6 Months Old

6. Months. Old.

How is this even possible? #theBrownPack's littlest loves have changed so much in the last 6 months and yet have stayed the exact same in so many other ways. We honestly can't believe time as flown by this quickly and it actually makes my heart hurt to know that the next six months will fly by even faster if we're not careful, like we have any control over time though right? Anyway, check out my top 5 happenings from 6 months!

Yummmmm Cereal Mush...Give Me More

Not gonna lie, we started rice cereal with Hattie and Rhett around 4 months of age or shortly thereafter. These poor babes are just now getting it just before turning 6 months old. To be honest, we talked about it but *ahem shocker* are continuously busy that getting their bottles in is quite the accomplishment somedays. No joke. I feel like everytime any of our four children get fed, dressed, bathed and sleep I deserve a high five. Like, seriously I need someone around to just give me a high five and say “Hey! You’re doing it, great job! Raising kids!” and then give me a high five or knucks or ya know I would take anything along those lines. But anyway, back to that yummy rice cereal mush. When I first gave the babies this delicious meal they kinda stared at me like I was crazy. I zoomed the spoon toward their mouth, touched their lips with it and got nothing. I mean, stone cold looks right back at me in a state of pure confusion. It took a couple of times of bringing the spoon toward them, squeezing a bit of the cereal in between their little lips, winces and spits and then finally they began to gobble it up. It’s like this stuff is candy or something. Once they got the hang of this new situation, they really seemed to begin to enjoy eating the mush. They open wide, can take more on the spoon, are becoming way less messy and it is gone in half the time than it took in the beginning. With Hattie and Rhett I remember adding fruits to the mush to give it a better taste, nope not these two. They are quite content with just straight up rice milk mush mix. This could mean one of two things...they will either be real picky eaters and like only plain things OR they will be amazing eaters and eat whatever they are given without complaints. Okay, so I realize those are pretty much the only two options for any kid out there….I guess their rice cereal eating might not be an indicator for really anything huh? Oh well, I tried. 

Look! Quick! Never Mind.

The thing with having more than one child is, well a lot of things. But one thing that I find hard is being able to divide my attention and make sure everyone is getting their piece of the pie. With Hattie and even Rhett pretty much had our undivided attention during all of their waking hours and even some sleeping hours, let’s be honest I had way more time to have them nap on me than I do the twins. For all of the bigs milestones we were right there with the camera ready to rock and roll. With the twins we have been lucky enough to record a lot of their first milestones so far, even though there haven’t really been too many exciting things just yet. Mostly we find ourselves getting excited, everyone rushing from whatever they were doing to get to wherever both babies or one baby is about to perform whatever the latest trick is they have been working toward and then wait, wait, and wait some more. Sometimes the wait is worth it and then something happens, other times there is just a lot of waiting and long videos of us waiting that are clogging up our oh so precious camera roll space. A few of the latest tricks they are working on are Ryne rolling over from tummy to back and back to tummy and both babies sitting up. It’s quite funny when we think one of those things are about to happen and everyone gathers and then it doesn’t. It’s kinda like one of Aesop’s Fables The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Do you know that story? If not, it’s a good one, click on the link to read the Wikipedia on it or watch a YouTube video of the story here. I feel like it has been one fable that I have referred back to several times throughout my life in one way or another. Anyway, those are a few things the babies are currently working toward and I have a feeling will keep us all on our toes for the foreseeable future through many more milestones ahead.  

Ryne turning over belly to back.

Ryne faking us all out thinking he is going to roll over and then doesn't. 

Then the next one he doesn't even try, just grabs another toy that is closer. Smart boy!

Here it comes! Oh, that was for you. It’s okay,  I’ll get the next one.

Meal time is starting to get interesting around here. For the first 5-6 months the timing usually worked out that the babies were napping or playing during our breakfast, lunch or dinner. Now they are slowly trying to give up the evening nap and are finding their way to be regulars at the dinner table. We usually have it timed out where they have their rice cereal and bottles right after we eat. This can be good and bad and here’s why…

The good….

