Dada, Kisses and Teeth!

I was so surprised when Abby busted out with Dada (see my previous post *here* about my worry of her lack of babbling).  Well, just a couple days later, Abby started babbling just as much as Jimmy and then surprised me by saying "dada" on Sunday, April 10th. I was able to catch a video of her rambling on and on (like her mom), but it isn't the best quality as it was taken with my "old school" cell. 
Well, Jimmy didn't want to be left in the dust, so he busted out with a "dada" just a day later. I had no idea since I was at work, so when I got home and heard Jimmy babbling "dada" over and over again, I was floored.  Jim thought I knew he was saying it, but nope, that was the first time I heard it! 

Jimmy also loves to make a "hmmmmm, hmmmmmm, hmm" sound over and over.  It is quite cute - but hearing "dada" is so much fun.  Neither Abby nor Jimmy say "dada" when looking at Jim, but one day soon I am sure they will put that together too!  Aww... my babies are growing up!

What else is new.... let's see...

Jim and I realized that both Abby and Jimmy nap way better when swaddled.  Yes, my babies are almost 8 months old and we are back to swaddling them from the waist down. Hey - you gotta do what works.  I imagine we will break them of the swaddling habit by the time they start high school.

We've moved bath time to the big (regular) bath tub!  Jimmy was out of control splashing the last couple times we used their infant tub, so we decided it was time to move them to the big tub.  I am a nervous wreck (no surprise there) with them in the tub, so Jim's been sitting in there with them. I think they enjoy bath time even more now, especially since they've been using all the fun bath toys we received at the shower!

Miss Abigail is such a dancing queen!  The last month or so she has slowly been working on her dance moves - starting with just a little head bob earlier in the month, to an all-out body shake now!  Jim and I put on toddler tunes or party favorites (thank you Comcast) most of the day so Abby can work on her moves!  Jimmy isn't a big dancer yet, but he sure does love to watch his Mom make a fool of herself dancing around the room!

And one of my favorite new skills they've learned is giving kisses!  Abby goes all out and opens her slobbery mouth wide and pops her mouth on your cheek, lips, face - anywhere really!  Jimmy is more reserved and will occasionally give kisses... he's still learning!

On the food front, both babies are loving all the new foods they get to eat!  So far the really enjoy pears, apples, bananas, mixed vegetables, squash, green beans, vegetable risotto with cheese (they love the cheese -just like their dad!), pear yogurt and all the mixed fruit.  We just successfully started them on some small finger (baby) foods.  The are doing really well with their "pincher grasp" and now are enjoying cheerios, puffs and yogurt melts.  Many times both Abby and Jimmy are able to pick them up and put them right in their mouths!  In the next month or so we will probably start giving them little bits of some regular food!

Last but not least, both Abby and Jimmy have two bottom teeth on their way in right now!  We can see them popping through the gums now, which means they will probably come all the way through by the end of the month - hopefully sooner!  Finally!  It seems like they have been experiencing teething pain since Christmas time (around 4 months) - and they are now popping through almost four months later!  Yikes!  Let's hope the rest of the teeth come in without pain or discomfort (ha!). 

That's it for now....look for an eighth month picture post soon!

And This is Why....

we need to start baby-proofing the house....

Jim set up the video camera to catch the babies doing silly things while in their highchairs...little did he know, he would catch Miss Abigail making friends with the pole lamp.  Ha!  Needless to say, the pole lamp and the two speaker stands are now moved to storage.

Our Texas Trip - A Week of Many "Firsts"

Well, we did it.  We took the babies on their first airplane ride; a three hour trip to Texas.  Jim and I have been planning on going to Texas since November, but we were just too nervous to travel with infants and never booked the flight.  So we finally did and we traveled to the Lone Star State on March 24th - Abby and Jimmy's seven month birthday.

Things were chaotic getting ready to go.  Jim and I are notorious for bringing way too much stuff with us when we travel!  So now with two babies, we need to lighten the load as much as possible because baby stuff is now more important than that extra pair of shoes or the laptop computer.  We did pretty good.  We were able to make the trip with two large suitcases, a pack and play, one large diaper bag and one backpack and of course the trusty double stroller and car seats.  Now that I write it all out, it seems like a lot, but really it wasn't that bad.

