Highchairs, new food, exersaucer, rolling over and mom’s birthday

February 2011

The fun part about looking at pictures from a few months ago is that I can see how much the boys have grown.  They really do change and grow so quickly! 

Grandma Esther comes over on Wednesday evenings to spend an hour or two with the boys.  Dean loves grandma because she sings to him and he is our ‘Music Man’.  He actually started making a continuous noise on this day, almost sounding like he was singing with her.  It was so fun to watch!

Danny has big, beautiful, blue eyes.  When he’s all wrapped up after a bath I take the camera out and snap away.  Such a sweet baby.

Grandma Linda gave each boy a blanket with their name & birth stats embroidered on them.  Here is Danny all snuggled up in his after a bath and a little lotion massage.  I just wanted to snuggle up with him!

Dean loves his blanket from Grandma Linda, too.  He mostly likes to put it in his mouth.  I won’t be surprised to find a tooth from this boy very soon!

Both boys love to practice standing.  Their favorite is when daddy is the one holding their hands up.  Can’t you see the happiness on Dean’s face?  He loves his daddy and I love seeing that look on his face!

We’re always saying how much Dean resembles the Hambys and Micheners.  Here is a great picture showing so many of those traits…plus showing off his new trick; sitting with assistance.

We had a couple more ear infections this month.  Danny suffered the brunt of the infections and needed some extra love and cuddles.  I’m happy to oblige and provide that extra love and comfort when my boys aren’t feeling their best.  It won’t be this way forever, so I’ll soak it up while I can!

Dad made his first attempt to feed Danny.  Danny was looking at me with this look on his face.  It’s as if he were saying, “Are you going to let him feed me like this?”  After this meal, we decided it was time to bust out the high chairs Grandma Linda bought for us.

My family knows me as a Craigslist freak.  Well, probably more than just my family!  We have really used Craigslist a lot since having the twins.  One of our February purchases was this Baby Einstein Exersaucer.  I bought it for $20 off of Craigslist.  When I showed up to pick it up, I was pleasantly surprised to find out it was coming from another family with twin boys.  They had just turned 1-year-old and had outgrown it since they were walking.  This exersaucer has so many fun gadgets for the boys to play with.  You can hook many different toys onto the plastic rings for the boys to discover.  It has a little piano with keys that light up along with the 4 different classical pieces that play when they boys press the keys.  Needless to say, it was a fun afternoon!

Danny is our thinker/observer.  He takes his time assessing his environment and the people around him.  For this reason, his most common facial expression tends to be stoic.  We work hard to get him to laugh and smile.  He obliges us and allows us to capture it on camera sometimes.  This picture took teamwork.  I had the camera at the ready and dad jumped up and down doing silly faces to get Danny to laugh.  It worked and we have a great picture to show for it!  I was taking so many pictures in a row that I was able to get this great, mid-sneeze, shot of Danny.  I don’t know why, but I just love getting photos like this!

February 15th is when we finally pulled out the high chairs.  We are pretty limited on space so Grandma Linda bought us high chairs that actually sit on top of regular dining chairs (they have straps that secure the high chair to the dining chair).  Here is Danny trying to figure out if he likes the new chair.  **Notice his middle toe on his right foot (your left)?  It looks like he’s flexing it forward but he’s not.  His toe has always been that way; almost dislocated looking.  We found out that it’s hereditary.  Since I don’t have that and his daddy doesn’t have that, we’re wondering which of our family members is responsible for this funky toe?  If you see us checking out your toes next time we’re around, you’ll know what we’re doing.  It would save us some time if you’d just come forward! :0) 

Once Danny realized that sitting in this new chair meant he’d get to eat, he was all for it…especially if he got bananas! So yummy!

What a happy baby boy with a full belly!  Well, okay, to be honest, he probably had more on his face and bib than in his belly!  But that’s all part of the fun of learning to eat from a spoon.  This is why he was only wearing a diaper…notice the burp cloth draped over his chest. :0)

Dean saw the action unfold with Danny in the high chair and he couldn’t wait for his turn.  We normally feed the boys at the same time, but since it was their first time in the high chairs, we weren’t sure how it would turn out so we wanted one parent to get some pictures of the fun.  Dean was giving his daddy a big, goofy smile in anticipation of eating those tasty bananas!  I love these candid photos!

We are helping the boys gain new skills by practicing.  Here are Danny and Dean sitting in their Bumbo seats, practicing sitting up.  They love hanging out on the couch just ‘talking’ to each other.  It’s mainly spitting, cooing, screaming (happily, of course!) and laughing with each other.  Even though they can’t say any words, I’m convinced they know what each other is saying!

