11 Month Update

Age: 11 Months old yesterday! The Paed says that they have caught up so well and even their milestones are beyond their actual ages, so by their 1st Birthday (in just one month's time can you believe it???) we don't need to adjust their ages anymore! Yay. Our clever little babes!!!

Height/Weight: Finn weighed 9.540kg on 23rd July, so no doubt he is well over 10kg now. He is 78cm tall. Rebecca weighed 8.260kg and is 75cm tall. Finn is well over the median line with weight for his actual age and Rebecca is almost there. Both are well over the median height range so will be tall kids ;).

Developmental notes: They are getting stronger and more independent every day. Both crawl along at great speeds, pull up on anything and everything, can sit up from lying on their tummies, hold onto furniture with one hand balancing and Rebecca even stood without holding onto anything for a little while yesterday! Both bounce up and down holding onto their cots. Finn gnaws at his high chair, Becky gnaws her cot. Finn likes to bang his head up and down often - apparently this is soothing as they are mimicking the rocking motion lol. Finn "walks" holding onto the walking toy with wheels but is so strong that he lifts the whole thing and throws it sideways - then he can't hold on anymore lol. Both are chewing nicely now and we don't stress as much leaving them with finger foods. Rebecca has a 5th tooth out at last. But no more teeth from Finn, who still has 6. Both still drool up a storm so no doubt we will have another bout of teeth soon.

Finn has been battling with baby excema and we are now keeping it under control with Advantan and moisturising creams. Hope this goes away soon.  Poor Becky had a horrible ear infection and must have had it for some time as after being treated with antibiotics, she has become a different baby - happy, relaxed and not kweffy at all and back to sleeping like a dream! She is so so cute at the moment. Just as well I was dosing her with ibuprofen etc as she would have been in pain and a lot of discomfort poor thing. They both say quite a few words - mamma, dadda, babba and yum when they eat and Becky said meow the other day. Finn claps his hands perfectly.  I am still trying to teach them to wave ta ta - they are starting to get it but not quite. The other morning, Finn woke up at 4am and was quite noisy, so I fetched him for a cuddle.  He wouldn't sleep so eventually I turned around and left him to it. He sobbed and reached out to touch my back and clearly said "mamma".  It was if he knew that I was mamma - what a special moment.  Of course I turned around and hugged him close and he promptly went back to sleep. So special.

Finn can high five! If you say high five and hold up your hand, he claps it! So clever! Becky hums along with me if I hold her and sing or hum - too dear.

Eating: They are still eating well. Rebecca has gone off cereal a bit - she really loves real food.  Hope this love of good food lasts and we don't have picky eaters after the two's - apparently babies may start to become picky eaters between 2-5 years old - this ties into the ancestral genetic conditioning that as toddlers become more independent they limit eating new and unusual, possibly poisonous things as they explore their surrounds. Mmm. Finn drank orange juice out of a straw perfectly, but Becky couldn't suck hard enough yet. Becky is far more adept at finger foods still and eats anything I pop into her mouth from my plate. Finn drinks from his sippy cup but Becky still chews hers.

Sleep: After the chaos of poor Becky being so miserable due to her ear infection, we have had sleep-throughs for the past 2 weeks.  Of course, last night not - she woke up and then wouldn't go back to sleep so eventually Finn also woke up and it became a 3 hour long session...sigh. Hopefully this was because of her tooth and it was random. Have been loving the uninterrupted nights.

Favourite Things: Finn has aquired a liking for a dummy - he finds Becky's discarded dummies on the floor and pops them in, sucking away for ages.  Oh well as long as it keeps him happy. We have set up a playroom in the front of the house in a little sunny enclosed area with all their toys and comfy mats.  They spend a lot of time here playing during the day. When they have had enough, they crawl around the house.  Finn goes straight for anything electrical - the cords from lamps are a problem and he almost pulled one over the other day. Going to need to rethink a few things to make the house safer.

Dislikes: Being tired.

Looking forward to: Their first Birthday party!  I have started planning it and already have 40 guests coming - not sure where to put everyone but hey it will be fun!!!

Mommy and Daddy musings: We are loving the adventure of parenthood and after spending a rare day alone with just the two of us last week, we missed not having the babies with us and realised that we are and always be attached to them by such a strong bond - our lives have irrevocably changed. It is not just the two of us anymore. And we are so happy about our new family it makes me quite teary everytime I remind myself that I am finally a mommy.

10 Month Shoot

We had our 10 month shoot with the brilliant Angi Whittle. She is so talented and we are in love with these beautiful pictures of our little blessings...here are some of my favourites...

On the move...

Wow these babies are on the move!  They have become cruising crawlers and pull up on everything. They are both adept at getting up and down without falling and have learnt the art of bum landings rather than face planting! Both now hold their own bottles and have realised they can actually sit up out of a boppy pillow - not great for my mornings while I am trying to get ready for work! When they are let loose, they crawl so fast I have to keep up with them.

We went for the (late) 9 month shots (measles and pneucc something?!) and it wasn't as bad as it usually is - both were fine quite quickly. Both got temperatures though so we had to give them Neurofen / Panado for a couple of days. Finn weighed in at 9.6kg and is 76cm tall - he is already way over the normal range for his actual age.  Becky is 8.3kg and 73cm - tall and skinny but almost catching up to the weight graph so doing just great. Finn's head circumference is 45cm and Becky's is 43cm.

And, Finn had his first fall off a bed. DH turned his back for an instant and splat onto the wooden floor.  One egg on his forehead later poor little guy. They are both more wary now and peer over the edge almost testing to see how far down the drop is. Would really prefer no more falls babes okay!

Both squeal with delight when playing together and have a high pitched communication dialogue of squeaks and squeals. When we get home in the evening and they first see us, they also squeal and crawl towards us fast - so cute. There are lots of words - mamma, dadda, babba, nine, yum - but they still don't identify us as mamma and dadda specifically. Finn claps. Becky sings and croons with me when I sing to her. Finn's first response is always a laugh. Becky's is usually a yell. Becky wants whatever Finn is playing with and he sometimes lets her have it and other times fights for it back. Finn only cries when he is hurt or tired. Becky cries when getting changed or when she is left behind in her cot or for whatever is frustrating her at the time.
Finn has 6 teeth, Becky has 4.

They are changing so fast now, I will have to post more updates - I don't want to forget a thing! Poor Becky had a bad ear infection and had to go on her first course of antibiotics - no wonder she was so miserable for the past few weeks.  Her sleeping has improved and she now only wakes up once or twice to find her dummy. Finn is sleeping through and if he wakes up usually just babbles and chats for a bit and then goes back to sleep. 

Oh what an adventure this is!