Finally Fall

Aiden's all eyes for you!



Chris pausing to pose for a picture!



The boys (Aiden, L & Chris, R)

So Fall is officially here and we are thankful for no more bugs and no more extreme heat! Now if only we could keep the weather around 70 degrees and sunny everyday for the next 5 years until kindergarten we would be in business!

The boys are getting so big and so busy so quick. Over the past two weeks they have both taken an interest in wanting to lean forward during all activities which means living on the edge of danger as they attempt to lean forward in swings, bouncy chairs, jumpers and such. They do not discriminate! They are also very interested in doing their best to work their core muscles to sit all by themselves. They often find themselves distracted by objects around them and when the leaning from side to side begins, the "toppling" is soon to follow! Both Aiden and Chris are now champs at not only taking their pacifier's out of their mouths but they can now put them back in too! This has been huge for me... well as long as they are willing to put their skills to use rather than taking the easy way out, waiting for Mommy to do it for them.

As you may have read in my previous blog, the boys began to pull themselves up on all fours last Thursday (YES, Chris joined Aiden in this feat!) and started to rock. They are still rocking and get themselves frustrated when they can't move but I am not complaining. They are very determined and I am fearful of the next stage and their tendencies to want to move VERY quickly when they set their minds to something. For some reason they seem to be able to rock and move themselves better on softer surfaces like their cribs and our bed which was surprising to me. I expected that harder surfaces would be easier to push off of.... Which brings upon our next concern.... their safety and our big task of baby proofing! Mike and I realize that this task must now be moved to at the least the top 5 on our "to-do" list! I think we may also be entering the phase where helmets and full body armour would be a worthy investment so Grammie and Dziadz, if you're looking for Xmas ideas for Aiden and Chris, there you have it!

We are still moving down the list of food preferences. I have been on a mission to find a high fat yogurt that they boys are willing to eat without making deathly, gagging faces. We tried Stoneyfield Farms and also the YoBaby but neither were a hit. I have since learned to hide the yogurt with other food combo's. Tonight I decided to try one of these delicious concoctions myself and I joined the boys in gagging and understood their distaste but I must admit that I will still be slipping it into their food. As the doctor told us at their six month check up, our goal is to fatten them up so they will sleep through the night!!! This week we tried homemade applesauce which was a hit and avocado's which we are still waiting for the boys to acquire and enjoy this taste.

Aiden & Chris's sleeping patterns are still hitting highs and lows. We usually have one baby that sleeps from 7:30 pm - 4/5 am ish.... We do wake the boys up to attempt to "top" them off before Mike and I go to bed for the night but we have found these attempts to be fruitless lately. While one baby has a good night, the other tends to get up 2-3 times before the 6 am mark. Lately they seem to be waking up because they are having trouble breathing through their stuffy little noses. We have tried the humidifier and nasal spray for a week now and don't seem to be noticing any changes so if anyone has any suggestions at all, we would welcome them! I do have to note that surprisingly, Chris has become a better sleeper than Aiden and is taking better naps and tending to wake up less at night on most nights.... the tides are a turning and I am sure next weeks report will be just the reverse! They are always keeping us on our toes.

We had a great week... lots of sunshine and lots of walks. Wednesday we met our friends Caroline and Mathieu for a walk on the Windsor Locks Canal. We returned there Friday morning for a walk with our friends Jen & Georgiainna. On Friday night we met our friends Juliet, Keith & Livia for dinner at the Summer House in Southwick... Yum! We had a fun visit and delicious onion rings! Saturday we met up with the Swanson's and Fishers and had an awesome picnic/cookout at Salmon Brook Park. It was great to see everyone and so neat to get all of the kids together. Today we were able to visit with Grammie/Grampa Hopkins, Auntie Steph, Auntie Sarah & Uncle Jerry. The boys loved all of the attention and the loving licks from the dogs!

We had wonderful visits with Grammie & Grampa Hopkins, Grammie & Dziadz Pt, Auntie Steph, Auntie Sarah, Uncle Jerry, Auntie Laura, Jen/Georgianna, Caroline/Mathieu, Kelly/Joe/Audrey, Geoff/Laurie/Taylor/Carter/Baby Bop, & Juliet/Keith/Livia/Baby Bop!