Four Months

The boys turned four months today and long gone are the days of my little tiny babies. Yes they are definitely still babies, but they're so big--(tomorrow we'll find out just how big) and doing so much more-- relatively speaking.

Some firsts this month have included Ryan rolling from his back to his tummy. Justin also blew raspberries at Nana for the first time on Jan. 14.

The boys both seem to enjoy time in the exersaucers, while we have three, we only have one upstairs in the family room. Our family room looks like it could be a daycare with the exersaucer, a playmat, a tummy time mat, a bumbo, a bebe pod, two bouncies, Abigail's table, Abigail's house, a swing, books and a ton of toys for both all three kiddos. Justin's favorite toys seem to be the rings which he "studies" and plays with all the time. Ryan is really enjoying a sesame street toy, that says "i love trash". It moves around and has little balls that spin and light up. Justin is also very into kicking his feet and looking at them, he loves to just watch them move.

Nursing/Feeding: I try my hardest to keep the boys close together in their schedules not only for the nursing, but also to try and get them to nap at the same time. They continue to eat every 2-3 hours. I also try as hard as I can to get to 3 hours, just b/c they aren't small boys and they can go 3 hours easily if I'm not around. We are not tandem nursing and I don't think I've even tried this month even though I often think about it, and then don't' do it. Guy continues to try and give the boys bottles when I'm not around. Usually one of the boys will take a bottle and it's not always the same one--but he has learned that if they don't wait 4 hours, the certainly won't take a bottle.

Sleeping/Bedtime: The boys have been champs about pushing up their bedtime and they nurse and go to bed shortly after Abigail. So generally I'm feeding them around 8:15 and 8:30, which is great for us. It then gives us a chance to chill and unwind or pick up around the house, kitchen, wash etc.... They are still sleeping in the same crib, but are no longer swaddled as Justin was getting too long and Ryan was getting too big. We often lay them diagonally so that they don't hit each other. I really believe that they like sleeping in the same crib, especially Ryan who will often cry until Justin is there with him. At night we were going 5-6 hours before feeding, then they went back to 3-4 hours, now I'd say it's 4-5. So we're generally up 1 or 2 times a night--all in all not so bad, but honestly I thought we'd be closer to sleeping through the night, simply b/c we've been up 1-2 times a night pretty much from the beginning.

The boys are in different size diapers, so we're now buying three different size diapers, 2 for Justin, 3 for Ryan and 5 for Abigail. Clothing wise they both fit into 3-6 month clothes but 6 month outifts from Carters seem to be our favorite size these days.

I've also gone back to work this past month, which has been great for me!! I'm only working 1-3 hours a week, but enough to get my feet wet and get out of the house. It helps me keep my sense of me, instead of just Mommy.

Special times, mean different things to different people. Guy was just saying how he feels like he gets more special moments now that the boys are more alert, something that has really changed this past month. I on the other hand have had some special time in the past week when the boys have been very peacefully sleeping. At about 4:30 am the other night we had just gotten a blanket of fresh snow and after Ryan nursed he just stayed in my arms and I was able to sit back and look at his precious face and all was quiet, then I had to wake Justin up and feed him. Then the following morning Justin was upset and I picked him up and he fell asleep on my shoulder, something that is not typical for him, plus something that Abigail never really did, again just special moments in time. It's these times I want to write and remember, because they are few and far between in all of the chaos that surrounds our daily lives. Abigail really is enjoying the boys more and more and likes it when they're awake!! She now likes and asks to hold them on her lap. She is also great and oh so sweet when she trys "hushing" them down. Both boys respond so well to her and she likes talking to Ryan and making Justin smile. Both boys are so ticklish and Ryan has a great laugh. My baby boys are growing up before my eyes and in no time will be Abigail's age. Today's challenges will be distant memories and we'll be facing different challenges than we are today. I still think I'll be tired, just a different tired.