Author: Jocelyn Rau

The twins turned 5 months on June 30. No checkup this month either, so this will be another photo post.

Avit is now rolling all over the place, and Nat is very close. He can get his whole lower body over, just gets stuck trying to get his head and shoulders to follow. He likes to stop twisted halfway and just look around, little goofball.

We switched them into a crib from the pack n play in our bedroom a few days ago because they’re getting so big, and Avit was totally steamrolling over Nat all night. He still does, but now at least little Natty Nat has slightly more room to get out of the way. This is very typical of their personalities – Nat is generally very calm and easygoing, whereas I like to describe Avit as a little more high maintenance. Definitely crabbier. And so many times I go into our room to find Avit screaming right in Nat’s face and Nat just lying there, totally asleep.

They love to blow spits to talk to everyone, and the fake coughs are in full effect, just like their big brother and sisters did. I took the arched playmats out of the living room and brought up the jumperoo and 2 bumbo chairs, and they both love being in both of those. A little more physical activity is what they want now instead of just lying around.

They did great on our family vacation up north. Despite sleeping like garbage, they really didn’t add much trouble or hassle to the trip at all. We made sure bottles were ready well before needed, planned enough stops for diaper changes as well as letting the big 3 go to the bathroom while driving, and made sure to be proactive with their needs instead of reactive. Major difference in resultant attitude and decibel level.

These little ones are getting big! They’ve been with us on the outside almost half a year now, and just like Della’s note to me said when I found out last summer that I was having twins – don’t worry, it’ll be fun!

Comparisons, as usual – Della, Lana, Morrison, twins. Seeing any resemblances getting stronger?

And now all twins. Pretty soon they’ll be big enough to each go on their own rug.

Nat and Avit turned 4 months old the same day Morrison turned 3 years old, so that was a very fun day around here.

We did have a 4-month well check, so here are the twins’ official stats:

Nat

• Weight:  14 lbs. 15 oz. (38%)
• Height:  25.5″ (62%)
• Head:  41.2 cm (33%)
• BMI:  16.2 kg/m2 (24%)

Avit

• Weight:  14 lbs. 8 oz. (27%)
• Height:  24.5″ (18%)
• Head:  42 cm (59%)
• BMI:  17 kg/m2 (45%)

So Nat is an inch longer and half a pound heavier, yet Avit’s head is slightly bigger. These 2 have gotten so big! No more tiny babies. Not that they ever really were super tiny, though, both being born the same size as most singletons. Just tiny to us.

I can’t remember if I switched their clothes before or after they turned 4 months, but now they wear mostly 6 months sizes. There are just a couple 3-6 month pieces I’ve kept up because they’re cute and run a little bigger, but I couldn’t bear to squeeze their chubby little legs into 3 month sleepers anymore.

I’m bumping up to size 3 diapers for this next shipment, but, in all fairness, I think the brand we use runs a little smaller than others. They’re still almost exclusively breastfed, with their daytime bottles having just a little formula mixed into each one. I haven’t really noticed any difference in their sleep patterns based on the amount of formula they have, but I like mixing it to stretch the milk supply and get them some vitamins and minerals.

They’re still getting their 4 bottles throughout the day, then nursing overnight, and I pump twice a day to keep the stash stocked. We haven’t started any solid foods yet, because they’re still young enough to not really need them, plus I’m lazy and bottles are easy.

I’m finally starting to notice the typical baby 3-nap-a-day pattern – sleep a little while between the last nursing of the morning and the first morning bottle; may or may not sleep after the first morning bottle; take a pretty solid nap after the noon-time bottle (hopefully!); then doze a little off and on after the mid-afternoon bottle. Then they go right to bed after the 6:00ish bottle for the night (hooray!).

Thankfully I’ve noticed a slight increase in their overnight sleep, too. I won’t feed them before about 1:00 at the earliest now, and most nights it’s become closer to 2:00-3:00. A few nights ago one of them actually slept until 4:00! And because I’m still so sleep deprived I can’t remember which one it was, but I think it was Nat. Avit did wake up for about 1:30 and 3:30 feedings that night, but for some reason little Natty Nat didn’t (I think). Then it’s about every 2 hours until morning for feedings after that. So if it’s a 2:00 wakeup, I can generally count on that one to be up again around 4:00 and 6:00, etc. I don’t force them to wake up at the same time anymore, because I’m so tired that I just grab any sleep in between wakeups that I can get. Hopefully they’ll both get to the same wakeup schedule soon, though, and stretch it out even more overnight.

Their smiles and talking sounds are amazing, and Avit has started adding some “D” sounds to all their “G” sounds, coos, and oohs. And they have both now laughed, which about makes my heart explode every time.

