Thursday, November 3, 2011

8 is GREAT! Wow...8 months old!

Eight is definitely great!  Kevin and I are throughouly enjoying the stage Katherine and Matthew are at now.  It's so fun to see all of the things they are learning everyday.  Literally it feels like everyday one of the twins has some new learned skill.  I just commented to Kevin last night, "Our babies need to stop growing up so fast!"

Since Matthew and Katherine turned 8 months so close to Halloween, I thought it would be fun to take their pictures with their pumpkins and costumes.

Matthew Edward








Diaper Size: Size 3
Clothing Size: 6 months (especially your pants) and 6-9 months

Sleeping: You are still a "cat napper" during the day.  I've been trying to work on making your naps longer, but it doesn't always work. You have been taking 3 naps during the day.  They can last anywhere between 30 minutes to and hour and a half.  You are usually awake for 2 to 2.5 and then time for your nap.  You go to bed anytime between 7:00-8:00 at night.  We put you to bed awake and you'll just cry for a short time before you fall asleep.  Lately, when we come in to check on you when you're crying we find you standing up in your crib wanting us to pick you up.  We gently put you back on your side and cover you with blankets.  You're favorite way to sleep is on your side or tummy with your head positioned in the corner of your crib.  Silly sleeper...like father like son! You like to sleep to your lullaby CD and the heartbeat sound.

Eating: The middle of this past month you switched to eating 4 times a day.  Yay!  Mommy really worked on this!  You eat 6 or 7 o.z. at a time.  You eat baby food twice a day, morning and dinner, and eat a snack in the afternoon.  For snacks you like puffs (a new treat!), yogurt, and frozen or fresh fruit in your food feeder.  New foods you've tried this month are: mango, fresh peaches, fresh melons, fresh banana, orange, prunes, cinnamon mixed with pears and oatmeal, pear yogurt, puffs.  You're favorites are peas, green beans, cinnamon pears with oatmeal, yogurt, and frozen fruit.  You also have been introduced to a sippy cup.  You still don't get much out but you're exploring the new cup.

Dislike: You get upset when you can't do something you want to do....daddy, does that sound familiar! :)  You still don't like to fall asleep and miss out on anything that's going on.

Favorite Activities: Now that you can crawl, that's all you want to do!  I find that you crawl and follow me around the house.  You also love to crawl into your bouncy set.  You are great at getting yourself in the chair but can't really get yourself out gracefully.  You will even climb into the chair if Kate's sitting in it!  Again...no personal space for Matty!  You love to eat fruit out of the food feeder.  I'm sure the cold feels good on the tooth you have coming in.  You want to crawl through all of the small, tight spaces you can.  You're a paci hoarder.  No matter if you already have one in your mouth you'll pick up any laying on the floor or take the one out of Kate's mouth.  Stinker!  You enjoy it when Mommy and Daddy sing and dance around like goof balls.

Nicknames: Matt, Matty, Wiggles, Wiggs

Talking: You like to talk to yourself as you fall asleep.  You make sounds like "hey", "yeah", and "yup".  You are teething and are wanting to put everything in your mouth.  Your first tooth is starting to come in (the bottom left tooth).
New Adventures: You just had your first Halloween.  You were a pumpkin and went trick-or-treating to a couple of houses back in Mommy and Daddy's hometown.  You went to your Great Uncle Jim's 80th birthday party.  Also, you went to your friend Alma's 2nd birthday party.  Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding so Great Aunt Mary and Heimy came up to babysit you.  You visited Great Grandma in the hospital.  You helped brighten her day and spirits!

New Skills: You started to learn how to crawl this month.  Big accomplishment, buddy!  Since learning to crawl you have just taken off with new skill after new skill.  You can crawl into a bouncy seat, crawl up the living room step, crawl and then sit up on your own, and NOW pull yourself up to your feet!  We had to lower your crib.  So far you have pulled yourself up in the crib, coffee table, TV stand, an couch and chair.

Matthew,
Mommy and Daddy love to see your infectious smile.  We especially love the smile you give us after you have done something you're proud of.  It's like your telling us, "Oh yeah, I just did that!"  You love to explore the house now that you are mobile.  It can sometimes be a challenge for us to contain you when you have your mind set on getting somewhere.  We are so proud of all you have been learning!  We love you!


Katherine Ilene







Diaper Size: Size 3

Clothing Size: 6-9 months and 9 months

Sleeping: You are still an amazing sleeper! You take 2 or 3 naps during the day. You wake up in the morning between 7:30-8:00, have your first bottle, and then take your first nap after an hour of when you wake up. You take your second nap around noon, and then you last quick nap around 5:00.  You take much longer naps than your brother averaging 1 to 2 hours at a time.  You eat your last bottle between 7:30-8:00 and then we put you to bed. We can put you in your crib and you'll coo a little and then fall asleep all by yourself. We might have to put your paci in your mouth a few times in the middle of the night. You always do great at falling right back asleep. To help you sleep you love to have your pink monkey blanket. You love to feel the furry monkey and the satin with your hands. We also put your muslin blanket on the other side of you.  You like to sleep best on your back or left side.

Eating: The middle of this past month you switched to eating 4 times a day. Yay! Mommy really worked on this! You eat 6 or 7 o.z. at a time. You eat baby food twice a day, morning and dinner, and eat a snack in the afternoon. For snacks you like puffs (a new treat!), yogurt, and frozen or fresh fruit in your food feeder. New foods you've tried this month are: mango, fresh peaches, fresh melons, fresh banana, orange, prunes, cinnamon mixed with pears and oatmeal, pear yogurt, puffs. You're favorites are green beans, cinnamon pears with oatmeal, yogurt, apple, sweet potato, and peaches. You also have been introduced to a sippy cup. You still don't get much out but you're exploring the new cup.

