I cannot belive the next post I do like this will be the boys 1 year post. It's so hard to believe. They've definitely been up to a lot this past month.
Carter still weighs around 20lbs, and we think Evan is about 2lbs less. They're still wearing 12 month size clothes, although some of the pants and shorts are a little big on them. They're in size 4 diaper, it's a little big, but they were leaking in size 3 diapers, so we went up a size and have not had any problems since then.
Carter took his first step on Thursday, July 14th!! He's been standing all by himself for awhile now and we knew it was just a matter of time before he started trying to walk. Since Thursday, he's taken one or two steps on several occasions. He's getting more and more confident and steady and I think the next post I'll be talking about him walking. Evan is doing so much better at standing and walking around on his push walker. He's so much more steady & graceful than he was a month ago.
They are interracting more than ever. They play together and laugh all the time. They will have each other cracking up and it's so cute!!! They have several little "games" they play. They love playing with the gate to the front room, they'll each stand on either side of it and push it back and forth and laugh. They chase each other, especially under the dining room table. It's so much fun watching them together.
Evan is babbling like crazy. He'll just go on and on while he's playing. Carter babbles a lot too, but nothing like Evan. I think he's going to be our little talker.
Bath time is their favorite time of day. We strip them down to their diapers and let them play for a few minutes while getting ready. They are always so happy and giggly during this time, no matter how tired they are. We put Evan in the bath and Greg washes him up and then we put Carter in the bath with him and they play and splash around. They love that time and laugh and smile the whole time. Then I get Evan out and dry him off, comb his hair, clean his ears, put lotion on, etc. While Greg washes Carter up, then I hand Evan off to Greg, who puts on his pjs and I do Carter's aftercare. I hand him to Greg to get his pjs on while I clean up the bathroom and we feed them, read them a story, and put them to bed.
Their sleeping is better than it's ever been. It's been good before but it seems like something--sickness, travel, company, teething, etc. always throws it off. It's been good since they were sick over the 4th of July weekend. I think seperating the cribs has helped a lot. They're also getting more activity during the day. Most days, they just take 2 naps now and those naps are getting longer and longer. They used to take 3 naps and the naps could be anywhere from 30 min to 90min, but now it seems like their naps are a minimum of an hour but are often an hour and a half. I'm so glad that their sleeping has improved a lot, everybody is much happier when they're well rested.
The boys are eating four 6oz bottles a day along with solid foods. Normally, the boys split a Gerber oatmeal pack in the morning and some Cheerios before their first nap. After they wake up, they split a waffle and have a little fruit. Lunch consists of either veggies, ritz crackers, puffs, yogurt, etc. We give them a Gerber vegetable and a ritz cracker for dinner and some of whatever we're having. They eat pretty much anything except the things that are not recommended for babies under 1 (peanuts, eggs, avocados, milk, etc). Evan is such a good eater. He could eat all day, he's a bottomless pit. We actually go through our fridge and see what we have too much of, like grapes that we may not eat before they go bad, etc. and give it to him. I can't think of anything he doesn't like. We have to put one piece on his tray at a time because he will shovel it all in his mouth at once. Carter is also a good eater, but is a little pickier. He likes to touch things and try them slowly. Some things he likes right away, but some things he likes to ease into. He eats one piece of food at a time and is very polite about it. It's funny how different they are.
**Something that happened that I've been meaning to write down so I don't forget: I gave the boys some finger foods (gerber cheese puffs) and was washing the dishes while they ate. Evan finished his and started hollering for more. I told him I'd get him some more in just a minute. He was not having it-he wanted more and he wanted it right away. Carter took one of his cheesy puffs and put it on Evan's tray to have. It was the cutest, sweetest thing ever. I don't ever want to forget the things like that**
The boys were dropped off at the gym childcare this month a few times while we worked out. It was their first time being dropped off with anybody besides their grandparents. They've done so good. If they get a little fussy, all the girls have to do is get them a snack and they're happy until we get done working out. I'm so glad they don't cry the whole time we're gone. I was really worried with me being with them all the time that it'd be harder to leave them with other people, but they've done great. Much better than me--I feel guilty every time, but I know it's good for them.
Here's their 11 month pictures.
He usually lasts about 2 seconds before he starts trying to scoot down so he can crawl off.
Clapping
I wanted to get some pictures of him standing, but he insisted on holding this cow. We went to Chik-Fil-A with the boys last weekend to get them some ice cream and the manager came out and gave them both a cow and said how cute the boys were. It was so nice and really made our day.
Standing all by himself. Such a big boy.
The lighting is bad in all these pictures, but I wanted to show some of him standing up.
Evan wanted the empty water bottle in the pictures with him. These boys and their props!
So happy because he thinks I'm letting him keep it.
Laughing at Mamaw.
and he's off. Having deja vu? This is exactly how last month's pictures went.
He stops to pose with the remote.
Fun--a pillow obstacle.
He thinks he's something standing on the couch.
I can't believe they are a month away from being a year old. I'm kinda sad how fast it went by but at the same time, I'm so excited for all the new things coming our way. There's still so many firsts to come and the older they get the more things they're able to do. I'm trying to enjoy each moment with them and not wish the time away and I'm also trying not to dwell too much on how sad it is that in a blink of an eye 11 months have passed.
I've uploaded some new videos to our YouTube page of them playing, babbling, and with their birthday gifts from Aunt B. I let them have them the day we got them--sorry Brandi!!, but when you see the video of the boys playing with them, you'll understand. they love them so much and are having so much fun--you'd let them open them early, too. ;)
