Twin Boys Make 4!!: 2013

Monday, September 16, 2013

First typhoon for the boys!

There was a typhoon (also known as a Hurricane for all the East Coast people) that came over the base today. We ended up getting 50mph winds, but the base didn't sustain much damage from the winds. The boys and I hung out inside the apartment most of yesterday and all of today. The base commander put out an order for everyone to stay inside until the storm had passed over the base. On Saturday I purchased some supplies in case the power went out or we were stuck with no running water. We didn't end up using the supplies, but they are probably good to have since it is Typhoon season here in Japan. We also had a very small earthquake while riding out the storm. Our apartment building (and most of the buildings in Japan) is made to withstand earthquakes and to sway with the movement, so you still feel the earthquake. There is even an App that will warn you if an earthquake is coming!
This is a picture from base on Sunday(the day before the storm). Beautiful rainbow starting!

I didn't take any pictures during the storm, but there was an amazing sunset after the storm had passed.

Our day stuck inside went by fast because of these two silly guys:

Jackson is not a big fan of the gates so far!

Hopefully we won't get any more typhoons this season :)

Sunday, September 15, 2013

8 months have just flown by!

Time really does fly by when you're having fun! These boys keep me laughing all day long and I can't believe they have been in our lives for the last 8 months. I can't believe we have two infants that can sit up themselves and are almost at the crawling stage. Before Will left on deployment he put up baby gates and I am almost done baby proofing the rest of the house. I'm excited to see the boys crawl and watch how they decide to discover everything with their new skill! Cole is looking like he is almost ready to crawl...but we'll see which twin decides he wants to move around a bit! Jackson already has two teeth and Cole's first tooth is about to make it's appearance! Cole has a ton of hair and Jackson's hair is just starting to grow now! It's amazing to see their separate personalities coming out more and more! They are both really good babies and hopefully Jackson will decide to sleep through the whole night sometime soon. Until then, I will just enjoy the extra cuddle time with him!

8 month Stats:

Cole- 27.25 inches
18.2 pounds

Jackson- 28.25 inches
22.0 pounds

Changes for both boys within the last month:

Both can sit up non-supported
Both can roll into crawling position
Jackson has two teeth
Cole's first tooth is showing itself(only a little)
They now fight over toys (mostly over a xylophone toy)
Both can sit in restaurant high chairs
Both are trying out solid foods now
Both make word like sounds
Both love to take blocks out of a container
Both love to take walks and looks around at everything

Monday, July 15, 2013

Our two little gentlemen are 6 months old today!

Seriously!!

How is it possible that these cute lil guys have been in our lives for a whole six months? I'm not sure where all the time went. It has been a crazy 6 months full of bottles, naps, diapers(lots!), crying, laughing, tickling, singing, rocking to sleep, cuddling, smiling, swaddling and loving these boys more than we ever thought was possible!

6 month Stats:

Cole- 26.8 inches(between 50 and 75 percentile),
15.9 pounds(between 10 and 25 percentile)

Jackson- 27.3 inches(between 50 and 75 percentile),
18.5 pounds(between 50 and 75 percentile)

Changes for both boys within the last month:

Putting their feet in their mouths

Cole has discovered his thumb for sucking

Rolling all over the place

Figuring out how to pull pacifiers out of their mouths(still working on putting them in)

Sometimes sleeping with their hands and arms outside of the swaddlers

Chewing on their fingers to self-soothe

Rice cereal

Started pureed Veggies-only peas so far

Both sit up supported and non-supported for a couple seconds

Making noises to get my attention

Check out these pics that we had taken!

Jackson is always so serious...he does smile(just not when a camera is present)

Yummy Peas!

Jackson and Cole are growing up so fast so this past week we started pureed vegetables! I am now officially a baby food cook :) I never realized how easy it was to make baby food. I cooked the peas, threw them in my food processor, and put the pureed peas into an ice tray to freeze into individual servings.
I'm not sure the boys liked this very much more than the rice cereal...but hopefully the peas and all pureed veggies will grow on them!

The boys waiting for the food

The boys definitely did NOT like the peas to begin with!

After eating most of the peas they seemed to tolerate it...

Next up will be avocados!

Monday, July 8, 2013

4th of July!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! The boys and I celebrated America by grilling out, spending time with some friends here in Japan, making cupcakes, talking about Daddy, going for a long walk and watching the fireworks from the states on tv!

Cole likes to try and eat Will's face off the Daddy Doll!

Pic with Daddy!

First time grilling and I hit it out of the ballpark if I do say so myself...Tritip is delicious!

Nice view on our walk of the cutest toes around!

