Twins -- Nine Months

For the record, I wrote most of this post two weeks ago... and then I got distracted and never got back to it... so its about thee weeks late... but at least the twins are still nine months old, not quite ten months yet.

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Howard and Caroline turned nine months old on October 1, which feels like a big milestone because we have had our twins outside the womb, in our lives longer than I was pregnant with them -- longer than we prepared for them.  That's just crazy to me.
 

For comparison:

Twins at seven months:

Twins at five months:

Twins at three months:

Twins at one month:

 Weight: 

The babies both can sit up on our scale at home... so unofficially Howard is 20 pounds, and Caroline is 18 pounds -- and Tracey - more than twice their age is 29 pounds.  It is just amazing to watch my children grow.  Praise God for their healthy and capable bodies.

Length:  

Hmmm... length.  Well, Howard is too short for his 18-month sleepers and too long for his 12-month sleepers.  That's right.
Caroline fits almost perfectly into her 12 month sleepers, although they get more and more snug every day.

Clothing size: 

I can squeeze Howard in a few 12 month shirts... but if I want him to be comfortable, he's wearing 18 month shirts -- which is NUTS!  Twelve month pants still fit him really well as 18-month pants, or overalls are long in the legs.

Caroline can wear nine month outfits, and has a little room to grow in 12 month outfits.  She's pretty much between the two sizes, so she wears a lot of 12 month things this time of year so I can add layers.

Eating:  

So, last month both babies were eating really well, but Caroline was finishing Howard's meals and bottles.  They both were good eaters, but Caroline definitely ate more solids and more milk than Howard.

This month, I feel like Howard is our big eater -- perhaps that explains the fact he's 9 months old wearing 18 month shirts.

These babies are SUCH good eaters -- much better than Tracey these days, who is convinced she doesn't like things that she loved a month ago.  Howard and Caroline usually have scrambled eggs and ham or blueberry oatmeal for breakfast.  Then, veggies some meat and maybe pasta for lunch.  And whatever Tracey or we have for dinner -- veggies, pork, steak, mac and cheese, pizza, blueberries, watermelon, bananas and more.

Sleeping:  

I can pretty much count on their waking up between 6-8 depending on how the night went.  They nap around 11, then again around 2... and they try to nap in the evening around 5 or 6, but if they do then they are very hard to get to bed.

I'd say about 6 nights a week one of them will wake up to nurse between 3-5am but sometimes we get through the night, and only maybe one night each week will one of them end up in our bed.

 

New things/discoveries/accomplishments: 

• Both babies can now crawl
• Caroline can wave
• Both babies can pull themselves up to a standing position
• Both babies can move from their tummies to sitting up

That really seems like a short list... but it was a HUGE month to go from both babies starting to scoot around, to now, both babies crawling around, wherever they want to go and pulling up on everything -- furniture, each other, Tracey, us.  Major baby-proofing is in our future.

Personalities:

• Howard is so funny because he is our risk-taker in terms of pulling up and wanting to move and explore... but it is also the first one to cry over things that aren't really cry-worthy.  He is still very leery of new people, but has the best giggle and belly laugh for people he knows.  He loves Lexie, Lloyd, Tracey, Caroline, and Daddy but is definitely a Mama's boy.  He is a really fast crawler and cannot wait to climb.
• Caroline is still the happiest little girl, and completely at home with new people.  She has the biggest smile for anyone she meets and loves to be held by new friends.  She has been more cautious than Howard to move around, but finally trying to grab Lloyd's collar was what provided the necessary incentive to start crawling.  Even still, she usually isn't the one leading the way, but she will watch what her siblings are doing and then decide if she wants to catch up to them or stay where she is.  No one can make her laugh like Tracey and Howard can... she adores attention from her brother and sister.

Likes: 

• Playing with each other
• Pacifiers
• Nursing
• Solid food
• Bath time together
• Playing with Tracey
• Soft blankets
• Being tickled
• Crawling around
• Lexie and Lloyd
• Chewing on everything
• Blueberries

Dislikes:

• Being hungry
• Being tired
• Spending too long in the car seat

Special Memories:

• We went to the Banana Park... I'm not sure what's its called and Tracey loved the jump bouncy houses and Howard and Caroline were able to crawl around one of the toddler bouncy things
• Hubby and I had our first date night alone leaving the babies with two middle school girls, and their sweet mom who came by to check on them a few times.

Nicknames:

• Howard
• Master Howard
• Buddy
• Buckaroo
• Mister Man
• Big guy
• Little guy 
• "Oward" Tracey's name for him  

• Caroline
• Sweet Caroline
• Sweetheart
• Baby Girl
• "Airoline" Tracey's name for her