Ruby and Charlotte - 9 months

Ruby and Charlotte are 9 months old!  Every month gets better and we love them more and more.

This month the girls started pulling up and standing.  A few days after they turned 8 months old, Charlotte pulled up against a play table in the church nursery.  Brett and I were both there and saw her do it and it was so fun to be there together for that.  Ruby was practicing around this time too and she finally pulled herself all the way up about a week later.  By mid way through this month they were standing all the time, hardly sitting down.  When they first started standing up Hank thought it was so hilarious.  He would crouch down at eye level with them and laugh so hard.

Both girls enjoy crawling all over the house.  They are really fast and at that stage where we can hear them coming because they slap their hands down on the hard wood floors with each move they make.  Plus they grunt and giggle along the way.

Charlotte had a little bit of separation anxiety (right along with Ruby who already had it) for a while this month.  Over the past couple of days it seems like both of them have outgrown this mostly.  I think when they do get upset it's not real anxiety it's more that they are annoyed I am leaving them because they actually need something.

Sweet little Ruby.

This month, their napping has still been great but at night, we dealt with a two week stint of Ruby waking up screaming in the middle of the night.  Both she and Charlotte seemed like they were teething pretty intensely so I just attributed it to that.  It was pretty rough though.  Because she would scream, Charlotte would wake up.  Two screaming babies at 3 am is hard to handle when we've gotten so used to them sleeping through the night.  Brett was out of town a lot during this period and that made for one frazzled mommy!  If one of them wakes in the middle of the night, I have been nursing them instead of letting them cry it out.  I just hate the idea of them waking each other up.  So much easier to nurse one baby than two in the middle of the night.  With two I have to turn on some lights and get the pillow all set up, etc.  The last week I've only had to get up with one of the girls a couple of times so I think we are getting back to normal.  While I dread getting out of bed to go feed them, once I am holding them I don't mind.  It is the only time I really get to hold them without distractions or sharing my attention. 

Still no teeth yet even though they are definitely teething.  I remember Hank would seem like he was teething for WEEKS before a tooth would come in.  With the girls it seems like it's taking longer.  Ruby practically eats her fingers to comfort herself.  Charlotte and Ruby both like to suck on the edge of the crib rails...just like Hank used to do too.

The girls are so hard to nurse now!  While they still love nursing, they are so distracted it is really making me batty/battier.  If Ellie or Hank walk into the room when they are nursing they start smiling and stop nursing and just watch them walk around.  I remember Hank being difficult to nurse at this age too.  I had to always go to another room to avoid distractions or else he would want to see everyone and everything even when he was hungry.  I now nurse them while sitting on the floor because it is the only way I can safely corral both of them.  Also, it never fails that they both start crawling in opposite directions right when I sit down to start feeding them.

Dear little Charlotte.  (This month I need to try to capture her sweet smile.  I promise the girl does smile all the time...but when the camera is out she gets all stoic.)

They are such happy babies!  My favorite thing is when I walk in to get them when they are ready to get up from their naps.  They are so happy and excited to see me!  Often times Hank is the first one to bust through their door to greet them and they start squealing and their laughs sound like they are about to hyperventilate!  The other night when Brett walked in the door from work, both girls were sitting in their booster seats at the dinner table.  They saw Brett and they started kicking and smiling and altogether just loving the fact that their dad was home.  I love that they love us so much!

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world right now is holding my daughters.  (I think Brett would agree with this too!)  They are so easy to hold and love to be held.  They just melt into us and even rest their heads on our shoulders.  Their tiny size doesn't hurt either!

They had their nine month appointment on the 9th.  Here are their stats:
Weight:  Ruby  13 lb 6.5 oz (.13%)  Charlotte 13 lb 3 oz (.08%)
Height: Ruby & Charlotte 27.5 in (49%)
Head Circumference:  Ruby 17 1/4" (45%)  Charlotte 17 1/8" (35%)

Ruby only weighs a few ounces more than Charlotte, they are now the exact same height, but this is the first time their head measurements haven't been the exact same number.  Overall, they are in great health.

Such sweet blessings!  love! love! love!

-a