A Letter to Periwinkle at Seven Months

Dear Periwinkle,

I'm down to five months to plan your first birthday party. I want to make it awesome because you deserve it. You've come such a long, long way since that day in October. Instead of pulling my hair like you did then, you now grab onto my cheeks and squeeze. Or my neck. Or any part of me that you can grab. Sometimes you squeal as if yelling, "I got you!" But thanks for the tips on where I need to lose some fat. And the reminders to trim your fingernails.

I realized this month that you are not a snuggler. While your brother will just sink into you when you hold him, you push out with your hands, propping yourself up so you can look around. You are just so curious about everything around you that you don't have time for snuggles. That said, you still want to be held. A lot. You just want us to squire you about so you can look at everything and see all the colors and shapes that exist in the world. Relax, baby girl. Sometimes it's okay to cuddle.

Enjoying some yogurt

You are sitting up with the boppy supporting you, something that is a very recent development. You can sit up again after you tip a bit forward, so I know you are super close to sitting up all on your own. You still love to stand, and I can just see you want to do it on your own. You're close, baby girl. Don't rush it too much. I haven't babyproofed the house yet!

With Cousin M

You absolutely love your applesauce and bananas, and really enjoyed a tomato and a red pepper this month. Oatmeal still offends you, and I still don't blame you. I think we'll stop with that one for a while. Too many other yummy things to try!

You and Black Cat

You're sleeping so much better these days. You are usually the first to fall asleep at night, and you aren't waking up multiple times a night to chat. Daddy and I really appreciate that. You do still like to get up early and chat away, sometimes as early as 5:30am, like this morning. I am not ashamed to admit that part of me is glad you get up so early now, because I get to see your smile before I leave for work in the morning.

Sadly, you seem to have caught Indigo's cold. I'm glad you guys are sharing, but I wish he hadn't shared that. I am sorry your nose is so red and runny and I hope you feel better soon. You are doing really well at napping lately, so that should help.

This month Marisol at daycare put your hair in a little ponytail. I have no idea how she did it but it looked adorable. I'm sorry I can't seem to duplicate it, but I am on the lookout for barrettes so I can get your bangs out of your eyes. I did buy you a bathing suit. I'm so excited for you both to experience summer! You can hang out with me in the garden, smell the peonies I just planted, and feel the grass between your little toes. It's going to  be awesome.

Happy Seven Months, Periwinkle!

Love,
Mama

A Letter to Indigo at Seven Months

Dear Indigo,

We're now closer to your first birthday than to the day you were born. It scares me sometimes how fast time is flying, but it's so exciting seeing you reach milestones so I can't complain too much.

Within the last week or so, you've mastered rolling over. One time you and your sister rolled in opposite directions at the same time. Daddy and I just looked at each other, knowing this was just the beginning of the two of you on the move. I find you sleeping on your stomach most nights now, and last night you had your legs scrunched under you and your butt in the air. We marvel at how adorable you both are. Every night before bed I tiptoe into your room to give you a kiss and tell you you are perfect. Because to me, you always will be.

Always rolling now

That doesn't mean you'll be able to get away with pulling your sister's hair or smacking me in the face (well, for now you will because you don't know any better).

When I go to pick you up at daycare, many times you are in a bounceroo next to your buddy A and you both are smiling and chatting to each other. They say you are starting to give your sister the time of day now, which is good. She does adore you. I think she's a little sad she can't see you in your crib now the breathable bumpers are up, but when I pick her up in the morning and she catches sight of you in your crib she lights up. Never take her love for granted.

Tummy time is fun now!

You have been a rockstar at eating yogurt, applesauce, sweet potatoes, and bananas. You still hate oatmeal. You've also gnoshed on rice cakes, red peppers, and apples. Sometimes you get so excited for the food you don't even try to grab it. You just lean forward, aiming your mouth at it. It's a riot, but it's dangerous, so you need to remember to sit upright and eat slowly.

You can sit upright without outside support for a moment or two while leaning on your hands in front of you -- "tripodding." I'm excited for you to be able to sit on your own entirely so I can give you your stacking toys. I can't leave you on the couch anymore because you immediately start thumping your legs and you propel yourself to the edge.

After bathtime!

 You had bronchiolitis this month and have come through bravely, although you were not friends with the nebulizer. Unfortunately your sister now has a cold, but we're hoping she won't get bronchiolitis. You need to be quieter at bedtime so she can get her rest. You seem to be wanting more one-on-one time after we put you in your crib, so I'm caving and holding you for a few extra minutes after Periwinkle is asleep. Shhh! Don't let her know or she'll stay awake too.

We have three days this weekend to spend together and I'm so excited to take you to the local fair. It's a preview of our awesome summer to come! I bought you a bathing suit and a little hat to wear at the beach this summer. So many new things for you to see and learn about!

Happy seven months, little man. Don't let it go to your head, but you get cuter with every passing month.

Love, Mama

You reached for the phone and took your own picture!

Indigo vs. the Nebulizer

Little man got a little cold, and then started coughing a rather lot, and wheezing a bit. Fearing the dreaded croup, I brought him to the doctor last week. Apparently it's bronchiolitis, aka a cold gone bad. He was prescribed nebulizer treatments, which seem to be helping. Unfortunately, he's not a big fan. While he fell asleep in my arms during the first treatment at the doctor, ever since he tends to whine and try to look away from it. Or eat it.

As a result, he hasn't been as into the baby-led weaning lately. He'll eat applesauce or yogurt off a spoon, but he's not as enthusiastic about holding his own food. Although last night he did quite well with the banana I gave him. He also enjoyed a pancake over the weekend.

