Scarlett and Clark - 11 Months

Month 11. You started out great and then took a turn for the worse. Scarlett and Clark have been sick for the entire month of November, minus a couple days at the start. Scarlett had a fever and was lethargic one day, and the next morning they both had double eye and ear infections. Its been a nonstop nose wiping marathon since then. Both babies took a course of Amoxicillin. Clark developed a sinus infection and in currently finishing a second course of antibiotics. Scarlett is still sick, but generally happy, so we've been trying to let her cold, infection, whatever it is run it's course without more meds. They have been taking two or three baths a day with the shower running to help clear some of their congestion. We've been calling Scarlett Lil Weezy, which was also her nickname when they were sick at 2 months old. I knew this cold and flu season would hit them hard since they have a big brother and sister in school.

With them being sick and needing some extra snuggles, they've been getting an introduction to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and a couple other Disney Junior favorites. One night last week they would not let me set them down at all without screaming, so we snuggled on the couch and ordered dinner delivery. Harrison and Brooke have been happy with the extra TV time. They also got to watch part of Home Alone and The Year Without a Santa Claus. They were thankfully interested in both, and I don't have to disown them due to a lack of love for Christmas movies. ;)

We put up our Christmas tree and Christmas lights last week, and Clark has been all about them. Scarlett glances at them, but Clark is obsessed. He has been pulling so hard on the lights on the tree, I'm afraid he's going to pull it over. Our tree will remain ornamentless until he loses interest. They are also all about the FP nativity. Clark is especially fond of eating the donkey's face, and Scarlett likes to play the music on the stable.

Sleep has been all over the place this month. Between colds and teething there have been lots of restless nights and skipped naps. There have also been a couple nights that Scarlett only woke up once, and I got 6 straight hours of sleep. ;) For the most part, Clark still sleeps through the night and Scarlett wakes up twice. When she wakes up, she will not let me rock her back to sleep. It's milk or bust. I usually bring her into our room for a quick nursing session after a few minutes of fussing. I'm sure if I refused milk we could get her out of the nighttime nursing habit, but then Clark's sleep would suffer due to her screaming. She does not give up until she gets what she wants.

There have been a few days where morning naps have been skipped and they just take a two hour nap around lunch time. Clark has also been fighting his afternoon nap more regularly. I think we are in the weird pre transition phase of napping. Clark is definitely more ready than Scarlett, but I think morning naps may soon be a thing of the past. 

These two eat everything and love just about all foods they try. Fruit, cheese, scrambled eggs, green beans, and turkey are some of their absolute favorites. Scarlett is terrible about throwing food to the dogs, and Jules waistline shows just how much food hits the floor. They eat 3 meals a day, usually one snack, and still nurse 3 times during the day, plus once or twice at night. I expected them to love Thanksgiving dinner, but they didn't. Just like their big brother and sister, all the excitement of the day equaled fussy babies who were over it. 

Playtime is still centered in the living room where all of their toys live. Their Rocktivity table, walker, music play space, and step and play piano are their favorites. Basically all the noisy toys that light up. They also love stacking bowls, books, and blocks, so we occasionally do have a minute or two without competing loud ass toys. The exersaucer and jumperoo have been retired to the basement where they only get the occasional usage. 

One major change for these two this month is their transition into convertible car seats. I had been putting off moving them out of their infant carriers because the snap and go stroller makes it so easy to take them places. They were definitely pushing the height limit though, so it was time. Brooke and Harrison have been in Diono Radians since they were about 7 months, and we love them so much that we got two more for Scarlett and Clark. They were not fans at first, but are getting used to their new seats after a week of use.

Clark

• loves bath time and his yellow gator
• has 7 teeth, 3 of which he got within a week of each other. The 8th tooth will be appearing any day now
• loves all things soft and fuzzy. He loves to rub his face and roll around on soft blankets and the faux fur rug in their room
• is saying mama and dada but not always at the proper time
• loves giving hugs. He wraps his chubby arms around my necks and squeezes as tight as his little muscles can
• can stand on his own for short periods of time, but will rarely stay off his tippy toes long enough to do it
• can walk well behind the walker, but again with the tippy toes
• likes to stare out the windows behind the couch. They are a lower window, so he can see out well and bang on the glass
• is constantly shutting off the XBOX if it's on while he's awake. No movie is safe from him
• weighed 23lbs 4oz at their doctors appointment last week
• has discovered toilet paper and how much fun it is to unroll the entire roll
• makes the best sniffy noises when he gets really excited
• loves playing with door stops

Scarlett

• still says "ba" non stop, and is so dang proud of herself when she does
• weighed 22lbs12oz at their doctors appointment last week
• loves to clap and give high fives
• has 6 teeth with 2 more not far behind
• is quite possibly the happiest baby ever, until she's not, and then look out
• still has blonde hair, but it appears to be darkening slightly
• has the best double chin, which matches her double booty
• has mastered the stairs and loves racing her brother to the top
• is crawling on hands and knees regularly but still reverts back to army crawling
• knows where the baby snack cabinet is, and pulls out puffs and creamies every day when she's ready for a snack
• will play in the toilet water if the lid is left open
• is obsessed with my phone and using it as a teething toy
• loves playing peekaboo with the door
• loves petting the dogs, and pulling on their ears and faces

I sent out invites for their Winter Onderland party yesterday. It's unreal to me that it's already time to throw their first birthday party. I plan to soak up every last minute of them being babies before they make the unofficial jump to toddlerhood. Then we're going to celebrate the heck out of surviving the first year. Happy 11 months Scarlett and Clark!

