Rowan and Scarlett,
I am LOVING this age! You two are just the sweetest, cutest pair and your personalities are really shining. You love your mama SO much and it makes me so happy that every time I come into the room, you absolutely light up, even if I haven’t been gone long! You both continue to be pretty laid back babies and are happy to go with the flow wherever we take you, as long as you’re fed. You are starting to interact and even play a bit with one another which is pretty cute!!! I already can see your twin bond forming!
You guys are both SO mobile! We’ve given up on the milestone blanket photos because it’s just impossible with both of you squirming and sitting up and crawling around. You are crawling all over the place and love to explore. Scarlett has been pulling up to standing for about a month now and mid-month Rowan also started to pull to stand. You guys both did it for the first time in the crib but now you pull up on everything and Scarlett even sometimes lets go and practices standing for a second. Scarlett also does some very mild cruising, nothing crazy (yet). You’ve both figured out how to climb one stair but you haven’t tried any more than that. And unfortunately with being so mobile you no longer really want to hang out in your playpen – you just want to explore! But we still use the playpen for your safety at times. Changing your diaper or getting you both dressed is a fight every time because you do NOT want to stay still.
You both are babbling, though Scarlett is much more vocal. Scarlett says “dada” and “mamamamama”, but mostly just gibberish and nothing intentional of course, though sometimes it does sound like she’s saying words. Rowan babbles too, but communicates much more with grunts and whines and generally cries less when she bumps into things, but fusses more before naps and bedtime. Scarlett is more sensitive to physical bumps or falls and cries harder, but is easier to fall asleep and rarely cries in the crib. 
You both still sleep through the night and have consistently since you were 5 months old (you can read our 5 month twin sleep schedule here and I’ll get an 8 month sleep schedule posted soon). We now have a wonderful bedtime routine where your dad and I put you to bed in your cribs and then your dad plays the ukulele and sings and your sister has a dance party and/or plays her own ukulele for you. I just sit in the rocking chair and soak it all in, sometimes singing along. I absolutely love our nighttime tradition and it makes me so happy! On bath nights we put all 3 of you in the bath at the same time now and you both love splashing around with your sister (Scarlett used to not like baths but you’ve come around). You are taking 2 naps some days and 3 naps other days, it all depends on how early you wake up and how long the naps are. Your awake time now can stretch to up to 3 hours though I still try to keep it at 2.5 hours before the first and second nap.
You both LOVE food so much. We’ve started giving you three meals a day and you are loving it. We are doing Baby Led Weaning, meaning we give you soft solid table foods instead of purees, but for lunch or on the go you will get a baby food pouch, which you guys really love. I try to buy the ones with foods that you don’t regularly eat so that you’re getting a wider variety of nutrients. You guys are eating so much that you are drinking less formula, but I make sure to feed you your milk before you eat a meal since I know you still need it! Scarlett will eat anything but we’ve found that Rowan, you have started becoming more particular about foods and showing clear preferences (LOVE avocado, not a huge broccoli fan, who can blame you!?).
Some fun firsts from this month: First (real) time on the swing for both of you (Scarlett did sit in the swing once before but didn’t really swing), first Turkey Trot (your dad pushed Siena in the stroller and I pushed you two and ran with my friend Asia), first time meeting Santa, first trip to the zoo and first time in daycare (at the YMCA gym – Rowan loved it, Scarlett had some separation anxiety at first).
This holiday season has been so wonderful with you two in our family! We love you so much!
Love,
Mama
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