10 Months- Update on the Babes

10 Months Old!

I cannot believe I am writing this post. How are my infant babies on the verge of toddler-ism? What in the world?

Feedings: We are still doing good here. They are now taking three bottles a day and one sippy cup. I am really now to the point of "not sure of the weaning process". Do I give them a full bottle along with food? Do we need to focus more of food, less on milk? I'm just not sure how that goes. We dropped the last bottle of the day, just due to them not really wanting it. Instead I give them a sippy cup after their baths, before they go to bed. My milk supply, though, has decreased significantly due to my Paris trip. I went to pumping maybe two times a day instead of my normal 3-4, and it has suffered. I know I can do many things to get it back up: power pumping, fenugreek, etc. But, to be honest, I really don't care anymore. I don't need the extra milk to store, and they really aren't drinking as much anymore either. So, I think I am just going to wait it out. This way, it will be easier and less painful for me to stop BF at 12 months. B/c of my shortage, I can go really long periods of time before needing to pump, and no longer get engorged anymore. Which, granted, sucks if you really need the milk, but I am fine with it now.

We (as in mommy) have been encouraging more and more finger foods. Eventually we want them to just be able to eat off our plates, so we are working on that. I get frustrated at times, b/c I spend much more time fixing these "finger foods", only to have them not want them. Finger food we have tried and actually "liked" are cut up bananas, cut up string cheese, cut up sweet potatoes, cut up pumpkin, cheerios (of course), avocado, cut up plums, ditalini pasta, bites of tofu (sometimes), cut up apples, cut up pears, and cut up mango, cut up cherry tomatoes, and bites of toast. Finger foods that we have NOT liked are little bites of chicken, carrots, broccoli, and cut up fettuccine noodles. Its an uphill battle sometimes. Hopefully it will get better. We also tried to do eggs as a finger food this month (egg yolk only) but it was not a good finger food and it was real crumbly. Josh is particular about his finger foods, as he does not like to get his fingers slimy. So, he actually does not like to eat the ditalini pasts with his hands.

Literally I spend way more time fixing their dinners than I do ours. Which especially gets frustrating when they refuse to eat it. The good thing is there is always a back up plan, lol. For example, last night I made them a pasta dish consisting of organic tomatoes pureed into a sauce, organic mushrooms, but up fettuccine noodles, and "soy" ground beef. I seasoned it with some garlic power, black pepper and oregano. They would not touch it and cried and cried. What to do? Why, put it all in the food processor and there you go. They love it that way. We also did this when I baked them organic chicken bites rolled in rice cereal with garlic and basil. HATED it. Into the magic bullet it went. Roll the mixture into some ditalini pasta, and voila!

The problem I foresee happening is the difference between what Jake and I eat, and what I want them to eat. They eat fresh, organic fruits, vegetables, and proteins with no salt or preservatives, etc. Jake and I eat waaaaayyyy worse than that, sad to say. And we are picky eaters, and there are many a time where Jake is feeding them something he would sooner die that eat himself. So, there in lies a future problem that I'm not quite sure how to fix. How do you moms feed them when you go out to a restaurant, for example? Good grief, restaurant foods are loaded with fat and salt. Thats what makes it taste so good, lol!

Waketime/Napping: Our waketime is now around 2hrs, 15 minutes. I am going to try and lengthen them to 2.5 hours for a standard waketime in the next month. We no longer take an afternoon nap. They now take 2 naps, and they average around 1.5 hours - sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Usually we don't have two long naps. One is usually long, and one shorter.

Nightime: We had some adjustments doe to the oh so lovely daylight savings time. But, now we are good. Still going down at 7:30 and getting up around 7. Some mornings, then start to stir around 6:45, but today, we had to wake both of them up at 7:15, so it depends.

Our Schedule:

7:00- wake/feed 6.5oz each for Josh & Jules then solids fruit and cereal.

9:15 - nap (hopefully at least 1.5 hours)
11:30 - feed - 6oz each bottle, then they get a "snack" of cheerios and some type of veggie, usually avocado and yogurt (their new favorite food, hands down)

1:00 - nap (usually wake at 2:30)
3:00 - feed 6.5oz for each + solids. This is a veggie and a protein
6:30/6:45 - solids. This is a combo of mashed up food and finger foods as well. We are doing a starch (pasta or toast or potato) a veggie, fruit and a protein. Usually the fruit is the finger food, unless I fix them a combo pasta with veggies and protein in it they can eat with their hands.

7:00 - baths, then a sippy cup of milk
7:30 - story/bedtime

Outing/Events: Our nanny still takes them to storytime at the library on Wednesdays. They have also been to Cheekwood gardens, and to the park a few times. They also rode in the front of a shopping cart at Target for the first time, and LOVED it. I put one in the Bjorn carrier, and the other one got to ride. Of course, they both wanted to ride and it caused quite a ruckus. We also went back up to Knoxville for the UT/Ole Miss game. What a disaster that drive was. There was a wreck and we did not move on the interstate for 2 hours. So, that is now a 5.5 hour drive, and with two 10 month old babies, it was miserable. They were SO upset. I cannot wait until they can face forwards and we can watch videos!!

Diet: I have decided I may get a gym membership. I can get a discount through work. I have decided I am going to have to do something. It's not that I need to lose weight, but I need to exercise just to feel "healthy", and I just can't do that with twins. So, I figure if I can do the gym, I can take them with me and they can play in the playroom daycare for an hour. We'll see...

Milestones: They are still EVERYWHERE, but still no walking yet. They are both crawling everywhere and getting into everything. Jules can stand independently on her own, and Josh is close. They love music and Jules can get up on her knees and dance, which is hysterical. She also loves books and can turn the pages, and loves to do so. She wants 100% attention from you during book time. If Josh even comes over and wants to read too, she will throw a fit. they are babbling like crazy. However, they were doing mamamama, and dadadada much more a month ago than they are now, which is weird. Josh can do "Bye Bye", and wave his hand. So, now that he can do that, and we're proud of him, that now is all he says, ALL the time. Jules thinks she can do it too, but she just wiggles her fingers, lol. Jules can "clap her hands". I put that in quotes, because she has her own way of clapping her hands. Instead of actually clapping, she does her hands like you would wipe your hands - vertically instead of horizon ally. I have no idea where she got that, but its so funny. They like their walkers, don't love them, because they can't turn in them, which frustrates them. They still love the cats, and squeal with delight when they see them. they are not climbing the stairs yet, which is good. They love the refrigerator, and come running (crawling) when I open it. It sfunny, they used to be able to sit and play in the family room while I am fixing dinner (the kitchen overlooks the family room). But, now ehn they know I am in there, they want to be right there, too. So, I give them mixing cups and spoons and they play and play.They also (yay) know how to open drawers and cabinet doors. As much as I am so excited for them to start walking....am I really??