Half a Year

The boys turned six months old yesterday.

Elliott on the left and Ezra on the right

Ezra

Elliott

Can you believe it? I can't.

They are such happy babies. They laugh and coo constantly and they light up as soon as you look at them. Because they are so stinkin' adorable, Nathan and I can more easily tolerate the fact that we never sleep. For some reason, neither boy can go longer than two or three hours without waking up. We're hoping they grow out of this soon, but in the meantime, we've resorted to sleeping in different rooms with a baby. This way, Nathan wakes up when his baby cries, and I wake up to nurse when my baby awakes. The boys don't disturb each other this way, so we only have one fussy baby to deal with. We have been trying this method for a few days now, and it seems to work better for everyone involved.

Regarding milestones, neither boy has teeth or can roll just yet. Both of these accomplishments are in the works, though. They have been drooling furiously for weeks and are so close to rolling; they just need to work on tucking their arms and they will be in business. I keep joking that they are too fat to care about rolling.

They are chunky babies, which makes me proud. Ezra weighs in at  17 pounds 2 ounces, and Elliott weighs a full pound more at 18 pounds 2 ounces. We made it to our goal of exclusively breastfeeding for six months, which I believe earns me (and Nathan who was very patient with having a wife who was always nursing or pumping) a whole book of gold stars. I haven't given myself a new goal, and I don't plan on stopping for a while. Things have gotten so much easier, and I only hope they continue to get better with the introduction of solids.

Even though Ezra and Elliott don't sleep well, I think they are wonderful babies. They are content as long as they aren't in their crib and seldom cry. And although they are similar in a number of ways, they definitely maintain their own distinct personalities. After my dad first met Ezra and Elliott, he told me he knew how to tell them apart. He explained that Elliott was a "Republican" and that Ezra was a "hippie." When he looked at Elliott, with his wide eyes, long eye lashes, and jovial smile, he couldn't help but think of a happy, go-lucky politician (thanks, Dad).

And when he looked at Ezra, the impression he had was, "Hey guys, let's just relax. I'm here to party."

Nathan and I couldn't help but laugh because it was such an accurate observation. Both babies love to interact with people, but Elliott really thrives off of being constantly engaged. He has a harder time falling asleep because he wants to be with someone all the time. Just tonight, Nathan joked that Ezra's lullaby was the sound of Elliott screaming: it puts him right to sleep! So yes, there is an obvious need to have the babies sleep in different rooms at this point.

Ezra is intense, but a bit more relaxed. He could stay in the Jumperoo all day if we let him. He gets into a groove and seems so happy that it is always kind of sad when we take him out. He has a look of being mildly entertained throughout the day (regardless of what we are doing) and really comes to life when we try to make him laugh. He has the cutest giggle, which makes it okay that he prefers to sleep in bed with me and nurse most of the night.

We know this phase won't last forever, which relieves me as much as it makes me sad. They are growing up so fast (too fast!). When I told Nathan that the boys were six months old, he quipped, "What? Only six months? But we have had them for for-EVER."

Don't worry, boys. He'll forget about never getting any sleep in a few years. He never held it against Eliza :)