yeah! our littlest babes are 4 months old! the girls have changed so much these past 2 months. the last three weeks they have really changed from newborns to active little 4 month olds. at their appointment today ellie and claire are proving that they really are identical twins. ellie weighed in at 11 lbs 13 ounces, 59 cm long with a head circumference of 40.20 cm. claire weighed in at 11 lbs 15 ounces, 59 cm long with a head circumference of 40.10 cm. pretty crazy. especially if you remember that ellie was 1 pound smaller than claire at their 2 month appointment. both girls are around the 16th % for weight and length, 26th % for head circumference. we absolutely love these two girls and it is really funny when people ask me if I have twins. I almost hesitate because even though they look a lot alike I really don’t think of them as twins. to me they are two very different little girls and I can’t wait to watch them grow up. here are some of the things that make ellie– ellie and claire – claire….
ellie:
- was previously labeled as our drama queen and I think she might be growing out of this title. I actually think claire wants the title most days.
- is definitely the more patient one. she is more content laying on the floor playing and does not escalate as quickly as her sister, which means she sometimes gets the short end of the stick. if claire is freaking out and ellie is just frustrated I will often have to leave ellie and tend to claire.
- is really strong on tummy time, but often rolls to her back when put on her tummy. she can roll from back to front, but is content on her back so doesn’t flip over often.
- if you just give her a bit of quiet time she will really start chatting. it is so sweet to listen to her “talk”. when she gets excited she revs up and then blasts out a SQUAWK. I don’t think she has mastered a squeal yet.
- when she smiles she sticks her tongue out and her eyes close.
- could possibly sleep through the night if it wasn’t for her sister. whenever claire gets up we just pick up ellie and feed her too. more often than not claire is the one who wakes up first.
claire:
- is really extreme. when she is happy she is really happy and when she is mad she is really mad and when she is hungry well watch out because she is a honey badger!
- up until about 1 week ago claire barely would lift her head on tummy time. then out of no where she started rolling from her back to her tummy. she now almost instantly rolls from her back to her tummy when she is laid down.
- when it comes to eating claire is really opinionated (or maybe she will just be very opinionated in general). she will only nurse when SHE wants to. she also prefers to be rocking while eating so it is sometimes hard to calm her down and get her to eat if there is not a rocking chair nearby.
- loves to be standing and seeing what is going on.
- is also chatting a ton and when she is really happy she squeals over and over. adorable!
- loves to sleep in like a teenager. she loves to nurse sometime around 5-7am and then be laid on her tummy to sleep another couple of hours. even then, if I go check in on her and rub her back, she’ll stir momentarily and then bury her face in the covers as if to say “come on mom! I never get to sleep in on the weekends! leave me alone!” in keeping with her 17 year old tendencies, she’s more of a night owl than ellie.
both:
- LOVE their brother! they just light up when he comes near them and they definitely try to keep their eyes on what he is doing.
- are grabbing and reaching for things constantly. I don’t remember charlie being as interested in getting “toys” or links, but I also have to remember charlie wasn’t abandoned on the floor as much as these two.
- have gotten increasingly more interactive and want to “see” everything.
- are getting more interactive with each other. it is so sweet to see them smiling at each other. most often you will catch one of them smiling really big at the other, while the other is staring off into the distance at something else. i have caught claire pulling up her legs (which she loves to do) and landing them right on ellie. i think she was trying to kick at her.
- we will be starting to feed them solids and I am hoping they love it. our kids are always hungry and anyway to help satisfy their cravings is great.
- wearing both 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes
- wearing size 1 diapers
- they still often begin to stir at the EXACT same time. it is so weird. they can even be in different rooms and both begin to wake up.
I am not really a hard core schedule mom, but we do have a flow that we follow every day. the girls get up around 7 or 8 (ellie eats and claire usually had already eaten earlier) and are usually happy and play on the floor for a bit while I get charlie up, etc. then they get fussy and need to take a catnap in the bouncy chairs. usually the catnaps are short and they wake up and need to eat, play and repeat. they will do this throughout the morning whether we stay home or if we go to friends houses or the RAC. I am really glad they don’t have a set morning nap. it makes for a fussier morning, but it is much better for our schedule because we are never going to just stay home in the mornings for their particular nap time. around 12:30/1 we are usually home for lunch time and the girls usually fall asleep for their long nap of the day. it is wonderful because it lines up perfectly with charlie’s nap time (exactly what mom needs – some alone time!). most of the time the girls nap until 4-5pm. they do the best in the evenings if they sleep until 5, but this is hardest when charlie is around because he gets up around 3:30/4pm and is pretty loud and often wakes them up. then they eat, play and fuss a lot until they take their last catnap of the day (this is really short). when they get up I give them a bottle (and I pump) of about 2-3 ounces at most (they were overeating a few weeks ago and would spend hours fussing and pulling their bellies up, etc). it is then bath time and then ellie will usually nurse and claire just wants to be rocked. they are getting up around 2/3 am (usually claire because she doesn’t want to nurse before bed!) and then ellie will sleep until around 7/8 and claire will want to eat again between 5/6am. and the cycle repeats itself day after day!
charlie playing with the girls.
enjoying their floor playing time.
ellie working at the office.
claire’s chubby butt (yes – I know someday she is going to be mad at me for this picture…she will get over it).
for comparison – here is charlie’s butt at 3 months. these pictures crack me up.
