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.