Emma and Mia are 7 Months old!

It seems like I just wrote their 6-month old posting - oh wait, I did.  Time moves so quickly!  The girls are 7 months old today.  We celebrated with a relaxing weekend at home, a nice walk over to the Ballard Sustainable festival, and some oatmeal for dinner.  

I recently re-capped many of their antics at this stage.  In addition, Mia seems to be going through a growth spurt, eating 6 - 10 oz. of formula at a time, as opposed to her normal 4 oz. Emma, too is eating a bit more.  Both girls have discovered their feet, and like to grab them - and each other's.  This weekend they had a great time sitting up facing each other and playing in the living room.  There was some contention over who got to play with the teething ring, but they sorted it out in a civil manner. 

Pics coming soon, as soon as I get them uploaded. 

Em & M at 6 months

Beautiful Mia at 6 months. 

Adorable Emma at 6 months.

I write this post in my head every day, as there are countless stories to share about the girls from their sixth month. Our busy schedule doesn't permit me to write (aka brag) as much as I'd like to, but I stayed up late tonight to share a few observances of Emma and Mia at 6 months. 

Finding Their Voices

The girls' personalities continue to emerge and their voices are louder than ever. Emma is sweet, thoughtful, skeptical as always, and has a big, contagious  smile. Her voice is has a soft, cooing tone, but that doesn't mean she's quiet. She knows how to make herself heard, but often lets her sister have the spotlight.  Which Mia loves.  Mia is wild, spontaneous, funny and has a smile for everyone. She is our little class clown. She loves to talk in her often shrieky, high pitched voice and will carry on a conversation for as long as you'll talk to her. Needless to say, both girls are very social and love to make friends.  

Beauty Rest

The girls have matured immensely in this past month as far as sleeping goes.  The turning point was really when they started day care.  They just seem to appreciate sleep so much more after a busy day, and look relieved to go to bed each night. We used to spend hours getting them to sleep, and now there are times we can put them in their bed while they're awake and they'll fall asleep on their own. Sometimes they chat for a while, and other times they're out right away. Mia has grown to like her binky when she sleeps, and that usually does the trick for her.  She has slept all night - 7pm - 6:30am - the past 4 nights in a row, only waking up to find her binky!  Emma does not like her binky, but does like hearing us sing lullabies. This isn't a quick fix like a binky, but helps her get to sleep nonetheless.  She is down to waking up once a night to eat, which is a great improvement.  There are definitely off nights still, and we know sleep is never a guarantee, but we're encouraged that they have matured so much so quickly. 

New Tricks

Both Emma and Mia are doing a great job sitting up on their own.  We still have pillows around them in case they tumble over, but they are so strong and can sit up and play with toys for long stretches at a time.  They get lots of practice with their friends at day care.   They love this new view of the world and want to be upright and see what's going on at all times.  Another favorite hobby is blowing raspberries, which is really more like sticking their tongue out and spitting in their case. Mia loves to do this and thinks she's hilarious.  Emma has picked up the trick too. It's quite a talent!

Emma and Mia practice sitting up at daycare.  They love to sit in this window spot and see what's happening outside. 

Smiley, happy Emma.

Mia sits up tall. 

Chow Time

Sitting in their booster seats and eating from a spoon is a new thing. Emma seems a bit more interested than Mia, but it's really more about practice at this point. They've only had rice cereal at this point, but we'll mix in some vegetables or fruit soon enough.  Look for even messier photos soon...

"I want what she's having," says Emma.

"I can do it myself!"  Emma tackles the spoon on her own. Do we have a lefty on our hands? 

Mia cleans up.

"Hey, I know you..."

By far the coolest development this month is that they really know each other. They've always been aware each other, but now they are looking at each other and interacting much more.  They reach for each other, pull on each other's clothes, feet, noses, etc. They share laughs over inside jokes and make each other smile. We know they are best friends, and it's so cool to see them start to realize that too. 

Weekend Update

...The girls had their 6-month check-up at the doctor on Friday.  That meant more shots.  They were so brave and tough, though.  Probably more so than Mom and Dad!  We also got to see their growth.  Emma weighs 15 lbs, 14 oz and is 25" tall, and Mia weighs 15 lbs, 4 oz and is also 25" tall. 

