Happy Half Birthday, Will and Sydney!

We're 6 months old!

Love ya, sis!

Love you more, bro!

You heard it right, our little munchkins celebrated their first half-birthday on July third!  However, our 6-month well-check was not until the 11th, and I wanted to wait to get the official "stats" on the babies before posting.  And then life got in the way. So please forgive me for posting their six month update when they are practically 7 months ;)

At the time of the appointment, the babies were a little over 4.5 months adjusted, so I will give percentiles for both to show how they compare with babies their actual age vs. their developmental age.  Here is the rundown...

Sydney Claire (a.k.a. "Sister," "Syd the Kid," or our favorite, "Baby Tootie")

Weight: 14 pounds, 5 oz; 15.78 %ile (actual age); 50th %ile (adjusted age)
Height: 25.5 inches; 28th %ile (actual age); 78th %ile (adjusted age)

As you can see, Sydney is on the small side compared with other 6 month-olds, but when compared with babies her developmental age, she is right on track! Looks like she may be a tall skinny-minny!

More fun facts...

Clothing size: 3-6 months (needs 6 months for length, but she doesn't fill them out quite yet)
Diaper size: 2
Shoe size: 1 (only on special occasions!)

Milestones:  Sydney is a little wiggle worm! We have to be very careful with her because any time we put her on her back, she immediately rolls, and rolls, and rolls!  She has perfected the mini push-up and holds her head and shoulders up high during tummy time.  She can sit with support from us and loves to stand in her exersaucer and play with all the toys, although we have to stuff blankets behind her because she is a bit small for the seat!  She is not a fan of anything with belts or straps, so the swing and bouncers  are no longer acceptable to her, and don't even get her started on the car seat!  She loves to reach for and grab anything she can get her hands on, and most things go straight to her mouth, which brings us to...

Food:  Sydney is very interested in being a big girl, including a strong drive to eat grownup food.  It is almost sad to eat in front of her because she stares at our food, makes chewing motions with her mouth, and drools!  If you hold a cup too close to her, she will grab it and try to drink from it.  This is all the more ironic because in addition to reflux, Sydney has Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI), meaning we have to be careful not to feed her anything that might be contaminated with dairy or soy, and she has to be on special formula.  Her GI doctor thinks she will probably outgrow this by age 1, so we are crossing our fingers that he is correct! We are also finding that she has trouble tolerating other types of solids, including rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, and pears.  Keep your fingers crossed that we find a few things that she can eat soon, or we are going to have a very frustrated girl on our hands!

Speech: The speech therapist in me can't help but keep track of the different sounds my babies are making ;)  And I am not disappointed, because "Baby Tootie" is quite the talker!  She is truly one of the more vocal babies I've ever seen, which makes us wonder if we are going to have our hands full in the future!  In addition to her squeals and giggles, Sydney does quite a bit of babbling, and makes the following consonant sounds: "m," "n," "d," "b."  Her favorite noise, however, is a cross between a growl and a honk, which she makes any time she wants to scold us (or the dogs, or her toys...), which is quite often.  Here's a little sample...

So there's an update on our sweet Sydney!  She is such a cute, fun baby with tons of personality.  She loves books, songs, and attention from just about anybody, and would much rather stare at your face and try to "figure you out" than play with any old toy ;)  Here are some recent pictures of our sweet little firecracker!

I look just like my Daddy!

So pleased with myself ;)

Flirtin' with Uncle Brad.

Daddy can't resist having fun with my burp cloths!

Rollin' in my PJs...

William Lawrence (a.k.a. "Buddy," "Will the Thrill," or "Stinker-man")

Weight: 17 pounds, 14oz; 54th %ile (actual age); 87th %ile (adjusted age)

Height: 28 inches; 82nd %ile (actual age); 98th %ile (adjusted age)

Our boy is one big dude!  The percentiles tell the story...Will weighs just as much as the average 6 month-old boy, and is taller than many! As for his adjusted age...let's just say he's a bit of a brute compared to his developmental peers!  Not too shabby for a 4-pound preemie!  Note the obvious size difference between the two babies, prompting many people to ask, "Twins?" when we are out in public. When I say yes, they often point out, "But that one's so much bigger!"  As if I hadn't noticed ;)

More fun facts...


Clothing size: 9 months
Diaper size: 3
Shoe size: between 1-2

Milestones:  Although Will is able to roll, he doesn't do it near as often as his sister.  Apparently he has decided to concentrate on perfecting his sitting skills instead.  In just a few days he has gone from sitting with support from us, to "tripod" sitting (supported by his hands on the floor in front of him), to balancing without touching the floor and reaching for toys.  We are so proud of him!  His favorite past time is hanging out in the jumparoo where he can burn off some energy, and we don't mind one bit because it is getting hard to hold onto him when he is in the mood to kick and flail his arms. During tummy time, he likes to "swim" with his arms and legs, so we think that army crawling may not be too far away.  Watch out world, here comes Will!


Food:  At Will's 6-month appointment, his pediatrician encouraged us to up his intake of solid foods because he is growing so fast and never seems to get full on formula alone.  Currently he eats 4 tablespoons of oatmeal cereal for breakfast, along with a fruit, and 4 tablespoons at dinner, along with a veggie.  He also drinks about 28 ounces of formula a day. Soon we will introduce a third solid meal and decrease his formula a bit more, but I'm not quite ready for him to grow up so fast!  He really enjoys eating and makes a constant "mmmm" sound the entire time we feed him. He also gets so excited to see the spoon coming that he opens his mouth wide and flails his arms.  It's super cute, but sometimes he ends up hitting the spoon and sending the food flying! So far we have tried pears, peaches, squash, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, and avocado.  He also likes to gnaw on some crusty bread from time to time.  We haven't found anything that he doesn't like yet!


Speech:  Will is a noisy kid! He laughs at just about everything, squeals, yells, and blows raspberries.  The only consonant sound I have heard him make so far is "m," but that is pretty typical for little boys!  The babies are going to make a great team as they get older...Sydney can do the talking, and Will can do the walking! Here is a video of my sweet boy laughing at Sophie the Giraffe...

And there you have it!  Will is such a jolly little guy, and is so fun to be around.  He pretty much loves everything and everyone, and lives his little life to the fullest!  Here are some pics of our chubby cherub...

There is no mistaking this is my child.

Always smilin'!

Another onesie bites the dust.

Sweet boy ;)

Excuse the 'do, I just woke up!