Owen & Anson at 7 months

The little guys are 7 months old & are quite studly with their bow ties & cardigan onesies ; ) I love that they can't complain about how I dress them unlike a couple others at the Valentine Nest! This was a mini project my mom & I completed during her last visit...pretty easy & oh so cute! They are smiling like they like them!

My goal was to be on time in writing this post which means that the last post was only 3 weeks ago.  Not a lot has changed but then again, they are growing & learning new tricks!  As far as the growing goes, we returned to the pediatricians office at the two week mark following the previous appointment & found that both boys gained exactly a pound in two weeks which far exceeded the 7oz weight gain in two months for Owen! So, two weeks ago, Owen weighed 12 pounds 8 ounces & Anson weighed 14 pounds 1 ounce. I was pretty excited to hear those results after pigging out to make sure my calorie count was up in order to provide enough breast milk & kicking up the solid food intake. They were pretty content little guys with all the good stuff to fill their bellies with! More on eating later....new trick now...

 OWEN

I love that face! It is actually a face that Anson makes more often but Owen decided to try to look like his brother for his picture....already trying to confuse us! As predicted, Mighty O's strong core set him up for success in the sitting department a little ahead of his squishy brother!  He can hold himself in this position for at least 60 seconds & usually longer if no one bumps into him or throws a toy at him.  He also does well when he gets really focused on something....like his feet.  

He loves to sit & look at a book propped up in front of him while I sit behind providing just a bit of support as he wobbles. Mighty O has been easy to keep happy lately as long as he has a toy in hand to gnaw on. I keep waiting for a little tooth to pop through. He would break the record for getting teeth in this house at such a young age since Eloise was around 8-9 months & Charlotte was 15 months! Owen has a couple rolls on each thigh even though he is still on the thin side & just in the past week has grown quite a bit of hair on his sweet head. It stands up like a rooster in the back, just like brothers. He is becoming quite tolerant of his sisters' lovin' giving more smiles & waiting to cry for a minute instead of 30 seconds ; ) He loves being sung to, playing  peek a boo, bouncing up & down on my legs & pretty much any one on one attention.

He is precious & I love every little thing about him & that brother of his!

ANSON 

Oh my squishy little Anson! He was content while propped up in the basket but was not a happy camper when I tried to get him to sit up for a picture on the hard ground.  In fact it made him SO angry it took a good 10 minutes of cuddles to calm him down.  I decided not to attempt again so I just laid him on that squishy belly & he was as happy as could be!

Anson doesn't mind sitting up when one of us is helping him & just one time he sat alone for a little less than a minute so I know it's coming! No hurry though, once these two are mobile this mama is going to be even busier! Anson, my sheepish lion has not been feeling well the past couple days. He has had a fever but no other symptoms. I am wondering if it is an ear infection or teeth or who knows what else!  Whatever it is, he is feeling crummy & in need of constant snuggles while awake which is kind of sweet.  He has been riding in the Ergo or sling other than when I have to swap him out for Owen who is well but loves mama too.  Other than the past couple days, he too is happy gnawing on a toy! I think his tooth will pop through before his brother. It has looked the same for a month now....just two little white dots on the bottom left. Anson loves to eat, chew on his shirt or mine, play "this little piggy" with those yummy toes or bounce in the jumperoo like a maniac.  

There have been countless opportunities to photograph messy food covered faces with all that eating these two have been doing! Here they are with yogurt & peas...

Owen

Anson

Eating: O & A are still nursing 5-6 times a day This usually falls around 6, 8, 11, 2, 5 & 6:30.  I am definitely dealing with some supply issues (on one side) as one is not content following the feedings at 11 & 2.  I was torn up about it for a couple days not feeling up to turning into a crazy pumping mother again & decided to just top off the baby that gets the "short end of the stick" if you will with an extra 2 ounces of breast milk & not pump. I have a decent freezer supply & will use what we need. About the crazy pumping mother, with nursing plus feeding solid foods to the boys, the girls are definitely feeling like mommy has less time for them. That played into the decision to not add pumping sessions. As far as solids go, the boys are eating three meals a day usually around 8:30, 11:30 & 5:30. They scarf down 3-4 ounces each at each feeding. Breakfast is always an oats/brown rice combo with a fruit mix in. Lunch is either a banana/avocado mix or some veggies while dinner varies.  The new foods as of lately are:  peach, pear, blueberry, acorn squash, butternut squash, green beans, yogurt & chicken.  The only thing I have noticed does not sit really well with the boys is yogurt so we will put that on hold for a couple more weeks & stick with things that stay down. 

Sleeping: I don't know how long they need to do something to call it consistent but we are going on two weeks or so of 12 hour stretches between feedings every night! WAHOO! They are still so sleepy by 6:15 that a bath & bedtime nursing is all it takes for them to fall easily into a deep sleep in the cozy corral. This means that they are making noise around 6.  I was getting them up for the day after nursing them at 6 but the past few days I have put them right back to bed & they have slept until 8 which has worked really well for the rest of us. I think we will stick with that for a bit. If they do that, naps fall around 9:15-11, 12:30-2 & a catnap from 4-5.  On Sunday when all were exhausted & not feeling fabulous we had a quiet house ALL afternoon while the fab four blessed us with 3-4 hour naps! We lounged on the porch for a bit then moved to the couch & read books. It was relaxing but then Anson woke up with a fever : ( All that to say, they are happy to lay down & go to sleep 99% of the time & don't fuss. They are also starting to wake up happy & cooing to themselves until I make it in there maybe half of the time. They roll to their backs & chew on their sleep sacks until they are bored & start crying. So cute : ) 

Same but different: We love having twins for so many reasons. As they start to look more & more alike every day we are excited to notice something different that won't change with weight gain. Just this week I was sitting behind the boys & noticed for the first time that their cowlicks  (such an appropriate word to be used for the cowboys) are in different locations. 

Owen's is on the right side...

Anson's is right smack in the middle....

I think this will be helpful in the future when I walk up behind someone acting in a mischievous way & can quickly identify the culprit. It is actually really hard to picture these sweet little boys doing anything to aggravate me.  When I think about that I just look at the big sisters & am quickly reminded that disobedience is fast approaching!

One last thing about these seven month old babes. Before they were born I vividly remember a conversation with Robby where he brought up the concern that he wouldn't feel like he could kiss on them in the same way he does his girlies since they were boys. In the past month he was kissing on one of the boys & laughed saying "how long do you think I can kiss them like this before they tell me to stop?" Haha! We all can't get enough sugars from these two! Here they are with their Daddy...

Love them, love them, love them. Happy 7 months Owen & Anson!