Four Months

Remember this picture?

I do, vaguely...it was a rough time, full of adjustments, crazy mama hormones, at least 24 dirty diapers a day, trying to make nursing work under the demand of 12 feedings (or more!) a day, and lots of crying, especially by me. Oh and the fleas...lets not forget the fleas...uhg.
I was thinking today about how four months can seem so long and yet so short at the same time. For instance if I'd owned a car for four months I'd still say it was new. Same with a house. And you're still definitely newlyweds after four months of marriage. But at the same time four months with your babies can seem like a lifetime. (I suppose it IS their lifetime but that's just nitpicking). Maybe it's because we spend 24-hours a day together but it seems like those days when we brought them home and they needed to be constantly swaddled, were easily carried around two at a time, needed paci-pushing every 15 minutes all night, and ate every 2 hours around the clock was waaaaay longer than four months ago. I also know (because people tell me so) that in a year I won't even remember the first four months. I'm sure it's true, I can already see it happening, but my oh my is time just funny that way. When you in it, time drags, when you're looking back, you find yourself wondering how in the world it flew by so fast.
Anyways, since I'm not the mom who took pictures each week or month of her babies' lives and made the cute album displaying their changes day by day (I'll play the multiples card here) I decided today was a good time to take a look back.
Because my camera got fixed so I actually have pictures to compare.
Because my kids are now going to bed at 7:30pm and I actually have time to myself at night.

Because Andy is flying and I don't have anyone else to talk to!
Here are some thoughts the day after my babies officially turned four months:

Elijah Timothy:
Eli is my "touchy baby." When he's happy he is very happy, shrieking with delight and squirming all over the place. When he's angry he is very angry, he works himself into a sweat and gulps for air between ear-piercing screams. He has his own unique "Elijah" look, he is such a little man. I love him in overalls, his hair is tinged red. His eyes are just slightly darker than his sister's. He's long and thin, with long fingers and toes. He's his father's child. He can be easily distracted but also incredibly focused on the tiniest thing. He loves to talk. Though we knew it was purely coincidence, during the Christmas Eve Service he said "Hi" clear as a bell. All we could do was look at him and say "Hi" back. He doesn't appear to need as much sleep as I'd like, and gets very angry when we try to put him to sleep when he's not ready. For a long time he had to be swaddled only to decided at about 2 months that he hated being restricted even though his jerking limbs woke him up constantly. He became a tummy-sleeper. He's my snuggler and when he does finally collapse into sleep he's out like a light. Sometimes he sleeps with his eyes a little open. Eating has always been hard for him, nursing never quite worked, and even finding the correct balance of formula thickness to bottle flow was important. He can be picky, but once we find what works he is one happy camper! Eating habits do not affect his desire to try to put everything in his mouth, especially blankets. He ends up in bed with me more often than his sister.

Evelyn Hope:

Evelyn is physically exactly what I always pictured a child of mine would look like: blonde, barely-there hair, chunky, blue eyes, big smiles. She has her daddy's exact head shape, a collection of stork bites on the back of her neck, and one on her bum. She is my easy-sleeper and binky-baby. Put her in her crib, on her tummy, with a paci in her mouth, and she will try to sleep. Hold her too long when she wants to sleep and she gets annoyed. She enjoyed sleeping on her side from the start, even swaddled, and moved on to tummy sleeping when she stopped liking the swaddle. She was my easy nurser, good eater, generally easy-going baby. She has a huge, face-splitting smile for anyone and everyone. In her bed she scooches her little self right up to the top of the crib until her head is pressed into the headboard. She loves "Chunky Train," and has her daddy wrapped around her finger. Between cousins and friends she has more clothes than I do and looks adorable in all of them. She loves the jumper, even though only her toes touch the floor. Daddy likes to cuddle with her and if she ever ends up in our bed at night it is usually because Daddy didn't want to put her down. She has a way of glancing at people, then registering that she knows them, and turning her full, undying interest on them. It's comical to watch.

Milestones (mostly for my benefit later). At four months both babies can:

Babble, using some consonants. Lift their heads and about half their bodies off the floor while on their tummies, laugh out loud, smile responsively. They sleep from about 7:30pm-3:30/4am, and then until 7 or 8am. They hate their carseats. They hold hands and suck on each other's fingers. When they see each other they smile and talk. They love bathtime and watching TV. They love watching ceiling fans. They have both rolled over one way, and are getting better about waking happy in their cribs and entertaining themselves for longer periods of time. They are wonderful :)