Wordy Wednesday: The Teething and Feeding Edition

I have fallen off the blogger wagon as of late and am trying to get back on. I really don't have an excuse. By the end of the day I tend to feel like mush and writing is the last thing I feel like doing. I figure the only way I am going to remember this crazy twin time in our lives however is to write it down; so forgive this more verbose post as I am trying to document what is going on with our little men and how quickly they are changing.

Abraham cut his first tooth two weeks ago and Winston quickly followed last week with his. They cut the exact same tooth. At first I thought they had each cut a tooth on the opposite side from one another but it was in fact #24 that was the first tooth cut for both of them. Winston cut his second (#25) tooth earlier this week and it looks like Abraham is just days away from it as well. The actual tooth cutting has been easier than the weeks and months leading up to it. Abraham especially was like a different baby once he got over that hump. The drooling, drool rash, biting and irritability have been way less of an issue. They don’t do the random pain cry (as opposed to whiny, hungry, tired, etc.) nearly as much anymore. We hardly used any pain reliever when the teeth were coming through and not any for the tooth that just came in for Winston. It was just a matter of checking one day and sure enough they had finally come through. I am not sure if it was the teething necklaces that helped so much or that our kids just have a harder time with the earlier stages of teething as opposed to the actual cutting part. Abraham is my biter, if you catch my drift, and I have had to flick him when he does it. He has not bit me in the last four days so I am hoping he has caught on.

Eric manages to show off Winston's toothlets

This is the face Winston makes every single time he tastes his food for the first time. 

Fortunately he warms to it pretty quickly.

Also these boys love their food and were definitely ready to start getting some variety into their diets. Abraham took to eating from a spoon right away and would get grumpy if there was a deceleration in the pace. It was like a constant shoveling motion with him. Winston was tongue thrusting more and would also keep bringing his right hand up to his mouth and start sucking his thumb. We kept taking his right hand and removing it from his face while telling him no. We would also hold his hand down until he figured it out. Winston now does really well and generally has about the same pace as Abraham when it comes to eating. Winston is still our little gourmand however and will roll the food in his mouth and play with it before actually swallowing it. We tend to feed the boys separately because they get distracted by watching one another. They both eat about a cup of oatmeal mixed with breast milk in the morning and a cup of a vegetable and rice cereal mixture in the evening. Their afternoon bottle gets some oatmeal added to it as well. They are learning to drink water out of sippy cups as well as regular cups. Winston picked up the regular cup really fast. Winston would be watching me drink water and his little mouth would make the motions so I decided to give it a try. Granted it gets a little messy when they take in a little more than they actually swallow, but that’s why we only use water for now.

Abraham open his mouth nice and wide.

Winston showing how off his big boy cup.

They are packing on weight quickly with the addition of more solids to their diet. My arms get tired quickly if I am trying to hold or bounce them both at the same time e.g. at church trying to keep babies that have missed their naps happy. Collectively they are over 30 lbs. of baby and with their car seats over 40 lbs. I need to get some weight training in so I can keep up with these kids. The increase in solids also meant more sleep for Eric and me (cue the sounds of celebratory music in the background). The increase in solids has also meant waking up occasionally around 3 a.m. to some gross diapers. Seriously, I wish the kids would contain their BM’s to daylight hours but I guess that’s how their little metabolisms work. Of course once they get their diaper changed, they are even more awake and they need something to eat (read milk) before they will go back to sleep. They take after their mom in that regard, not the milk mind you, but I have to eat something if I wake up for more than a couple minutes during the middle of the night. Six months was a really big milestone for us and I think it has gotten easier juggling the needs of the two babes. The boys are at a really fun age and I am looking forward to doing their seven month post and sharing all the little personality quirks that have come out in the last several weeks.