Seven Month: Reflections
The time between six and seven months has seemed to turn my infants into real people. As I think about them one month ago, at six months, I have completely different boys!
Things We Learned About Nolan Gerard:
First and foremost I have to mention that Nolan is a crawler! I know many of you watched the video I posted on facebook, but I feel compelled to share the story nonetheless :) It all started on Thanksgiving...my boys are notorious to making holidays and other special days about themselves (a post for another time). As we were getting ready to take the boys to Josh's parents so we could run the Turkeyman Trot 5K, Nolan started his milestones for that weekend by going from being on his belly, to sitting. That seemed like a big enough deal to us right there!
On that Saturday, we were playing with the boys in the basement and Josh and I watched before our very eyes, as Nolan army crawled from one spot on the floor to one of our bookshelves to a stack of coffee table books. I thought I could not have been prouder (as a teacher and avid reader) for my boy to crawl first to books when there could've been so many other choices, but then he made me beam even more when he knocked down a book about Italy and started to explore it. Clearly he was trying to communicate with me that He DOES know he's Italian, he DOES want to visit there, and he DOES want to be a reader; it couldn'tve been more obvious :)
Since that moment, he's been a moving machine. His form may not be pretty as he looks like he's dragging his lifeless body around with his left arm, but he can really get from place to place. Although his favorite things to crawl to are Primrose our cat, our Christmas tree skirts (both with lots of glitter on them), books, and anything with wires or cords, he also has been crawling to get to me and oh my gosh does that make me feel like I've died and gone to heaven. When I get home from work, he will start crawling over to greet me... when I'm cooking in the kitchen, he will leave his toys in the living room and come over to where I am. *Sigh*
Nolan has never been much into sitting...he will do just about anything to get his legs into a standing position instead. However, he has made progress this month in the sitting area. If we can get him into that position without too much struggle, he will stay there for a good bit of time before toppling over.
Finally, I swear Nolan can say the word hi.
Things We Learned About Judah Matthew:
Judah, like his brother, also decided to make some milestones over Thanksgiving. On that morning, again, as we were getting ready for the 5K, Judah got up on his hands and knees, did his rocking back and forth that he loves to do, and was able to move forward! Granted, his forward was a nosedive, but he made forward progress. He's been backward crawling now for about a month, but had yet to go in the forward direction! This was great (and also a little funny) to watch.
That same Saturday that Nolan started crawling, Judah got up on his hands and knees again, did his rocking back and forth, and was able to take a scoot forward without nose-diving!
My little Judah Bean is not crawling yet, which is making him frustrated, but once he does, his form will be absolutely impeccable.
Judah also got diagnosed with baby eczema this month. We thought he might be allergic to squash of all things since that's when a bad rash showed up on his back. When we took him to our pediatrician to get it looked at, it was easy for her to tell it was eczema. Judah is so calm and congenial that this hasn't changed his mood at all. If my back looked like his, I'd be itching and crying and frustrated all day and all night. Now that we have good lotion to treat it, it's looking much better.
Judah has also cut his first tooth and he's got a second one just about to break through the skin.
He's been getting better about sitting up and although he's not choosing to do that himself much, if we put him in a sitting position, he will stay that way for a good bit of time on his own before falling over.
Finally, just a quick adorable moment about him... On Thursday, I got home from work and walked into the door, my dad, mom and Josh were playing with the boys. Judah stopped what he was doing, looked at me, and started smiling, kicking, and throwing his arms around in delight. I love nothing more than being a person my boys are excited to see. Oh I melted!
Some Firsts:
Twin Moments:
Reflections About Being a Mom:
We are getting more sleep*....hooray! I function very well on little sleep for the most part, but I will say I like to be well rested.
