If I had to pick one word that best described the last month it would be “giggles”.  Anthony and Nathan are always smiling and laughing.  Everything is amusing to them.  For example, during this photo shoot I just had the robots moving around and they’d both crack up.  They are both very interested in the world around them and exploring and testing their boundaries… Nathan still more so than Anthony.  The good news for us is they are willing to entertain themselves and don’t need the constant attention they once did.

Similarities

• They both put EVERYTHING in their mouths and slobber a bunch… but no teeth poking through yet for either of them.
• They’re wearing size 4 diapers during the day and a size 3 nighttime diaper (until I run out of them).  Nathan could probably still be in size 3s but since Anthony is ready for a 4 they both are.
• They still aren’t sleeping through the night.  Even though we have a good nighttime routine in place they typically go to bed around 7, wake up to eat again between 9 and 11 then again around 2 am.  They’re usually up for the day sometime between 6 and 8.  We let them hang out in their cribs until 8 am unless Steve and I are wide awake which is rarely the case.
• They are starting to interact with each other a little more.  They’ve started doing this thing where one of them will take the pacifier out of the other ones mouth and then they take turns stealing it back and forth. …I need to get a video of this!
• Favorite game: Peek-a-boo with each other
• The boys have an activity center, baby Einstein, and love it.  At first they only played with a small subset of the things around the activity center but now they play with everything on it.  There are even some toys that are hard to press and they do a good job of getting those to make whatever sound effects they’re supposed to make.
• Anthony and Nathan are really good at sitting up on their own.  We still put some pillows around them in case they tumble but they can hold themselves up nicely.  I haven’t seen them go from a crawling position to sitting though.  We have to place them into the sitting position.  I have seen Nathan go from sitting to the crawling position.
• Speaking of changing positions, they both can roll from their fronts to their backs and vice versa with no problem.
• Favorite food: still carrots but they love mangos.
• They have splashed in their new pool on a hot summer day.
• They have now been to (or driven through): Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.  But they haven’t been outside of the Eastern Time Zone.

 

Nathan

• weight (unofficial): 17.3 lbs
• Nathan is very long and skinny and always moving.  He’s got a great metabolism.  One of Steve’s relatives called him “peanut” because he’s such a little guy.
• Nathan is tough!  He is exploring everything around him and moving.  When he falls it’s not the dramatic slow-motion fall that Anthony typically does, it’s hard, loud, and sounds painful.  But he gets right back up and keeps going.
• Nathan still isn’t sure about solids.  He’ll eat carrots, sweet potatoes, and mangos no problem but almost anything else he closes his mouth tightly… even rice cereal.  Nathan would much rather play with the spoon and touch and feel the food.  He gets covered every time from head to toe with whatever he’s eating.
• Nathan is crawling everywhere.  He is always on the go.  He isn’t always on his knees, he still gets up on his tippy toes a lot but regardless, he gets where he wants to be.

 

Anthony

• weight (unofficial): 20 lbs
• Anthony is a jabberer.  He has said his first word, “DaDa”.  We have been waking up the last couple mornings to him saying da da.  I think it’s because Steve typically is the one to go in and get the boys so when Anthony is ready to be up for the day he lets his daddy know.
• Anthony will eat ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.  I was joking with Keri about how he’s like a little baby bird.  He doesn’t even try to grab the spoon or play around, food is very serious for him.  He opens his mouth super wide and takes it all in.  I don’t even need a bib with him because there is no way he’d let anything go wasted!
• Speaking of NOT playing with his food, there is one thing he does play with… my nipples!  After he’s done eating he finds it hilarious to pinch my nipples and squeeze milk everywhere.  Probably TMI for a blog post but it shows how smart he is when it comes to how things work…. even people.
• Anthony is starting to move too.  Sometimes he’s just a rollie-pollie and will roll from his back to his front and end up where he wants to be.  Recently he’s been doing more of the rocking on his knees that Nathan did a few weeks ago and will move forward.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/NMfYqcg-SZU[/youtube]

Us

• We have a kitchen we can use! We’re going through some headache with our contractor who is now trying to extort an additional $6k from us so unfortunately we’re going to have to go through the headache of dealing with that for a while but at least we’re not confined to the living room and can wash the boys dishes in the kitchen sink.
• I’m still breastfeeding the boys.  8 months!  I am proud of myself for making it this long.  I am going to miss it when I stop.  I love looking down to two sets of big blue eyes and little hands holding each other in the middle.  …and of course the instant relief from screaming babies.
• The gates are installed and the living room is baby proofed aside from the fireplace area.
• Did I mention that we LOVE being parents?!?