3 precious months

It is amazing to think that they are 3 months old already. I can't believe how much they have grown this past month. Here are some things that the boys are up to:

• Last month they started smiling (week 6-7ish), but this month, they are smiling ALL the time. Especially after eating, they are all smiles -- happy little boys, that's for sure!
• Speaking of sleeping, they averaged 7 straight hours of sleep this month, but have gone as long as 9 hours in one stretch. They had a little growth spurt last week and we kind of went backwards with our length of sleeping at night, but now we are back on track again.
• Speaking of growth spurt, they are now up to eating 6oz. bottles at a time!
• They are enjoying the bumbo chair and are doing much better holding their head up. They are actually starting to hold toys while sitting in the bumbo chair lately too.
• Tummy time has gone very well too. They are using their arms to lift themselves up quite a bit leading them to...
• Roll over already! I guess I don't really know timeframes as to when babies do things, but I was shocked that both Ellis and Logan rolled over from belly to back already.
• Speaking of this, what I'm surprised with is the fact that within a day or two that one of them does something new, the other one does it too. They seem to reach milestones within days of each other.
• They are enjoying bath time much more lately. In fact, they have started kicking and splashing in their bath. I'd love to get them in water more often -- a pool, lake, something, just to get them used to it more. Maybe sometime this summer we can do that.
• Both are doing very well with holding toys in their hands and they grab things all the time. Daddy has learned this too, especially when he holds one of them without a shirt or plays with them on the floor. They have gotten really good at grabbing the hair on his chest or legs enough that it actually hurts him.
• They are really watching EVERYTHING that goes on around them -- people walking by, Bella near them, toys that cross their face, books held in front of them, anything...

• They have started to really check each other out and have smiled at each other while playing -- very cute!
• They have been sucking on anything they can get in their mouth. If they can actually lift the toy all the way to their mouth without dropping it, they stick it in their mouth. They suck on their fists quite a bit and even suck on our shoulder when we carry them.

• They don't outwardly laugh yet, but its more of a breathing in type of laugh.
• They love the sensory-overload toys. Thanks to Aunt Nicole, the boys just STARE at this little snail toy that plays songs or makes noises and lights up when it is hit. They hit it and hit it and hit it for minutes at a time. Eventually we have to take it away from them or else it will never stop! When we had a playdate with Caryn, Cole, Sheila, and Lucas yesterday, Caryn brought out a bouncer for the boys to play in, and the activity bar that attached to it made noises and lit up when it was hit and they just loved it!

• Don't worry though, they have lots of quieter play time too and still enjoy being read to. Recent favorite books are Go, Go, Go! and Pajama Time.
• We have been out and about as much as we can. We go for frequent walks around the neighborhood, we take advantage of their library cards and try to get to the library to check out some new books every other week, and we've taken our first trip to the zoo. We got a zoo membership for a year so we hope to go as often as possible -- if anything, just for us to get out of the house. The boys obviously aren't into looking at the animals yet. Last time, the boys only stayed awake for the otters..haha.
• We don't go to the doctor for a check up this month, but an unofficial weight for both of them (ironically when I weighed them with me on our scale, they both weighed the exact same) is 12lbs.

And there we have it. Quite a busy month and lots of excitement going on. I love seeing them awake more, laughing, playing, and especially recognizing each other. I obviously knew that as they got older, they would start doing all these things, but its crazy how fast they really are growing. I can't wait to see what they are up to for the next month! Month 4, here we come (and yes, I have learned to keep my camera with me at all times to capture some of these moments a bit better than I have been lately)!

All About Ellis

Okay, here we go. Ellis knew that he couldn't let his brother show him up, so here he is!

He also wanted everyone to take note that he rolled over faster than Logan! So there... =)

Rollin, rollin, rollin

If you read yesterday's post you are probably assuming that I finally got Ellis rolling over on camera, right? WRONG! During our morning tummy time, Ellis was far too tired to want to do much. So, I put Logan on the blanket and here he goes...

It was quite funny and I was a bit surprised at how fast he did it the first time (which is why I didn't have my camera ready -- I thought Ellis would be the one to get on camera first) and honestly wasn't sure I'd get him to do it again, but he sure did! Like Troy said, I have to keep my camera with me at all times it seems. Poor Ellis hasn't had a video posted yet, but I will try to get one up here soon. He does get credit for rolling over first though!

Logan - The Bulldozer

Our little Logan is at it again. The other day during tummy time, I noticed that he was moving his legs so much - it was like he wanted to move. Most of the time we had been using the tummy time mat that has the half moon shaped pillow in the front of it to prop them up a little bit to help build their neck strength, but when we tried tummy time the other day, we just used a regular blanket and this is when I noticed him trying to move so much. Looks as though all those nights fighting to get out of his swaddle has paid off -- he's got some strong legs on him. Unfortunately, his arms aren't as strong yet so it looks like he's going head first into the floor in order to try to move. Here is a little video of him in action...

I think Ellis was a little upset because Logan has been getting so much attention, so today Ellis was thisclose to rolling over during tummy time. He lifted his head so high and was kicking a bit that he rolled onto his side. Unfortunately Logan was too close to him and he kind of stopped him and Ellis got stuck on his side. It was really kind of funny, but of course I didn't have the camera or video camera close enough to capture it. Hopefully next time I'll have my camera close by.

An Ellis First

Today during play time, the doorbell rang and much to my surprise, a delivery from Amazon came (I just ordered a few things yesterday and it was already here today!). So, I had to open the box and check out my goodies before I returned to the living room where Ellis was still playing under the activity mat. Logan had already checked out and was sleeping in his swing. Much to my surprise, this is what I found --

Mr. "I-must-be-swaddled-to-even-think-about-falling-asleep-unless-I'm-in-my-swing" Ellis fell asleep under the activity mat. What a cutie pie! About 30 minutes later he ended up waking up, but was quite content lying under the toys still. The days of swaddle-less naps haven't ended yet, but it looks like they may be near.

7 and 8 are great, but 9?!?!

Our precious little boys are growing up so fast. Just 3 short weeks ago, I was ranting and raving that the boys slept 7 hours straight at night. Last Friday, I was shocked when they slept 8 hours straight, but last night they slept 9 hours straight! I woke up around 6am today and thought for sure that they would be waking up at any time, so I went to get bottles and stuff for pumping and although they were grunting a bit in their sleep, they didn't actually wake up until 7am! I was floored -- in a good way, of course. Who knows how frequently this will happen in the near future, but considering they will just be 12 weeks tomorrow, I am happy as can be that they are sleeping so long already!

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy 1st Father's Day to my wonderful husband and father of our boys. From Day 1, I have always appreciated everything you do with and for the boys. They are very lucky to have you as their father!

And to my own dad, Happy Father's Day to you too! I hope you get a chance to relax and take time for yourself today!