*past results do not necessarily indicate future success*
One of my proudest moments was running in the Turkeyman Trot on Thanksgiving. I've not been good at exercising in over a year. From the second I got a positive pregnancy test in September until probably two months after they were born, I did not exercise AT ALL. When I was pregnant, I was too scared to. If someone would've let me sit with my legs up for nine months, I totally would've done it. Once the babies were born, I was so out of shape from not exercising and carrying around 65 extra pounds, that I couldn't even walk to the mailbox. Plus, I've been a little busy ;) Working out has taken a very back seat and I've maybe gone running once a week. There I was, less than seven months from birthing twins, running a 5K. That was a HUGE moment for me.
On my mind this month has been first, having a mobile child. This has been a game changer. You think your house is baby proofed, you think it will take some time for a baby to be good at moving around, but those things are both false! The same day Nolan started to crawl, he was able to crawl across a room. Watching him try to reach for baskets, tip over trash cans, try to eat rugs, wires, and Prim's tail has shown me that a.) I'm in trouble b.) I'm in deeper trouble once Judah starts crawling too and c.) we are NOT baby proofed. It was funny to go to work before Thanksgiving and have immobile children and then, a week later, feeling like I have to write my dad a novel of all the stuff Nolan will try to get into as I went to work this week.
A second thing on my mind are the holidays. I'm working on a blog about this topic so I won't say all that's been on my mind, but as Thanksgiving and especially Christmas is here, I can't stop thinking about where I was last year at this time....
Since I found out I was pregnant and especially since we had found out it was twins, plenty of people went out of their way to spoil me and our future children especially, for example, my mom and my sister-in-law, Jessica....God bless them ;) One of my biggest fears last Christmas was that someone would buy me things for the babies. Not that I wouldn'tve been grateful and appreciative, but I was too terrified, paranoid, and crazy in the head to be ready to be in that situation. I talked to Josh about this worry all the time last year and I was so scared about what I would do if I was opening up a Christmas gift to find something for our babies.
Luckily, people knew about my crazy (I clearly wasn't keeping that a secret) and accepted and respected my crazy (whether they liked it or not) and didn't dare get any gifts for the babies last year.
By the time December rolled around last year, though, my mom had been bugging me for WEEKS to look at some things she had bought for our upcoming babies and I kept telling her I would absolutely NOT look at these things; I wasn't ready; I was still too scared something was going to go wrong.
I told her that if she would be patient with me and wait until around Christmas that I would look at a FEW things. As she lugged out bag after bag from the basement (I'm not sure she even left anything for me to buy, that's how much stuff she had accumulated), she picked out a few favorites to show to me. In one bag, she pulled out two long-sleeved onesies. They were Christmas onesies that said, "Mommy's best gift" on them in green and red. You can guess that I started crying immediately; even now as I write this I am tearing up. I remember sitting there, with my little baby bump, wishing that hope and positivity would cancel out my crazy, imagining the next Christmas having TWO babies wearing this outfit. These babies were no doubt going to be my greatest gift, but it all seemed too good to be true.
You can see, above, that these outfits are worn for their seven month pictures and I am still in awe.
These holidays have been and are going to be some of the most special ones we will ever have. Thinking about what Christmas gifts we will buy Nolan and Judah, planning family traditions, and being surrounded by so much love has overwhelmed me with joy beyond what I could have ever dreamed of last year at this time.
I am so glad we named one of our boys Judah because his name is a reminder every single day of the praise I need to give God. I wish there were more words or more creative ways for me to express how truly, deeply, and completely grateful I am.
Things We Learned About Nolan Gerard:
First and foremost I have to mention that Nolan is a crawler! I know many of you watched the video I posted on facebook, but I feel compelled to share the story nonetheless :) It all started on Thanksgiving...my boys are notorious to making holidays and other special days about themselves (a post for another time). As we were getting ready to take the boys to Josh's parents so we could run the Turkeyman Trot 5K, Nolan started his milestones for that weekend by going from being on his belly, to sitting. That seemed like a big enough deal to us right there!
