Baybay & Baybee: Week 12

12 weeks old!

This week marked the first time that the girls looked at each other and smiled at the same time. They stared right into each other's eyes and smiled and smiled and smiled! It was so exciting to watch, and it has happened a couple more times since.

Look at that! It's another baby!

Along the same lines as noticing each other, we feel like they really started to respond to us more. Maya laughed at me for the first time! I was kissing her cheeks and she let out this beautiful laugh/squeal type noise. It was beautiful and I keep giving more kisses to see if I can get her to do it again, but so far no such luck. They are both "talking" up a storm and adore when we spend time making noises or sticking our tongues out at them. When I play with them, I find myself saying, "That's a good sound! How about 'Mama'? Can you say MMmm... mama!?". I have noticed that Brett does the same thing, only swapping mama with "da da". We wonder which word they will say first...

Aunt Anne came for another visit on Thursday. Again she brought a delicious lunch that we all enjoyed, complete with cranberry apple pie! It's such fun that she lives close enough to us that she is able to be a part of her great-nieces' lives. They are changing so quickly at this stage.

Aunt Anne with both babies!

I couldn't decide which picture I liked best!

We were really excited when we received a package in the mail from Amber, full of cloth diapers that she wasn't using. We are now totally set for diapers, hopefully forever! So Awesome! She also included some old clothes from when we were babies, including two shirts that say, "organically grown" on them. They won't fit Maya and Ella for long, but are very cute.

Maya wearing her new old shirt while siting in her new Bumbo chair. We got this at a kids-only charity/consignment sale on Saturday. The girls seem to really like sitting in it. It has been useful so far for taking cute pictures, and as another place to put a baby when we need free hands. It can also go in water, which we've tried in the bath. That was fun!

Brett was back and forth to the Springfield house almost every day this week getting the 3rd floor bathroom remodel going. We finally hired someone to redo almost everything in there to get rid of the leak once and for all. By the end of the week, the project was almost complete and we are looking forward to a less busy month of November. There were some pretty stressful days this week because we were both so tired and busy, me from so much time alone with babies, and Brett from driving and dealing with the house.

On Saturday, we had the first snowstorm of the year! Here are some pictures from that day and the few that followed:

Babies first snowfall!

The snow continued to fall all afternoon and into the night. Our power (and almost everyone else's for miles around) went off that evening around 6pm. It stayed off for two days! Above is a picture of us playing a game with Evan and Merry that night by candle light. We feel really lucky that our power was only off for two days, when some communities around us had to wait about a week.

The next morning.

We got over 10 inches!

It was beautiful (though a little eerie) to see the contrast of colorful leaves on the trees with the white snow on the ground.

Evan and Merry built a "stego-snow-rus" in our front yard!

On Halloween our power was still off, we were running out of clean diapers, and our house was getting chilly, so we headed up to Leyden to spend the day in the warmth of Brett's parents' house. I snapped this picture when we stopped for a break on the drive up.

The girls in their pink snowsuits.

Closeup of Maya.

We are so glad we spent the day in Leyden. Brett got to take a long nap; I got to carve pumpkins with Kathy!

I took so many pictures this month and 90% of them are of the babies. They are just so darn cute. Enjoy!

Maya's adorable grin.

She thinks purple octopus looks tasty.

And a big smile!

Ella has started trying to grab at things. Sometimes I think it's even on purpose. She also rolled over this week, while on her tummy, for the first time! Go Ella!

"Mama, you're taking so many pictures!"

Mama and Papa both had birthdays this week. Here is a sign that Maya and Ella made for their Grandma, to celebrate her special day.

Bath time! Not that I particularly want to remember it, but I think it's worth noting that Ella pooped on me while we were taking a bath together this week. Needless to say, next time she had a bath, Brett went in with her.

While Brett was doing his Pedal People route on Tuesday, the girls and I took a long walk down the bike path to the grocery store. It was a beautiful day. After shopping, we all got tired, so when Brett was done working, he came and picked us up with the car and brought us back home.

Maya caught a leaf!

Baybay & Baybee: Week 11

11 weeks old!

Notice the girls' spiffy new diaper covers? Benita and Sam generously passed along 7 Thirsties covers that they weren't using. This brand happens to be one of our favorite kinds and they are already getting good use. Thank you!

This was Brett's birthday week. On Wednesday he turned 31! We celebrated his special day with a nap, a walk, a fun evening at our Centering group reunion, and pumpkin cheese cake.

A birthday nap.

Through our pregnancy, the Centering group we were part of at the Midwifery Center was a great tool for us. Now that everyone has had their babies, it was time for a reunion! Everyone brought food and we sat around playing with our babies and sharing experiences.

What is everyone looking at?

Babies!

The whole group together.

Maya and Ella had their two month check up this week, along with their first set of shots. I was pretty much dreading the shot part all day, but it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Both girls screamed (they had to get three different shots!) and we comforted them and I nursed them soon after. Ella took it harder than Maya. She was so upset that she refused to eat for a good two minutes after the shots. Both girls fell asleep almost as soon as we put them back in the Moby's and slept the whole walk home. I think the crying knocked them out.

Maya was fascinated with the mirror at the doctor's office!

I went out to get some baby Tylenol later that day, in case we needed it for the evening. Having never bought baby Tylenol before, I found myself totally overwhelmed with the many different options in the medicine isle. There were so many different brands, all with varying amounts to be given and all saying to check with your doctor for babies weighting under 25 pounds. I called Amber for advice, and she helped me figure out the best thing to get. She also suggested that I bring the medicine I choose to the pharmacy and ask them to tell me the amount to give the babies. Brilliant! I felt really lucky to have a sister who has been through this before and knows what to do. Thanks, Amber!

