Today, Miss Brooke and Miss Brecklyn turn 10 months old! It's so hard to believe that we're in the double digits now. I didn't think time could move any faster than it did with Brenson and Brianna, but somehow it feels like it is. Sleep deprivation, perhaps? Ha!
Brecklyn at 10 months old
Brooke at 10 months old
Brecklyn seems so petite compared to our other infants at this age, but really she's pretty average sized. She wears size 9 and 12 month clothing, and size 3 shoe. She is starting to get too long for her 9 month size pants and pjs.
Brecklyn is wearing a size 3 diaper, and it doesn't look like she'll be moving to size 4s anytime soon.
Brooke wears size 12 and 18 month clothing, and she definitely needs the larger size in pjs. She wears size 3 and 3.5 shoe.
Brooke wears a size 4 diaper - and although it's inconvenient to have the girls in different sizes - Brooke really needs the larger size.
Speaking of diapers, earlier this month we had a battle with severe diaper rash on Brecklyn. One afternoon, we were running very low on diapers, so I asked Chris to stop by the store on the way home from work and pick some up. We have always put the babies in Pampers Swaddlers diapers, but Chris mistakenly purchased Pampers Baby Dry. I've heard before that some babies are very sensitive to the chemicals in Baby Dry diapers, but I didn't really think about it as it wasn't an issue with Brianna or Brenson. After about 4 days of wearing Baby Dry diapers, Brecklyn developed a severe diaper rash that nothing seemed to help. It got to the point that it was bleeding! It finally dawned on me that maybe it was the diapers, and as soon as I stopped putting her in Baby Dry diapers, we were able to get the rash under control. I felt SO bad for her! We ended up clearing it up using zinc oxide, coconut oil, and lots of "air time".
Airing that little bum out really helped the rash clear up!
Interestingly, Brooke - who tends to have more sensitive skin than Brecklyn - is not bothered by the Baby Dry diapers. After discovering that Brecklyn couldn't wear them, we didn't want to waste an entire box of size 3s, so we squeezed Brooke in them until they were gone.
Brecklyn thought it was great fun to be nakey. Brooke thought I'd lost it :-).
At the beginning of this month, the girls were both very sick and that interfered with our good sleep habits we had finally established. It was a week or so after they started feeling better that sleep improved. Until then, there were many afternoons and nights that we held them while they slept.
Sweet Brecklyn
Brecklyn doesn't generally like to be held while she's sleeping, so I just soak it up when she lets me hold her.
Brecklyn is the better night sleeper and generally sleeps through the night. Brooke wakes in the night some (although she does sleep through some, as well), but we're still working to break bad habits that we established early on. When the girls were younger, Brooke would often wake and cry which would wake Brecklyn. To prevent this, we would rush in the nursery the minute Brooke made a peep and pick her up so as not to disturb Brecklyn. Obviously, that set a not-so-great precedent that we're still working to correct.
Brecklyn will often sleep 12 or 13 hours without waking. Messy bed-head hair and her "scrunchy nose" smile tells me she had a good night!
I've written before about how Brecklyn loves the swing and would nap in it pretty much every day. I'm happy to report that we've finally weaned her from the swing, and she naps in her crib now! Yay! It actually wasn't near as painful as I feared it would be which tells me that she was ready. The only thing the swing is being used for now is yet another place for Brooke Ellie to pull up. We will be returning it to our friends very soon, and I'll only be a little bit sad to see it go.
Brooke now has FOUR teeth. Her top left front tooth cut through on November 5th, followed closely by her top right front tooth on November 7th. She seemed to cut them fairly easily, and her smile looks so different now that she has those front teeth!
We found that both babies love to chew on frozen teethers while they sit in their high chairs waiting for food (or sometimes waiting to get down after they've eaten).
Brecklyn still only has one little front tooth on the bottom. I keep thinking her other bottom front tooth will cut through any day, but not yet.
She's funny with the teethers because she doesn't like to hold them with her hands!
