15 Weeks!!

Weight: Alex: 12.5ish lbs.  Ben: 12ish lbs

New developments:  There have been quite a few developments in the last few weeks.  I'll just combine babies because they literally do everything within hours of each other.

We have LOTS of smiles and LOTS of long coo conversations.  They will sit and chat with you for quite a while if you catch them in the right mood.  Here is a short video of Alex telling me a story one day:

They are sleeping through the night!!  It is so fantastic I can't even up it into words.  They sleep 6-7 hours without problem.  They might sleep longer if we let them, but we don't want them to go too long without eating.  I love sleeping.

They are getting a lot bigger.  They went from being in the 0 percentile (meaning out of 100 babies our babies would be the smallest) to being somewhere on the charts (greater than 5th percentile).  They haven't had an official weigh in, but I'll update that after their 4 month appointment.

What he is wearing:  Same as before.  The 0-3 stuff is getting a little short but still fits.  The 3-6 stuff is a little too big still.

Alex.  He really doesn't like smiling when the camera comes out.

Ben on left Alex on right.  Looking at the flashing lights on their activity mat.

Ben on left Alex on right

Ben.  

Ben on the left Alex on the right

14? Weeks!!

Alex

Weight:  11ish lbs

New developments: I could probably just do one of these sets of answers for both babies.  They do a lot of things at about the same time.  There have been some big developments in the last few weeks.  They hold their heads up for long periods unassisted and look around.  They make good eye contact.  We've got lots of smiles that don't just signal throwing up.  They have gone from making a few little coos to having long coo conversations with us.  They are really good at bouncing on their legs and holding themselves up with their legs.  They are getting huge and growing out of their 0-3 month sleep and plays.  They are working on batting at objects.  We seem to be a long way from rolling over.  Neither of them have made even small movements to show they care to roll over.


What he is wearing: The 0-3 month sleep and plays (pretty much all they wear) are starting to get too short!  That was a really short amount of time in that size it seems.  Some of them still fit fine, but I'm going to have to start buying some sleep and plays in the next size up.  Very exciting.  I got some more diapers in the next size up.  It is oddly exciting to get new diapers. 

Favorite memory of the week: I'm loving the smiling and the cooing.  It is much more rewarding to feed a baby in the middle of the night that at least seems happy to see you.

Least favorite memory of the week: After Cody got sick, the boys got sick.  It has been a miserable few weeks here at the Ruby house.  It was rough dealing with the babies getting sick for the first time.  They can't have any medicine, so there really isn't much we could do.  We just set them up to sleep right by the humidifier and spent a lot of time sucking out their nose.  We survived.


What we're looking forward to: I can't wait for the weather to get warmer so we can take the babies outside.  The winter trapped in the house has been very long and boring.

  Ben  

Weight: 11ish lbs

New developments: same as Alex


What he is wearing: Same as Alex.  He is not as long as Alex.  The 0-3 sleepers still fit him better, but he is getting there.

Favorite memory of the week: same as Alex


Least favorite memory of the week: same as Alex


What we're looking forward to: same

Eyelashes and Eyebrows!!!

They wouldn't calm down, so I stuck them together in the rock and play.  That seemed to do the trick.  I was too scared to leave them unattended like that though, so I had to stand there watching them.  Alex on the left, Ben on the right.

Snuggling

Sort of smile.  They haven't been cooperating when I get the camera out.  This is the closest I have to a smile on the camera.  It is like trying to catch Sasquatch.

Alex dancing in the rock and play

My grandma and grandpa sent matching outfits for the boys.  The boys don't usually have hoods or hats on, so I'm not sure how Alex felt about it. He looks a little confused.   He ended up falling asleep with the hood covering his eyes and nose.  It was pretty cute.



First Solo Outing!

We survived the first time out with me and the boys!  They had to get their (hopefully last!) Synagis shot on Wednesday. Since Cody missed work for me being sick and for him being sick, he couldn't come with us. 

We spent an hour on Tuesday night practicing with the double stroller.  That thing is big and complicated!  I had to learn: how to fold it and unfold it, how to get the car seats hooked on without being too traumatic for the baby inside the car seat, how to cram it in the trunk.  (It has to go in upside down, front first, and jammed sideways once it is halfway in), and how to get it out of the trunk.  (An error getting it out actually made me bleed!)  Once I thought I was fairly comfortable with everything, I quit yelling at Cody to help me more.

Practicing in the living room

The exciting day arrived.  I planned to get out of here at 2:15.  At 2:35 I had the boys in the car and was pulling out of the driveway.  I got to the hospital about 20 minutes early.  I got a fantastic parking space.  It was off to the side in a row of 3 cars (instead of the main parking garage spots) so I wasn't in the flow of traffic or on a slope. 

After I wrestled the stroller out of the trunk, I couldn't get it open!  In all of our trial runs, there is this one hook/snap thing that never engaged while I had the help of Cody to diagnose problems.  It took like 5 minutes, lots of cussing, and plenty of stroller scuff marks from rabid stroller flipping to try to solve the problem.  It ended up being in a really obvious and easy spot.  I felt like an idiot, but I was on my way again. I got the boys set up and started on my way to the elevator.  One of the front wheels had a lock on it that never engaged during trial runs.  I must say our trial runs weren't that effective.  Anyway, after I figured out how to fix the front wheel we were on our way.

The lady checking me in was coughing in her hand and then put wrist bands on the babies.  I found that funny since I was taking my babies to get $3000 shots to keep them from getting sick and they got coated in germs at check in.  I rubbed antibacterial hand stuff on them once we got to the waiting area.  The other parents looked at me like I was insane.

