First Overnights without Mom

This past week, Brandon had a few days off work so went back to his parents to hunt. After some careful consideration, we decided the babies (and me haha) were ready for an overnight visit, without me, with Brandon's parents. They left on Wednesday afternoon and came home Friday night. It was really nice to have two nights after work to myself - very strange - but really nice. And the babies and grandparents had a great time!

Some pictures of their "vacation"

GO ROYALS!!

Finally got the babies some Royals gear - Ready for tonight's game 6!

 

 

The Evolution of the Bath

The babies have always loved bath time. We probably don't do it as often as we should (a couple times a week) but we do what we can (hey, there's two of them, cut us some slack!).

Bath time for the babies started out in the kitchen sink in a mesh baby bath seat.  It was a very hectic time taking two people to bath one baby (and actually get them really clean) and then hoping the other baby wouldn't cry too much while they waited their turn.

Then once they outgrew the kitchen sink baths, we started putting them in the big tub with lots of towels to keep their heads above water. They really liked this and splashing their feet around. This made bath time infinitely easier as one person could bath both babies at a time. (though somehow they still only got a couple baths per week...)  All the soaking wet towels was really annoying, though.

Now that the babies are sitting, we've graduated to the laundry basket method in the big tub. We tried just letting them sit in the tub, but even on towels, two slippery babies is hard to manage. Especially when Brinley always wants to lean forward and put her face in the water and/or tackle Cooper.  So my twin moms FB group recommended this method (as they did the towel method above). It has worked great!  It really helps them stay sitting better and not slide around. Brinley still tries to tackle Cooper but it's not as bad with the basket to keep him upright. And the wet plastic basket dries almost instantly so bath cleanup is a cinch!

Sippy cups, New Toys, & NICU Reunion

They are both so great with their sippy cups and love drinking water out of them.  Cooper is funny - he refuses to drink until after he's done eating his entire meal, and then he'll chug for several minutes - which is also one of MY weird quirks :)

I got out this activity table (with the legs off for now) that friends gave us. Cooper is obsessed about closing the little green door - he slams it shut every time and is soo serious about it. He does NOT want that door open!



Morning home with me while Brandon was working an odd Sunday.  We had such a good time playing. They are really getting to be independent and play on their own. We have to watch Brinley close now because she makes a beeline for the TV cords every time you turn around, and she's getting really fast!

Got this thing for $10 at a consignment sale recently. It lights up and plays music when they hit a button, and they especially love looking at themselves in the mirror. This entertains Cooper for a long time!

We went to the Shawnee Mission Medical Center NICU reunion this Sunday.  Had a good time in their Halloween costumes and seeing some of our favorite nurses from our time in the NICU.  They love seeing how big their tiny patients get to be!  We went with their nicknames for their first Halloween costumes - Brinley is a Care Bear. We started out calling her Brinley Bear, then Brin Bear, then just Bear, then sometimes Care Bear.  Cooper is of course Super Cooper Superman.

6 mo Photo Shoot

Our neighbor Geneva has a daughter Carol who took some great pictures of the babies recently. Thank you so much Caro,l and Grandma Judy for helping orchestrate!!