Leach Chronicles: Busy Bodies

I'm back in the swing of things at work. I go into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Mondays and Fridays I work from home, for 4 hours in the morning. It's a good balance between work life and home life. So far the schedule is working out well for everyone.

The babes had their four month check up on September 18. Cora weighed 13 lbs 15 oz. Sutter weighed 15 lbs 6 oz. They both measured over 24 inches. At that appointment they received two shots each. They handled it really well, only crying a little more than I did. The pediatrician said that they would be ready for sleep training around 6 months. I was disappointed because we were gearing up to begin sleep training the weekend after that appointment. I wanted to get my kids trained to sleep through the night. According to our book, Sleep Easy Solutions for the Tired Parent, our kids qualified to sleep through the night. But I wanted to follow the pediatricians guidelines, so we set out to have a modified sleep schedule.

I couldn't wait for the weekend, so Frank and I started it two days after the appointment. We began with the nighttime routine. Starting at 5:30, we read books, play on the ground and hang out until 6:15. At that point, the kids get a bath, one at a time on the counter in their tub. By the time they are both done, they drink an 8 oz bottle of formula. They would be passing out before they were even done with the bottle, which is not a good thing. We wanted them to be awake when they eat so that the little cat nap didn't give them more energy if they were to wake up after the bottle. They went down at 7:30. We, well Frank, woke them at 10:30 and fed them another 6 oz. They then learned to sleep until 6:30. This was terrific. At the same time we were working on the night routine, we began working on the daytime nap routine.

7 a.m. eat - play
8 a.m. nap
10 a.m. wake - eat - play
11 a.m. - nap
1 p.m. wake - eat - play
2 p.m. nap
3 p.m. walk
4 p.m. eat - play
5 - 5:30 walk/nap
begin night routine!

We had fantastic support from our nannies. Melanie during the day and Jackie at night, to get us through the first couple of weeks. Last week, we decided to wean the babes off the 10:30 feed to see if they could make it all night...and they did! On the flip side, I didn't make it through the night, as I anticipated that they were going to be waking up at any moment.So, we're now a few days into full nights of sleep and it's pretty cool. We are able to get some better rest now. It's also fun to have a routine with the kids, instead of the different timing of everything every day. I like the predictability of it.

The other fun milestones have been their laughter. Cora has been laughing these days when I tickle her. I think it's more of a repetitive motion of nudging her neck, but she giggles. Sometimes just our faces make her laugh, even though we don't think we look that funny. Or do we? Sutter started with some chuckling. But the other day, I was able to get him to laugh for about a minute. It was fun for Frank and I to watch him laugh. We love that they're getting to be so interactive.

They realize that each other exists in small doses. We have seen them interact with each other, but then one loses interest in the other and looks away. I know in just a few short months, we won't be able to get them away from each other, but it's exciting to see them with their first interactions.

They are also learning to sit up, using their core strength. They use their bumbo's to prop up. Learning to sit up also causes a bunch of spit-up, but we don't mind.

Finally, they are learning to grab --- toys, their own shirts, my hair...

Here are a few fun photos of the last month, all taken by their nanny, Melanie.