6 months old!

I can hardly believe that James and Josie are 6 months old.  It's been such a whirlwind, I don't even think I remember most of it.

To celebrate turning 6 months old we had 2 photoshoots.  One yesterday and one this morning.  

Today the twins had their 6 month check up and immunizations.  Thankfully I had Grandpa with me.  The Dr. Confirmed that overall they are healthy babies who are growing well. James is a whopping 14 lbs 1 oz.  This puts his weight in the 3% for his birthday.  His height is in the 15% and his head circumference is in the 40%.  

Josie is still a dainty little princess weighing in at 11lbs 5 oz (she gained a pound this month!).  Her weight is in the 0.1%.  Her height is in the 3% and her head circumference is in the 15%.

 (If you are really following this blog you will remember that at Josie's 4 month check up at Credit Valley Hospital her head was in the 40%.  Don't worry she is not shrinking.  The hospital bases their percentiles on her due date and the Dr. bases her percentiles on her birthdate.)

The Dr. Recomended that we start the babies on iron fortified cereal right away.  We tried this during dinner tonight.  Not only did both babies spit up about 96% on the spot.  They both puked in their sleep tonight.  I think tomorrow I will try it with them earlier in the day.  Here is a funny picture of our attemp at feeding them tonight.

This past six months have been the hardest and most rewarding 6 months of my life.  Brian has always been a great husband and now he is also an amazing Dad.  We are so blessed to have been given these incredible little babies.  They are happy, healthy, sweet little monkeys - I couldn't wish for anything more.

Another fabulous weekend

The twins managed to keep themselves busy this week.  We went for lots of walks, they played with Vanessa and Nancy at the daycare at the gym everyday and Tuesday had a visit with the Hazzards.  

We spent another great weekend at our family's cottage on Lake Erie.  James and Josie spent pretty much all their time outside either in their stroller for walks or playing on the grass in front of the cottage.  They were showered with attention all weekend because they had their Grandparents and their Aunt Jenn and Uncle Kevin there.  

 Chillin with Aunt Jenn

 My cool dude.

At the Hazzard's on Tuesday James got to try Gabe's Jolly Jumper.  He liked it so much we went out and got our own.  

The twins are happiest in the morning.  This is how they wake up every day.  Melts my heart.

Turning 30

The Allens have had another great week.  The twins both achieved a few milestones.  Josie rolled over from back to front for the first time on Tuesday (this is the first time Josie has beat James to a physical milestone!).  Not to be outdone, on Saturday James sat up unassisted for the first time.  They continue to be happy, healthy babies that are so full of smiles and giggles.
On Friday Brian took James to see a paediatric ophthalmologist at Credit Valley Hospital.   We noticed a few months ago that in low light one of his pupils dilates a lot more than the other.  Our family Dr. said that it was nothing to worry about but we wanted to be sure.  Thankfully James' eyes are perfectly healthy.  The Dr. said that he sees this about once a week and that although he will probably always have this it is not affecting his vision.

The twins also got a special treat this weekend.  They got to see all of their God Parents!  On Friday night we all went to a party hosted by James Aitchison so the twins got to have some time with their God Fathers James and Pat.  On Saturday the twins got to see their God Mothers Kathryn and Victoria.

 

On Saturday night we had a few of our closest friends over for a party to celebrate me turning 30.  It was a wonderful night and I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends.  The babies were very cooperative for us and only got up once around 1 am.

The rest of my birthday was spent relaxing at home with my little ones.  I know that I am biased but they are the cutest kids in the entire world and I am just so lucky to be their mom.  Looking back I feel like I accomplished a lot in my 20's.  I earned a B.A from Brock and a B.Ed. from Trent, met and married my soulmate, met the Geogirls who will always be amazing friends, travelled to over 20 countries, landed my dream job, bought my dream house and had James and Josie to make my life complete.  My 20's were all about me and Brian and I am so excited that my 30's will be all about my 2 little monkeys and the family traditions, memories and adventures we are going to create.

JJ's new friends

Today I hosted a lunch for the local women in my online baby group.  All the babies were born in January 2014 (except ours because they came early!).  We've been friends online for almost a year now and it is great to see everyone's babies and talk about our experiences as new Moms.  From left to right: Eli, Lily, Mila, Caleb, Adrian, Rhea, Molly, Josephine, James, Lionel, Josie.  (Addison and Erin were also here but Addy was eating and missed the picture).

First Jays Game!

On Saturday we took the babies to their first Jays Game.  We went with our friends Anne and Mike and their baby Eli.  Brian got us great seats in the shade.  However, we didn't take into account the noise.  Josie was okay but James did not like it at all.  It was Jr. Jays day so the babies got their likenesses drawn with Ace.  Can you guess who is who?

This is us after the game.  James is still upset about the noise.

On Sunday Brian, Scott, Erin and I took James, Josie and Addison swimming.  They loved it!  We also tried our inflatable neck rings for the first time.  They look stupid but the kids really liked them.  They even moved their arms and legs in the water while they were wearing them.

After swimming we went back to Scott and Erin's for a BBQ. After swimming the babies were pretty tired so we got to have some good adult conversation while they slept.  

We love this weather!

The babies and I have gotten to spend lots of time outside this week.  Here is our first walk up to the top of Centenial Hill.

5 months old and they still love to sleep swaddled and cuddled together.

James and I hanging out in our sunroom.

Everyone who meets these babies comments on how smiley they are.

Josie has gotten so good at tummy time!

4 month sleep regression

Wednesday:

Something else that no one tells you about BEFORE you have kids is the 4 month sleep regression.  The twins corrected age is 4 months and we are on the middle of 2 weeks of terrible sleep.  They used to sleep in 6 hour blocks.  Now they are up anywhere from 3-6 times per night.  Last night the longest block of sleep I got was from 10:30 pm to midnight.  I feel like a zombie today.  I am really hoping they grow out of this soon.

Thursday Update:  when I went to bed last night I thought to myself "well it can't get worse than last night".  Wrong.  Last night the babies were up at 12, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7:30.  This is worse than when they were newborns.  Please let this phase end soon.

Friday Update: last night was better.  The twins were up at midnight and then I was up with 1 baby at 4am and the other at 5am.  They were both up, ready to start their day at 7:30.  My mom is in town right now and she watched the babies with Brian in the evening yesterday so that I could take a nap-it felt great.  Last night I also successfully got both babies out of bed, fed then together by myself and then changed their diapers and put them back to bed.  Brian usually gets up with me to help but we decided that he should sleep in the guest room last night so that he could get a better sleep.  No point in having us both be exhausted.

Saturday Update: I don't want to jinx it but last night was amazing!  The babies slept from 8:00 pm to 3:45 am.  That's there longest stretch ever! After eating they both went back to sleep and stayed asleep until 8am!  Brian and I are feeling pretty great this morning, let's hope this new pattern continues.