Nine Month Checkup

The twins had their nine month checkup on Monday and everything is going well. Not much new to report.

Both kids fit nicely on the child growth curve. Caden is obviously lower on the curve but he is definitely doing well. Can you believe he is now more than three times his birth weight?

Here are their measurements from this appointment.

Caroline

nine month:
weight: 18 lbs 7 ounces and 50th percentile
height: 28 inches and 70th percentile
head circumference: 45 cm and 65th percentile

six month:
weight: 15 lbs 15 ounces and 50th percentile
height: 27 inches and 90th percentile
head circumference: 43 cm and 52nd percentile

four month:
weight: 13 lbs 6 ounces and 45th percentile
height: 25 inches and 75th percentile
head circumference: 41.3 cm and 50th percentile

two month:
weight: 11 lbs 12 ounces and 75th percentile
height: 23 inches and 75th percentile
head circumference: 39.4 cm and 53rd percentile

one month:
weight: 9 lbs 1 ounces and 50th percentile
height: 20.5 inches and 30th percentile
head circumference: 36.5 cm and 25th percentile

two week:
weight: 7 lbs 10 ounces and 25th percentile
height: 20 inches and 50th percentile
head circumference: 35.4 cm and 25th percentile

birth:
weight: 7 lbs
height: 19.375 inches
head circumference: 34 cm and 25th percentile

Caden

nine month:
weight: 17 lbs 8 houces and 10th percentile
height: 27 inches and 10th percentile
head circumference: 44.5 cm and 25th percentile

six month:
weight: 14 lbs 15 ounces and 8th percentile
height: 25 1/4 inches and 10th percentile
head circumference: 43cm and 25th percentile

four month:
weight: 12 lbs 11 ounces and 10th percentile
height: 24 inches and 25th percentile
head circumference: 41cm and 20th percentile

two month:
weight: 10 lbs 4 ounces and 25th percentile
height: 22 1/4 inches and 25th percentile
head circumference: 38.2 cm and 12th percentile

one month:
weight: 7 lbs 13 ounces and 5th percentile
height: 20 inches and 5th percentile
head circumference: 35.8 cm and 6th percentile

two week:
weight: 6 lbs 4 ounces and 5th percentile
height: 19 inches and 6th percentile
head circumference: 33.9 cm and 5th percentile

birth:
weight: 5 lbs 10 ounces
height: 18.125 inches
head circumference: 32.3cm and 5th percentile

Where's Caroline?

Thanks Aunt Angela for taking these pictures! We have lots of fun playing "Where's Caroline and Where's Caden" right now!

Where's Caroline? There she is!!

Laying to Sitting

Today, Caroline learned to sit up from a laying position. We thought she could do it but she just never did. Good thing Jason dropped the crib down a couple weeks ago otherwise she might be climbing out tonight. :)

Big Sister Can Be Mean!

Today, I left the twins in the living room so I could run brush my teeth. Almost as soon as I left the room, I heard Caden whining. I walked back into the living room to check-out the situation and saw the poor guy had a reason to cry. Caroline, who now thinks it's fun to pull up on on stuff to stand was pulling Caden's hair trying to use his head to stabilize her efforts to stand. :( Poor little guy.

Favorite Toys

Our kids love toys and people seem to love giving them toys. Here are a few of their favorite things. (Queue the Sound of Music and "My Favorite Things.)

Best In Show - Waddles the Stuffed Penguin
Over the last 8+ months, this has been Caden and Caroline's favorite toy. It was given to the twins in the hospital by Amy's good friend Megan. It was the first toy the kids every played with it. When they were just a few days old, they liked Mr Penguin since it was mostly black and white making it easy for them to see. Later, they started liking how the beak fit nicely into their mouth. Once, Cousin Cal hid the penguin and we could not find it for a week. The twins squealed with delight the first time they saw it after not having it for a few days.

Best Baby Containing Toy - Tie Between the Fisher Price Jumperoo
and the Baby Einstein Exersaucer
The kids love both of these and with two of them, it is very nice to have one for each. We can stick the kids in here knowing they will be safe and entertained while Amy and I go out for date night. :) Most of the time, these are side by side so the twins can also talk to each other as they play.

