Parenting Twins - The First Year (Month 4) ~ absolutely loving my life

Growth and Development:

The boys turned four months old on Tuesday! They had their four month checkup yesterday and are doing great! Ethan is in the 5th percentile in growth and Aaron is in the 15th percentile. That's a good jump from only being in the 1st percentile at their two month checkup. They can still wear 0-3 month clothes, but 3 month clothes fit them best. They quickly outgrew size one diapers. They were in them for less than a month and are now wearing size two diapers. Other than growing like weeds, they are very alert and enjoy focusing on their surroundings. The baby cooing has turned into full baby jibber-jabber! Aaron really goes to town "talking" to us. We always knew he was more vocal of the two! They love it when I lay them on my bed and sing all sorts of children's songs to them. Aaron will often chime in, as if he is singing right along with me. While they still have their bouts of crying, they are pretty happy babies at home and can often be found with smiles on their sweet little faces. Ethan laughed out loud for the first time this week. Out of nowhere he just started chuckling very loudly while Daddy was talking to him. It was the cutest thing ever! Aaron has still not cut his first tooth, even though the doctor told us several weeks ago he was starting to teeth unusually early. We can still see the white buds and his teeth appear to bother him off and on, depending on the day. Ethan is also a drooling machine and puts anything he can find in his mouth, especially his hands. The boys love their baby equipment, which is awesome for Mommy. The days of holding them all day in my arms while they sleep are long gone, and I am now able to get things done around the house. They love batting at the toys hanging from their baby gyms and grabbing the toys on their bouncy seats. They also enjoy dozing off in their swings for an afternoon nap. They're not big fans of tummy time. They prefer sitting up in their bumbos for play time. We are very pleased that they are meeting all of the appropriate developmental milestones for four month old babies.

Weight:

Birth – 5.7 (A) 6 (E)

Home from Hospital– 5 (A) 5.8 (E)

One Month – 6.14 (A) 6.12 (E)

Two Months – 9.4 (A&E)
11 Weeks - 10.1 (Aaron)
Four Months - 13.13 (A) 12.13 (E)

Feedings:

This month the amount of food the boys eat has increased to four ounces every three hours during the day. At night we let them wake us up to feed. They have also started taking rice cereal in their night time bottle this month. My breast milk supply has dropped. I never really had much to begin with, so the babies are now only breastfeeding at night and occasionally snacking in between daytime bottles if they seem a little hungry.

Sleeping:

They are still eating every three hours during the day and napping anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour in between feeds. Ethan has been sleeping through the night for over a month. He occasionally wakes up for a feeding, but it is very rare for him. Aaron has never slept through the night. He wakes up at least once, if not twice to be fed. This explains why he is a pound heavier than his brother. Those extra 4-8 ounces of milk are going straight to his chubby little baby thighs! For the most part, not waking the babies up to feed them at night works for us. The only night's when it is challenging is when Ethan wakes up to be fed, because it is never the same time as his brother. For example Aaron might wake me up 12am, then just as I get back to sleep Ethan will wake me up at 1am, and then Aaron again at 3am, and then they will both be up by 6am ready for their day.......yeah, those night's are no fun! Most recently, Aaron has decided that he not only wants to wake up to eat, but he wants to wake up to play! This is so NOT ok with Mommy! After about three nights of getting maybe three hours of sleep total, I decided that instead of putting the boys down for bed at 7:30-8pm, I was going to change bedtime to 9-10pm. Matt and I don't go to bed until 10-10:30 anyway, so now if Aaron wakes up it is around 3am instead of 1am, giving Mommy a little extra sleep. It was really nice to have a couple of hours to ourselves at night when the boys were going down earlier, but I'd rather have a decent night's sleep than have time to myself.

Mommy and Daddy:

Life gets a little easier each month. It is still difficult to take time for ourselves, but that is to be expected. We are just in baby mode all the time, and life revolves around their needs. I am making time to keep up with managing the home, as well as making time for my blog. When they are napping, I am accomplishing my weekly to-do-list. It feels pretty great to be able to get things done for me. And as silly as it sounds, I enjoy managing my home and keeping up with my blog, so yes those things are for me. Being the mom of twins is a ton of work, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't completely wear me out most days.....BUT they are so worth every bit of the work! We love them to pieces!

Week Fourteen