I just brought the jumperoo up today and took both arched playmats out, so we’re transitioning them to more activity, too. They’re so close to rolling but just can’t quite get all the way over yet, so maybe getting them a little more physical will help. Lying on the floor like little blobs doesn’t exactly do wonders for large motor skills. They both try to pull themselves up to sitting positions, too, and Nat is so close. He can get himself about halfway up, then curls up into a little ball on his side. It’s pretty funny to watch. They both loved the jumper this morning, though, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of days before they both jump themselves to sleep in it, just like each of the other 3 did.

I say it all the time, but I still can’t believe there are 2 of them. I look at them both every day and just think how happy they make me. All 5 of these kids are little miracles running around my heart.

Now here are the comparisons again. The big 3 first, then the twins.

And now the twins month-by-month. Growing every day!

Ok, this one will be short and sweet. The twins are already 4 months old, we had their 4-month well check yesterday, and Morrison turned 3 last week, so there are bunches of other posts I need to do, but I didn’t want a month to slip by with these little guys. There was no 3-month checkup so no stats for this month, so here are pictures instead (for real this time, i’ll save more writing for next month).

Now here’s their monthly comparison:

And here are the 3-month shots for all of them – Della first, then Lana, Morrison, twins:

Only about 2 weeks late with this one, not too shabby. As with the first month update, there isn’t a whole lot to report. Babies this young are pretty boring. Cute and lovable, but boring. So you’ll get a boatload of pictures again instead of words.

A couple small things of note – I put away their sleeping bassinets in the living room and brought out little baby chairs instead (froggie and a bouncy seat I got); they got their first baths in the baby bathtub instead of sponge baths in the kitchen; they moved up to size 0-3 month clothes then quickly up to 3 months, which are big on them, but way cuter than our 0-3 selection; switched diaper brands and moved out of newborn size; both started smiling and cooing/gurgling “talking”; got their first colds (thanks, big sibs); first trip to the zoo and in the big jogging stroller.

Also, we have started noticing some differences in their personalities and characteristics already. Nat takes a pacifier better, burps better, stays awake just looking around calmly for spells better. Avit takes a bottle faster and can calm better without a pacifier, sometimes just putting himself to sleep during the day after a little fussing. Overall, both are relatively calm little guys, usually able to put themselves to sleep or calm down with a pacifier. They do have a “witching hour” in the late afternoon and evening, but we’ve come to expect it now instead of just saying “what the ever-loving f???” every day when it happens.

One big change did happen, actually. I put them on a feeding schedule, which we’d never done with any of the others when they were babies. It’s taken a couple iterations, but I think I’m getting the right one dialed in – 4 4-oz. bottles during the day (roughly 9:00 a.m., noon, 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m.) that are varying mixtures of breast milk and formula; nursing at bedtime, overnight, and first morning feeding (usually somewhere around 7:00 a.m.); then pumping twice a day in the late morning and late afternoon/early evening.

Their bedtime routine has been pretty nonexistent so far, which is driving me nuts. So I’ve begun trying to get them to bed earlier – changing and swaddling them, then giving them a small 2-oz. bottle of all formula maybe an hour/hour and a half after that fourth bottle during their fussy time when we’d normally just try to quiet them to sleep in the living room, then putting them right to bed. Then I give them a dreamfeed when I go to bed, which is just nursing them while they’re asleep. Ideally I’d like to stretch that 6:00 bottle out and give it as late as possible and then put them to bed after that, since I don’t think they really need to eat that extra time at all. We’ll see if I can get that to work, though – almost every day has been different so far.

Their “typical” night then, with a dreamfeed when I go to bed anywhere between 9:00-11:00, is to wake up somewhere around 2:00 a.m. and somewhere around 5:00 a.m., but I really never know what to expect going into each night. Some nights one or the other fusses after one or both or more feedings, sometimes I don’t get any chance to go back to sleep after the 5:00ish feeding before my alarm goes off at 6:00 on school days, sometimes they wake up well before 2:00 and I want to scream, etc., etc. My hope is that using this schedule will just help smooth everything out sooner than later.

Guess I had some words about them this month after all. Now, after all that, here are their official 2 month stats. They did get their first round of vaccinations at this appointment, too, but they handled them like absolute champs. Each one got 3 jabs in the thighs, and each one cried for literally only seconds. The doctor, nurse, and I were all amazed at how quickly they calmed after the shots.

Nat

• Weight:  10 lbs. 14 oz. (13%)
• Height:  22.5″ (21%)
• Head:  38.2 cm (18%)
• BMI:  15.1 kg/m2 (17%)

Avit

• Weight:  10 lbs. 2 oz. (5%)
• Height:  22″ (8%)
• Head:  38 cm (14%)
• BMI:  14.7 kg/m2 (10%)

I wonder how long it’ll take to get a monthly picture where both of them are looking at the camera and smiling. I didn’t do this for their 1-month picture, but here’s a look at all 5 of them in a row at 2 months. See any similarities?

And now here’s a month-to-month comparison of just these two: