Usually I kind of put life on hold while I move and get settled as I can't stand living in chaos, but I guess the babes missed the memo as they have continued to reach milestones and somehow they are already 9 months old!! It's good that they have been thriving through the move, and it's a reminder to me to stop, take a break from unpacking and organizing, and enjoy the time I have with the babies every day. Here is their 9 month update.
How old? 9 months
Our weights:
Alexis: 14 lbs 5.5 oz (+ 1 lb 3.5 oz from last month! She has caught up since her sickness!) Jack: 15 lbs 1 oz (+ 13 oz from last month) Faith: 14 lbs 5.5 oz (+ 13.5 oz from last month and exactly the same weight as Alexis!)
Size clothes: The girls have outgrown most of their 6 month clothes and are moving onto 9 month. Jack is wearing 6 month pants and 9 month tops. Everyone is in 9 month pajamas.
Eating schedule: Up until two days ago, everyone was still getting 5 bottles a day and we were still feeding every 3 hours (same schedule as last month), but I decided it was time to add another solids feeding and drop a bottle so now we are on day #2 of four bottles (around 7:00, 11:00, 3:00, and 7:00) and solids about halfway between each bottle (9:00, 12:30, 5:00). For some reason I always seem to change their schedule around their monthly birthdays, but I guess that's when I realize they are growing up and need a change. Although I'm still doing seven feedings a day between bottles and solids, I am very excited that everyone has now taken an interest in eating solids as this is extremely important for their development. Plus, dropping a bottle is huge as it means we don't need as much formula (saves money, time making formula, less bottles to wash, and so on!).
Naps: I am so thankful that the babies are finally in a great nap routine! The morning nap is about an hour long and the afternoon nap is between 2-2.5 hours long (we'll see how this goes with our new schedule but I'm hopeful it will stick). This is amazing for me as they are consistently napping for the same time period, which means I can get a lot more done and even get a little "break" in during the day! These naps have been a lifesaver during the move. In the past I felt like I needed to do so much around the house while trying to interact with one or more babies, so now that they are sleeping at the same time I feel like I can be present with all of them while they are awake and focused on stuff around the house while they are asleep. So much better for everyone! Faith sleeps in the guest room during naps so that everyone has their own room as sometimes they don't fall asleep right away and would keep each other up if in the same room.
Bedtime: Most nights bedtime goes very smoothly. They go to bed right after their last bottle and although sometimes we need to give the girls their pacifiers, it doesn't take them long to fall asleep. We have never rocked the babies to sleep since we didn't have enough arms to rock everyone at once, so they are great at falling asleep on their own. So thankful for this as well! Since we moved on Saturday the girls have been sharing a room and they are not waking each other up at night. Jack has his own room now and I'm not sure if he's noticed this change or not, but it feels a bit strange putting him in his own room every night after putting three babies in one small room for the first 7 months they were home.
Night Sleep: I don't know if nights have really gotten better or if we are just really used to waking up, but since our move things seem to have improved. Maybe it's because every little noise doesn't wake us up since our bedroom is further from their rooms? Regardless, the girls have only ended up in our bed a couple of times in the last week and they seem to be getting better at self-soothing (they can both put their own pacifiers in their mouths which is really helpful). Jack still sleeps through the night most of the time.
Favorite foods: I have not been very consistent with feeding them solids due to our move, but they also haven't given any negative reactions to any of the purees I've fed them. They all really enjoy the Little Yums teething wafers as they can feed themselves and I think they enjoy munching instead of just swallowing the purees. I was hoping to do Baby Led Weaning (feed them more table food than purees), but I've realized it makes me super nervous and I find it hard to watch three babies eating at the same time to make sure they're not choking. I received some great advice from a friend on adding variety to their diets, instead of just the store bought purees, so we will be trying a lot in the upcoming month! One thing they all seem to enjoy that isn't necessarily "baby food" is yogurt. I just buy the plain stuff and mix in a little baby food to give it flavor. I have made yogurt in the past too, so I'll probably be doing that again soon.
Our likes? Pretty much the same as last month, but they have also taken a real interest in our cat. Every time she walks in the room all three focus on her and watch her every move. It's quite funny to watch, but I am a little nervous for when all are truly mobile as I'm sure they will be grabbing at her and she's not very tolerant of stuff like that. They all really like to grab at and touch each other (feet, hands, ears, heads...).
Our dislikes? On the flip side, all three get really upset when another baby is touching them! Once in awhile they'll tolerate, but not for long. Faith gets really mad when we wash her face after she eats. Luckily she's the cleanest eater so she doesn't require as much clean up. Lately we've been having a pacifier stealing problem. Both girls love their pacis and they have no problem grabbing a pacifier out of one another's mouth and putting it in their own (kind of hard for me to watch as a germ-a-phobe!). This really upsets the girl that had the paci originally, so I've got to figure out someway to deal with this as they now can scoot and roll to each other to steal the pacis...
Our favorite games/toys? All three have taken much more of an interest in toys now. They love the rock n stack (rings on the stick that they can take off), anything that plays music or lights up, or anything that they can chew on (which is any toy or anything else they find).
Our milestones? Everyone can now sit for an extended period of time, although no one has figured out how to catch themselves when truly falling so I usually have a Boppy around them if I'm not right there. All three pivot when on their bellies and Lexi loves to roll all over the place. Faith is scooting wherever she wants to go. It's still not fast (or necessarily efficient) but she can move when she sees something she wants! Jack cut his first tooth! Still no teeth for the girls but they are constantly drooling and sucking / chewing on things so I'm guessing by next month they'll have at least one tooth as well.
Things we do to make Mom and Dad smile? Their babbling is adorable. We can't get enough of their giggles. We love to watch Faith scoot around. It's also fun to feed them solids now that they are all actually eating it. This has just been a fun age.
Our Pictures:
ALEXIS
JACK
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| He was distracted by Faith playing |
FAITH
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| She was distracted by Jack playing |
ALL TOGETHER (left to right: A, J, F)
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| At least it was a graceful landing! |
It's a little harder to get a cute pic on their backs these days as all they want to do is roll over and move around! Or touch each other. For those that think our babies are always smiling, here's evidence that they're not ;).
Love them!
ReplyDeleteSO CUTE!!!
ReplyDeleteHow adorable they are! You're doing an awesome job. I know how difficult it is with just one at a time.
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