Friday, October 24, 2014

6 months old!

Happy Half Birthday, 
Benjamin and Zachary!


My little babies are growing so fast!  
I really can't believe how half of their first year of life has already passed.  I think back to my tumultuous labor and delivery, and the hard first few weeks at home... I remember thinking that 6 months was so far away.  And now we're here, and it seems too fast.  Yes, there have been times and nights and days that have been challenging, but I feel absolutely so thankful to have these guys in our life.  They have brought us such joy and are fulfillments of many promises.  We laugh everyday and are amazed to see--even now--the words God spoke over them to us when I was pregnant play out in their personalities.  It is so fun to have children in the home!  

Month 6 has been quite full.  

We've experienced...
allergies, 
an ear infection, 
colds,
allergies?, 
sleeping through the night, 
waking up multiple times at night, 
starting solids, 
sitting up, 
getting up on knees, 
growing 2 teeth, 
a surprise visit from Auntie D...

Benjamin:  18 lbs 10 oz, 28 ins
  • Poor Benji has been through the ringer this month.  We believe he has seasonal allergies (like father like son!), which has caused a longterm cough... which has then caused an ear infection.  Since August, I've taken him into the doctor 3 times :(  The first 2 times, they said he must have allergies/a cold and he was fine.  A couple week ago his cough started getting worse and we went through a whole week with him literally being up for hours at night crying.  No one was getting sleep, so I finally took him in again, and he had an ear infection!  Poor buddy.  But he's finally back to his talkative, happy self--on day 7 of antibiotics.  
  • He has started semi-sitting up by himself.  It's more like tripod-ing.   
  • Still a talker.  He has definitely found his voice and loves to make fun, LOUD, happy noises when he's playing or just lying there.
  • He is a huge daddy's boy.  He loves to grab Andy's face and just stare into his eyes.  It melts our hearts.
  • I love how snuggly he is; when he's sleepy or just chilled out, he will nuzzle his head onto your shoulder.  It's adorable.  
  • When we talk to him or smile at him--or anyone, for that matter-- he returns to us a big, dimply grin. 
  • He is a good eater and likes to grab the spoon when it's coming at him.
  • Still no teeth, but loves to chew on things--especially his finger!
  • He has gotten pretty adept at rolling over, but he is also more content than his brother to just lie still where I've left him.  
  • He loves to pull his legs up and grab his toes.
Zachary: 17 lbs 5 oz, 27 ins
  • Oh, Zachary!  He is our happy, busy, funny guy.
  • I am in love with his wide, open-mouthed grin and his deep, raspy laugh.
  • Even when he's tired and cranky, if I smile at him, he opens his mouth wide and smiles back. It's amazing, and I'll never tire of it.
  • He has found his voice more, too, and it's deep and raspy!  So funny to hear him talk.  He says something a lot that sounds like "yeah!".  Funny.
  • He is sitting up on his own.  Good boy!
  • He rolls all around, moves himself in 360 degrees on his tummy, and is getting up on his knees as if about to crawl--but no crawling yet.  And he has started doing this Superman move--literally like the workout move, getting on his tummy and holding out his arms like he's flying while lifting up his legs in the back.  Pretty cute.
  • I love how great he is as sleeping.  I think because he's so busy during play time, when we put him down for a nap or bedtime, he's pretty much out in a few minutes.  
  • Even more so, I LOVE how happy he is when he wakes up.  Even after 10-12 hrs of not eating, he wakes up and plays quietly in the morning and gives me a HUGE smile when I come to get him.   
  • He loves dinner time, especially when there are green beans involved.  He looks like a baby bird, just opening his mouth waiting for the next bite.  
As I'm writing this post on Oct. 24th, both babies have colds.  I think Benji's germs finally transferred over to Zachary, and they both have runny noses and coughs.  It's pretty sad!  I guess I would have to experience 2 sick babies at once sometime!  I just hope they're getting all their sicknesses over with this year so year 2 can be a little "clearer".  Benjamin might possibly have seasonal allergies, but who really knows this young?  The doctor said he can now have children's Claritin, so I may start him on that.  We'll see.

My hours at work are changing, so I will ultimately be home more often.  When I do go in, though, I will be back to 12 hours shifts mostly, which really means... leaving the house by 6:15 am and getting home around 8/8:15 pm.  Long days away from my babies.  But I'm believing ultimately that the more time at home will make it all worth it.

Here are more pics from this past month.
 

Victoria came in for a surprise visit!  Yay!



Loving our green beans and rice cereal!

 

Happy Babies!

Loving their walkers at Marmee and Papi's house!

I literally came home from work and Zachary had grown 2 teeth!  (Ok, possibly they were there in the morning when he woke up, but I saw him before I left and didn't notice them!)


Some healthy wrestling.
                 
Hey, Mom!
                

Loving the swings our neighbors gave us!  (They have twin boys - 2 years old)

                  


Zachary learning how to sit up.



               
Looking like a little man reading a book about New Jersey.

Snuggling with Uncle Nick a few days before he left for New Zealand!

More eating.
                 
Knowing how to smile for mommy's camera phone.

               
More fun in the swings!

Sometimes this entertains them for approximately 3 minutes.
                       
My little goobers in the walkers.