Handsome Boys

Benny (left) & Ethan (right)Ethan (left) & Benny (right)Ethan (left) & Benny (right)
Ethan (left) & Benny (right)

Ethan

Benny

Meals and Messes

The boys are getting very good at holding their bottles now. They've been doing it for some time now, and it sure does make bottle time easier!Benny holding his bottle
Ethan holding his bottle.Eating solids however, is not such an easy feat! Solids can be a VERY messy event. Sometimes we try to keep it clean, and sometimes we let the boys play with their food. They love to play with and feel the texture of their food. We figure we can always wash them off, and it's a good learning experience. Below is Benny after playing with his rice and green beans.
Ethan after playing with his rice and green beans.Benny having a bath in the sink after making a lovely mess with his food.
Ethan after his bath, waiting to get dressed

Pulling up to Stand

Both boys have recently made attempts to pull them self from a sitting position into a standing position. Benny tried it first last week. He tried to pull him self up using one of his toys. It overbalanced, and so did he..... it was pretty funny. He wasn't hurt, but was a little confused as to what had just happened.

Ethan was trying to pull himself up today onto the toy box. We managed to find the camera and catch the action!

Below is the video of Ethan trying to pull himself up. It was about his 10th attempt (by the time we found the camera) and he was getting a little frustrated by that point. He tried very hard, but couldn't quite co-ordinate himself to get all the way up and balance at the same time. I'm sure it wont be long and he'll be pulling up on everything!

Getting so big - 8 months old!

Our little boys are now just over 8 months old. They are getting so big, so clever and so cheeky. They are interested in the world around them, and have an intense need to explore EVERYTHING!! They are more mobile every day, and get into lots of mischief. We have a gate between the living room and the kitchen. We often leave it open, as the boys have not yet ventured into the kitchen..... well today, Benny went full pelt crawling into the kitchen. (He's still army crawling, and getting quite fast!) He was so excited, laughing to himself. I've never seen him crawl so fast, he was determined to explore as much as possible before we took him away! Cheeky boy! We don't really want him crawling in the kitchen due to his allergies. We keep the living room clean for him, but we're a little slack in the kitchen...... it's clean, just not allergy clean all the time.

Both boys chat to them self all day long. Benny says mum mum mum, dad dad dad, bub bub bub & nan nan nan. Benny also has many combinations of these words in one long gibbering sentence something like "mum mum mum bub bub bub gagalalaga mum mum mum dadadada" and so on...

Ethan says "mum" and "muma" just once..... just when he wants something. He is almost using it appropriately to get our attention. Ethan hasn't said anything else yet. He doesn't 'talk' as much, but makes a lot of noises all day.

Ethan (We think he's looking older..... more like a boy than a baby)Benny (cheeky as usual)

See all Benny's teeth? Benny has 4 teeth (2top, 2 bottom) and they are growing fast. We think he's getting the next two top ones soon. Ethan still has just 2 bottom teeth.

Ethan rolling around the floor. After months of tummy time related arguments, both boys now love being on their tummies. If we lay them on the floor on their back, they roll them self onto their tummy and roll or crawl away to play with their toys.

BennyEthan

Benny (see the boxes they're playing with?..... they are storage boxes for their toys, and sometimes they prefer to play with the box than the toy)

ETHAN CAN CRAWL!!! yay for Ethan!!! He's been desperate to crawl and getting very frustrated with his own inability to crawl. The other day he started to wriggle in a forward direction..... now he's army crawling in his own special way. When both boys started to crawl, we encouraged them to go forward by placing toys in front of them for motivation...... As we said before, Ethan is very curious about the world around him. Below is a video of Ethan crawling towards the camera to investigate it. The first day Ethan started crawling we kept trying to encourage him forward with different things. The item that finally motivated Ethan to crawl was his dirty nappy in a plastic bag!!!! Nice!!!

Both boys are getting quite good at their solids. They are still eating pureed foods, but soon we will be introducing lumpier food. They now eat potato, green beans, choko, chicken, veal, rice cereal and pears. By far, Benny's favorite is pears, or rice cereal mixed with pears. He gets so excited when he gets to eat them. He rocks back and forth, and opens his mouth wide. It's actually quite challenging to get the food into the moving target. He will slowly and painfully eat the veges and meat, but LOVES, and almost inhales his rice cereal and pears. Benny's allergies are going well. Apart from that big reaction last week, his skin has been very good, as he doesn't seem to react to his environment as much as he used to. Ethan likes everything we've given him so far. He calmly opens his mouth when the spoon comes, and eats very well. We will introduce swede, their next food in a few days time. Below is a video of the boys eating their rice cereal and pears. Ethan on the left, Ben on the right.

As far as development goes, the boys are going well. They can both sit very well, as you see in the video above. Benny can get himself down onto his belly in a controlled falling type fashion. Ethan hasn't worked it out yet, but we're trying to teach him. Both boys can sit for at least half an hour without falling. They get bored of sitting and whinge to change activities before falling down now. Neither boy has worked out how to get into the sitting position from their belly, or has tried to pull himself up on any furniture yet. Both boys can stand up if they are holding onto something (mum's hands, coffee table, cot sides etc).

