The girls turned four months old on Saturday! I thought I would update on what they have been up to a bit.
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| Shh, they’re talking about us! |
They had their four month check up recently, and they are growing hard! They are both over 15 pounds now!! Ali is a little bigger, at 15lbs 7oz. Sammy is catching her at 15lbs, 3oz. They are both around 24 inches tall. So they are a little on the shorter size, but looking at their family tree that is no shocker. 🙂 They are both good eaters and gaining weight nicely, which makes me happy!
Ali and Sammy have had to deal with second child problems since, well, before birth. It continues with these checkups. I remember the week leading up to Ben’s checkups I would be writing down lists of questions to ask. I checked the “What to Expect in the First Year” book all the time. I could tell you everything Ben was supposed to be able to do for his age. The girls? Well, I did remember to ask Pat if he had any questions the night before their appointment. And no, we really didn’t have any. I’m choosing to think that is a good thing, as it meant we didn’t notice anything wrong.
I did check out the book to see how the girls were doing compared to what it said. And they are perfect with all the milestones they should be reaching! They can hold their heads up well, and they are just getting better at it. They can follow objects around, and they are always trying to check out what Ben is up to. They laugh, and it is the most beautiful sound. They reach for and grab objects. They can roll over from their stomachs to their backs. (They look like they are trying to get from tummy to back, but as a seasoned mom I hope they don’t do that yet! Nothing that makes them mobile please!) They turn toward voices. One thing the book mentions makes me laugh- babies at four months old may object when you try to take a toy away. With Ben, I never really tried to take away a toy, I mean, why would you do that? Well the girls already yank toys away from each other. And yes, they express their displeasure. Loudly.
Every day it seems like they are getting better at grabbing things. They seem like they are paying more and more attention to the world around them. Their head control is getting better. We brought the jumper out for Ben around this age, and I think we will bring it out for the girls pretty soon too. They are getting very into their mobiles and toys, which is awesome because they can entertain themselves for a bit. They aren’t doing real independent playtime yet. But they do have time where the two of them have toys and I’m not directly playing with them. It is super important to me that my kids are able to entertain themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I play with my kids. I play with them a lot. But there are times I need to get other things done (you know, like laundry, dinner, helping Ben out). I am really enjoying that the girls can amuse themselves for bits of time.
The girls love to smile and laugh. One of their favorite things is when you say their names. I don’t remember that being the case with Ben. Maybe because they are twins, or just second children, they like knowing you are talking to them specifically. They are certainly chattier than Ben ever was. They like to talk, and sometimes yell. We went through a yelly period about a week ago. I think they were hitting the four month sleep regression and a huge mental leap. But things have settled down and they are happy little girls again.
The girls love to get out and go places, which is awesome for Ben and me. They are starting to stay awake during playgroup, and seem to really enjoy the antics of all the kids. They love visiting Meo and Omi at the office, and are getting into story time too!
Ben is a great big brother. He still doesn’t want to sit with or hold the girls, but that’s okay. He brings me burp cloths and throws away diapers. He helps out by bringing the girls pacifiers up and down the stairs for me. He has started to let them play with ‘his’ toys. Really they are baby toys that Ben has outgrown, but thinks we brought back out for him. He is very good at giving the girls toys he knows are theirs. He is actually quite sweet with them, often trying to make them feel better by saying “it’s okay, ladies.” One of his favorite things to do is help me wake them up. He runs into the room, turns off their sound machine and yells, “Wake up, girls!” And despite getting woken up by him yelling and tapping at them, they smile and giggle. They adore their big brother.
Overall the girls are awesome. I’ll do posts on sleep and schedule soon. We are busy around here. Some days are non stop and I have no idea at the end of the day what took up all my time. But really I can’t complain. My kids are happy and healthy. The girls are doing everything they should be. I am so grateful they are hitting all their milestones on time and don’t seem to have any problems because they were only 36.5 weeks when they were born. I was told that twins seem to mature faster in the womb due to the stress of having two in there, and it seems to be true. They are right on target! I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I am thanking God every day for my beautiful family.
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| Rocking Ben’s old jammies! |
–Kim