Four months (plus a few days)

In that strange sensation that is "time," November 12 seems both days and years ago. These two little darlings are no longer the itty-bitty creatures we met at the hospital. (Although, I never really thought of them as "itty-bitty" babies, they were just my babies...this might be because I'd only seen a newborn in real life maybe once since the birth of my sister when I was five and didn't have a comparison.)

They are growing by leaps and bounds - both physically and mentally. According to my bathroom scale (we still have issues, the scale and I, by the way), Cora is floating around the 14.5 lb mark and Evaline is nearing 13 lbs! (For growth comparison pics, click here.) According to the babycenter.com's "growth chart calculator" this would put Cora somewhere between the 50-70th percentile (up from, I think, around 10% at two months!); and Evaline is holding steady in the 5 - 10 percentile range. (This is still an improvement, however, her birthweight was under the 3rd percentile.) Our 4-month doctor's appointment is on the 25th, so official stats will be available at that time.

I think there are probably many advantages to having your kids one at a time. But one area where I think that we parents-of-twins get an upperhand is in watching these girls develop. Instead of trying to remember back a few years, we get to see it happen. And it happens so differently: It is much, much fun to watch Cora lie on her side, trying to roll from back to tummy (she's really close), talking and babbling up a storm. She has so much to say - to everyone and to everything; she loves to talk. She can pick things up and hold them, but is a little slow and deliberate about the process. Meanwhile, her smile is more of a smirk (which Ian - a smirker himself - finds quite endearing). Evaline, on the other hand, can talk. She's done it before, and will do it occasionally. But she prefers to smile (with her entire body), and shriek whether out of pleasure and glee or sadness and pain. She also loves to hold things and will put everything she touches into her mouth. There are also a few signs that a tooth may be in our near future (but...that may be mere speculation, we'll have to wait and see on that one).

Overall, "fun" is starting to really outweigh the "work" here. Whether that will stay the same once we have two crawling, walking, grabbing, and wandering one-year-olds, we're not sure. But they're at a pretty good stage right now and time with them is at a premium.

One week 'til spring break. Then 10 until summer.

The "Four-month Picture"

Cora - enjoying the doorway-jumper

Cora - you can't hear it, but she's talking (and talking and talking)...

Evaline - what a doll!

The girls with their cousin Isabel

Super Cute (...but of course I'd think so...)

Here are some of the cutest pictures that have been taken recently (thanks mom and dad!). I had to share because these pictures really capture what they actually look like, and their personalities as well...

A few of their favorite things...

Three and a half months, and they are beginning to show distinct preferences for certain toys. And not only do they seem so old when playing in this mature way, but they are quite cute (of course). The most adorable are the way they interact with their preferred stuffed animals. When given her lion, Cora loves to run her fingers along its mane, and to gently feel its fur (it also does wonders to help her get to sleep). If you hold the bunny in front of Evaline, she'll bring both of her arms up and encircle it and bring it in for a hug (as with Cora and her lion, this bunny is a great sleep/comfort tool).

It's been fun to watch them begin to interact with the "outside" world. The green and red ball (pictured below) seems to be a particularly great toy (thanks Steph!!) - its super easy to grasp, and they've begun to switch hands with it and pick it up off the floor independently of us!

Here's the evidence:

Cora with her lion:


Evaline with her bunny:


Cora with her rattle:


Evaline with her keys:


And the girls with the aforementioned ball (Cora first, then Evaline):

And if the title of this post is "favorite things," we should probably include one of our favorite things...some bellies, just for fun:

Et tu, Evaline?

Not to be outdone by her sister, Evaline decided to roll over today! Prior to last night, she performed during tummy time like a newborn - wouldn't pick her head up, even the slightest bit, for anything. Last night she decided that she would not only pick it up, but pick it up and hold it just as well as Cora ever has. This morning she decided that not only would she pick her head up, but she'd go ahead and roll over, too. She rolled over about four times this morning (when we didn't have the camera nearby), but she did it again this afternoon...and I caught most of it on tape (or, rather, memorycard). The footage only shows the last half of the roll - from her side to her back, but I swear that we laid her full on her tummy. I will post better footage when our camera-shy girl allows it.

For a sampling of her progress, here is her yesterday morning:

And last night:

And then straight to the roll-over. I'm such a proud mama.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

Cora is a-rollin'! What an exciting day! Cora rolled over for the first time today; she's gone from her tummy to her back, both to the left and to the right! She's rolled several times today, and luckily I had the camera near by. Here is a video of the third time she rolled:

The girls have actually been pretty busy learning new tricks here lately. (Cora's rolling over is probably the newest and most exciting, though.) They are both pretty much sleeping through the night. More times than not, Cora will sleep until 5:30 or 6 am. We usually bathe/feed them sometime around 7:30, then wake them up for a late feeding at 10:00. Last night, however, we decided not to wake Cora since she'd been taking so little at those feedings lately, and she slept until 6:30! then went back to sleep until 8:15! Evaline will often still wake up sometime around 4, but about half the time will make it to around 5:30 or 6!

It also appears that they might be starting to notice one another a little bit. We've caught Evaline watching her sister on a few occasions. I can't wait to see how this relationship develops. :-)

I thought there was something else to report as well...but it escapes me at the moment. If I think of it, I'll post again. :-) In the meantime, here are some pictures:

Evaline sitting...I didn't get the camera ready quite quick enough and she wasn't too interested after this:

Cora sitting...the camera was ready this time:

Cora, ready to roll...

And last but not least, the girls turned three months last Thursday (2/12). Comparison pics can be found here.

Busy, busy, busy...

We have broken out of our shell! Last Saturday we ventured out into public - a restaurant at the Amana's with Ian's extended family. The girls behaved beautifully. It was their first time out of the house that wasn't to the doctor's or Grandma/Grandpa's. There was no crying, no fussing, and only one dirty diaper (and thank goodness it wasn't Cora - see pics from a couple posts back if you don't understand the meaning behind the italics). It went so well, in fact, that we decided to make a similar performance today. Only today it was just Ian and me. We first went to a class that the hospital where we delivered has once a month for new parents, and then - since everyone was on their best behavior - we went out to dinner. What a treat! It was almost like we were real people again!

At the class thingy they weighed the girls. Cora was 11 lbs 11 oz, and Evaline was 10 lbs 3 oz. I can't believe how much they have grown...even though the two-month-old next to us was bigger than Evaline :-) (The girls will be three months on Thursday.)

We've taken quite a few photos recently...here are the highlights:

Here I am reading to the girls. They aren't paying any attention yet, but I figure I might as well start them young.


My great-grandma knitted these hats before she passed away a few years ago. I love the way they make the girls look like little 1950s babies!


Cora and Evaline watching us make dinner in their "bumbo" chairs (thanks to John and Megan!!)


Ian likes the smug/arrogant smile on Cora in this picture. (I think it reminds him of himself.)

Cora, almost smiling....

Here it is! (Notice the hair...we'll have to wait and see, but I think she might be a red-head!)

The girls are in the habit of being fussy (read: screaming their heads off) every evening from about 5 to 6 pm. When they take breaks from the screaming, though, they have very cute pouty faces, as pictured below.

What do you think???

My friend Katie put something like this up on her blog, and I liked the idea. So...what do you think - do these girls look Ian or me or neither or both?


Baby Ian:



Baby Merry:



Baby Evaline:



Baby Cora: