10 Months with Puppies

Let's sub-title the pictures for this month: When the boys learned they can escape and there are way more exciting things to do than look at the camera.

Wyatt had some very brief cooperative moments when he was alone in the chair.

This is his "stop making me sit back in the chair, I want to dive head-first on to the floor" expression.

He decided to lick the stuffed animal and was not thrilled with the taste.  However that didn't stop him from trying again.

Ruslan had no interest in looking at me or smiling. 

The ceiling fan, even turned off, is way more exciting than mommy and the camera.

This is my favorite one.  I am singing and he is dancing back and forth - I love his head tip and straight smile when he "dances".

The two of them together.

Wyatt spent most of the time trying to escape from the chair.

Eventually Ruslan got tired of chasing after him.

Wyatt's Latest Trick

It's been about a week now and I still laugh every time he does it - Wyatt claps!  He is so pleased with this new skill.  There is one song that the farm plays that will always start the clapping.  He will often start to clap when he is excited to see someone walk in the room - and who doesn't like to be greeted with applause and a big smile.

Let's Play

The boys are spending more time playing - alone with their toys, together with each other and they love when big sister decides to entertain them for a few minutes - their loudest laughs are heard when Juliana is playing with them.  They have also reached the age where playing peak-a-boo is hysterical fun.  If I hide behind the table while they are eating and pop-up, this is what I see.

If they are playing in the living room and I peak-out from the hallway, they are watching - ready to smile and giggle.  So much fun.

Weathering The Storm

Life goes on for the boys in this snow filled day.  Ruslan has a new favorite face that I half caught in this picture - the super cute fish face - and sometimes that fish face ends with a kiss :)

Wyatt has joined the backwards crawling fun, but he prefers to be standing if possible.

And a few pictures of the snow...

9 Months Old

9 months is such a fun age and my favorite part about the boys being 9 months old is definitely watching them interact.  They sit next to each other and play, and I am hoping they learn to share soon.  Generally Wyatt is happily playing with a toy and Ruslan decides he wants it and takes it away.  Wyatt will get mad and either start to cry or lunge at Ruslan in an attempt to take the toy back - a tug of war over the toy may be involved. 

We didn't buy lots of presents for the boys at Christmas. Their one big present was the Fisher-Price Learning Farm and they play with it everyday.  Since it is double-sided they can each play on one side and watch each other through the doorway.

They also love to grab at each other - ears, mouth, feet - I don't know what they think they are going to do with their brother's ear once they get a good grip.

Ruslan's third tooth came in this month - top-left, middle and Wyatt has a third tooth on the top as well.

They continue to eat their way through all of the 2nd foods as well as puffs and rice cakes.  And they still have 4 bottles each day.

Both boys had their first sick + fever episodes at the end of December / beginning of January.  Wyatt is extermely miserable and needs to be held for hours (even at night) when he has a cough and sore throat.  Ruslan developed the first ear infection at the begining of January and started a second round of antibiotics a few weeks later when his left ear was still infected.  At their 9-mo appt Wyatt was diagnosed with his first ear infection (left ear) and started antibiotics.  Ruslan was home for 2 days while Wyatt was at daycare - this was the first time they have been separated for more than a few hours.  Wyatt was much fussier than normal on those days and so very excited when he came home and saw his brother.

They are both sitting well now and Ruslan continues his adventures in backwards crawling.  He gets where he wants to go, it just takes a lot longer than going forward.  Wyatt gets around as well, but not on all 4's quite yet.

They are having their nighttime bottle and going to bed for the night between 7:00 and 7:30.  And at least one of them makes it until morning each night.  Often times one of them wakes up and is sad enough to need to be comforted back to sleep.  We are trying to give them time to fall back asleep on their own and the past few nights have been good.  They wake up between 6:00 and 7:00, hoping that shifts closer to 7:00 everyday soon.  And over the past month, they have finally started taking longer naps at daycare.  Previously they would only nap for 30 mins at a time even though they napped for hours at home on the weekend.  Now they are both getting at least one nap longer than an hour and usually two.  That makes for much happier babies in the evening.

