A half-year update

Our lives changed for the best just over 6 months ago. It is so amazing how quickly Luke and Olivia are growing, and it is getting more and more fun everyday! Olivia plays hard and sleeps hard, while Luke is more laid back and catnaps. They smile and laugh when they see each other, and trade toys back and forth. They have also recently taken to pacifiers at night and tend to chew on them during the day. It never fails, though, that each with start out with their own paci, and by the end of the day they have traded a million times! They both love the "abc" song and "one, two, buckle your shoe" and they each have a favorite book they like to look at, talk to, and chew on!

Luke loves to lay back and play with his toys, and he thinks rolling over is the greatest thing ever! Olivia loves to sit up and play, and has recently learned how to rock herself forward onto her knees. We think crawling for her is just days or weeks away. They both scoot around on their booties and roll from one side of the room to the other. Olivia talks A LOT, while Luke talks when necessary (or when Olivia lets him get a "word" in every now and then!). They laugh and smile all of the time, and love to be tickled!

They are doing great eating solids now, and open their mouths when they see a spoon, even if it's an adult spoon! They have had rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, yogurt, carrots, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes and green beans. We will be introducing them to sippy cups with a little water soon, and we have already increased the amount of solids they are eating every day. They also recognize their bottles now, and Luke can hold his for the most part.

Luke and Olivia are teething as well. We think one day we'll just wake up and Luke will have 6 teeth, he's been teething for so long! He likes the teething rings, while Olivia won't touch hers because it's cold. It's so funny to see her touch it and immediately move her hands back as if to say "excuse me, I'm princess Olivia and you may hold it for me!"

Olivia is a great sleeper for the most part, while Luke still stirs quite a bit. It seems as if he is a little restless, but usually a quick pat on the back puts him back to dreamland. They typically fall asleep around 9pm and Luke starts to stir around 5:30-6am, Olivia a little later. They usually play for a little when they wake up before their first bottle around 7am. Then it's solids around 9am, bottle around 11am, 2pm and 5pm, followed by more solids around 6:30pm, a quick walk, and then bath, bottle, bed.

We have moved the coffee table out of our living room and into the sunroom so they have lots of room to roll around and play. Between the two exersaucers, the tummy mat and several toys, our living room definitely looks more like a daycare, but we wouldn't have it any other way! Each day they learn something new, and it's nice to just lay on the floor with them and see the world as they do. They are amazed to see a leaf blowing on a tree or Piper walking by them. Now if I could only slow down time just a little bit...