JAMES
Weight: 20 pounds, 14 ounces (75th percentile) Height: 29 inches tall (75th percentile)
Head Circumference: 45.5 cm (75th percentile)
JULIA
Weight: 15 pounds 3 ounces (2nd percentile) Height: 26.7 inches (2nd percentile)
Head Circumference: 43.5 cm (2nd percentile)
The second half of the twins' 8th month brought an explosion of developmental milestones! They both started sitting up and barrel rolling! James rolls ALL OVER the place. This boy is in perpetual motion, while Julia will sit in one place and tinker with her toys for a significant amount of time. The differences between these two are plentiful! Jamesy loves to be in Juju's personal space, rolling on her, laying on her, chewing on her, etc. She much prefers his company from an arms' reach. They light up when they see the other and love to stroke eachother's hair. It's so sweet. :) Another huge development-they can hold their own bottles now! Holy cow does this make life a little easier!
Julia has started saying dadadada, mamamama and nananana. Lots of babbling from Juju, along with her trademark "growl." Such an unexpected noise from such a tiny little person. Jamesy Boy still grunts and screams to his hearts content...He just sounds like a boy, I keep waiting for him to start beating his chest with his battle cry.
As for sleep, with the rare exception, they have both been sleeping the whole night (from 730 PM to 545/6 AM) for the last month! (James has been sleeping all night since January, but Julia just got the memo the beginning of May. :) They take two naps during the day, one in the morning between 730 and 8 and then another between 1230 or 1. Each nap typically lasts for a couple of hours.
In the way of food, they are now in their high chairs so that they can eat some finger foods! Cheerios, puffs, bananas, steamed sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas and scrambled egg yolks, ravioli, bean and cheese quesadillas have all gone over well. Julia is a bit more proficient at picking up the food and putting it in her mouth, Jamesy is still honing his fine motor skills, but he's getting it in his own time! They get breakfast, lunch and dinner, a mix of finger foods and vegetable/fruit purees, and yogurt. James plays a game with himself, where he swats at the spoon as if it were a fly. To be honest, I kind of dread feeding the boy, knowing the mess that will have to be cleaned afterwards! I am still pumping exclusively, and, lucky for me, their milk demands have drastically decreased to around 20 ounces a day each. I am down to 6, sometimes 5 pumps a day, depending on what we're doing. It's so liberating!
James has FOUR teeth (the two bottom came first and the top two just made their debut!) Julia is still toothless, but, it's just a matter of time!
Their personalities continue to develop: James laughs easily and, from what I can tell, doesn't take himself too seriously (I love that quality in a person!) He is intense about what he wants and gets tunnel vision. Everything he does is with purpose. He is strong and forceful. He seems to think that whatever Julia has is actually his. He will grab whatever is in her hands, with the most innocent look on his face. I absolutely adore laying him in his crib and pulling his pink blanket up to his chin; they sheer giddiness that comes reminds me of a reunion with a long lost friend. He squeals and grabs the blanket and rubs it on his face. It's so sweet. He just figured out how to clap! He claps all the time now! He has waved a few times too!
Julia is happy, happy, happy. Every time our eyes lock, she smiles at me. Amazing. Bathtime with Juju is my favorite, because she splashes around like a maniac and keeps looking at me with the most mischievous grin on her face, as if she's doing something that she shouldn't be; which makes her personal splash party that much more endearing. She's incredibly easy going (except when she's overly tired or waking up.) She is smiley and cuddly and as chatty as can be. It's funny to see how unfazed Julia can be about certain things where Jamesy loses his mind (taking a shower with Daddy or being out in the heat.) She is little but she sure is tough!
