7 MONTHS OLD!

Well I missed the 6 month update because we were at home and I was trying to keep up with everything we were doing each day—so here’s what has been going on the last 2 months of our babies lives.

(Nora ALWAYS has to be touching her brother!)

These are the things that are the same for both babies:

FOOD! As I said before, during the time we were at home the babies really started showing an interest in what we were eating, so when we got back to Hawaii we started them on some solids. The first week or so it was slow moving…a lot more spitting out than swallowing, but in the last few days things have really started to pick up and they are really taking to all the new food. So far we have tried bananas, avocados, apples, and sweet potatoes. Nora seems to attack her food with the same vigor that she does everything else in her life. She wants it, no matter what it is and she wants it right away. Holden on the other hand is very calm about eating—he takes his time, studies each bite and is a bit weary of new tastes. I am making all of their food right now, and have been trying to get a good stockpile in the freezer. I just recently got a cool baby food cookbook and can’t wait to try out some of the recipes for foods that aren’t readily available in the jars. The babies are also still nursing about 4-5 times a day and it seems in the few bottles they are taking that they eat between 6-8 oz at a time.

Sleep is still going well. I wouldn’t say that we have a “set schedule”, bed time varies some from night to night and naps seem to be different each day—but in general they love to sleep, they are easy to put down and once they are asleep, they sleep for a long time. My goal is to have them in bed by 7 pm, sometimes it’s more like 8, and then other days it can be as early as 6. The one time they are really consistent with is wake up call at 6am. They wake up lay in their beds and talk, I feed them and then they go right back to bed until between 8 and 9am. After that, depending on what we are doing that day, they take 1 maybe 2 more naps during the day.

~Nora Grayce Burns~

(Nora and her best friend, the Paci)

Technically the babies should have had an appointment at their 6 month bday, but again since we were home it got put off a little. We actually went to their checkup a little over a week before their 7 month bday. I love going to their checkups so we can get their growth stats—here are Nora’s:

-she weighed in at 13lbs 6oz—still a little sprite! That only puts her in the 5^th percentile for her age, but if you factor in her preemie weeks…her corrected percentile is 14^th—a little better at least! I’ll be honest though—her littleness is part of what makes her Nora…small but mighty!

-she is 25 ¼ “ long—this is 28^th percent for her age and 53^rd percent for her corrected age. So it seems she is steadily growing an inch a month—at this rate she will be 11 ½ feet tall when she is 10 years old. Haha, awesome.

Nora really is a goofy little girl—she is SO full of personality. What I love most about her is how her entire body lights up when she is happy. You literally can see it from the raise in her eyebrows to the flex in her toes. She cracks me up when she gets excited in her jumparoo—she throws her hands in the air like she is saying “hallelujah” and actually jumps up and down like an excited little girl, except because she can’t quite support her weight she slips all over the place. Her smile is so big her face looks somewhat distorted and she shrieks like an African bird or something.

She is SUPER DUPER “grabby”. She must touch EVERYTHING. And I mean EVERYTHING! She reaches out for everyone’s face, everything I am holding, any toy anyone else is holding, and then anything else she sees and wants even if it’s all the way across the room. Her curiosity is great, I believe that can be a good outlet for learning, but in the same token, its not always a good thing, and with her grabby tendencies, Nora has begun her lesson with the word ‘No’. and no…it does not always go over well—but as with all babies, she is a work in progress.

Speaking of the word ‘No’, I would like to say here how amazing it is that Nora now understands what is going on around her. I can tell by the cut of her eyes when I tell her ‘no’ and the more than I would like to admit scream she belts out that she completely understands what ‘no’ means.

Nora has finally started to get a little more mobile on the floor—there is lots of back scooting and now proficient rolling over to the belly, but for whatever weird reason she has temporarily (I hope) forgotten how to roll back over to her back. I tell her she is lazy…she just puts her head down and cries. On the other hand, she is sitting up really well now. Just a couple of days ago she sat up for a good 10 minutes playing with her toys before she toppled over and banged her head on my hard floor. Also standing is good as always—this is both of the babies favorite position—but last week I stood her up to look at a dog in its kennel and she grabbed onto the bars and stood by herself for a little while! Maybe we’ll skip crawling?

If you have seen any pictures, you have probably figured this out for yourself, but Nora has basically lost ALL of her hair. It’s a bit sad for mommy, but until it comes back Nora will be wearing LOTS and LOTS of bows. With the loss of hair though has come a gain of 2 teeth. She cut both of her bottom front teeth just a few days after we got back to Hawaii. She showed no signs or grumpiness throughout the process, unlike Holden, I just happened to notice one day while changing her diaper. I believe because she has gotten so good with holding her own pacifier, she used it as a teether and could comfort herself—this is such a relief for a busy mommy!

Nora’s Likes Include

-bouncing, throwing, vibrating, and any rough-housing

-hanging out in the pool

-bathtime

-being swaddled

-walks in the stroller

-swinging on the porch

-her paci and noni blanket

Nora’s Dislikes Include:

-waiting on brother for anything

-cleaning out her nose and ears

-stopping at stoplights

-tummy time

-sitting still

~Holden Reece Burns~

(pics a bit blurry...but i love it caught his pure laugh)

Holden weighed in at 16lbs 5oz—this is in the 21^st percentile for his age and 40^th corrected. This is slightly down in percentile on the growth chart from his 4 month recordings, but they aren’t worried, we think he just had a growth spurt right around his 4 month checkup. We were really surprised that he didn’t weigh any more than he did. He just seems to big and sturdy, but in reality he’s a pretty average size.

He measured at 26 ½ inches in length. That is 41^st percent uncorrected and 67^th percent corrected. Again pretty average in size…I think he just seems big because he’s always beside our stringbean.

Holden is still our sweet little man. Most days he would be happy just sitting in my lap all day—but that just can’t happen and that can sometimes cause problems for him. He gets pretty whiny lately when left alone to have independent time. As soon as he sees me in the room he gets upset that I am not holding him. It’s been a little stressful since Mike has been gone trying to deal with everything—especially a clingy baby. Maybe its his age, or just that he was held all the time while we were home, or maybe it’s a reaction to Mike being gone, who knows…but i’m trying to work through it.

As a very special present to me on his 7 month birthday, Holden reached out for me as I went over to pick him up. It really melted my heart—but what mommy could resist that? He also has been giving me the sweetest smiles and kisses lately..yes I said kisses. I guess I kiss him so much he has learned how to do it back. Sometimes he will open up that mouth and put it all over my face…he gets slobber everywhere, but it’s the best wet kisses I could ever get!

Holden is also sitting very well these days, he picked it up easier than Nora but he is still not perfect at it yet. I did put him in the buggy at the commissary this week and with a little propping between my purse and a bag of tortilla chips he did great. He also really loved being able to look around and see things. Holden like Nora has become much more mobile on the floor, but seems to have some rolling over amnesia. It’s really driving me crazy when they get stuck on their tummies and start crying…I mean just a few months ago they had that rolling over stuff down pat!

Holden’s Likes Include:

-being held and cuddling

-walks in the stroller

-swinging on the porch

-talking with people

-his fish mobile

-jumparoo

-kisses

-playing in the water…bath, pool, ocean

Holden’s Dislikes Include:

-being alone

-tummy time

-loud noises

-sister stealing his stuff/messing with his face