In the evening, the girls did end up needing the Tylenol. It was so sad to see them feeling sick. They didn't seem to have a fever, but were both crying and upset and acting in a way we'd never seen before. Their cries weren't so much loud as just tired and painful. As if they were trying to say, "My body aches and I'm tired but I can't fall asleep because I just feel awful!" Giving them the Tylenol was a traumatic experience for the parents. Both babies swallowed the dose without any problem, but we were each (I gave Maya's dose and Brett gave Ella's) startled when the syringe shot the liquid into their mouth all at once instead of slowly like we had planned.

In the morning, both babies woke up smiling and seemed to feel all better! We were so relieved.

We did have a little bit of panic later in the morning. Brett started to doubt that we had given them the right size dose of medicine after reading in the little booklet from the pediatrician that the correct dose for babies this size is 40mg or .4mL. Suddenly, we started worrying that we had given them enough to damage their livers, having given them about 1.5mL! In the end, we called the poison control hotline, and they confirmed that we had given them the CORRECT amount. Brett had forgotten that the medicines come in different concentrations, and the one in the booklet was completely different and much more concentrated. A few tears were shed in the panic and a few in the relief, but the babies knew nothing of it.

Future rockstar.

Look at that hair!

We got a fun game of 7 Wonders in this week with Guy and Selena. Ella took a 3 hour nap in the Moby that day, including the whole time we played the game. Maya, who also slept a long time in the Moby, woke up in the middle of our game and helped Brett out.

Yay for getting to play a game with friends!

Which card should I play?

Later that same day, Kathy stopped by and had a fun visit with her grandchildren.

Sister fist-bump? The girls are really starting to look at one another these days. Every once and a while they will both do it at the same time. I think they are going to have a lot of fun once they really realize that they have a friend to play with all the time.

"That's what it's all about!"

All in all, not a bad week! We didn't get enough sleep, but that's nothing new. Enjoy the rest of the pictures!

Sharing some resting time on the Boppy.

Double duty.

Such cute babies!

We did great at taking walks this week. Here is a picture of us checking out a tag sale on our fourth straight day of taking a walk!

A butterfly we saw on one of our walks.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 10

10 weeks old!

Maya and Ella had their first experience with a bottle this week. Kathy came down on Thursday to watch the girls while Brett and I went to the Springfield house to get some work done. I knew we would be gone for a few hours, so I left a couple ounces of milk in a bottle, just in case. When we got home, all was well and both girls had gotten about an ounce of milk. The way Kathy described the looks on their faces when she fed them the bottle made me laugh. Apparently they scrunched up their faces at first, then their eyes got very wide, followed by a look of total surprise as they sucked, not expecting to get milk from the plastic sucky thing that seemed at first to be so much like a pacifier and so much unlike a nipple.

They both did great and it's good to know that they can take a bottle if needed. I am proud of them for being so adaptable. There is also a very small part of me that feels sad. Even though it was still my breast milk, up until then I had been the only one to feed both of these amazing little girls. There is yet another part of me that feels delighted that Kathy got to have the joy of feeding her grandchildren. I've also been toying with the idea of having Brett feed them both (now that we know they will take a bottle) at night sometime so that I could get more sleep. Oh! the emotions and decisions of being a mom!

Maya being cute.

Ella being cute.

Naked time! When I want to get something done and I'm alone with the babies, naked time is one of the best ways to accomplish this. They are usually happy to just hang out and practice holding their heads up while I fold the laundry, wash the dishes...

... or as is the case in this picture, make chocolate chip cookies!

We usually pick up our farm share on Wednesdays, but this week we went on Friday because on Wednesday we completely forgot to go get it. There are only a couple more weeks left of our weekly share. I am looking forward to weekly trips to the winter farmer's market after that!

Even though there was a lot of rain this week, there were also a few beautiful days. We made sure to spend some time outside during those days, enjoying a few long walks, a few short strolls, and one adventurous climb up to Sachems Head in Greenfield with Spartan and Hannah.

Brett carried Ella and she slept most of the way up to Sachems Head. The view from the top was so pretty with all the colorful trees. It was also very windy!

Hannah got to carry Maya up the mountain. This is such a sweet picture of them snuggling together at the top.

A stop for a quick swing during a shorter walk on another day.

A pretty picture from that same walk. I really love the Fall.

Selena and I took a walk around town with the babies, got lunch, and ate it on the grass in Pulaski Park. Ella took a nap in Selena's lap.

After our visit, hike, and lunch with Hannah and Spartan, we drove to Leyden to visit with Brett's parents. It wasn't a long visit, but they are always so inviting and nice to talk with. It was long enough for me to get almost an hour of napping in while Kathy and Brett watched Maya and Ella.

Sleep has become less than ideal again. The girls didn't sleep so well this week, at least not consistently. At night, sometimes they only sleep for a couple hours at a time, but Sunday night they slept from 8-12, 12:30-3:30 and 4:30-6:30. Not bad, but not the 5.5-hour, 3-hour, 2-hour we were getting consistently before.


On the other hand, Maya did a little bit of rolling (see picture above)! Daytimes can be tough if they don't take naps at the same time, but at least they are more interesting than they used to be. We wonder when they will start to reach for things, but they do seem to hold on to their pink and purple doggies when they nap (see pictures below).

Here is Ella being more "interesting" by scooching almost out of the rocker!

Pants! (And a tasty sleeve)