This past month, the babies have gone through lots of changes. One thing that has changed is that we've gotten rid of swaddling at night. Swaddling was good for our babies--it kept them all wrapped up, happy, and asleep. But, a few weeks ago, it seemed that the babies spent more time fighting to get out of their swaddles than sleeping peacefully in them. The final straw came one night--I went into the babies' room and found that Addison had worked her arm out of her swaddle. She was quite happy with herself, and was busily sucking on her fingers. I undid the swaddle, and proceeded to re-wrap her--and she screamed at me. She was so mad that I had swooped in and undid what she had worked so long and hard to accomplish. Fine, babies, you win--no more swaddling!
The babies are moving around a lot more now. I'll go into their room to check on them in the middle of the night, and Jackson will have turned himself around in his crib. Then later in the night, he'll have completed the circle. He does a lot of moving around at night. A few weeks ago, I laid the babies next to each other on a blanket on the living room floor and walked into the kitchen to get something. When I came back out, this is what I found:
Good grief! The other thing Jackson has started doing, which is really cute, is pulling his legs into his stomach then rolling back and forth. He hasn't rolled over yet (and hates to be on his stomach, so I don't see any immediate incentive for him to actually roll over)--but he is definitely rolly polly! These babies are going to be mobile soon, which is going to be an entirely different ballgame for us. (*also noteworthy, per the above picture, we have graduated from sleeping gowns to sleep-and-plays for pjs--no more gowns for Jackson, or for Addison for that matter)
In other feats of strength, both babies sat up all by themselves in their Bumbo seats for the first time this past month. The first time, heads were perched on top of shoulders quite precariously--but everyday they get stronger and can sit by themselves for longer. If you take their hands now and pull, Addison pulls right up to the sitting position and sits straight up and looks around--Jackson locks his knees and goes right from the floor to standing. He is so thrilled to be able to stand for a long time and look you right in the eye. They both can hold their heads up, and are very steady. A game Addison plays when she's laying on the floor: she'll look at you, then turn her head away fast, then turn her head to look at you, then turn her head away fast, over and over. Jackson does a similar thing, except that his head turn is slower and more deliberate.
This is Jackson the very first time he tried sitting in the Bumbo.
And a few weeks later, both are much steadier able to sit up for much longer.
The babies have continued with their hand sucking, but Addison has found her thumb. She starts by putting her entire fist in her mouth, then methodically taking each finger out until only her thumb remains. She then has to curl her other fingers up around her nose--adorable. Jackson still prefers his entire hand, though recently he has been chomping on his index finger. Both babies have started to drool more in the past month--something tells me teeth could be on their way...
The babies love to go for walks--they like looking around, and often it calms them down enough to put them to sleep. We will be very excited when the weather gets a little bit nicer so we can get out more often.
The babies are continuing to sleep better, thank goodness! We have bathtime around 7:45, a final feeding at 8:15, then to bed--on a good night, they will sleep solidly until 3:00 (though most nights, they will wake up and need a pacifier or a quick rock-back-to-sleep before then), when they wake up for a quick snack and diaper change--then back to bed until the 6 o'clock hour. Rather than sleep until 7 or 7:30, they've been waking up at 6 and coming into bed with us. This may be a habit we eventually regret, but for now it's nice because this way we all get an extra hour of sleep--and it's sweet to get that extra cuddle time in, and to wake up with a cherubic little face right next to yours.
Speaking of bedtime routines, the babies still love their bathtime, and have started seriously wiggling and splashing in the bath. We end up with water all over ourselves, the kitchen counter, and the floor--all with happy, laughing, smiling babies. Bathtime is one of our most favorite times of the day!
The babies are still doing lots of talking these days. They are blowing raspberries, making a wide range of sounds, and working on yelling--they love to communicate. In the past few weeks, they've made significant advancements in their hand-eye coordination--they can now look at something and reach out and grab it. It's fun to see them concentrate so hard on trying to get something, and then be successful in getting it and holding onto it. Another thing that has happened in the past few weeks is that the babies have started staring at each other. They've surely been aware of each others' presence since birth (or before--they spent 9 months in close quarters, after all), but lately they've really been looking at each other a lot. And it usually makes them smile. Addison tries to hold onto Jackson's hand all of the time, which is sweet--Jackson, in return, tries to kick his sister (and he kicks hard! We have to watch him when they're playing on the floor together...).
Addison looking at Jackson.
Jackson smiling.
Jackson looking at Addison.
Looking at each other.
We've had a lot of fun so far, and it's amazing to look back and see how much the babies have grown and changed--I can't wait for what this next month is going to bring!
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