Baybay & Baybee: Week 16

16 weeks old!

Last week we were in Florida with my family; this week we spent Thanksgiving with Brett's family. We ate yummy food, dressed the girls up in their frilly pink and purple dresses (Thanks, Aunt Heidi!), and spent a nice day in Leyden with everyone. The girls got to see their great grandparents again, meet their Great Uncle Ray and Great Aunt and Uncle Marilyn and Adam for the first time.

Brett and Ella playing before the big meal.

Kathy and Maya in the sun.

"Hi,Uncle Guy!"

Maya snuggles with her Great Aunt Marilyn while playing with her Great Grandma Mary's hand.

I tried to get a shot of everyone as we sat down to eat, but it didn't work out so well. It still gives the general idea, though. Such a pretty table and so many lovely people.

Maya liked looking at her great grandma.

The hard part about this week was that Brett and I both got sick and Maya and Ella didn't sleep as well as they had been sleeping. We were both mostly over our colds by the end of the week, but we were totally drained from lack of sleep and our bodies were tired from being sick. The girls, fortunately, didn't seem to catch the cold, at least not fully. They were both a little stuffed up, especially in the evenings, but never had a fever or fussed any more than usual.

Maya found her thumb this week! She doesn't consistently suck on it yet, but I've seen her do it a few times. Ella isn't far behind, though she seems to prefer her thumb and first finger together, rather than just the thumb.

The girls have really started to enjoy games such as, "Up in the air!" (Lift baby up over your head, then back down. Repeat.), and "Boo!" (Look at baby, turn your head to the side, turn back and say, "boo!" Repeat over and over.) Both games get smiles every time, and the occasional laugh.

Not so sure about having their picture taken.

Listening to a story, read by their friend, Jim.

While we were in Florida last week, the girls tried sleeping on a futon on the floor near our bed. It worked out so well that we decided to try the same thing at home. The first night they slept on the futon, in the middle of the night, Maya had somehow scooched her way almost off of the bed so she was sleeping half on the floor. Brett put her back and she hasn't done it since. This arrangement should work for us for a while - at least a few more months, until they start moving around more. I'm not sure what we will do then.

Taking a nap together on their new bed.

Night time sleep has been pretty awful this week. We have a good bedtime routine (naked time playing on the floor, bath, into nightime diapers and sleepsacks, nurse, bed) and they fall asleep right away when we lay them down and give their pacifiers. Usually, they are asleep by 7 p.m., but then the waking up starts. One or both will wake up around 11:30 (if not before) and want to eat. We try to get them both up then, change diapers (or offer a chance to pee because they are often dry) and I will nurse them. They go back to bed, but have been waking up again around 2 a.m., we think because they need to pee again. The rest of the night sometimes goes well after they are changed, but often they wake up a couple more times and around 5 a.m. I will nurse them again. By that time, we are so tried from all the broken up sleep that I will just nurse one baby in bed lying down, and then turn over and nurse the other. All that nursing takes about an hour and I end up not being able to sleep very well because there isn't enough room in our bed with everyone all smooshed together. I really want to get back to the pattern of waking up once to feed during the night that we had going on a few weeks back. That schedule seems so luxurious right now.

Maya, about to roll over. Having rolled often from front to back before, she rolled from her back to her front for the first time this week! She has done it a couple times since, but she has to be in the right mood.

The girls are now fitting into 6-9 month clothes! Some are still a little baggy, but the 3 month clothes are all too tight now. They are getting so big!

One year ago today...

...I took a pregnancy test and two pink lines appeared. We were going to be parents! Little did we know that in a few short weeks, we would find out that we were expecting twins.

What an adventure it's been so far! Maya and Ella, you make me smile every day.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 15

15 weeks old!

This week, the twins added two more states to their visited list when we traveled to Florida, via Connecticut, to see my family! Our flight from Hartford was very early in the morning on Wednesday and none of us got much sleep that night. We left the house at 4 a.m., parked the car at the airport, went through security and were in the air by 6:45 a.m. Both girls slept in the Moby wraps pretty much the entire three-hour flight!

We were proud of our ability to travel so light: two carry-on bags each, and two babies!

