A funny thing happened today when I had Julie on her stomach near Alex.  Alex very deliberately stuck his hand in her mouth.  It was the first time I've seen him look over at her and do something deliberate like this.  In the past they would occasionally grab the other one's arm or hand or bib (see 6 month photos for an example of Julie going for Alex's ear) if it happened to get in reach by accident.  How did Julie react?  She licked his fingers.  It was all very cute. 

 

 

What to do when twins get hungry at the same time?  I've tried a variety of different solutions to feeding them at the same time.  I've fed them in boppies or nursing pillows, I've fed them in bouncy chairs, I feed them in their high chairs, I've fed them both on my lap - one head on each arm of the chair, but my most recent tactic is to put them both on the pillow I normally use for one on the couch.  I have to be careful that the outside one doesn't fall off, but it seems to be working pretty well.  Marc walked in on me doing this, this week, so we now have proof that twins can be fed relatively easily at the same time.  The only worry is if one (not naming names, Alex) spits up when finished and you can't do much to stop it from going everywhere.  And, oh yes, I'm playing with fire in that picture... you'll notice there is nothing to protect the couch.  The problem is, when I feed them at the same time, it's because they are both complaining loudy (to put it nicely) that they are hungry.  I'm in a hurry to figure out a quick way to get bottles into both of their mouths.  I prefer to feed them one at a time if possible.

 

 

1/2 a year old.  It's hard to believe that we've had these little guys for 1/2 a year.  They've grown so much and learned so much during that time.

 

To celebrate, Julie laughed for the first time today.  She also sat up without assistance for a little bit.  Alex still needs some more core strength to sit up on his own.  Right now he just wobbles right back over.  Julie and Alex are also starting to figure out how to turn pages in a book.  Julie seems to be getting it a little faster than Alex, although she likes to turn pages both directions, so stories become quite long.

Marc was tickling Alex last night and he laughed for the first time ever!  Marc got him again this morning.

 

At the twins 4 month checkup the doctor had asked me if they were laughing yet, and I had to answer no.  He said, oh they'll start laughing in the next couple of weeks, so I didn't need to worry.  That was at the beginning of December.  So, after a couple of weeks, I was starting to worry a little bit.  But now, Alex has laughed and hopefully Julie will soon.  She's behind Alex in vocal development, but I'm sure it's coming.

I try to generally blog about Alex and Julie, but I thought I would break from that today to give a quick update on us. 

 

Today, Microsoft announced 5000 layoffs happening over the next 18 months and 1400 happening today.  Marc and I were not part of those layoffs and don't believe our jobs are in jeopardy.  Each division at Microsoft handles their budgets separately, so different groups took different approaches to cutting costs.  In my group, our research budget has been slashed and travel has taken a huge cut - this happened prior to today.  This effects me, but it just makes me more creative in how I have to do my job.  In my division, there were layoffs, but it sounded like it was mainly for redundant positions that happened when several groups came together under one umbrella.  Other groups got rid of entire products and good people that we know did get layed off.  I believe they'll be able to find other jobs though, but I still feel for what they are going through emotionally.  There are some groups that still have open headcount that are still actually open.  We've also seen vacancies get taken away.  As far as I have personally heard, the layoffs, while painful to hear about, were done intelligently, or at least intelligently enough.  It doesn't make it any less painful though to hear a friend that is now looking for a new job.  There's a lot of chatter on blogs about how Microsoft really botched this up, and maybe they're right that all 5000 should have been cut today, but I don't really know.  What I do know is that Marc and I both work on products that are doing well and have a good vision.  So, they are not groups that will likely get the ax in the future.  I think there will be angst across the company for the next 18 months or until the layoffs are generally done.  It's unfortunate that Microsoft came to this, but hopefully the company will refocus on its core and will come out the other side as a stronger company.

I've been back to work for a full 2.5 weeks.  I thought it would be an easy transition since Laure has been with us since September.  I know that she takes great care of the babies and I know I can totally trust her.  I worked 4 days in the office in December (2 days when I first got back, followed by two snow day, then a week off, then two days during the New Year week), and those were not too bad.  But, the first full week of being away every day in January hit me hard.  If I had the morning shift of watching the babies, I didn't see them at night.  If I went into work early, I only saw them for a few hours at night.  It was really, really hard.  I ended up getting a "nanny cam" which has definitely helped.  I originally got it when I read the reviews of back-up nannies... they keep a list at Microsoft of who's recommended and who's not.  It really freaked me out, so I was online researching nanny cams right away.  I got one that is pretty good (wilife system) and we set it up.  As we were testing it out, I realized it was really nice for me to check in to see what the babies were doing during the day and get a little "baby fix".  I think that helped me a lot in getting through the second week.

