ten months (so excited we can't sleep)

It's so ironic -- the reason I chose that title is because the afternoon nap has been pretty touch-and-go lately, especially for/because of Eloise. Most often, she throws all three (!) pacifiers out of the crib and then cries herself to sleep missing them; other times I blame it on all the exciting things she's learning. Anyway, not two seconds after I typed it, she started some strong screaming -- so strong that I went to see what was going on -- and she had pulled up to her knees in the crib for the first time and couldn't figure out what to do next. Oh girl. Just take a nap already.


What a radical month it's been at our house! So many new things are going on with the babies. Big news: Annamaria started sleeping through the night! Eight whole nights she's gone the distance, interrupted by one night when I went in and nursed her, and one night when she cried off and on for 15 or 20 minutes before going back to sleep on her own. Hallelujah! It's amazing to me that in spite of how monumental this feat is, and how much of an impact it has on my daily life, it still feels as though all the little things going on this month really take the stage.


I mentioned Eloise's army crawl in an earlier post (only two since last month's update? pitiful!) -- she's gotten faster and more determined. Annamaria still rolls as her form of locomotion, but both girls now wave hello or goodbye, sometimes without prompting. Eloise can clap her hands and push up to sitting from lying down. They dance to music and are eating all kinds of "real" food. Frozen waffles and yogurt are two favorites. I sheepishly admitted to Lilah on the phone the other day that the thing that really truly encouraged me to get on the stick with the food business was the realization that they need to be able to eat cake in two months, and we had a lot of ground to cover before then! :-P Eloise eats fast and furiously, stuffing her mouth too full in the process. Annamaria is slower and more discriminating... some things she shuts her lips tight against, but is easily tricked if those same things are behind a little baby food on a spoon.


Another cute development is Eloise's patting of her sister when it's time for a burp. Often she'll be laying on my left on the Giant Nursing Pillow while I sit Annamaria on the right, near Eloise's head. Eloise recently started reaching over when this is going on and patting Annamaria's back, just like I do.


We've been shuttling Simeon back and forth to various summer activities, and it turns out that both babies love to ride in the car. (Thank goodness.) Annamaria is still the more social of the two when encountering a stranger; Eloise is more reserved and takes a little while to feel comfortable. In fact, I mentioned last month that we had some blood work done; it turned out both babies were in the normal range for their iron (yay!). Annamaria even flirted with the other folks in the waiting room at the lab -- poor girl didn't know what was about to happen.


Simeon is enjoying the twins' increased mobility and constant smiles. He's also a huge help keeping an eye out for any non-baby toys they might grab or small stuff that ends up in their mouths. Thank goodness for such a great big brother. In spite of (or possibly because of?) Eloise's new accomplishments this month, she's been chattering instead of napping in the afternoons and had those few occasions of picking up Annamaria's nighttime slack. Little Nona, though, has crashed through the seemingly insurmountable barrier and sleeps all night. For this, she gets the gold medal in this month's twin olympics. Annamaria Holm Cady, proud member of the Twin of the Month club!