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!"