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So we got the proofs back on the photos they took at daycare. They only got one good one of Xander - probably because they did the photos close to when he was due for a nap, so I'm guessing he was fussy. Here's how it turned out:

@Adira: I love the one you took. That is what I would use. The one from daycare he just looks so tired.

I wouldn't be surprised if we have close to a foot of snow by the time it is done falling. It is still coming down hard.

Again no morning nap. This is just killing me. And he is tired but just will not sleep.

@Adira: I love the one you took! The daycare one is cute but I agree that he looks more tired. I love his expression in yours!

@QueensBee: Yeah, I just wish I was able to get him into a more festive outfit, but this one is cute at least! I ended up putting up a grey table cloth draped over the edge of our bed and the sheep skin on the floor for him to sit on! I'm happy with how it turned out!

@ALV91711: Sorry no nap this morning

I am kind of jealous about your snow! I love snow but actually only like the idea of it on the weekends... not when I have to go anywhere!

@dojo: Congrats on the new job! He sounds like an adventurous eater! Lol about the cheese pizza. My kind of dude! Enjoy the day of pampering! A cut and color sounds amazing!

@Adira: I feel like it took Pete about a week to crawl once he was up on all fours. At the very beginning, what he was wearing mattered a lot. We have hardwood floors and he needed bare legs and feet in order to grip the surface to get the first crawls going. It might be a bit chilly to have Xander pantless in Boston at this time of year but I think it helped speed things up for Pete. Now that he knows how to do it, he can zoom around in anything! He crawls over obstacles, nothing stops this kid!

I am so far behind but it sounds like everyone is doing well - so many exciting, non-baby things happening too! House shopping, renovations, vacations, new jobs - nice to see that life goes on The girls just turned 9 months and they are crawling up a storm - started to crawl a couple days apart right at about 8 months. Now they are both pulling up to stand regularly, and we have seen a bit of cruising too, especially in the crib. Think we are in trouble soon!

Their sleep is still good, though naps are hit-or-miss so we try to be flexible about bedtime. The wakeups we are having lately are because they haven't quite figured out how to get down after they pull up to standing, so we have had to do some middle of the night rescues to help them lay back down. The wakeups aren't so bad honestly because you can't help but laugh when you see them resting their chins on the crib rail

We are still waiting on top teeth but the girls are suddenly a LOT more talkative - in the last month they have busted out a whole bunch of new consonant sounds. We have heard "mama" a couple of times that corresponded to one of the girls reaching for me, but I am not sure I am ready to count it as a word yet. Also hearing "baba" for bottle but not too consistently. Is anyone doing sign language? We have been doing a few signs but the girls are just mastering actually bringing their hands together when they try to clap, so the dexterity they need to sign seems to be a ways off yet. They are able to pinch to grasp a puff, but the release is still tricky business for them - there's a lot of chasing from hand to hand before it makes it into the mouth, a soggy smushy mess.

One thing we are struggling with a bit is that the girls are way more interested in exploring than they are in their bottles these days. Seems to take forever to feed them - they insist on feeding themselves and won't let you hold them for a bottle except on very rare occasions, but they aren't balanced enough to drink sitting up. So they lay down with the bottle but after about 30 seconds they are up and crawling again - they will not be contained! So far it has not interfered with sleep, but I worry when we only get 4 oz into them before bed (where they used to drink as much as 8 before)! I thought we might have some luck if we could get them to drink from a straw cup (or sippy) instead, but they have been slow to pick that up - they can't seem to get anything out of the straw cup, and the sippy works but is a mess because the only ones they're able to work are the ones with no valve - they'd be covered in formula. Any advice? Is anyone else struggling to master the cup?

Hope the little dudes are feeling better, @Mrs. Blue. Good luck with the interviews and big decisions! Is there a certain part of the country you are hoping to land in?

@Adira: Definitely prefer the one you took - his eyes look so red and sleepy in the daycare photo The girls took for.ever. to get from up on all fours and rocking to actually crawling. They did kind of an army crawl after a few weeks, but it was probably 6 weeks before they were properly cross-crawling. I was convinced when they were rocking that it would be any day - so much so that I (not usually a gambler) bet my husband a week of dog walking that they'd crawl by 7 months. Lost that bet, but they still seemed so close I went double or nothing for another week - lost again. I actually went so far as to go quadruple or nothing before my husband took pity on me and let me out of the bet for two weeks of dog walking! They crawled about a week after I would have lost the final bet What's that thing they say about a watched pot?

@Adira: love the photo you took! So cute!
I'm popping in from my weekend away to say that it seems AF is officially back. Boo. Everyone enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

@Adira: Sounds like a healthy weight!!! Good job Mama! I love the picture that you took. Like itThe school pic his eyes are red and looks so tired. R took a month to go from getting up on all 4's to army crawling, then a couple weeks to regular crawling.
@QueensBee: So glad that P is adjusted and STTN. So fabulous isn't it.
@ALV91711: Sorry you are back to 2 wakeups How is the snow?
@dojo: Pizza!! I feel behind in food. We just do bananas.
@twobee: We are doing sign laugage cause they do it at school. But I don't know how much they do it there. R doesn't seem to be getting it. R isn't taking to a sippy cup there. She can't figure it out. She still loves her bottles though, so no advice there. Sorry.
@travellingbee: Boo!

@Adira: I would like the snow if we had it a few days of the year, not a few months. It will be here to stay until March at least.

He had a short morning nap today!!

@dojo: Congrats on the new job. A cut and colour sounds wonderful. Hope you had a great date night!

@twobee: Wow, 9 months already. That is cute that they get stuck standing in their cribs, but I guess a bit annoying to have to get up. It will be good when they can figure out how to get back down.

