Nine Months Old!!

The babies are NINE months old today! That's 3/4 of a year (yes, my math skills are impressive). And, that's longer than I was pregnant -- which seemed to last quite a while. Just this time last year I was almost 17 weeks along, looking pretty darn pregnant, and on bedrest at home. A lot can change in a year.

A lot of people ask me what the babies are doing now. Honestly, that answer changes about every day! Even though they are 9 months old, their corrected age (how old they would be if they were born on time) is just shy of 7 months, and so they act like more like 7 months old developmentally, which is normal and expected. Here's the breakdown of what they are doing now:

Teeth: Piper has two teeth, but the other two haven't sprouted a tooth yet (though sometimes they act like there is going to be one just any minute).

Weights: The babies had their 9-month Well Baby Check-Up yesterday morning. Here are their stats:

Piper: 16 pounds 6 ounces, 26 inches long, 16.75 inches head circumference
Henry: 16 pounds 15.5 ounces, 27 inches long, 18.25 inches head circumference
Rosemary: 13 pounds 15 ounces, 24.75 inches long, 16.25 inches head circumference

Napping and Sleeping: The babies still sleep in their own cribs from around 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. or so until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. -- and have been doing that for over three months now. They take two -- sometimes three -- naps a day. The morning nap is around 2 hours, the afternoon nap around an hour, and if they have an evening nap, it's usually only 15-30 minutes. Up until recently, they were sleeping in their cribs and napping in their swings. Henry has found a way to turn himself sideways in his swing, so we're a little nervous about him falling out (well, Brooke and I are -- Gary thinks he would be fine and that we're crazy), so naps are now in the cribs.

Playing: They love playing with stuffed animals, and love anything that makes noise or they can chew on. They especially like the soccer balls that Gary bought for them. When they are in the playroom, they are constantly playing with their toys. Their favorite toy is any toy that another baby has. . . .

Sitting: Piper sits up pretty well now (though she can't get to sitting by herself), and Henry and Rosemary are just now able to sit for a little bit -- especially if they are playing with something. Henry started sitting well two days after our photographer came out for a photo session, despite all my attempts to have him sitting for the photo session.

Mobility: Rosemary has perfected rolling. She sees something -- she rolls to it to get it. Piper is pretty proficient at rolling, too, and the girls both love to lay on their tummies to play. Piper and Rosemary have even started going up to all fours just a little, so we're expecting crawling to be right around the corner. They are already so fast that you have to be careful where you step. As my dad said when my mom was joining him in the playroom the other day, "Be careful, Gail, it's like a pen full of puppies in here." Henry, however, can roll and will occasionally roll, but he just doesn't seem to like to roll. We have caught him rolling to pick up his paci, but that's as motivated as he gets. Henry still prefers to lay flat on his back all day. He's just taking life easy. . . . Everyone keeps telling me that this is normal for boys. . . .

Eating: As far as bottles, the babies have 4 bottles a day and take in around 24-30 ounces of milk a day (I'm weaning off pumping, so they are getting almost all formula and very little breastmilk now). The babies LOVE to eat solid foods. So much that sometimes it's a struggle for them to take their bottles because they want real food. They have three meals a day now. Breakfast is fruit and oatmeal, and every other day they have hard-boiled egg yolks or cheerios. Lunch is yogurt. Dinner is a veggie and either another vegetable or meat. Here's what they have tried so far:

Grains: cereal, oatmeal, cheerios, graham crackers, and cooked pasta is next
Fruits: avocados, bananas, pears, peaches, apples, plums, and mangos are next
Vegetables: sweet potatoes, winter squash, green beans, asparagus, carrots, summer squash, white potatoes, broccoli, and next is peas (if I can find any fresh peas around here)
Protein: hard-cooked egg yolk, chicken, beef (top sirloin, actually -- Gary picked it out), and lamb is next
Dairy: yogurt, and next is colby cheese

Every 4 days they get something new to try. Their foods are now thick and a little more chunky, so we are moving them right along to the point that they are eating big people food. Our goal is to have them mostly eating whatever we eat at around one year, and I think we're going to make it, or at least be close.

And now the best part of this post -- the slideshow of all of the pictures from the babies' last photo session! Click here to see some great pictures. . . .