High Chair

(Let me first apologize for the coloring of these photos. I can't figure out how to take pretty pictures in this part of the house)

I think the boys like they're high chairs. They'll hang out there for a bit, chomping on toys. Well, for as long as you might expect an infant to enjoy one location.

Drooling in the high chair is a fun activity as well.

But mostly, messes happen here.

Good thing there's restraints!

And a handy place for a foot rest.

How about we take a look at their reaction to eating vegetables for the first time. On the menu: Peas!

"What IS that stuff?!"

"Um, no, I don't want that in my mouth."

We end with Dash's favorite snack: Dishtowel Dessert.

Three Things

1) Liam cut his first tooth on Sunday! I think its neighbor is trying to peek out, too.

2) I recently discovered the precarious side of caring for twins. Typically, when needing to pick the boys up while I'm in a seated position, I scoop them up into my arms, pull my legs under me, and do a sort of weight-lifters rise to stand up. A couple days ago, my foot caught as I was already shifting my weight forward. Having no limbs to balance my tipping body, down I went. Luckily, I was able to pivot a little to land hard on my elbow. The boys remain unscathed and I come away with a juicy scab. Just taking one for the team.

3) Paw prints on bums attract some unwanted attention.

Many Thanks

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Bradley for the nice thick clothes that'll keep us warm at Christmas-time.

And special thanks for the nice note. It was tasty.

Stripes!

P.S. Look who can get her hair in a ponytail!

P.P.S. Liam doesn't have any teeth poking through yet , not for lack of being an occasional cranky-bum.

P.P.P.S. Liam and Dash really are super happy, sweet boys. Sometimes I think I over-emphasize the fussy moments.

P.P.P.P.S. The night of their doctor's appointment, we gave them a little Tylenol to help soothe the pain from shots, the blood-draw, and teething. How'd they sleep? Not a peep until 6 a.m.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I do not condone medicine as a child's sleep aid. No need to involve Child and Family Services.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I love me some Seanie.

Two [Bottom] Teeth

Guess who cut two teeth yesterday! Darling Dash, whilst sitting on my lap at the doctor's office and listening to the physician chart his growth, stuck my finger in his mouth and thus I discovered two little pricks on his bottom gum. Ha, his all-day crankiness was explained! Liam was just as cranky, so I bet he'll follow suit soon.

And since we mentioned the doctor visit anyway, how about a few stats. Liam is 26.5" long and 15 lb 7 oz while Dash weighs in at 14 lb 13 oz and 27" long. And we got the green light for vegetable purees- will they like their veggies? We shall see...

6 month old + 6 month old = 1 year old?

Sometimes I catch Liam looking his best

And sometimes it's Dash at his prime

Other times they both look a little confused

And most times they're busy exploring

But at all times, they're full of happiness.

Halvsies

Love you, Bro

The boys are six months old today and we're all still alive! That's something to celebrate.

Panel of Experts: Early Waking

Approaching nap time, Dash rests his weary head on his makeshift pillow- a bath book.

The sleep routines are getting better. Naps are actually pretty good now. Usually the first two naps are between one and two hours with a shorter third (and no fourth!) so I feel like we're getting the hang of daytime sleep.

Nighttime sleep could still use some work. Usually someone wakes up at least once. There's been five nights in which no one woke up between 11pm and 5am. Those are beautiful beautiful nights. What I'm most concerned with now is when they wake up, ready to go for the day. In the last week, the boys have always woken up between 5:00 am and 5:30 am, talking away. Bedtimes have ranged between 7:00pm and 8:30pm and it has no effect on early waking. I can't handle that early, I just can't mentally do it.

What can I do to get the boys to sleep a little later, at least until 6am? When they do wake up early, I let them talk for a bit, but after, mmm, 15 minutes or so, it turns to cry. Sometimes at that point I can give them a binky and they might fall asleep, but there's no guarantees. I never pick them up or feed them before 6am, hoping they'll figure out that they should just sleep until then. (Though I so dislike leaving them in their crib when they're awake-ish and crying).

It's driving me bonkers because I don't get enough sleep (I do a night feeding 3 hour into their sleep so I don't go to bed until after that) and that 4-6am range is when I'm mentally at my weakest. Help me!

Mumumum

Someone's vying for the title of Favorite Child- my little Liam has said "Mama"! Well, really, he says "mumumumum" etc. etc. And he only does it when he's cranky. And he shows no connection of that sound to me. So really, he's just jabbering, but I like it.

Here's an example... sort of. He usually hits the "M" sound a little harder.

I can't get over how cute his mouth looks when he does it. He's my little goldfish.

And just for fun, here's some giggles:

(sorry I always turn the camera in the middle of a video, I'm silly sometimes)

(also sorry Liam's clothes-less, he just had a poop'splosion)

Hooded

The weather's finally been cool enough to break out Liam and Dash's hoodies. Which escalated them to a new plateau of cuteness.

Near the end of one chilly stroll, I paused to capture a smile in their stylish duds. And they had a lot to say to me.

"Mom, why are we stopping? It's so windy I can hardly open my eyes!"

"What, you think you're going to get me to pose for you? Ptt, fat chance."

"Oh, alright, if you insist. Do you want the 'prop my chin on my fist' look?"

"Excuse me, that is not too cheesy."

"You want a genuine smile, you got it!"

"Liam may have been gung-ho about these pictures, but I'm not about to smile at that camera. I'll give you this 'blue steel' look instead."

"Look that bird is pretty neat, it deserves a smile. Your camera? Nope."

"You want a smile, fine, here. But I aint lookin' at ya."

"Alright, alright. Man, mom, you're so persistent, I guess I'll give you a nice picture."

"Now can we go inside already? I'm COLD!"

Big Sitters

Ladies and Gentlemen, Liam can sit up on his own!

Liam likes it when Proud Mama takes pictures of her big boys.

But he likes his toys better.

Dash sits up, too!

They're not super stable yet and use mom or dad or even some pillows as guard rails. But if they don't tip too far to the side or back, they can sit for hours! Or maybe more like a few minutes.

How'd they grow up so fast? Wasn't it just yesterday that I had to support their wobbly little heads?

Don't Leave Me Hangin'

The boys learned a new trick during our pumpkin carving party

Can you tell what it is? I'll show you a little more clearly.

My boys are super cute AND awesome.

Punkins

No Halloween is complete without pumpkin carving. At least, that's true for Sean. I'd be content just drawing a face with a Sharpie. But that's not much of a challenge, is it?

This year we had the Hamakers over to join in the Halloween joy. Jeff's a fellow med student, which you may have guessed from his intensely focused face.

He's also a new dad to sweet little Christine. Sweet little Christine didn't like mom and dad spending time on their pumpkins and let them know it.

What? This angelic little girl cry? Nah, couldn't be, she's too precious!

But Jeff was still able to pull out a pretty creepy looking Jack-O-Lantern. My, what big teeth you have!

Angela created an awesome scalloped lid for her pumpkin. That's hard work, people.

But then she sliced her finger off and couldn't finish. Just kidding, she didn't cut herself, but doesn't it look like she's about to chop off her thumb?

Sean and I stuck with our Mario theme for the pumpkins. Sean started with a nice rendition of Bowser.

Then whittled and carved until he had...

Sculpted Bowser! And I made a funny little Gumba.

Thar she glows!

Look at those teeth!

Look at those eyes!

Good thing we had Mario and Luigi around to save us from these villainous pumpkins!

Note: The Hamakers blogged about this too, check it out for some stinking cute pictures of our kids