M.I.A.

Yep - that's me...been gone for quite some time. No excuse...just been so busy and with Christmas approaching, been busy trying to get the shopping done.

Since the kids started solid foods, I have committed (or maybe it is that I should BE committed) to making all of their food with as many organic ingredients as I can get my hands on. My Mom will also be traveling during Christmas and will be gone for a month so I have been furiously stock piling food for both the kids and for my DH and I so we won't just eat take out when she's not here.

Still no nanny. Couldn't find someone suitable for our part-time position so we decided to take a break for now. I have the contact information of two nanny agencies where I can hire someone on a casual basis at a moment's notice to help me if I'm having a rough day.

The girls have grown so much and I can't believe how much they have changed over the past few weeks. Both my girls are babbling quite a lot now. It's funny that Caitlyn, my mini-me, said "Mama" first and Victoria, my DH's mini-me, said "Baba" first! It's so sweet to hear them call out...I don't think they associate those sounds with us yet but I like to pretend that they do and I answer them each time so hopefully they will begin to learn that Mama is ME! I think my girls are starting to recognize and respond to their names. When I call them by name, they will turn and look at me which is really cool.

As far as mobility, neither one is crawling yet although they have learned that they can pretty much well roll to wherever they want to go. Victoria can pivot around 360 degrees so she can get where she wants to go pretty fast. Neither one of my girls is sitting up on their own yet - they can balance for a few seconds but then they like to flop backwards into my lap as they think that this whole sitting up thing is a game. No teeth yet.

In terms of sleeping, my girls still go to bed really early - around 5:30pm. Victoria has taken to napping for about an hour and a half to two hours each morning and another hour and 20 minutes in the afternoon. Caitlyn on the other hand likes to nap for around an hour in the morning and just a half hour in the afternoon. Her second nap was very problematic for a long time - she would refuse to take a nap entirely or when she finally did nap, she only did so for 10-15 minutes. I adjusted her bedtime up to 5pm for a few weeks and that seemed to do the trick in that she started taking an afternoon nap again. I was concerned with it being so short at just 30 minutes but she wakes up happy from this nap and she also doesn't get cranky and whiny at 4pm like she used to. So, I have accepted the fact that Caitlyn needs less sleep than Victoria and everyone is happy and well rested.

About 2 weeks ago, we dropped the last night feed. The girls just didn't seem to need it anymore. They slept through a few nights on their own and surprised us and then when we did go in to give them bottles, they didn't seem to want the whole bottle and that just told us that they were not really that hungry. They were getting up more out of habit than out of hunger. So, we stopped cold turkey. The first 2 nights were kind of rough with some extended crying bouts during which we could not allow ourselves to go in, but then after that, they have slept through the night since. There is the occasional complaint here and there but otherwise, we have not done a night feed in 2 weeks! I finally stopped pumping in the middle of the night this week as I continued just in case we needed to do a night feed but I finally let that go as well as I was freezing bags and bags of EBM. It is a relief not to have to get up but it is also kind of sad as well...the girls are growing up!

At their last checkup last month at 8 months (we went in for a weight check only), Victoria was 14lbs 11oz and Caitlyn was 16lbs 10oz. The weight difference has increased to almost 2lbs. Since then, I have been sneaking avocado into as many meals for Victoria as I can to try to fatten her up. I can't feed her egg yolk because last few times I did, she threw up after eating it so no egg yolk for her! I also have started feeding them full fat yogurt and they eat a variety of meats and veggies. Latest fruits they've tried are blueberries, mango and kiwi and they have eaten salmon, beef, chicken and pork. I still nurse them 3 times a day (morning, mid-morning snack and mid-afternoon snack) plus they get a bottle with dinner but I worry about them not getting enough fluids. It's always a delicate balancing act...too much solids, not enough room for fluids and then they get constipated. Too much fluids, not enough room for solids and so they don't stay as full for as long.

My DH and I will be venturing out next week for a date. Our first one since our Anniversary back in September. The girls are sleeping a lot more soundly so we are not as nervous about leaving them with someone who would have to listen to them cry the entire night. My Mom has graciously agreed to babysit for us so we can get out to a 7pm showing of Harry Potter - we're big fans and very excited to see it next week. Imagine - haven't been to a movie in over a year! We never wanted to go out before because the girls would always wake up and cry out periodically in the night. If we put them down for 6pm, we would hear someone at 7pm cry, then again probably at 8:30pm, again at 10pm...you get the idea. Now, they go to sleep around 5:30pm and we don't hear a peep from them until maybe midnight if at all. Sometimes they sleep right through without a sound until around 4am the next morning! In any event, we are starting to venture out again here and there.

So that's about it for now. Anyone want to know anything about what's going on developmentally or otherwise? Ask away...