what's going on

The boys continue to change right before our eyes!

I stole this from a friend.

Age: The boys are 4 months and 1 week old.

Weight:  Jakob weighs 11 lbs 15 oz and Alex weighs 11 lbs 10 oz.  This barely puts the boys on the growth chart for their age but the pediatrician expects them to be well on the chart by the end of their first year.

Length:  Both boys are 24 inches long.  

Clothes:  The boys can still fit into some clothes that are 0-3 months but seem to be wearing more 3-6 month and 6 month outfits as of late.  They are in 3-6 month sleepers at night.  They are growing out of clothes so fast!!

What are we eating?:  We FINALLY have the boys on a regular eating schedule.  Hip Hip Hooray!  The boys are taking 5 oz of breast milk at 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm.  We have been given the green light to start solids whenever we feel the boys are ready to give it a go.  I was super excited to start solids but now that the boys are actually following a regular eating schedule my excitement has minimized a bit.  I think we will just play it by ear.  There is part of me that would like to wait until the boys are 6 months old to introduce solids.  But then again things change so fast around these parts that come next week I could be shoving cereal down their throats!

How are we sleeping?:  I am no longer sleep deprived!  The boys still go to bed at 8pm each night.  There are some nights it is a challenge to get Jakob to fall asleep.  Because the boys will not take a pacifier they often fuss for several minutes before they fall asleep.  I usually just sit by their Rock N Plays and rock them back and forth until the fall asleep.  They will stay asleep until anywhere between 4am - 7am.  Kara will get up and give them their "5 am" bottle whenever they wake-up.  They then go back to sleep until 8:30am.  We usually have to wake them up at 8:30am.  I know there is often a "four month wakeful period" but I am crossing my fingers we don't experience that one.  I know we are SUPER, SUPER lucky in how well the boys sleep for us.  Let's keep it up boys!!  Our next big project will be to transition the boys to their cribs.  This absolutely terrifies me for a number of reasons.

What's going on?:  They accomplish something new each day!

Jakob "officially" rolled over from his belly to his back on September 19th.  There were a couple of times Jakob "rolled" over from his belly to his back when we first brought them home from the hospital but I'm not really counting those moments because there was no intent in the action.  It just sort of happened.  Jakob is also really close to rolling from his back to his belly.  He automatically turns to his side when you put him on his back.  Jakob still loves to watch his Baby Einstein video.  He absolutely loves colors and music.  We have a little Baby Einstein music player and he loves when we play it for him.  Jakob is grabbing for objects when they are put in front of his face.  He now understands opening and closing his fists to grasp an object.  Alex is also reaching for objects in front of his face but he has not quite mastered the opening and closing of his fist.  Both boys are bringing objects up to their mouths constantly.  And the drool?  It is crazy.  They drool all the time and we often have to have the boys in bibs during the day.  Alex still LOVES his jumperoo and will actually give Jakob the side-eye if he is spending time in the jumperoo.  Both boys will put weight on their legs if you allow them to.

Their personalities are so different.  Alex is so serious!  It takes a lot of effort to get that boy to smile and laugh.  And often times you will get him to laugh and then he will give you this look that means "Oh no!  They saw me laugh.  Now what will they think?"  But Jakob on the other hand laughs all the time.  He will laugh and smile for anyone that comes up to him.  I still believes that Jakob feels every emotion to the extreme.  This means if Jakob is hungry he is really, really, really hungry.  If Jakob is happy, then he is really, really, really happy.  There is no middle ground for Jakob.  Alex never really gets upset about anything but he does have "whining" down to a science.  He will just start to whimper and then you can't help but go and pick him up because he is so stinking cute!!  

What do we look like?:  They both have a little more hair on top of their heads.  But both would still probably be classified as "baldy babies".  Jakob's hair has gotten a bit darker.  However, I still think he will have dirty blonde hair with blue eyes.  His eyes continue to get lighter each day.  Alex on the other hand has dark brown hair and his eyes continue to remain brown in color.

How are the mommies doing?:  We are doing good.

I seem to be falling a part at the seams.  I had heard that once you hit about the 3 month or 4 month postpartum period your body goes to the crapper.  And that is the truth.  My hair is falling out in clumps.  I have no idea how I am not bald.  We have to clean out the shower drain on a regular basis.  I have never had sinus issues and I am not battling them on a daily basis.  I feel like I have been punched in the nose 100 times.  I still have not gotten my first postpartum period (thank you pumping) and to tell you the truth I am dreading it.  My fingernails are also super brittle.  Weird.  

I seem to have more and more clogged ducts that drive me crazy and cause me a lot of pain when they happen.  The good news?  I am getting more sleep at night which has actually helped my milk production.  I am still pumping six times a day (1:30 am, 5:30 am, 9:30 am, 1:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 8:30 pm) and I average about 61 oz per day.  The boys are drinking 60 oz per day and we have about 250 oz of frozen breast milk. I am still crossing my fingers that I can keep them on only breast milk for as long as possible.  My minimum goal will be six months.  However, I would like to drop to five pumps per day at some point in October so we will see if that impacts my milk production at all.  It makes me nervous.

Kara is still my superhero.  She is such an amazing mother and partner.  Our house would be in shambles without her.  She takes care of the boys all day long and still manages to cook and clean the house.  Not to mention she is solely responsible for taking the dogs out several times a day.  And because she spends so much time with the boys she knows all the tricks of the trade.  She is often able to tell me what works and doesn't work so that I don't have to spend hours figuring things out myself.  She is an amazing mother!!

Mary