Some Firsts

First playdate  - with my friend Kim and her new baby girl Harper (in the middle).  Harper was born 3 days before our due date in April so gestationally they are the same age, even though we are technically a month and a half older, which is neat to see the comparisons.

Brinley, Cooper, and Harper (the first of many pictures where nobody is looking at the camera I'm sure!)

First Party - Cooper and Brinley attended their cousins Zach and Colton's graduation parties. They did amazing and didn't mind being passed around and were so happy all night.

Colton with Cooper

Zach with Cooper

Selfies with Aunt Kala and Cooper

Kala and Brinley



Taken by Aunt Ashley who has come to stay with us for several days at a time to help out





Brinley kicking off her covers and lounging again



First Mother's Day!

Things have been going great here. Brandon went back to work a couple weeks ago, and it was an adjustment getting used to being home with two babies by myself. I've luckily had help a couple days a week from family/friends. I go back to work in two weeks, June 2.  They are so good in the mornings, and get a little fussy in the evenings but generally are really good babies still I think. They don't cry uncontrollably ever, and are easy to console by holding them and rocking, etc.  Brinley has become the fussy one oddly enough since she was by far the most content one in the hospital. Cooper is a lot more awake than her during the day now and enjoys looking around and watching stuff.  They both are getting really good head control, and can hold their heads up themselves when you have them on your shoulder.  They eat every 3 hours still during the day but will go longer at night so they end up only taking 2 bottles in the night instead of 3. This has messed up our 5,8,11,2 feeding schedule obviously but they get themselves back on their 3 hour feeding schedule during the day, it just might be at 10am instead of 11am, etc. Every day is different on that regard. We do still try to keep them together on the same feeding schedule and mostly that has worked out but there's been a couple of nights where they've gotten off (when one of them really wants to sleep longer and won't wake up) and that does make it harder.  It makes it to where I'm virtually doing nothing but feeding or pumping.  Cooper eats 3.5 ounces and Brinley eats 3 ounces per bottle now which means we are having to supplement with formula a little less than half their bottles now. We're out of the milk I had been able to freeze while they were in the hospital.



Brinley and Cooper in their Mizzou gear getting ready to go out to lunch for our first Mother's Day. It was the first time we've taken them to a restaurant or really any public place besides the doctor.  They did great and slept the whole time!!

Brinley on the couch not wanting to be bothered

We used to keep them in swaddle sacks almost all of the time to keep them warm and because they seem to like it (they were swaddled 100% of the time in the NICU) but with the warmer weather and now that they are getting some fat on them (see the beginning of some chubby legs :)) we've been taking them out of the swaddles during the day.  We will still keep their legs covered while in their bouncy seats or swings but Brinley doesn't like it most of the time and kicks the blanket off then likes to kick her feet up and lounge a bit.

My cousin Sarah visited with her two kids, Ben and Kate. They were very good baby holders.

Me and Cooper at the restaurant on Mother's Day.

Cooper at the eye doctor. He did great with the eye dilation and with the exam. They said his eyes are healthy and look great, and that the cross eyes thing is fine/normal below 6 months of age and to just watch if he starts doing it more to come back in.  It was kinda fun to just go somewhere just me and Cooper (Brinley stayed home with Grandma Judy) and way so easy with just one baby!



Cooper sleeping hard

Cooper likes to sit in his bouncy chair and look outside.



 

2 Months

 

Brinley loves to cuddle with her daddy.

Ok, and her mom too. Maybe she just likes to cuddle!

Typical day now for us (on a good day :)) Me and Brinley lounging with the overprotective dogs hanging out close by. They love having me home so they don't have to stay outside all day.  They have both become very protective of the babies and get very agitated and upset and give us dirty looks if they are crying for very long.

Cooper enjoying the swing. When Brandon has been working from home, the babies typically go in their swings after the 8am feeding and hang out with Brandon while he works, and I go back to sleep for a bit!!

After their shots, the Dr said it could go either way - they would be really fussy or really tired. Luckily, they both got really tired! For a day or so after the shots we could barely keep them awake to eat. This is me trying to feed them both one night and them both falling asleep on me!

Now that they are getting bigger and have more head control, we can put them in more things like these vibrating bouncy seats. They LOVE them, and they've been a huge life saver in the evenings as the babies have gotten more fussy as the day go on, which is I've been told is typical.  Also has been super helpful with Brandon going back to work and me being by myself most days to have something to occupy them so I can get stuff done or just spend one-on-one time with one and still keep the other occupied and happy.

The babies had their two month checkups this week.  Everything looks great with them -  Brinley has gotten a little flat on one side of her head so we're now focused on making her lay on the other side. Her neck seems fine and not the problem (like that she doesn't want to/can't turn her head that way). It's more about how we've been feeding her and holding her on that one side all the time.  No big deal to fix.  Cooper has a little problem with crossing his eyes lately, and so the Dr has referred us to see an eye specialist to make sure it's nothing too serious.

Their stats:

Brinley
Weight: 7 lbs 3 oz
Height: 19.4 in
Head Circumference: 14.2 cm

Cooper
Weight: 8 lbs 3 oz
Height: 20.5 in
Head Circumference: 14.5 cm

Neither of them are even on the charts for height and weight for a two month baby, and they probably won't be on the percentile charts for the first couple of years, but the Dr was very happy with their growth since the last checkup.  Funny though that they both are in the 2nd percentile for head size for two month babies though!