ELEVEN months!

Yep...that picture sums up our life right now. It is a perfect picture for the beginning of their 11 month post! If you stop and think about it, can you really believe my sweeties are 11 months old? As in, almost 12 months? aka a YEAR old!? I would like a little credit that I am writing their 11 month post only 5 days after turning so. A HUGE improvement from last months post :) Well, this month was a month of monumental change! Literally starting the day they turned 10 months, they have changed, explored, learned and grown into such a big boy and girl!







This month can be summed up with the word: constant! The twins have kept us moving, moving, moving! At the end of the day, I am worn out!

Measurements:
Well, we have an un-official weight check. We had Ryan test their weights on our scale at home one night. We were so surprised to find that they BOTH weighed 18 lbs! (un-officially). I guess Caden drinking all of his bottles now and sitting like a blob has allowed him to catch up on some weight! Jenna appears to be longer still based on pants and her feet touching the back of the seat in the car. We will see next month at their 12 month well-visit.




Food:
We are still super eaters! The twins love yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast every morning. We eat a meat/pasta jar with a veggie and fruit jar equivalent for lunch each day and finish up with 3 sometimes 4 fruit and veggie jar equivalents for dinner. Along the way we have plenty of cheerios and puffs and some goldfish for snack :) Caden always appears to be able to eat more...he is an endless tank! They still take four bottles a day of 5-6 oz of formula. Remember in my last post I said that Mama had snapped and was ready for Caden to be a big boy and hold his own bottle! Well, yea Caden! After a few days of fighting with me, he gave in and began holding his bottle.



Interestingly enough, as soon as he started doing so, he drinks his complete bottle! No more leaving an ounce for every bottle and having to do the bottle-dance to get him to drink! Crazy Child! Bottle time is so much easier now! I plop them down, give them bottles and go finish a last minute chore before my time gets taken by the twins' awake time :) After we are done with bottles, I sit them up, give them a toy and wait for their self-burp to come out. Oh how far we have come from the early days of nursing, burping over and over again and propping them up to prevent reflux spit up! Snuggle takes his place each time right in between and oversees the bottle giving.



Mama's mission this month is to transition to whole milk. Formula for two is for the rich and famous! We are neither. So to whole milk we must go :) Too bad the twins hate sippy cups and will not drink anything I put in them! So, experienced Mama's, let me hear your tips! I've tried 3-4 different types of sippy cups, I've warmed up the milk like formula and I've tried feeding them right when they wake up thinking they would be the most hungry. And yes, I've tried the most sugary drink possible just to peak their interest. Your turn :)

We still enjoy lots of homemade food. We have turned to the Whole Foods organic frozen fruits and veggies since produce is getting so expensive. They do so great eating...I'm so thankful! We are giving them cut up chunks of table food for them to experience with. So far, Jenna shovels anything and everything in. Caden appears to be stuck on the texture-train (yet another trait like his Daddy!).

Going out to eat is so much easier now too. They do great in a high chair and love munching on cheerio's, puffs or sometimes cut up food from our plates now! We seem to be a huge distraction to other tables nearby and get lots of "peek-a-bo" games with strangers, smiles, "how cute", and yes..."Are they twins?" :)



Developments:
Whew! Where do we start? The day they turned 10 months, Jenna figured it out: crawling. She had been so close rocking back and forth, then literally in a second, she took off! This was my view the rest of the day...and ever since :)



She did the army crawl for about 2 weeks then went straight to full-on hands and knees crawling. Sometimes I think she might be flying or tele-porting. She is FAST! I turn around to do something with Caden and she is clear across the room. She is so fast, she crawls right out of her pants!



She left us no grace period to baby proof the house. Gates had to go up, cribs adjusted, outlet covers etc. My sweet Caden is still sitting right where I left him. We are becoming relentless in our "training." I think we are getting a peak into our natural parenting style: we will give you some time to do things on your own timing, but then we are going to push you to do more / be the best! You are not allowed to quit! haha We might want to work on that a little. Anyway, we put the toys out of his reach pretty much all of the time now. He either sits there content looking around or he complains and cries b/c he can't reach his toys. Jenna flies right by him, tongue out, on to her next destination. :) Caden has found a buddy in Snuggle since Snuggle usually comes right up next to him to sit. So unfortunately, Caden is distracted and plays with Snuggle or Snuggle's toy. hhhmmm....



