6 Months Old!

Wow.  Time flies.  I can't even believe that the boys were six months old on May 25th.  There have been so many changes for them in the past month, too.  To name just a few:

1. Daycare
2. Introduction of solid foods
3. Unswaddling
4. Dropping the 11pm feed

They have really done so well despite all the chaos and my feelings of guilt manifesting themselves in crazy, inconsistent behavior.  I was feeling guilty about daycare, I think, and was breaking a lot of my own rules.  For example...Adrian was/is waking up in the middle of the night shrieking.  At first I thought something was wrong with him because he's never shrieked like that before!  I would let him cry a bit, but ultimately because it was a new cry, I'd go in and try to console him by patting him.  That would make it worse so I'd pick him up and bring him to bed with us.  A BIIIIIG no no.  Finally, I realized that he's shrieking simply because he CAN now.  He's not in pain at all.  He just enjoys making all sorts of noises with his mouth because he's discovered he can do it.  So I let him cry it out and he's making progress back to his old, self-soothing self.  My poor Sebastian has just slept through it all...I don't know how he can tune out Adrian's shrieking, but he has been able to.  And thank God, because 2 screaming babies at 2am really can lessen your resolve!!!  But in general, both Adrian and Sebastian are sleeping from 7:30pm-6:30am straight through--no more 11pm feed.  It's wonderful!!

Daycare is going well for the most part.  Adrian has settled right into things and already has a girlfriend his own age and every teacher in the school wrapped around his little finger.  He flirts shamelessly.  Check out his daily report card...

hahahaha HATED the Gerber peas (loves Earth's Best peas, though) and "Flirty with the teachers"!!!

Sebastian, on the other hand, is much more concerned with food and eating--ALL THE TIME.  It's his one and only priority.  He was fussy at daycare until they told me to send more solid food with him.  I felt like a bad mom!! But he went from eating nothing to eating a whole jar himself in a matter of a few days!  I should have known, but I didn't think he'd be THAT good of an eater THAT fast!!!  He really is his father's son.  Both boys are, actually!

Daycare is making the boys stronger; I have no doubt.  They get a lot more playtime and stimulation than I can give them at home.  They are interacting with other babies at the center (according to their report cards and what we see on the cameras), and enjoy their time playing.  They are even napping pretty well.  Now the daycare is trying to manipulate their schedule so that they fit with the other babies and the center's schedule.  Fine with me as long as they eat and nap ok.  They are basically on the same schedule at home as at the daycare, although the nap times are a bit different there.  They were trying to get me to implement the same nap schedule at home, but I basically told them I'll do my own thing until at home until the boys demonstrate to me that they have adapted to the daycare schedule and I HAVE to change at home.  Otherwise, I think they can have 2 slightly different schedules and still be ok. Time will tell, I guess.  I'll do whatever I think is best for the boys, but for right now, I think that is keeping things the same as usual at home until they demonstrate a need for it to be otherwise.  But in general, I'm very happy so far with the care they are getting there.  The teachers LOVE Carlos.  He has them in stitches every day when he goes to pick up the boys.

Lastly, today I took Sebastian to the GI doctor at Children's for a follow up.  The appointment was at 10am and we stopped by the Brigham to see Marcy and Judy before the appointment.  We had breakfast together outside of the NICU on the roof patio.  It was funny to be up on the NICU floor again (although not in the NICU).  And as always, it was so nice to see our two nurses!!  We love those ladies!  After a nice visit that made both Sebastian's and my day, we went to the appointment.  The doctor was very pleased with Sebastian's growth and jokingly called us "boring" because he is so healthy.  Going to Children's makes you realize how glad you are that your baby is "boring."  Thank God.

Judy, Marcy, and Sebastian.  LOVE this picture!!

Finally, some random pictures.