Four Months Old!

The girls were four months old in mid-June, and I let time get away from me again before posting about them. Life is so full each day, it's hard to carve time out to write about it!



At four months old, the girls have been rolling over from tummy to back for a few weeks. Just today I watched Abby roll from back to belly, and Lydia has done it, too. They've turned into roly-poly little things--both in terms of activity and pudginess. My mom weighed them the other day, and Lydia was about 16 lbs and Abby 15 lbs. They love to smile at people, especially when they're in their prime in the morning. They have both started laughing, too.

Aren't they just the funniest and cutest little girls you ever saw? (Lydia is on the left and Abby on the right in the above picture.) As you can see, they're already best of friends. Yes, they've definitely noticed each other. We sometimes hold one in front of the other, and they talk and laugh and get excited. Sometimes when I can't calm one down by talking and looking at her, her sister works wonders. They seem to migrate toward each other in bed, too. I often find them rolling on or kicking each other.

Lydia seems to hit milestones a couple weeks before Abby. She started religiously sucking her thumb around three months old, and now both of them do it--always the left thumb. Typically Lydia cries a few cries when I lay her down to sleep, and then she quickly finds her thumb and immediately settles into a rhythmic sucking. Sometimes at night I wake to hear that sucking. Both girls are quite adept at getting their thumbs--and hands and fingers in general--into their mouths. Now they're also consistently able to grab a toy or someone else's hand when it's in front of them, and of course, that also goes into the mouth. Lydia is more ferocious about gnawing on things--like Mama's chin or her sister, if she gets the chance. I think both are starting to teethe, but Lydia may have the more troublesome gums currently.

Both are happy, sweet babies most of the time. Of course, there's plenty of crying, too, usually because there's only one Mama and two babies--plus a big brother--who all need me at once. They've started showing interest in Josiah and his antics, though I often have to protect them from him. His kisses and hugs are a bit overbearing at times, and other times he's truly out to get them.

I've mostly tried to get the girls on a similar schedule. Some days go beautifully: I feel attuned to the girls' timing needs for eating and sleeping, I get them to nap simultaneously (give or take 30 minutes or so), Josiah takes a solid nap, I prepare dinner before Jer gets home, and maybe I even do some cleaning and get Josiah to pick up his duplo and books before Daddy arrives. Some days, well . . . they don't always go so smoothly. Sometimes as hard as I try to get the girls to nap together, one wakes up much earlier than the other, or one wakes the other when I put her down. Sometimes both take very short naps or wake Josiah--resulting in multiple cranky kids and no time for me to clean or cook. Sometimes Josiah seems to have a determined mean streak (more than a typical day's sinfulness) in him that endangers the girls and leaves me worn down and him going from terrorizing to tantrum-throwing. Most days we feel cooped up in this hot weather. Outings alone with the three are tough! Just getting through doors with an absent-minded toddler and a double stroller is often impossible without the help of kind strangers. My few trips alone with the kids have typically ended in a triple meltdown (with me feeling like joining the chorus!) as we buckle up to head for home.

But for all the hassle, I wouldn't trade my beautiful girls and tow-headed boy for the world. Their smiles delight my eyes. Josiah's spontaneous hugs and kisses and "I sorry, Mama" are sweet and sincere. His antics keep me on my toes, but laughing, too.