6 months!

Oh my gosh.  I simply cannot believe that it has been 6 months since my sweet boys came into the world.  It has been a complete roller coaster ride, but an amazing one.  

Both boys are growing and thriving.  They usually sleep 12 hours through the night, although lately they've been getting up earlier and earlier for an extra feeding.  I think it's the 6 month growth spurt sneaking in.  We have been waiting to start baby food because a.) the speech therapist recommended it and b.) Mommy is not especially eager to deal with the extra mess of feeding 2 infants!  But we're starting this week so it should get interesting.  Here's what's been going on in the boys' lives individually!

Beckett

18 pounds 3 ounces - 50th percentile

27 3/4 inches long - 75th-90th percentile

Oh Mr. Beckett.  He is the most mellow, laid back, content, happy kid on the block.  I want to bottle up his personality and sell it.  He's a mother's dream, except for one thing -- he doesn’t like to sleep.  In the morning, he's just so sweet and smiley.  But then morning naptime comes and he fights sleep and screams and fusses.  And before you know it, it's time for afternoon nap.  And now he's so overtired he really can't sleep.  He's happy if he's in my arms with 150% of my attention.  But unfortunately for him, he has 2 brothers who also need attention.  And gosh darn it, Mommy needs to pee every once in awhile.   Then bedtime comes and we spend hours feeding and soothing and pacing trying to get him to sleep.  On the plus side, once he's asleep, he's usually out for the night, with only the occasional waking for a feeding.  We're trying different things to help him sleep and really trying to be consistent with his schedule.  He's showing some progress and I can only pray that it continues!

Aside from his crappy sleeping habits, Beckett is a dream.  Like I said, he's a very pleasant kid.  I've learned that he is slow and methodical in his actions and seems to need permission and encouragement from mom before playing with certain toys or rolling over.  He thinks before he acts, studying and concentrating objects and movements.  He's making great progress in physical therapy.  In early February he found his toes and is now able to roll both ways and spend lots of time on his belly.  Beckett has the ability to move around quite a bit, but instead seems to be content where Mommy puts him, with whatever toy I put in front of him.  For this reason, he's getting very good at sitting unassisted.  I remember my mom telling me that I was very mellow baby, so I can only speculate that Beckett has taken on more of his Mommy's personality. 

Kiernan

18 pounds 3 ounces - 50th percentile

28 inches - 90th percentile

Kiernan is a "do-er".  He's adventurous and energetic and doesn't like to feel like he can't do something.  It seems that if he feels that way, he's bound and determined to prove otherwise.  His emotions are intense.  When he's happy, he's blissful.  When he's upset, he's ragingly angry.  And unlike his brother, he loves his sleep.   He's a very cut and dry kid.  Fairly easy to please.  As long as he's fed, dry, and not sleepy, he's happy.

I will say though, that Kiernan is becoming more and more adventurous.  He never stays on the quilt on the floor for long.  He's almost always rolling, wiggling, and scooting over to see something or someone.  Brennan's cars seem to intrigue him and you can usually find him with one in his hands.  Of course, this isn't very popular with big brother.  Poor Brennan will be learning a hard lesson in sharing as his little brothers become more mobile. 

Kiernan has a hard time sitting unassisted.  He's able to do it, but he's a back archer (something we're working on in physical therapy) and therefore doesn't sit well.  But on the other hand, he's getting very strong and is so close to being up on his hands and knees.  He pushes up very very high and pulls his knees under him, but they usually slide back out to the side.  The PT says that this is quite normal and has given us some exercise to help him.  Mommy is going to have her hands full once he gets the hang of it because he's already good at moving around without crawling!