The girls are both still nursing four times a day. They also enjoy eating baby food, but they really love table food. Sometimes, they will refuse the baby food if we start feeding them from our plates. Brecklyn tends to prefer veggies over fruits, but so far they both eat pretty much whatever we feed them. Both babies love using a sippy cup and drink from a straw very well!
Brecklyn
Brecklyn
One Sunday, we went out to eat after church like we often do. The girls were sitting in high chairs, and before we knew it Brooke was like this:
Silly girl! Thankfully, she's thick enough that she didn't slide out. We are still doing quite a bit of training with her to teach her how to sit in a high chair as she also likes to try and stand.
As the babies get older, I find the big kids interacting with them more and more (especially Brenson). He will play peek-a-boo with them and loves to "chase" them (crawling). He was a great helper to me when they were sick and always made sure they had clean noses.
Brenson wiping Brecklyn's nose
Brianna has always been a big help with the babies, but it's so cute to watch them go to her for things now. They get so excited when we pick her up from school and love it when she gets down on the floor to play with them.
Brianna feeding Brooke a bottle
Now that the babies are crawling everywhere and getting in to everything, housework has become a bit more challenging. Simple things like sweeping or mopping the floor are much more difficult with two active babies! There have been a few times that I've asked Brianna to play with the babies in their room while I do a few quick chores. The nursery is very safe and Brianna is great with the babies, so it works well for us. One day, I asked her to play with them while I mopped the kitchen floor, and when I was finished I found them like this:
I'm not sure what happened to Brooke's clothes, but she had on fancy socks and dressy shoes, ha! And, Breckles was wearing a winter hat. Because of course!
While Brenson definitely does better helping with the babies now that they're a bit older, they still annoy him and frustrate him sometimes. And, I can't really blame him. If he's trying to eat and the babies are "free", this is a scene I often see:
Brooke bothering Brenson
Brooke is worse about bothering Bren while he's trying to eat, but Brecklyn does it, too! Poor guy . . . I know what it feels like to not be able to eat in peace! I try very hard to keep them away from him while he's eating, but they are often faster than I am :-).
They love to play under the kitchen table. I remember the big kids were like this at this age, too.
Brooke
Brecklyn sitting, Brooke standing
Brecklyn
This is the age where I feel like we're really seeing more and more of their little personalities. I just adore all of Brooke's little expressions!
We tend to see Brecklyn's serious face most of the time, but she can also pull out the charm. Love her sweet face!
The girls had a few solo outings with Daddy and the big kids this month. Chris does a GREAT job taking care of all the kiddos for an evening at home if I have errands or plans, but until this month he'd never taken them all out in public by himself before. One night, they all went shopping to buy me a few things for my birthday, and another day he took them all to Lowe's. He was certainly surprised at all the attention they drew! Even though he's heard me talk about it, I think it's just different to experience it first-hand. Plus, a Dad solo with four littles in Lowe's probably does catch peoples' eyes a bit more than a mom with four littles in a grocery store!
He sent me this pic of my cuties in Lowe's :-).
One thing that Chris is in charge of at home is bath time. I'll often do the babies' baths during the day while he's at work, but it's not my favorite thing to do. Because he knows this, he'll sometimes volunteer to give the babies their baths in the evenings when he's doing baths for the big kids. Both Brooke and Brecklyn LOVE bath time!
Brooke
I'm not sure why I don't have any photos of Brecklyn solo in the bath? We find that it's easier right now to bathe them separately using a bath seat, so that's what we do. Brecklyn loves her bath so much that she'll often cry when we take her out of the water!
One night we decided to put them in the tub together to play. It was a mess! We won't be trying that again until they're quite a bit older!
Brooke, Brecklyn
When our older kids were this age, we started sitting them on the potty before bath time as part of our pre potty training process. We find that this helps with getting them used to the process, helps them not be scared of the potty, and even helps them learn what to do on the potty. We never pressure them to actually urinate, but if they happen to do it, we make a HUGE deal out of celebrating for them. We have found that it only takes a few times of them coincidentally using the potty before they learn what to do and start doing it consistently. We started this process with Brooke and Brecklyn this month, and Brecklyn has already peed on the potty! She wasn't sure what to think of it, but loved it when we clapped and cheered for her.
