Nine Months

Last month went by in a hurry. As of August 28th, Ezra and Elliott are 9 months old. Crazy, right?

I still look at them and cannot get over how adorable they are. I know they are my own children, but the cuteness gets me every time.

This past week, their mobility level increased significantly. Although they are not technically crawling on all fours (they continue to army crawl), they are able to get anywhere they please...even up the stairs! Elliott has mastered climbing stairs and has to be watched constantly. Our playroom on the main floor has two little steps up that lead into the main hallway. This used to be our safe place to leave the boys while I made dinner or even used the restroom. On Friday, they decided it was time to change the game. I ran downstairs to get my camera and found Elliott in the hallway. He had escaped! This is now the typical scene in our playroom. 

No one is interested in toys anymore or playing nicely on their blanket. Ezra and Elliott are all about hanging out on the stairs. Ezra is still trying to get over the top step like his brother, and I am sure they will both be escapees in the very near future.

In addition to crawling stairs, Elliott also figured out how to pull himself up on Friday afternoon. He crawled over to me, sat up, wrapped his arms around my neck, and just stood for a few minutes, hugging me. After I cuddled him for a little while, I put him down for a nap. I didn't think he could pull himself up on the side of the crib, but I was wrong! As soon I turned to leave the room, he immediately pulled himself up and reached for me.  Needless to say, we lowered the crib immediately. Elliott has become a mama's boy, and as of right now--I love it. He cries to be held, and it is seriously the cutest thing in the world. Eliza never wanted to be held, so having a snuggler melts my heart. 

Elliott is definitely sensitive. For instance, we went to visit Nathan's grandmother and there were balloons in her room. Ezra saw the balloons and started clapping and reaching for them. Elliott saw the balloons and burst into tears and started shaking. He was that scared. Nathan and I tried to show him that the balloons were fun, but he was hysterical. Even watching Ezra touch the balloons made Elliott cry uncontrollably. So yes, no balloons for Elliott in the near future.

Ezra, like his brother, is also sensitive to certain things. Yesterday, Cheryl was trying to feed the boys lunch, but they both insisted on spitting as soon as the spoon was in their mouth. They have been spitting and blowing raspberries when we try to feed them, which makes meal time miserable. We end up covered in food! After Ezra spit sweet potatoes in Cheryl's face, she gently said, "No" and pointed at him. Instantly, Ezra was sobbing. He was so sad that he even laid his head on the tray of the highchair as he cried. Cheryl felt awful, so I guess we will try to find another way to train them out of spitting. Ezra also reacts when people start talking loudly. If someone comes over and begins to talk louder than he is used to, Ezra will lay down on the carpet and cry. In fact, it happened just last night. So sensitive. So adorable. 

These boys are such happy babies. Over the past month, Nathan and I have had a number of friends, family members, and even random strangers tell us how lucky we are to have two well-behaved and smiley babies. We completely agree. Now that we have our sleep schedule figured out, Ezra and Elliott are well-rested and hardly fuss at all. They spend the majority of their day squealing and snorting with happiness. Their snorting is out of control! I have never seen a baby who snorts like they do.

They are still eating pureed foods and aren't quite ready for finger foods yet. They gag anytime we try to give them pieces of watermelon or black beans. The only thing they can successfully munch on are crackers. Ezra still refuses to nurse, and Elliott continues to be a difficult nurser (meaning that he is so distracted that I have to lay down in a dark room with him for nursing to even be a possibility). I thought I would try to start weaning, so we gave them a bottle that was 2/3 milk and 1/3 formula. They both refused their bottles. Ezra was furious and screamed as though we were trying to starve him. So...I will just continue to pump. I have good motivation since we received information regarding their surgery. They can drink breastmilk up to 4 hours before surgery. If they were being formula fed, they would have to wait 8 hours. Ezra is very impatient about his milk, so the thought of holding him off for 8 hours is just impossible. 

That about sums up month 8 for the boys. I'm excited to see what new tricks they learn this month!