Sleep update (3.5 months)

Since going back to work, we've developed an amazing bedtime routine with the babies. This started really about the week before I went back, where they all of a sudden stopped getting up every 3 hours to eat at night and were only getting up once, at about 2am. then it was 4am. then sometimes they sleep for 12 hours straight! that's usually on a weekend after we've had a busy day. now they typically sleep between 8-10 hours a night without waking up! 

We start their bedtime at about 7pm and it really just consists of changing and swaddling them, bottles, then bed at this point. We do baths a couple times a week too before the bottles on those nights. I would love to do baths more often because they love it and we love it but with two of them, even though Brandon and I have gotten into a really great routine with how we do it and who does what, etc, and we're pretty fast, it just is sort of an ordeal especially when they are fussy before bedtime and it's not fun bathing one baby while the other is crying.  I would also love to do more reading with them before bed, but they are so tired by this point (and us too!) that they have no interest in books for now in the evenings. They get books throughout the day instead and they love getting read to - or probably just looking at the pictures mostly. 

They take their bottle about 7 then are in bed by 7:30 or so. They really require hardly any rocking or cuddling. We put them down fairly awake and they will fall asleep on their own. We can watch them on the video monitors we have, and Cooper will usually lay in bed awake for half hour or so just squirming around, arms all over the place, rubbing his eyes, yawning, then will finally fall asleep. He's started sucking his thumb a bit too!  But he never makes a peep during it all.  Brinley has to be a little more asleep before we put her in bed,  and once in bed she pretty much falls asleep immediately.  We've always used swaddle blankets with the babies (we love the Halo and SwaddleMe ones) but we've swaddled them with their arms out. A few weeks ago, Brinley was having some nights where she didn't want to go to bed after the bottle and would just stay up and whine/small cries for a couple hours then go down to bed. She was just over tired I think but couldn't relax to go to bed. So in desperation one night, after watching her wake herself up constantly with her flailing arms, we swaddled her with her arms in. and it was like a new girl! She instantly calmed down and went to sleep. So we've been doing that with her and she just loves it every night. She looks so cute, like a little burrito, all swaddled up! 

I think putting them to bed awake but drowsy really is the key to their great sleeping. Cooper especially will wake up all through the night and look around and squirm but always just goes back to sleep on his own without waking us up.

So with their schedule, I'm trying to adjust my schedule and go to bed about 9pm and get up about 5 so I can get a full 8 hours uninterrupted too. I was making the mistake of not going to bed until 10-11 then if they're up at 4-5am and then even though they eat and go right back to sleep if they do get up at 4-5 it's not much time for me to go back to sleep before I have to get up.  So I'm doing bottles/picking up the house, trying to do a workout video (trying lol), etc in the mornings instead of evenings and I think it will work out great once I get it down.

now to pictures!

Brandon had the babies to himself one Friday and of course had to change their clothes to their camo onesies!  (which looks great on Cooper in the pink bouncy seat!)

they were loving sitting together on the bouncy seat until I took a picture and forgot the flash was on. Cooper HATEs the flash on cameras!

Getting ready to go to a fish fry at my aunt and uncle's house

Cooper smiling at the nannie's son as he was singing to him

You can't really tell here but Brinley's eyes have stayed a great deep shade of blue, like dark ocean blue.  Cooper's eyes have already turned brown. So it seems Cooper's like his mom and Brinley 's like her dad! just what we wanted, one of each on the eye color!

Cooper has lost his hair and its starting to come back in a light brown. Brinley's hair changes colors all the time, sometimes looking very red/orange like her dad's and other's more brown. Probably a pretty copper/auburn color, a good mix of me and brandon!

Brinley definitely has her dad's paler skin coloring and gets red/flushed when outside and hot. Cooper has darker skin tone like me.