Favorite Battery Powered Toy - Playskool Busy Gears
The twins love taking the gears off and banging them around. Recently, they learned that flipping it upside down gets all the gears off faster. They have yet to intentionally put a gear back on but I'm sure they will be doing so in the not-so-distant future. Also, the gears fit perfectly in their hand for banging other toys.
Honorable Mention for Battery Powered Toy - LeapFrog Music Table and LeapFrog Spin-a-Letter
These are both great toys that the kids play with every day. Amy got a great deal on the spin-a-letter toy by picking it up at a garage sale.

Favorite Book - Baby Boo
Our kids love this book and get very excited as the last page approaches. Spoiler alert, the last page has a mirror. This book is a great way to calm down a baby in a bad mood. We know the Baker kids also loved this book based on the fact that Uncle Michael still has the book memorized.
Honorable Mention in the Book Category - Where is Baby's Belly Button
The twins enjoy how they can interact with this book by moving the items hiding the baby. In case you are wondering, the mystery location of baby's belly button is solved like a quarter of the way through the book.

Favorite "Not Actually a Toy" Toy - Remote Control
They only want to play with the "real" remote that controls the TV. I found an old remote control that doesn't work but they want nothing to do with it. They know the difference.

Favorite No-Batteries Plastic Toy - Playskool Numbers 1-5 Pop Up
This was a hand-me-down from the Baker kids and the twins love it. Neither has figured out how to open the pop ups but they sure love pushing them down.
Best Toy for the Car -Squeeze and Squeak Dog
They have this little squeaky dog toy that Aunt Angela bought them. It fits nicely in the twins hands and the ears fit nicely in their mouth. Amy and my favorite thing about this toy is that it is machine washable. We can take it to a restaurant, drop it on the floor, and throw it in the washing machine when we get home. The worst thing about this toy is how much the kids chew and slobber on it. Its weight can quadruple with spit.

Why It's Nice to Have Twins

The reaction most people have to us having twins is, "I don't know how you do it. It seems like it would be so hard." Well, it can be hard (especially for Amy being home with them during the day) but it is also nice having twins. Here are just a few of the reasons why twins are great.

• They frequently make each other laugh. Caroline is especially good at cracking Caden up. For instance, a couple weeks ago, Caden was in his Johnny Jump-up and I was holding Caroline. I needed to run to the bathroom so I just set her down on the floor four or five feet from Caden. Pretty much as soon as I left the room, I heard Caden laughing loudly. When I went back into the room, Caroline had scooted over to Caden and was making him bounce by pulling the jump-up around. Caden loved it!
  
• The twins will play with each other and can entertain themselves. Well, at least for short periods of time. One of their favorite games is taking a blanket or burp cloth away from the other. They will do this over and over laughing every time the other steals the blanket. Amy and I do not see the appeal in the game but they love it.
  
• With twins, it is easy to see differences in their personalities. You never have to think, did my previous kid do that or did they act this way. It is amazing just how different they are from one another. They have had very different personalities from the moment they were born and their personalities have, for the most part, have stuck.
  
• When out in public, tons of strangers stop to tell you about twins in their family. I've heard so many twin stories about how they grew up as best friends and were never alone because they always had each other.

I'm sure I'm missing thousands of other reasons why twins are great, but these are some of my favorite.

The Twins Love Bath Time

Our kids really enjoy bath time. Amy fills the tub with these little letter toys and a few things that squirt water. Caroline loves it in the tub. She splashes like crazy and tries to grab every toy she can find (especially if her brother is holding on to it). She is always the first kid into the tub and the last kid out.

I love Caroline's tongue in this pic. I also like how Caden looks like he is totally relaxing. In the small tub, he often tries to lay down. In the big one, he sits up just fine.
Sweet Caroline.My man, Caden.Amy loves this picture of Caroline. Amy thinks Caroline is being very modest here by covering all of her girl parts. :) I think it looks like we actually surprised her in the shower.
Here is Caroline splashing. Her splashing is the main reason we moved the kids into the big tub. Previously, we washed them in the kitchen next to the sink.
And here is a quick video of Caroline splashing. She does this almost the entire time she is in the tub.