5 & 6 Months

Wow! Time has really gotten away from me! I just realized that I am way behind. Between work, class, homework, housework, and "baby work", it's hard to keep up.

All dressed up to go to our first wedding. September 19th

Emaleigh and Derek started going to daycare when school started again. September 8th to be exact. We found an in-home daycare that specializes in infants and toddlers. So far, they seem to really like Nicole and she is really good with them. There are only 4 other kids with Nicole, 3 of them under the age of 2. She has her hands full, but she really seems to like it.

It's really amazing how fast babies grow. We can see changes in them almost daily. Both Emaleigh and Derek are rolling over and like to be on their tummies when they are on the floor. Emaleigh has figured out how to roll to get someplace or thing and that if she leans to one side, she can reach farther. Derek, however, tends to scoot himself around using his knees and feet or pushing with his hands. He will bring his knees up underneath himself and then push up onto his feet so that his little bottom is way up in the air. Unfortunately, (or fortunately depending on how you look at it!) he hasn't quite figured out how to push up onto his hands at the same time yet. It won't be long before he is crawling all over the place.

Shortly before they turned 5 months old, we started them on rice cereal. Derek just loved it!! Emaleigh wasn't so crazy about it at first. We tried giving them oatmeal instead and they both really liked that, but it did something funny to Derek's skin. He would develop red welts on his face and his butt, so we stopped giving them oatmeal for now. I am still breast feeding both of them when I can, but they also still get their bottles. It has become much easier to feed them with the bottles as they can now both hold their own. All I have to do is hold the bottle in front of them and they reach for it. They can grab it on their own and can bring it to their mouths. They do really well with them, but I can't go too far away. They still haven't quite figured out how to pick up the bottle and get it back to their mouths if they drop it, so I still have to keep an eye on them.

Grandma and Grandpa Millering bought them both high chairs from The Amish Store where I used to work. When we were visiting the other day, I pulled out the high chairs and tried them in them to see how they would do. Surprisingly, they did really well. Emaleigh sits up on her own very well, if a little unsteadily, so she liked being in the high chair. Derek, on the other hand, tolerated it. He does not like to bend in the middle and is still not sitting up much. He would rather be standing or laying. The high chairs are still a bit big for them, and they tended to slide down in the seat. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the towels that we used to keep them from sliding!

They have both had their first colds, and are still congested. Derek developed a 24 hour fever with his. We called into Urgent Care and talked to a nurse and were told to give them warm water or apple juice a few times a day to help clear the congestion and keep the mucus loose. Emaleigh did not like the apple juice right away. She made lots of funny faces the first time that we gave it to her. Now she thinks it's great stuff. Derek took the apple juice really well and seemed to want more. A couple days later, we noticed a bunch of small red dots all over Derek. The poor kid had them everywhere! While they didn't seem to bother him, mom and dad were concerned. The only thing that we can think that caused them is that he is reacting to the apple juice. I am almost afraid that we are really going to have to watch what we give the poor boy.

Sleep in our house has gone out the window. At 4 months, Derek started waking up about once a night to eat again. That wasn't too bad, but now we are up to 2 times a night. Emaleigh has also decided that she can no longer wait all night to eat either and is up once during the night. Wouldn't you know that they can't both wake up at the same time! Needless to say, momma isn't getting a whole lot of sleep anymore. To top it off, Derek has decided that he can't sleep on his back anymore. Up until last night, we were still swaddling both of them. During the night, Derek would roll himself over to his stomach and then panic because he couldn't move his arms. So, last night, we tried putting him in a sleep sak instead of a swaddle. I wasn't sure quite what that would mean for my sleep, but he did really well. I put him down to sleep on his back after his last feeding and, wouldn't you know, when I got up to get ready for work, he was on his stomach. He had rolled himself over and never made a sound. We tried to put Emaleigh in a sleep sak last night too, but found out that she won't calm down to sleep unless she is swaddled. So for now, that's what we'll do. They are still in the pack 'n play in our bedroom for now, but I am going to have to move them to their crib really soon. I'm just not sure that I am ready for that yet!

They both go in for their 6 month check up at the end of the month, so I will know soon how much they weigh and how long they are. I promise to get that information posted as soon as I can!