6 Months!!!!

It is so hard to believe, half a year has come and gone since they were born! Jack and Maggie are 6 months old! They are really changing every day! Grandma Charlotte went with us to their 6-month well baby appointment and the kids behaved very good for the doctor.

Jack & Maggie 6 Months Old


Maggie is getting so big, yet still looks so small! She weighs in at 12lbs even and is 23 1/4" long. Her weight, length and head circumference are all growing right on target, for her adjusted age. I don't know that she will ever technically be on the "charts", she is simply petite. :) She has fully discovered her voice and loves to sing, yell, talk and babble all day long. Recently she has really started noticing faces. She smiles and coos at faces a lot, in addition she is starting to laugh and squeal. Her fits have seemed to subside a bit. I can tell pretty easily when she is starting to fuss and as long as I get to her quick enough I can usually help her calm down. She takes to naps and going to bed a lot better now, which is also helped by her love of the pacifier. Oh- and she lights up with delight at her gloworm.

Maggie 6 Months Old
Here you can see her stubborn sitting behavior, she'd rather slouch


Jack is growing big and strong, and really starting to fill out. He is still significantly bigger than Maggie, but the difference isn't as dramatic anymore. He weighs in at 13lbs 13oz and is 23 3/4" long. He is a lot closer to his actual age on the charts. The doctor made a comment about him being stocky and that he'll grow out of it. I just laughed, because the doctor hasn't seen Jack's Daddy or Grandpa Ron! The day we went to the doctor Jack learned to roll from his back to his tummy. He did it twice at home and then two more times on the table for the doctor. He loved it and seemed to know what he was doing. Of course he hasn't done it since. He is still cooing and saying "gee" and "kee" a lot! He has recently learned peek-a-boo with me and thinks the game is pretty hilarious. He definitely isn't a pacifier baby, which makes nap and bed time a bit more of a challenge, but he responds well to a couple of lullabies. Anything soft or squishy, he loves to play with and he can be quite the cuddle bug.

Jack 6 Months Old
He has recently started "playing" with his tongue



Both kiddos are rolling onto their sides, it will be no time before they are rolling all over the house. They've started learning how to play independently and with one another, I can give them toys and they are content alone for well into 15 minutes. They are both starting to "enjoy" tummy time, Maggie rolls a lot more than Jack, but they don't screech anymore at the start. The doctor and therapist have stressed to us the importance that we start getting them to sit more, which is a challenge. Jack is more interested in the idea, and he does like his bumbo. Maggie however hates the idea of sitting. I trick her into it by sitting her on my knee and bouncing and then moving her onto the floor. She really just wants to stand! So instead of tummy torture time, we are going to start having bottom torture time. The doctor also said it was time to stop swaddling the babies for bed and he introduced us to the Ferber method for sleeping. We've tried it twice and had BIG epic fails! Maggie is OK with the concept, but isn't quite there yet with the swaddling. She understands when she is swaddled that it is time to sleep, and un-swaddled she thinks it is time to either play or she fusses because she is tired but doesn't know what to do. Jack- oh boy! Jack needs to be swaddled, like his sister, to know that it is OK and time to sleep. However, he doesn't like being put to sleep, swaddled or not. He will whine, cry and sometimes scream. Both nights I tried to put him to bed without the swaddle and he just screamed and fussed forever. Then I wrapped him and he seriously crashed within 5-10 minutes of simple soothing. So...we are going to continue our old routine for a little while longer and see how they are in a few more weeks. As for sleeping through the night, it's getting better. Both kids typically will sleep at least 6 hours and then either another two sets of 3 or another 6 hour stretch. They definitely need 12 hours total before it is time to wake up and play. The doctor said we shouldn't feed them when they wake if it is before 8-10 hours of sleep...but especially with Jack, they need to be fed. So that is another thing we are going to table for later.

Fortunately, like right now, the babies are pretty good about their naps. They take a morning nap in their swings, an afternoon nap in their cribs and then a later (shorter) afternoon nap in their swings. In a couple of weeks I'm going to start doing another nap in their cribs, I haven't decided which one. And then eventually all naps will be in cribs unless we're traveling.

All in all I feel like we are figuring out this parenting thing. Some days are certainly easier than others, heck some hours are easier than others within a single day. The best part is when I go in to get someone out of their crib or when I walk into the room, I get the brightest, happiest smile in the whole world and there is seriously nothing better. I never knew a grin could seriously span from ear to ear and that a chuckle could sound so sweet! It makes me so happy to be their mommy every time!

Maggie started here


And then within a couple of minutes she had inched her way over next to Jack