Lots of changes

The new year has brought lots of changes to the Bartlett household. Several milestones have been achieved, and there are still lots more to come.

One of the biggest changes has been the conversion from formula/bottles to milk/sippy cups. A couple of weeks ago, we stared the transition. It took us about a week of mixing formula with whole milk, lessening the amount of fomula and increasing the amount of milk everyday, to make the complete switch to 100% whole milk. I have to admit, I thought it would be a little more difficult than it was, but our babies did wonderfully! Luke went on a bit of a milk strike for a couple of days, but by the end of the week, we had two milk converts on our hands. We were still giving them a night bottle with whole milk, and we knew that would be our next hurdle to cross.

This past weekend, we thought it was time to eliminate bottles completely. For Dan, this was a happy day as he was ready to have them on sippys only. For me, being a mom, it was a little bittersweet to think we were past the bottle phase in our parenting lives. Unless something unexpected happens, we will no longer revisit this phase ever again! Our usual routine was to feed Luke and Olivia dinner around 6:30pm, give them some playtime before bathtime and then give them their bottle around 8pm. It was rare that Olivia would fall asleep after her bottle, but more times than not Luke would pass out. We wanted to keep their routine pretty consistent. We moved their dinner time to about 6:45pm, playtime and bathtime is the same, but instead of a night bottle we now each read them a story and put them in bed around 8:15pm. All things considered, they have done great!!! The first two nights Luke woke up about an hour after being in bed but fell back asleep after abour 30 minutes. Olivia has fallen asleep on her own every night since Saturday, and they have both been sleeping pretty well and not waking up hungry. In fact, whoever gets up first has to wait on the other one to wake up so we can feed them breakfast at the same time. They are quite content to play and don't seem overly hungry, which gives us comfort in knowing they are getting enough nutrition throughout the day. They eat breakfast, lunch and dinner along with 2 snacks and drink water or milk throughout the day. We are SO lucky that they aren't very picky eaters, even eating and seeming to like broccoli and spinach.

The new year has also brought us 2 walkers. I thought they were fast crawlers, but this has brought a whole new set of challenges. Usually they find things of interest in opposite directions, and poor Piper cat just can't seem to hide from them. Olivia is a walker 100% of the time, and Luke is walking more and more everyday. He is still a little unsteady on his balance, but he is doing great and really gaining his confidence. I think in another week or two they will be walking hand in hand quietly and peacefully around the house. Hey, a mom can dream, can't she?

With their newfound independence also comes some stubborness. They sometimes test their boundaries of what they can and cannot touch, and they do not like to have toys taken from them. Usually it's Olivia who does the taking from Luke, but he is starting to take toys from her as well. They are learning about sharing, which is tough for any child to learn. Luke and Olivia point at objects they see, talk to one another in a language only they can understand, have temper tantrums when they feed the need, and give the best hugs in the world. They are typical 13 month old babies, whom I can't call babies for much longer (even though they will forever be my babies). Our next hurdle to conquer with be the pacis, but we'll save that for another day...