Six Months

Teddy & Gwen turned six months old on January 12th. To celebrate we did what we do on most days: try to avoid the feeling that our life is unraveling while we attempt to care for three children, two of whom are tyrants (ok, lovable tyrants). We took Everett to Sunday school and then the entire family went to church. Afterward Chris and Everett tromped around in the snow for a couple hours and tried to take advantage of the warm temperatures to clear the ice off the driveway. Teddy and Gwen were outside with us and took a nap in their bassinets. Later in the day Chris took all three children on a trip to REI so that Melissa could have some quiet time.

Our experience with the twins has been rewarding but also exhausting. Every night is an unpredictable odyssey, yet we are always hopeful at bedtime that we (and everyone else) will sleep through it. I think it’s safe to say that neither Melissa nor Chris has experienced this degree of sleep deprivation before. But the babies are extremely cute and lovable, and our impression of them is the same we had with Everett when he was their age: soon after they were born we developed the impression that they are the way babies should look. Somehow this feeling isn’t diminished by having twins.

Teddy is extremely sensitive to and aware of his surroundings. We have now reached the point where we need to feed him in a dark, quiet place that is free of sensory input simply so that he will stay focused on eating. He is also very active. He has started scooting across the floor to reach his toys and other objects. In contrast, Gwen seems quiet and relaxed. There are many times when we will go into the nursery and find her wide awake but content and quiet, something that we have rarely observed with Teddy. She is very interested in eating. Actually, that’s an understatement – she seems to lurch forward and attack the food as it approaches her mouth, and she sometimes screams if there is too much time between bites. We have given her bananas, avocados and oatmeal. Teddy has been far less interested. He is curious about the spoon, but otherwise doesn’t seem so curious about what’s on it, or figuring out how to swallow it.

Each of them develops at their own rate. It seems that one of them will surge ahead in some new capability and then plateau, and later the other one will catch up. Teddy seemed to be out in front for a while with physical development. He is still very active, but Gwen has made a lot of progress, even if she isn’t as wild as he is. For example: Teddy will get into the exersaucer and slam his bottom down as hard as he can, causing the springs to compress and the whole thing to lurch to one side; Gwen will interact with it, but sometimes put her head down and go to sleep while upright. Teddy also started vocalizing earlier than Gwen, but this week she was the first to start using a recognizable word: “Dada”. Other recent observations:
-The bottom two front teeth have now poked through the gums in Teddy’s mouth.
-Teddy has invented his own eponymous dance.
-Everett has come up with several new renditions of Beyonce’s All the Single Ladies: All the Sleeping Babies; All the Crying Babies; All the Screaming Babies; and All the Stinky Babies.
-Over the last week Teddy has taken a much greater interest in eating, though he has a different style than Gwen. She gets right down to business and seems to swallow most of the food. He takes a spoonful of food and then follows it up with his thumb while grabbing the spoon with his free hand.
-Both Teddy and Gwen have started outgrowing clothing and baby equipment. We are getting ready to give some clothing away, and their bouncy seats are going back on Craigslist. Actually, the latter is more for safety: one day we found that Teddy had folded his torso over his feet and off to one side. His head almost hit the floor, and he could have easily tipped the entire chair over. This was an experience we have never had with Gwen or Everett.
-Both of them can roll over at will, and we often finding them sleeping on their stomach.
-Lastly, both now sit at the table with us for dinner each night.
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Comments (1)

One thought on “Six Months

  1. Great picture of the twins…both still at the same time! All the children are growing so quickly; and sleep will come soon.

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