13 Months Old

As we sit down to write about what the boys did over the past month for these monthly updates it’s always interesting to look back at previous posts. I took a glance at their one month post exactly one year ago today and couldn’t believe what I saw….where the hell did we get so much time to post 15 times in the month of December!

In all seriousness, it seems cliché to be amazed at how much has transpired over the past year, but reading that post from a year ago really brings it into focus how quickly they change. And at the same time, how much their little personalities have stayed the same. Jake is still the one with all the energy and seems to have something against naps, while Colin enjoys long, leisurely naps and can sit and play by himself for hours it seems.

As parents we’ve gone through some changes as well. There has been a noticeable drop-off in picture taking that’s for sure. The wonderment of new parents I think has worn off and we’ve gone from making exclamations in a cute little sing-song voice of “Oh, you made a poopie! Let me clean you off” to an exasperated voice “[Insert Colin or Jake here] stinks again. Your turn to clean him.” But just when you think you’re becoming jaded as a parent, something will come along and we’re back to new parents mode gawking and cooing over these two cute little guys and some new thing they’ve accomplished.

As you can see from the previous video post, Jake is on the verge of walking by himself. He moves around with the push toys and we catch him every once in a while just standing in the middle of the room not holding on to anything. He’s still a little nervous about putting that first foot forward, but certainly has the ability to.

Colin also has the ability, but enjoys walking while someone is holding his hands instead of pushing something. They both smile and giggle when they are doing this, like they are getting away with some great secret. It’s really funny to watch.

One of the big changes this past month has been their communication skills. When people ask us years from now what their first words were, I’m not sure we’re going to know how to answer. They both seem to know a few words: “Mama,” “Dada,” and the most recent “Hi”. What seems like words slips out on other occasions, but even with the words they know, context is not always right.

What we do know is that they “know” a lot more words than that, but just can’t verbalize them yet. If you happen to say the word “bottle” without having one at the ready, be prepared for a lot of looking around, followed by whining and a look like “why did you say that word if you weren’t prepared to give me one RIGHT NOW!” Same goes for “Cheerios,” “Juice,” and come to think of it, a lot of food related words!

Both boys have been battling what seems like the never-ending cold for the last week or so. With the coughing, sneezing and constant runny noses it has affected them physically, but surprisingly hasn’t changed their moods for the most part. Having their mommy around for the past two weeks for the school Christmas break sure has helped!

We bought a video camera, so hopefully we’ll be able to bring some of these new verbal and physical skills to a theatre near you soon! With the lack of new photos, maybe with a video camera at the ready, we’ll have some new things to show everyone.

Video Post: Jake Out For A Stroll

Promise we'll have some Christmas photos and some new ones to add for their 13 month post in a few days. But here is a little video to hold you over. It's funny that this is of Jake. Colin started using things to push and hold himself up to walk first, but since a few frustrated tries, Jake now does it more often.

One Year Old Photos and Update

The boys really enjoyed their birthday. They seemed to be genuinely excited to have all the people in their lives in one place at one time! Nothing new to report, but each day we’re inching closer to them getting up on two feet. Colin enjoys “walking” with his new push toy they got for their birthday and gets up on his knees all the time. Jake meanwhile scoots around the coffee table and an up and down the coach practicing his “walking” too. Just a matter of time and we are really going to need to have all eyes on those two! You turn your head for a second now and you don’t know what’s going to happen and they are only crawling. I can’t begin to think what kind of trouble they are going to get into when they can walk.

A week late, but here are some of the latest photos from the past month. Check out the latest photos below

One Year Old

Colin Jackson and Jake Peter Spencer entered our lives one year ago. Just typing those words, it's hard to believe. A year ago today we were arriving at the hospital for what would be a long 24 hours of waiting and labor before these two little guys made their apprearance.

So much has happened (and chronicled through this blog!) and this past month has been no exception. The boys are crawling all over the place and it's tough to keep an eye on the both of them. Every day is something new, but instead of recapping this past month like we have in past blog posts we thought with the boys' first birthday it would be best to post a video looking back at this last year.

