more yummy than veggies. That's why I'm glad I kept them only on veggies for probably 2 months before introducing vegetables. I will say that they haven't had straight fruit. I get the fruit/veggie mixture because they have less sugar than solely fruit. I've also attempted making baby food! So...nothing special or crazy. Just canned veggies (without added salt, of course) pureed. It was cheaper than buying baby food so I'll probably start trying to do that a little more. It will definitely be helpful moreso now because they're eating 8oz of food a day.
We finally were able to visit with my side of the family since we've moved home. It took way too long!
We love our little life together. We are even more excited for next month when our house will hopefully be finished! It will be nice to spend Christmas together as a family in our new home. We'll definitely have to baby proof, though. They are already accident prone. Emmalyn just healed up from her black eye.
This next month, we celebrate Thanksgiving. I cannot wait!! It's been several years since either Kyle or myself have experienced Thanksgiving at home. Plus, it's the girls' first one! I can't wait for that yummy-ness!! =)
Enjoy your thanksgiving! :) Remember all the reasons you have to be thankful. I know Kyle and I can think of at least two things we're thankful for this year!