February brings with it my birthday (funny how it comes around each year).  We celebrated a day early with the Smith side of the family.  Finley sat next to me as I opened my cards and gifts.  Aunt Grace picked out a b-day card with a Paris theme (I love Paris!) and Finley pointed out the Eiffel Tower to me.  I told him that I love Paris and he said, “Yeah, me too.  I’m going there to see the Eiffel Tower.'”  Aunt Grace said he really does talk about that!  Finley is such a smart, cute kid!

While they were waiting for the food, the older boy cousins gathered around their Uncle Scott for a rousing game of Angry Birds on his cell phone.  Cousin Finley showed Uncle Scott how to pass a couple levels.  He is one smart cookie!  This is cousins Kai, Finley and Oliver with their Uncle Scott.

Cousin Ruthie is one of Dean’s favorites.  He just loves sitting in her lap staring at her.  Today was no exception and I’m so glad I caught this picture.

Teething has begun, and with it, everything gets pulled into the boys’ mouths.  Aunt Noelle was holding Danny here while he enjoyed gnawing on his burp cloth.

This picture shows the best part of my birthday…hanging out visiting with family.  Such fun conversations!

Uncle Todd doesn’t have to work too hard to get Dean to give up a big smile!

The most exciting picture & video I captured this month was of Danny.  I put him down for a nap, but he had something else in mind.  I’ve learned to have the camera ready when I hear funny noises coming from the monitor.  Danny was making happy grunting noises so I thought I’d check it out.  He had rolled onto his tummy and was trying to roll onto his back again.  Here he is, mid roll over.  I actually switched to video after I saw that he was determined to roll over.  Good thing, because he actually did roll over!  There are many ‘firsts’ that babies have and more often than not, they aren’t captured on film.  I was ecstatic to have caught his first roll from tummy to back!

Since Danny spent his entire nap time practicing his rolling, he was wiped out.  He became overtired and nothing would console him.  It finally took putting him in the carrier while doing dishes to get him to calm down enough to sleep.  This boy is down for the count.  He didn’t even flinch when I put him into the crib!

Our family and friends have generously given us so many ‘hand-me-downs’ for the boys.  Dean’s spiffy look is brought to you by cousin Gregory.  Gregory grew so fast that he had to be squeezed into this outfit for a quick picture.  After that, Aunt Jojo decided to just pack it away and bring it with her when they came to visit in December. 

Thank you for all the clothes, toys, books and various assortments of baby supplies.  We have been so blessed by each of you and we can’t wait to pass on our loot to the next little one to join the family!

See you soon!

2011: Warp speed

January 2011

Blogging is clearly not my forte.  I haven’t updated the blog in several months.  How does one ever catch up??  I know the answer is NEVER.  You never catch up.  I know that.  I’m going to make it a priority to do better at keeping the blog up to date.

Danny & Dean are growing and acquiring new skills and tricks at warp speed.  I’m failing miserably at writing all the ‘firsts’ down and I don’t see that changing any time soon.  That being said, here is a look at the month of January 2011…

Uncle Vadim’s mom knitted the boys a cap and sent them from Russia with cousin Gregory in December.  It was finally cold enough in January to wear them.  Dean’s round head looked so cute in the cap and he looks pretty happy to wear it!

Danny was warm & comfy enough that he couldn’t help but nap!

Dad and the boys got to hang with cousins Oliver & Finley and Grandma for a day from what I heard, they all had a good time.

The boys sure love their daddy and here’s a great picture showing Danny looking up at his daddy.

Tummy time continues to have a love/hate relationship with the boys.  I love putting the boys on our bed while I sit on the floor reading them books, singing songs and getting them to try and reach for toys.  On this particular day, Dean was having fun. 

Danny, on the other hand, was decidedly not enjoying tummy time and was very clear about it.  He used his voice and body language to get that point across!

And here they are together..

Danny loves his sleep.  The only thing he loves more is being held while sucking on his pacifier and sleeping.  For the most part, once we give him that pacifier and put him on his tummy, Danny buries his face in a blankie and goes to sleep right away.  He has started to touch our faces a lot.  Seems like he’s trying to get to know us more.  Danny fell asleep in daddy’s arms while touching his lip.

We look forward to weekends around here.  The boys get to stay in bed with us after their first feeding for their morning nap.  They love to snuggle up between us and fall asleep.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a picture of the boys on this particular morning.  Cousin Benjamin keeps reminding me that Danny hates the flash of the camera.  When he’s right, he’s right.  Here’s proof that Danny doesn’t appreciate to have these memorable moments photographed.

Encouraging the boys to hold their own bottle is something we do at each feeding.  Dean has decided he’d like to try it out. 