• We aren’t having to postpone our dinner 20-30 minutes to feed them.
• We are all able to eat together instead of in shifts with Hattie and Rhett eating one thing, the twins another and then Matt and I finding time before, during, after or never.
• They will eventually be eating with us all of the time and they can feel even more part of the family sitting in their chairs like big kids.
• They are seeing what actual eating (or us telling Hattie and Rhett to take a bite one million times every meal) looks like.
• They are being exposed to a variety of social interactions during meal time, conversations, modeling, laughter, routines like our prayer before the meal, setting up the table and Hattie and Rhett helping clear the table and more.
• I hope by having them at the table with us it will teach a positive look for meal time and encourage good eating habits.

The bad….

• There really isn’t anything bad to this situation other than they are seeing us eating and sitting there not eating themselves. Poor babes are closing in on bottle time and watch us put food into our mouths and nothing goes to them. We plan to change that here soon in this next month and slowly begin introducing solid food to them. They have just begun to show an interest in what we are eating or drinking. It’s funny to watch them begin this new behavior. It’s like they are excited and not really sure why. They grab for whatever is going toward our mouth, or whatever we are holding and immediately attempt to put it in their mouth. We have to be careful and keep our eye out even more now that they are becoming more aware and interested.

As the babies begin to transition to both pureed baby food and table food I am anxious about juggling it all, doing it “right” and exposing them to a variety of foods and textures. I know they don’t know any different and whatever we are able to do should be a win in anyone’s book, but I also want to make sure they get to have the messy, silly, care free dinners that the other two had and also get the attention from Matt and I in helping them learn and experiment. I suppose I will also need to squeeze in cleaning up the kitchen afterward somehow right? Hmmm, maybe we can leave clean up to Matt.

Rip it, Rip it Good.

Since my last post at the twins 5 month, we celebrated Christmas! Woo Hoo! I can remember last Christmas we had known we were pregnant with the twins for all of two weeks and I was constantly thinking about how the next one would be when we would have four kids on Christmas morning. Well, I am happy to report it did not disappoint We couldn’t believe that they actually seemed interested in the presents, opening presents, seeing what the present was and then playing with everything. Hattie and Rhett were so patient and helpful with the babies. They “helped” them open but also showed them how to open and helped them too. It was the sweetest to see them all in action on the most magical morning. Now, don’t get me wrong we didn’t get 5 month old babies a whole lot of presents. In fact the main purpose was so Hattie and Rhett would see them open presents as well and they basically just got things we needed to buy for them anyway. A few new teething toys, Zutano booties, burp cloths (our favorites our Aden and Anais because they can snap around the babies and have full coverage for spit ups, mostly anyway), books and clothes. I can only imagine the craziness that next Christmas will be when the babies are becoming toddlers. Stay tuned for that past post….in about a year from now though, so you’ll have to wait a little while.

Bottle, Milk, Bottle, Milk….SQUIRREL!

Remember back to month one when I talked about a few of the babies (or my) favorite things? Well, the Twin-Z pillow was one of them and trust me it still is. However, I have a feeling it will be coming to an end here sooner rather than later and I have no idea what I am going to do then. But anyway...the babies are absolutely cracking me up and frustrating me at the same time during feedings lately. Every little noise or movement they hear, they immediately turn their heads, necks, backs, bodies...anything to find the source of that noise. Its quite funny to see them practically get a whiplash trying to follow what is going on behind them. This whiplash definitely comes with a few side effects like milk being poured out the side of their mouth, on their nose, in their eye, me trying to hold onto them before they roll themselves off the pillow, meanwhile hanging onto the bottles so they don’t fall and roll away where I can’t reach them without getting everyone up and off the pillow (which is a pain by the way), re-positioning both babies to get the bottles back in their mouths again and yeah, bottle time is taking a bit longer these days. What I love about this new stage of feeding is that the babies are totally interested in what their big brother and sister are doing and a lot of times they actually laugh once they see them. Even though I am a task master and want the babies to eat on schedule, I have learned to let a few minutes go here and there to allow their curiosity to be fed. Who am I to keep them from their current interests?



Half a year old. Wow. I am praying every single day to have the next day last longer than the day before so these next six months creep along. I have a feeling I will be writing their one year post before I know it...aaaaaaand now I am crying. I'll go get myself a Kleenex and leave you to see these sweet half a year old milestone pics of the littlest members of #theBrownPack.

