6 months!

6 months

These are still way too big, but I couldn't resist. Riley looks like he was dropped from a tall building

Thank you Christina for our awesome UofS onesies!

Seriously mom, you are still taking pictures? We are ready for bed!

Size

According to our baby scale, Riley is 13 lb 4.5 oz, which is up 10 oz from 12 lbs 12.5 oz  at 5 months (they were due to eat, so I guess half hour later he was 13lbs 11.5oz). The 0-3 Carters onesies STILLfit well. He is in 3-6 month sleep’n’plays but Steve has been dressing him in some of the 0-3 month long sleeve onesies he was wearing back in May. He does fit in some 3-6 outfits but they are a bit big, and he is still too small for some of our 0-3 pants (jeans and khakis – regular 0-3 cloth pants fit great). Logan is in 3-6 onesies and outfits, but does still fit in 0-3 pants. He has grown out of the smaller 3-6 month sleep’n’plays, but the 6-9 month ones are pretty giant on him. According to our scale at home, he is now 14 lbs 11 oz, up from 13lbs 12 oz at 5 months. (Although again, he was probably 15 lbs 1.5 oz after dinner!)

Eat-Sleep-Play

Riley is still on the hypoallergenic formula and breast milk, and will be until at least 6 mobut we plan on switching him back to sensitive once we’ve used up the alimentum. He got the sensitive one day by accident and seemed fine. He is still Zantac and Prevacid, although I think they’ll take him iff the Prevacid at his next appointment. He still hates the Prevacid, but seems to like the Zantac. The boys are still a pain in the butt to feed, routinely taking a full hour. Our boys just don’t like eating from a bottle. Both boys are now eating 4- 7oz, but Logan is usually on the higher end and Riley is inconsistent. Logan is still on the sensitive formula and breastmilk.

They eat every 3-4 hours during the day and are pretty much sleeping through the night (although they will wake up and get right back to sleep). Their last feed is usually around 8- 8:30 and go to bed and they don’t get up until 8 am.  They have been getting solid food twice a day. In the morning lately they’ve been eating bananas and oatmeal or apples and rice cereal (or just plain rice or plain oatmeal). In the evening they get a fruit or veggie (or ½ and ½) and then some cereal or oatmeal. We are excited to start putting the fruits in the cool mesh bag things we got from some of our friends and family. Both boys really enjoy eating solid foods and are so obvious about their preferences (FYI, they recently decided they do not dislike carrots and peaches. They are not their favorites, but they are okay). Logan is a much messier eater than Riley. He puts his hands in his mouth and spreads it all over his face.

The boys mostly still take naps at the same time, and their naps still can be 20 min cat naps or 1 ½ hour long naps. They take a long nap nearly every morning. They have always been fairly easy to put to bed, but lately we’ve been swaddling them both because they seem to wake up less often when we do. I know we need to wean them off of that, but hey, we’re tired! Riley likes to sleep on his belly and cries because he rolls himself into uncomfortable positions (like leaned up against the side. We’ve seen some crazy positions!)

The boys continue to love laying in their activity gym and batting and grabbing at the toys and kicking the chimes. Riley does not stay in one place though. We can put him on one gym, go grab a drink, and when we come back he’s on the other gym or half under Penguin’s bed. He pushes himself up almost into crawling position. When he’s on his belly, he’s pushing up with his arms and his chest is not on the ground. Logan is still more stationary. He does pivot around and has rolled onto his belly but does not roll around. In fact, neither of us has actually seen him roll – Steve has just turned his head then looked back at Logan to find him suddenly on his belly.

Their favorite toys are these spinny wheels that suction to their high chairs (this one and this one), their oballs, keys, books, and anything that makes a crinkle sound. They absolutely adore each other, and are each other’s favorite toy. Logan is also crazy about Penguin. She is wonderfully patient with him and we are so proud of her.

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Logan’s physical therapy sessions on Tuesday mornings don’t seem to be doing too much. He has full range of motion, but prefers to look right because of the flat spot. His head is slightly more round, but we are concerned because it is not happening as quickly as we’d like.

Personality

Both Riley and Logan are really happy, well behaved kids. They smile and babble a LOT. Whenever we take them out places, people always comment on how quiet they are. They love to be kissed, being tossed in the air, and to have mommy and daddy “eat their bellies.”

Likes:

Riley: Toys, his jumparoo, his pacifier, the activity gym, being swaddled while sleeping, the swing (much more than before), rolling onto his belly/ rolling all over the room, being sung to, “talking”, getting attention of any sort, eating off a spoon (especially apples and bananas), riding in the stroller without his carseat, escaping any sort of chair, playing with Logan, being read to, and his feet.

