Cute pics of the Day

Colds and Family Time

Both babies are professional sitters now. Our favorite thing to do now is sit on the floor and play with the toys.

Both babies and me have had colds all week. Cooper had real problems sleeping. It was an odd feeling to be woken up in the night with a crying baby when we haven't had that for over 3 months now! He normally sleeps flat on his back and never moves but that was not the best position for a cold obviously. He finally figured out to turn his head to the side and that helped him sleep a bit.

They do pretty good holding their own bottles now!  We still usually help them though :) They've gotten so grabby lately with everything, especially Brinley. If a bottle comes anywhere near them they're grabbing it and shoving it into their mouths. No more waiting! They've also gotten bad about trying to grab our drinks and food as well so we have to be careful now.

Brandon's family had a family reunion this past Sunday so we spent the weekend in Boonville with the grandparents.  Aunt Kala wore out Brinley - or possibly the other way around.

Our nanny took a couple vacation days so Aunt Kala watched them one day and had lots of fun!

Kala and Cooper at the reunion

Dogs and Sitting

Really loving our dogs now.

Laughing and Eating

We spent the weekend at my parents.  My brother Ryan had Cooper laughing so hard, it was awesome. We still don't get regular laughs from them but have been getting a lot more from Cooper lately.

Cooper really started eyeing (and grabbing) my food/drinks this weekend. Even though I said I would never do this haha he got to try a few new things - LOVES pumpkin pie!

And would get very mad if I dared to give myself a bit and not him.

We visited Aunt Ashley at her new job. She's the administrator at a small independent living facility in Laurie, MO (by Lake of the Ozarks). She lives there, on the premises in her own apartment, now.

Tried out our travel high chairs - they worked great.  Babies have now had sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, avocados and green beans. They loved them all (though it took a few days to get used to the peas and avocados)

Cooper is a bouncing machine.  He even likes to bounce when you're just holding him on the floor, not in the jumper things.

Always fun to try new toys at Grandma's.

Raspberries

Brinley's "talking" has turned into full blown blowing raspberries ALL the time! It's very adorable, and she thinks she's really something when she does it.  I caught her on video one day doing it - this was only a small fraction of the time in the jumper this day where she was "talking" to herself nonstop.

First Times



We had a lot of new things going on this weekend.  Hunting season has started so Brandon went back to his parents house so Grandma Judy and Aunt Kala stayed with me and the babies this weekend.

I recently went to a huge consignment sale and got fall/winter clothes for the next 6 months. 

First time wearing jeans.

 Like usual, Cooper was NOT into having his picture taken.

At the consignment sale, I got this awesome basketball goal that is electronic, plays music and counts how many baskets you make.

First time playing basketball.

As you can see from the above picture, Cooper is pretty much sitting on his own now. He'll topple over eventually but does amazing and is really happy sitting playing with his toys.

First time sitting.

I don't have any pictures yet but Brinley also had a first time rolling from her belly to her back. She's been an expert going the other way but just figured out how to roll back on to her back. I caught her a few times not at all where I left her on the floor! One time she'd rolled off the playmat over to where our dog Ty was laying and she was trying to pet him and he was licking her in the face! She had to have rolled at least 3 times in a row to get over to him.

We went to Red Lobster for lunch on Saturday and tried out our new shopping cart/high chair covers.  They were much happier being a part of the action and not in their car seats anymore.

First time in a restaurant highchair.

We went to Costco as well.

First time in a shopping cart.

We put up the doorway jumper thing that their Grandma got them. Cooper loves to bounce in it, and Brinley loves to swing in circles and be around everybody in the kitchen cooking.

First time in a jumper.

 First time supporting our KC Chiefs!

They love to watch the fish in our fish tank but it's gotten a little tiring to stand there and hold them so Brandon devised this plan on Sunday. They loved it! Notice they both put their feet up on the tank instantly!

All these new things wore Cooper (and Miles) out.  This is his preferred way to nap lately.

Thanks Grandma and Auntie for hanging out with us this weekend!

 

Sweet Potatoes

I spent a Sunday recently making our own baby food. It was surprisingly easy and very cheap. I got 5 pound bags of different veggies and fruits from Costco and pureed and then froze them in ice cube trays. We should have enough pureed food until they're ready to start finger foods!

We started with sweet potatoes. Their reactions were very surprising - pretty much NO reaction! They just ate it up like they'd always been eating it.

6 Months

 

The babies are now 6 months old!  They are working on sitting up at the moment. They can sit very well with some help. They love to stand and are pretty good at leaning on the ottoman by themselves. They both roll back to front easily, and Brinley always does when placed on her back, but Cooper spent one day rolling and then determined he didn't like it (he'd get mad being on his belly) and doesn't really do it anymore.  They are both jabberboxes and make lots of squeals. They still don't laugh all the time, but we do get some giggles with more frequency now. Brinley is super laid back and always smiling. Cooper is more opinionated and gets himself worked up and mad easily but then is also super happy too. He goes in extremes.  They both still sleep 12 hours a night from about 7 to 7.  They take 3 shorter naps a day, and take 4 7-oz bottles a day. I stopped pumping at about 5.5 months and they just take all formula now. They love to play in the exersaucer and jumperoo with Cooper just now figuring out how to make himself bounce in them which he squeals with excitement when he does. They've been eating oatmeal cereal for the last month and are now trying out different veggies then will do fruit. They love eating and love sitting in their high chairs.  They are no longer satisfied just being out and about in the carseats; like if we're at a restaurant they'd rather be up and seeing stuff.  They love going places and seeing new things. Cooper really keeps his eye on everything and is very observant. Brinley just loves people and lights up when anybody talks to her. They love our phones and looking at stuff on them and trying to hold them. They put everything straight in their mouths but no teeth yet (but lots of drooling from Cooper). Brinley recently started to suck on her toes. They love their feet.  They love going on walks and being outside.  They've really started to notice the dogs and like to pet them, and they love to lay and play/stare at each other.

On recommendation from our pediatrician, we had a therapist from Johnson County Infant and Toddler Services out to evaluate them (since they were preemies) and she determined they were already catching up to their birth age and were just about a month behind, which is great considering they were two months premature.

The Dr visit went great. She thinks they're doing awesome too!

Their stats:

Brinley
Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz (2nd percentile)
Height: 25 in (5th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.5 in (25th percentile)

Cooper
Weight: 15 lbs 3 oz (10th percentile)
Height: 25.25 in (5th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.6 in (10th percentile)

The percentiles are based on their birth age of 6 months. If you put in their stats at their adjusted age of 4 months, then they are both average.

Messy Face

Captain Adorable

Random Pictures

At the mall with my sister

Resting her head on the exersaucer. Being a little girl is hard work!



Finally a picture where they're both smiling!



This is Cooper's worried face. I left my sister with them at the mall for an hour while I went to an appointment, and she said he kept giving her this "look" like, "you're not my mom lady". Notice the pacifier. He no longer really sucks on it anymore, just likes to hold it - then he tries to put it in his mouth but always has it turned backwards.



Visiting my cousins Josh and Sarah and their little girl Kate

They love to touch our faces. With their chubby, wet, drooly hands.

And they love to touch each other's faces. Brinley left a pile of drool on his head that day.  and Yes. I'm wearing a t-shirt that looks like a lady in a bikini. And it's a thong bikini from the back :)



If we'd had two girls! (it's is the nanny's hair making a wig for Cooper haha)