Nine Month Old Twins!!

The babies turned nine months old on Tuesday, and I still can’t believe it.  I mean, they’ve been on the outside longer than they were on the inside.  They’re growing so fast!!

I took them outside in the morning for some pictures, then shot some more inside later in the day.  I got a few cute ones!!  It’s so nice to be able to photograph them sitting up on their own.  Such cuties!

I’ll post some tidbits about their nine month old selves after (among?) the pictures.  I love being able to look back on these updates.

I love this one of Michael looking up at me.  Thomas was busy tasting grass.

But he looked up at me later.  I brought a step stool out to the front yard for this.

A magical one of them both looking at me! Michael isn’t super sturdy in his core yet. :)

I saw a shot like this on Facebook somewhere, and I just had to recreate it.  There was only one baby in that one though.  :)

It was hard to keep both the babies and the stuffed animals upright.  I was glad for my (out of frame) helpers. 

I think this one of Thomas looking back is so sweet.

The monkey made it into a shot.  (I guess that would make this three monkeys.)

Thomas is crawling!

Michael is not! Though, he was the first to get up on all fours.  He’s just still there though.  Gotta be honest – I’m pretty glad they’re easing me into having two mobile babies.  Oy!

Tuesday night I happened to be headed out to a friend’s baby shower, hence the hair straightened, make-up on, not in PJs momma shot here.

Time sure does fly, am I right? (In the above, Thomas is on the left; below he’s on the right.)

Allllllllll right… Here’s everything can think of about these babes, off the top of my head.

• Thomas is bigger than Michael, and we’ll find out by how much tomorrow at their appointment.
• Thomas is crawling.  He can go everywhere.
• I am constantly fishing things out of Thomas’ mouth.  He picks up every tiny thing from the floor.  The worst thing I’ve fished out so far is a dead June bug.  Ew.
• They both can laugh and laugh and laugh.  Their laughs sound very different, as do their cries.  The big three are still better than Matt and me at telling who is who by their noises.  :)
• Thomas is wearing 12 month clothes, though he can squeeze into some 6-9 month and even a few 3-6 month, depending on the brand and style.
• Michael comfortably wears 6-9 months, though can also still wear some 3-6 month and doesn’t swim too much in the 12 month clothes.
• They are more and more content to scoot/roll/crawl around and play with toys on the floor.
• They can be happily playing but see me and need to hold me RIGHT NOW.
• Thomas still loves his solid food, though actually not as much in the last week or so.
• Michael has gotten to be a great eater in the last week or so.
• They both prefer to feed themselves.  They especially love getting to pick up little pieces of things (versus taking bites off of a larger piece) and shove them in.
• We have a typical pattern to our day, which is thus: Wake in the early morning (usually between 3:30-5:30), nurse, go back to sleep.  Sometime one or both have trouble going back to sleep and basically, that sucks.  Wake in the morning (usually between 6:30-7:30), nurse, play, eat breakfast food, play, nurse again, play, nap (often around 10). This has the potential to be their best nap, but it could also just be an hour. Wake, nurse, play, eat lunch food, play, nurse again, play, nap (often 2 or 3 but occasionally later, especially if we’re out and they manage not to fall asleep on the way home). Wake, nurse, play, eat dinner food, play, nurse again, get ready for bed, and go to bed around 7:00.  It’s been about two weeks of this kind of schedule, and I kinda like it.  Anytime I’ve written “play,” it could actually mean be held by mommy, sit with a big sister, have the diaper changed, cry for awhile, but it could really be play as well.  :)
• Thomas has always been impossible to get to sleep away from his bed, but Michael’s getting pretty bad as well.  It’s okay though because they’re to the point that they can be distracted and still kept kind of happyish while they wait to sleep at home or in the car.
• I get the feeling they each think the other is kind of annoying.
• Joanna truly can make them happy, just like a parent.  It’s adorable.
• Thomas is very sad when he hears loud noises like the vacuum or grain mill. That’s a problem because I need to vacuum all of the things so he won’t eat them.
• Okay… I’m continuing this almost 24 hours later.  The power went out last night for a bit (craaaaazy storm!) so I couldn’t post, and I’m just now getting back to it.  We’ve since been to the pediatrician for the babies 9 month well-check.
• Michael is 14lbs 9.5oz and 26 inches long.  His head circumference is 17.99 inches.  He is suuuuuper scrawny.  In fact, he’s only bigger than Joanna was at this age, and we all know she was very uber super scrawny.
• Thomas is 17lbs 11oz and 26.5 inches long.  His head circumference is also 17.99 inches.
• I would like to think I am the poster-child for YOUR MILK IS FINE! even if you have a scrawny baby.  Clearly, it’s the baby’s fault.  :)
• Michael has been referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist (of which there are none in the surrounding about 25 miles – boo) since his left eye is still goopy.  Since it’s Friday afternoon, I feel perfectly good about putting that off until next week.
• According to their doc, these are some developmental things they should work on: waving, clapping, crawling, and pulling up.
• Dr. Harper noticed with his flashlight that Thomas’ top gums are mighty swollen, so I bet we can expect some top teeth soon.  That may also explain his decreased desire for solid food lately.
• They are both just the delights of our hearts, and we love them soooooo much!!