@travellingbee: Hope your having a great weekend away. Boo to AF, but at least she stayed away this long.

@Smurfette: Glad you had a fun weekend! It must have been nice to get away, but nice to be back home.

Last night we got back to one getting up. He did wake up two other times but just fussed a bit and was back asleep in under 10 minutes both times. He gobbled up breakfast again today. But now it feels as I'm either feeding him or myself most of the day.

@travellingbee: Boo!!!

@twobee: lol that's pretty funny about your bet - too bad you lost though! We've been having a lot issues with distraction while eating too. I don't really have any tips for the cup since Liam likes his sippy cups but doesn't really drink very much out of them.

@Adira: We are in the same boat when it comes to the physical milestones! Liam took forever to really roll much and then forever to really sit well. I think it will be awhile before we see any real crawling action. It's just hard when it is obvious he would like to figure it out but he just is not there!

@Smurfette: Sounds like you had a fun weekend! I bet you are glad to be back home though

@QueensBee: That's a good point you make about their legs needing to feel the floor to grip in the beginning. Maybe I'll try that to help Liam get some traction going!

@ALV91711: Glad you got back to one wake-up!

We had a great date night though it seemed short since we were kind of in a rush. We had some sushi and drinks then went to see 12 Years a Slave (really good movie!). Liam had a fun time with his grandparents and was super tired by the time we picked him up and drove home. I am adjusting to my new hair color (actually my natural color - but I've had highlights for quite some time so it seems really dark!) and I chopped off about 6 inches - crazy!

@ALV91711: I feel like R is always eating too!
@Adira: She gave me a huge smile when she saw me. Melted my heart!!!
@dojo: Glad that you had fun on your date night!
@silver1: we would sometimes get up and crawl so she would see it, but she just stared at us like y'all are crazy. Now DH crawls and she chases after him. So cute!!

So my friend gave us her daughters walker and I brought it home today. So after R woke up from her nap. I stood her up behind it. Totally expected her to just stand there but she took off! She walked a good 9-10 feet. When DH got out of the shower, he was like yeah she has been doing that all weekend. She still prefers to crawl and isn't totally comfortable with the cruising /walking but getting there!

@silver1: I kept pretty much the same style but cut a bunch off! It was super long and out of control so I just chopped a bunch off while keeping it kind of longish - I can dry it so much faster now! Do you just do the water in a sippy cup when you give it during the night?

@Smurfette: R is on the move! That's so amazing that she took off with the walker! I stood Liam up on ours and he stood there and looked concerned, sat down and cried. haha oh well. I am over this whole teething business too!

So I was thrilled that both the top teeth had cut through... then he started biting today. He bit my husband twice in the chest while lying on him (dh said no firmly - cue the crying) Then as I am nursing him tonight he really bit down (He has kind of nibbled a little while nursing before and I thought that was biting but this is like an actual chomp bite) I said no and took him off. Tried to nurse him again a few minutes later and he did it again! So I put an end to that and I'm holding him and he tries to bite my shoulder! I had to go get some teething toys for him to bite on. It took him nearly an hour to go to bed tonight because of all of this... hooray.

@dojo: Yay date nights!! And I'm jealous you got your hair done - mine really needs it!!! I haven't had it done since I returned to work 5 months ago!

YIKES!!! Sorry to hear you got bit! TWICE! I know how painful that can be!!!

@silver1: We've been trying to help encourage Xander to crawl by helping him get up on all fours, but I really don't feel like it's helping him at all and he's just figuring it out on his own, so I don't really think you need to do anything in particular to teach him. Just give him plenty of time on the floor!

@Smurfette: I still can't believe R walked with a walker!! She's going to be running before Xander even figures out how to crawl!!! She just does NOT want to stay still, does she??

Ugh, sorry to hear about your rough morning!!! I hope tomorrow morning is better.

@dojo: Ouch! The biting pretty much sealed my decision to wean.
@Adira: No she doesn't sit still ever. She even moves in her sleep. He might just be missing the comfort of nursing?

@Adira: What if tonight you try a little sugar water? See if it is the act of thinking it is Tylenol?

@Adira: Worth a shot. If it doesn't work, I would give a little less Tylenol every night

@Adira: I know I sleep better when I take Advil, but I try and not do it every night.

@QueensBee: Wow sleep!!! I'm so impressed and jealous!!! Go Pete!! And yuck about the poops! That totally sucks!!! Xander usually only poops once a day (though sometimes more), but we've had those massive ones before and they are horrible! Definitely had to do an emergency bath before!!!

Aww, try not to let mommy guilt get to you on the breastfeed/pumping front!! You did AMAZING being able to give him breastmilk for 6+ months and should be proud of that fact! Plus not having to pump must be sooooo nice!!!

OMG, I almost wish we had a house without a yard! Having to mow the lawn every friggin week during the summer SUCKS! I HATE IT! And then raking leaves and dealing with all the other fun. BLEH! I think having access to all the perks of a lawn without having to deal with the upkeep would be awesome! Good luck on the bid!! Hope you hear back soon!

@QueensBee: That is AWESOME sleep!! I freak out when R only poops once too, since she still does 2 or 3 times a day. I just got R dressed this morning, gave her a bottle, and then she spit up all over it. Changed her and then she pooped, back to the changing table.

6 Months is awesome!! I do understand where you are coming from since I started to wean at 6 months as well. I felt bad cause I didn't have supply issues but I was just over it. But I feel so much better, and like myself again, even if I did gain weight from stopping. Happy Mom = Happy Baby!!

Good luck on this house! I would love to not have a yard right now. The amount of leaves is insane in the membrane!