The Mountain Millers: Twins -- Three Months

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Twins -- Three Months

Oh... what's that... Howard and Caroline turned three months YESTERDAY... and here I am posting the three month update the next day?!?! Oh, yes. I am supermom! Actually, I'm not, I just realized how quickly these weeks fly by and if I don't write these posts right away they don't get done.

For comparison:

Twins as newborns

Howard at two months

Howard at three months

Twins at one month

Caroline at two months

And Caroline at three months

Weight:

I tried to weigh them on the bathroom scale and I don't think it is very accurate, but it said

Howard is 14 pounds, and

Caroline as 12 pounds

But you can feel the weight difference between these two. Howard has taken off growing this month, and Caroline is still healthy, but she is significantly lighter than her big brother. I think he has more than two pounds on her.

Length:

Howard was 22.5 inches at their two month appointment and

Caroline was 22 inches...

But they both are longer now than they were a month ago

Clothing size:

Howard can wear 3 month sizes, if they were bought new and never dried. Most of his clothes are second-hand from Once Upon a Child, and he has just about outgrown most of those 3 month sizes -- but they possibly shrunk given that they are second hand clothes. So, Howard wears 3 and 6 month clothes. The 6 month clothes have some room to grow whereas he really fills out the 3 month sizes.

Caroline wears 3 month sizes comfortably. She still fits in newborn pants, but dresses, shirts and sleepers are too small, and 6 month clothes are too big.

Eating:

Both babies are nursing -- I guess less often, but I don't really think about it. I do try to write down the time for every feeding, just so I do have a record. I write down the time the feeding starts, if the diaper was wet or messy, and what side each twin nurses on (because I switch their sides at every feeding).

Howard definitely eats more than Caroline does. He is frequently the one to announce that they are hungry and demand to be fed. Caroline gets fed at the same time, even if she is not acting hungry, and she always eats -- but she often will stop well before Howard finishes. Also, they both sleep really well at night, but I think Caroline would sleep through the 3am feeding if she were our only baby. As it is, Howard insists on the 3am feeding, and I do get Caroline up for it to feed her too... but she snoozes through it and eats very little. Howard comes by his larger size honestly... he eats more than Caroline.

Sleeping:

Howard and Caroline sleep in a double bassinet in our bedroom and actually sleep really well at night. They do wake up for one or two middle-of-the-night feedings, but other than the feedings, they sleep, for which we are incredibly grateful. When we traveled on Spring Break, Howard and Caroline slept in the same pack-and-play, and they slept great, did not bother each other at all, and often fell asleep holding hands.

New things/discoveries:

Howard smiled for the first time
We had suspected for some time, but the pediatrician confirmed that Caroline prefers to look primarily to one side (her left) -- probably because she and Howard were so crowded in utero that she held her head to the left in the womb and couldn't really move it, and so that is the way she holds her head outside the womb. So, at the recommendation of our pediatrician, we attended physical therapy with Caroline to learn how we can encourage her to use her head and neck muscles evenly
Both babies began playing with their hands and sucking on their fingers to soothe themselves when upset
They had their first round of vaccinations
We attended church for the first time since they were dedicated at 9 days of age -- and I use the term "attended" loosely as we all were in church for the music... but then Hubby and Tracey Ann spend the rest of the service in the two-year-old classroom because Tracey just moved up from the nursery and she was not yet comfortable, and I spent the rest of the service in the nursing room trying to juggle the logistics of breastfeeding the twins in a setting other than home
First time at Grammie and Papa's house in Michigan
First time at Memaw and Peepaw's house in St. Louis
First time for Mama and Daddy to have a date night -- and we had two in one week (one in Michigan with my parents baby-sitting, and one in St. Louis with Hubby's mom baby-sitting)
First time outside the state of Colorado
First time to Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas (8 states before three months of age... not as many as Tracey had at their age, but still a respectable amount)
First roadtrip
They each got colds for the first time

New Accomplishments:

Howard smiling
Lots of tummy time and both babies are getting better all the time
First time spending the night in a hotel and sleeping in the same pack-and-play
I was thrilled because this month I began to tell each baby by their different cry, and at first I thought I was supermom... then I realized that their cries at this age are different from each other -- anyone could hear the difference in their cries. Howard's cry is a lower tone and Caroline's is higher.
Howard has begun trying to put his pacifier back in his mouth after it falls out -- if its at the right angle, he can do it
Getting better and better at tummy time and holding their heads up for long periods of time

Personalities:

I never had this category for Tracey Ann because she was just one baby, but I want to try to make note of the different personality traits coming out in Howard and Caroline each month

Howard is such a loveable little chunk... although I'm trying to make an effort to think of him as a hunk instead of a chunk because its cute and more flattering. A hunk can be big and handsome, which he is. He is more vocal and when something is not to his liking, he lets you know immediately and loudly! It takes effort to make him smile, but he will give the most adorable smiles when you've earned them. His first smile was at Tracey.
Caroline is the sweetest little girl, and really seems to be a girl after my own heart. She has a smile for everyone and holds the most intense eye contact I've ever seen. I've had to make a conscious effort not to look away when she's gazing up at me because I'm just not used to holding eye contact for so long... but if my daughter wants to look into my eyes, I want to look into hers for as long as she wants. She likes music and smiles when I sing to her. She also only cries when something is actually wrong -- she frowns first without crying, which is the most adorable sight, and then a cry follows if it is really worth crying over. She looks to her left out of habit, so now we make very effort we can to make exciting things occur on her right so she has to turn her head to the right to see them.

Likes:

Being held
Pacifiers
Nursing
Eye-contact and funny voices
Car rides
Being held cheek-to-cheek while I say "Shhhhh" right in their ear
Baths and showers
Watching Tracey
They like tummy time on the double boppy we have (for a few minutes)
Playing with the mobile hanging toys we have

Dislikes:

Being hungry
Spitting up
Getting their finger nails cut
Being cold
They don't like tummy time as much when they're flat on the floor
Having mucus suctioned out of their noses

Special Memories:

Seeing how well the twins are growing and feeling like we have more and more of a routine every day
Driving across the country as a family of five... plenty of diapers and changes of clothes, but we made it and our kiddos were such troopers
Mama and Daddy having a few date nights with grandparents baby-sitting
Daddy watching all three children for the first time while I ran an errand for an hour... he was very glad when I arrived home
Seeing family near and far -- seeing Grandparents again, and then meeting other family members for the first time -- cousins, aunts and uncles, great grandparents and special friends
First Easter celebration