He has also rolled over from back to front twice! He's trying to keep up with Periwinkle, who will roll across the floor, or her brother, if you let her. We find her sleeping on her tummy nightly now.

We had a lovely Mother's Day at the in-laws. The kids got me some flowers and a sweet card, and Blue got me chocolate and a card. Stupid me had thought he'd forget, but of course he didn't!

Periwinkle also has decided lately that she loves to stand. Here she is showing off:

A Year Old!

This blog, not the babies, of course! A year ago I posted about finding out about twins, and the slew of ultrasound photos and drawings of fruit soon followed.

This has been such a great outlet to connect with other moms and moms-to-be, as well as a way for family living far from me to keep tabs on everything going on.

And of course, now I use it to inundate you all with adorable photos of the kiddos, along with the ups and downs of sleep training, baby-led weaning, and just general day-to-day life.

Thanks for sticking with me over the past year. I definitely plan on continuing blogging, and I hope to branch out a bit and make some posts a bit more universal for other moms. Are there any topics you want me to discuss? Any burning questions about raising twins? About baby-led weaning or baby sign language (I'm still new at those so those might require more time to answer)? Ask and I shall try to answer!

Also, the DietBet now has 29 participants and the pot is over $1k! It's not to late to join in over here!!

Here is Periwinkle enjoying her hamburger for dinner!

Also, a wreath I made tonight because Zumba was cancelled and I found myself finally having the time to do it. The stuff has been sitting in my car for two weeks. It was super easy. I bought three flowers from Michael's that shared a color scheme (green, pink, white) and jammed them into a premade stick wreath, also from Michael's. I added a ribbon that came on a stack of goodies my dad sent me for Mother's Day (awww...need to call him and thank him tomorrow!) and voila! Springtime wreath! How's that for crafty?

Six Month Doctor Visit and Progress with Solids

We finally got to the pediatrician this week. She tried to really push mushy food on us, but other than incorporating oatmeal into our baby-led weaning, we're sticking with our plan. We won't serve them anything mushy unless we'd eat it the same way (mashed potatoes, soups, oatmeal, etc). So this week they tried chicken and rice soup. Indigo was all over it; Periwinkle just looked offended.

I was getting the feeling that she didn't like spoons at all, as she'd rejected yogurt previously, but tonight we tried natural applesauce. The spoon finally clicked for her, and she got very excited about it. She definitely got some down. I committed a BLW faux pas by holding the spoon for her, but by the time I got to Indigo I got with the program. I fed him one spoonful so he knew what was going on. Then I put the spoon in his hand and guided it to his mouth. The next spoonful I loaded up for him and handed him the spoon. He exuberantly aimed it toward his mouth and missed spectacularly. I helped him out, then placed his hand closer to the spoon end to help with his aim. He then went for it again and made it into his mouth, but way too far in. Cue gag reflex. The next spoonful he seemed to get right. I would say applesauce was a hit for both of them.

Tomorrow we will try some oatmeal (from plain oats, not the sugared up packets I enjoy). We're focusing on the spoon foods for a few days because I'd like daycare to give them solids at at least one meal a day, and I highly doubt they'd feel comfortable giving a hunk of meat or cheese to the babies, which I understand. So we'll let them deal with the mushy solids and we'll keep trying with the solid solids at home.

Indigo is getting two teeth in, so I'm hopeful he'll get the hang of biting off a bit and chewing soon. Periwinkle seems to be lagging behind him a bit, although she did enjoy sucking on an orange slice this morning.

But the great thing with BLW is there's no rush. The motto is "Food is fun until 1!" Then we'll start worrying about making sure they are getting certain amounts of solids. Until then, it's about learning how to deal with the solid foods they are presented with, and letting them feed themselves. Indigo is obviously going to do just fine with that, even with the spoon! I was really very impressed with his hand-eye coordination at his first meal with a spoon!

So the rest of the doctor's appointment went better than the solids discussion. Indigo is 27 inches long (65th percentile) and weighs 16lbs14oz (35th). His head circumference seemed a bit more in line although I can't remember what the exact number was. His percentile went down so he's more average now.

Periwinkle is 25 inches long and weighs 15lb 4oz. She's my little lady. She enjoyed rolling around on the table while waiting for the doctor, which is something she's been doing like crazy this week. She even slept most of last night on her stomach, although she did eventually cry for us to come turn her over. I'm confident she'll figure out rolling the other direction soon enough. She even scootched forward a bit on the table in a pseudo-crawling motion! Crazy!

So she's rocking the movement, and Indigo is rocking the eating, and we're just so excited to see their progress.

I've also begun trying sign language. The kids have really started noticing our cats, so I try to sign the word for cat when I can get their attention during their cat-baby staring contests. I also try to sign "mommy" when I am holding them, "all done" when they seem ready stop playing with whatever they are playing with or when the bottle or applesauce is gone, "more?" between bites of solids, and my made-up sign for "bedtime" that might actually be the real sign but I'm not sure. I also want to start signing "diaper" but as that sign happens at the waist it's hard to do it when I'm holding them. It'll take several months but soon they will understand what I'm signing and soon be able to sign back, hopefully eliminating some communication frustration before they learn to speak.

So lots of fun stuff going on here! Here are some cute pictures from the past week or so:

A DietBet!

I started a DietBet! This is a really cool concept called social dieting. You pay the bet amount ($35 for this one), betting that you'll lose 4% of your starting weight in 4 weeks. If you do NOT meet that goal, your money stays in the pot for the winners to split. Motivating, right? I just did one with A Beautiful Ruckus and unfortunately I didn't "win," but I DID lose nearly 4 pounds, so that's a success to me! Feel free to join in!! The more the merrier (and the bigger the pot!)