Five to eight month facts

Reece

Reece learned to roll from his back to his stomach at exactly five months. It took him until seven and a half months to figure out how to roll back over, but the doctor said it may be because he is so happy on his stomach that he hasn't felt the need to. He loves being on his belly. He sleeps and plays that way for most of the day. He could get up onto his hands at almost six months and at seven months he could get up onto his knees. He goes in circles and scoots backwards. He hasn't figured out how to go forward yet but I have a feeling he will any day now. At six months he was able to sit up unassisted. We didn't even practice. When I went to the doctor for his six month appointment she said "He is really strong, I bet he could sit up on his own" and she was right! At about seven months he started sticking his tongue out to the side all the time. It looks like his thinking face, but really I think he is just feeling his new teeth. Reece now loves to wiggle his fingers against his lips while he babbles to hear the sounds change.

 Reece before

Reece after-- He didn't even care that he fell over, he just kept playing.

Reece is a very happy boy even though he may be a little more sensitive than his brother. He is also very charming. I take him out and he kicks his feet, smiles, laughs, and squeals happily at all the people he meets. When I zip up his pajamas he thinks I am tickling him from his feet to his neck. He loves eskimo kisses and when I give them to him he scrunches up his face and neck and giggles coyly. Reece loves to be moving. I can tell he will be an active kid. He kicks his legs constantly and loves to bounce in his jumparoo. When he first tried food at four and a half months he didn't like it.  I continued to give him a taste every time I fed Liam, but he was not interested. At six months he finally decided that food is okay. I think it just took him that long to figure out what was going on.

Liam in my grandpa's old mini rocking chair.

 Liam

Liam learned to roll a few weeks after Reece at five and a half months. He doesn't seem to be as strong as Reece, but he picked up on rolling both directions right away. At seven months he got really fast at rolling and he now rolls as his main mode of transportation. However, he is mostly just content to be in one spot on his back.

 Liam in his snazzy PJ's

He also has a cute blue bunny stuffed animal that is attached to a little blanket that he loves to hold while he sleeps. Because he is quieter and better at entertaining himself, he is also a little sneakier. I often find him rolling under the couch or I'll turn around and he will have gotten the mail or something I have accidentally left on the floor and be chewing on it quietly. Lately he spends a lot of time trying to figure out how to open the TV cabinet cupboard or hiding behind my curtains. He likes to observe things. He watches Reece and everyone around him to see what they are doing. I think he really loves his family and thinks we are very funny. When he is down on the floor he does this action that looks like jumping jacks over and over again. Recently I have noticed him getting more opinionated. If he wants something he will cry until he gets it or will steal it from his brother. He decided at seven months that he does not like to be held or touched while he is drinking his bottle. However he does like me to hold it for him even though he knows how to do it himself. When I was at church trying to hold him and give him a bottle he cried and cried until I put him on the ground and gave it to him. He wouldn't even sit in his car seat. He had to be spread out on his back with nobody touching him. The other mothers in Relief Society thought he was the strangest baby.

Both boys got their first tooth at around six and a half months on the same day. By seven months they both had two teeth. Reece had a harder time with teething than Liam. Both boys started to babble when they started teething. Originally most of the sounds were sad pain sounds accompanied by a pretty pathetic looking grimace. The most common sound is "adaaah". Now they babble frequently. Liam talks less than Reece, but he does make all the same sounds. They are both very ticklish and love to laugh. Neither are super cuddly but they do like to rest their heads on my shoulder briefly which makes me very happy. They love each other very much and love to look at each other and laugh and smile. 

 I have always tried to keep them on the same schedule. So usually if one eats or sleeps I will try to get the other one to do the same. The boys have always been pretty good sleepers and have slept a few hours more than the standard, however at four and a half months both boys severely regressed in their sleeping and started to need lots of rocking while screaming and crying to get to sleep. We managed okay at night when Ryan was home, but nap time turned into crap time. Some people have reacted with surprise when I told them I did not want to rock my babies anymore. Those people do not understand that it is impossible to rock two babies to sleep. The rockee will cry and wake up his sleeping brother, so you'll switch and rock the other, who will cry and wake up his brother... and there is always one sad baby waiting for his turn. We quickly realized that having two babies who can only fall asleep by being rocked is not a sustainable situation. We started trying different bedtimes and routines and tricks to try and get them to sleep, but after about 6 weeks of trying we finally decided on a bedtime routine of reading books and singing songs, and after that they would just need to fall asleep on their own, tears or no tears. Every day of sleep training they cried a little less before falling asleep. Within a few weeks they were sleeping 10-12 hours straight again and going to sleep without any assistance and taking 2-3 naps a day. It really has made them so much happier. Around the same time we decided to separate the boys into their own cribs since Reece was getting so big and they were rolling into each other. We put the cribs side by side so they can still see and play with each other. We sleep trained them together so that they would be used to each others' sounds and maybe feel reassured. One of my favorite things is to hear them in their cribs laughing and squealing as they play in their cribs before and after they go to sleep.

 Reece left and Liam on the right. So angelic right?

 Liam... his shirt is very true.

 Reece on the left really loving cousin Tommy in the middle and Liam on the right.

 Reece pushing the limits of his bouncy seat.

 Reece and Ryan

 Liam left and Reece right

 Reece left and Liam right

 Liam

 Reece

Liam left and Reece right. I give them pumpkins to play with while I get their dinner ready.

I have really started enjoying these two little guys. I don't like complaining because these boys are incredible and being a mom is exactly what I want to be, but if I want to document this accurately I have to admit that having these two boys has been really hard. The first 6 months really kicked mine and Ryan's butts but I now am beginning to see why it is all worth it. Even though it's hard they are so fun and playful. I feel like Heavenly Father has been teaching me patience my whole life and maybe these two are why... or maybe this is just another chapter in the lesson.

This is what it looks like feeding them now. It's crazy to think that a simple activity that takes about an hour of my day now literally filled my every waking moment for the first 4 months of their lives.

Between feeding babies bottles, nursing, and pumping I lived here. 

Glad that part is over with... however this picture does make me miss how cute and small they were. But at the time, I was too frazzled to enjoy it properly.

Showering became a luxury after they were born. Ive gone through 3 bottles of dry shampoo. The Oscar Blandi one on the right is my favorite.

They have such cute personalities and are really sweet just like their daddy.  Love my Boys!