Both boys are now very determined in what they want to do. They crawl to specific toys they want to play with, or crawl to the area we store all the toys, and go through the boxes to find the toys they want. They both love balls or all different sizes. Ethan loves to hold small plastic balls in the palm of his hand. We have one with a bell inside that he loves to shake. Benny loves bigger (soccer sized) balls that he chases across the room, laughing and when he catches it he rolls onto his back and holds it above his belly with both his arms and legs. Both boys often decide they want the specific toy that their brother just happens to be playing with at the time. We've had a few arguments over toys and even a few tantrums!!

Both boys are developing their pincer grip (ability to pick up small objects with the thumb and forefinger). They are often seen picking up little bits of dust or food on the floor. We have to vacuum daily, and it's still not enough! - of course everything goes in the mouth!!!

Both boys, Benny in particular LOVE the cats. They watch them and smile as they enter the room. If the cat happens to walk near them, they get very excited, kicking their legs and laughing. The cats get a little scared by this bizarre reception, and usually run away. Benny has been seen a few times crawling at top speed across the floor in an attempt to get a cat that's quickly disappearing out the door!

The boys are getting a little better with their stranger anxiety. They are now quite happy to have a cuddle with Tracie's family who we see quite often. They often smile at strangers at the shops, when they used to cry if someone spoke to them. They are also experiencing some separation anxiety, and sometimes cry if we go out of the room. Benny has a new habit of crawling up to our feet and touching our feet/shoes/pants and whinging when he wants a cuddle. He has only done it about 4-5 times so far in the last few days. Ethan gave Sal his first kiss today.

Both boys are growing like weeds. They haven't been weighed in about a month, but they sure seem bigger to us. They are wearing clothes for babies 9-12months or size 00 to 0. Ethan is still quite a bit bigger. We'd guess he's about 9kg now. Today we decided that his current nappy (diaper) size (6-11kg) is too small and he's now moved to up to the toddler size (10-15kg) and they fit nicely. Benny will stay in the smaller size as we still have about 100 of them, and they still fit him well.

Ethan's hair has suddenly had a huge growth spurt! It's now really quite long in places. Most of his hair from birth fell out when he was a month old. It's now about 2cm (almost an inch) long in places. It's quite a bit lighter than his birth hair. Now he has light brown/ dark blonde hair. Benny's hair is getting longer too. It's almost 1cm (third of an inch) long. We aren't sure what colour it will be. It's possibly blonde, strawberry blond or ginger. Hard to tell. It defiantly has a red-ish tint in the sunlight.

Ethan in the laundry basket.

Benny having cuddles with mum.

Ethan (left) and Benny (right) on their new bikes grandma bought them for Xmas. We went for a walk down to the shops. The boys had a great time, and everyone smiled at them and many people told us how cute they look together. We'll defiantly be going for more walks like this. These bikes are a lot easier to push up the hill than a twin pram!!

Benny's Allergies

Today we took the boys for another swim in their little blue plastic pool. It was the second time they'd been in it. We filled it the same way as last time and put the same toys in as last time (bath toys). Benny had a terrible allergic reaction. The poor baby came out in red welts on his legs, front, back, neck, head, face and all around his mouth. It was the most sudden acute allergic reaction we've ever seen him have. After the bath he was crying uncontrollably and kept coughing. We were worried his throat was swelling or something. His lips and tongue looked normal. Atleast if he's crying we know he can breathe!! We gave him his antihistamine that the allergy clinic told us to use and a dummy and he calmed down. We also put on his hydrocortisone cream. His red welts were gone within an hour. It was a little scary. We're still not sure exactly what caused it. He was swimming in tap water in a plastic bath with his regular bath toys. We dont know what he was allergic to!

Cheeky Jumping Boys

Our boys are getting more mobile. Benny is getting better at his army crawling, and cruises around the room from one toy to another. He is much more independent and doesn't lie on the floor and whinge as much as he used to now he can entertain himself. We are very pleased about this. Ethan DESPERATELY wants to crawl, and has become more whingy due to his frustration at his own inability to crawl. We're hoping he'll get it soon. He is still very mobile, and wriggles and rolls everywhere. We've installed a gate between the kitchen and living room to make sure they don't get into the kitchen. Below is a pic of the 2 cheeky monkeys trying to escape into the kitchen. Before the boys were born, Aunty Shell gave them a tigger jolly jumper. We haven't tried it for a while, so we thought we'd get it out for another go. The boys LOVED it! They jumped and jumped and laughed for ages. Below is Ethan in the jumper.

Ethan again in the jumper..... like his tail?

Benny in the jumper.

Ethan also decided he'd like to try out the bike Nana gave him. He is still too little to properly reach the ground for balance, but can sit on it with help, and he thought it was FANTASTIC!