You know what else wasn't too bad - the trip through security.  I was so nervous about going through security with the babies.  But it wasn't bad at all.  We did hold up the line a little bit, but it went fairly smooth.  We left Abby and Jimmy in the stroller as long as possible and once we were up to the belt, I put all our bags up there, emptied out all the liquid/formula/baby food into a separate bin, popped off my shoes and coat and then we got the babies out of the car seats.  They motioned me through while holding both babies (which I didn't think was allowed - but hey, it worked) and Jim put the car seats on the conveyor belt and pushed the stroller to one of the TSA officers.  Overall, things went really well and we were through security within just a few minutes!

Here we are - excited for our first trip out of state since Abby and Jimmy came along!

The plane ride was ok.  Unfortunately, no matter how much you plan, something always changes last minute. Our flight ended up being delayed almost two hours.  The babies were great in the airport; they looked all around and ate their bottles like champs.  And luckily, both Abby and Jimmy passed out for take-off - so we didn't have any issues with cranky ear-popping babies during takeoff.  Abby slept the entire flight - Jim had her and I was jealous!  Why?  Because I was holding Jimmy, and he woke up after 20 minutes or so and stayed up until the last 10 or so minutes of the flight.  He did okay for the first hour or two, but then he started to get restless (and overtired) and was whiny a lot.  I felt quite bad for the people around us.  I tried to distract him with his favorite toys, some baby signing time on the iPad and some juice in a bottle.  Nothing really worked and he eventually passed out at the end of the flight (from shear exhaustion I am sure!).  Looking back on it now, it really wasn't too bad.  But Jim and I decided that next time we fly, we will definitely be buying at least one extra seat so we have more room and can at least be in the same row.   

Texas was beautiful this time of year.  The weather was nice; near 80 degrees everyday with some sun occasionally throughout the day.  I thought is was quite warm, but everyone else thought it was wonderful. 

The nice weather allowed us to do many new fun things with Abby and Jimmy;  their first time (well, second really) sitting upright in the stroller,  their first ride on the swing, and their first time riding bikes (well, being pulled while we rode the bikes).  It was so great to be outside, enjoying the fresh air!  We have pretty  much been cooped up inside since November, so it was wonderful to be outside!  And I do think the fresh air helped both Abby and Jimmy sleep better- then seemed to be exhausted at the end of the day.

Both Abby and Jimmy loved to sit upright in the stroller.  The both quietly look around and enjoy all the sights as we stroll on by.  Abby is so relaxed in the stroller she tends to pass out and take a quick nap.  She passed out on our way to the park, so unfortunately she missed the first swinging experience.  But no worries, she was able to swing later on. 

Look at how cute these too babes look in their summer hats (notice how their trusty pacis made the trip to Texas too!):

At the park (the first time), Jimmy enjoyed his first swing ride and loved spending time with his cousins (and Aunt and Uncle)!  He loved the swing and we even took him down the slide- which he was unsure of for sure!  Abby, well, she slept the entire time!

Later during the trip, we were able to go back to the park and Abby was able to experience the swings too.  She loved them as well!

Jim and Michelle (my brother and sis-in-law) were so nice to give us their pull-behind baby cart for our bikes.  We didn't have bikes with us (ha - could you imagine trying to bring bikes on the plane too!) so we borrowed theirs for a quick trip around the block - where we followed our trusty tour guide Amber (thanks Amber!).  Jim and I enjoyed the bike ride, as did Abby and Jimmy initially, but I think the too-close-quarters (and Jimmy's tendency to grab at anything Abby) made both babies a little cranky by the end of the block.  I think the bike rides will be nice with the cart as the babies get more used to sitting up, and sitting so close.

 

Hmmm....what else...

Jimmy enjoyed playing a game of soccer with Avery and Amber. 

Abby enjoyed chilling in the walker that Amanda generously let us use with we were visiting (thanks Amanda!). 

And of course, Jimmy enjoyed the jumper that my Mom's friend Cathy let us use.  He loves any and all jumpers it seems!

But all-in-all, we all enjoyed a nice time visiting with family.  Here are a couple more pictures from the trip!

After a fun and playful week, we were back at the airport and on the way home.  The nice part about the busy week was that the babies were exhausted and slept most of the trip home.  Check out my sleeping beauties: