The Mountain Millers: Twins -- Four Months

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Twins -- Four Months

Our little babies are four months old and they're not little babies anymore. They are rolly-polly, smiling, laughing, moving, bundles of personality and they are so much fun!

For comparison:

Twins as newborns

Howard at two months

Howard at four months

Twins at two months

Caroline at two months

And Caroline at four months

Twins at four months:

Weight:

Little hunks! Howard is a big boy... but he's also getting really long, so (maybe its a mother's perspective) but I don't even really think of him as chubby... just big. He's his daddy's big, littly hunky boy!

And Caroline is so healthy. Compared to Howard, she's just a little pint... but she's really not. I think she is larger than Tracey was at her age... just looking back at when Tracey wore outfits, Caroline already fits in outfits that Tracey didn't wear until later in the summer.

They're four month doctor's appointment is mid-May so I will have actual weights next for next month's post.

Length:

Howard is nearly end-to-end when we lay him in the pram, and Caroline is shorter.

Clothing size:

It definitely depends on the brand, and style of clothing... and how many times they've been washed, but Howard wears a lot of 9 month clothes right now. He can still wear 3-6 month pants, because otherwise they are too long, but he's in 6-9 month sleepers... and even those are getting snug, and 9 month rompers. Also he wears size 3 diapers and even those do not have any room to spare (which is crazy because Tracey is in size 4)

Meanwhile Caroline fits well in 3-6 month clothes... 3 month are too tight and 6 month are too big. Caroline can still wear size 2 diapers, but I've moved her on to size 3 because I don't want to open another bulk box of size 2 diapers and have her outgrown them before we use them all -- so I've advanced her to size 3. For a few weeks we had Tracey in size 4, Howard in size 3, and Caroline in size 2 -- our diaper bag was busting at the seams.

Eating:

All breast milk, all the time.

Well, not really. We really were getting in a great routine of their eating every 3-5 hours... but then I went back to work for a few weeks and I would run home to nurse them in between students, so now they're actually nursing more frequently -- every 2-3 hours because I was sort of topping them off several times throughout the day because I didn't want them to need bottles while I was gone. Now I'm working on un-doing that routine of feeding so often and trying to get back to the 4-5 hour stretches.

Sleeping:

These babies are amazing. They are both asleep between 8-9:30 for the night and will sleep usually until a 4, 5, or 6am feeding. Lately Howard has been taking longer to settle down at night, but even then, he is such a good baby. He just lays in our arms, or sits in our arms while we're watching tv. He just wants to spend some quality time with Mama and Daddy without his sisters. They also take several cat-naps throughout the day... sometimes at the same time, sometimes at different times.

New things/discoveries/accomplishments:

Both babies began laughing this month -- Howard first at my mom over facetime, and Caroline a few days later at me
Both are getting their bottom teeth, which is SO much earlier than Tracey got teeth -- she was about eight months old... but both Howard and Caroline are teething like crazy, drooling all over the place, have two bulging spots on their lower gums and could pop teeth any day. I'm very curious who's going to get their tooth first, or if they will cut through on the same day.
Both babies are grabbing toys really well and enjoying playing with their mobile and the excersaucers
Both Howard and Caroline have found their thumbs and determined that thumbs make a great substitute pacifier when the need arises
Tracey has always liked Howard and Caroline, but this month she really seemed to realize that anything she wants to play with them (as long as Mom allows it), they are eager and willing to participate -- this month she has started kissing them on the mouth, cuddling up in their laps, being Dr. Tracey and giving them checkups, spoon feeding them pieces of her Barbie house, and eagerly wanting them to come in to preschool every morning when she is dropped off
Not only has Tracey started really playing with them, but Howard and Caroline have started to adorably interact with each other -- cooing at each other, smiling at each other, sucking on each other's fingers... and they have held hands while nursing and sleeping for a very long time
They're trying to start sitting up but they're still very wobbly
Mama got her first picture of both babies smiling in the same picture

Personalities:

Howard is a little more dramatic than Caroline. He startles very easily -- his eyes get wide and his arms flail out to the sides. When something really does scare him (more than a startle), he WAILS -- immediately, loudly, and without ceasing until he is comforted. He really sort of screams first and then figures out if the situation was really that emergent later. For this reason, he is harder to get back to sleep and he awakens more easily. He panics much more often than Caroline, and again flails his arms, kind of like a bird trying to take flight. He was always the active baby in the womb, and I remember the constant movement from "Twin A" when I was pregnant when I see his little arms flapping around. He LOVES to laugh and smile and is working on a great little belly giggle but he gets very distracted every time I pull out my phone to video him or take a picture.
Caroline remains the sweetest girl. She is one who takes a lot longer to cry and sort of assesses if the situation is really worth crying over before she actually does so. That being said, when she does get upset and begins crying... she is harder to console. I am realizing that when something startles her, she opens her eyes wide and looks at me, and if I make eye contact with her and seem calm and smile at her, then she relaxes and smiles back. If I do not look at her, or I'm upset by the situation, her little mouth slowly becomes a frown and her eyes squint shut, and she begins to cry. Even when I sneeze, if I look at her and smile, she smiles... if I forget to look at her and just continue doing what I was doing, she starts to cry. It is the sweetest thing that she really seems to take her time and think before she starts to cry. She also loves to laugh and smile and she loves any interaction with her brother and sister.

Likes:

Being held
Pacifiers
Nursing
Eye-contact and funny voices
Baths and showers
Playing with Tracey
Playing with each other
The excersaucer/walker toys
Playing with the mobile hanging toys we have
Teething toys

Dislikes:

Being hungry
Spitting up
Getting their finger nails cut
Being cold

Special Memories:

Grammie and Papa coming out to help while Mama returned to work
Tracey beginning to play with them with real intentionality
Going to the Rifle Middle School track meet with Grammie and Papa wearing the Moby wraps -- two babies, two grandparents
Our first family day where the five Mountain Millers had a whole day of outings and fun