Owen & Anson at 3 months

Three months old....that is correct....A quarter of the first year of O & A's life is behind us! The endless smiles we are receiving these days coupled with a bit more sleep are making the days (and nights) even more enjoyable than they already were.  

Here are the little buckaroos....

OWEN

We are now calling this guy "Cowboy Small" after our new favorite western book the boys got from their Gaga.  I snuck him onto the scale during Eloise's 2 year old appointment last week & he was just over 9 pounds.  That is actually a HUGE gain for him....nearly 2 pounds in 3 weeks! Also if you consider he was 3 pounds 12 ounces at birth, he is already more than double! Guess all those days of cluster feeding paid off ; ) 

He is more content during his wake time than he was a month ago but is still ready to go back to sleep before his brother. Owen has been cracking us up with his grins the last few days. He is quite stoic when I am attempting to get a smile out of him so I usually resort to calling Rob in for back up. The rest goes like this: Rob starts talking to him & he smirks a bit.. Rob starts pretend laughing & he keeps staring and sometimes makes a funny face. This causes Robby to erupt in a good hard laugh which guarantees the biggest of smiles from Cowboy Small.....

It's like he knows when you are trying to fake him out & he won't give in.  I wonder what this says about his future personality ; ).  Robby was laughing so hard he started coughing & O got real serious again...

Mighty O has become a big fan of his bouncer in the recent weeks & is able to swing his little arm & give the animals some attention.  He is capable of rolling tummy to back but rarely does it.  He graduated to the addition of bumpers on his crib because he was waking himself once an hour by scooting to the edge & banging his head against the side or hanging an arm & leg out causing much frustration and/or screaming on his part.  Owen is almost out of newborn clothes, moved up to size 1 diapers & even has a little roll on each thigh... So cute! We like roly poly babes at this house. From about  4:30 pm till 7 he likes to fight with his brother over who gets the spot in the Ergo on mommy. He enjoys snuggling & sweet talk from his eldest big sister but is quite leary of the other one ; ). Owen makes precious little coos when you tell him stories. His GGran is arriving tomorrow & I can hardly wait to hear him respond to her. I'm not sure if it's years of practice or what but that woman can coax out more baby gurgles than anyone I know! He is one happy boy......

ANSON

As the counterpart to his brother Cowboy Small we have started calling Anson "Big Tex." For those of you who aren't familiar with the Lone Star Stare, Big Tex stood tall at the Texas State Fair for many years until the poor guy burned down this past fall due to an electrical fire.  I have been on the hunt for a picture of Big Tex to put in the boys room : ) and....back from the rabbit trail.

Anson is a bit more chill than his bro. He is so chill he even enjoys a little quality time with Eloise every now & then! I put him on the scale with me the other day & he is about 12 pounds of sweetness meaning he too has doubled his birth weight. He is wearing 3 month clothes & size 1 diapers. His hair is growing fast & is super fuzzy on top after a bath.  Anson always seems to have his eyes open wide like he is on the lookout for something which now that I think about it, there is a lot to be on the lookout for around here ; ) He ditched the paci at bedtime when he found something that he realized could never be lost.....

Yes folks, we have another thumb sucker in the house! I actually really like the thumb versus the paci for small babies but man oh man....we are dealing with an almost 4 year old thumb sucker now so we may have a different plan of attack this time around.  He too can roll from tummy to back but chooses to refrain most days.  He loves laying on the play mat or sitting in the swing but not as much as he enjoys being in the Ergo on Mommy. He also loves tummy time & tolerates it for a long time before fussing. He smiles a million times a day & does so with his whole face....

The boys spend much of their time together & have started smiling at each other which is totally adorable. One thing we have noticed is that Owen's grin starts with the left side of his face & Anson's starts on the right. They also suck on each others arms...

Eating & Sleeping: These go hand & hand... Our day starts with a feeding around 6:30 & they eat about every 3 hours for the rest of the day until the late afternoon which ends up having a couple feedings closer together with the last one being around 7. They nap between each feeding after spending no more than an hour awake. The exception is in the late afternoon where someone swings & someone is carried on mommy... Then we switch. This gets us through the grumpiness :) They have become much more consistent with falling asleep without much crying & taking longer naps.  The most exciting development in the past week is that they are going an 8 hour stretch at night! They eat around 7pm & then we don't hear a peep until 3am! I have tried doing a "dreamfeed" at 10pm but it messes them up & they start waking every 3 hours again so we will stick with the long stretch from 7-3 & hope they drop the middle of the night feed sometime in the next month. Specifically twin related, I am nursing them both at the same time almost every feeding. Usually one baby wakes so I change that diaper & wake the other, feed them both, play & put them back to bed within about 10 minutes of each other. Every now & then I slack & don't wake the second baby up to eat....then it feels like I am feeding a baby ALL DAY & I think about how that was a dumb decision ; ) They moved out of our room & the same crib into their own room & separate cribs in the middle of May. I thought they would share a lot longer but due to their tummy sleeping position & ability to scoot all over the bed, they were driving each other crazy. We are all sleeping much better with the current arrangement. The boys also did away with the swaddle blankets & moved to sleep sacks. These are the Aden & Anais brand muslin sacks which are just like the swaddle blankets we love.  They are the perfect thinness for a Florida summer  : )  

Other happenings: These two have been out & about all month long since we got the go ahead to re-enter society. We have been back at Sunday Worship at CCC, Life Group, out to dinner, taking walks & visiting with friends & neighbors. It is not always a breeze but it is worth it to get out of the house sometimes. I even took all four kids to the grocery store alone a couple weeks ago not to mention IN THE RAIN! It was not my plan to go in the rain but once I took the 15 minutes to load & strap everyone into their seats I refused to go back inside.  Again, not a breeze but it was something I wanted to attempt...just to know I could do it. 

A couple parting shots of Owen & Anson (in that order) at the 3 month mark:

hahaha