11 Months Old

If you can believe it, Colin and Jake are one month away from their first birthday and if things keep progressing, we’re in for a wild ride of a year! The photo above perfectly encapsulates their personalities these days. Jake is up to a little mischief, while Colin sits quietly and watches. Obviously that’s an over-exaggeration and Colin definitely has his rambunctious moments, while Jake can be an angel, but it’s not far from the truth.

Since they began to crawl this past month, Jake has been on the go. He is in a constant state of movement always looking for the next thing to do. Despite Colin starting to crawl earlier, Jake perfected the art more quickly. He was on his hands and knees, while Colin was still sliding on this stomach to move. Now he can pull himself up to a standing position. This was an early problem in that he couldn’t figure out how to get back down once he was standing, but has since figured that out. He is absolutely fascinated with whatever any adult is doing and wants to emulate it. You can see his mind spinning as he’s watching you do something and making his own little mental notes.

The opening paragraph makes it sound like Colin just sits around quietly watching the world go by. He doesn’t have the same amount of energy that Jake has, but he is by no means a wallflower either. He loves to crawl around, but his favorite game these days is climbing up on pillows or his big blue bear. We put our couch throw pillows in the middle of the room and he loves to climb up and over them. Colleen got a big, stuffed blue bear that has to be three times the size of him and he climbs up on it’s lap and giggles and squeals.

As you can see by the main photo at the top, the boys dressed up for their first Halloween. Since there wasn’t any trick-or-treating for them this year, they mainly dressed up for a local street fair that Age took them to on Saturday.

The other big milestone for this month was their first haircuts. For the most part, both of them seemed to handle it pretty well. Each of them had a freak out, but it was brief and calmed down pretty quick. Colin didn’t like the clippers and Jake couldn’t see what was going on behind him!

So, the final month of their first year is upon us and what a crazy adventure it’s been!

Check out the latest photos below

Video Post: Jumping and Spinning

Playing around with video editing. We took this over the weekend and the video was so dark that I had to lighten it up a bit. While I was in there, decided to add a little music!

A little morning chaos all before our morning coffee!

Video Post: Crawling The Halls

The boys crawling skills are in full swing now.

Video Post: Wrestle Mania

Colin wrestles with Jake and then the two tease Scout through the net of the pack and play. Sorry this is so dark!

10 Month Post

I can’t believe we are doing the 10-month post already. Time has being moving very quickly these days. With both of us in the full swing of work - - and let’s be honest, the early parenting eagerness to share everything wearing off - - the posts have dwindled to the occasional video post and their monthly post. That’s not to say that each day doesn’t bring something new and great that the boys are doing, it’s just that finding time to post something has become a little harder. As you will see from their photo galleries though, it hasn’t stopped me from taking pictures!!

The big news for Colin this month is that he is crawling. He still isn’t up on his hands and knees, but instead uses his forearms and legs to pull and push himself while his stomach drags on the ground. (I promise to post some video soon!). Over the past two weeks he has really perfected the art and is now to the point where you have to have your eye on him the whole time or he’ll be in the next room before you know it.

This is frustrating Jake to no end. He is bypassing the belly-scoot technique and instead gets up on his hands and knees. The only problem is that he goes backwards instead of crawling forward! He has over the past few days on occasion inched his way forward a few feet and we predict will be full-on crawling very soon.

We had our first taste of what hopefully is not a winter-long bout of illness. Both boys got their first colds this month and it lasted for about two weeks. We know there will be more to come in these coming years – the first flu, ear infections, chicken pox, etc. – but this first taste of them being sick was hard on them and us. Neither of them slept very well those weeks and it was tough to watch them struggle with stuffed up noses and a little cough. Knock on wood that we won’t have too many bouts of illness until they start going to pre-school and picking up every germ known to man!

