It is nearly two weeks since my last entry (where does the time go?!) so I thought I’d better do an update. The girls are now seven months and a week old so here’s what we’ve all been up to:
1. Weaning. Thanks to a team effort between us and nursery, the girls are now on three meals a day. They absolutely love breakfast and dinner but were less fussed about lunch until this week when we started them on ‘proper’ meals: blended-up lasagne, shepherd’s pie, etc. R has taken to ‘grown up’ food particularly well. They have also experimented with rusks and breadsticks, both of which go down well, even though they are ridiculously messy.
2. Teething. Nothing. Nowt. Nada. Don't even go there.
3. Weight. As I’m now at work on Mondays we don’t go to the clinic any more but according to our scales (as of a few days ago) G is about 17lbs 3oz and R is about 16lb 8oz. I’m glad we started weaning them just before they were six months old as R is starting to close the gap on her sister.
4. Developmental milestones: they roll over at will now and have worked out that it is a very handy way to reach toys/wipes/dirty nappies/clothes. They can both sit up without support – G will happily sit unaided and play with toys for ages. R is still a little unsteady but is improving her balance every day. They continue to be incredibly smiley, giggly and chatty. Grace loves trying out new sounds. R loves blowing raspberries, especially when we give her something to eat that she doesn’t approve of!
5. Nursery. The girls have barely noticed the change from two to three days a week. Their reports are still glowing and positive.
6. Sleep. About three weeks ago, I marvelled rather smugly that I couldn’t remember the last time the girls had woken in the night. Big mistake. From that evening until two nights ago, one or other of them woke in the wee small hours. For a few days they were also very difficult to settle at bedtime, to the point where G got in such a state one night that she appeared to start wheezing. We managed to calm her down but it was quite scary. We realised that they were getting so adept at rolling that they were doing it in their sleep, waking up with their faces buried in the cot and getting freaked out. This issue was solved by putting them in bigger sleeping bags, which could be tucked under the mattress. This allows them to roll on to their side, but not completely over and seems to have helped.
7. Illness. We had our first hospital dash with R about 5 weeks ago. She recovered from the stomach bug remarkably quickly but again, it was scary stuff. It’s amazing how quickly they succumb to illness and equally good that they tend to recover very quickly.
8. Toys. The ginormous playplen has arrived and taken over most of the dining room. The tumble mats are much comfier than the wooden floor for our poor, grown up bottoms! I’m much happier that the girls have something soft to roll about on. They love the gadgety toys that require lots of obscure batteries.
9. Their ‘Welcome to the world’ party was a rousing success and c.25 people crammed into our house to celebrate R and G. They responded by being utterly lovely and charming all day, until the lack of naps (we tried, they refused) became an issue and we put them to bed. I didn’t do a speech in the end, for which I’m sure everyone was grateful
10. We haven’t got round to drinking the champagne yet.
What’s next? G makes swimming motions with her arms and legs when she’s on her front so I suspect that we’ll have one crawling baby sooner rather than later. I’m planning to try more finger foods and expand their eating repertoire yet further. They will still be without teeth when I do the 8 month round-up, I’m sure of it. Sigh.