As soon as we could start to adjust to her moving across the room, now she is trying to move up the room just as fast. Instantly....she started pulling up on things trying to get on her knees. I mean pulling up on everything! She is no longer content to sit on her hiney...she must be vertical! After a week of pulling up on the knees, she learned how to whip those feet under her. Now we catch her standing next to everything! She has developed so fast this month!





We graduated to our big boy and girl carseat: tada!



As you can tell from this picture, Jenna for sure was outgrowing the infant carseat! She looks HUGE to me in this picture! haha



This has proven to be a challenge with twins. Now, it is pretty much impossible to go to church (or anywhere that doesn't have a cart) alone with the twins unless you want to drag out the monster stroller. With the carseats, you could just pull out your Zena Arm Muscles and carry them in somewhere. Now, we have to physically take them out of the seats and carry them. This move also meant we had to say goodbye to our super-top-pick for twins snap n go stroller. I love that thing! So light, so portable, so convenient! Now we have mammoth stroller (comparatively). The twins like it so far though...they get to sit up and look out in the world.

Yes, that is Ryan in a Michael's store. That is the extent of his cabin fever with the twins.!!

We were so blessed around the purchase of these seats. When we started researching what seats to get, it looked like we would have to go apply for a loan for two of these things! sheesh! But thankfully, God allowed us to just pop in the store on the DAY they were on sale, provided a coupon from the lady at the register, gave us a "multiples" discount since we were buying two at a time and the ever faithful Gigi and Papa T who gave us some money to put on one for part of the twins' birthday present. Just as He has in every situation so far, God has provided what we need and more!

With this change of seating also came the problem of quick trips in the store. When we were in the infant carseats, I would pop them in the snap n go and...go! For now, the only thing I have thought of is to cram them in the front seats together. It actually works out great right now..they like being next to each other to trade off paci's back and forth :)We also can't go anywhere quick due to on-looker delays :)






Caden decided to move ahead in the teething department. For a solid 2 weeks now, he has been trying to cut 3 teeth up top!!! He cuts teeth slower than anything on earth! Bless his heart. He has also learned to clap his hands and I think he knows Snuggle. When we say "where's Snuggle?" If Snug is in the room, he usually looks over at him. Big news for Caden is that he is officially off ALL medications for reflux! Thank you, Lord! We are so thankful that the Lord healed Caden's tummy and throat. He has been off of the medicine for about 4 weeks now and is doing absolutely great!



Sleep:
I left this for last b/c we have had to transition this too! Caden is solid as a rock sleeping through the night. He may cry out in his sleep a couple of times, but nothing we have to get up for. Jenna!? Oh my. Now, every time we lay her down she pops right up and pulls herself up to stand up next to the crib. Cute at first yes. But she doesn't know how to sit down yet so after 10 minutes of feeling on top the world, she gets tired and wants to lay down. That is where the problems start! She gets frustrated at nap time and scared at night standing in the dark not knowing how to sit down. So for the past 2 weeks, we have had to go in there 10-15 minutes after we lay her down to help her back down on her stomach. Usually she goes right down to sleep, but a couple of times we have had to go in 3 or 4 times to lay her back down. Silly girl. I know it is just a phase and for now, it is just right after we lay them down we are still up around the house. No biggie. :)The only problem is the layout of our room, packing furniture for twins in a tiny 10x11 room. We learned the hard way about Jenna's mobility in the crib now...that is another post you will not believe. :) Coming soon...




Standing in the Crib from Casey Little on Vimeo.



We spent a week this month at the beach for Labor Day so that is where most of our pictures came from this month. Will try to do another post on that soon.

Can't believe how much has changed this month...they are growing so fast and almost ONE! We love you Jenna and Caden! We love how you have changed our lives in every way!