Dislike: You don't like it when I wipe your face after you finish eating baby food.  You get over anxious when you see us preparing your bottle.  You hate it when the car stops, Matthew takes your paci, being on your tummy too long, and when Matthew wakes you up in the middle of the night.

Favorite Activities: Now that you can sit up on your own you love to sit and play with toys around you.  You like having your diaper changed.  You love having someone hold and walk around with you.  Jumping!  You love to jump in your new Rainforset Jumperoo!  You also love to talk or babble!  You like it when we play Patty Cake and Peek-a-Boo with you.

Nicknames: Kate, Katers, Kater Tot, Kater Gator, Tater

Talking: You make sounds all of the time now! You like to talk to yourself as you fall asleep. You make sounds like "da da", loud happy screeches, "hi", "yeah", and "hey". You like to coo and have a conversation with us.  We find you talk most when you have your hand or paci in your mouth.

New Adventures: You just had your first Halloween. You were a black cat and went trick-or-treating to a couple of houses back in Mommy and Daddy's hometown. You went to your Great Uncle Jim's 80th birthday party. Also, you went to your friend Alma's 2nd birthday party. Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding so Great Aunt Mary and Heimy came up to babysit you. You visited Great Grandma in the hospital. You helped brighten her day and spirits!

New Skills: You do great at sitting up on your own.  You are rolling over more onto your stomach.  You're do great at picking up and reaching for objects around you.  And Mommy and Daddy's new favorite skill: holding your bottle so you can feed yourself.  You are starting to shimmy around in your crib a bit more.  You love playing peek-a-boo by yourself with your monkey blanket as your trying to fall asleep in your crib.  You're recognizing people and love to see Daddy when he gets home.  You can pick up paci's and put it in and out of your mouth.

Kate,
Daddy and Mommy think you are such a great little girl!  We love to watch you jump in your jumperoo and listen to your talking.  You still love to grab our faces and give us wet kisses.  Your big smiles can always make us laugh.  We're so proud at how well you're doing with sitting and love that you can now hold your own bottle.  We love you!

We're 8 Months!






(these pictures with the twins together are getting harder and harder.  It's very difficult to get 8 month olds to both look at the camera smiling!)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween

Happy 1st Halloween Katherine and Matthew!















We look forward to trick-or-treating with you next year kiddos!  We hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Army Crawling and Baby Gates

C.R.A.W.L.I.N.G.! Yup, Matthew has been crawling up a storm this past week.  He went from getting up on all fours, to army crawling, to taking some steps in the crawling position in just a couple of weeks.  Kevin and I commented on how our little boy's world has completely changed in one week.  Our's too for that matter. Since learning how to crawl, more so army crawl, he has accomplished:
* climbing into his bouncy seat
* pulling himself up onto his knees
* empty toys from their bins
* can go from being on all fours into the sitting up position
* pick up a paci laying on the floor in his path and put it in his mouth

*And the biggest learned skill, the one which has changed our lives, is being able to climb up the step out of our living room into the dinning room!

We thought we had some time before this little busy body would figure how to make it up the step in our living room.  I figured I would have time to be able to contain him in just the living room when it was just me home with him all day.  Guess we thought completely wrong about the curiosity and determination of a new crawler. So, Kevin and I knew we needed to go and get a baby gate for the basement steps ASAP!  Matthew learned how to climb up the steps on Saturday and we had a baby gate installed on Sunday.  Now the baby proofing at the Willms' household has officially begun.  No more putting it off!

Here are some pictures of Matthew trying to figure out crawling and his new tricks.

I do a great job sitting up all by myself now.

Early on trying to get up on my hands.

In the beginning I moved my legs back and forth, but I didn't quite know what to do with my hands or head. 

I can knock tackle over my toy tub.

Up on all fours.

Did I just climb in here all by myself?  Not sure how I'm going to get down.

I can even go for toys under my exersaucer.

Helping Mommy turn the pages in the storybook.

Look What I Can Do Step by Step...

Working my way up the step...

Half way up there now...

I made it! (Yes, He was playing with my Skor candy bar wrapper and carried it up the step with him.)

Good thing we got the gate!

More fun under the exersaucer!  Such a silly boy.  He is pretty good at getting himself out from under there, though.

"Hi there."

Kate's not crawling yet, but she's definitely having her own milestone moments, too.  She's been rolling over to her stomach more often and staying there for a longer period of time...slowly starting to like her tummy more.  She can hold her own bottle and feed herself!  This is especially awesome for Mommy!  And the two biggest things she loves right now is bouncing in the exersaucer and talking or cooing!  She has discovered the new sounds she can make and will make a sound over and over again like she's saying a sentence.  She might have the gift of gab from her father okay....mother. ;)

Kate's doing great at sitting up on her own, too!  She loves to sit up and play with toys around her.

I can hold my own bottle.  Now I don't even need a blanket to help prop the bottle. 

Both doing great at holding their food feeders.


Such a sweetie!

Enjoying some tummy time with my matching twin.

The twins are starting to play together more now that they are active.  It's funny to see the other grab a toy out of the other's hand.  Matthew's also notorious for taking Kate's paci out of her mouth and putting it in his.  So if you see Matthew in a picture with a pink paci you'll know why.

Today I was trying to take some pictures of the two of them in their matching outfits, and I realized Matthew has a hard time with personal space.  Poor Kate.

Don't mind my finger in your ear, Kate.

"Hey, sis watcha doin?"

Don't mind me if I just lean up close to you.

And finally a good one!


We can't believe how fast you're learning new things.  It seems like everyday you amaze us with something new you can do.  Can't believe you're going to be 8 months old tomorrow!