Owen & Anson at 5 months

Another month gone in a flash! Thankfully I have had more energy throughout this month than I did the last! Eating & sleeping have stayed in a pretty steady & manageable routine which makes all the difference in the world.  O & A have seemed to have learned a new trick everyday in the past week bringing lots of grins & extended playtime. Life is improving for all in the nest : ) 

I have been reminiscing about this time last year when we saw that positive result on a pregnancy test followed by the craziest ultrasound ever where we saw TWO little ones! What difference a year makes! As wild as it is in the day to day life around here, I am thankful to be on this side of the pregnancy rather than starting all over. If you care to reminisce with me, check out the very first Expecting the Unexpected post. 

Over all, we are getting the hang of things & on some days I even say to myself "I've got this all under control!" And then I laugh 10 minutes later when I'm nursing babies, Bella needs to go out to potty & the girls get into a knock down drag out fight over who gets to put which color beads on the necklaces they are making. My goal is not to "get it under control" but rather "go with the flow"...even when I feel like I am doing the doggie paddle all day long just to stay afloat. Challenging & sweet can characterize many moments throughout the day. Anyway, back to the buckaroos....

A sweet neighbor of mine Mariela bought these "Little Buckaroo" onesies for the boys & I have been holding them up to them every week just waiting for them to fit! It finally happened! The little buckaroos were fattened up enough to fill'em out real nice! It was cause for celebration....and a mini photo shoot!

Owen & Anson

OWEN

Smiley-O melts our hearts with his grins. He is less stingy with them every day & even shows off when others hold him. He is still a squealer when happy but when he starts to get sleepy his squeals turn into irritated screeches which are pretty darn cute too.  He loves to have his hands in his mouth 100% of the time....just like another buckaroo I know.  Owen can be quite stubborn at nap time & will fuss longer than his brother (most of the time).  He loves to be read to & does the cutest faces like he really understands what you are telling him. He gets a kick out of having his chin kissed or tickling him right under his chin. He is giving us some giggles but we like to say that Owen is wound up a bit tighter than Anson & takes a little longer to relax & have a good time.

He is serious....

When I took the picture above I looked at it on the screen immediately & thought to myself "I thought I was taking pictures of Owen, not Anson." But it IS Owen who is looking more like his younger, bigger bro.  He seems to be catching up in size & might still trail by 2 pounds but it is way less noticeable than it was before. 

Developmentally this little guy has taken off in the past week & can successfully roll both directions & does so constantly. This sometimes frustrates him like when he is watching his mobile & accidentally rolls onto his tummy forgetting he can flip back. He is a pro at holding onto a toy & occasionally passes it to the other hand. He also pulls it up to his mouth keeping him very entertained. Owen is a happy guy when you hold him in a sitting or standing position or even like a flying super hero! He loves laying on a blanket with some toys & rolling side to side or staying on his tummy holding his head up high to look around.  He quickly lets you know when you are not providing him with enough attention & responds with a grin the second you are one on one with him.  Owen loves a warm bath & will sit quietly in there barely splashing for a good thirty minutes.  Both boys are paying more attention to each other with each passing day.  If we lay them down they frequently roll towards each other grinning & sucking on each others hands. Owen is usually the one who smiles first & is most entertained by the other.  Oh Owee-O, we are loving getting to know you : ) 

ANSON

Anson, my chubster, he is more googley eyed over me every day much to my delight!  He makes lots of sweet noises & can belch like a teenage boy. I don't think I have ever mentioned his talent but I have a feeling he might be one of those kids that is capable of burping the ABC's (gross).  He usually does not even need to be burped, you just change his position & he lets loose! He was like that in the NICU & it always got us laughing. My favorite magic trick is when I hold both babes against my chest in burping position after a feeding. I have one arm holding up bottoms & the other stretches across to burp the baby on the opposite side. The magic is that the other baby always burps first...the one I am not even patting. Pretty cool right ; ) I am a boy mom now...I find burps entertaining. Enough about that.    

Burps & all, he is a cute little buckaroo....

