Little things

Today we thought we would catch you up on some of the little things we tend to take for granted, but are worth mentioning.

Caleb and Joshua are very musical babies. In addition to their nightly guitar lessons with Daddy, they also love it when we sing to them... it even stops their crying (most people would probably start crying!). Their favorite songs are John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, Jesus Loves Me, and We Will Rock You.

Both twins love to suck their fingers. Joshua prefers his thumb while Caleb opts for his index and middle fingers. We just have to wash their hands a lot, since friendly (but not necessarily germ-free!) people are always coming up to them and touching their chubby little hands. The boys have been pacifier-free for over a month, which is fine with us since fingers don't fly across the room when they're spit out!

The boys have recently become really shy around people whom they aren't familiar with. Caleb is especially shy, while Joshua is a little more tolerant of unfamiliar faces. Both boys seem to be especially terrified of people with blonde hair, probably because they're most accustomed to people with dark hair or no hair! So if the boys scream bloody murder when you try to hold them, please don't take it personally! If you stick it out while they scream in your arms, chances are they'll eventually warm up to you and you'll have them smiling and maybe even laughing in no time!

Caleb and Joshua are super talkative. Every morning we wake up to the sound of both boys jabbering "aaa ba maaa ga da waa" etc. They're always in such good moods first thing in the morning!

The boys have also been practicing sitting up on their own. Yesterday Caleb hoisted himself up into an upright sitting position all by himself twice- while reclined in the swing and then again while in the papasan chair!

Who's your Mommy?

Today the boys went on an outing with Mommy and Megan. The boys get sooo much attention whenever they go out. Their admirers always tell Katie how cute they are, followed by "whose are they?" or "are they yours?". They probably think Megan is the mommy and Katie is the nanny... See, this is why Hamloni was hoping their eyes would turn brown!

Road trip

This weekend the boys hit the road to attend their Great Aunt Mary's funeral in PA. While there, they got to meet their baby cousin Chris who was born exactly 2 months after them! On our way home, we drove through Pennsylvania Dutch country and the boys saw Amish people for the first time. We also introduced the boys to the Weidman tradition of driving out of our way to eat at the Round the Clock Diner in York (twice)!

Joshua's fuzz

The boys are 20 weeks old today. Joshua's hair started growing back this past week, and he now has a soft coat of light brown fuzz. Meanwhile, Caleb's locks are still thinning out, except for a persistent patch on the back of his head that makes him look like a monk. When the boys wake us up in the middle of the night (as they've been apt to do lately) and we're not sure who's who, we simply rub their heads to find out!

Supernappers

Today I took the boys to Springfield Mall. "Your mommy took you to the ghetto mall?" Halmoni asked. Yes, she did, and the boys successfully avoided exposure to any sort of gang-related activities by sleeping the entire time! I was so pleased- it was probably their longest nap ever!

Caleb's culinary courage

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we gave the boys their first solid food: pureed corned beef and cabbage! Just kidding, we actually gave them some organic rice cereal mixed with milk. Caleb was more open-minded than Joshua about eating from a spoon. We first he had to pry his mouth open and he gave us a look as if to say "ew, what's this?". Then he thoughtfully smacked his lips as he contemplated the new taste and texture. By the end of the meal he was opening his mouth wide when the spoon touched his lips! This wasn't the first time the boys had tasted something other than mommy's milk, though. A few days ago we touched a piece of orange to their lips and watched them pucker!

Four month checkup

We took the boys in for their 4-month doctor's check-up this morning. Caleb now weighs 15 lb. 12 oz. (75th %tile), is 26.5 in. long (94th %tile), and has a head circumference of 16.75 in. (74th %tile). Joshua is not far behind, weighing in at 15 lb. 5 oz. (65th %tile), measuring 25.75 in. in length (85th %tile), and like his brother has a head circumference of 16.75 in. Not bad stats considering they both started out so small! Caleb did not enjoy being handled by the nurses and cried the whole time he wasn't in Mommy or Daddy's arms. Joshua, being the more outgoing twin, didn't seem to mind having strangers poking around at him. All in all, God has truly blessed both boys with excellent health, having survived their first winter without even a single cold!

Mall blues

Today the boys went on their first trip to the mall! Joshua cried the whole time we were there and stopped as soon as we got in the car to go home... he really takes after his daddy!

Old Town Stroll

Today the boys graduated to their big boy seats in their stroller! We took advantage of the summery weather and took them for their first long walk. They enjoyed lots of attention as we walked from the marina into Old Town and back!

Dust on the bottles

Happy 4-month birthday, boys! The boys' personalities have grown a lot this month. While we trust that both babies will grow up to be very well-rounded individuals, we suspect Caleb may be the slightly brainier twin and Joshua the brawnier one. For instance, when we put the boys in the Jumperoo, Joshua delights in jumping (even though he's smaller than his big bro), while Caleb would rather examine the toy bar. Joshua also seems to be more social and talkative, while Caleb is a little more reserved. For exmaple, Caleb will give you a huge grin, then bashfully turn his head away- it's so sweet! Joshua is quite the talker and will even try to narrate aloud to you while you read him a book!

One thing Caleb and Joshua do have in common is their refusal to drink from bottles, which poses a problem if Katie wants to leave them for more than 2-3 hours at a time. We also have two huge unopened cases of formula (we like to refer to it as "liquid gold") which the boys utterly despise (we hope to find a home for it on eBay!). So their meals continue to consist solely of breastmilk, exclusively from "the source". Needless to say, Katie is looking forward to when they can start eating solids!h Some other things the boys share in common is their love to chew and suck their fists, and most recently, drooling, which makes Halmoni suspect they might be teething. Both boys will also chuckle and laugh when you tickle their tummies! Also, neither boy has yet attained the 10 hours of sleep per night supposedly characteristic of typical 4-month-olds. Caleb and Joshua are very social babies, so they must be afraid they'll miss out on something if they sleep too long!

Fuzzi Bunz

In an effort to reduce both our diaper budget and the boys' exposure to yucky chemicals, we've decided to give cloth diapers a try (we still use Pampers overnight and during outings). Camden's mommy recommended Fuzzi Bunz to us. We've been having some trouble with leaking, but hopefully this problem will go away when the boys' Wolf legs start living up to their name!