As of October 21st, these two little munchkins are 2 months old! Time has been a strange thing since they were born…I have a really hard time keeping track of time and when things happen. Weeks and days blend together so quickly, so I actually had to look back at what I wrote for their 1 month post to remember what happened in that first month!

Summary of month 2: The first half was really hard and the 2nd half has gotten way better! For the first half, we were still trying to figure out their tummy troubles and all the frustrations that would occur around their feedings. Well, after eliminating dairy from my diet, we discovered dairy was not their issue. It turns out their little digestive systems are unable to break down milk proteins, even the ones naturally occurring in breast milk (meaning there was nothing else I could cut out of my diet to help them). It was a very emotional, heartbreaking thing to discover I wouldn’t be able to nurse them again, but it was a very joyful thing to see such drastic improvement in them on this special amino acid-based formula. They no longer scream during and after their feedings, they no longer grunt and arch their backs while they eat, and overall they are much more happy, contented babies. SO wonderful!!

What their daily routine looks like: It’s been SO great having them on somewhat of a schedule, and it’s easy to see the babies thrive on that predictability as well. We are feeding them every three hours starting at 7am and ending at 7pm, and have been able to eliminate their nighttime feedings! We have to go into the nursery to soothe them a couple times during the night, but they are doing so great! It’s our goal to keep them awake an hour to an hour and a half after each feeding (the BEST time of the day, as they are so happy and playful during this time!) before putting them down for their naps. Sometimes they nap great, and other times they just lay there wide awake before fussing because they either don’t want to sleep or are SO tired that they won’t sleep. Babies are funny creatures!

(Abe’s expression in this photo? Melts my heart!!)
Madeline’s favorite part of the day?  Tummy time! She loves being propped up on the boppy on her tummy; she could stay that way for hours!

Abram’s favorite part of the day? The most smiles I see from him are when I go into the nursery to soothe him during nap time and he flashes these huge grins at me, as if he’s crying because he simply wants to play! How can I be frustrated that he’s not sleeping when I get those smiles from him? I usually end up cracking up, yet trying so hard to stifle my laughter so as to not wake up Madeline :) He also loves cooing and kicking on the play gym!

My favorite parts of the day with them? I have many favorites, but a few include: 1) waking them up in the morning! I think there’s something so sweet about when babies first wake up that makes me want to smooch them all over!! 2) getting smiles from them! 3) singing to them while I feed them!2-month stats: Abe weighed in at 11lbs 5oz, in the 50th percentile, and Madeline 11lbs, in the 50th percentile for girls. If I remember correctly, they were both 23 inches long.

Hardest thing right now? We are wanting to transition them out of their rock ‘n play’s and into their cribs for both daytime napping and nighttime sleep. They definitely prefer their cozy rock ‘n’ plays, so it’s been a challenging transition so far. Some days they nap great in their cribs, and other days they refuse to nap there and I end up moving them back to their rock ‘n plays. I look forward to when they associate their cribs with their warm, safe place to sleep.
Things I’m most thankful for: 

1. More sleep at night. It’s an amazing thing to feel somewhat rested again! I’m so thankful Abe & Maddie have been such great nighttime sleepers so far; it’s so great for them and us!

2. Generous friends who have helped in various ways. As a mom of twins, I really do rely on other people more than I ever have before, because some days are just plain difficult and I need help! I’m so thankful for our friends Nic and Julie, who have helped us in SO many ways, and even recently came over to watch the babies to let Grant and I go out for our anniversary dinner together! They have a 10 month old baby, so I don’t know how they took care of him AND fed and put our twins to bed! They’re amazing! Also, as Grant has had to travel a few times for work, I’m so thankful for both of our families who have come to stay with me and help take care of babies and general housekeeping things. Grant was gone the first couple days of this week and neither of our families were available to help, so I am grateful for my friends Amanda and Lydia, who came over to help AND provided me with the best adult conversation – a much needed thing in my life these days! :) I’m also so thankful for my neighbor Megan, who brought us the most amazing, warm-out-of-the-oven sourdough bread, who takes walks with me and the babies and her 2-year-old son, and offers to pick us up anything when she goes to the grocery store. I treasure her friendship!

3. I know I already mentioned this, but I’m so thankful our babies are often awake and happy at the same time, something that hardly ever happened in the first month, when they were either sleeping or awake and terribly fussy.

4. A very generous mom who is SO great with our babies and has offered to help me in any way on her days off – simply because she WANTS to. I told her I want to be able to help younger moms like she does once my kiddos are in school! She has so graciously offered to come over a few times a week to give me time to run or go to the gym – AMAZING. Exercise always gives me more energy and improves my overall emotional and physical health. I can’t wait to be able to run with the twins in their double BOB stroller, but I guess babies need to be 6 months before running with them (unless they’re in their car seats, but my snap n go stroller is not sturdy enough to run with). My goal is to do the Rock the Parkway half marathon next April – I can’t wait to get back into running shape!
What I personally need more of in my life: More time in prayer and in the Word. Especially in this season of having weddings to edit, it’s been so hard for me to be disciplined to block out time for this. But it’s SO important. My goal is to be wake up before the babies do in the mornings to get some time with my journal and Bible. I know that challenging days will feel much more do-able and joyful when I am immersing myself with truth and regularly praying over our children.

Do the babies notice each other, or wake each other up? No, not yet. Thankfully, they usually sleep while the other is crying. We’re eager for them to interact with each other!!Oh how I love these two beautiful children!