On that Saturday, we were playing with the boys in the basement and Josh and I watched before our very eyes, as Nolan army crawled from one spot on the floor to one of our bookshelves to a stack of coffee table books. I thought I could not have been prouder (as a teacher and avid reader) for my boy to crawl first to books when there could've been so many other choices, but then he made me beam even more when he knocked down a book about Italy and started to explore it. Clearly he was trying to communicate with me that He DOES know he's Italian, he DOES want to visit there, and he DOES want to be a reader; it couldn'tve been more obvious :)
Since that moment, he's been a moving machine. His form may not be pretty as he looks like he's dragging his lifeless body around with his left arm, but he can really get from place to place. Although his favorite things to crawl to are Primrose our cat, our Christmas tree skirts (both with lots of glitter on them), books, and anything with wires or cords, he also has been crawling to get to me and oh my gosh does that make me feel like I've died and gone to heaven. When I get home from work, he will start crawling over to greet me... when I'm cooking in the kitchen, he will leave his toys in the living room and come over to where I am. *Sigh*
Nolan has never been much into sitting...he will do just about anything to get his legs into a standing position instead. However, he has made progress this month in the sitting area. If we can get him into that position without too much struggle, he will stay there for a good bit of time before toppling over.
Finally, I swear Nolan can say the word hi.
Things We Learned About Judah Matthew:
Judah, like his brother, also decided to make some milestones over Thanksgiving. On that morning, again, as we were getting ready for the 5K, Judah got up on his hands and knees, did his rocking back and forth that he loves to do, and was able to move forward! Granted, his forward was a nosedive, but he made forward progress. He's been backward crawling now for about a month, but had yet to go in the forward direction! This was great (and also a little funny) to watch.
That same Saturday that Nolan started crawling, Judah got up on his hands and knees again, did his rocking back and forth, and was able to take a scoot forward without nose-diving!
My little Judah Bean is not crawling yet, which is making him frustrated, but once he does, his form will be absolutely impeccable.
Judah also got diagnosed with baby eczema this month. We thought he might be allergic to squash of all things since that's when a bad rash showed up on his back. When we took him to our pediatrician to get it looked at, it was easy for her to tell it was eczema. Judah is so calm and congenial that this hasn't changed his mood at all. If my back looked like his, I'd be itching and crying and frustrated all day and all night. Now that we have good lotion to treat it, it's looking much better.
Judah has also cut his first tooth and he's got a second one just about to break through the skin.
He's been getting better about sitting up and although he's not choosing to do that himself much, if we put him in a sitting position, he will stay that way for a good bit of time on his own before falling over.
Finally, just a quick adorable moment about him... On Thursday, I got home from work and walked into the door, my dad, mom and Josh were playing with the boys. Judah stopped what he was doing, looked at me, and started smiling, kicking, and throwing his arms around in delight. I love nothing more than being a person my boys are excited to see. Oh I melted!
Some Firsts:
- Lots of first foods! In this month we've had: carrots, avocado, squash, green beans, sweet potatoes, and peas (in that order). Judah has like all of them, especially avocado I think. Nolan has LOVED green beans and sweet potatoes and has not cared for avocado or peas. I still think, over everything, Nolan's favorite food is baby oatmeal.
- 11-11-13~ First snow fall....I got pictures AND we video taped the boys going outside in it.
- 11-22-13~ Watched Silver Bells in the City on TV... that will be a tradition for our family.
- 11-27-13~ go to Bronner's! Also a tradition... the boys did great there.
- 11-28-13~ First Thanksgiving (went to Hundts). Also, Nolan sat up on his own, and Judah did a nose-dive forward
- 11-29-13~ Thanksgiving at Pavonas
- 11-30-13~ Nolan crawled! Judah scooted forward!
Twin Moments:
- Nolan and Judah are continuing to notice each other more and more. If Josh and I can hide ourselves behind the scene, they will look, smile, and laugh at each other.
