Collin & Carter: 6 Month Update

Well, we've done it!  We have survived the first 6 months of having 3 children :)  Callie has been an ABSOLUTE rock star!  Sure there are times when I want to pull my hair out because for no absolute reason at all, she decides it would be a good idea to wake her brother up, or hit one of them while they are taking a bottle, or step on one to see what happens...but she's 2.5 years old, and no longer receiving 100% of our attention :)

We cannot believe how quickly this time has gone!  I mean, the boys were just born, right?!  Thankfully, we have documented their first 6 lives, so we have plenty of photo memories (I create a lot of shutterfly books that document our family in "seasons" or "holidays" - along with each child individually), so we have these to cherish!  And we take monthly pictures!  

For all of you out there who said I would never keep up with what I did for Callie - besides the "set up, nice photos" we did every month, I can proudly say I have kept up on the parenting end!  Both boys have their pictures taken monthly, hand and footprints...monthly!  Plenty of love, plenty of cuddles, lots of hugs and kisses, always happy and fed and receiving more love than imagined (more because they are fortunate enough to have such an amazing big sister!).

This post MAY be a week late; however, I started writing it last week, just hadn't posted the pictures yet (to be honest, I needed to upgrade my blogger - yes, I am not paying a very low monthly fee because I have so many pictures on here!).  These pictures of the boys are hilarious but capture their personalities to a T!

You can't spend one day with them and say "He's just like Josh and he's just like you" - or say, "this one is more smiley and this one more serious"...no way - because they are both SO HAPPY, so playful, so giggly and do so many different things!  

Six Month Update

Food - Both of our boys have been on solids for a while now, but boy is it fun to watch them eat!  They are eating 3 meals a day now!

Breakfast: roughly 4 TBLS rice cereal and a fruit
Lunch: Vegetable & Fruit (cereal if they are still hungry - most times this is enough)
Dinner: 4 TBLS rice cereal and a vegetable

They are having a bottle in between each meal as well.  Which the bottles are 100% formula now as I am 100% done breast feeding.  I started weening off and using up our frozen supply.  By Thanksgiving I was done nursing all dried up!  This is my personal choice - believe me, I was still producing enough milk, but I was ready to be done...I had my battles of "should I?" but decided it was time.

Collin especially still enjoys eating in the middle of the night and we can't cut him of this.  He screams and screams until we give him a bottle...and he scarfs it down, so he's hungry...we need a sleeping wizard to come over and get him sleeping.

Collin

Sleep - Well, interesting you should ask :)  Carter sleeps in the bouncy chair (still), in the living room while Collin sleeps in his crib (YEAH - MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT).  Right now they are waking each other up, so we have them separated.  We are going to start training each in different rooms: Collin to sleep through the night and Carter to sleep in his crib (starting with the mattress in the living room - in the pack n play - we'll see how this goes :)  I mean, how bad could this really be, right!?

For the most part, Carter will sleep through the night.  If he gets up, it is one time each night.  Collin on the other hand - 2-3 times EVERY night!  Josh and I are back to the rotating nights on which boy we have, so if you have Collin you dread going to sleep because you know it's just a matter of time before you are up again!

Carter has this fascination with his soft blankets - he likes to rub them against his face and sometimes cover his face...he is more comfortable and it soothes him.  GREAT - because that won't work for sleeping in your crib!

Carter

Clothes - Both boys are wearing 6 month clothing, but I am noticing they are growing out of these quickly!  I had a few 3-6 clothes that still fit, but I have finally just put them away!  I have the 6-9 and 9 month clothes washed and ready to be worn...it's just a matter of putting them on the boys :)  I'm sad to do that though, because once you transition to one outfit in a new size, then I use all of them :)  And before I know it, the last size is already boxed up without a proper goodbye!  I am very thankful that both boys are in the same size clothing though...this really helps!

And Yes, I am still dressing them matchy matchy!  If you don't like that, too bad...I do and I'm Mom...deal with it :)

Weight - They keep going back and forth between who weighs more - that is how close in weight they are.  We've had them in and out of the clinic this month due to them being sick with ear infections, colds and other issues so we've had a few weights done :) 

Collin: 16.9 LBS
Carter: 16.5 LBS

Height - We don't have the exact measurements currently, but will shortly as they have shots in a week :(

Diapers - Both boys are in Size 2 Diapers still, but after the daily blow outs between Collin and Carter - it's time to change to Size 3 Diapers :)  I would just switch over, but they are expensive and we have two babies - so I can't just save them for kid # 4 - because there won't be a kid # 4 and I'm having a hard time just giving them away...so I'm using each and every one of them :)  (unlike the stash of Size1-2 that I found in their chest in their bedroom...dang it!)

Health - This has been a difficult month as both of the boys are still battling their colds.  Collin was getting over a double ear infection, while Carter has been battling his teeth...Collin is battling those as well, but Carter's are much closer to cutting through.  Both boys are up in the middle of the night due to their growth spurts, teeth, ears, runny noses & colds  - so they are overly tired all the time.  They just want to snuggle (mainly with their mommy which is fine by me - most of the time) and be held!  They sure are mommies boys though - and I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!  I just wish they weren't growing up so fast :(  They are already 6 months old...that's 1/2 a year!  I mean, I'm going to blink and they'll be 1 year old...and their sister will be 3!  I'm not prepared for this!

Fun Facts - Where do I even begin!!!??

Collin started rolling over all over the place!  If you lay him down on his back, in 3 minutes he will be flipped over and turned around and in a different location!  Yes - he is crawling BACKWARDS!  SAY WHAT!?  It's crazy...they are growing so fast!

Let me eat your feet!  The very next moment, Carter grabbed Collin and tried to pull him back :)  

Haha - it was hilarious!

Carter started saying "MOM" - yup!  I kid you not...it is the sweetest sound in the world!  He says it in a low tone "MOM" with one eye half closed and you can tell that he's really trying his hardest to get it out :)  He smiles at me after he says it too, so I know he means it!  Josh agrees this is official!  We weren't 100% at first, but we've declared it official!  We think he said Dad recently too, but we're still not 100% sure so as of now - just MOM!  I'll take that, thank you :)

They are both fascinated with their feet and hands!  Their socks are off most of the time, because they love to eat them so much :)  I mean, hey!  They do taste good :)