It's hard to believe that Abby and Emily are already 5 months old! Though the first two months were very difficult, they are getting much easier. It doesn't hurt that the girls are also much more fun to be with now that they are very interactive. Byron got us an awesome new camera a few weeks ago! We realized that we would end up spending a LOT of money on professional pictures over the next few years when it really isn't necessary. The combination of Byron's ability to do pretty much everything, the fact that he has had some photography training, and our ability to access some good lighting set ups for posed pictures will allow us get some great pictures. We got a Canon XSI/450D and the Canon EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens. Please forgive the quality of the pictures that I've posted, though...I haven't quite mastered the art of color balance and enhancement yet.
The three more significant developments since I last posted two weeks ago are:
1) They now eat a wide variety of foods: rice cereal, baby oatmeal, apple juice, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, squash, bananas (which, surprisingly, they didn't like very much...I think they may have been too sweet compared to the veggies), and baby applesauce. They'll be adding peaches and avocados this week and then they move on to MEATS! When we introduce new foods they get gerber baby foods, but once they are used to them they transition to baby food that I've pureed. I'm actually enjoying making it. I'm a little nervous about how the diapers will be after we introduce meats. It's fun to watch the girls eat. Sometimes they squirt it out of their mouths like little play-doh fun factories. We have discovered that feeding them in only diapers and bibs makes the clean up much easier (and it's also really cute to see them without clothes). Pictures of their introduction to carrots are below:
Here is our little play-doh fun factory:
Emily is a little piggy. She gets very upset if you don't shovel food into her mouth fast enough.
Abby says "mom, enough pictures". This seems to be her new camera face. She is such a smiley baby, but when the camera is out she quickly gets very serious.
Diapers only!
More of Abby's serious face:
Development #2: Playing independently.
The girls have been playing in their jumper a lot(Thank you SO much Polly, Deb and your families..the girls LOVE it!) They like to bat their frog around and play with the beads. It's a lot of fun to watch them entertain themselves for a few minutes. They also enjoy playing on their play mat with hanging toys. They now try to shove EVERYTHING in their mouths though. If it fits in their mouths they put it in there until they gag. Fingers, toys, you name it!
Emily played until she fell asleep:
Development #3: Fighting
Now that they like to play with toys they each have some favorite things. When one has a toy that the other wants she will try to pry it from her sister's hands. This frequently ends in slapping and/or tears but they seem to quickly forget that they were upset. The first intentional slap that I witnessed cracked me up, but it was also a little sad to see how quickly innocence fades. At just 5 months old they already know how to hurt each other. I'm sure there will be some funny fights in our future! I'll try to capture one on video soon.
Other pictures:
When the Red Sox season opener was postponed on Monday the girls were very upset. They didn't understand that the game would only be delayed for 24 hours.
When I found out that I was having twins I wanted to find a place to communicate with other parents of twins so that I could connect with people who might be able to provide valuable advice as we raise the girls. During my search I found a message board for parents of twins and I have really appreciated all the advice that I've received so far. Recently the mothers on the message board decided that we would swap onesies with another member of the board. Here are some pictures of Abby and Emily in the onesies that we received:
I know this was a very picture heavy post - I just think that pictures really tell you much more about the girls than my writing ever could. Thanks for sticking with us and watching Abby and Emily grow up!
