Friday, February 6, 2009

Life at 7 Months

Eden and Sebastien are doing so well! They both are sitting up with confidence now, although they are not above doing a nose dive or toppling backwards every now and then. They are doing lots of babbling - mamama, dadadada, babababa, etc. Especially Sebastien - he is quite a talker. He has also learned to blow little spit bubbles (raspberries) and he enjoys that quite a bit.

Rolling over is still a bit of a challenge. Eden can roll tummy to back, but doesn't do it very often. Sebastien hasn't rolled either way yet without help from us. They are both getting close to rolling back to tummy, but haven't quite figured out how to get their arm out of the way.



Night time sleep is going much better. They have not needed night time feedings since they were three months old, but both of them woke up a lot during the night needing their paci replaced. About a month ago, we realized that Eden was consistently sleeping very well, with only 1 or 2 times that she needed us; we were mostly getting up to help Sebastien (sometimes 8-9 times a night!) However, recently he seems to have turned a corner, and only needs us about 3 times a night. Over all, we feel very lucky. They are never inconsolable when they wake up in the middle of the night - they just need a little soothing, a paci, and they're right back to sleep.

Nap times are a different story. They take 3 naps a day, but they are short naps, sometimes only a half-hour. It is a very rare occurrence that either sleep over an hour. This can be frustrating, but we have a pretty steady and consistent rhythm to our days, so it's tough to complain.

Now, before you tell us about sleep cycles and letting them cry it out... let me tell you... My twins wake each other up with their crying, so crying it out does not seem to be a real option for us. The times that we have tried it, it has left Sebastien and Eden frustrated and tired. Just as one has finally calmed down and drifted off to almost sleep, the other's loud cries wake him/her up, and it starts all over again. Now, granted, our kids fall asleep very easily, so we do not have to do this at night. We have only tried it for naps, and only once they wake up after only 25 or 30 minutes. So maybe this is not what "crying it out" is intended for.


Besides being our big talker, Sebastien continues to have a pretty easy going personality. He is good at playing independently, and is pretty happy a lot of the time. His laugh is completely contagious and we stand on our heads trying to keep it going! Sebastien is also very cuddly. He melts our hearts when he buries his head in our chest or shoulder and wraps his arms around our necks, as if giving us a hug. (Eden does that too, by the way. We love it!)

Eden has tricked a lot of people into thinking that she is "serious." She's not! Eden's smile is like sunshine. Her eyes get bright and her mouth opens so wide with her smile. She has fooled people because she continues to our more "sensitive" child. She takes her time taking it all in when we go out of the house or when people come to see us, and she focuses on her surrounding by furrowing her brow. But rest assured she is a very happy baby, smiling and giggling at us frequently. Especially at daddy, she thinks he is hilarious. She is also still our little wiggle box, always on the move.

Sebastien and Eden are eating very well and gaining weight. At their six month appointment, Sebastien weighed 16 1/2 pounds and Eden weighed 14 lbs 15 oz. They're eating cereal, vegetables and fruit at two feedings a day along with a bottle, and really seem to enjoy it. They are also still nursing at 3 feedings a day.

Overall, things are going so great! Sebastien and Eden fill our lives with joy and our hearts melt with their smiles and their voices. We are having so much fun watching them grow and learn.

Friday, January 16, 2009

6 Months Old!

We celebrated Sebastien and Eden's half-birthday by looking back at that gajillions of pictures that we've taken. We smiled at all the photos of the tiny little babies that we brought home for the hospital. What an amazing blessing to take those little peanuts home and watch them grow into healthy, strong 6-month-olds.
We have our doctor appointment next week so I don't have a weight update yet. In the meantime, you can marvel with us at how far we've come already in the past 6 months.


Little Eden in her swing


Tiny Sebastien getting his tiny diaper changed


All small and wriggly in their baggy preemie clothes


And here are pictures of them from yesterday.


Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas

This year we decided to send a Christmas letter via email - however, I don't think everyone realized that there was a letter attached the email. So, I'm posting the letter on our blog, just in case you missed it. :)

Merry Christmas!

We find ourselves celebrating and feeling very thankful this holiday season. This has been a year of abundant blessings for us.

After a high risk pregnancy and 12 weeks of bed rest, we welcomed Sebastien and Eden into our family! They joined us on July 15, beautiful and totally healthy. Since then, life has been completely different! But it is a change we longed for and are thrilled with.

Eden Kay is our little wiggle worm. She already loves to stand on our laps (with our help of course) and is working really hard at rolling over. She is very sweet and wakes up smiling most mornings.

Sebastien Adam is pretty easy going. He weighs about two pounds more than Eden, and continues to grow like a weed. Sebastien loves to suck his thumb and he is becoming quite a talker. He is also very cuddly.

