Pulling up and temper tantrums (already?)

Hannah managed to squeeze in between the side table and the sofa. They love to migrate over toward the kitchen where the gate is. Their other all-time favorite place to play is in the bucket and window. They now drag toys out on their own!

Whitney and Lacy playing together. Since this picture was taken, I took the foam mats up off the floor because they hardly ever play over there anyway. The whole purpose of them was to catch spit up and help pad their falls. I am sure I will pull them out again in the future.

Whitney and Hannah playing in the bucket again!

A new feeding method! :) Just kidding! I was being silly and tried this because they kept trying to roll over in their boppies.

Hannah, my little stretcher. She has always loved to stretch a lot, but doesn't do it as much anymore. She was doing it a lot right before this feeding (with my assistance).

Tyler is climbing on top of Whitney... poor girl is getting squished.

The babies usually play together in the same area - except Whitney is usually the one playing by herself if anybody is. If one migrates to the other side of the room, the other two will usually follow. They also follow me around now when I go in to the kitchen or nursery if I don't close the gates.

Here they have migrated to Craig's shoes. They love to untie his shoe laces.

Tyler is pulling up on everything!

Tyler pulling up on the basket of diapers I just filled.

Whitney and Tyler are learning how to throw fits. They kick their feet, arch their backs, shake their heads no and cry and scream. Fun times! And I wasn't thinking fit-throwing started this early! I haven't gotten any tantrums from Hannah yet.

A few other quick updates... we are working on self-feeding with finger foods and sippy cups and we are slowly making progress. Whitney's one tooth is much more visible now... I'll try to get a picture. Hannah still has zero teeth. Tyler's two middle bottom teeth are it for him.

I am getting super excited about the holidays with the babies. I have been remembering what my life was like last year at this time and reflecting on all the things I have to be thankful for. I will try to do a separate post on this soon!

9 Months - Happy Halloween

Tyler is currently the most vocal baby right now. He is starting to say "dadadada" among a few other baby babbling words.

Tyler got his second tooth earlier this week. It is growing in much faster than the first tooth. The first tooth came in a month ago and already the second tooth is almost as big as the first. Thankfully, teething doesn't seem to bother him like it does Whitney (the girls still don't have any teeth). This is what you get when the babies hold their bottles themselves. They are either taking them in and out of their mouths because they can't breathe (due to the colds) or they are just playing. Tyler has recently become so mesmerized by Lacy. He pets her, pulls her dog tags, pulls her ears, chases her (crawling or dragging himself), laughs at her, squeals at her...poor Lacy and she handles it so well.

Tyler is by far my busiest baby. He started getting around by dragging himself last week, now this week he is mastering a true crawl. Now, Tyler has also started pulling up on his knees using this blue toy bucket. He is getting into EVERYTHING! This boy is keeping me busy. He couldn't care less about his toys right now. He just wants to roam and explore. I am using this blue bucket as a temporary barrier to keep him from crawling behind the chair and getting into things he shouldn't be in. Also, notice the blinds are raised...Tyler discovered those too. I've also had to move the magazine racks, close the baby gates, move lamps, raise the curtains, keep dog toys off the floor as well as shoes and anything else he doesn't need. He has an eye for things that he doesn't need... If he isn't supposed to be playing with it, he will find it!

Tyler is getting into the magazines I put under the table on the inside by the sofa and he still managed to find them.

"Let me out!"

Tyler wanted to be Superman for his first Halloween.He is pretending to fly... Actually just getting ready to crawl away - picture-taking was not easy. He is too busy.

Whitney has mastered moving from laying to sitting which is causing a problem with naps. She constantly pulls herself up and then cries and cries because she can't sleep. She is somewhat mobile; she can drag herself around some but usually doesn't have much interest in doing that. She likes to bounce on her bottom while sitting - I think she is going to be my little dancer (hopefully and Hannah too). Whitney is starting to hold her bottle a little, but isn't quite there yet.

Whitney loves to chew on everything - burp clothes, books, toys... everything!

Is that burp cloth good, Whitney?

Whitney was big bird for her first Halloween. Those darn feet will not stay on!

There it goes... Whitney is going to get it.

Let's just take em' off... much easier.

I cannot believe how long she looks here. And there are those darn feet again coming off.

Hannah has her own individual crawl - she likes to throw herself forward until she gets to her destination. Sometimes, although not very often, I will see her drag herself or actually crawl a tiny bit, but it is usually the throwing method she uses to get from point A to point B.