Both babies are very mobile, but Brooke tends to be more active than Brecklyn. Brecklyn just seems more content to sit and play in one spot than Miss Busy Brooke. Brooke knows how to open the door on our entertainment center and has cleaned that out for us a few times. This photo was taken early in the month when her eyes were still healing from being sick.
Brooke loves to stand at the door and look out. Here she is at the back door,
and here she is looking out the front door. I wonder if she's planning her escape?
We often find the girls sitting on, pulling, pushing, and grabbing one another. They crawl over each other, step on each other, and knock each other over. They don't generally seem to mind, but Brooke looks huge sitting on Brecklyn!
How about I put my hand in your face?!?
Don't worry, Brecklyn picks on Brooke, too! It's pretty even most of the time.
However, they are also so sweet with one another sometimes, and they often hold hands in the stroller. I love watching their bond!
Brecklyn, Brooke
As I mentioned above, the babies are both all over the house these days and are very fast at getting into things. Brooke is more active than Brecklyn and seems to find trouble faster. However, littlest sister isn't generally far behind.
Clearing Momma's shoes off the shelf in her closet
Playing with the food in the play kitchen . . . I get so tired of cleaning this stuff up that sometimes I tie the door to the play kitchen closed!
Trying to figure out how to take Brianna's doll stroller apart
Brooke, Brecklyn
Opening the pantry door and making a spaghetti mess (I left the room for one minute . . . ONE)
Brecklyn wouldn't look at me, but Brooke was pleased with herself :-).
Sometimes, I need a safe place to contain them while I do things that need to be done. My solution is to leave the pack-n-play set up in the living room with a few toys. Of course, they hate being confined in it most of the time, and their new favorite game is to throw everything out. However, it is very helpful to me, and the girls are learning to play in it happily.
Brecklyn, Brooke
A few more things about Brecklyn:
This girl hates wearing shoes and socks. Almost every time we ride in the car, she takes off her shoes and pulls off her socks. I guess she just likes her feet to be free :-). She is already trying her hand at throwing tantrums and will even lay on the ground while she cries. Sigh. She will often moan for a minute or two right as she's falling asleep. She loves to be tickled and to "wrestle" with Daddy.
Brecklyn pulled up for the first time on November 6th, but hasn't done it much since. Just in the past week or so, she has started standing at things more. Before that, she would cry if she stood at something (like the coffee table or their music table) for more than a minute or two. She won't just drop down if she's standing . . . she will cry until someone comes along and helps her sit down. She said "Nigh-nigh" for the first time this month when we put her in bed. Her favorite words to say are Momma and bye-bye. She loves to wave, clap, and pull out her hair bows.
Her new favorite game is throwing things down and fussing for someone to pick them up. Sometimes when we go to get Brianna from school, I'll cover Breckles with a blanket after I buckle her in her car seat. She will promptly throw the blanket on the floor of the van, then fuss for me to cover her again. She's quickly learning that Momma doesn't play that game :-). She hates having something taken away from her and will cry like it's the end of the world. She has started arching her back when she's mad or when we put her in the car. Her little giggle is the sweetest sound, and she loves to give kisses and hugs.
A few more things about Brooke:
Peek-a-boo is her favorite game. She loves to cover her face with her hands or a blanket, then pop out. She pulls up on everything around the house, and is cruising all over. She can stand by herself for long periods of time, and we're just waiting for her to find the courage to take that first step.
Brooke loves to go in her room and pull every book off of the bookshelf. She will just stand at her bookshelf and throw the books off while Brecklyn sits and looks through them. However, she will also help pick them up after she makes a mess. Brooke has gotten very good at picking up objects and putting them in a box or bin to clean up.
Brooke went through a little phase where she would turn her head away from us and just giggle when we were trying to feed her. She quickly learned better. She loves to wave and clap and show off her sweet little grin. Her favorite words are Dada and bye-bye. It melts our hearts when she snuggles her little head into our shoulder and tucks her arms under her body.
We are thankful beyond words for these two precious baby girls and the joy they bring to our family. Happy 10 months!
Brooke, Brecklyn
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