Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, a whole month. Time flies. Every day the girls seem to do new stuff these days. Rowan sits up on her own now, which makes us nervous thinking that crawling is coming soon. Saoirse can sit for a few seconds, but the brace does slow her down. She's still wearing it full time, but that will probably be reduced to sleeping hours only soon. She will love that, she gets so excited when her feet are free. Both of the girls seem to have really discovered the brace lately, they both untie the laces on the shoes. Rowan tends to be jealous of whatever Saoirse has (toys, attention, etc...) and sometimes she stares at the brace when we're putting it on like, "Why don't I have shoes?" If she only knew how good she has it...

Saoirse and Rowan have had kind of a big month since we last wrote. They stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Haack while Mom and Dad went to New Orleans for an ophthalmology conference (and some much needed rest). They had a great time getting spoiled. After a week at home with Mom and Dad, we're all back up North for Thanksgiving. The girls went to Clare for the first time, met some cousins they'd never seen before. Lunch at Aunt Loretta's was fun and crazy with four babies 12 months and under.

To answer a few frequently asked questions:
1. No, they still do not sleep through the night. Not even close. Someday we hope it will happen. Before they go to college.
2. They did not dress up for Halloween. No one trick or treats in our neighborhood, and they don't live close enough to anyone to visit. So...next year will be their first Halloween.
3. No, they're not eating solid food yet. The plan is to start next month, when they hit their corrected age of 6 months.

Enjoy the photos!!

Schedules and such

For the past few weeks, Gwen and I have really been working on gettting the girls on a schedule. So far, we have worked it out like this. Wake up time (between 7am and 7:30 am, although occasionally one of the girls decides they are going to get up at 6 am), morning routine of playing, then nap at 9am with a bottle. Up at about 11 am for more play, usually on the play mat with some practice rolling over. Saoirse, by the way, is rolling front to back and back to front both ways with and without her brace. She is very coordinated. Rowan still has yet to roll back to front, but that is mostly because she starts crying if you leave her on the ground for more than a minute, so she doesn't practice.

Back down for a nap at about 1 pm for an hour or so. Up for playing and more food. Nap at 4pm for Rowan and maybe Saoirse if she will allow. At around six, Saoirse gets her brace off and we all play a while. Bath time is at 7pm. They both love it, but really hate drying off. Then its bedtime around 7:30pm to 8pm. It is really easy to put them down, but they have been waking up at about 8:30 almost every night, and then fight going back down for almost an hour. At night they have been sleeping better for me, not so much for Gwen. They always wake up at least once during the night, sometimes more, but I think it is getting better. I have to give all of the credit for the schedule to Gwen. She is a great mom and is working really hard.

Other fun things we have done include taking the girls to BW's for their first Michigan game. They are very happy that the Wolverines have turned things around and are looking forward to seeing their first OSU game in a few weeks.

Big talkers....

Wow, time flies. Every time I sit down here to update, I'm shocked at how long it's been. Well...what can I tell you? The girls are growing like crazy. They have now gotten the hang of holding their own toys. They reach out for stuffed animals, us, their rattles, all sorts of stuff. And it goes in their mouths. Saoirse is a serious drooler, so this new ability to get everything in her mouth makes things pretty messy. Also, they are more aware of each other all the time, which is really adorable. This morning while I was playing with them both on their Baby Einstein gym, Saoirse flailed her hand close enough to Rowan's face to interest her. So Rowan grabbed Saoirse's fist with both of her own hands, pulled it into her mouth, and started sucking. It doesn't bother them at all to be handled like that, it's pretty funny to watch.

I would say that biggest change lately is how much they're trying to "talk." Of course, they always made noises (especially Rowan). But now you can tell that they're really trying to communicate. They'll lie in your lap, look in your eyes, and just "talk" away, working so hard to shape their mouths into new sounds. I love it, I can't imagine how entertaining it's going to be when it's real words.

Progress

It has been a great few weeks lately. The babies are growing into real people right before our eyes. They recognize each other now and smile when they see each other. Saoirse rolls over now and Rowan is rolling from her back to her front in either direction. They are starting to grab for things and can even hold things for a short time. I think Rowan is going to be a trouble maker when she gets older. She cries if we are giving too much attention to her sister. Poor Saoirse sits quietly and patiently for as long as she needs too. But when I pick her up and Rowan sees us, she stares and tries to get my attention. She even tried to steal a toy from Saoirse's hand the other day.

Saoirse is doing better with her brace. She isn't crazy about it, but seems to be handling it better.

They just had their 4 month check up and vaccinations and our doctor told us they are not considered premies anymore because they are totally on the normal chart and have caught up. Rowan weighs 12 pounds and Saoirse weighs 11 lbs. 11 oz.

It is blowing my mind how much they are starting to progress. Still, they aren't sleeping through the night yet, but they are gettting close, I think.

Daddy got to play his first soccer game since before the babies were born. The girls came for the first match. They didn't seem to like the bright sun that much though.

Can't wait to see what they do next!

So proud

This happened two weeks ago. After watching our friend Keith's blog and seeing his child roll over, I have been waiting for it to happen for us. When I put Rowan on the ground, she almost went right over. I ran and got the camera and it was suprising to me how much pride welled up in side of me. That's my girl.

Good sleeping!!

Okay, I'm not saying this is going to happen all the time or anything. (I don't want to jinx it). But Saoirse slept through the night for the last two nights!! 9.5 hours Monday night and 7.5 hours on Tuesday. What a miracle. And Rowan didn't do half bad herself, about 6-7 hours each night. Grandma and Grandpa Haack were visiting for a few days. I really think it makes a huge difference when the girls have more attention during the day, which is tough when they're alone with me. It's tough to get two babies down for naps throughout the day. Of course, they're also just getting to the age where they don't have to eat quite as often.

In other news, Rowan is hilarious, she smiles and laughs A LOT. She's super-active, like her dad, and wants to be in an upright position almost all day. She wants to sit up and stand with support, she's very strong. No laying back and chilling for her. Saoirse has discovered rattles, especially the kind with clear plastic and little tiny balls that rattle around inside. She'll stare at them for sometimes up to an hour. (Amazing how tired your arm can get holding up a 2 oz rattle for that long).

Hope all of you have a good Labor Day. We'll be at the beach!