CHA-CHA-CHA-CHANGES

Well as the title suggests (and yes you are supposed to sing the title), we have had a lot going on this week. As a result, this post will be quite wordy and pretty non-sequitor. So to all of my friends who don't like to read, I will put random pictures throughout to keep you engaged.

I will start with Brooke. She is clearly spurting...my little term for going through a growth spurt. She seems to have just shot up overnight. In the past 2 weeks she has grown at least 2 inches...and this is not a Hadden exaggeration. I have measured her and she is huge! I also think that she has gained at least 1 more pound. She also has grown a neck. We have had to officially move her into her 9 month clothes...which means we have had to buy some 9 month clothes. Audrey is now in sole possession of the 6 month wardrobe.

Brooke has also learned to make noise this week (lots of coo, goo, ga, oh) and to spit out bubbles on purpose. She has also decided that she likes to stand up all the time. She may be the first child to ever walk before she rolls over (no progress on that as she refuses to lay down!) Our solution has been to use the Jumperoo and a Play Center...both keep her upright and will hopefully encourage her to use her arms. Currently all she does is either put her arms on her belly or in her mouth. Unfortunately she and Audrey both put their hands in their mouths so much that their little faces keep breaking out. And they both stuff them so far in that they frequently gag themselves..at least once resulting in a massive spit-up.

We are currently trying to transition to sleeping unswaddled and in separate cribs. So far we are just working on this during selected nap times as I do not want to, in any way, disrupt that night time sleep.

We have also adjusted their schedule again. We shifted their meal times around so that they would eat their last meal around 7pm and be in bed around 7:30pm. We were quite worried that the first night we tried this, we would have babies up in the middle of the night. But our little stars made it all the way to after 6am!! SUCCESS!!

We have also started "eating" solid foods. I use the term eating very loosely. We are currently working on pears. It is hard to say whether they don't like the taste, texture, or spoon or whether they are just getting used to something new. Audrey has been more receptive and has eaten much more than Brooke. She seems to like or at least tolerate the new food. Though Audrey's chewing seems to involve sticking her tongue out so it has been a little bit of a challenge. Brooke seems to totally dislike the whole experience and basically just squenches up her face and refuses to let you put any in her mouth....any that does make it all the way in is promptly spit out using her new skill of blowing spit bubbles!

Also related to food, we have put Audrey on a new formula that is specially designed for babies who spit up frequently. And for any of you who have had the opportunity to feed the girls you know that Audrey is a massive spit-up machine. So far all the new formula seems to have done is make the spit up chunky...not sure that is really an improvement.

Finally I am putting a little video of Brooke making some of her noises. She really makes many more than this but seems to stop when the camera is present. However, she has been distressed that all the previous videos have featured Audrey so here is this one.

FUN WITH THE FAM!

D is finally finished with his major work project so we got to enjoy a wonderful weekend together as a family!! Super fun. Here are some highlights.

Here is Brooke kicked back on Daddy's lap waiting for her baby massage...not shown in the picture is the little freckle that I found on her leg this weekend...she is a little K!

Here are all the girls after a dinner out eating Chinese food. The girls were a huge hit at the restaurant as the waiter kept commenting on them to us and the neighboring tables.

Here is the whole family on Easter! The girls were precious in their little dresses.

Audrey really wanted this picture to be just her and the bunny, but Brooke is quite a load to move.

Here is Audrey enjoying the Easter egg hunt at the Fleming's house.

Here is a video of little Audrey laughing while playing with Daddy!...we felt that in the spirit of fairness of representation we should show her happy since we previously posted her screaming!

ZOO

We went to the zoo for the very first time yesterday...of course so did the entire rest of the city of Houston. I have never seen so many people there ever (and we love the zoo and try to go as often as possible), and every person seemed to have a stroller. It was super fun, though I am not sure the girls actually looked at any of the animals other than the fish. We went with my sister and her boys and a good, yet extremely windy, time was had by all.

Here are the girls in front of the flamingos. Their cousin John David told them that he was sure they would like them because they were also pink.

This picture is totally unrelated to the zoo, but it is just too cute to leave off!

LOST MY MIND

The week has been pretty uneventful. Though I did go talk at the Marvelous Multiples class at Women's Hospital...so funny to be considered an expert after only 4 months. In my opinion I was very good...they were all laughing (and I was trying to be funny)

This is the girls on their 4 month birthday.

Audrey has recently begun screaming each night around 7pm. She gets so worked up (though no actual tears) and there really isn't anything that seems to calm her. So we have been moving her to the downstairs pack and play, putting on the vibrate, and letting her wail. It is so sad. We are going with the theory that she just has extra energy that she needs to get out. After 10 - 20 minutes she goes right to sleep....though it seems like much longer! She has also discovered her tongue and is constantly sticking it out...it is pretty funny cause she always sticks it out so it is pointy.