Our appointment was for 3:15.  The boys normally eat at 3.  I pushed their noon feeding back thinking I'd get until 4 or so to feed them.  That would work out great because I'd be pretty much  home to feed them.  Well, the clinic got behind and they finally called us back at 4.  The boys were going bananas wanting food.  The clinic schedules a lot of people with really short times so they are all business.  There was no time to feed them.  I put some formula in one bottle and let both of them suck off it when they were free from being poked.

I used a permanent marker to make onesies that say "Hi, I'm Alex" and "Hi, I'm Ben."  I did this because medical offices like to schedule the boys for two appointments but do them at the same time.  Two nurses come and start firing off questions and doing things.  When Cody is there, we can each take a baby and keep things straight.  I was worried they would get mixed up in the confusion with just me.  The first nurse looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Well their name is on their wristband already, I hope."  Whatever.  I was right.  The other nurse went through all the verification that it was Ben's shot and the correct dosage, and then she started prepping Alex for the shot!  The other nurse was like don't you see the giant Alex written across his belly?  It was the same dose for both boys and I had already noticed she had the wrong boy as well.  I just thought it was funny.  They cried a little after their shot, but they are used to getting poked and settled when I picked them up.

Their onesies:

On the way out, I had a greatest mommy in the world moment.  I was waiting for an elevator.  When one finally opened, this couple took forever trying to decide if they were going to get on or not.  They finally decided they were not because they wanted to go up not down.  The doors were closing.  My instinct was to push Ben in the way of the closing door.  Oops.  When the doors closed on his car seat, they opened back up.  And we were on our way.

I got everyone packed up and finally fed them around 5.

It wasn't bad.  There was no major crying and only some fussing.  If the trunk wasn't so small or the stroller so huge, it really would be no biggie at all.  I'm super glad to have the stroller though.

I'm still probably not brave enough to take them shopping alone.

11 Week Pics

Alex

Enjoying his bottle

1

Ben

Snuggled up against me

2

Both

I took a lot of these.  I put up a few of the better ones, but I will probably delete some later if I think about it.  I just couldn't decide which ones were best.  Alex is in grey and yellow and Ben is in Blue.

3

4

5

Sometimes both just need to be held.  20 lbs of baby is getting to be pretty big.

Please excuse the hair.  The boys were a little extra whiney so I didn't have time to bath or brush my hair.  I think it is funny how many blankets I have around me.  Part of that is because Cody is sick, so I have been sleeping on the couch.  The rest are protection from baby spew.

6

7

Alex on the left and Ben on the right. 

Sometimes they like to sleep close together.. and sometimes they don't.

8

9

10

11



11 Weeks!!

Alex

Weight: 10ish lbs

New developments: Eyebrows!  They are not fully there, or dark, but they are coming in.  He is getting a lot better with head control.  If he is held against your chest he can look around pretty much all he wants.  There is a lot of cooing going on.  I'm still waiting for consistent smiles.  I'm pretty sure we just have unhappy babies.

What he is wearing: The 0-3 month sleepers fit well.  It actually looks like he may outgrow it in the torso soon.  His legs are still a little short for them, but he is getting there.  He is officially out of newborn sizes.  I miss some of his old clothes already.  :(  He is also outgrowing his newborn size cloth diapers.  I have 2/3 of what I need for the next size up, but I need to do a little diaper shopping before we need to start relying on that stash.

Favorite memory of the week: I'm enjoying the moments where he just sleeps on my chest for a long time.  He also likes to reach out and hold my hand or touch my leg while he sleeps near me.  He is a snuggle monkey.

Least favorite memory of the week: I was super sick for a week and now Cody is sick.  I've spent a lot of time listening to every noise they make and taking their temperatures every time they feel a little off because I'm so scared of them getting what we have/had.

What we're looking forward to:  I'm still waiting for consistent smiles that don't signal vomiting.

Ben

Weight: 10ish lbs

New developments: Ben is also getting eyebrows and is making big progress in head control.  It is amazing how much better they are at looking at us now.  They will look towards noises and follow you with their eyes.  They will both use their arms to support themselves when on your chest. They

are comically too top heavy to be any good at picking up their head off the floor.

What he is wearing:  He is the same as his brother only he is not as long in the torso yet.  The 0-3 month stuff looks like it won't last very long.  Cassie just lent us another box of hand me downs.  It looks like a lot of it will not even get worn before they are too big.  My little babies are getting huge.

Favorite memory of the week:  Ben is starting to get really silly.  He will look at me and then make weird happy faces and head butt me.  Then he'll pop back up to see if he made me laugh. 

Least favorite memory of the week: I've had a few more giant spit ups down the front, or back, of my shirt lately.  I now just wear tank tops and low cut shirts because it is easier to clean spit up off of skin than shirts.

What we're looking forward to: I would like a little longer stretch of sleep at night.  Sometimes during the day they will give me 4 hours between feedings.  I'd like that 4 hour stretch to happen at night instead.

Cody & Courtney

Favorite (non baby) memory of the week:  I went shopping without babies.  It was just grocery shopping, but it was so nice.  It was nice to be around other people and seeing walls other than the ones in our house.

Least favorite memory of the week: It was really hard being away from the babies while I was so sick.  I'd try to micromanage Cody taking care of the babies from the bedroom.  They would cry for a while and I'd be yelling all the things he should try to do to make them stop.  I don't think he loved getting my 'help'.  He had to take off all last week to take care of the babies while I waited for my fever to break.  Having kids makes being sick a lot harder.

What we're looking forward to: Not being sick!  Also, it will be nice when RSV season is over and we can loosen up our baby lock down position.  I want to be able to take them outside or to see family.

Everything else is going well.  The boys are doing new things and we're enjoying them as much as we can.  I really wish we had more time and attention to devote to each baby, but I imagine it is similar to having a toddler and a 2nd baby.  These babies are growing up to be quite independent.  Shep is really getting the short end of this stick.