The big event of the month was their baptism last Sunday. The boys were on their best behavior and I think they really took to all the adoration and attention! The parents on the other hand were a sight to see. With Lizzie in town and staying with us as one of the godmothers, the hour before heading to the church was absolute chaos. All three of us were running around trying to give them baths, change ourselves, get them into their outfits and of course the photo shoot! It was quite the scene.

Everything was smooth once we arrived at the church and at the restaurant after. The boys powered through the day without an afternoon nap and never really got too cranky. They once again proved that all this worrying over them was for naught. They adapted quite well to this new little adventure and seemed to enjoy all the fawning over them!

I promise to at the very least post more video in the coming months as we approach their big 1-year birthday!

Nine Months Old

The boys turned nine months old a few days ago. It was an interesting month compared to some of the past few. As I sit here trying to write this, nothing “significant” sticks out from the past month. Are we becoming jaded after only nine months that nothing surprises us anymore?! I doubt that. With some of the major developments of crawling, walking and talking lurking just around the corner, I think this month was more about the details.

We’ve mentioned in the past that they interact and recognize each other. But this month it really became apparent and showed us how much fun having twins can be. For all the headaches and extra pressure it creates by having two babies, it's so fun to witness the joyful interaction they get from their brother. This one-on-one playtime also has an added benefit. We are gaining a little more time to catch our breath and maybe drink a full cup of coffee before it gets cold in the morning! If you haven’t already, check out the video of them playing and talking together.

August was a hot month and the boys have discovered swimming. They both love to be in the water splashing around. We usually take them over to one of the pools at Rossmoor where Grandpa and Grandma Scully live. They do seem to enjoy it and we’re already thinking of next summer and getting them their first swim lessons. As with everything though, there are some ulterior motives. Usually an hour or so at the pool and out in the sun will knock them out for a nice afternoon nap!

Jake has spent the past month - as in other months – in perpetual motion! He is desperately trying to teach himself how to crawl. He makes it up to all fours and just rocks back and forth on this knees and hands trying to figure out why he isn’t moving anywhere! He has also discovered the joy of taking things in and out of his toy basket. As you can see from the photo, he likes to pull things out of the basket, hold them up for close inspection and then put it back into the basket.

Part of the reason Jake is trying to crawl is because he’s always on his stomach. He usually reaches for something and tips himself over from a seated position. Colin on the other hand, is showing a great sense of balance. He will sometimes reach for something and start to tip over, but has enough strength and balance to steady himself and push himself back up. It may not sound like much, but after watching them tip over for the past few months, it’s a big step. He also is starting to be able to steady himself on his feet while holding onto something. The other day, he was holding onto the exersaucer while Jake was in it and I pulled my hands away for a good minute.

So although this month wasn’t “milestone” heavy, there were some definite changes in each of them. Sometimes you’ll be sitting there and all of a sudden one of them will do something that they’ve never done before. They may be subtle, but it feels like each one of those daily, little changes are leading to one of those big milestones.

*** A little bookkeeping after their nine-month old checkup – Colin weighs just over 22 pounds, while Jake is tipping the scales at just over 20 pounds. Both boys are healthy and happy and are clear of shots for three more months. ***

Video Post: Playing and Talking

A little video of the Jake and Colin enjoying themselves and "talking" in their own language.

Eight Months Old

The boys turned eight months old last week and since we were on vacation, their monthly post is a little late. With some tremendous help from the grandparents, we were able to slip away south of the border for a four-night re-charge in Puerto Vallarta (see photos). We both missed them very much, but knowing they were in such capable hands and wouldn’t even know we were gone made the trip much easier.

It’s starting to sound like a recurring theme, but this past month was a great month for both of them. Each day brings more and more recognition of their daily surroundings and each other. One of them (usually Jake!) will wake up between 6:00 and 6:15 and start the conversation going. It’s usually a slow squeak and jabber which builds into a full blabber by 6:30 or so. At this point both of them are up, blabbering away and giggling at each other. When you put them together looking at each other, they smile and laugh while reaching and grabbing each other. The both reach and grab for everything and a lot of times it’s each other or whoever happens to be holding them. We’ve caught them a few times holding hands in their stroller as we go for a walk.

