6th Month Check-up

The kids went in for their six month check up on Monday. Bryce had been coughing that morning and I figured he was getting bronchitis again. The doctor said he had RSV, which is a highly contagious lower respiratory viral infection. We have to give him breathing treatments using the nebulizer every four hours. He doesn't particularly care for them when he's awake so we've been trying to do it when he's asleep. He's been pretty needly lately and sleeps most of the day...definitely not normal for him. Kayla looks like she's getting it too. She's not as bad as he is but we're keeping an eye on her.

As far as growth is concerned:

Bryce: 25" long, 14 lbs. 0.5 oz., head is 16.75"
Kayla: 24" long, 14 lbs. 7.0 oz., head is 16.50"

Foods:

They both like sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. We usually buy a couple of jars of a new vegetable to see if they like it and to check on allergic reactions before we make our own. So far, I've made sweet potatoes and squash. I think I need more containers! Bryce can eat between four and five ounces of solid food at one feeding. Kayla doesn't eat the solid foods as well. She probably eats between a third and a half of a container. She prefers the bottle. I bought sippy cups with handles at the store the other day. They are the Tommee Tippee brand so the nipple can be traded out with the TT bottle nipples that we already have. I put the nipple on the end of it so they can learn to just hold the cups first. Kayla tries to hold the cup but she doesn't hold it up high enough to really get much out of it. We haven't tried with Bryce as much since he's been sick.

That's all for now. Good night.

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

Bryce and Kayla are 6 months old today! We made it halfway through the first year with twins. Hooray! We have one more day before a three day weekend. Kevin and I are talking about going to the Museum for Engineers' week. Hopefully we can find some time to do that.

Bryce:

• In size 2 diapers
• Wears mostly 3-6 month clothes, but some 0-3 month and newborn (the 3-6 month pants are really big. 0-3 month fits better around the waist but they're too short. We can't find a happy medium.)
• While on his tummy, he reached up and pushed the swing yesterday.
• He's rolling around all over the living room floor. He's grabbed the sheets on the couch and our pant legs and tugged on them.
• He grabbed some ads out of the recycle box under our side table and started ripping it up.
• Reached up to touch the light and the toys on the mobile above the swing yesterday.
• Loves the jumperoo and grabs the toys to chew on them. He moves the roller toy around on the jumperoo.
• Said "da-da" several times and everyone swears that he says "hi".
• Grabs rattles and keys with his hands and brings them to his mouth.
• Has a little bit of a tooth showing on his lower left gum!
• Sleeps through the night. Goes to bed around 9 or 9:30 and wakes up at 6:00.
• Loves sweet potatoes and rice cereal; hates carrots.
• Loves going on walks - sat in the stroller without the car seats on Feb. 13
• Loves baths - kicking and splashing the water!
• Recognizes Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Joni, and Grandpa Brian

Kayla:

• In size 2 diapers
• Wears mostly 3-6 month clothes, but some 0-3 month and a couple of newborn outfits. 
• Has rolled over from her tummy to her back. We think she can do more, but she doesn't care to.
• Plays with the toys in the jumperoo - she loves it!
• Smiles and laughs when she sees one of the cats or dogs.
• Yells and babbles - we haven't heard her try to form words, though.
• Grabs rattles and keys with his hands and brings them to her mouth.
• Drooling a lot and "chewing" on toys but we don't see any teeth coming in.
• Sleeps through the night. Goes to bed around 9 or 9:30 and wakes up at 6:00.
• Loves sweet potatoes and carrots but could care less about rice cereal.
• Loves going on walks - sat in the stroller without car seats on Feb. 13
• Doesn't scream when she gets baths anymore. She kicks her legs in the water now.
• Recognizes Mommy, Daddy, Grandma Joni, and Grandpa Brian - glared at Mommy (boy, if looks could kill...) yesterday when dropped off at daycare.

That concludes our day for now. I'll probably edit this later and write letters to Bryce and Kayla for their half birthday. (Kayla, my dear, you are squirming in my arms and yelling at me as I write this. I think you are tired. Bryce, you are asleep in Daddy's arms.)

The End of Silence

After four days stranded at home because of snow and ice, we went back to work today. As we were getting the kids in their car seats, Bryce said "da-da". Kevin and I turned towards each other to see if the other one had heard the same thing. Kevin asked, "Did he...?" Yep...he sure did. I am almost positive that he has said "hi" and "i love" in the past but maybe I'm just getting too far ahead of myself. I was a little bummed that his first "word" wasn't "ma-ma" but "da-da" will work too.

Kayla has been sick for the past three days. She has had a runny nose, a cough, and extremely fussy. We gave her some Tylenol for the first time tonight to see if that would help with her irritability. On the other hand, she is starting to play more with her toys.

Bryce still hasn't learned to crawl, but he does roll around all over the floor. He has discovered a new toy - the "Chime Garden" that has five flowers and they each play either a different tune or a part of a whole song. He was rolling it around on the floor and pressing on the flowers to get them to play. So cute!

Babies' First Snow Day

As the title implies, we had our first snow day together as a family. I woke up to Kevin poking me in the arm with his finger saying, "Burleson is closed, so do you want to sleep more or what?" Hmmm...hard decision.

The kids stayed with my parents last night because Kevin and I needed a break. We had a tough week and little sleep. I have spent the last two Saturdays at a professional development workshop to get my hours for work. Waking up to a snow dune on our front porch was a blessing. Kevin wanted to drive around to see how bad the roads were and how good the Pilot drove on them. So we drove around for about ten minutes in the development, came back inside, and slept until noon. The neighbor behind us called Kevin to let him know that the dogs were in his backyard so Kevin spent a while helping the neighbor put the fence back up. We decided that it was a good time to pick the kids up from my parents' house since the roads were probably melted a little since the sun was out. We made it there and back without any problems.

We all spent the rest of the evening together. Bryce is still trying hard to crawl. He is pushing himself forward so much that he flips himself over. He really gets frustrated.

We have been feeding them both rice cereal and they do well as long as they aren't too hungry. Bryce usually does better than Kayla. We started feeding them sweet potatoes on Friday, January 28th. They both loved it. My mom tried feeding them cereal and sweet potatoes yesterday and today. Bryce did well on both. Kayla, on the other hand, would not let my mom feed her cereal. She did, however, take the sweet potatoes just fine. She lunged forward and grunted as she took a bite. Funny girl. We fed Bryce carrots tonight. He took a few bites and then wrinkled up his face with a look of disgust the next few times I tried to feed him carrots. He didn't wrinkle up his face, though, when I switched back to cereal. Kayla was too mad to eat anything except for her bottle.

Bryce is starting to pull himself up to a sitting position. He has been trying for about a week now but tonight, he did it really well in my lap. He grabbed my pen tonight and held it for a while.

They are:

• in size two diapers
• in size 0-3 month clothes, one or two newborn outfits, and starting to fit into 3-6 month clothes
• over 13 lbs. now (exact measurement not known since they were weighed with diapers and clothes)