The Joy of My Salvation: August 2021

Will and Jon,

Yesterday was your 7 month birthday, and boy how fast you seem to change. You are both going down a little easier at night. Most nights that means by 11pm, though just to keep us on our toes, you each have had an awake till 2 am night this past week. The disadvantage to you going down between 10:30 and 11 now, is that you one of you frequently wakes up around 3:30 or 4 for a snack, and the other around 6, instead of sleeping till 7 like you were doing. I'm not sure which is better or worse.

You are both exceptionally happy babies. You love to talk to each other now, and smile and reach for one another. You will hold hands sometimes when we nurse, and grab each others pacifiers when they are clipped on your overalls. You bat at each other with your hands connecting with chest or legs or faces, and rarely seem upset by the other's blundering. You both love to be held and play with your big brother and sisters.

Jon started about 2.5 weeks ahead of Will, but you are both babbling now. We are mostly hearing B sounds, though occasionally a p or m sound seems to accidentally slip out. Britt has determined that you are saying "Buh-buh" which is really "brother." Everyone responds with ba-ba-ba to your delight, everyone but Ruth, who is convinced if she says her own name enough that it will be your first real word. Of course in secret am working on Momma.

You both still prefer to be held to nap. Will still naps and goes down at night the easiest, but Jon is getting a little better. Sometimes we manage a 20 minute to an hour cat nap in the swing or laying on the couch in Ruth's or my lap. Most of the world's problems can be cured by loading you in the carrier and snuggling you close. Even if all three of us are sometimes a sweaty mess by the time you get a nap and I take you off 1.5 to 2 hours later.

Both of you love to be sung to. Sometimes when you are crying in the car, or unhappy with life, all Daddy has to do is start singing and you get quiet. One Sunday, I was feeding you in the nursery, and Bro. Jamie asked your Daddy to take his place leading. The second he started the next song, both of you whipped your heads around to stare up at the tv, and it took me a minute to convince you that you both needed to finish eating.

In other ways you are polar opposites. Will, you love to eat. We started solids because you acted so deprived that we were having tacos while you just sat there. To be honest, I would have been offended too if everyone but me was having tacos. You loved applesauce from the beginning. You've also had avocado, sweet potatoes, and grits. At first you really detested avocado, not that we blame you. Daddy and I hate the stuff too, but we've tried a few more times, since it's such a healthy fat, with so much protein, and the doctor wants you both to put on more weight. (At your 6 month appointment we were 13 lbs and 15 oz, and 25 1/4 inches, which apparently isn't even on the almighty growth chart.) You have warmed up to avocado though. Sweet potato has been your least favorite, as you roll it around in your mouth. It's probably the stringiness of the vegetable. In the last week, you have gone from wobbly tripod sitting with some help, to full fledged sitting on your own, and going from belly to crawling to sitting up. Your crawling still resembles a little inchworm, but you are not faceplanting so much now, even as you reach with your arms together, and then push and rock with your knees together. Your favorite toy is an old fashion telephone toy. You love to make it ring, and tug on the string. You have a monkey rattle and teether that you prefer, and like to read your water books in the bathtub. You don't really care for soft and plush toys though you do like to chew on your lovey corners from time to time. You had a little wood and rubber rabbit teether, that you really liked, but it has disappeared. Possibly left at your last doctor's appointment. Sometimes, you suck on your pacifier now, but mostly you seem to like to chew on it. Twice now we were certain you were cutting teeth, as you would run a low grade fever, not really sleep, and be fussily rubbing your jaw and ears. We even both thought we felt a tooth the last time, but the slightly puffy and tender looking gums went back to normal, still no tooth.

Jon, you hate food. We couldn't feed Will and not offer you food too. And you remain smaller than him, weighing in at 13 lbs, 2 oz, and 25 inches long at your last appointment. You can't even been enticed by applesauce. The first time we offered it to you, you looked at us offended, and I could see the thought all over your face, "This is not milk, and I'm not having any part of this." No matter what you are offered, it is a real work out to get any in your mouth. Even then most of it comes right back out. I just keep reminding myself that the latest studies show that before 9 months food isn't intended to be more than an experiment in texture and new things. That all your nutrition should come from breast milk in the first year. In the last 2 weeks, we can occasionally get you to tripod sit but you don't stay up for long, and don't really seem to like it. You prefer to lay on your stomach, and then when you are bored you roll over to flirt with anyone in your line of sight, or play with the dangling toys in the play mat. You also still show very little interest in crawling, though Daddy insists that you are a swimmer. You seem to kick the entire time you are awake, and frequently wake your brother in the morning by scooting and round and kicking him. He doesn't particularly seem to mind, as he retaliates by crawling over you to get to something he wants. You get far less water in the bathtub than Will does, and still you kick twice as much of it out all over the kitchen floor. While you both like a little giraffe that Daddy keeps in the tub for you, you light up to grab it and chew on it, as you kick away. Your favorite toy is an owl rattle and teether that you prefer with a little bell inside, and you still really like your glow worm. You seem to enjoy squeezing on soft and plush toys like your lovey. Occasionally you will take your pacifier now, not as often as Will but like him, you mostly like to chew on it.

While at times it is still hard to tell you apart, and to be honest I make no real attempt at 3:30 am in the dark, everyone in this house can pretty well tell who is who - well, except Rebecca. She still probably has more of a 70% rate of correctly identifying you. Kate and Britt are rarely wrong, and of course Daddy, Ruth, and I have no trouble at all. Your personalities are complimentary but different. The way you smile is slightly different, and the way your hair grows. We still tell others to look at the veins around your eyes as Jon's are much more prominent and shaped differently, but I know who is who by looking in your eyes. I don't really know how to explain it other, than you are just different little souls even if you look remarkably similar.

International Twin's Day is apparently the first full weekend in August each year celebrations that start on Friday night through Sunday day are especially big in Asia. But on this twin's day, and everyday we are thankful for the two of you. There are still some days that are really hard having two babies at once. I'm sure that there will be more days that are really hard like having two toddlers running in opposite directions and pitching fits at once, but most days you two are a real joy, and we have the added joy, that we obviously didn't have with the others, of watching the two of you interact together.

We love you,
Momma

1:26 AM No random thoughts

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