Month four has been a month of exciting firsts! Oh, the HUGE joy to hear my babies laugh for the first time!! The first time Madeline laughed, I was away at a client meeting and Grant got it all on video! He was blowing raspberries on her little belly and she kept letting out THE cutest baby giggle for 4 minutes straight. Oh my soul! So darling. Abe often giggles when I move my face close enough to rub our noses together while I make silly noises :)

Abe and Madeline began noticing each other for the first time during this month. It first happened when my mom and I were both holding them so they were facing outward and toward each other, and they just couldn’t take their eyes off each other and kept flashing smiles back and forth – SO cute! Now, we know if they are both fussy, we just need to get them facing each other and most likely, their faces will light up!

They also both rolled over in this month, a day apart from each other! They haven’t quite mastered it yet, as it doesn’t happen all the time. I was such a proud mama when they first reached this milestone. I cheered them on while they cried as if they didn’t know what just happened to them!

Unfortunately, I was overwhelmed, exhausted and stressed for a good part of this month, because our babies cry so much (and not just little baby cries, but terrible screaming). I felt so weary, as I spent a good part of each day trying to get them to stop crying, which usually looked like this: rock Madeline while Abram cries until Madeline calms down. Set Madline down and pick up Abram, which makes Madeline begin screaming again…and on and on. Phew. Half way through this week, Grant and I decided we would begin letting them cry it out a little bit…for 5 minutes before we go in to soothe (during naptime and at night). Oh my goodness, it has been a huge turning point for them! Without going into all the details, their crying has lessened so much I can hardly believe it! This means I get to spend more time enjoying them and refreshing my own soul while they nap, which has such huge value to me. Overall, they seem like much happier babies!

Fun facts about the kiddos:

Abe is 13lbs 15oz, and Madeline is 13lbs. They are both in the 50th percentile for weight and just over the 25th percentile for length at 23.5 inches long.

We are beginning to wonder if Abe is left-handed. He’s doing a lot of swatting these days (at his bottle, at toys, etc), most of which happens with his left hand.

We got an exersaucer for them, and it’s been so fun to see how they interact with the toys on it differently! We laugh that Abe is aggressive as he learns how to use his hands and arms. He gets this furrowed-brow look of deep concentration and then punches the shapes with his fist to get them to spin. Madeline on the other hand, is our little studious baby. She stares at the shapes and buttons while moving her fingers across them very methodically as she learns about them.

“Heads and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” is the most-frequently sung song in our house. They both love it!One of their favorites places to hang out? Under the Christmas tree! They’ve spent hours looking up at its lights and swatting the silver ornaments that look like disco balls!

We wonder if both babies may be teething. They both drool like crazy. Madeline gnaws on her fingers all the time with this look on her face like something is wrong, and Abe uses his fist to hit at his mouth. We’ve found the Hyland’s teething tablets to be helpful so far. I can’t wait to see what they look like with little teeth!I don’t often get so lucky as to capture lots of expressions from Madeline, so I love this series. The one in the middle cracks me up!I’m so excited to see what month 5 has in store for us and them!