The Twins: 8 Months Old

Well, as of Saturday, the twins are 8 months old!  How'd that happen so fast?  Our world is a busy, busy world of mobility these days.  Both babies are crawling (sometimes at break-neck speed, depending on what they are after), and both babies are pulling up.  Last week, I caught Mary Elizabeth pulling up, letting go, falling down, and repeating that over and over.  They are both becoming good balancers, too, so we are on track to follow in Big Brother's footsteps and be walking fairly soon.  (Robert walked at 9.5 months).

In addition to mobility, at 8 months, they:

Sleep from 6:15-6:30 p.m. to about 6:30 a.m. with one 3 a.m. bottle.  (Or at least, they DID until we took them on two trips two weekends in a row..... schedule and bedtime routine are completely whacked right now, but we are working our way back!).

Teeth count:  2 (Both William's).

Eating:  3 spoon feedings a day (I have recently begun adding spices into the mix.  Sweet potatoes with nutmeg and vanilla was a huge hit over the weekend!).  They love butternut squash, spinach, quinoa, oatmeal, banana, prunes, pears, yellow squash, and apples.  They are not huge fans of peas (neither was big brother), and I haven't tried carrots again yet (after they both had skin reactions the first time around).  They also take 4-5 bottles per day (still getting both pumped breastmilk and formula). 

William continues to be our sensitive twin, and he does NOT like to be out of sight of mom or dad when we are out and about.  If people approach him and he can't see us, his lower lip turns out, and he gives the most pitiful cry.  He is a mama's boy through and through, but I still think his favorite person is Robert (M.E.'s, too).

Mary Elizabeth is losing some of her divaness, but the sass is definitely still evident!  I tell everyone that when they get hungry, William acts like his feelings are hurt and sadly asks for food, while Mary Elizabeth would snap her fingers and say, "Food!  Now!"  if she could!  My favorite thing that she does right now is (vigorously) kick her legs whenever she gets excited.  She does this every time Big Brother comes into sight.

Robert remains the best, protective big brother.  He loves to play with them, entertain them, and help us out with their care.  He loves to get into the playpen with one while we bathe/change the other.  He is careful to share his attention with them equally, and he loves introducing them to people when we are out and about.

Here are some pictures taken on Saturday, the day they turned 8 months. 

We celebrated with a little skinny dipping.....

The pool water was a bit chilly, so we came in and warmed up with a bath.  I decided to throw them both in the tub at the same time, without a clothes basket or other 'tool' to keep them from sliding/splashing/pulling up all over the place.  Dumb mistake.  Dumb dumb dumb.  That bath was completed in approximately 3 minutes.

I also set them out in the yard for a quick photo shoot on Saturday afternoon.  I decided to take these in front of the parsonage, since this is also our last month here (moving day is in 2 weeks!  eek!).  We have loved this home so much and are truly going to miss it's old beauty!

I truly can't believe how quickly time is moving..... we have 8 month old babies!!

Happy 8 months, William and Mary E!