BFFs

I've been waiting for the day to come when the girls would really interact and "play" with each other, and tonight, while I was preparing the girls' dinner and I had my back to them, I heard high-pitched giggles and laughing.

When I turned around to see what was going on, Caroline (on left) had started this game where she would grab Claire's arm and that would start Claire laughing, in turn causing Caroline to laugh. Up until today, Claire has been really smiling at Caroline and trying to get her to react, but Caroline usually just stares at her.

Finally, today, Caroline initiated the interaction and was laughing it up with Claire. Now I have to space them farther apart when they eat because they've started reaching out with food-covered hands while I'm trying to feed them. Just in the last week, they have started smiling at each other and laughing and really "noticing" each other without my having to prompt or show them. They've figured out that they have a built-in best friend, and how amazing to think that they will have shared every moment together from the very beginning!

An A+ for Style

This weekend, Paul was put on "feeding duty" since he was out of town the weekend before. Given, he's had limited experience feeding babies in general, so I have to cut him a little slack where that's concerned. Earlier, I was trying to get Claire ready to eat while Paul was feeding Caroline, and when I walked back into the kitchen, I was a little surprised to see that Caroline appeared to be painting with her food rather than eating it.


She seemed excited to try some new foods with Daddy, but she's not too sure about his feeding techniques.
All in all, both Paul and Caroline survived their first feeding time together, but I'm not sure who's worse for the wear here!

Never a Dull Moment

Last week was a busy one for us Culbertsons! Paul and I celebrated our third anniversary on Wednesday the 14th, and went out to dinner while Grammy watched the girls.


Just two days later, Paul traveled out to Orange County, California, for 5 days and 4 nights to visit his grandparents, uncle, and aunt. I definitely came to appreciate him so much more by the time he came home - I was counting down the minutes until his plane landed!

While Paul was away, I had double duty all the time and finally enlisted our dog, Jack, to help watch the girls when I needed a break. I'm really not sure if he's that interested in the girls or the remnants of food on their bibs from breakfast.

We've now tried bananas, apples, plums, sweet potatoes, yogurt, and carrots so far, and the girls are doing pretty well with sampling all kinds of foods. I'm making their own baby food, but it's a lot easier than I thought and I'm sure a lot healthier! Right now they aren't eating a lot of solid food yet, so when I make a batch of something, it lasts for a few days, so that helps. We're just all glad that Daddy is home again, but happy that he had a chance to visit his family and catch up. Maybe next year we'll all try to make the trip out to California!

No Solids Allowed

I have to report that trying to introduce solids to twins is much harder than I imagined! Just one baby has her likes and dislikes and little tricks she tries to avoid eating, but try managing two of them at once, and that is enough to make anyone want to go take a nap!

We try cereal and a little fruit in the mornings and at lunch, and they seem a little more eager in the morning, maybe because they are hungrier. I have to set up two of everything: spoons, bowls of cereal, bowls of fruit, bibs, wet paper towels, bottles, bouncers, Bumbos, and I'm sure I'm missing something in this list...once I get all of that set up, I wake up the girls, change them, then set them in their Bumbos, praying that they won't start crying to get out. Mostly, they like to stare at the leg divider on the Bumbo, making it really hard for me to get a spoon in their mouth.
Claire is now getting a little tooth in the bottom, and she seems a little more eager to eat than Caroline, but I still wouldn't classify her as a "good eater" yet. She likes to eat what's off the spoon, decide if she likes it, then usually spit it back out and look down again at the Bumbo, therefore spilling most of the contents onto the Bumbo or the table.

While I'm trying to wipe Claire's mess and keep the food from spilling all over everything, Caroline stares at me like I'm crazy to think she'll even think about eating anything other than milk. She has started sticking her tongue out and sets her jaw forward as soon as she sees me put the spoon into the cereal or fruit, creating a little barrier to her mouth, taunting me as if to say, "Just try and see if you can get anything in this mouth."

By the end of the feeding session, after I've wiped them off and cleared the table of all the bowls and napkins and spoons, they look at me like, "Now did we really need to go through all of that? Just give us our bottle and we'll be fine." So far, we've tried bananas and apples, and we're moving on to some veggies this weekend...I'm just hoping they'll open their mouths at this point so I can try to get something in! Feeding time = not an easy time.

Bathing Suit #2

We've taken the chance to go swimming about once a week when Paul is home to help, and last week, when I put the girls' swimsuits on, I practically had to wedge their arms through the straps, and when I took their suits off later, the suit had left major lines on them. So, I was trying to decide if I should just forget finding a second bigger suit and let them swim in their swim diapers only, or go ahead and buy a second suit for the rest of the summer. Seeing as how it's only early July and we still have a good two more months of swimming, plus, finding two swimsuits on sale for $4 each at Target convinced me to go ahead and take the plunge (pardon the pun).

Suit #2 was much easier to get on the girls and will be just perfect to last through the rest of the swimming season. The girls just decided to chill out a while before showing off their new suits at the pool:

Caroline is checking out her new suit and especially likes the little ruffle around the middle...


Claire is just glad she can breathe this week instead of being squeezed into her old suit!

After drying off, both girls wanted to lounge on the chair together and watch the other people swimming at the big pool. Overall, it was $8 well spent to ensure another few months' worth of splashin' summer fun!

Happy Half-Birthday!

When I was growing up, our family began celebrating "half-birthdays" sometime when I was in junior high or high school. I think my Mom heard the idea on the radio, so being a fan of all things holiday, she decided to add this celebration to the mix. Every year on our "Happy Half-Birthday," we got to choose a meal for my Mom to make for us, and she would serve us on the "You are Special" dinner plate, and then our family would sing, "You're the best, You're the best, You're the B-E-S-T Best!" to whomever's big day it was. Or, sometimes we would break out into "Happy Half Birthday to You!" if we were really getting into it. No presents were exchanged, but it was just a chance to celebrate the halfway mark of that year and the upcoming birthday of someone special.

When Paul and John joined our family, they rolled their eyes at the idea, but secretly, I'm sure they were very excited to have their Happy Half-Birthdays celebrated, too. I mean, who wouldn't be? I think last year, I forgot Paul's half-birthday, and he actually reminded me that I had forgotten, so that just proves right there that he loves it!

Now that you have the background, today is the twin's FIRST Happy Half-Birthday!!!! The girls are now six months old, and doing just great. We head to the doctor this afternoon for their last round of newborn shots and some much-needed advice on cereal feeding for Mom. The girls are all smiles now and can push up far on their stomachs.

To celebrate their Happy Half-Birthdays, the girls asked if they could wear their cupcake outfits, so of course I obliged.

Looking just alike, my little cupcakes are ready to celebrate their big day...I didn't tell them that they won't be having such a great afternoon with those shots. I'll let them celebrate this morning without having to worry about later. Happy Six Months to the Culbertson girls! It's flown by and I can't believe how much they've grown and changed. I know the next six months will be full of fun and changes as they begin to crawl and eventually walk. I'm enjoying every minute and hoping it doesn't go by too quickly. This year, I guess I'm off the hook as far as cooking their favorite dinner, so I better enjoy this one! Happy Half-Birthday, Caroline and Claire!