9 Month Well-Baby Visit

Matthew & Claire went to see Dr. Navai on September 28th for the 9 month check-up.  He said they're both doing great! They let their little personalities show by laughing throughout most of the visit (until it came time for shots).  This time they only received two shots, one was the polio vaccine and the other was the regular flu shot.  They were pretty unhappy during their shots but bounced back pretty quickly after they were able to have a bottle and be distracted by their Curious George stuffed animal. 

Claire now weighs 17lbs 6oz and is 28 1/4" tall; she is in the 25th percentile on weight and the 75th percentile in height.  Matthew now weighs 20lbs and is 28 3/4" tall; he is in the 50th percentile in weight and the 50th percentile in height.  They have to go back the end of October for their second round flu shot but they don't have to go back for another check-up until they're a year old!

This morning Matthew & Claire tried some scrambled eggs.  Claire really liked them, she was feeding herself as fast as she could off her tray.  Matthew was a little unsure, he sort of liked the eggs but seems to still prefer his oatmeal.  They seem to be more and more interested in "real food" so I think we'll try and start expanding their food repertoire.

Here are some photos of the babies trying their eggs:

Here are some photos of the babies playing patty cake.  They're pretty much clap every time you ask them to patty cake, but I have yet to catch it on video.

9 Month Professional Photos

9 Months Old!

Matthew and Claire are 9 months old! We haven't had our official 9 month baby wellness check, yet, so weights and lengths are still to come. Their appointment is on 9/28. In the meantime, here are some of the skills they have mastered and are currently working on: Matthew:

Crawling everywhere, can get to a sitting position from his belly. Is able to pull himself up to a standing position. Matthew loves to feed himself puffs and is trying to hold his bottle by himself. He babbles all the the time, but no words just yet. Matthew has 2 teeth on the bottom and 4 teeth on the top. Check out the video at the bottom of this post to see Matthew crawling!

Claire:

Rolls over and over to get to a toy that she wants, gets up on all fours and tries to go forward. I think she'll be crawling in a few days! She is able to stand if you hold her hands, she loves to jump up and down while you hold her hands. Claire also loves to feed herself puffs, she likes to strategically place them in her hair, it's an awesome look. Claire talks all the time, she hasn't said any actual words yet. Claire has 2 teeth on the bottom and 2 teeth on the top. Claire can patty cake if you ask her to. Check out the video at the bottom of this post to see Claire! (It's sideways, I'm trying to figure out how to fix it!!!)

Also, I finally finished baby-proofing the family room while Jeremy was at the Tigers game on Wednesday night. I installed two gates so that it's one big playroom for the babies. Matthew was fascinated with the drill I was using to install the gate. The babies kept picking up the plastic brackets and crawling or rolling away with them. I think I spent more time looking for the brackets than actually putting the gate up. I took some photos of Matthew "helping" me install the gate. I was using the self-timer so pardon the photo quality but I couldn't miss the photo-op to capture Matthew's interest in the project!

Matthew "helping" with the gate construction

After the gate was up, he promptly tested the gate's durability and his mother's handi-work


Claire was such a good girl and played with her toys during the project!

Kensington Farm

We took Matthew and Claire to the farm at Kensington Metropark on Saturday. Here are some photos.

On Sunday, Jeremy had to work so I tried to get some baby-proofing done since Matthew is crawling everywhere and Claire is not far behind. My first project was the TV in the family room because they're both fascinated with Jeremy's xBox and any type of wires. I had to create some sort of a barrier so they couldn't reach through the TV stand or climb behind it. It took me pretty much all day but I rigged up something presentable. The other project I tackled was lowering their cribs down since they can both pull themselves up to a standing position. I was afraid they would attempt this in the middle of the night! Lowering the cribs was a little easier of a project but still challenging when you're trying to watch two babies at the same time! I still have to work on putting up some baby gates and a few other items but for the most part I'm making progress.

Claire can patty cake!

Claire has learned how to patty cake. If you start saying patty cake, she gets a HUGE smile on her face.

We're Mobile!

Matthew is offically crawling! He's been scooting, crawling backwards and rocking back and forth for a few weeks but yesterday he started taking some steps forward. He's been repeatedly crawling over to the TV and playing with Jeremy's xBox controllers so we're going to have to baby-proof that ASAP! Claire is getting up on all fours and rocking, so I'm sure she'll be right behind him. She mostly rolls over and over to get to where she wants to go. Matthew can also go from laying on his stomach to sitting up by himself.

Another new trick that both babies have accomplished is feeding themselves puffs (little rice things that look like cheerios but dissolve quickly in the babies mouths). It's fun to watch them pick them up with their little pincher fingers.

Gramma S brought them over some socks that look like bugs, Matthew's are bees and Claire has lady bugs. They really were fascinated by them! Check out the photos below!

Labor Day Weekend

Jeremy and I finally invested in some nice Trek bikes and picked up a nice bike trailer on Craigslist. We've been taking the babies to Kensington and riding around the house. The babies enjoy (most of the time) riding in the trailer. The only thing that they "argue" over is who's arm can be on top because they have to sit so close together.

Andrew and Crystal had a bonfire for Labor Day. My Mom, Dad and I took Matthew and Claire over to Andrew's. Jeremy had to work that night so he couldn't make it. Corey and Casey had fun playing with Matthew & Claire.