Neither has started crawling yet, but they both seem to be on the verge. You can sense their frustration starting to build from lack of mobility when they are on the floor. They rock back and forth on their stomach and kick their legs trying to get their body to move and finally have to roll over to grab something. For the most part you can put them into a seated position and they can sit by themselves without falling over. They don’t have it completely down yet, so we’re either right next to them or their in the pack-n-play where they have a soft landing if they tip over.

Although both of them seem to enjoy the presence of Scout, Colin is really taken by him lately. We feed them some oatmeal first thing in the morning and as soon as he is in his highchair, Colin is looking for his dog. He gets fixated on him and smiles every time Scout does something. Ever since he was a puppy, Scout liked to bring a mouthful of food from his bowl in the kitchen into living room to eat. The other night Colin was in his swing and Scout was making his food trips back and forth in front of the swing. Each time Scout passed him, Colin would giggle and smile. The dog meanwhile was completely oblivious to this entertainment show he was putting on.

Jake finally got his front two teeth this past month catching up to Colin. What he lacked in the tooth department he made up for in his hair, compared to his brother. While both have always had some hair, Jake has started to grow a pretty bushy head of hair.

It’s been interesting to watch their mental development his past month. You can almost see the wheels turning in their head when they are really trying to figure something out. It hasn’t happened too often, but Jake sometimes will play a little yelling game with us. He’ll give out a little “Ahhhhhhhh”, then we’ll double it with an “Ahhhhhhh….Ahhhhhhhhh” and he will answer with a double yell too. For whatever reason he really gets a kick out of Adrianne saying “God bless you” after he sneezes. He won’t even sneeze and if we say it, he’ll just giggle and laugh. Just this morning, I swear he faked sneezing so we would say it. The first time I could have chalked up to coincidence, but after he did it again, I’m thinking we have a little jokester on our hands.

That has been the best part of this past month. There is starting to be a real give and take interaction with each of them. They are starting to be able to give back love to you more and more each day. Not that they weren’t loving before, but they recognize your enjoyment in them now. If they are playing or doing something alone and one of them catches you watching them and smiling, they’ll look up and smile back at you. There is much on the horizon for them in these coming months leading up to their “official birthday” and we can’t wait to see what’s next.

Video Post: Saturday Jump Time

Another video post with Jake showing off his jumping skills, while Colin does his thing in the activity center.

The Boys and Scout

It's been a while since we've put up some photos of Scout and his two new roommates. Although we still have to keep a close eye on him when they are down on the ground together, Scout has been great with them. He's very protective of his "brothers" at the dog park and won't let any dogs hang out too long near us. He also likes to go visit them when they are sleeping back in their cribs. If we forget to close their door all the way, he likes to push it open with his nose and go check on them. This gallery dates all the way back to when we first brought them home, but has some new photos in there too.

Seven Months Old

Colin and Jake celebrated the big seven months by taking a trip to Tahoe (see pictures). This little adventure marked the first of many milestones for the two of them….first extended car trip, first night away from their own bedroom, first time playing blackjack….you get the picture. With all these curveballs life and their parents kept throwing at them, they kept responding with a little “bring it on” attitude.

I’m assuming most new parents probably go through the same thing at the beginning and try to stay in that comfort zone as much as possible. Especially with twins, I think both of us didn’t want to stray too far from the normal “routine” in the thought that one or both couldn’t handle anything new. But this month especially, they were taken out of their element more and more and each time showed us that they are ready for something else. It’s such a little thing, but a trip to Target with the both of them and only one parent has the recipe for disaster if one starts to melt down. After a few of these small positive outings the boys got through to their cautious parents that everything was going to be OK. That’s not to say that these guys are two little angels every second of the day, but capping the month off with this Tahoe trip really helped get it into our heads that the show must go on and we can finally come out from the “early parent” haze. One thing is for sure, that as parents we can teach them all we want, but as this month proved sometimes it’s going to be them teaching us.