Audrey is in much better spirits here after eating!!

Here are two examples of me having lost my mind. 1. The girls are much more spherical than long so I have decided that they need some little skirts cause it is really unclear exactly how long the skirt is originally designed to be. So I was looking for some denim cause that will go with everything (including all 30 shades of pink and purple that they own). So I find a little mini-skirt and a jumper and am buying it. The total came to 14.61 and I was so excited to have a penny so that I would get back dimes and a five...I like to minimize cash. So I get my change and start heading the stroller out of the store. The cashier calls to me "Would you like the clothes too?" I was so excited about the change that I didn't even realize I did not have the clothes...and I was well on my way out of the store.

Brooke trying out her jumperoo...though I think she is a little too small/unsteady to fully appreciate it.

2. I was posing the girls with a little bunny for some Easter pics. I thought I would send out some adorable Easter cards. So I picked a picture (and as it was the picture needed a disclaimer that yes indeed this was the best one because it is quite difficult to do with 2 babies) and ordered them from one hour Wal-Mart photo. I was very careful and looked up the exact date of Easter and was quite confident that they would be adorable. So on my way to get them I was worried that I had put the wrong date, but reassured myself that Easter was indeed March 23. I got them today and lo-and-behold I had put March 23, but apparently I still think that it is 2007. URRRGGG!!

This was going to be the card...so Happy Easter!!

4 MONTHS OLD!!

Today the girls are 4 months old. How Exciting!! The girls are so cute and so sweet and have been so much fun...we have really been blessed by little Audrey and Brooke.
Today they had their 4 mo appointment. Last time the shots went extremely well and so I was expecting smooth sailing again. Unfortunately they seemed to realize more what was going on and so therefore screamed much more this time. Again I wish I had a video camera because Brooke's face was priceless as she sat waiting her turn looking at Audrey who was wailing away at the top of her lungs...complete with actual tears. So not to be outdone, Brooke amazingly was able to scream even louder to try to drown out the still screaming Audrey. I can only imagine what the little kid next door must have thought. So here are their stats:

Audrey:
weight 14 lbs 6.5 oz which is the 70th percentile
height 23.5 in which is the 23rd percentile
head 39.5 cm which is the 13th percentile
it is now on computers and her growth was bigger than the computer had predicted.

Brooke:
weight 16 lbs 6.5 oz which is the 95th percentile
height 24.75 in which is the 71st percentile
head 41.2 cm which is the 59th percentile

SO CUTE

Well I can't think of any cute and clever titles, so I will go with the obvious that the girls are just so cute. There is not really that much to report (our days are pretty much the same and pretty uneventful). So here are the few noteworthy events:

Here is Audrey showing off a new outfit from Aunt Amy...look at all the cute little hair!

1. Brooke seems to really be trying to sit up. Whenever she is in a reclined upright position (such as in a bouncer or being held) she uses her abs and neck to pick her head up and looks like she is trying to sit up. Unfortunately she is not strong enough to maintain that and then ends up in a little mound of baby.

Brooke has also discovered the fun of pulling up her little dress...I will have to have a conversation about when that is appropriate.

2. They are both starting to reach for things (finally!!) to play with...but only occasionally and frequently after I have reminded them that the toys are there hanging in front of them...but it is still progress.

Audrey is doing her Elvis impersonation!

3. The girls seem to be adopting their own schedule. They are really good sleepers in the morning (which is why I am posting now). They go down for a nap after active alert time and sleep until their next feeding. However, as the day progresses they apparently don't like to nap as much. They wake up at 1 for the 1:30 feeding and then at 4 for the 5 feeding. (yes I have tried keeping them up longer before the nap but that is in no way successful...one will get fussy and demand all the attention and the other will just fall asleep since they are left alone). The evening is starting to be a stressful time, but I have heard that that is true for almost everyone with kids.

Adorable little babies...and Audrey's head is really not as tiny as it looks in this picture!

4. Unfortunately we had our first not successful outing. We went to Chili's for dinner on Saturday and Brooke was not pleased. So we became that family where one person is up walking the baby around while the other scarfs down their food so they can switch out. Of course she finally calmed down in the car on the way home...and by calmed down I mean fell asleep.

Here are some more pictures (I go crazy taking pictures and then it is so hard to only share a few!)

Brooke: "I demand to be let out of this seat immediately!!"

Audrey "I don't get why people wear beads just for Mardi Gras. They are fun all the time...hey where did my pants go??"

Both: "These hats are sooo embarrassing!!

This is what they look like in almost all their pictures...Brooke with her tongue out and Audrey looking shocked and possibly appalled.

Audrey just being adorable!!

Brooke looking so sweet and thoughtful!