The week spent in the warmth of Florida was a treat. We didn't have to dress the babies in warm clothes, we got to go swimming, plus we enjoyed eating lots of fresh oranges and time spent with family.

No need to turn on the heat this week! We enjoyed warm days and pleasantly cool evenings all week long.

Looking across the lake from the beach.

Baby blue eyes.

Brett thinks that Ella's eyes are going to change from blue to some other color, but that Maya's will stay blue.

Ella's first swim!

Maya's first swim!

All four of us.

Maya and Ella's cousin Atom shows the girls how it's done! Atom is two and a half years old and he LOVES to swim. He's like a little fish in the water.

Papa with both grandbabies.

A walk around the lake.

Toby and his girlfriend Sabrina, playing with the girls.

We went to the Winter Garden farmer's market. While we were there, we ran into another set of twins with their parents. It was fun to chat with them about all things twin.

Maya and I enjoy a ride in the rowboat. Mama did the rowing and took the pictures.

Maya in the sun.

Ella balancing on Papa's hands!

We had a couple good nights for sleep while we were in Florida and a couple not so good nights. We experimented with leaving the girls unswaddled at night a few times. Sometimes it worked and they were able to sleep without waking themselves and sometimes it didn't. We haven't noticed much of a pattern for what helps them sleep better. It seems random when we have a good night.

Amber, Atom and Scott + Brett, Ella, Jenny and Maya.

The whole family together.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 14

14 weeks old!

A big accomplishment for both girls this week was figuring out that their hands belong to them and that they are TASTY. They are in love with sucking on their hands. They haven't gotten the thumb all by itself yet, but they really love trying to fit their whole fist(s) inside their mouth. This occupies most of their wakeful hours.

Maya, exploring her hands.

Naps have gone so much better this week! I bought the girls this pink seahorse (which we have affectionately nicknamed "the worm") that plays music. When they seem tired, we've started swaddling them, giving them their pacifiers and turning on the seahorse before we tuck them in for a nap. They are usually asleep in minutes. It's amazing.

In this picture, Ella was "talking" to her new friend before her nap.

We had a few visitors this week. On Saturday, Hannah came down for a short visit, and to pick up a sink for their house. Later that afternoon, Brett's aunt and uncle, Karen and Randy, stopped by to visit and meet the babies.

Karen holds Maya, who is showing off her pretty new hat from her great-aunt. Ella got a matching hat.

Tuesday morning, Selena came over and helped play with the babies while Brett was working. They napped really well and I got to take a walk and a long shower while they slept and Selena stayed with them. In the afternoon, Kathy came down and spent a couple hours with the girls so we could get some packing done for our trip to Florida. She also washed all of our dishes!

Kisses from Selena!

Ella, telling her grandma a story.

We also got to do some visiting ourselves this week, with a nice afternoon spent at Benita and Sam's house. Their twin boys, Avery and Jonah, are the same age as Maya and Ella and we had a great time talking with Benita and Sam, and playing with all the babies!

Three out of four...

...Ella didn't want her picture taken at that moment. She just wanted to be held and stand up (her new favorite activity, other than sucking on her hands).

We tried again to get a group picture, but everyone was over tired.

We ended this week with a flight to Florida very early Wednesday morning. We didn't get much sleep the night leading up to our trip, but the girls slept in the Moby's the for the whole three hour flight! We were so happy to spend the week with my family in the warm weather. More about our vacation in the next post! Until then, here are a few more pictures from the week:

Brett and Ella read the mail.

Some sweet one-on-one time nursing Maya.

Maya finally fits this onesie that I bought before they were born.

Big smile!

And another big smile!

Our two amazing daughters.

Three months old!

On November 10th, Maya and Ella celebrated their three month birthday! It's hard to believe that three short months ago we weren't parents. We can't imagine life without them.

Looking back in time...

Just a few days before the twins were born.

Four days old.

First family photo.

One week old....

Three months old!

Two weeks old...

Three months old!

Some of my favorite memory photos:

They were so small!

Tiny toes!

Getting used to the camera.

One of Ella's first baths.

One week old Maya.