This past month featured the introduction of solid food. Jake hasn’t turned away anything we have thrown at him….Colin, not so much. We started out the month feeding them oatmeal when they wake up from their morning nap. Jake lapped it up the very first time we put a spoon in his mouth. Colin couldn’t quite get the concept down of what he was supposed to be doing. He would gag even before the spoon would get to his mouth. Apparently this is fairly common when you first introduce solid food. Some kids can’t quite get their tongue out of the way and gag themselves. After a few days of trying he was fine, although he is very picky about what he is served! He’ll have none of that oatmeal stuff. He makes this scrunched up face and spits it out as soon as you put it in his mouth. Feed his some strained peaches, pears or any kind of fruit and he’s happy as can be.

Each day you get a glimpse of what seems to be their personality. Time will tell if these things we perceive will continue on and it will certainly be interesting to see if these early hints will become part of who they are. As it is now, Jake has a crazy amount of energy. He is the early riser of the two and usually wakes up on the worst days at 5:30 and on his best days (or our best days!) around 6:30 a.m. Colin on the other hand - if given the choice and isn’t woken up by his brother - will sleep until 6:30 or 7:00. As you can see from this video post, Jake loves to jump around in his Jump A’ Roo. Contrast that with Colin who will visually dissect every inch of his surroundings and is content to just sit there with the toys on his activity saucer. Colin is a little better at adapting to new situations, but Jake is getting better everyday and proved on this trip to Tahoe that if given the chance, he’ll figure out on his own how to calm himself down.

Raising these two guys is exhausting and poses so many challenges, but the returns have out gained any negatives. Let’s be honest, in those first few months it was hard to understand how anyone would ever have kids. Now being with them all day will still turn you to drinking by 5:00, but you are able to enjoy each moment with them. There is so much on the horizon for us and these two boys. Each month brings so many new things it’s hard to keep up. If month six was the month that they turned the corner, month seven was the one that the parents finally grasped that everything was going to be OK.

Video Post: Jumpin' Jake Flash

Jake has finally found something he can do for more that twenty minutes. He will spend an hour jumping in his new jump a' roo and not get tired!

Best twins comment so far...

One of the things we were warned about as new parents of twins was to be prepared for random comments from strangers, such as "Oooh twins - Double Trouble." I have learned to just smile and keep walking because when I'm out with these two there is no time for small talk.

So today I was in a Hallmark store and this elderly couple was oohing and aahing about the boys, so I smiled at them. Which welcomed this comment from the old man: "It's gonna cost you half a million dollars to send those two to college."

Thanks buddy. Would you like to make a donation?

-Age

Video Post: Cribs

We caught this little moment when we put Jake over in Colin's crib after their afternoon nap today.

Past and the Future

Don't they look like fishing buddies?!

We took the boys to the Contra Costa Mothers of Multiples group barbeque last weekend. It was a great day and I think they both really enjoyed being out in the park with all the people. It was interesting for both of us as well to be able to see how far we have come and how far we need to go!

There were a couple sets of twins there that were under two months and it really was an eye opener to see that not too long ago we were in that place. The zombie like effect that the parents of newborns walk around in is like no other, but for the parents of twins those first two months take on a whole new meaning. To be able to say we made it through to the other end of those early months is extremely gratifying and to be able to look at those other couples and offer some words of encouragement that "it will be OK in a few months" is great.

On the other hand, to have some of the other parents with older twins tell us, "just wait, you have no idea what life with two 2-year olds going grocery shopping is like" brought us right back down to earth! It was a nice blend of what was and what will be.

The common bond we share with other parents of twins is very unique. This great (long!) article in New York Magazine really describes the life of parents of twins and how mothers of multiples groups like ours are growing.

