Alex has learned to put his pacifier in his mouth!  We practice this often, so that hopefully some night, he’ll just be able to pick it up and pop it back into his mouth without crying.  This is the first time I’ve ever seen him be successful.  Avery hasn’t really done it yet, but she doesn’t need to – she has a built in binky on her left hand…aka her thumb.  She sticks it up and in when she’s tired mostly, but she also likes to do it between bites at lunchtime.  I guess it’s her way of waiting patiently while I shovel some cereal into Alex’s mouth, but it makes for a heck of a mess.  Anyway, here’s Alex and his new skill:

Jen took this video the other day from the digital camera. This is nothing close to him going nuts the other day, but funny anyway.

We’ll post more once we get them better. Avery has been doing some funky “I’m going to giggle and go nuts before bed” thing lately that I’d love to get on film. Unfortunately we’re usually in there and it’s dark, and we’re trying to lay them down at that time.

We love our Great Aunt Debbie too!  Thanks!!!

In all my dreams about parenthood, I don’t think I ever realized quite how sleep deprived I was going to be…for the rest of my life. It started when i was pregnant and up 2-5 times every night for a trip to the bathroom. And then, in the early days with the babies home, I knew it would be an all night party. But here we are, 4 months later, and I finally allowed myself to realize that a good night’s sleep will be the exception rather than the rule, probably for a few years to come. It occurred to me yesterday that I am probably NEVER going to sleep late again. Ever. And boy did I used to love to sleep late!
I am THRILLED to announce that Avery is now technically sleeping through the night! Friday, she just never woke up for the 2 ounce, 3 am bottle. Then, Saturday, she skipped even the big 5 ounce, 10:30 one. She did get about an ounce at 1:00, but that was because Don came up from sleeping on the couch, and the dogs banged their tails on the walls in the hallway and it woke her up. I have every confidence she would have gone 12 hours on her own that night. Last night, she woke for only the 5 ounce one and even though she was awake when I went in at 3 to feed Alex, she just sucked her little thumb and didn’t need me or the bottle! She’s gotten so good at aiming that thumb right into her mouth and going to town on it. Honestly, I think thumbsucking is gross, but since she can’t grab the pacie and stick it back in yet, I’ll deal with the thumb.

The bad news is that Alex is still waking at 2 or 3 to eat that tiny little bit. I know it’s more habit than hunger, so hopefully he’ll start to skip it too. It wouldn’t be so bad, because feeding him that little amount only takes 5 minutes, but I also have to pump then. And that takes a good 25 minutes to set up, do, and clean up. Then I go lay in bed and listen to the snoring coming from the dogs, the cat, and/or the husband on any given night – usually at least 2 of them are going at it. It just doesn’t make for a great night’s sleep. I keep debating quitting – the babies are now getting one formula bottle right before bedtime – but I haven’t done it yet. I won’t keep them on breastmilk forever, and some days I don’t mind it, but others I am just tired and want to stop. Once Alex sleeps through, I will stop pumping at that time, but for now, I’ll continue. Alex’s other habit is that he thinks 4:30 or 5 or 6 (on a good day, 6) are perfectly acceptable times to yell and scream and begin the day. Sometimes he just coos and listens to himself talk while he sucks on his fingers, but most days it erupts into crying within 20 minutes or so. I can put the pillow over my head and sleep through it, but Don can’t, so we’re hoping that he learns pretty quickly that we aren’t coming in to get him at that hour. I had been running in to stuff the pacifier back in, lest he wake Avery, but she is sleeping through pretty much any noises he makes now. She likes to sleep til about 7.

No matter what time they wake up, they are full of smiles and so glad to see us in the mornings. It’s *almost* turning me into a morning person, because I look forward to cuddling them again. I have to admit, as excited as I am that Avery is sleeping through, I miss holding her in the middle of the night! I’ll get over that, though, and am looking forward to Alex figuring it out so I can sleep through the night too, for the first time in about a year!