The base that we live on had planned a huge 4th of July celebration with carnival game, bands, a petting zoo, lots of amazing food, and fireworks but all had to be canceled due to weather. We had a rainy morning and then huge gusts of winds that would have blown all the tents over. I guess we will have to celebrate extra long next year to make up for it. The boys obviously didn't miss anything, but I really really enjoy holiday stuff like that and especially seeing fireworks!

Rice Cereal has made an appearance in the Thomas house!

Well we are moving on to real food! Well not real food, but something more than just formula for the boys!

The boys had no idea what to think when we attempted to start feeding them rice cereal mixed with some formula to make it very soupy!

Will with the boys before the fun started! If you look closely you can see Will's deployment moustache. Should be interesting to see what that looks like at the end.

At first it appears that Jackson might really like his first taste of food, but

that quickly changes! I love his face of disgust in this picture!

After seeing what Jackson just went through....Cole doesn't even want to look at Will holding the spoon!

Then it starts to appear that Cole does like the cereal! YAY!

Then we attempt to give Jackson another turn in case he just needed a second chance to figure out he does like this soupy white stuff!

Cole's face says it all.....NO RICE CEREAL FOR US!

Jackson's 2nd taste went over as good as the first :)

Cole really doesn't like the cereal and ends up spitting all the cereal up all over his shirt.

From the videos and pictures you can see the boys don't quite care for rice cereal. I tried a couple more times in the week following these and they were still refusing the cereal. I started doing some research online and talking with other moms/Navy wives here in Japan and it turns out rice cereal is no longer considered a must for babies! Who knew? My doctor did not say anything about just going from forumla to pureed vegetables! So later this week I will be attempting to make homemade baby food for the boys! Never thought I would ever be doing this, but it is very simple! I just steam the veggies, throw them in a food processor, mix with formula to make it soupy, and then watch the boys enjoy their first tastes of veggies! I am going to start with green beans. I will post pics and videos later this week! Wish me luck!

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Jumperoos!

We only purchased one Jumperoo to begin with because we weren't sure if both of our twins would like it. Boy, were we WRONG! When we first put Jackson in the Jumperoo he was trying to figure out what we had put him in and what to do! Will helped him out a little bit!

Then it was Cole's turn to try to figure out what to do!

Since those first two videos were taken the boys have become even more crazy with their jumping and we borrowed a second Jumperoo from our friends! They love these things and now they can both be jumping at the same time! I swear they are talking to each other and planning their jumps!

They boys have gotten the hang of the jumping and they love to stare at me while they jump! I'm guessing they are saying "look at what I can do Mom".

We did buy another toy for the boys, but we will have to wait until their legs grow a little more. Check out the video when we first put Jackson in a Round We Go toy:

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Toes!!

It has happened!!! My youngest twin, Cole has discovered that he has toes, can pull them up to his mouth and that they taste pretty good!! :) Check out the video below!

Both twins in the last week or so have been lifting their legs straight up and kicking the toys that hang on their bouncy chairs! It is amazing how far they have come from just being swaddled most of the time to now flinging their legs all over the place!

I will keep my eye out for Jackson chewing on his toes! They are both teething right now and grabbing whatever they can and putting it in their mouths...to include my hair at times!

Saturday, June 15, 2013

5 months old!!!

The twins are 5 months old today!!

Cole and Jackson

Stats:

Cole-25.4 inches, weight 14.2 pounds

Jackson- 26 inches, weight 17 pounds

Nicknames:

Cole- Coleman, Coley, Little guy, cole pie, CT, Blondie, Chicken Little, Sweetie

Jackson- Jacks, JT, Action Jackson, Big Guy, JCT(Junction), Jacksey, Sweetie

Favorite Foods:

Formula for both! Rice cereal to begin shortly!!

Favorite Toys:

Cole-Jumperoo, crinkly toys, monkey rattle, plastic keys

Jackson-Jumperoo, any type of rattles, rain stick, links

Favorite Activities:

Cole-listening to Mommy (sing, whistle and clap), being tickled on his stomach and feet, and laughing at everyone and everything

Jackson-doing "the wheels on the bus" with help from Mommy, watching Mommy dance(or try to), doing "The Hokey Pokey" with mommy moving his arms, and being tickled under his chin and armpits

Personality:

Cole-Happy go lucky, a natural comedian, immediately has a smile on his face(even after just waking up), loves to sleep, cries only when you try to take his bottle away from him, and is very sociable

Jackson-Very serious, a thinker, gives you a look like he is thinking about giving you a smile, takes everything in, likes to stare at people, likes to wake up in the middle of the night for some mommy time

Changes for both boys within the last month:

No more sleeping on their lounger pillows
Jackson moved into the crib across the room from Cole (a couple of tears might have been shed)
They are now napping in their cribs 3-4 times a day!
Both kick their feet straight up in the air
Both boys love their jumperoos
Bumbo seats are being used on a daily basis and they can sit leaning against something