It's not like this is new news, it's definitely something we always knew made some noise, but I never realized how loud it was until we had kids - and by "kids" I mean sleeping babies on the verge of falling asleep. On top of that, I swear the little patch of hardwood planks right at the door to their nursery seems to be the loudest spot in the house.
This is all a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest they aren't nearly as sensitive to noise as I’m making it out to be…And the best thing about their sensitivity while sleeping, or lack thereof really, is that they are immune to whatever noise the other one is making – to be accurate, it's more a matter Cate not being affected by all the wailing away Logan does at times. Thankfully he doesn't wake up when she pipes up either, but her "awakenings" don't come with nearly the same decibel level or duration as his.
But nevertheless, doing something like dropping a pan in the kitchen or letting the screen door slam is treated like setting off dynamite. In these cases, we do have a house rule that the person who causes any disturbance has to deal with any repercussions from it. Like I said, this actually seldom occurs, we are way more sensitive to these noises than they are. Even though they are sleeping a LOT better now, but because of it we still walk around on egg shells not wanting to disrupt the peace and trigger any sort of regression. A month ago or so ago we didn't recognize the noises as much because they were only sleeping in short increments anyway and chances were they could wake up at any moment regardless.
To touch on their sleep a bit more (although it seems that is all I talk about – but this time in a positive tone), each one now is "going the distance" with regularity…the only problem still is that they haven't mastered how synchronize these nights together so well - except when we split them up and let them spend the night out at the grandparents apparently, like we did this past weekend for Catherine's birthday.
(Side note: It's kind of bittersweet to get the report the next morning from both sets of grandparents that each one made it through the night without making so much as a peep. On one hand we want to see consistency with them sleeping all night, but on the other hand these nights are still rare and we want them occurring on our watch. Moreover, it not only helps for the grandparents to see where we're coming from when we complain about the bad nights and the lack of sleep, but after both going the distance one night, it is rather rare that they will both do it again the next – so we feel like we’re for it come the following night).
Back to their sleeping, and only because I didn’t quite finish my quick update…chances are, most nights there will still be an "awakening" or two at some point that translates into a trip by one or both of us into the nursery. But right now though, it's usually Cate the one waking up. Whereas it used to be him waking up and her going through the night, now she is the one that can't seem to go all night without some sort of attention...However, on the bright side, these awakenings are usually short-lived and not near the length of something like a full feeding, but rather just a paci "insertion" - sometimes followed by a paci "replacement" trip - which I can practically do by sleep walk now though.
Not only is Logan going the distance without his usual 4am feeding, but he is sleeping through the night frequently. He definitely still stirs, spins, and flips over occasion – yes, there are literally times when we'll go in there and find that he has not only flipped over on his belly, but also somehow completely spun himself around where his head is where his feet were and vice-versa. I need to figure out how to setup a time elapse video camera where I take like 3 seconds of video every minute or so to see just how and when he does this (stay tuned, I think I’ve found my next project). But the key that has really helped with him staying asleep or getting himself back to sleep is that he's learned to find his thumb "in times of need" and work himself back into his happy place.
Ok, enough about sleeping, it is during waking hours where things are most interesting....They are really starting to be very interactive, and each in their own unique and different way…not to mention, there is quite a bit of overall development and growth going on now.
Topping this list is the fact that they are starting to notice and somewhat interact with each other now. Mostly Cate will just look at Logan and his antics like he is crazy, basically wondering what all the fuss is about, but when they both get going in the pack-n-play you can tell they are amusing each other - especially when we clip the balloon to Cate's foot and let her entertain the both of them with the balloon bouncing all over the place. With each of Cate's leg kicks (and resulting balloon movements), Logan will let out a sound of amusement to which Cate typically responds with chuckle of both pride and delight.