Logan: Toys, his pacifier, laying on his belly, being held on his side, his jumparoo, being sung to, being carried around, the swing, the activity gym, being read to, looking at pictures, looking at shiny things, eating solids, his feet, riding shotgun in the stroller without a carseat, grabbing/ holding on to Riley, and being in the carrier (the kind that straps to mommy or daddy’s chest),

Dislikes:

Riley: Getting reflux, taking his prevacid, having gas, not having his pacifier, peas

Logan: Waiting for food, not having his pacifier, pooping, peas and having gas.

New this month:

Logan rolling back to belly (9/18), Riley holding himself up with his arms (almost crawl position), sitting up and leaning on their hands to support themselves (Logan can do this much better), Riley getting his foot in his mouth, getting really excited when mommy gets home from work, and eating fruits and veggies.



Food Updates:

We have tried and quite enjoyed some combinations - apples & prunes, apples, pears, & bananas, and apples, plums, & grapes. We also tried and liked rice with apples. Noticing a trend? WE LOVE APPLES!

We also decided that peaches and carrots are both okay. Not our favorites, but we'll eat it!


Some other cute recent photos:

Our little cabbie

Yummy foods!

 We want to keep track of what foods the babies like as we try out new solid foods, though its bound to change. I figure we'll just update this post with each new food we try. It is in the order we tried it. We are adding a new food every other day so we can make sure if they are allergic to anything we know what it was. It took me longer than expected to actually get around to posting this (stupid job, getting in the way of life) so some of the foods have been eaten several times and their rating changed.

                                            Logan                    Riley
#1 Rice cereal                        like                          like
#2 Oatmeal                            love                         dislike
#3 Banana                              love                         love                              (8/25/12)
#4 Sweet Potato                     like                           like                            
#5 Pears                                love                          like                          
#6 Carrots                             dislike                       dislike                          
#7 String Beans                      dislike                       love                            
#8 Apples                              love                          love                            
#9 Peaches                            like                           dislike                          
#10 Oatmeal w/bananas          like                            like      
#11 Prunes                            love                    love (mom & dad don't love the after effects though!)
#12 Peas                                dislike                      dislike (just like mommy!)


As of 9/18, I'd say Logan's top 3 are bananas, apples, and pears (with peas dead last)
Riley's top 3 are bananas, apples, and string beans


1st fruits (banana) There are a ton because I just couldn't decide!!

Riley falling asleep while eating prunes

I like prunes too!

Logan Eating (and not liking) String Beans

Other cute photos:

I'm so cute!

Daddy put pants on my head!

Pants on my head too!

Logan and Penguin are best buds. He is constantly reaching for her and grabbing her, to which she responds by licking him. She is so incredibly patient with him.... its really sweet!

Logan finally rolled onto his belly today, but no one saw it!

5 months!

The boys turned 5 months old yesterday! Its going by so quickly and they are getting so big. I'm going to be so sad to leave them and go back to work Monday.

Still in 0-3 clothes, but so stinkin' cute!

Size

According to our baby scale, Riley is 12 lb 12.5 oz, which is up only a little from 12 lbs 10 oz  at 4 ½ months (maybe because they were due to eat when we weighed them) and a lot from 11 lbs 14 oz at 4 months. The 0-3 Carters onesies still fit well. We started dressing the boys in 3-6 clothes since we have a bunch of summer clothes in that size and summer is nearly over. Some are too big for Riley and some fit well. He still fits in most of the  0-3 outfits, but is too long for some of the shirts. Both boys are still in 3-6 month sleep’n’plays, Logan also still fits in the carters 0-3 onesies, but is ready to move up to 3-6. In fact, we just washed them today. He fits in some of the 0-3 outfits too, but we’ve graduated him on so we can use the 3-6 stuff. Most of it fits him well. According to our scale at home, he is now 13 lbs 12 oz up from 13lbs 0 oz at 4 months and 13 lbs 8 oz at 4 and a half months.

Eat-Sleep-Play

Riley is still on the hypoallergenic formula and breast milk, and will be until at least 6 months, He is still on two medicines – the Zantac and a version of Prilosec or Prevacid. He is not a fan of the Prevacid, but doesn’t really mind the Zantac. It has definitely helped – he eats more, but it still takes forever for the boys to eat at most feeds. Both he and Logan are “weird eaters” according to our doctor. They often want to eat 2 oz, then wait 10 min, then eat an oz, then wait 10-15, etc. It normally takes a full hour. Riley is now eating 3- 5 ½ oz, but is usually on the higher end. Logan will eat 4-6. It is super fun having two finicky eaters. Logan is still on the sensitive formula and breastmilk.