- This actually happened to my dad when he was watching the boys when I was at work, but I have to tell it ether way... Judah was in his boppie drinking his bottle, minding his own business. My dad went into the kitchen to warm up Nolan's bottle. When he came back into the living room, Nolan had crawled over to Judah, taken the bottle out of his mouth, and started drinking it. Judah had a look on his face like, what the heck just happened!? Lord have mercy, am I in trouble! :)
- Both boys are making that razz noise a lot
Reflections About Being a Mom:
We are getting more sleep*....hooray! I function very well on little sleep for the most part, but I will say I like to be well rested.
*past results do not necessarily indicate future success*
One of my proudest moments was running in the Turkeyman Trot on Thanksgiving. I've not been good at exercising in over a year. From the second I got a positive pregnancy test in September until probably two months after they were born, I did not exercise AT ALL. When I was pregnant, I was too scared to. If someone would've let me sit with my legs up for nine months, I totally would've done it. Once the babies were born, I was so out of shape from not exercising and carrying around 65 extra pounds, that I couldn't even walk to the mailbox. Plus, I've been a little busy ;) Working out has taken a very back seat and I've maybe gone running once a week. There I was, less than seven months from birthing twins, running a 5K. That was a HUGE moment for me.
On my mind this month has been first, having a mobile child. This has been a game changer. You think your house is baby proofed, you think it will take some time for a baby to be good at moving around, but those things are both false! The same day Nolan started to crawl, he was able to crawl across a room. Watching him try to reach for baskets, tip over trash cans, try to eat rugs, wires, and Prim's tail has shown me that a.) I'm in trouble b.) I'm in deeper trouble once Judah starts crawling too and c.) we are NOT baby proofed. It was funny to go to work before Thanksgiving and have immobile children and then, a week later, feeling like I have to write my dad a novel of all the stuff Nolan will try to get into as I went to work this week.
A second thing on my mind are the holidays. I'm working on a blog about this topic so I won't say all that's been on my mind, but as Thanksgiving and especially Christmas is here, I can't stop thinking about where I was last year at this time....
Since I found out I was pregnant and especially since we had found out it was twins, plenty of people went out of their way to spoil me and our future children especially, for example, my mom and my sister-in-law, Jessica....God bless them ;) One of my biggest fears last Christmas was that someone would buy me things for the babies. Not that I wouldn'tve been grateful and appreciative, but I was too terrified, paranoid, and crazy in the head to be ready to be in that situation. I talked to Josh about this worry all the time last year and I was so scared about what I would do if I was opening up a Christmas gift to find something for our babies.
Luckily, people knew about my crazy (I clearly wasn't keeping that a secret) and accepted and respected my crazy (whether they liked it or not) and didn't dare get any gifts for the babies last year.
By the time December rolled around last year, though, my mom had been bugging me for WEEKS to look at some things she had bought for our upcoming babies and I kept telling her I would absolutely NOT look at these things; I wasn't ready; I was still too scared something was going to go wrong.
I told her that if she would be patient with me and wait until around Christmas that I would look at a FEW things. As she lugged out bag after bag from the basement (I'm not sure she even left anything for me to buy, that's how much stuff she had accumulated), she picked out a few favorites to show to me. In one bag, she pulled out two long-sleeved onesies. They were Christmas onesies that said, "Mommy's best gift" on them in green and red. You can guess that I started crying immediately; even now as I write this I am tearing up. I remember sitting there, with my little baby bump, wishing that hope and positivity would cancel out my crazy, imagining the next Christmas having TWO babies wearing this outfit. These babies were no doubt going to be my greatest gift, but it all seemed too good to be true.
You can see, above, that these outfits are worn for their seven month pictures and I am still in awe.
These holidays have been and are going to be some of the most special ones we will ever have. Thinking about what Christmas gifts we will buy Nolan and Judah, planning family traditions, and being surrounded by so much love has overwhelmed me with joy beyond what I could have ever dreamed of last year at this time.
I am so glad we named one of our boys Judah because his name is a reminder every single day of the praise I need to give God. I wish there were more words or more creative ways for me to express how truly, deeply, and completely grateful I am.
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