8 Months Old

I always hesitate to call the boys twins. The label of twin to me seems quite a bit more appropriate for the identical variety. Jack and Henry are only eight months old and already radically different people: brothers who just happen to be the same age.

Steve wrangling the boys (Henry on left, Jack on right):

Toe time after breakfast (Jack left, Henry right):

 

Showing off their bottle-holding skills (Jack left, Henry right):

Definitely sleeping, definitely not pulling brother's sleepsack through the bars (Jack left, Henry right):

While their napping is hit and miss (morning nap is usually fairly easy, afternoon is often a struggle), both boys sleep through the night, around twelve hours. Because naps are so difficult and inconsistent, they end up with a fairly early bedtime, right around 6 pm. Between work and trying to care for these guys, the days are long and exhausting, but it does feel amazing to sleep again.

Who wants dinner? (Jack left, Henry right, in bibs from their Lucindo relatives)

Who thinks dinner prep is taking way too long?

The boys eat a solid (well, pureed) breakfast and dinner every day, in addition to four bottles (roughly every three hours) apiece throughout the day. We're starting to work with them on drinking a little bit of water or diluted juice with meals; Jack accepts this, Henry has reservations, to put it mildly. Henry likes sweet foods (fruit, sweet potatoes and such), while Jack doesn't much care for the sugar and prefers things like squash and rice cereal. It's incredible how different their preferences are, despite being introduced to the exact same things at the exact same times.

Chillin' in overalls and flannel (Henry left, Jack right):

Playing in their new stand-up toys, Jack on left in fold-up bouncer, Henry on right in activity center:

They are both excellent bouncers, though Henry definitely figured it out first. Henry was also first to figure out the pop-up owl toy on the activity center, though Jack immediately understood how to swivel in the seat to reach toys behind him and is still far better at that movement.

Out for a walk to get breakfast and coffee for Mom and Dad on a chilly morning (Henry left, Jack right):

It's not really playtime unless one takes every opportunity to kick one's brother in the head (Jack in green, Henry in red):

Hangin' out with pacifiers (Henry left, Jack right), Henry looks so much like baby Steve in these pictures:

Jack: Hmmmm...

Hey, bro, have you ever really looked at your pacifier? I mean, like, really looked?

Check this out, man, it's amazing!

Happy boys playing after breakfast (Henry left, Jack right):

Henry

Henry is becoming a very focused little boy. He definitely smiles and laughs, but is an unquestionably driven little guy. He has excellent balance, and is a reliable sitter at this point, being able to bend to the ground to grab toys and then right himself. He stands up very straight and supports his own weight; he desperately wants to stand on his own, but the balancing is just too tricky at this stage of development. He constantly practices dragging himself to his knees and rocking in an attempt to crawl, primarily in his crib before nap and bedtimes, when he thinks we're not watching. My theory is that he wants to break away in a mad crawling dash someday so he can get all the good stuff to grab before we can react. Unfortunately for him, we have a camera in his room, so we can spy on his secret training sessions.

Henry studies himself (and Mom) in the play mirror insert to our foam floor tiles:

Selfie with Mom:

I'll tell you what, this activity center... yeah, it's pretty great.

Henry showing he's definitely gotten too big for the infant bibs, which were recently retired:

Little Henry sunshine, showing off his (very sharp) teeth (two in the bottom front):

Jack

Jack's stomach is significantly better, so we were able to wean him from his anti-reflux meds. The vast majority of the time, he's a happy, sweet, smiley little guy. With some frequency, he'll start laughing manically at seemingly random things. His balance is not as developed as his brother's, but he still does a good job sitting independently most of the time. He curls his feet when we try to help him stand but, despite the awkwardness, he does manage to support his weight on just his toes (and, boy, does that hurt if he "stands" on you). He's still startlingly strong, with a powerful grip that is really tough to break when he gets ahold of things we'd rather he didn't. He's a bit of a daredevil, and loves being held upside-down, spun around, and tossed in the air... the closer he is to being dropped, the more fun he's having. He absolutely loves to kick, and will kick furiously on the floor, in his highchair, in the bath, while being held aloft in the air... really anywhere and everywhere. We gotta get this kid into a swimming pool.

Jack chewing on teething robot from friend Lindsay:

Jack continues to have a seemingly endless supply of amusing facial expressions.

You watchin'?

The windup:

Triumphant "piano" key strike!

Are you impressed? You're totally impressed, right!?

Jack with his Daddy:

Jack attempting to eat Daddy's foot:

More yummy, yummy robot:

Jack has one bottom front tooth, but that's all at this point. I admit I've taken to calling him by his pirate name, "one-toothed Jack."

No, I don't know what happened to my other sock, why do you ask?

It's tax season and despite sleeping exceptionally well for a parent of two eight-month-olds, I come home from the office exhausted and try to rev up my energy level to give these guys the best Mom I can until bedtime. Steve also makes a tremendous effort to be enthusiastic and engaged after his day at work. The boys do seem happy to see us when we walk in the door, so I guess we must be doing something right. It's tough, but we certainly are trying our best.