Halfway to One!

Our twins turned 6 months on December 17, 2015. I can't believe how fast time is flying with them. 

At their 6 month doctor visits Carson was 16 lb. 12 oz. (34% for weight), 28 inches long (94% for height) and Cole was 17 lbs. 15 oz. (68% for weight), and 27 inches long (65% for height).  Carson continues to be taller and a bit thinner than Cole, but he is slowly closing the weight gap.

Carson loves to eat! He isn't picky and loves rice cereal and oatmeal, every vegetable and fruit I've given him so far. He'll make a face when I give him green beans every time, but yet he always keeps opening his mouth.  Carson is not our best sleeper, but he's starting to get better, especially at night.  The boys will finally make it through the night most nights without crying and waking each other up.

Carson is so smiley.  He makes us friends wherever we go because he's so stinkin' cute and always smiling at everyone.  His hair reminds me of Kaden's as a baby because it's super long on the top middle and sticks straight up just like Kaden's did, even if I try to comb it down.  So I figure if it wants to stick straight up then I'll just gel it and roll with it. So cute!

Carson crosses his hands like this a lot. I think it's adorable!

Carson always wants to help hold his bottle with one hand or hold your hands/fingers.

Carson's acid reflux has been really bad the last month or two. He's a happy baby, but has struggled to be happy because he's in so much discomfort.  I took this picture to remind myself how peaceful he looks after many hours of trying to soothe and comfort him.  Pictures like this help me get through the difficult days and nights of raising twins and a toddler.

Carson has been doing physical therapy for a few months now to help with his torticollis. He can't turn right so we do stretches at home and different strengthening exercises to help loosen the muscles in his neck so he can hold his head up correctly. We go to physical therapy about once a week with Ben Norton.  Ben is so cute with Carson! Carson loves him.

Coley-o (as we often call him) is not so fond of baby food. I thought with him being the chunky one that he'd be really excited about it all. He's a bit picky actually. He hates rice cereal. He'll eat the oatmeal only with fruit.  He doesn't like any green vegetables yet so I have to mix them with fruit or sweet potatoes and squash so he'll even try them.  When he doesn't want the food you're trying to give him he'll just smile at you and close his mouth and keep it locked tight.   He loves a sippy cup with water though!  Cole is the happiest baby. He smiles a lot and rarely fusses unless he's tired or hungry. He is so content and chill and doesn't require much.  We adore him!

Cole is our thumb sucker. I'm hard pressed to keep that thumb out of his mouth. He loves it!  He loves to eat most anything, except baby food purees.

Cole is really good at rolling and can get quite far these days. I put him across the room on the playmat and he rolled the length of the family room to investigate the Christmas tree.  He loves the ornaments and likes to taste them and pull them off. 

This kid has a talent for kicking off his socks. He will wiggle his toes until they fall off. I put his socks back on him several times every day. I think he'll like summer when no socks will be needed.

Cole is our messy eater. Because he refuses to open his mouth more than a small sliver (even if he finally decides he'd like to eat what you're offering him), he usually looks something like this at the end of each meal. Please take a moment to admire his arm rolls. This kid is all chunk! I love it!

Mr. Chunkers

Kaden loves to hold his brothers.  It usually only lasts about 30 seconds, but he's really sweet with them.

Coley makes this face a decent amount lately. I don't know what it is for but it's kind of funny.

These two love each other so much! They are always rolling onto each other, eating the other's arms, toes, etc... They are the best of buddies and will play contently on the playmat for a long time as long as their buddy is there too.

First cart ride at Costco

Sometimes when they're both really starving they can hold their own bottles for about a minute.

Even though I'm often exhausted both day and night, I wouldn't trade having our twins for the world! 

December 1

We decided to start a new tradition with our kids that combined a tradition from both of our families' Christmases.  My family always got new pajamas on Christmas Eve and Curtis' family always got a new Christmas book each year. I have a friend who told me how they always give their kids new Christmas jammies on December 1st each year and I thought that would be perfect.  

So December 1st our kids got to open two gifts- new pajamas and a new Christmas story. This year we got the Christmas Train by Thomas S. Monson. The twins were too little to care or have an opinion but Kaden was really excited about it.  I also wrapped all of our Christmas/snow books up and put them under the tree.  Every night in December he got to open one and that was his story that night before bedtime. 

Kaden would only make silly faces for all the pictures, so here you go. It's very Kaden though. ;)

Cole was fascinated by the ornaments so we propped him up in the Bumbo so he could look at them better. 

He got momentarily distracted by eating his toes...

but he eventually remembered what he really wanted to taste! Ha ha!

Thanksgiving

Normally I love Thanksgiving. This year was not so fun. My whole family (besides me) got stomach flu on Thanksgiving. Everyone spent the day barfing and barfing some more.  I spent the day feeling bad for all of them (and a little bad for myself for having to clean up so much barf.)  So I went to my parent's house and dropped off my veggies and picked up our Thanksgiving dinner (that no one but me could really eat).  It was honestly a little bit of a bummer, but what do you do?  A few days later when the kids were feeling better, I took pictures of them in their turkey headbands and bibs that my mom made for them.

5 Month Old Chunky Monkeys

11/17/15

Carson & Cole are 5 months old.  Carson weighs 15 lb. 15 oz and Cole weighs 18 lb. 3 oz. They are so cute and chubby and we love them so much. They have found their toes and can get them all the way in their mouths.  They love to roll over and back.  Well, mostly Carson. Cole rolls over and I think he forgets that there's another option so then he just lays on his tummy for awhile and then cries and wants us to roll him back.  They both love to eat their fists and sometimes even each other. It's not uncommon for them to be trying to suck on their brother's fingers or pinching each other's faces when they're on the playmat together.

Carson eats anything we give him.  He loves rice cereal and oatmeal and any vegetables so far, except for green beans. He'll open every time but then grimaces once the flavor actually hits his tongue, and yet he'll open again for another bite with the same reaction. Ha ha. Cole hasn't taken to solids quite as much as we'd hoped. He will tolerate a bite or two of cereal then refuses to open his mouth.  He really likes sweet potatoes and seems to like carrots and squash, but not green beans. That's all we've tried so far. He eats way less than Carson though and doesn't really seem to care. He loses interest in his solids very quickly after a few bites.  I thought he'd be the one who wanted to eat since he's the chunkier of the two boys. Oh well.

This is Carson's super happy smile. I love it so much!

I took Kaden's 5 month pictures on the same blanket. It's kind of hilarious to look at the size difference between my boys. Kaden was a very skinny 5 month old. And yet he had finally "chunked up" in our minds since he'd gone from 11 to 13 lbs. in one month. (At 4 months Carson weighed over 15 lbs and Cole weighed about 17). Ha ha.