Hadley and Ainsley

Hadley and Ainsley
Photo courtesy of Caleb Drahosh

The girls are 7 months old... Time is moving quickly. Too quickly. The days are long, but every day I feel as if I can't soak up enough time with them! They both long for their mommy most right now, and in the midst of my guilt that my time is so split between them, I find such joy in thinking about the beautiful friendship that is to come. 

Both girls can easily move from laying down to sitting up. Hadley was the first to master this trick. And just last week Ainsley began full on crawling first. Her 2 minute older sister joined her a few days later. Now Blake and I are obsessively checking the door to the basement - making sure to continually remind the big siblings to keep it closed. While there is more to think about, the contentment that has come with crawling is worth the effort!

Hadley and Ainsley are down to 5 bottles a day... They eat 3 simple meals that seldom consist of baby food. Once they got a taste of "real" food there was no going back. They can mush things like well cooked carrotts, peas, green beans, apples, pears, and peaches. They love banana, muffins, bread and puffs. Yogurt and cheese were favorites until we decided that they were spitting up after every serving so we have cut dairy for a few months, though I feel they will quickly outgrow the sensitivity. Both enjoy their sippy cups, though neither have been able to figure out how to use them on their own yet.

Blake and I haven't created good nappers and the girls are no exception. Their sleep schedule consists of a 30ish minute morning nap, 1.5 hours in the afternoon, and a 15-20 minute evening nap. They really are doing great at night, though! Normally about 8pm - 7am. Perhaps a trip in for both girls to pop a paci, which is just how it goes when you have paci sleepers. 

If their big siblings are in the room playing, the girls are often content to play for about 20 minutes. If one of us will sit on the floor with them they will play as well... If they are alone in a room, they do not play. They cry. :) Or now they are beginning to crawl to find us. It's getting tricky, because Hadley is beginning to understand when I walk into the room and pick up Ainsley - and vise-versa. It's getting tricky! We want so desperately to be equal and not hurt feelings... 

I wish I could bottle their personalities - where they are right now. Both Hadley and Ainsley smile... All. Of. The. Time. I'm not kidding! They smile more then any baby I have ever known. Both of them! When we walk into the room their entire face lights up just like in the picture above. It melts my heart and wipes my memory of how hard it has been to manage 2 babies. The girls are just really beginning to laugh. Their papa and Riley get the best giggles out of them. Recently Riley has even gotten Ainsley to "sing" and "dance" a bit. They are sweet. So sweet. They give kisses - all on their own! They are wet, open mouth kisses, but I LOVE them! Our entire family feels so blessed by the sweet presence of  Hadley and Ainsley.