Here he is again.  I guess he feels like he mastered the bottle holding feat, so here he is showing off for Aunt Cathy; holding his bottle AND sleeping at the same time.

This month we also started putting the boys in their bumbo seat to practice sitting up.  Do you think Dean loves it?!

Danny tolerated it, but he’s not quite ready for this sitting up business. 

Speaking of sitting up, the boys are doing so well with that, so we decided they were ready for this…

Have you guessed it?  Dean didn’t know what was going on until…

Needless to say, Dean loved eating real food!  I think his face showed it clearly!

One of the challenges of twins is feeding two boys at once when they’re both hungry.  I thought I’d be able to feed them one at a time on this day (what was I thinking?!), but that was not to be.  We only had one bumbo and hadn’t pulled out the nice high chairs from Grandma, so we improvise.  Danny’s first bite was on my lap…

What did we learn from this experience? Danny was not ready for spoon feeding.

It’s not going to be the last lesson we learn as new parents.  I quickly switched gears and gave Danny his bottle.  Of course, Dean was still in the middle of enjoying his tasty meal.  What’s a mom to do?  Feed both, of course!

That same weekend, Aunt Elainea came for a visit.  If her lap wasn’t so comfy, maybe he would’ve stayed awake and played with her!

Every Tuesday the Danny & Dean get to spend the day at Aunt Noelle & Uncle Todd’s house.  When the cousins get home from school they get to play!  Dean loves hanging out with big cousin Kai.

When you see someone with a mullet, is it hard not to stare?  I get a kick out of seeing pictures of Scott, back in the day, with his mullet.  I’ll have to post some of those pictures sometime.  Dean has his very own version of a mullet and I thought you’d like to see how he’s bringin’ it back in style!  That’s right, the baby mullet is here folks…don’t be jealous.

One of my favorite things to do is hold my boys when they’re sleeping.  I don’t get to do it often because I’m back to working full time.  It’s probably a good thing, too.  I’m sure I’d hold them so much that they’d not learn to sit up on their own or walk until they were 2 years old!  So, I spoil my boys (and myself) on the weekends and hold them as much as possible.  Danny and I had a good bonding session this day.  I’m pretty sure I’m beaming here!

The boys turned 4 months old this month.  I captured a picture of Dean and dad on their special day. **The picture of Danny and me above was also taken on their 4-month birthday.

As you know, the boys are fraternal twins.  We think it’s pretty obvious they don’t look alike at all, but maybe it’s because we see them daily.  On the other hand, how could you look at these two pictures and think they look alike?

Dean above; Danny below

I love looking at a series of pictures taken at one time.  And since I love it, I’m posting one here.  The boys are starting to really pay attention to each other.  This series shows them interacting a bit.

I was sitting there watching them and listening to them babble and coo at each other.  They were having a conversation about something, but I couldn’t figure it out.  That last photo looks like Danny just noticed I was listening and watching.  It’s as if he was telling Dean a secret and stopped once he saw me.  It’s so fun just watching them play with each other!

We’re always telling people how the twins always have to touch hands or feet or legs when they are next to each other.  Here is a glimpse at what  we’re talking about…

I know I already showed pictures of the “first spoon feeding” earlier, but here is the second time around.

Danny is still not a fan!

Dean is barley cereal drunk here.  I’m pretty sure he’s saying, “Dude, you gotta try this stuff!  It’s awesome!”

Aunt Joanna said these poor boys are always wearing bibs!  Well, this picture is for you Aunt Jojo.  A bibless photo! **Thanks Aunt Elizabeth & Uncle Luke for the frog onsies!

The following picture is of Dean as I was changing his clothes.  I love taking pictures of the boys with their clothes stuck on their heads.   Maybe it’s because I used to love doing that as a kid, I don’t know.  This is pretty close to what I looked like as a baby…except I was chunkier, for sure!

I mentioned earlier that January finally got cold enough for the boys to wear their knit caps.  Apparently I’m still getting rid of pregnancy hormones, because It never felt cold in the house for me.  That means I hardly ever turn on the heater.  Of course I made sure the twins were bundled up, but I figured Scott could take care of himself.  Here’s what Scott looked like one evening when I walked into the living room.

Just so you know, he was wear a log sleeved shirt, a hooded sweater, jeans, socks and shoes.  The closest blanket to him was a baby blanket, so he put that on, but he was still cold!  After seeing this, I felt bad for him so I turned on the heater…to a blazing 68 degrees! (it was 62, but it felt SO good!)

So there you have it.  January 2011 was full for us.  There were colds, ear infections and other stuff but all survived and none were overly cranky.  Thanks for stopping by.  February 2011 will be posted some day.  Hopefully this month!  Ya’ll come back now, ya hear?