Month 11, Week 3 & 4

The boys have been hard at work on honing new skills.  Zach is now a master at pulling up and doing his leg/behind scoot maneuver.  He can go from sitting to standing using just about anything - my leg, the wagon, the couch, etc.  His scooting might not be the most efficient way to get around but he doesn't have a problem going from the play room to the living room and back again after a ball.

Alex is getting really good at cruising. He'll take my hands and we'll go for walks around the house.  When he reaches where he wants to go, he'll plop down and start playing.  He prefers to be in near constant motion when standing, so he'll cruise on me or Zach to get around any obstacle.  With both boys I've been playing Up and Down, where they'll crouch down and I'll say "Down!" and when they stand back up I'll say "Up!"  They think it's hilarious.  They've gotten to the point where I can say "Down!" and they'll crouch.

Zach has started trying to mimic what we say.  The first time I noticed was after I said "Ut oh!" and he replied "Uh Oh!"  We've been working on "Mommy" and I get "Nomma" in response.  I tried the same thing with Alex but instead of "Mommy" I got "Dada!" nearly shouted back.  hehe

Zach has all 8 teeth poked through (4 top/4 bottom), while Alex has been working on his top ones.  He has numbers 8, 7, and 10 in and you can see the beginning of number 9.  So, his pattern of not following the rules has continued.  He has this gap on the top because he hasn't gotten his front left tooth in.

Also this week the boys have discovered their nose and that they can put their finger in it.  They're not actually picking it but seem to thing it's something fun to do.  The boys have learned that pictures in books look like real things.  They have a book of animals that I read to them some times.  They don't show any interest in the pictures until we get to the one of the orange cat.  They'll both reach out to pat it and they don't want to leave the page.  We also have a grey cat down the street that will come out to meet them when we take walks in the evening.  Both boys have managed to grab his ears and tail but he doesn't seem to care.

I took the boys over to our friend J's house this week and they played with her 10mo daughter, Ana. We ate lunch then went swimming in their kiddie pool.  Both Zach and Alex went to town splashing, while Ana concentrated more on the toys.  They live on a farm, so the horses and dogs watched the kids play.  The boys had SO much fun cruising around on all of their furniture.  At one point Zach started running his hands down their air return grate.  It made this washboard-type noise that Zach loved.  Alex joined in with some bells.  All we need to do is teach Ana to blow on a jug and we'd have a nice country band going.

Another development this week is Zach is scared of anyone that isn't me or Jim.  It started when our house cleaners came before we were ready to head out.  We normally leave since the boys are scared of the vacuum.  Well, the cleaners came in and Zach was so scared he couldn't move.  He just cried and cried, with his little body shaking.  I had to peel him off the train table and hold him.  A few days later J and Ana came by.  Now, we see them about twice to three times a week.  Both boys will go to J and normally get excited to see them.  Well, this time Zach was petrified.  I picked him up and held him until he realized J wasn't going to do anything to him.  Then he was back to his normal self, laughing and playing.

I'm not sure what this is going to mean for their birthday party coming up.  We witnessed sort of thing about 3 more times during the week, so I don't think it's a fluke.  The worst was when a former co-worker came over with her little girl, Amy.  Zach burst into tears, which startled Amy and made her cry.  Alex then got upset that Amy was upset.  In a matter of a few seconds we had three babies bawling uncontrollably.  This was Amy's first play date ever, so I felt kind of bad that we started out on a bad foot.

It hasn't helped their moods any that I'm trying to reduce the amount of breast feeding they're doing.  I would like them to stop altogether within the next month, but they've shown no signs of stopping on their own.  In fact, it's been quite the opposite.  They were getting pushier and wanting more than they used to.  They expected milk before, during, and after every nap, plus about 3 other times during the day, before bed, and about 5 times during the night.  If I didn't move fast enough, they would help themselves.  I was getting Alex into position when Zach pulled himself over, lifted up my shirt, and latched on.  Talk about making me feel like a dairy cow...

So we're down to 2 milk sessions during the day, one before each nap, and about 3 during the night.  They seem to be adjusting well.  Neither even asked for milk during their naps today (day 3).  The first day I tried it, they wouldn't go back to sleep after they wanted milk during their naps, so they only slept 30min instead of 1.5hrs.  Their eating at breakfast, lunch, and dinner has really picked up, too.  They're actually eating, instead of nibbling and throwing most of it on the floor.  We've been giving them water whenever they want it, and whole milk with meals.  Zach likes milk but Alex doesn't, so he gets water most of the time.  If they start getting a little cranky in the afternoon I'll give them a snack.

Both boys are getting pretty good at drinking out of straws.  I think I'm going to get them some straw sippy cups so they can have a drink whenever they want it.  I'm most worried about dehydration as we wean them off breast milk since they're not used to relying on water or cows milk.

We tried some new foods this week - baked beans, fruit smoothies, cheese crackers with peanut butter, tomato and cheese sandwiches, and some new fruit/veggie pouches.  We're going through a phase where Zach will eat just about anything but Alex is acting picky.  Usually if I make him try something a couple of times he'll eat it, though.  He still doesn't know how to spit things out, so I use that to my advantage.

I'm looking forward to their birthday party.  I hope the boys have fun.  Jim's worried about them not diving into their little cakes, but I would be surprised if they didn't.  It seems like their hands are into just about everything now.