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)