Cinco!

Anaya and Audie are five months old!  I have probably said this every month, but I truly cannot believe it.  It is going by so fast!  Maybe because they're keeping me busy.  At any rate, five months have passed and sooooo much has changed!  They are very aware of one another now, and they constantly compete for attention.  If they're both laying down and I turn toward one to play, the other will start kicking me with their feet, regaining my attention.  This goes back and forth until one just melts down before my eyes.  They have also begun to fight over toys.  If she has something and he tries to take it from her (this is not uncommon), she'll start to scream until she gets it back.  They've started eating cereal and sleeping through the night from about 7 p.m. until 4 a.m., which is nice for Mom & Dad.  They love baths, especially when they get to take a bath with Adam.  They're trying to hold their bottles now, which is a blessing and disaster at the same time.  They are coming around on liking their car seats, which gives me hope for this planned U.S. trip in November.

Anaya's princess personality continues to progress.  I have made the analogy that Audie is like a puppy dog and Anaya is like a cat.  You have to work to get coos and smiles out of her, not just show up.  Unless you're Adam, then you just show up and she's all smiles.  She loves watching her big brother.  She has also taken quite an interest in Rosie...and her ears.  Poor Rosie takes it well, just sitting there, allowing Anaya to yank on those ears.  She's a trooper.  So far, Anaya has turned up her nose to rice cereal and oatmeal, only taking a few bites before refusing to eat anymore.  I hope that isn't an indication of what's to come... She's a deep sleeper and a great napper, but she nearly always wakes up totally pissed.  Awaking in the night to shrill screams is not ideal, so I'm hoping this passes.  However, even though she's screaming, she'll usually stop when she notices you and give you a smile that just melts your heart.  It's so funny, when the room is dark and I'm sleepy and can barely see anything, I can see her smiling.  She really is a pretty easy baby.  She just also happens to be a really loud crier, so it seems really bad a lot.  I know you think, "Oh, they're all loud" - that's what the x-ray tech said who had to give her a chest x-ray, after she warned me Anaya wouldn't like it and I warned her that Anaya was really loud.  Ha.  She found out.  She mumbled something about me being right.  You don't understand.  LOUD.  But as long as we can stay one step ahead and keep her happy, she's great!  She likes tummy time and she rolls from her belly to her back and grabs toys and tries to sit up when she's on her back.  She doesn't seem really interested in moving, though, but I'm sure that will change when Audie gets going.  She keeps up with her brother, for the most part, as far as formula goes.  At her well-baby appointment last week, she weighed 13 lbs. and was 24.5 inches long - long and lean...imagine that.

    

Audie, Audie, Audie.  Audie is such a little sweetheart.  He's snuggly and smiley and chatty and he loves to grab your face when you get close enough.  This child has done a complete 180 from a month or two ago.  He greets you with a smile and just eats up any attention you give him.  When both babies are sitting up, facing each other, he'll just smile at his sister and start talking to her.  He's been as patient as he can be, since we often tend to her first, just to quiet things down.  I figure we're really hammering in the "ladies first" rule.  As if always being four minutes younger than her isn't enough.  He can roll from his back to his belly and back, and he's even scooting when he's on his belly.  He's dying to be mobile, I think.  He hasn't fully found the use of his arms yet, but I think I'm in trouble when he does.  Twins on the move scares me.  He grabs at toys (especially the ones his sister is playing with) and gets excited about things and loves to play.  He eats (or something like that) lots of cereal and seems to like it, but he's quite a mess.  He's a lighter sleeper, though, and a short-napper, so we're working on his sleep habits.  It's a constant struggle to keep them on any sort of schedule because their eating and sleeping patterns differ.  Overall, he has turned in to a pretty easy baby, though.  He's weighing in at 13 lbs. 12 oz and 25.5 inches, just a tad bigger than his sister.  That also puts him in the "long and lean" category - shocking. 

I hate to jinx myself, but I really feel like the most difficult part is over.  I think we'll hit rough patches - that's to be expected - and there will be phases that we all go through.  But it is definitely more fun now and easier now than it has been.  Here are a few extra pics, but I've gotta run.  Anaya just woke up.