Four Months

That's right, Charlie and Louis are four months old now. A lot has changed since the day they were born. For starters, Charlie weighed 15 lbs 3 oz and Louis was 15 lbs 8 oz at their 4 month check ups. Charlie was 25.5" long and Louis was 25.25". Their measurements put them in the 60th percentile range for their ages. They are doing great! We'll be moving onto size 2 diapers, which is sad for me looking at how big they are compared to the newborn size diapers. But, at the same time, they are doing so many new and exciting things. Charlie is in the blue shirt, Louis in the red shirt.

They are both in separate cribs now! They have been for a while, I just have forgotten to blog it. Louis seemed to be somewhat of a crib hog. I don't know how he would do it, but he would manage to turn himself a lot so that he would be kicking Charlie. So it was around Labor Day weekend that we put them into their own cribs, and they don't seem to mind at all. They do seem to have their heads turned to face one another a lot, but that is all we have noticed. In fact, Charlie had his head turned to the same side too much so he has a flat spot, and we have to work to correct it now. That is going ok.

On September 20, Louis rolled over from his front to back for the first time! He repeated the new trick the next day, but hasn't done it since. It could be because Charlie and Louis came down with their first colds that week, and were not in the mood to spend much time on their stomachs. Louis still is dealing with a little snot and boogers, but it seems Charlie has made a full recovery.

We also started Charlie and Louis on solid foods now since they are four months old. There's so much opinion out there about when you can start your babies on solids. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until at least 6 months of age before starting solids. So you would think that Charlie and Louis's pediatricians would recommend the same, right? Nope. They say as long as they are 4 months old they are good to go. Really it depends on the baby and Charlie and Louis seemed ready. They are always insisting that they sit with us at the dinner table, and stare with awe and wonder at our plates and what is going into our mouths. Makes you feel pretty guilty. They hold their head up well now, they aren't bobble heads anymore. And they do a pretty good job at trying to suck in everything that goes in their mouth instead of trying to spit it out and they can tell you when they are done eating. So this last Saturday night was the first, and they caught on quite quickly, as quick as any baby can I suppose. You have to make the cereal so thin anyways that you pour it into their mouths, but by the end of the feeding they had learned how to open their mouths when the spoon approaches the mouth. I was impressed. We repeated the tasty rice cereal Sunday night too, and they ate more than the night before. I don't think it will be long until they are on the two a day solid meals. Charlie has the striped shirt on, Louis has the solid orange shirt on.

This last weekend, the family took a trip to an apple orchard and also a pumpkin patch. George enjoyed helping pick some apples and the hay ride back from the orchard. He picked out his own pumpkin too, although that took some time to decide on one. Charlie and Louis slept through their apple picking, but were awake for the pumpkin patch. It would have been fun to get them out for a closer look at the pumpkins but it was a bit rainy.

A few weekends ago we also took our first trip to River Falls. We had a lot of fun, but learned a few things. One is that Charlie is much better in the car than Louis, at least long distance. If its in the evening, this last statement is null and void and Charlie just is not happy. Another is they like to tag-team. If Charlie is crying but Louis is calm, as soon as Charlie is calm Louis will cry. This will go on and on and on. We crammed a lot of fun into this weekend, and one of the things we did was take George to the fire station with Grandpa. Here's a picture. George was a little more hesitant this year than last, especially since he thought the sirens were going to go off and be loud, but he still had a lot of fun.

My photography class is still going well. It is a lot of work, even though it sounds like more fun than work. Anything right now that is extra, is a lot of work regardless of what it is. I had to take some pictures for assignments, and here are a couple of them. One is called "Roaring Lions", the other is called "George Needs to Shave".

Next week we have a photo shoot with real models, whom get paid $80/hour plus travel paid. That would be a good job! Then we have a field trip on a Saturday for an entire morning, then one more Monday night at a camera store. I have learned to stop trying to take a nap when the rest of the kids sleep. I am just doomed that nobody will nap that way. On days when I think I have no chance for a nap, it turns out I could have taken like a two hour nap.

George has started showing genuine interest in the potty. Woo hoo! We still have a long way to go, but he seems to like his underwear, just doesn't like the added responsibility that goes with wearing it. He doesn't yet care if he has an accident either. Someday I suppose... He seems to be getting better with the separation anxiety, and for swimming lessons doesn't show any at all. He still moans about having to go to swimming lessons, but once he's there, its like I don't exist.

That is all the fun and exciting news here. Matt has two new beers ready to go, so come help us drink. He also plays in a leisurely football league, in which he cracked his elbow but still plays. Our 5th anniversary is coming up, on the 18th, and we are excited. We're actually going out to dinner that night, without kids! It has been so long since we've been without kids for an evening that we are not going to know what to do I think.