Adam is working full time at Words of Hope in Grand Rapids. He works on an International Radio program called Spotlight. He enjoys this work and hopes to be able to continue doing it for awhile.

Caryn started the year working full time at Bethany Christian Services, where she works in the Counseling Center doing individual and family therapy. However, for baby-related reasons, Caryn was off from work for over six months. Upon returning to Bethany this fall, Caryn is now working just a couple days a week. She is thankful for two jobs she loves – one at home with Sebastien and Eden, and one outside the home at Bethany.

We are praying that this letter finds you all happy, healthy and celebrating the birth of Christ this holiday season.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

5 Months Old

Sebastien and Eden are five months old and doing great! Yesterday we gave them their first taste of "food" - rice cereal, soaked in formula, of course. Eden went back and forth between pulling up her nose and laughing. Sebastien did pretty well. For a video of the whole ordeal, go to Adam's blog - linked on the sidebar.


Got our spoons, all ready to go.


Eden is not too sure about this stuff.


Sebastien with cereal all around his face.


Eden is getting very close to rolling over. She actually has rolled from her stomach to her back a couple of times, but hasn't really mastered it. She loves to lie on her back and roll to her side. Sebastien has become quite chatty, he just babbles on and on. (Like his mom? Poor kid.) They both are no longer as content to lie on their back to play, they'd rather be sitting up. Unfortunately, they can't do this on their own yet, so when they're home with just mom or just dad, we have to get creative.

Fun times on our tummy.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Watch Us Grow

Sebastien and Eden are four months old! They were at the doctor last week for their Well Child visit, and they are doing great. Sebastien weighed 14 lbs 8 oz and Eden weighed 12 lbs 12 oz. They are both in about the 25th percentile, which is about what they've been all along. Eden possibly has some reflux issues, but other than that, they received a clean bill of health. They had their immunizations, which is always hard to watch. They were both real troopers.

I thought it would be fun to take a look at the monthly pictures I've been taking of Sebastien and Eden.



Here they are at one month old.


This is their two month shot - they were both really fussy that day. I probably should have tried again the next day, but alas, I did not. So all I have for two months are pictures with bad lighting and crying babies.


Here they are at 3 months. I neglected to take a picture with Mr. Monkey in between them that month, for some reason. So, we don't get the perspective shot.


And, finally, 4 months. Bad choice of clothing for Eden - the sweater is so big on her, it's a little deceiving, she looks huge!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Two Little Monkeys

Happy Halloween!

While we didn't go Trick or Treating (hard to convince anyone that the candy isn't just for mom and dad when you are T-o-T with two 3 1/2-month-olds), we did dress the kids up just for fun. We walked over to my grandma's house to show them off to the family gathered for Friday coffee, then kept them in their costumes at home for awhile so I could take 85 million pictures and some video. It was great fun.

We also enjoyed handing out candy...though no need for any crazy candy delivery devices this year (see last year's candy chute video.)

And Sebastien and Eden headed off to bed while Adam and I watched a semi-scary movie with my brother and sister-in-law. All in all, a great Halloween.



Saturday, October 11, 2008

Night Time Update

I wrote the previous post on a Sunday night... During the week that followed, everything changed.

First of all, all the work we had been doing on daytime naps started to pay off. For the first time since they were very new (when their nights and days were all mixed up), Sebastien and Eden started taking naps in their cribs at the same time. Not long ones, mind you, and not perfectly coordinated with each other, but a major development all the same. For the first time since they were born, I started to be able to take a shower while no one else was here to watch the babies! And twice I was even able to blow dry my hair!

Ok, so it's not perfect - most days they are both sleeping, really sleeping at the same time, for about 15 minutes. Then I do all kinds of song and dance every 5 minutes to get them to stay asleep because their sleep is very light. And often just as one is drifting off the other wakes up. But still it's progress! And it gives me hope of things to come.

"But that's day time," you might be thinking. Well, I'm not done.

On the Thursday night that week, Eden and Sebastien slept, and I mean pretty deeply slept, all night long! I'll break it down for you. Ate at 7pm, asleep by 9:30, slept until 7am! I woke up several times and checked on them. And I got up at 6am (had to majorly pump, but only did a little because I had no idea when they'd need to eat.) And I just waited for them to wake.

The next night, they went from 8pm to 8am! And so for the last week, that's our schedule. We feed them at 8pm, they're down usually by 10pm, they sleep very soundly until 3 or 4am, and then progressively lighter until 7:50 or so. Then during the day, we're on a 8-11-2-5-8 feeding schedule. It's quite nice.

Now you may notice the time of this post. Well, I get up once during the night to pump. And they are a natural alarm clock for me some time between 3:00 and 4:00.

So, conclusion: Any time I want something to get better, I'm going to write a blog post about it!

p.s.Here are a couple cute tummy time pics.