 

Well, now it's week three of being back to work full time and we have the backup nanny... The whole reason for the nanny cam in the first place.  She was on the recommend list at Microsoft after I turned down the first nanny they tried to give us that was on the avoid list.  Laure is off on vacation, and boy is this week ever making me appreciate her.  The nanny is fine, but certainly doesn't engage Julie and Alex in play like Laure does.  It's a good thing we have a lot of toys (exersaucers, jumperoo, kick toys, bouncy chairs, etc) to keep them occupied.  I also asked the nanny to do baby laundry and bottle washing (in the dishwasher) during naps, and she did... but she left all the laundry in the dryer and the bottles in the dishwasher at the end of the day.  It's not the thing I want to be doing at the end of a long work day.  I will be so, so happy when Laure gets back.  She is great!  The good thing that is coming out of this week is that I won't take Laure for granted now.  It also made me realize what other nannies/care givers could be like, and how fortunate we are.  Especially, since this nanny was on the "recommend" side of things.  I guess I was expecting too much - with all her nanny experience, I thought she would have new and innovative ways to engage in play, and Julie and Alex would do all sorts of new things this week.  Well, I think it's just a job for her and she just does the minimum to keep them occupied for the day.  Bummer that she ended up like this, but it will get us through the week.

 

Other news... this week was the first week that Julie slept through the night... until 2 nights ago.  She found her voice this week and loves to squeal just as Alex does.  This is fun during the day, but when she started doing it at 4 am, Marc and I weren't as pleased.  Instead of getting up though, we let her squeal for a while, about a half hour or so, and she finally settled and went back to sleep.  This has happened two nights in a row.  I really hope she gets over the thrill of squealing in the middle of the night.  You'd think this would wake poor Alex up, as they share a room.  However, he just sleeps right through. 

 

We're also in the middle of our first cold.  Alex is pretty congested, coughing and sneezing up phlegm.  Julie is also coughing some.  While it's just a mild cold really, I feel bad that there is nothing we can really do to make them feel better.  We have Alex back on the wedge so his head drains better at night and a humidifier to keep things draining, but otherwise, they're on their own to get healthy.  I also caught the cold, which really stinks.  I'm not sure how Marc has managed to stay healthy - he's very lucky.

We hit a major milestone this week!  Both, let me say it again, both Julie and Alex are sleeping through the night!  We are so happy!

 

It all started with Julie being distracted while eating, playing with the bottle in her mouth.  She wasn't eating her entire bottle and I didn't want to forcer her to eat more than she wanted.  Marc got tired of her messing around and taking forever to eat, so he started feeding her with a faster flow nipple.  We decided over the weekend to switch all the bottles over.  With that change, Julie had to concentrate on eating and actually started eating her entire bottle every meal.  With that, she then slept through the night and didn't get up for an extra feeding.  We were so happy for her.  Of course, the very night that Julie slept through, Alex was up in the middle of the night for an extra feeding.  TWINS!  Since he had been sleeping through the night for quite a while, we realized he definitely needed the extra food and started feeding him right before we went to bed and that got him through to the morning.  The last two nights we stopped the extra feeding for him and they both still slept through the night.  It is so much better now!

Alex was having fun in the Jumperoo while I was feeding Julie.  So, I grabbed the camera and caught a bit of the action.  He even gives a little squeal at the end.

I took Julie and Alex to the pediatrician to get their next round of shots.  Only two more months of that before they get a break.  Both of them did very well with very little crying over the shot.  I was surprised.  I asked the nurse to do a quick weight with their clothes on so we would know approximately what they weigh.  Julie weighed in at 15 lbs. 6.5 oz.  Alex weighed in at 15 lbs. 9.5 oz.  I thought they would be pretty close since I can't tell the difference any more when I pick them up.

Alex rolled over from front to back for the first time today!  I put him down for a nap on his back and found him on his stomach when he woke up.