Sunday, September 21, 2008

Loving 7 Months

At 7 months of age now Cal and Teagan have mastered a few big milestones in development and our arms are finally getting the relief they need. Here are some of the things we love about 7-month-old twins:
They can hold their own bottles! We no longer have to hold both bottles at the same time. I can't tell you how great this is! We've been waiting for this day to come for 7 months. Let me revisit the feeding situation over the past 7 months. In the beginning I was breastfeeding one baby at a time, which would take 1 hour and someone was always screaming for their turn. At 3 months of age we switched to formula, which allowed someone (not just me, yippee!) to feed both babies at once by holding both bottles as Cal and Teagan sat in chairs. Or, ideally, there were two people at home so each could feed a baby comfortably. After months of double bottle feedings in awkward and uncomfortable positions, I feel a huge weight lifted off my back now that I can just hand over their bottles and watch them feed themselves. Ahhhh.

The other equally fantastic development is...

SITTING!!!
Over the past couple weeks these two have been practicing sitting on their own! Let me just say that again because it is music to my ears: They are sitting up without my help!
For the past 7 months I've been dreaming and talking about this moment. Until now I've been holding both babies at the same time, all the time. During their waking hours I've been using all kinds of baby seats (bouncy seats, swings, the Bumbo, exersaucer, boppy) to assist in taking a load off my arms, but after a while they grew tired of the seats and just wanted to be held in a propped-up position to play. This was getting tiring as they grew, especially now that they have a combined weight of 35lbs.
Everyone is much happier now that Cal and Teagan are sitting on their own!

What else is going on?
Cal and Teagan are eating! We've only just begun feeding them set meals each day. We put it off as long as possible because we weren't ready for this next step. It's fun and cute, but it's a huge, messy production. We still have some kinks to work out with feeding twins. It's times like this that I really miss Solomon. He loved cleaning up after Ethan's messy meals and I don't think I ever washed the floor! :)
Here are Cal & T, ready for breakfast.


Overall, we seem to have found our groove with these two at 7 months, and we're really enjoying where we're at right now. We can even sit down at watch a little Sunday football...

Once in a while I'll get emails commenting on the blog and the only complaint I get it that I'm not in enough of the pictures. This is for you guys ;)


Ethan took these pictures:

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Back to School

Ethan started is 2nd year of preschool yesterday. We are all excited to be back at school. Ethan and I both get to see old friends and meet new kids and moms.

We absolutely love Lake Harriet Preschool. The teachers are wonderful, the class sizes are small and the community support is amazing.

Last January when I was wobbling in and out of preschool twice each day for pick-up and drop-off, the parents in Ethan's class came up with the most generous idea. They all chipped in to reserve a front row parking spot for us for this year! They knew I would still be challenged by the task of getting in and out of the school toting around a couple of babies. We can't thank them enough.

The parking spot is SO helpful! Since Cal and Teagan have grown out of their infant carseats, I have to get both kids out of the carseats and carry them both inside. Then I can usually pass one off to someone else while we chat. This minimizes the strain on my arms and allows me to stay and visit with the other parents.

Check out our spot!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

New Look

I got a little tired of the dots, so here is a fresh look for our blog.
Feedback always welcome!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

This Is How We Roll...






If I plop the babies on the floor there is no longer any guarantee these two will be in the same position I leave them in.

This is just the beginning- I'm slowly losing control.



Calin & Teagan would also like to give shots out to Stephanie at The Electic Fetus!


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

More Fair Fun

Did I mention how much fun we had at the fair? We just had to go again. This time the kids and I went with Shalene and had a great afternoon.


Teagan can't expose her birthmark to direct sun while recovering from her laser surgery. So, she hung out in the shade all day...