5 Months Old

Celebrate the Differences

One thing I worried about pretty soon after finding out we were pregnant with twins was how I feared they would compare themselves to each other. I worried that if they were the same gender they would struggle with being different from one another, have jealousy, envy over competing with one another, or try hard to show people their differences, that they are two separate people, they both have likes, dislikes, opinions, strengths, weaknesses and so on. I was hopeful that if they were boy/girl twins they would not have the comparison issues that I built up in my head if they were the same gender. Well, as you know we ended up having boy/girl twins so of course I immediately felt a sigh of relief for the initial fear of comparing the two. Having both genders definitely comes with pros and cons of their own and I have begun to notice myself here at the 5 month mark to worry about their differences in reaching milestones that I know I would not worry about or focus on as much if they were singletons. The physician offices where my family are patients has a system (which I am sure most do at this point) where you can message the doctor for general purposes, schedule/confirm appointments, request prescription refills and so on. Well, I have used this service a LOT for both myself and my children. Specifically referring to the twins, I will message their pediatrician about concerns with their growth, development and more. I am not a first time mom, but somehow I seem to have forgotten pretty much everything from the first two. I am finding myself worrying about Ryne being behind Harlow when it comes to rolling over, enjoying tummy time, his head shape, spitting up and bearing weight on his legs. On the flip side, Harlow doesn’t talk much where Ryne is a jabber box, she constantly wants to be held, stands up when you’re holding her and rolls all over the place. One night, after all the kids were fast asleep in bed (so around 11:00PM just to give you a time reference) I found myself typing into Google all of these questions regarding milestones at the 5 month mark. Eventually I was driving myself crazy with all the different suggestions from Baby Center to WebMD that I ended up messaging their pediatrician with my concerns. It wasn’t but a few minutes past 8:00 the next morning that I received a message back from her saying that she is not worried one bit about their differences. As hard as it may be to not compare two babies the exact same age that all babies develop at different stages this first year and beyond and to keep doing what we are doing to encourage those developments. Can I get an AMEN? AMEN! I don’t know how many times I have been told in my life to not compare yourself to others, that we are all different, to celebrate differences, that we were not born to fit in….all of those wonderful sayings need to be on repeat in each of our minds day in and day out. Especially as we are raising the next generation of kind and caring citizens. Time to focus on having the mindset of being in a world full or ordinary, be EXTRAordinary.

Did we just become best friends?

Oh be still my heart. Ryne and Harlow have definitely shown to have a special bond since we first knew of their existence. However, we are noticing more and more how they are beginning to really pay attention to one another. In the beginning they would calm each other down when put next to each other, they would snuggle up to one another and even look like they were lonely if the other one wasn’t right there. Now we are seeing them reach over towards one another, hold hands, touch each others faces, trying to grab the other one, “talking” to each other and smiling and laughing together. Pretty much everyone in our family makes an announcement for the rest of the family to come to wherever the twins are if they show any type of acknowledgement of the other one. If they hold hands, touch the other one’s cheek, roll on top of each other, put a foot on the other one’s stomach or one my new favorites...Ryne putting his arm around Low’s shoulder when she is all feisty which is a LOT or when Low grabs his arm and hugs it in tight like its her blanket. I never seem to get my camera up fast enough to catch any of these sweet moments but I am bound and determined to do so. I feel like a bit of a stalker when I sit there staring, laughing, singing and playing with them but have my phone constantly open to the camera just so I’m prepared at a moment’s notice. I have been able to capture a few from time to time, but apparently I feel as though I need to catch them ALL. It’s all good though, being a Mamarazzi is all in a good day's work.

Stranger Things? No, Just Strangers.

Okay first off, can we talk about how unbelievably addicting Stranger Things is on Netflix? I mean come on, I am not a Sci-Fi girl and I am hooked. I can barely stand that I have to wait for season 3 to even begin production, let alone how long we will have to wait until we actually get to binge watch it in its entirety. If you haven’t watched it, be prepared to not get any sleep until you’ve watched the entire thing...you’ve been warned. But back to what this post is supposed to be about, strangers and how the babies, specifically Harlow is noticing them now more than ever. Being a parent to a new baby is kinda like carrying around a sign that says “hey look at this cuteness” and being a parent to twin babies is like carrying that same sign but it’s written in neon lights and you have celebrity status as if you’re a Kardashian. People love asking questions about the babies, normal questions, invasive questions, unrelatable questions...you name it we’ve probably been asked it. For the first five months the babies generally just sat there in their car seats, slept or stared back. The other day we were at Old Navy and came across two women and began fielding the twin questions. One of the women leaned closer and began gaggle talking to Harlow and in turn Low immediately began to scream out and cry looking for me. I took her out and the woman replied saying that that has never happened to her, all babies/kids just love her. She then proceeded to find us two more times in the store to try and win our little Low over and the first time Low gave her a no expression stare down and the second she looked away and began to cry again. So needless to say, we have entered the stranger danger, where is my mom phase. Ryne isn’t quite as afraid of strangers as his sister, but he puts up with her Harlow-tude and understands how to chill out when she gets feisty.

