9 months

Geez! My sweet 5 lb babies are 9 months old! In my head, before I really think about it, I still consider them like 4 or 5 months old. 9 months have flown by. We are really getting into a fun stage with their interactions with us and more and more each other. We have had a crazy month of traveling and beach trips this past month...but we are loving the long summer days. And here is the chaos captured on film as we tried to snap the picture above...

Jenna looks embarrassed to reveal her age....

Hey Brother, lets bang on the picture like a drum!

Hmm I'll just take this over here and play...

We had a 9 month well-visit this morning so we have the long awaited official numbers. (really, just long awaited to me and Ryan...we were so anxious to see if Caden could catch up now that we have him on formula.)

Measurements:

Jenna tipped the scale at 17 lbs(20%) and is 26.15 inches(10%)
Caden came in at a strong 16 lbs (5%) and 26.10 inches (2%)

So as you can see, Jenna kept the lead in weight and added to the weight difference by a pound but Caden did some catching up in the height-department! They both went down in their percentages from their 6 month appt but all seems well and the Doctor wasn't concerned. Apparently, we just have "little" kids :) They both narrowly passed their iron check (35%) so thankfully we do not have to supplement with any iron. We didn't get any shots this appointment so no bandaid shot picture needed. We also got the go-ahead to drop one of Cadens medicines so we are going to try just the Prilosec for a month. Hopefully, we will be able to wean him off of that shortly after.





Food:

I continue to be impressed at how great the twins eat. They have yet to find a food they refuse to eat and I have been experimenting with some crazy foods and combinations here lately! I continue to try to make most of their food now that summer veggies are in season. Whenever baby food is on sale, I try to stock up too so we can travel easier. Either way, I can't keep up with what they eat! They are snarfing down 3 containers of Stage 2 foods and when I make their food, it looks like a cereal bowl full of food! Some new foods we have tried this month: avocado, blueberries, strawberries, mac n cheese, zucchini, potatoes, spinach, corn (small amounts), cherries, and YOGURT. Thanks to my friend Chelsea for giving me the idea of yogurt (and no, I really hadn't thought about it before that). The kids love it and lets be honest...Caden needs all of the digestional help he can get. They eat solids 3 meals a day after their milk. We are getting better with the sippy cup although Caden continues to chew it like gum and we have played around with the Gerber Puffs. They are NOT fans of something solid in their mouth, but we will get there :)





The biggest "food" news is that they are officially weaned from breastfeeding and now take bottles of formula. We took it very slow (dropping one feeding a week) so it was easy as pie on everyone. They take 5-6 ounces at the three day time feedings and 6-7 ounces at the bedtime feeding. Caden was quite a challenge to get to drink from a bottle. I had to get very creative in feeding them both bottles with Caden squirming and screaming at first. Poor Jenna, she had to fend for herself quickly since I had to focus on Caden. I taught her to hold her own bottle quickly so I could two-hand Caden. :) We are in a good rhythm now so feeding time goes by pretty uneventful. I am soooooo glad to be free from nursing! It was the hardest thing I have ever done. The only thing that makes me sad is when I swipe my credit card buying formula. Sheesh! It was with great joy that I packed up all of my nursing gear!!! They have adjusted great to formula for which we are so thankful for! I am convinced part of Cadens problems stemmed from the fact he was not getting enough calories from me. With him having to share my milk supply with Jenna, he just wasn't getting what he needed. After a week or so of formula, we could gradually start telling a difference in his countenance, contentment and sleeping.





Sleeping

Speaking of sleeping...we are getting much, much more of it! Jenna has gone back to sleeping like a log from 8p-8a after her 2 teeth popped out and Caden is getting back to his good sleep pattern! We had a solid week last week of not waking up ONCE with either baby. A small miracle, folks! They are taking great naps...a solid 1.5 hour in the morning, sometimes 2 hours and another 1.5 hour in the afternoon. They are so easy to get down for naps...when it comes time, I go in, lay them down and walk right out! The same holds true for night time with the exception of Jenna if she is overtired from the day. Then, it takes a few minutes of cuddle rocking and she is out. We moved their bedtime up and feed them at 7:30 pm so they are in bed before or at 8pm. Caden had a few rough nights when his teeth were coming in, but has settled down since. Doesn't this look like some good sleep!? Worn out!







Miscellaneous

We have finally caught up in wearing the size clothing we are! They are in 6-9 month and 9 month clothes. SUCH cute summer stuff I can hardly stand it. We are holding strong in size 3 diapers and as I found out for Robin's wedding....we have tiny feet. They both wear 0-3 month or size 1 shoes. They both cry when I walk through or out of the room. Jenna scares easily and cries when there is a loud noise, or if alot of people come up and swarm her when we are somewhere new. Jenna found her hands this month and loves to watch them as she opens and closes her fingers. As I mentioned, Jenna has two bottom teeth and Caden, bless his heart, FINALLY cut one, very crooked bottom tooth. It is cute as can be. See?





Developments

Jenna rolls like a little gymnast. She can get wherever she wants by rolling and rolling over. She LOVES being on her stomach and playing. She has gotten her legs up under her a few times, but has not figured out to push off yet. I'm not ready for crawling babies! When you lay her down for naps/bedtime, she immediately flips over on her tummy and hikes her little butt in the air. She continues to have the easiest, laid-back, joyful spirit. As soon as you walk in the room she grins and her belly laugh when you tickle her will warm your soul.



Caden loves to sit. and that is it. He still can not roll from his back to his stomach and in the days and days we have worked with him, as soon as he gets on his stomach, in 1 milli-second he has rolled over on his back. He hates being on his stomach. This has led to some frustration from him. If a toy becomes out of reach, he refuses to roll over and get it and sits/lays there and cries. At his 9 month appt, the doctor encouraged us to go to one session of physical therapy for Caden just to work on a few things and show us how to better work with him. If we can get him moving more, he will be more content (that's the thought anyway!) and it will keep his little digestive system in a better working order. So we are going to go try that and see if we can't get Mr. C...who always WANTS to be moving....actually moving ;) Update...found out today our insurance wont cover PT so looks like we will be google-ing some PT ideas for infants. He, too, is ticklish and opens that mouth of his wide open when he is "laughing." Sometimes we joke that he forgets to make any sound, he just opens his mouth when we are tickling him. It's adorable. We have come leaps and bounds from where we were a month ago and enjoy having our little Caden back!





I mentioned how much fun we have watching them interact. I have some GREAT pictures and video to post in another post. It's going to be great stuff :) Now that they are sitting up so big, we plop them down on a blanket, pour out all of ToysRus and let them go to town. They LOVE it! Caden, especially, loves to bang on things like a drum and make noise with any toy he can. Jenna loves to study her toys and squeal at them. They are getting to where they can't play too close to each other. Someone, I wont mention names, likes to take all of the toys away from her brother and roll right on top of him. :) It is so fun to watch!

And last, here is a quick glimpse into a)our sweet boy Caden back and b)what fun we have had with the twins interacting this month!

9 month fun from Casey Little on Vimeo.


Happy 9 months my sweet Caden and Jenna. We love you both more than words can describe!