Did I forget to mention that Wyatt says mama now - he said it on Christmas Eve for the first time - generally he says it for 10 minutes straight once he gets started :)

9-month stats
Ruslan - Weight - 19 lbs 3 oz (25%) - Height - 28-1/4" (47%)
Wyatt - Weight - 18 lbs 13 oz (20%) - Height - 29-1/2" (84%)

9 Months with Puppies

Ruslan is not very interested in sitting still these days...

The Duck Tub Returns

We used the baby tub in the sink well beyond the recommended weight guideline, but they were perfectly happy in it up until this point.  This begins the sharing of the bathroom for Juliana and her brothers - a happy occasion today...check back when the teenage years begin.

The duck tub came out of storage and we will be using it until they are more stable sitting on their own and then they will be able to take a bath together.

Ruslan went first and was very happy with the new tub.  He sat up, grabbed a toy and enjoyed the whole bath, even some washing from Juliana.

Wyatt was not quite as thrilled with the experience.  He held one leg out of the water as long as possible.  Then he realized he could recline and hold both of his legs in the air.  He prefers the relaxing bath.

I need to work out the logistics between their room and the bathroom and what I need to have in each location to get both of them ready. 

Snow Babies

What's the point of having snowsuits if they can't spend a few minutes in the snow?  I resisted the urge to bury them in snow because it is very cold, and they were only outside for a few minutes.  Wyatt held still as the snowflakes fell on his face; perhaps hoping it would all go away if he didn't move.  Ruslan made no secret of his dislike for this outing, but stop crying as soon as I picked him up.

8 Months Old

At 8 months, the boys are changing so much.  They both have their 2 bottom front teeth and more are on the way.  Wyatt was very fussy when his teether were coming in; we didn't even know that Ruslan was teething until we could see the teeth.

We got the Jumperoo out of storage this month and they both love it.  I have never seen a baby get as excited as Ruslan when he sees the Jumperoo.  He wants to bounce all of the time - when he is being held, in the exersaucer, any time he is on his feet.  He has this silly, closed mouth smile he makes when he is in the Jumperoo - that's the only time I ever see him make this face.  This is his happiest place right now.

They are both capable of sitting up unassisted, but they still tip over easily.  Ruslan is still crawling backwards only and Wyatt makes his way around on his belly.  Occasionally Wyatt gets up and rocks on his knees, but then he slides back to the floor to get around.

They are interacting so much more with each other, toys and everything they see.  Generally if one of them is in the exersaucer we put the other in the jumperoo and we keep them next to each other.  They bounce and play and babble and squeal at each other.  And they are happy to play on the floor with the toys and get practice moving around on their own.

They are down to 4 bottles of formula a day - wake-up, mid-morning, mid-afternoon and before bed (I stopped breastfeeding Ruslan at the end of Novermber as planned prior to vacation).  They eat breakfast at 9:00, lunch at 1:00 and dinner at 5:30. 

Ruslan eats everything, but reflux remains an issue.  Sometimes an entire meal comes back up if he coughs or gags on a piece of food.  He loves the sippy cup, he will drink half a cup of water if we let him...of course too much water with a full belly usually leads to reflux issues.

Wyatt is more cautious when it comes to food.  He clamps his mouth shut tight if he isn't ready to eat and tries a tiny taste of the meal before deciding if he is going to eat today's selection.  However if he is hungry, he screams from the moment he is in the high chair until he has 3 or 4 spoonfuls in his mouth.

Ruslan babbles constantly and at the end of November he said ma-ma as his first word.  Wyatt just started babbling and said ma-ma just before Christmas.

Ruslan is now sleeping on his stomach; he started flipping over on his own a few weeks ago as soon as we put him in his crib.