So Many Firsts, So Little Time
The past few days have been chock full of firsts!
- Will can sign for “more,” or at least I’m 99% sure that’s what he’s doing (As opposed to clapping or something). He gets a little insistent, but I do think he gets the idea! Now he needs to tell me what exactly he’d like to eat!
- We went to our first concert today! Recess Monkey (a local Seattle kids band) was playing nearby, and we went with our friends, the Stevensons. I think the boys really enjoyed themselves! Andy was jumping on Adam’s lap, and Will sort of clapped along. No fussiness (it happened to be at exactly the right time of day), and no freakouts from the loud music. Lots of fun!
- Andy took a few steps (shuffles really, but we’ll pretend) while holding onto the ledge in the playroom. I hope he does it again so I can catch it on video.
- Will drank from a straw this morning (we have some sippy cups with straws instead of spouts), Andy’s not quite there yet, but we’re working on it!
- The boys have been watching their first water polo games on TV. The USA women won the world championship, and the boys have seen a few minutes of the games for the past week.
- I realized I use far too many exclamation points! ! ! !
The last week has been HOT HOT HOT, getting to 108 on Wednesday. We are SO lucky to have a/c, I really don’t know what we’d do without it. The heat really put a hamper on our days, as I usually like to take the boys out for errands or adventures between 2-4. Although I could run the car at home to cool it down, I didn’t want to park it in a lot while we shopped just so it would start to heat up again. So our outings for two days were simply going to the drive-through Starbucks for some iced tea (which is what led to the experiments with straws!
The Rest of the Story
So we’ve had video coverage and some action shots of this whole 9 month old business…but where’s the facts? The stats? What’s the rest of the story?
I’ll break it down in three categories:
Things The Boys Do That Are Awesome
- Crawl, climb, stand, roll…all means of locomotion and it is SO fun to see. Especially when one of them makes a beeline for the tallest thing in the room in order to climb on top and then fall off, laughing the whole time. Or even better, when they climb up on you!
- (And I hesitate to put this in writing, because that means it will stop happening, it’s just karma) Sleep. They are sleeping almost 12 hours at night, and it is just grand. Sure, I’d like them to not wake up before 6 am, but really what more can I ask of them? Napping is a somewhat different story, but it’s not bad…just not ideal.
- Play alone, or sort of together. I love the fact that they’re totally cool with hanging out in the playroom, going from toy to toy (to safety hazard!). sometimes they’ll wander in my direction and we play peek-a-boo or sing some silly song, but then they’ll move along to amuse themselves. It is pretty cute when they start chasing the same ball, even if I know it’ll end up with one of them sitting on the other.
Things They Are Really Good At, But I’d Like Them To Stop, Now!
- They have developed a talent for making me want to run screaming from the room. It happens almost exclusively while they are eating, which makes it 10x worse. Ugh, even typing it out gives me the heebee-jeebees. They….rub their teeth together. And it is quite honestly the worst sound in the world. I have to grin and bear it, because if I make a big ruckus, they’ll just do it more, but really, on the inside, I want to hurl.
- Drool. I asked the doctor about it today, because pretty much any picture we have of them has sheets of drool coming out. They drool more than any baby we know. But not to worry, the doctor said it usually starts to taper off. When they’re TWO OR THREE! Not cool, babies, not cool.
- Bonking their heads on the ground or other hard surfaces. See also, scratching themselves. Sometimes these kids look like they’re extras in Fight Club, which gets me all sorts of approving glances out in public (or not).
Things They’re Learning And Slowly Getting Better At
- Feeding themselves. So far they can get some food (as long as it’s not too slimy) to their mouths, but it’s sort of hit or miss if it actually gets in there. Cheerios are more reliable, but most of it ends up in their laps or on the floor. It’s times like this when I wish the dog wasn’t quite so neurotic so HE could clean up the pile of shredded cheese and bits of toast. Oh well.
- Drinking from a sippy cup. As long as they’re laying down, all works well. Sitting up (in a high chair or whatever) turns sippy cups into a toy that drips water everywhere.
(I’m sure there’s like 500 things I could put on the list, but these are the only two coming to mind right now.)
And the hard and fast numbers:
Andy: 20lbs 15oz (50-75%), 29 inches (75-90%)
Will: 22lbs 8oz (75%), 30.5 inches (97%)
Photos — 9 Months!
14 new photos of the now 9 month old boys are up. In addition to the usual playroom photos, there’s also a shot from a grocery trip and some Gymboree fun.
Live Video Coverage — 9 Months!
A couple quick videos made in the past few days. It’s hard to believe the boys are 9 months old already.
First, twins provide all sorts of entertainment. From the early forms of wrestling to the double attack, it’s always fun!
Next, Andrew makes his way around the playroom.
High-Key Babies
Up for your perusal are 19 new photos. Included are Grandma Deb visiting at the hotel, (sort of) high-key babies and exersaucer and jumperoo hijinx.
Hazard Pay
The babies are mobile and dangerous. Not only are they a danger to themselves, what with the falling over and constantly banging their heads on any number of hard surfaces, I am COVERED in bruises. Apparently I am seen as an excellent indoor climbing structure. They spend a fair amount of time nowadays perched on their knees and clinging to something to keep them upright. My forearm is a favorite, though there are lots of things that work in the playroom.
Crawling is no longer a fun new activity. No, these boys, and Will in particular, are daredevils. Every playtime becomes an excercise in finding something to climb on top of, and more often than not, fall off of. Will demonstrates this fascinating aspect of baby psychology below.
Also, tooth count, Andy has 4.5 (the 1/2 is an upper that’s taking a bit to come all the way through), Will is at 4. They are still drooling so much, I’m surprised we don’t have dehydration issues. Seriously, 24+ bibs, and we go through them in about 4 days. Do ShamWows come in bib form?
Bonus Photo
Some more photos will be posted soon, but I stuck this one on Flickr because the reflection is cool. (=
Twin Photo Tuesday
Here is the latest weekly photo update of the boys, 14 photos this time around. Included is what happens when you put them both in the same crib, the first “real” photoshoot in a while, and bathtime fun.
247 Days Since a Lazy Weekend
A couple of status report updates:
- Yes, 247 days old. Crazy.
- Still no actual crawling. Will does this funny frog hop that I can’t catch on video, but trust me, it’s hilarious. They are, however, developing calluses on their elbows from army crawling.
- A few new foods that are going over well: toast, shredded cheese and this weird frozen baby food mix of banana, black beans and quinoa that they LOVE. Same company makes a “baby dahl” with lentils and spices that was not as big of a hit the first time, but we’ll try it again.
- We hit the zoo this weekend with Simone and Anna and it was FUN times. Andy was just about ecstatic in the bird room (the kid loves to look up), and I almost died when a bird buzzed my head. Ugh, birds. AND we even went out to eat afterwards, and the kids did pretty darn good, even though there was a serious lack of napping going on. Makes me relax a little on the whole “outing during nap time” thing. Which is a good thing because I have a feeling there won’t be a whole lot of napping in CA when we fly down.
- One of Andy’s upper front teeth broke the surface about 2 days ago, Will doesn’t have any in sight.
- The playroom is coming together, hopefully we’ll get pictures up soon. All I can say is that I’m SO glad we went with robots/space vs. safari. Much cooler.
Weekly Photo Dose
Now that they’re 8 months old, here are 24 new photos. Included: Simone and Anna’s visit, eating fun and playroom hijinks.
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