Food...

Well, the boys are a few days shy of being 4 months old, which was when we decided to start trying solid food. So, since today is Saturday and Daddy is home, I decided that this morning was going to be our first attempt. So, about an hour after they were nursed, I made up some rice cereal for them.

It was interesting to watch. I don't think either of them knew what to make of this new experience and what to do with the cereal. But, with a little persistence, Zachary took to the cereal very well. He was sucking on his fingers in between spoonfuls but removed them from his mouth immediately when he saw the spoon coming. Towards the end of the meal, he was actually turning his head towards the spoon and kind of opening his mouth. It was adorable!

Nicolas on the other hand did not seem so sure that he liked this whole solid food business. I think he ended up wearing more of it than he actually ate. We will keep trying every morning until he gets the hang of it. I think he just might not be quite as ready as his brother was. But is definitely worth trying again. It was still pretty hilarious to watch Steve feeding him and seeing the look on Nic's face.

My Poor Little Man...

Zach did not have a great sleep last night. He kept waking up and rubbing is forehead on the mattress. When he woke up, his forehead as well as most of his face was beat red and irritated. His forehead has been a little red and irritated for a few days now, but never this bad.

So, I made an appointment online with Tiny Tots (the clinic where their pediatrician is) for this morning. This online service is fantastic, by the way! We met with the pediatrician (a new one)and he explained to me that he had classic cradle cap. I did not realize that cradle cap could cause such an irritation to his face! He did agree that it looked a little bit irritated and gave me some cream for him. Hopefully it will help make it less itchy and he will be able to sleep better.

Here is a picture of my little man taken this morning after he got up...

Laughter is the best medicine

The boys started laughing recently. It is the most wonderful sound in the world! Last night just before having his bath, I got Nicolas to giggle and Steve was able to get it on video. Sorry for the quality but the lights were dim. The quality of the video doesn't matter all that much, it is the sound that is more important. My next task is to get one of Zachary...

Here it is...

Another full night....

The boys made it through the night again last night! Nicolas fed at 10:00 after his bath and was only up for another feed at 5:30 this morning. Zachary had his bottle at 10:30 after his bath and only got up at 6:30 (after popping his pacifier back in at 5:30 when I got up with Nic).

Nicolas is still sleeping and Zachary is very happily having a discussion with the fish in his little aquarium. They are such wonderful little boys!

Sleeping habits...

Well, Monday and Tuesday night were not a huge sleeping success. The boys both woke up early on Monday night (actually 4:00 am on Tuesday morning) for a feed. They were not overly difficult to put back to sleep but I sadly needed Steve's help since they were both awake. Tuesday night went ok, but Nicolas feel asleep early and did not want to go back to sleep after his 4:30am feed. I was so exhausted that I stood by his crib and had a little breakdown. All I wanted was for him to go back to sleep. Thankfully Steve was there to help and save my sanity. I am very lucky that he is so willing to help out. It is really difficult for him since he has to get up and go to work.

Last night was a great success! Zachary did not wake up once (he slept from 11:00-6:00 and then from 6:30-9:00). Nicolas was asleep by 10:00 and woke up at 6:00 also. He cried for his pacifier twice during the night but all it took was for me to pop it back in and rub his head for 30 seconds... I can deal with that!

We are trying to alter their sleeping habits. The goal is to teach them how to soothe themselves back to sleep without having to feed or pick them up. This teaching does not involve letting them "cry it out". That is not a technique I am overly fond of and one that would not work very well when trying to put two babies to sleep. Steve is a little braver and less of a sap than I and he puts them to bed almost fully awake (but tired of course) and helps them to drift off by rubbing their backs and talking to them. The time needed for them to drift off will hopefully get shorter and shorter. I did not think this plan would work very well, but decided it was worth a shot.

So, I tried it for nap time this afternoon. It took all of two minutes for Nicolas to fall asleep. I was very impressed! Zachary took a little longer, but it still worked. I didn't think that it would be that easy. Since they were tired and needed nap, a little coaxing was all they required! This is wonderful and should set us up for a few less battles with sleeping time in the future. I guess we will have to wait and see...

Weigh in...

I went to have the boys weighed again today. And I must say, I am thankful that their weight gain seems to be tapering off somewhat. Zachary now weighs 15 lbs 9 oz (at almost 16 weeks old). Nicolas weighs 13 lbs 11.5 oz (he seems to be gaining on his brother). There is now less than 2 pounds difference between the two boys which seems impossible. If you were to pick both of them up, you would think that there was a much greater difference than 2 pounds. I guess our minds have a strange way of tricking us...

Another one?

I cannot believe it... Zach slept through the night again last night! He was very tired around 9:15 last night so we started our new bedtime routine. I gave him a bath while Steve prepped the bottles. Then we read a few stories before Steve gave him his bottle. Immediately after he had his bottle we went right to sleep. It was 10:30 at the very latest when he was asleep in bed and did not get up until after 6:00 this morning! After his morning feed, he went back to sleep until 10:00! He is doing wonderfully in the sleeping department. I couldn't ask for more!

