The girls are now 3 1/2 months old. I still can't believe its been that long. I think its best to tell you about them individually this time.
Allison: She is such a doll. Chipmunk cheeks that get bigger with every smile and a round little booty. Her Daddy tells her she has junk in the trunk all the time. She still loves to sleep on her tummy and will cuddle with anyone to lets her lay on their chest. For the most part she is very content, only crying when she is tired, boared or hunger. She was very patient for a while, but now if she knows you are making a bottle or if she sees me getting ready to nurse its an instant cry. The only other time she cries is when you are burping her. She does not like having her food taken away before she is completely finished. Unfortunitly, she does still have a bit of reflux and therefore, HAS to burp during her feedings. Even if she disagrees.
Allison is quite the talker. She will repeat "ahh" and "ohh", we are curently working on more sounds and adding in consanants. She does squeal, but hasn't quite gotten down the giggle yet. One of her favorite things to do is play with the musical keys haging in her playpen. Although, she hasn't quite gotten the idea of making them "sing." She does love batting at them and trying to grab them. She is just starting to roll over to her side. She will roll to her belly while in her crib, but thats pretty much the only time. She's just not that interested in rolling over just yet.
She is sleeping about 5 to 7 hours at night. She goes to bed at about 8pm and then wakes up around 3am for a feeding then usually goes right back to sleep until 7am. Its a wonderful schedule. If I could just get her to nap more during the day and become a little more regular with her nightime sleep. But, we'll talk more about that later.
Emmily: My other sweet baby girl. She has the cutest smile going all the way up to her eyes. Until the past week she really hasn't had much to say. Just lots of smiles. She is talking a lot more now, but she's not quite to the stage where she will repeat "ahh" or "ohh" sounds. She has started giggling, but she has to be in the right mood to get her to do it. I haven't been able to get her to giggle yet with her Daddy in ear shot, but I'm sure she will soon.
She really dislikes being on her tummy. Most of the time when I force her to lay on her tummy, she rolls over to her back. The other day I was playing with her on a blanket on the floor, and she rolled from her back to her belly then to her back, in a circle, landing right next to my side. She was very proud of herself. She has also started scooting in a circle on her back. This has caused her to loose all the hair in a line on the back of her head. It looks funny, but she loves being able to move.
She differs on her sleep patterns at night. Some nights she will wake for a 3am feeding, but others she won't wake until 5. No matter when she gets in her middle of the night feeding, she always goes back to sleep until 7ish in the morning. She has been much better at sleeping through the night than during the day. The little stinker rarely naps.
Allison and Emmily are so precious! I can't imagine having better babies. Granted, things are not "perfect" but they are pretty darn close. The only thing left to round out our happy family routine is getting them to nap during the day.
I wasn't the normal first time Mom. I didn't read all kinds of books on different parenting philosphies. I thought I knew enough to take a little from what I've heard from family and friends and come up with my own style. Afterall, I was having twins. Surely these methods wouldn't be able to offer me as much as they would a new Mom with just one baby. So I spent my time reading up on twins, and how to treat them individually and help them over come normal twin set backs (like a 6 month delay on speech).
Well, I finally gave in. With both girls going on napping strikes and sometimes nursing strikes as well, it was time to get more information. So I reserved two books from the library that many of my friends have recommended, Healthy Sleep Habbits, Happy Child and Babywise. I am 10th in line for HSHHC, but just got Babywise.
Wouldn't you know it, I am already following most of this method. Most of the "pitfalls" they describe, I managed to avoid. That got me to thinking that maybe, just maybe, there is something to these different parenting styles and philosophies than I thought.
For that reason, I am starting a new blog. This one will be open to everyone and anyone, no password required. However, it will not be based on Allie and Emmi and will not have their pictures. This will still be our family blog for updates about the girls and their continued growth and progress. The new blog will be for exploring Babywise and HSHHC and how they help me to get my girls on a better sleeping, napping, playing and eating schedule without being stuck to a hyperscheduled day. Here is the link for anyone intersted in following along with us: http://sleepytwinmommy.blogspot.com/