“Don’t take it so personally, okay? I don’t like most people. He’s in the vast majority”.

— Jonathan Byers, Stranger Things or could easily be Harlow Brown, The Brown Pack

These pictures have nothing to do with stranger danger, but honestly I don't have any pictures that do. I thought they were just cute and fun and should be put here for no other reason than that.

Oh you have a clean shirt on? Let me take care of that for you.

--says every baby on the planet

Spit up. Even saying the words “spit up” sound gross and unnecessary. However, if you have been around a baby right after eating, 20 minutes after eating or even an hour after eating you are in the danger zone. Be cautious not to bounce, play airplane, twirl or pretty much any movement other than sitting and snuggling that sweet baby. Even then you just might not escape your clothes getting stained with milk that has seen the inside of a stomach and decided that’s not its final resting place. We have tried everything from having them stay upright for 20 minutes after eating, not moving hardly at all (as much as we can having four kids ya know) for as long as possible after feeding, keeping bibs/burp cloths on the babies and on our own shoulders, laps, etc. to feeding less, feeding more, changing the nipple size, debating on changing formula and so on. We have come to terms with the fact that babies sometimes just spit up. We have talked to the pediatrician and if they aren’t acting in pain before, during or after the spit up...it's just what they are going to do. Changing formula won’t have an effect on the situation if they are spitting up just because it’s what babies do. We just have to be prepared to not be 100% ecstatic about our outfit choice day in and day out because it might not last all day. Having lots of wardrobe changes also comes with more laundry. So there’s that.

Sleep Regression? Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.

I am going to start off by saying we haven’t really hit this just yet like not full on at least. We have had a few nights and a few naps where sleep has not gone “as planned”. When this happens both Matt and I act like a deer in headlights. We have no idea what to do. We stare at the monitor, will for whichever one is awake or both of them to fall back asleep, wonder how long it will last, should we go get them and risk waking them up more, should we feed them and hope that does the trick but we don’t want to start a new routine where they always wake up to eat...so many decisions! Generally we wait for about 10-15 minutes, keep our fingers crossed they, he, she falls back asleep and/or does not wake the other one up in the process. In fact, currently while I am trying to type this post Ryne woke up about three times last night but fell back asleep on his own all three times. Harlow woke up around 7:30AM (they usually sleep until 8-9ish) and was screaming, I mean whaling up there. Once I got up there I assumed they were both awake at that point seeing as how he woke up several times and she was absolutely screaming. To my surprise Ryne was completely asleep! I mean out cold. I could not believe it, so I grabbed her as quickly as possible and let him sleep a little longer before bottle time. And now, during their afternoon nap he is up there having a hard time falling asleep, crying and upset and she is out cold. It just amazes me how they can sleep through the other one’s cries and just continue on with their own sleep! I am hopeful that we never really hit the sleep regression stage or if we do it is short-lived. I have a feeling we will be growing out of the magic merlin sleep suit here really soon and I am afraid our nights of good sleep are numbered. What tips do you have that maybe you could share in helping the transition? For the life of me I cannot remember what we did with the older two and they were always great sleepers after we transitioned to the crib without sleep sacks or anything like that. So who knows maybe they will transition perfectly but I can tell you right now I have a feeling when Low turns herself over on her stomach she will get MAD and most likely not recover until one of us goes up there to calm her back down. She already has escaped from her sleep suit and her pajamas a few times and ends up on her stomach and isn’t very happy about it, but I really can’t blame her.

Harlow the Houdini

Five months old, we can hardly believe we are coming up on your 1/2 a year birthday. Time is just flying by and you both are growing absolutely perfectly and we couldn't ask for anything more. Five month milestone pics below....