Yes, these balloons have been both a HUGE hit and relief as they have provided countless hours of entertainment. My parents stumbled upon this discovery during setting up for a SuperBowl party one afternoon while keeping Logan and saw how his eyes just kept following and were fixated on a Packers helium balloon. So after attaching it to his sleeve and seeing how it mesmerized him for over an hour, they knew they were on to something here. So then we then introduced it to Cate by clipping it to her ankle and bingo! Once she realized that her leg kicking - already her favorite pastime - causes the balloon to bounce around her legs took off and haven’t really stopped since.
Another big hit, along the same lines of visual stimulation, has been the Baby Mozart DVD they watch while lying on our bed. This is one of the few scenarios where Logan will sit contently - laying on our bed, thumb in mouth, and staring at the TV showing Baby Mozart.
(Quick side note on Baby Mozart videos: I had heard about these before, but never really seen one so I didn't know what to expect...Whether it was from their fancy name or just my assumption based on how advanced animation-type movies were these days, I thought these were going to be much more elaborate and impressive than they turned out to be. What a farce and at the same time ingenious idea these videos really are! On the surface there is nothing impressive about them at all - no complex graphics or animation, no story or characters, just simple shots of simple things set to classical music - brilliant! All these videos consist of are a collection of short segments showing around the house types of toys and still pictures of animals like a dog hand-puppet that just goes "ruff" or a toy train going around the tracks followed by a still photo of a cow with the sound "moo"...again, brilliant! Oh well, as long as it interests him, it could be paint drying set to music for all I care.)
Not only are they growing fast right now (the ever-expanding bag of out-grown clothes makes me cringe), but they are "growing up" in their motions and capabilities...some of which are way too fast for our liking, but do you really try to curtail these? For example, Logan loves to stand up, with balancing assistance of course, and even wants to take steps forward (see video below). His new favorite position is standing in my lap facing forward with his chest leaning against my knees and his neck and head up surveying the scene or starring at the television. But as hyper and curious as he is, I'm not sure we want him walking as soon as it looks like he will.
As for Cate, that won't be a problem, despite all the use of her legs with the balloon and constantly sticking them up in the air, she has absolutely no interest in standing up or even rolling over for that matter. I'll try to lift her up expecting her to stiffen her legs and prop herself up, but she let's them just dangle and go limp when I try to lower her down on them. Speaking of growing, Cate's legs have done quite a bit of it in terms of sheer girth...and with this girth come rolls upon rolls. But despite the added weight to them she still likes to lay on her back and throw her legs in the air. Many times we'll walk in the nursery to see if she's still sleeping and quickly get our answer by seeing nothing but two feet in the air rising above her crib. Unlike him, she'll wake up and contently lay in her crib just chattering to herself, all the while exercising those legs. She also remains as flexible as ever...she can literally spread her legs so far apart that the outside of her knees touch the bed, and she'll even lay and sleep this position comfortably (see pic).
Staying with his all-or-nothing approach, but in a positive way this time, Logan's smile is an all-out, ear to ear, mouth open, tongue showing smile...seldom does he just smirk or grin. Often his smile is also accompanied by the odds on favorite to be his first word - "hey." In some ways he's already said it, but we can't really count it until we can tell he is uttering it knowingly and intentionally. However, by the same token, when he cries it's not just a whimper, he goes straight to a full high-pitch wail - which we can often see coming with his trademark bottom lip quiver.
Lastly, one department where they are not growing so much is their hair. Logan is still clinging to his few strands on top, but yet to get much coming in on the sides...as the hair on top continues to grow with nothing on the sides he's starting to look like he has a Mohawk. Cate on the other hand, has hair growing up top with some random long strands, but because she lays on her back so much, she has a definite bald spot on the back of her head. And until she starts rolling over and laying on her tummy, this bald spot will never have a chance to fill in.
Ok, that's about it for now, or at least all I can try to capture and put into words...(or also all I have time for before it's time to clock back in, always something to do to try to stay ahead of the game). They have their four month appointment later this week, so we'll get accurate weight then, but I'm putting the over/under at 13 lbs - and probably taking the "over" on that bet. Stay tuned, the amazing journey continues...
Some other recent favorite pics...