They eat every 3-4 hours during the day and are pretty much sleeping through the night (although Riley has had a few rough nights lately). Their last feed is between 8 and 10, they usually wake up between 6 and 7am and go back to bed.  They have been getting rice cereal once a day for almost 2 weeks. Riley was an instant pro eating off a spoon. He opens his mouth wide and hardly spits any out. He has had feeds with not one drip of cereal on his bib. Logan, on the other hand, demonstrated all the classic moves of a baby learning to eat – trying to lick the spoon instead of opening his mouth, pushing it out with his tongue, putting his fingers in his mouth, and not closing his mouth. Two of the first three times we fed him he cried. He seems to like it now and has gotten much better at eating, but is still pretty messy

The boys still whine because they want to lay on the blanket or sit in their chair instead of being held, especially if they’re tired. They take naps at the same time now! No more “clocking in and out”. We have not put them on a nap schedule yet, and their naps can be 20 min cat naps or 1 ½ hour long naps. They take a long nap nearly every morning. They have always been fairly easy to put to bed, but Riley still needs to be swaddled, or he wakes up every hour

The boys still love laying in their activity gym and batting and grabbing at the toys and kicking the chimes. They also like just lying on a blanket and stretching out if we give them other toys, like their keys or crinkle books. Their favorite toys are rattles, keys, security blankets, and anything that makes a crinkle sound. They continue to interact with each other and can often be seen holding onto each other. The other day while they were sitting next to each other (held up by an adult), Riley put his arm around Logan. They always look for each other, and often smile at each and babble back and forth. They get concerned when the other cries, instead of laughing like they used to do.

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Logan’s physical therapy sessions on Tuesday mornings are going ok. He made a lot of progress in the beginning, but now he seems to be going backwards. Hopefully with the new tricks the PT taught us we will get his head rounded out.

Personality

Both Riley and Logan are smiley, smiley kids. They smile and babble a LOT. At first Logan had specific sounds and so did Riley. Now they’ve taught each other their sounds and discovered more (don’t worry - Mom and Dad can still tell their noises apart from the other room). They vary in volume and pitch and try to imitate us and each other. They squeal when they are happy and laugh a lot. They have the same exact laugh. They like being kissed – they laugh when mommy “smushes” them with kisses. They also laugh when they are wiggled (like they are dancing) and tossed in the air.

Likes:

Riley: Toys, his jumparoo, his pacifier, hitting or kicking toys in the activity gym, being swaddled while sleeping, the swing, rolling onto his side or belly, having his diaper changed, being talked or sung to, “talking”, getting attention of any sort, eating off a spoon, escaping any sort of chair, and his feet.

Logan: Eating, toys, his pacifier, laying on his side, being held on his side, his bumbo chair, being talked or sung to, being carried around (he is curious and likes to look around), the swing, being naked, looking at pictures, looking at shiny things (like the fish at the aquarium), his feet,  and talking or singing along with mommy or daddy..

Dislikes:

Riley: Getting reflux, having gas, being propped up on his boppy (on his back), not having his pacifier

Logan: Waiting for food, not having his pacifier, tummy time, pooping, and having gas.

New this month:

Riley rolling back to belly (8/19), Riley pivoting and scooting around (he’ll be crawling before we know it), sitting in the bumbo chairs, grabbing feet, eating rice cereal (we are trying fruits and veggies Friday!), and Logan getting his foot in his mouth. 

Riley Rolling from back to belly (I had to break it into 2 because this blog will only allow short video clips):

FYI, they tried oatmeal today, and Logan loved it! Riley, notsomuch.

Adventure Aquarium

A few weeks ago we took the boys to Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. The beginning of the trip started out a little rough - the boys were too distracted to eat, it was crowded, and where we first entered the exhibits (by the shark petting), it was loud. Luckily, once we went upstairs and got away from the crowd things went a lot more smoothly!

We loved posing with the characters in the kids area.

Riley was interested in the people walking around, taking a nap, and occasionally the fish, but Logan was LOVING the aquarium. He seemed to really like looking at the fish, and the shinier the better!

Riley taking a nap

Logan totally watching the sting ray as it swam by

Mommy liked the sea turtle

Logan had that "childlike wonder" face on

Penguins hanging out by the door waiting to be fed

Riley woke up just in time to see the penguins

We went back to the big window so Riley could see

Logan's favorite fish - nice and shiny!

Daddy loved this sign under the pelicans where people stood to watch the hippos

Happy Logan!

The kid in there with us was eating a smelly sandwich.  I asked him if he could get out (it was cramped) for a minute and let us take the picture (so did his parents). He said yes and continued to sit with us.

In the shark tube

We love the souvenirs mommy and daddy bought us!