9 Months... I Can't Believe It!

As of last Thursday, the boys have officially lived a month longer in the outside world compared to the 8 months they were cooking inside my belly!  I can't believe how fast these last three months have flown by. 

We had a great month with some exciting milestones...

-Their measurements are now...
Weight: Bryce 19lbs (25%), Ben 19lbs 10oz (35%)
Height: Bryce 27 1/2 in (30%), Ben 28 1/4 in (60%)
Head Circumference: Bryce 18 1/8 in (85%!), Ben 18 1/2 in (95%!)

-This past month, Ben grew 5 more teeth (so he now has a total of 6), and Bryce grew 3 more (with a total of 4)!

-They constantly look at each other and laugh... not just laugh, but loud belly laughs! This is either the beginning of many inside jokes between the brothers, or they each just thinks the other one looks funny.

-With some support, the boys can now stand while holding on to us or the sides of things.  They're constantly trying to pull themselves up to a standing position, and Bryce can get as far as standing on one knee.  They still can't crawl but are now rolling all over the place!

-Both learned how to clap their hands, hold their own bottles, and drink out of sippy cups!

-The boys went on their first trip and first airplane ride on our first family vacation to Charleston, SC.  And, on the trip, they also stepped foot in the ocean and rode on a boat for the first time :)

-And, they've transitioned from their infant carriers to big convertible car seats and started going to storytime at the library.

We definitely celebrated many "firsts" these past few weeks!  And, to continue our monthly tradition, here are the boys' 9 month pictures with their 9 monkeys...

Seems like the twins are always a little spooked by the triplets...

I think Bryce has such a sweet face...

They're always checking each other out to see what the other is doing...

I think Ben took a liking to monkey #9...

So much that he started gnawing on monkey #9's foot...

Then threatened to throw him overboard if I didn't put the camera down...

Here are our sweet angels at only 9 days old... (the days when they always slept with their faces so close together and when I couldn't tell them apart if it weren't for the names written on their hats!)

Major Bed Head

Benjamin, our rowdy little sleeper, can sure wake up with some major bed head...

Double Double Trouble

This past Friday, my friend, Mary, whom I haven't seen in over 5 years, came over to drop off some twin hand-me-down clothes for the boys.  I just found out a couple of months ago (through Facebook of course!) that she also has identical twin boys who are now 3 years old.  I was so excited to see her and to meet her twins.

Here are Mason and Micah... just too adorable for words!  (I think Mason is on the left.)

Of course we had to take a picture of the four boys together... (oops, mine were still in their pajamas).  Sweet Mason wasn't too sure about my boys.  Maybe because they looked like prisoners in their striped pjs!

But, then I think Ben won him over...

Meanwhile, Bryce was busy checking out Micah's tennis shoes...

They became best buds in no time...

On the way out, Micah and Mason sat down on our porch bench, and Mary and I immediately looked at each other, both thinking, now that's definitely a photo op!  Grab the camera!

Holding Their Own Bottles

This past weekend, I tried the swim or sink approach to teach the boys to hold their own bottles.  It actually worked on Benjamin ...

But, then I looked away for a minute and turned back to find this...

The next day he showed off by drinking one-handed...

Then two days later, Bryce caught on and I felt liberated!!  They're still a little wobbly with the bottles, but at least they can now drink about half of their bottles before needing some help.  Hallelujah!

Comfy New Car Seats

This past Friday, we upgraded our big boys from their tiny infant carriers to their gigantic new convertible car seats.  Here they are getting ready to go on their first ride in their new comfy seats...

Here they are looking mighty comfy on their second trip in their new car seats...

And look how tiny they looked in their infant carriers the day we brought them home from the hospital!

Storytime at the Library

Last Thursday, the boys went to storytime at the Schimelpfenig Library in Plano for the first time.  This is the library that I grew up going to and the same storytime that their cousins Claire and William went to before they started going to school.  The boys had a good time and I'm pretty sure they had the biggest support group out of any other baby there... not only was mommy there, but so were Oma W, Oma B, and Opa B!  In the history of storytime at the Schimelpfenig Library, I wonder how many other kids have had their mom and three grandparents join them?  Probably none.

Here they are with Oma W waiting for storytime to begin...

Still waiting...

Front row seats!

Bryce with his Opa enjoying the peek-a-boo song...

At the end, the boys got to play with bubbles for the first time.  Benjamin made us laugh because he kept closing his eyes everytime a bubble got too close to his face.  He must have thought they were plastic toy balls that were about to hit his face!

Afterwards, we went to eat at Oma W's house, which is just minutes from the library.  Soon after they ate, the boys conked out!  We're looking forward to storytime again this coming Thursday!

Sippy Cup Success

This past week the boys experienced the "first" of many things... first time to successfully drink out of a sippy cup, first time to hold their own bottles, first time to go to story time at the library, first time to sit in their new convertible car seats, and the first time to play with another set of twins!  We've had a busy week and lots of pictures to post!

In this post, we'll start with our sippy cup success... exactly one week and one day ago, the boys figured out how to drink out of their sippy cups!  For weeks, they've been drinking water out of a sippy cup that doesn't require any sucking to get the liquid out.  That was too easy and too messy, so we finally upgraded to the spill proof sippy cups.  After about a week of just biting on the spout, the boys coincidentally figured out how to drink out of their cups just minutes apart.

Big brother Bryce figured it out first...

Meanwhile, Benjamin was still a little confused... but with a little help from mom, he too got a big sip of water.  Good job boys!

First Easter

This past weekend, we celebrated the boys' first Easter at my sister's house with family, food, and an Easter egg hunt!  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our fun afternoon...

As soon as we arrived, Opa and Oma asked for a picture taken with their four adorable grandkids.

Benjamin playing with his Opa.

Looks like Ben is saying, "Hold my hand, Bryce."

Ben learned how to clap his hands a few weeks ago and now claps for just about everything.  (Bryce learned how to clap today!)

Trying to get the four cousins to look at the camera at the same time (or even one at a time!) was nearly impossible! 

After brunch, the boys kicked some booty in their first Easter egg hunt... here they are counting their eggs.

Benjamin working hard on getting all the eggs out of his basket...

Bryce tasting each egg as he empties his basket...

I don't think he was very happy with the taste...

Hmmmm, is Benjamin trying to sneak one of Bryce's eggs into his own basket?

Awwww, looks like they decided to combine and share the eggs... 

Another attempt at getting a picture of the four cousins together... again, they'd much rather look at each other than the camera :)

Poor Benjamin was getting cross eyed while inspecting his new toy...

Bryce giving the yellow egg a try... next year, he'll figure out that the yummy stuff is actually inside.

Benjamin looking pretty determined to bite through that egg!

Benjamin (or is that Bryce? I can't tell them apart from behind!) staring at his cousin Claire enjoying a chocolate bunny.  Poor thing.

Sitting back to back... they almost look like mirror images!

"Stay away from my egg!"

Me and my three handsome boys...