Six Months Old

Six months old…..181 days…..25 weeks. Anyway you look at it, it seems amazing that time has by gone so fast. I know this will be a recurring theme as parents, but for the first time it really does hit you that these guys will be in high school before you know it.

All our friends who have had kids before us said, “just get through those first six months and everything gets better.” We can safely say we made it through these six months no worse for the wear, except now everyone with twins tell us, “just make it through the first two years and everything gets better.” There is always something around the corner!

Always something new around the corner was certainly the theme for this month. The boys seemed to be coming up with new “tricks” each day it seemed. Colin started the month off by learning to roll over. This was a fun, new experience for him and us, until he started doing it in the middle of the night! Then it wasn’t as much fun for us anymore. For about a week, he would roll over between 4:00 and 4:30 in the morning and wake himself up. This was coming on the heels of three straight weeks of both boys sleeping through the night and we were starting to get used to that! After a week of putting him in the swing or getting up with him, he either learned that it wasn’t so much fun anymore getting up that early or has mastered the art of rolling back over to go to sleep.

As we are begrudgingly learning with twins, the milestones don’t exactly come at the same time. After a week or so of Colin waking up early because of rolling over, we settled back into a full night’s sleep again until two days ago when Jake learned to roll over in his sleep! Now we are back to square one with him and getting up at 4:30 because he thinks it’s funny to roll over!

They are both at the stage where EVERYTHING goes in their mouth. As you can see sometimes that means that your brother’s arm is fair game. Colin got his two lower front teeth in this month and the top two front ones are coming any day now. He was bothered by the lower ones coming in a week ago and then seemed to be OK with them, but now the top ones are giving him a little trouble too. Jake’s bottom teeth are on the verge of coming through as well and someone may lose a finger in the process. He loves biting down on your hands and fingers and even though he’s all gums right now, it still hurts! I know there are parents out there reading this saying we can’t let him get in the habit of biting people and we are curtailing that practice. Believe me, after letting him bite my fingers with his gums a few times, I stopped putting those hands near his face!

Each month has brought more and more animation from each of them. This month their personalities really shined through. When I get home from work their day is usually just winding down and sometimes one (or both!) is having a little melt down. But it is such a great feeling to have them break out of their funk and give you a big smile because you’re home. They’ve got a close circle of people in their lives and you’re starting to see they really recognize people.

So we are six months down and moving into month seven. The boys are getting to be little people and not just eating and sleeping machines. The parents are starting to get the hang of things - - emphasis on the starting to part. Looking back, this has been the most enjoyable month so far and by the looks of what could be in store for us next month, we should have a lot of fun watching these two boys grow.

The galleries were getting a little long and hard to load so we have archived most of the pictures.

Two Big Smiles

The two boys together

Colin

Jake

Happy Mother's Day (and Grandma's too!)

Put some new photos from Mother's Day and Peter's visit in their galleries.

The two boys together

Colin

Jake

Puppet Show

We had Jake cracking up at the puppet Click on the image below to watch

For a longer video, click here

Wigged Out

We had a big night out on the town to help celebrate our friend Shannon's post-chemo victory party. It was at the Bubble Lounge in the City and we all wore wigs in solidarity. Age came ready to party in her new blonde look and I sported "The Bill Clinton" grey.

Play Ball

The boys are ready for the baseball season in their new hats.

Five Months Old

The boys turned five months old on Saturday and we marked the occasion by leaving them with the two Grandmas and going to Sonoma! This much-needed respite was planned when they were probably two weeks old as our first getaway from the boys. At the time, the carrot of having some peace from two crying babies five months away was sometimes all we needed to make it through the day (or hour!).

View more photos of our trip

When the time came for us to go though, the apprehension of leaving them grew and we began to second-guess this trip. Not because we didn’t want to leave them in the very capable hands of someone other than ourselves, but because this past month has been so much fun with them. This has been their most engaging month for sure and their little personalities are starting to come alive. That’s not to say after that first quiet glass of Cabernet that we didn’t enjoy ourselves on our two days away! (See photos of our trip) We even found time to have conversations with each other that didn’t involve when the last time Colin pooped or had Jake taken a good nap. It was a great weekend away and thank you to the Grandmas for watching them.

