Henry and Audrey's Business: December 2009

This isn't the cutest or smiliest picture of these three, but I wanted to document how much all three have grown. Olivia I'll deal with elsewhere, but this really shows off Audrey and Henry in their general and specific maturing.

Both are definitely bigger - I have more and more trouble hauling the car seats in and out, lifting them from a place above my waist height. Sure that might be Dad's general aging, but that is belied by their length and Audrey's chunky calves.

Their faces have changed: Audrey's filling out and down, Henry's lengthening, and both getting more expressive.

Both remain very socially vocal, but rarely at the same time. Henry may be gabbling like a dolphin while Audrey is screaming or fast asleep, and vice versa. Each have been teething for a week or so now, and this has brought on much more hand chewing, drooling and even expressive moaning.

They don't sleep well. They cannot be fed simultaneously at night any longer, and have developed independent needs timing. It was bound to happen, but it has been a struggle. We're usually up 3-5 times a night, though sometimes only briefly. We don't bother to identify who is making their needs known any more, we just address the diaper, or bring the squaller in to Mom and let the other sleep. It is probably becoming conditioned, and we'd like to allow more crying, but are afraid of a dual meltdown and waking of Olivia too. Then again, they can clearly sleep through other kids crying as they seem to do this at daycare. Though they only sleep for less than an hour at daycare anymore too. It could all be teething and growth, but we're getting exhausted.

That said, they otherwise seem to be some of the most happy, contented, agreeable infants I've ever met. They thrive on facial attention and grin immediately and genuinely when you address them. They love tickling and laugh contagiously. Audrey will even break into a grin for you mid-cry in the middle of the night, causing us to believe that maybe she just wants some more face time with you, whoever you are. They are utterly delightful during most of the daylight hours and even much of the night.

Audrey grasps readily and moves her hand directly to an object, even if it is moving. Henry seems to swing more at objects. Audrey seems to have gas more easily and painfully, as if she's still unaccustomed to her food functions inside, and spits up sizeable amounts of milk even hours after a meal. This seems to bother her not at all, while the gas causes back-arching at various times. She had more trouble with her neck strength from early on, and this is much improved, though still not as accomplished as Henry. I wonder if this was from breach positioning? Audrey kicks so well when she is happy that it seems to be a part of her happiness that she can kick.

Henry is a very sweet guy. So much so that his teachers describe his laugh as "breaking their heart". He is a very active roller and seems to enjoy the act for it's own sake, rather than transportation. He sleeps on his stomach now, and puts himself there even when starting on his back or side, and loves spending time on his stomach during the day with good neck strength and stability.

This week I happened to have Henry in a sitting-up chair on the table and Audrey in a laying-back chair on the floor. She wasn't getting as much face-time though she did have toys she was playing with, and started making little comments about this. Henry would frequently locate her by her sounds and "check in" on her about every 2 minutes or so. As Audrey would seem to look past her toys to see what Henry was doing up on the table. Fascinating. We might need to put their two cribs side-by-side soon to see if they will interact more at night?

One of my favorite evening activities is to put them both on the floor next to each other and pretend to sneeze. This is high comedy for a 5 month old and they both crack up, which makes me lean over and nuzzle both of their necks, with even more laughter. They can go on like this repetitively for half an hour before wanting to put their own feet in their mouth. Wonderful, like a medication for me.

I think we'll be trying some rice cereal on them this coming week. Teething and poor sleeping and general age and curiosity. May also start signing to them soon too.