Hannah has become a little less easy-going. She cries more now if someone picks up one of her siblings first out of their beds and not her. Not sure if it is a teething thing or if she is developing the separation anxiety.

Just like Tyler, Hannah makes a mess with her milk. Hannah wanted to be a crab for her first Halloween. She was not digging picture time this afternoon. Can you see the teary eyes? "Seriously Mom! I am not liking this!"Now she is happy...for a moment...Please excuse my toes in this picture. This is the only one I got of her stretched all out without any hands in her face or trying to roll over. See... this is the next shot. This poor, unhappy crab loves to suck her fingers for comfort.

Some group shots...

I thought this was a sweet picture... Hannah had her arm around Whitney but when I snapped the picture, she had moved it. Still sweet though to see them sitting side by side together.

Anyone want to play twister? Or wrestle?

Good thing Hannah doesn't mind you crawling over her, Tyler. Of course, Tyler being so busy, putting Hannah next to him with her antenna things isn't going to work. Let's switch them.Whitney said, "I don't want to sit next to a boy!" And poor Hannah's antenna's are droopy just like her mood. I guess that is why Tyler wanted to 'fix' them.

Poor babies were tired and hungry. Their nap was too short (their choice, not mine) and they hadn't eaten yet.


On that note... they are all doing well with their solids. They have three meals a day and they tolerate most foods I give them fairly well. We are working on sippy cups, but mainly they just chew on the spout.

We have their 9 month check-up next week, so be sure and check back soon because I will give their current weights/lengths/percentiles etc.

Until next time...

A few pics for Daddy

Here are some more pictures from this weekend Daddy. You asked about Tyler's tooth and how much more it came through.

Just getting started - trying to figure out the mesh fruit bags. Whitney likes it.
Tyler likes it. Whitney wanted to turn over in the swing and look at Mommy and Mamaw. Hannah is looking in the background and Tyler is on the go (as always).
Close-up of Whitney
We miss you! I'll try to post some more pictures tomorrow.

Tyler's army crawl & eating fruit through mesh/net

Tyler is starting to crawl - army crawl that is. He is definitely mobile! If he sees something he wants, there is no stopping him. Its funny because Tyler started getting up on his hands and knees much after Hannah but lately, he has taken off very quickly. Hannah is still up on hands and knees and rocks back and forth constantly. My guess is she will not army crawl. Whitney can also pull up on her hands and knees (as of today or yesterday) but has not started rocking or anything. She can drag herself/army crawl a little but nothing like Tyler can.

I got the babies some of those mesh/net things to eat fruit through. Tyler and Whitney enjoyed it once they learned what they were supposed to be doing. At first they sucked on the handle rather than the mesh part. Hannah didn't like it at all. I tried a second fruit in there after she refused it with the first fruit and she still didn't like it.

Tyler at 8 months

Tyler is a good independent sitter but he doesn't stay in the position long because he always wants to get on his tummy so he spin around and get into things.

Tyler is my big boy! He loves to eat eat eat! About the only thing that he doesn't like so far are peaches - he makes the funniest faces but still eats it. He actually gets upset when he sees me eating if he is hungry and wants some. Tyler is learning to hold his own bottle and does so when it is close to empty and not as heavy. I introduced them to sippy cups this past month and let me just say Tyler is not a fan of water. He only had a little bit with my help. He now weighs 18 pounds 8.4 ounces.

Tyler is not a very good napper these days. I don't know if he has just gotten into the habit of taking catnaps or if it is because he is teething. On Saturday, his first tooth broke through.

He loves to babble and talk and his newest obsession is using his hand to make echoing noises with his mouth.

Whitney at 8 months

Whitney has recently become my master sitter. She can sit independently for the longest without falling down. Whitney hasn't started getting up on all fours yet, but she loves to roll over.

Whitney loves to eat solids but doesn't like peaches or bananas. She also currently doesn't like to take her bottles half the time. If she doesn't take her bottle, a lot of times we end up making her cereal out of her bottle so she will still get the calories somehow. Whitney is also learning to hold her own bottle and practices when her bottle is almost empty. She is also learning the sippy cup - she mainly likes to chew on the spout but she doesn't mind the taste of water. She currently weighs 14 pounds 9.9 ounces.

Whitney slobbers everywhere but has no teeth popping through yet.

Whitney is a very happy baby and full of smiles all the time, but for some reason, she will not laugh. I have only heard her make a very very quiet laughing sound a handful of times.