Anson, like his older brother has accomplished a lot on the developmental front in the past week.  They both rolled from back to front on the same day this past weekend.  I have heard that many twins, especially identical, reach developmental milestones on the same day. I find that fascinating!  Anson does a really fast & smooth roll & goes back & forth over & over but does not actually go anywhere.  He grabs toys & puts them straight in his mouth. He also grabs his sisters fingers & puts them in his mouth too : ) He too can pass a toy back & forth occasionally. Anson is happy for FOREVER on his tummy looking around the room.  He tolerates sisters rolling him & riding him like a horsey (guess which sister does that).  He loves to cuddle up to a good book. We have been reading Cowboy Small this week & he really likes the horsey in it..maybe he relates ; )  Anson has enjoyed the bathtub in the past but this week got way more exciting when Karis & Isaac let us borrow their baby bath tub so we could have two.  The new to us tub is minus a sling & allows for WAY more splashing!  He is hilarious with his uncoordinated feet & left arm that moves like it is connected to someone else's brain. I thought that it was just the tub so I put Owen in the "new" one last night & he was still as a statue.  It is just crazy A! All you have to do to get a grin from this guy is say "Oh  googley bear! " in a sweet lovey voice.

Eating:  The consistency in a feeding routine has been a life saver this month! I am way less exhausted not to mention stressed out ; )  Minus a few days, they have stuck with a 2 1/2-3 1/2 hour routine during the day with 7 feedings in most 24 hour periods.  I feed them together most of the time but around my mealtime or if the girls are needing help with something I will feed them separately one after the other so I have a free hand. Although now they are really efficient & are usually done in less than 15 minutes so it often makes sense to just feed them together & be completely free faster. 

I knew if I could get to this point breastfeeding, I could make it....well I think I can at least, we will see!  As tired as I am at the early morning feeding (usually 5 something) I love how quiet it is without other children around. It is relaxing, sweet & is followed by two snuggly, sleeping babies on my chest for a few minutes until I have to do the crazy shuffle to get them back into their beds without waking them up too much. It is tricky! I feed them in a cushioned glider chair in their room & so after I do the magic burp trick, I slide one into a lying down position on the chair while I put the other one back in bed. Sometimes the one left gets startled & wakes up but usually has no problem going back to sleep. I do love when I get to go back to sleep at 6 after I feed them. The girls usually wake up & frequently Robby takes them to the kitchen & gets some breakfast started.  He brings babies into me one by one around 7:15 so I can nurse them in bed...and continue sleeping.  That is the BEST!  I can't believe we are only about a month away from starting some solid foods! I need to start training their feeders ; ) 

Sleeping:  For the most part, they have been sleeping 11 hours overnight.  About two weeks ago, they were waking at 3am again...killer for mommy! I decided to start sneaking in a dreamfeed at 10pm & then I didn't feel bad if they were waking at 3 meaning I would let them fuss until falling back asleep. I will be honest, the word "fuss" is code for "scream"...it just sounds nicer ; ) After a few nights of the dreamfeed we went back to just putting them down for the night at 6:30 & they would make it till 5 something. 

So we aren't really into magic but it's the second time I am mentioning it in this post & with this next subject concerning "magic", I just might be a believer.  There are these jammies the boys have that were hand me downs. They are bright blue footed ones with an electric guitar on the chest. They are cozy warm fuzzy material. They are what Robby refers to as the "magic pajamas." He puts the boys in the them every time I go to work & they sleep 12 hours EVERY TIME! The next night I tell him that I want him to replicate exactly what he did while I watch. He makes jokes like "you didn't wash the pixie dust off right?" His other secret he shared with me is that there is no baby talk allowed at bedtime. He calmly tells the boys that they will sleep all night long & not wake him up. I think I figured out the "magic" in the magic pajamas when Robby started quoting late 18th century philosophers with the line "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it really make a sound?" Hahaha! It's easy to sleep all night when the monitor is off ; ) 

As far as naps go, we have dealt with what Babywise refers to as "the 45 minute intruder" which seems to be pretty common! It is basically where babies wake up right around the 45 minute mark into a nap. This is where they transition from REM to deep sleep & are sometimes aroused enough to cry.  The "recommended treatment" is to start with treating it as a hunger issue & feed them. I usually do that for a couple days but I know for example if they have had a good sized bottle at the previous feeding only 2 hours before, they just need a few minutes to fall back asleep on their own. We are making it through & most days if they wake, I make sure they are still on their tummies (preferred sleeping position according to O & A) & let them cry for a few minutes (maybe 5-10) & they fall back asleep for another hour or so. There are three naps during the day & I honestly look forward to the two nap routine.  Less to be messed with when getting out & about.   

So....another month to go & we hit the halfway mark to the first birthday! I just might max out on my storage space for photos on my laptop with as many pictures as I have been taking lately. It's all for a good cause, documenting this lovely life I have been given.