Saturday, February 25, 2012

11 Months

Rhett and Rhys are 11 months old!  This has been such a fun age...it seems like the twins are changing so much every day.  They definitely recognize us and can't wait for their daddy to get home in the evenings.  Both babies will hold their little arms up for their daddy to pick them up!  So sweet!

 we LOVE going for rides in the laundry basket

I think the biggest change we have seen is that the babies are so much more into "playing" than before. One day we played with diaper boxes.  Who would've known that boxes could be so much fun?!

 Rhys played in this box for over 30 minutes

"shh...I'm hiding from Rhys"

Schedule at 11 Months:
Our schedule is going really well right now.  We have a couple days a week where we are "off" schedule due to appointments, errands, etc. and the twins have learned how to be more flexible (and so has their mom)!  

7:00 -  Wake up and nurse
Play
8:15 - Breakfast solids
Play
9:00 - Nap
10:45 - Wake up
11:00 - Nurse
Play
12:00 - Lunch solids
Play
1:45 - Nap
3:15/3:30 - Wake and nurse
3:30 - Snack (cut up fruit, puffs or cheerios)
Play, walk, errands
5:15 - Dinner solids
Play
6:15 - Bath and books/Nurse
6:30/7:00 - Bedtime

Eating:
We have 2 little pigs on our hands!  Sometimes Tim and I can't believe how much they eat.  You might be surprised to know that little Rhys eats more than Rhett...for now anyway!  The twins are still nursing 4 times a day, have solids 3 times a day, and one snack in the afternoon.  For breakfast, they enjoy eating oatmeal with fruit, waffles, scrambled eggs, or yogurt.  Lunch and dinner solids typically include whole wheat pasta, shredded cheese, cut up or pureed veggies and fruit, and a little taste of whatever mommy and daddy are having.  We are trying to do more and more table foods, and less of the purees.  I do still give them pureed food at most meals to make sure that they are getting enough.  Rhys' favorites right now are whole peas, fresh blueberries, and cheese.  Rhett loves his cheerios, pasta, green beans and carrots.  

It is so fun to watch the twins interact with one another.  They definitely notice each other now and are hilarious around each other.  Sometimes they don't want to be apart and choose to play together, and other times they are quite independent.  Whatever Rhett is playing with is usually what Rhys wants.  And she always gets what she wants.  But Rhett is getting stronger, and I'm not sure how long this will last.  One thing they like doing is putting their fingers in each other's mouth.  No one has gotten bitten, yet, but I'm sure that day is coming!

"taste my fingers, Rhys" 

 we love to play together

 making a mess in Mommy's kitchen

shopping buddies!

Both babies have accomplished some milestones and other "firsts" this month.

Rhys got her first busted lip.  :(    She was crawling around the kitchen and pulled up on a shelf, slipped in her socks, and hit her lip on a little knob.  She cried for about 2 minutes and then was fine.  It looked SO bad!  Her lip was swollen the first day, bruised the next day, and completely healed a couple of days later.
ouch!

Rhys also learned how to push buttons on her toys.  She is so proud of herself every time she does it.  Here is a little video of her pushing the button on her book to play a song.  We all have this Veggie Tales song memorized now.  


When she hasn't been busy pushing buttons, Rhys has also been practicing standing.  She is getting very brave these days.  She will pull up onto things, let go for a few seconds, and then sit down.  She loves cruising around the furniture and using her walker.


Rhett has been busy learning new things, too.  As many of you know, Rhett was recently diagnosed with Developmental Dyspraxia and has experienced some developmental delays because of it.  He has struggled with both gross and fine motor skills.   We are so proud of our sweet boy for his hard work in therapy.

Rhett is now able to feed himself small pieces of food!  He loves being more independent and loves to practice and show off his new skill.

 Rhett practices with a cheerio snack

Rhett is also now learning to stand and bear weight on his legs!

One big milestone for our boy....he is now mobile!  Rhett started army crawling this past week.  He really wanted to get the remote control and started scooting towards it.  Now that he knows he can move, he doesn't stop.  He is getting stronger every day!  Of course, his favorite things to crawl to are the remote, cell phones, and iPad.


Rhys is our little busy body and just doesn't slow down.  She is very observant and seems to know everything that is going on in the room.  Rhys is physically strong and prefers to stand up to play.  She has started babbling so much.  She has learned to clap and click her tongue.  One of her favorite things to do is to play in the tupperware cabinet.  She likes to take everything out and then crawl away.  She is really into the "taking things out" phase.  She will take everything out of the toy box, everything out of the diaper bag, out of the cabinet, etc.  

 "I'll take these out for you, mom"

She also loves our basket of books.  Sometimes she will just sit here and take out each book, look at it, and then go on to the next one.

Another of Rhys' favorite things to do is to stand and look out the window.  She and Rhett both love being outside.

Here is Rhys going for a ride in the little car while we were waiting at Rhett's appointment.  I think she looks so big in this picture. (And check out those chunky legs!)

 Sure do adore this baby girl!

Rhett is starting to babble so much and has such a contagious laugh.  He loves going on walks and being outside.  Rhett is usually easy going and laid back.  Rhett is super ticklish and we find more ticklish spots all the time!  His favorite thing to do is look at books.  

 our little reader

didn't want to put this book down during a diaper change!

Rhett has physical therapy twice a week, and occupational therapy once week.  He also does therapy with us every day.  Rhett is such a happy guy, even though there is usually someone messing with him!

just working out

 "mom, do we have to take pictures so early in the morning?"

 handsome boy playing the drum

Love this sweet boy!

Truly blessed!

Almost

It's almost like having a dog.

Because we don't have a dog or any other pets for that matter.

But having twins....well, it's almost like having a dog.



Here you see Rhys sitting below Rhett's chair.  At first I thought she was just watching him finish his snack.

But then...

Rhett dropped a cheerio and Rhys snatched it up.

Yep, it's almost like having a dog.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Breastfeeding Twins...

One of the things that most people are curious about since we have had the twins is my decision to breastfeed them.  Yes, they are 11 months old and are still nursing.

Breastfeeding twins?  Is that even possible?  Why yes, yes it is.

It has been an adventure for sure!  I do plan to share more of our breastfeeding journey at some point (mainly because it has been one of THE hardest things I have ever done) but today I want to leave you with this hilarious picture I saw on Facebook.


I especially like the "What I think I do."  Ha!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Learning to Share: Part 2

Rhett and Rhys are really starting to interact with each other.  They love touching each other, making sounds at each other, and sharing stealing toys from each other.  They each want what the other has all.day.long.

The word of the day is SHARING.

Here is a video that documents our progress.


Looks like tomorrow's word of the day is SHARING.


Learning to Share: Part 1

Translation:
Rhys:  "Rhett is trying to take the remote and I had it first!"
Rhett:  "What.....I didn't do anything.  I'm just laying here playing with my orange ball.  Geez, Rhys, you don't have to cry about everything."

Guess it's time to learn a new word, babies....SHARING.

It's a twin's life.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Perception vs. Reality

When out in public with the twins, we get all kinds of random comments from strangers.  We always get the standard "you've got your hands full" or the "do twins run in your family?"  Another comment that we hear frequently is, "I bet you don't get any sleep!"  

When people say this to me, I want to tell them off just how life is in my house.  But I don't.  I smile and walk away.

But you, my faithful web friends, are different.  I will give you a glimpse of what life is like with infant twins.  


HA! Yeah, right... 

This picture has been circulating around Facebook and it made me laugh out loud.

So true, right?

Even though it is not always easy, I love my reality.