Lucy and Ellory- Eight months.

Lucy and Ellory are 8 months! They've been described as “the sweetest babies” and that's very true. Seeing them smile at you when you walk into the room is the best. Both have started talking more this month; Lucy's a bit louder and the biggest wiggle worm. Her legs are always kicking. Ellory is calm and content most of the time, but when she gets mad, she's mad. Both of their smiles and laughs are my favorite things! They love to put everything in their mouth.

Stats/Doctor visits: Both girls had colds for about two weeks (at 31 weeks- Ellory was worse first and then Lucy) and were having trouble going to sleep, so we brought them in to check for ear infections (on 10/8 at 32 weeks) and Lucy had one in her left ear. The antibiotics helped! When the girls were in for their flu shots, I had them weighed on 10/16 at 33 weeks. Lucy was 15 lbs even and Ellory was 17 lbs 1 oz.

Teeth: Lucy's top right tooth came through on 10/14 at 33 weeks and her top left tooth came through on 10/21 at 34 weeks. I think Ellory's two coming down too, but they haven't broke through yet.

Feedings: The girls are good eaters- we are thankful that eating is going well. For most of the month, they were eating baby food once a day, but at the end at 33 weeks they switched to twice a day. Now their schedule is: nurse at 8, baby food at 11, nurse at 1:30, bottle at 5:15, baby food at 8, and nurse/bottle before bed at 10:30. Lucy still occasionally doesn't finish her bottle, but does most of the time, and Ellory has never left a drop! They still have two bottles a day to supplement a little more with formula, but are mostly nursing. They have 5 oz in their one bottle and 3 oz after nursing before bed (because they just want more). They have had carrots, green beans, pears, yellow squash, zucchini, and new foods this month were apples, cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potatoes, nectarines, spinach, and bananas. I usually mix a fruit a veggie together and they like it better that way. There have only been a couple times where they didn't like it, but most times they eat it right up. Lucy still likes baby food more than Ellory, but Ellory has gotten much better- she just doesn't open her mouth wide like Lucy. Lucy basically inhales it.

Diapers/Clothes: Started wearing size 3 diapers on 9/25 at 30 weeks and still wearing 9 month clothes (some 6-9 months).

Sleeping: Sleeping was a bit rough for a about three weeks, but thankfully they are back to sleeping well now. I think it was a mix of teething, colds, and Lucy's ear infection, but mostly their stuffy noses. It wasn't too bad, mostly just lots of crying (mostly Ellory) when trying to fall asleep, but once we got them to sleep they were fine. A couple times we heard whimpers in the night, but only actually got up with them in the night once. We didn't get them to bed until after midnight a few times from all the crying, but then thankfully they slept well once falling asleep, and are now back to normal and sleeping well again! They sleep about 10:45-8, wake up to nurse, and then to back to sleep until about 10. For most of the month, they were doing a little catnap around lunch, a long afternoon nap, and a catnap after supper, but now it just depends on how late they sleep in the morning. If they are up earlier, they will take a short catnap late morning, but most days just have two naps- a big afternoon nap from about 2-4:30 and a short evening nap from about 7:15-7:45.

Developments: We've got some movers on our hands! They went from sitting up more independently, to scooting on their belly (mostly backwards), to crawling. At 30 weeks they started sitting more independently. They still aren't strong enough for me to walk away from them and leave them sitting, but can do it for a bit without needing a hand. At 31 weeks they started scooting, and love to scoot backwards on their tummy. They like to scoot over to the wood floor because then they can go faster! They did lots of rocking back and fourth on all fours this month, and both took a few face dives trying to grab something, but both started crawling at 33 weeks (Ellory on 10/15 and Lucy on 10/18.) We also got out their big girl high chairs (instead of the Bumbo seats) and they love them! We got out the walker toy too- not that they are walking with it yet, but to sit in front of and play with. At 32 weeks, Ellory also started making a “mama” sound, and on 10/20, at 34 weeks, we lowered their cribs because Ellory sat up in it (meaning she went from laying down to sitting up by herself).

Favorites: We got out the activity bouncer at the beginning of this month, but I didn't document much about it because neither one really care for it. They like it for about 2 minutes, then have 2 minutes of indifference, and then cry to get out, so it doesn't last more than 5 minutes usually. Glad I didn't buy another one!

Both girls love being outside and going for walks, splashing in the tub, and being held. Lucy still likes to be held a bit more than Ellory. They have a newfound love for toys this month- grabbing whatever they can get their hands on and putting it right in their mouth. We now have to keep all of Norah's smaller toys out of reach. Ellory still loves her milk and Lucy loves her baby food. Lucy is still the biggest wiggle worm, and now refuses to lay still for diaper changes and has to take a bath on her tummy too. Someone said that they've never met a baby who liked tummy time as much as Lucy, and I guess that's true! She basically lives on her tummy. Ellory likes to suck her thumb. They love to play/laugh with Norah, but sometimes think she smothers them too much. They love to crawl now that they are able to. We love you, Lucy and Ellory!

Lucy's front teeth make her look so much older!

Definitely getting harder to take pictures as they are much more mobile this month! Especially trying to get TWO mobile babies in the same frame, looking at the camera, and hopefully smiling? Ha.

Lucy really isn't as angry as she appears- just grunting.