Adrianne went back to work at the beginning of this month and we’ve been very fortunate to find a great nanny. Jackie comes Monday through Thursday at 7:00 a.m. and leaves each day at noon. The tag-team child care follows with Colleen taking over duties at noon until Age gets home in the afternoon. The Friday schedule is the same with Grammie Spencer coming down to offer her services along with Grandma Scully. It’s been a great situation so far. It gives Colleen a chance to catch a breather during the morning and both of the boys have really taken to Jackie. They both give her big smiles each morning when she arrives.

Both of them have been "talking" for more than a month, but this past month they have really increased voicing everything from sing-song to their displeasure with something. As you can see from some of the quick videos we’ve posted earlier (like this one) they both can chat away and squeal with delight.

Age and I both had our teeth come in early and it looks like Jake and Colin will get their first tooth soon too. It has been causing Jake some displeasure toward the end of this past month and he gets really fussy quickly now. I would like to blame everything on the teeth, but that kid just can’t sit still! Jake has got about a 20-minute attention span before he’s ready to move onto the next thing to entertain him. Every book, article or expert I’m sure will tell us not to give in and move him as soon as he starts whining and - for the most part - we don’t. But after a while of his fussing, it’s time to move him to the next play mat, swing, bouncy seat or whatever new view we can give him.

When those teeth come in though, Jake is going to be the one who gives us that big, toothy laugh. When you make Jake laugh, it’s not a giggle or small smile, it’s an all-out guffaw laugh. He just gets going and you laugh at him laughing and that makes him laugh even more. It’s really funny to see and cracks us up all the time.

His brother on the other hand, would smile at the mailman. Colin has made the complete transformation from his early days of colic and is a very happy, content baby these days. He loves to be talked to and smiles right back at you. When he’s under his mobile or in the swing he’ll let out these loud, high-pitched squeals.

Colin is also on the verge of rolling over. When he’s on the mat and looking up, he’s trying so hard to wiggle his body over onto his stomach. If you follow along on the development chart, this will be the month that they start that process. For some more reading on what to expect this month, read here. (Note: After posting this last night, Colin did what he's been trying to do for a week now and rolled over. At about 4:30 in the morning when Age was putting the pacifier back in Jake's mouth, Colin was squirming away and the next thing you know, he's on his back!)

The first four months were incredible and there were moments where each of them made us so proud to be their parents. But this past month has been when everything clicked in and every day became a joy to be their parents. You can catch a glimpse of what the next month, year or even more holds for us and these two kids and it makes you so happy.

Couple of new photos in their galleries.

The two boys together

Colin

Jake

Family On Easter

We finally had the chance to have everyone together to take a photo and we aren't wearing pajamas!

Couple of new photos in their galleries.

The two boys together

Colin

Jake

Colin and Jake Hanging Out Together

Can't get enough of this video posting now!Click on the image below to watch

The Crying Game

Trying out another video...No infants or animals were injured in the making of this video. Click on the image below.

Colin on the mat

Trying out our first video post. Click on the image below to watch

Watching Their Videos

Enjoying a movie together

Big smiles from the boys

Jake gives it a big thumbs up!

Some new photos at the front of each of their galleries.

The two boys together

Colin

Jake

Four Months Old And A Visit To The Doctor

The boys went in for their four month doctor visit today to get weighed, measured and a new round of shots. It turned out to be a very eventful morning and let's just say the shots didn't go over so well with them. The timing was a little off since we had to go in at 9:00 and by the time they did all the measurements and we talked with the doctor they were getting their shots around 10:30 a.m which is right in the middle of their normal nap time. We had to wait a while for the nurses to come back to us and both boys had fallen asleep while we waited. So both of them had to be woken up from their short cat naps and stuck with some needles. A little discomfort, but everything should have been back to normal…….

