4 months old today!

The Becklets are 4 months old today!

We had a busy day which started at 6am. This seems to be the time that the babies like to wake up, much better than the 5am wake up time of a few weeks ago. We broke down and spent some money on room darkening blinds for their room which has helped tremendously. We have had a couple of days where they slept until 7am, but they are usually up between 6 and 6:30. We feed them around 7am and then play - usually on the floor activity mats. After the mats, we are in the swings which usually puts them to sleep. I am working on getting them to nap in their cribs. I can usually get at least one of them to sleep for a good hour or so in their crib, but have yet to get all 3 to nap at the same time in their cribs. They eat again around 11am and then we play some more - this time music with Mommy singing and dancing and some exercises on the floor. Singing and dancing is followed by another nap and another feeding at 3pm. By the time this feeding is done, Kevin is usually home from work so play time is all about Daddy and the babies. I usually take a break at this point in the day. I would love to say that I use this time to workout, but that is usually not the case, although I have been averaging twice a week on the treadmill which is really good for me. The babies usually take another catnap late afternoon and then eat again around 7pm. We have been putting them in their cribs before they fall asleep for the past week and they have been doing really well. We usually have to go in there 3 or 4 times but for the most part, we are just putting pacifiers back in their mouths and they are getting themselves to sleep.

Daniel is definitely a little ahead of the girls developmentally. He can sit in the bumbo seat or the bouncer and keep his head up. He will also put his weight on his legs if you hold him up. Anna and Kathryn are not quite there yet. I have to keep reminding myself not to compare the girls to Daniel. He is probably a good pound and a half to 2 pounds heavier than the girls. Daniel can also entertain himself a little bit more than the girls. We can sit him in the swing or in a boppy and he will sit and laugh or just look around. He really only gets fussy when he is really tired. Anna and Kate are a little more needy. Is this the stage they are in or because they are girls???

They are all smiling all of the time now and they are working on their giggles. Kate giggles more than Daniel and Anna and it is so cute. I have been trying to capture it with the video camera, but she stops as soon as I turn the darn thing on. I will keep working on getting some video because it is just too cute.

Aunt Mollie and I took them to have their pictures taken today. We went to Portrait Innovations and they did surprisingly well. We were able to get some really cute pictures of the babies individually and together. By the end, they were beat. The girl taking their picture wanted to keep going but we had to stop. The last few shots, they were all crying and ready to go. Here are some of the proofs - notice my pretty foot in the bottom picture.