Crying it out is a somewhat controversial way of getting kids to go to sleep without their parents having to run in every 5 minutes putting a pacifier back in, or patting and shhh-ing and picking up and all that good stuff. You can find plenty of arguments for and against it. Some people say it’s mean and inappropriate for any child, especially those under 6 months old. The book I’ve been using, and agree with, says you can try it at 4 months, and like any other skill your child learns, he is going to get frustrated and cry, and this won’t be the last time your baby cries because you aren’t giving in to his wishes. Your baby wants to spend time with you, but you know he needs to sleep, so you do what you have to in order to make that happen. I agree wholeheartedly with the theory.

But listening to them cry is hard. Gut wrenching, even. I’ve cried with them a few times. We started Monday October 9, and things are getting better, slowly, each night. I still go in to feed them, but the other wakings are up to them to figure out. And they’ve cried, a couple of times for an hour or more, which just made me want to puke and/or go in and grab them and hold them and tell them how sorry I was. But I know that sets back the process, so I have tried my best not to go in. Last night I caved, but I think Alex was hungry early, and he went right back down, and there were NO other night wakings other than to eat. They are also starting to sleep later (6:30 rather than 5:00) in the mornings. Woohoo! We have had some issues with one screaming and waking the other one up, but they seem to be starting to tune one another out when that happens. Our house is too small to separate them anyway – their bedrooms would be right next to eachother, and besides, I want them to share a room and be able to talk and play together once they are a little older.

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I started this post two weeks ago and was waiting to decide if it worked before publishing. My official verdict is yes! Avery now self-soothes by sucking her thumb, and Alex is getting there. Night wakings are greatly reduced, and when I hear crying now, I know something is actually wrong and I am needed rather than just wanted. They are sleeping better during the day because they are better rested at night. Crying it out was hard on everyone, but worth it in the end!

You’ve heard of the cabbage patch kids. Well they ain’t got nothing on these pumpkin patch kids!

Don says this one was mean. I say Mom has to amuse herself somehow!

I love seeing the little differences in Avery and Alex’s personalities. It’s so funny to me how two kids born at the same time and raised the same way can be so different already. Avery is our little daredevil. She grins when we tip her upside-down and loves to bounce around. Sometimes I see this twinkle in her eye that tells me I better prepare myself for the years ahead. Alex is more conservative – he gets a “What the hell?” kind of look and pukes if he’s thrown around even a little. You may have noticed, he looks surprised in every picture we take of him. But he’s really ticklish and has the best little giggle when I get him going. And Avery has developed a little Steve Urkel laugh – very nasal and monotone. She sounds like such a little nerd! It’s so much fun to play with them and see how happy they are being our babies. It makes me proud in a way I’ve never been before.

We have been slacking on getting all of the pictures that we have been taking online. Well I finally got caught up last night and today.

The September album has been updated with 50+ pictures.

A small album has been added with pictures from when we took the kids to a baseball game.

Pictures from when Jen took the kids to have pictures taken of them in their Halloween costumes are up (with instructions on how to view and order them for yourself).

And we started an October album with a few pictures that we’ve taken so far this month.

That about does it for pictures. We’re now up to date online with all that we’ve taken here at home. You didn’t actually think that we stopped taking pictures, did you?

As you can see we’ve added a new header graphic to the website that shows how old the kids are. They’re just about 4 months now and seem to get bigger every day. They’re full of smiles and giggles now and are really starting to show their personalities.

Avery has definitely figured out the “I go to sleep when it’s bedtime” thing, Alex is still working on that. They’re both sleeping much better as far as the rest of the night goes, except for the fact that they seem to want to get up in the late 5am-6am hour. Jen is not happy about this!

Jen’s getting out more with the kids during the week and they’ve been doing great with being out and about. It’s also good for her to be able to get out of the house and do more normal things. She’s also started tutoring on Thursday evenings and just got her second job today (yay). This too helps her have a temporary break from her normal full-time (24 hr a day) job of being supermom.

That’s about it for now. I’m trying to get our basement bathroom finished (getting close). The major challenge is trying to find the time to work on it. If anybody wants to come up for a Saturday to help Jen with the kids feel free to give us a call, that’s about the only way I can dedicate serious time to any project at this point.