Scarlett and Clark - 10 Months

This month has been so much fun! Scarlett and Clark are becoming more independent. They are starting to really show interest in each other. They are becoming less dependent on their nap schedule which means we have been able to enjoy lots of fall fun. They are able to sit and snack in the big stroller, which means lunch or dinner on the go is an option. They are constantly on the move, but still not getting into things they aren't supposed to. Thank goodness, because our baby proofing has been rather lax so far.

Their schedule has remained mostly the same. They still nurse before naps and bedtime. They eat three solid meals and usually one snack. They still wake at least once throughout the night to nurse. We have been gradually pushing their schedule back an hour so when the time changes this week we won't be waking up at 6am every day. Right now they sleep in until 8 or 9am depending on when their early morning nursing session is, so I feel like we'll be in good shape come Sunday.

They are starting to play together. This usually results in one of them climbing on the other or stealing toy, and then tears follow. They love playing and talking to each other in their cribs while they fall asleep. They will occasionally reach through the crib slats to wake the other twin, but mostly they just chatter at each other. As much as they are starting to like each other, they still prefer to play with Brooke and Harrison.

Clark

• gained two new teeth this month. His top two front teeth came in within a day of each other.
• is starting to cruise. He likes to go from furniture to people and back.
• can climb the stairs. During a major mommy fail he made it to the top of the stairs without me knowing he was gone.
• has been fighting naps a lot this month, especially his afternoon nap. It almost seems like he's ready to make a transition to 1 nap, but I know we aren't ready for that yet.
• loves playing with nightlights and door stops
• continues to sleep from 7pm until 5 or 6am. 
• loves standing in his crib
• has taken to climbing onto the fireplace hearth
• loves bath time in the big tub, but is afraid of the running water
• always manages to find his favorite yellow alligator toy while in the tub, even if it's under a cover of bubbles
• goes by C Dub, Runaway Clarkie, Sparky, and Chubby Man

Scarlett

• is up to 4 teeth now. Two bottom and two top. She and Clark got their third tooth on the same day.
• has started getting onto hands and knees. After taking a few crawling movements she appears to say "eff it" and gets back to army crawling
• still wakes once or twice a night. There's no rhyme or reason to when she wakes up. Sometimes she's up at 11pm other times not until 4am
• says "ba ba" non stop
• is climbing to standing on toys and people
• scrunches her nose and makes sniffy noises when she gets excited or upset
• loves to clap, grab, and point
• rocks side to side whenever she hears music she likes
• likes to lay on her belly and crawl around during bath time
• is constantly throwing toys out of her car seat
• loves books and tries to help turn the pages while we read
• gets called Blondie, Debbie Harry, Lettie Spaghetti, and Spitty Face 

As excited as I am for the days and months to come, I would really like to pause time. First steps, first words, first birthday, first Christmas season, first time they both sleep all the way through the night. I know there are so many exciting firsts right around the corner, but I would gladly listen to Scarlett yell "ba ba" at me when I try to get her to say "ma ma," or have Clark wrap his chubby little arms around my neck and try to eat my face, for the rest or forever. One can wish, right?

Halloween 2016

October was a really fun month with the kids. We visited 3 pumpkin patches, went to a fall dairy festival, spent one last afternoon at the zoo for Wild Zoo Halloween, and of course went trick or treating. Thankfully Scarlett and Clark are very agreeable to outings, as long as there are snacks involved. I think they get that from me. ;)

I remember each year getting more and more fun with Brooke and Harrison. They remember places we went and look forward to going to them the next year. I'm so glad they'll be able to show Scarlett and Clark all of their favorite fall activities next year. Having 4 of them running around will I'm sure make things a bit more interesting for me. Maybe we will finally use those leashes I bought when Harrison and Brooke were little. Or not.

Bird Capes

Harrison was dead set on being a rainbow bird for weeks. Then he was dead set on being Spider-Man. So the kids got to have 2 costumes. My little flock and then Elsa, Spidey, and pumpkins on Halloween. Brooke and Harrison wore the same pumpkin costumes for their first Halloween. This was our first year trick or treating in our neighborhood, and it was so fun. It helped that the weather was perfect. Tons of little kids. Adult trick or treating. Lots of teal pumpkins. The kids even got treats from an ambulance.

Our Halloween decorations are still up, but not for long. I'm ready to move on to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the babies' first birthday. So much excitement over the next two months. For now though, we'll live in that post Halloween candy haze for another day or two. I hope you all had a great Halloween! Is anyone already thinking about costumes for next year? Because I'd be lying if I said the though hadn't crossed my mind.