6 Months Old

**these mile marker posts are primarily for me (I definitely do not expect anyone to read or comment).  I keep this blog more as a journal for myself (and now the girls).  I  feel like someday my daughters may enjoy being able to read their story too**

Holy Cow! Where has the time gone?  They are officially a 1/2 year old.  They have changed so much and it's exciting and kind of sad at the same time. 

Weight:  No official measurements.  Our 6-month appointment has been pushed back to almost 7-months due to job and insurance changes.  My at-home estimates would be: Kendall and Seren weigh around 14.5 to 15 lbs and Kendall is 27 1/4" and Seren is 26 3/4" 

Eating:   They eat about 6 oz  every 3 to 4 hours.  Sometimes they eat more before bedtime (maybe just a growth spurt thing).  We also give them solids 2-3 times a day...typically breakfast or lunch (sometimes both) and bedtime.  Usually we give them cereal after their bedtime bottle.  Seren loves to share ice water now.  We will be drinking and she will look up like "hey I want some of that" and then she slurps at the edge of the cup.  Kendall likes this okay but I don't think she's a fan of the cold.  I'm still making baby food for them and this is going well.  I have the basics in freezer storage and need to try some new stuff. 

Foods They Like:  Carrots, Peas, Green Beans, Apples with cinnamon (not so much plain), Sweet Potatoes, Parsnips, Pears and cereal (we switched this to baby oatmeal recently due to constipation issues with Kendall)

Foods They Don't:  Peaches, Kiwi, Turnips, Bananas (still trying on these)

Favorite Things:  They still love each other.  They hold hands pretty frequently  and still suck each others hands on occasion.  They suck on their toes now too (Seren mostly).  They love dancing and both giggle at being danced around the living room.  They like the dog.  They stay awake more now so it's more fun and challenging to entertain them (usually one long nap in the morning and a couple short ones later on).  We now have a double jogging stroller that I think they enjoy.  They like music (we danced them to Flo Rida's "Low" song and they thought it was a riot...later it became a soother to both and put Seren to sleep for a couple nights; we have since banned it as neither of us like hip-hop and don't want to start a trend).  Kendall loves to play with our faces, mouth and teeth now.  They like the "superman game" that we picked up from the O family on Jeff's side.

Dislikes:  Being hungry and tired.  I was thinking they might be starting to teeth (at least Kendall) but now I think the cranky days and mid-night wake ups are from growth spurts or such.

Their Accomplishments:   They both do excellent at tummy time still.  They are starting to "stiff arm" prop themselves up higher.  Kendall now rolls both ways easily and sometimes across the room (getting frustrated when she runs into things and can't go anymore).  Seren has still rolled over only by accident and doesn't like to.  She is pretty mobile without though and doesn't seem to be slowing in efforts to learn crawling.  They are both starting to move their legs and try to get them under them.  Seren is still very social and laughs a lot more now.  Kendall is more social and smiles a lot more now and laughs.  They like playing "getcha" now and being tickled.  We practice having them sit up and they are doing better at this also. Kendall can almost tri-pod sit.

Our Accomplishments:  Nothing really new. We are keeping up with a routine of sorts for them which seems to help.  We still have our house listed.  Bedtime routine is really helping too.  We take them out to eat with us occasionally.  We also try to fit in date nights.

Sleep:  Bedtime routine is pretty great.  We bathe every other night usually, sometimes every couple of nights.  We feed them a bottle and cereal around 8 or 8:30, change into pajamas and then put them down.  We then have one parent sit in the rocking chair with both of them while the other reads a story or two.  They still enjoy a little singing at times but not every night.  They have been sleeping 10+ hours a night consistently now...YEAH!! (with the exception of occasional cranky wake ups)

DE Mom musings:  I was surprised that both girls were born with blue eyes.  I didn't think this was geneticly (statistically speaking) possible.  There was a very strong brown eye history with the donor and a lot of hazel on Jeff's side I believe; mine are blue.  I do realize that they may be changing some and Kendall seems to be turning more greenish or hazel.  I still hold out hope for Seren to be a little blue eyed girl (not that it really matters).  Also I am happy to see Kendall is a definite red-head...also a recessive gene (no sign on the donor's side; occurring on Jeff's side and on my own).  I'm not really crediting any play of actual genetics to my side (that would be impossible) but it is still interesting to me and makes me wonder more about epigenetics.  Sorry nothing more in depth on 'musings' this time around.

* I am adding in the 'DE Mom musings' as a try-out.  I think it will be interesting for me and if anyone does skim just to see how one might feel month to month or day to day about this aspect*

These dresses were the first outfit I bought them when I first found out we were having two girls

*my cousin took these adorable photos for her photography business*