Nicolas was exhausted yesterday. He fell asleep around 8:30-8:45 and slept until 11:30 or so. then he was up and starving (he had last fed around 7:00). So, Steve gave him his bottle and he was back to sleep within minutes of his feed. He woke up around 4:45 and I went and gave him back his pacifier. This kept him asleep for another hour or so. He was up just before Zach for his breakfast and was immediately back to sleep until 9:00am. So, overall he is also doing quite well. For certain things he seems to be about a week behind Zach. However, sleeping from 11:30 until 5:30 or so is not a bad night either....

Let's just hope that they decide to keep this up...

Now it's Zach's turn

Two nights ago Nicolas decided he was going to sleep through the night. Last night Zach decided it was his turn. He was fed around 10:00 and did not wake up until 5:45am! He then went right back to sleep and slept until 10:00am.

I am now beginning to wonder whether or not they actually need to feed at night. I think they may be getting up and do not know any other way of getting themselves back to sleep. I think tonight I will try to simply cuddle them back to sleep without a feed and see what happens...

I can't believe it!

Last night the boys were fed their bottle between 10:00 (Zachary) and 10:30 (Nicolas). Usually this would allow them to sleep until 4:00 or 5:00am. That was the case for Zachary. He woke up at 4:00 and would not go back to sleep until he had been fed. So, I fed him and tried to put him back to sleep. Almost as soon as I put him in his crib, he spit up. So, I cleaned up the little mess in his crib and got him back to sleep. Again, as soon as I put him down, he spit up but this time it was a large amount. Reluctantly, I woke Steve up to have him change the sheet in the crib. Since Zachary spit up so much he was still hungry so I basically had to start the feed over again (well only half of it).

At the time Nicolas started to stir in his crib. I was just praying that he waited until I got his brother back to sleep before starting to wail. Well, when I put Zachary in his crib, Nicolas was sound asleep. So, I went to bed. At 7:30 when Steve was leaving for work he asked what time Nicolas got up. That's when I realized that he hadn't. It was 7:30 in the morning and Nicolas has not woken up once! It had been 8 hours since he last fed!! Needless to say that when he finally did wake up (about 15 minutes later) he was famished. But who cares! He slept through the night!!

I think this is the advantage of having them sleeping in a separate room and in their own beds. They get to sleep a lot longer than they would if they were with me. Sometimes they stir and cry in their sleep. It is completely normal for a baby to do so. If they were easily accessible to me from my bed, I would probably be more likely to disturb them and feed them unnecessarily. But since I actually have to get out of bed, they are back to sleep by the time I make it to their room. I think this will help them to successfully sleep through the night sooner. That's just my opinion though....

Now, all I have to do is get them both sleeping through the night on the same night!

Teething

I think the boys are starting to teethe. They have been a little more cranky than usual. They are also drooling like fools and are trying to bite anything they can get their hands on. Thankfully that isn't much since they can't grab onto anything on their own. I have two teething rings that I have helped them use and they love them! I guess that's a sign that their gums are bothering them.

I thought this was really early to start teething, but according to my mother-in-law, all four of her kids cut teeth between 4 and 4.5 months. I was a little over 6 months when I got my first tooth. So, the genes are there to cause them to start teething early. I just hope that having two babies cut teeth at the same time will not be too painful on Steve and I. There is nothing worse than when your little ones are obviously not feeling well. I just hope that they will get through this stage quickly...

Weigh in

I had the boys weighed and measured yesterday. They were one day shy of 14 weeks and are growing like crazy. Zachary is now 15 pounds 1 ounce (up from 13 pounds at 9 weeks) and is now 24 inches long (he was 19.75 inches at birth). Nicolas is now 13 pounds 1 ounce (up from 11 pounds at 9 weeks) and is 23.5 inches long (he was 19 inches at birth).

Wow! I can't believe that the boys are growing so much! They don't even really look like newborns anymore. I guess since they are now over 3 months old, they aren't newborns anymore. Where does the time go???

Genetics...

It amazes me how much of us and our habits is genetically determined. I look at the boys and I see so much of Steve. I don't see much of me in them, but I am sure that eventually I will. I can only hope that it is the good qualities they get.

It is hard not to look at Zach (especially) and see mini-Steve. From the time he was able to make sounds, Zach used the sound "gee" to refer to his hunger. He only used that sound for when he wanted to eat. Still to this day whenever he is really hungry and he is not being fed, he calls out for "gee". The weirdest thing about this, besides the fact that Zach was effectively communicating verbally as of three weeks old, is that one of Steve's first words was "gee-gee". This was what he called his blanket.

The other bizarre thing is that Zach sucks two fingers on his left hand. These are the same two fingers his father sucked as a baby. Also, Steve is left handed and it seems Zach likes to suck his left hand the most. If you don't believe me I finally was able to get photographic evidence this afternoon.