...Saturday morning we went to a twins' playgroup.  There must have been 30 families there. It was fun to hear other stories and strategies about sleep habits and feedings.  And nice to meet other families in our neighborhood.  There were even a couple people Matt knew, too. Our girls were some of the older kids.  Seeing the tiny babies made us realize how far Emma and Mia have come.

...My college friends Brooke and Chris Gillman were in town from Vermont, and stopped by to meet Emma and Mia.  The girls, especially Mia, turned on the charm for them even though they were tired.  After our visit, they quickly fell asleep and Matt and I had a long evening to ourselves.

...Today we explored Ballard via Bob, the stroller.  The girls loved their smooth ride, and we could even fit through all the doors of the shops. We checked out the local Farmer's Market too. The girls draw a crowd wherever they go, and they were so easygoing and patient while we stopped to talk to people.  It was a nice Sunday outing for the family. 

...Good weekend for Seattle sports.  The Huskies didn't play, so they couldn't lose. And the Seahawks finally won!

New Wheels

Emma is sleeping. Mia opened her eyes for the picture and went back to sleep once we got moving. 

We took our new stroller out for a walk today (with the girls, of course.)  The double "Bob" stroller is a much smoother ride than the Snap 'n Go, which will be retired for good once the girls are out of their current car seats.  The girls can recline in the Bob, which makes it quite comfortable for napping.  The girls were both a bit fussy today (darn colds), so we put them in the Bob, took a 1 1/2 hour walk along the Burke Gillman trail, and they slept most of the way. We love Bob!

While they slept, Matt and I took in the sunshine and great views.  We took a walk out to the pier to check out the boats and the beach.  There was a guy fishing off the pier with his small son, which got Matt excited for the day he can bring the girls down to fish with him.

 

Cold War

Ever since the girls started daycare (1 month ago!) they've been battling colds.  This week they got worse. And their parents caught pieces of them too. The girls are both very congested, and Emma has been fussy and pushing away her bottle since she can't eat and breathe at the same time - very frustrating!  Sleeping has been difficult too.  Emma seems to have it worse than Mia, so we took her to the doctor today.  Just a cold, the doctor said.  Nothing in her ears or chest.  She told us this was good preparation for winter time, when they'll be even sicker.  Lovely.  So, we'll keep up the saline drops, humidifier, etc.  

Sadly, since we couldn't leave two sick kids with our lovely friend/nurse Linda who had offered to babysit tonight, we had to miss our friends' wedding.  So, Congratulations to Debbie and Ryan! We're sorry we missed the festivities and can't wait to hear about it. 

Parents' Play Day

Matt and I both took Friday off and spent a day together.  I took the girls to daycare, and met Matt back at home for a day out in Ballard.  We'd been dying to go to the movies, so even though it was a beautiful day, we checked out a matinee at the Majestic Bay.  We saw Burn After Reading, which we thought was great! It was just fun to be at the movies in the middle of the day on a work day. And it had been way too long since we'd seen a show - 9 months we figured.  

For lunch, we dined on fresh chips, guacamole and tacos at La Carta de Oaxaca.  Yum!  And then followed up with a walk to the Locks, and browsing in Ballard's shops.  

As we walked home from Market Street, we were brought abruptly back to reality by a call from the daycare.  Emma was extremely congested, fussy and not taking her bottle.  So our play day came to an end, and we picked up the girls to take them home for some TLC.  

We'll take any amount of time together we can get, and definitely plan to do that again sometime.  We might even venture out of our own neighborhood for a change. 

Mmmm...Rice Cereal

Finally, Mom and Dad gave us something to eat other than formula! It tasted a lot like formula, though - just more grainy.  They called it rice cereal. And they fed it to us on this thing called a spoon. We liked biting the spoon, maybe even more than eating the cereal.  

Mia and Emma sit at their booster seats for their first taste of (somewhat) solid food...rice cereal.  

It was fun to try something new. Just a little weird at first.  We had more on our face and bibs than in our mouth but it was fun to make a mess.  Mia wanted to eat straight out of the bowl, but ended up spilling the cereal on the floor. 

We hope to get the hang of it, because the food Mom and Dad eat always looks so yummy! We can't help but stare at them while they eat.  Bring on the good stuff! 

Mia wants to get her hands and the spoon in her mouth all at the same time. 

Emma looks skeptical (as usual) of the cereal in the bowl.

No crying over spilt rice cereal.