emerson & brooklyn: two month update

It’s hard to believe it, but as of yesterday my little ones are two months old! Time is literally flying by over here, and I want it to slow down. If it could slow down in the next three weeks before I have to go back to work, that would be excellent!

At two months old, both the girls have distinct personalities. I love spending my days with them – they definitely keep me on my toes!

This last month, both girls started sleeping in longer stretches at night. We put them down after a bottle around 7-8, and we dream feed them around 10. They sleep until around 3:30-4:30 to eat, and then go right back down until 7:30-8:30 in the morning. The first time they slept until almost 4:30, I almost cried of happiness because I got six hours of sleep. SIX! I can’t even tell you how happy that made me. Both girls are also in 0-3 month clothing now. I put one of their newborn outfits on them Monday, and it was definitely obvious the outfit needed to be retired. The 0-3 month clothing is swimming on them, but I’m sure it won’t be long until these outfits fit them snugly. They grow so fast!

Because both girls are so different, I want to update you all on each one as an individual. First up, Miss Emerson!

Emerson

Emme was in meltdown mode by the time I got to her pictures! She refused to look into the camera.

Emerson is definitely a sweetheart. She is patient, and most of the time as long as she is fed and changed, she is good to go. Emerson started spitting up a lot in the last month. Girl needs to have a bib on at all times, and if we even attempt to change her diaper less than a half hour after she eats, most of it will come back up. She’s a voracious eater, and I think she has passed her sister in the weight department (I’ll know for sure later today). You can’t tell by these pictures, but she has the most beautiful blue eyes!

She has kind of “woken up” the last few weeks. Because they were a month early, the first few weeks, all they did was sleep. Brooklyn “woke up” earlier than Emerson did, but now Emerson is starting to become more alert and definitely more vocal about what she wants.  Emme also started smiling in the last week or so. I have been waiting and waiting for some smiles, but I know that for a while we have to go by their adjusted age (which would be 4 weeks). She loves her pacifier, vibrations in her rock and play, being swaddled, and snuggling during her naps. She is not a fan of tummy time and will usually start fussing after a few minutes unless she is really tired. If she’s tired, she’ll just give up and go to sleep. Emerson is also the loudest baby in the history of the world. If she’s not grunting, groaning, or squeaking, we wonder if something is wrong with her.

Brooklyn

Oh, Brooklyn. She is a firecracker, that is for sure! Brooklyn knows what she wants, and she wants it NOW! I always joke that this one will be the death of me. She is a little more high maintenance than her sister, and she loves attention. She is quite captivating – you can’t help but love her! She is a ball of energy and is so alert when she is awake. Her eyes get so wide and she wants to take everything in. We call her “crazy eyes” or “princess” because of those personality traits. Brooklyn used to be our puker, but that has really died down in the last month or so. Once we addressed her reflux issues and kept her elevated or on an incline for sleeping and directly after her feedings, it was a world of difference. Brooklyn loves being rocked insanely fast (like I get dizzy), her rock and play, and snuggles. Girl also cannot live without her pacifier. I keep saying I want to strap a harness around it because I constantly have to put it back in her mouth. The only time she doesn’t want it is if she is reeeeeaaaallllyyy tired. Then she’ll put herself to sleep and not want it. Brooklyn also can’t function at naptimes/bedtime without being swaddled. Brooklyn also lives by the 5 S’s – she works herself up so much sometimes, and that is the only thing that ever calms her down enough to be put back down.

I know I’m biased, but seriously – how stinkin’ adorable is she? Notice the arm that never stops moving.

Brooklyn also decided at around 3 weeks old that she could roll from her tummy to her back. That definitely took me by surprise! She hates tummy time so much that she was bound and determined to find a way off of her tummy. And boy did she! No one believed me when I told them my three week old could roll over, so thankfully I got it on video. She hasn’t done it for a week or so though, but maybe that’s because I’m being nicer and not making her fuss on her tummy quite as much.

How’s Mom Doing?

I haven’t really addressed my postpartum journey at all – and let’s face it, it’s because I haven’t had time. I finally feel like we have gotten into a really good groove just in the past week. The girls have an earlier bedtime now that we implemented our dream feed (LOOOOOVE), and I just now have a few hours at night to myself. Well, after I wash bottles, make new bottles, and straighten up the house.

Long story short, I feel great. I feel like I was absolutely meant to be a mama to twins. I pretty much go with the flow, and I’m happy to say I am not a neurotic first time mama. I have been far less emotional than I thought I would have been after the girls were born. There have only been a handful of meltdowns, and most of them have been related to not getting enough sleep the night before. I’m a little nervous about what life is going to be like when I go back to work in a few weeks though. I feel like I finally “get it”, but part of me wonders if I’ll feel overwhelmed and overemotional once I head back to teach.

I’ve been sitting at my pre-pregnancy weight since about two weeks postpartum, but that’s not saying a whole lot. I definitely look a lot different, and I’m anxiously awaiting the day that my baby belly goes down back to normal. I have to say though, I’m definitely surprised at how my body bounced back those first few weeks.

Even though I’m at my pre-pregnancy weight, that is not where I really want to be. My pre-pregnancy weight was really about ten pounds over my desired weight. However, finding time to go to the gym has proven to be a little difficult these days! I have grand plans of getting up early this morning before the Husband has to leave for work to run on the treadmill. And now that I have written it (Tuesday night), hopefully that means I am trying to hold myself accountable. I’m really not too concerned with it all, because let’s face it – I have two beautiful little girls and that is quite possibly the best thing ever.

So there we have it – two months down, and some days I look at them and still can’t believe they’re mine. Do any other mamas ever get overwhelming feelings of how much you love your kids and want to cry? I feel like that’s every day of my life over here. Today we have our two month check up. I’m excited to see how much these two are weighing in at, but I’d be lying if I said I was excited about our shots. I’m bringing my mother in law for grandma backup – it’s quite difficult to console two crying babies at the same time. Well, she might have to console three: Brooklyn, Emerson, and their sobbing mama. Wish us luck!