Halfway back to work I get a call from Age. She had taken the garage door opener on a walk the other day and forgot to put it back in her car. On the phone I hear two cranky babies crying and a panicked wife telling me I have to turn around and come open the house. So I make the U-turn, head back home, help feed Jake and we both try to settle Colin down. I made it back to work and Age got both boys down for a nap at 1:00. Nothing is ever easy, that’s for sure!!

As for the visit, everything went well. Both boys are healthy and growing like they should. Jake is gaining quickly on his brother and made a huge jump in weight over the past two months. He put on four pounds and went from 9 pounds/1 ounce to 13 pounds/1 ounce. Colin wasn’t as drastic, but now weighs in at 13 pounds/12 ounces which is up from 11 pounds/7 ounces. Although it isn’t a major concern, the doctor would like to see Colin gain a little more, so we are going to start adding rice cereal to two of his bottles. This also might help with the spit-up.

Their four-month birthday is tomorrow and as discussed in previous posts we have been seeing them notice each other more every day. It’s pretty cool to watch them smile and “talk” to each other. They a demonstrating all the characteristics they should at this age (see more reading here).

Their “tolerance level” is starting to rise as well. This past weekend saw them both in their side-by-side stroller without much of a fuss. We took a good 45-minute walk with them and Scout. Colin smiled and looked around the entire walk, while Jake was good for most of the walk and only started complaining for the last 10 minutes. After a brief protest he figured out he wasn’t getting out of that seat anytime soon, so he resigned to watching the world go by. Although this sounds like such a simple thing, it wasn’t something that we could have done a month ago. Neither of them has ever really taken a shine to their stroller or car seats, but this past month they both have gone on good walks or car rides without much of a fuss.

Both guys are fascinated with their hands. They can pick certain things up, bat toys on the play mat and are starting to explore things with their mouth. They both love to take their favorite stuffed animals (Colin has his lion and Jake has a puppy) and move them around and pull them up to their faces.

We’ve gotten into a good routine at night too and are starting to see better results in both how easily they go down at night and how long they stay down. Around 6:30 or so, we start to get them ready for bed. If you were to drive by our house around that time it would look like nobody was home! We turn down most of the lights, get them into their sleep swaddles, read a little Good Night Moon and then it’s into their room for a little music and rocking. Most nights they are asleep by 7:00. We rarely get complete peace, but the most we have to do as far as consoling goes is putting the pacifier back in Jakes’ mouth or giving Colin a re-swaddle and they are back to sleep. This un-restful period usually lasts between 7:00 and 9:30. Then we can usually count on quiet sleep time until anytime between 3:30 and 5:00 in the morning. This gives us a quality stretch of 5-6 hours of uninterrupted sleep before we have to give someone a bottle.

It’s been very subtle, but you can start to see some definite personalities developing.

Colin loves people and gives a smile to just about anyone that takes the time to talk to him. He can be fussy at times, but most of the time it’s just because he wants to be around people. Put him in his bouncy seat and talk to him and he’ll smile right back at you.

Jake rolls with the punches. The other day Adrianne accidentally got a little too close when cutting his nails and clipped a little skin. I think the parents were more traumatized than Jake! He was crying and while Age was trying to put a Band-Aid on his finger, I was trying to calm him down. In the middle of screams, Jake was smiling and he couldn’t decide if he was upset about his finger or thought the funny faces his Dad was making at him made him happy. So he went with both! A little crying and a little laughing.

All in all, these past few weeks have been a real joy to be these boys’ parents. The rough nights are (mostly!) behind us and watching them change so much from month three to now has been incredible. I know there is much more in store for us and these small, little milestones will seem so insignificant when they begin to meet those major benchmarks, but right now it feels like we have come so far in such a short time.

Some new photos at the front of each of their galleries.

The two boys together

Colin

Jake