Gosh, I’ve been meaning to write this forever ago and am forcing myself to finally do it now before I completely forget what July looked like!! This month the boys started babbling and cooing a lot more, which was pretty much the cutest thing ever, and became much more expressive!! Micah learned to roll from his back to his tummy at the very end of June and was an obsessive rolling fool all throughout July! You could not stop the kid from rolling! That also helped him seriously improve his neck strength and tummy time – yay! They also learned to reach for things and were loving their activity mat this month!
We made the big switch and went from me co-sleeping with the boys in our king sized bed, to moving them to their cribs across the hall from our room on July 8th (just short of the 4-month mark) so James could come back to bed with me instead of sleeping in the guest room like he had been for the past 4 months! Ah! I had SUCH a hard time the first night I moved the boys to their cribs… probably more so than they did! I cried after I put them down and went to bed by myself. (It probably didn’t help I decided to make the transition when James was visiting his mom for a long weekend – so I was all alone in bed!) I just couldn’t help but think about how quickly time had gone and how I’d never have these tiny babes in bed next to me anymore. I loved waking up to them babbling in bed and opening my eyes to see their big gummy grins smiling right at me. It truly was the best, but I knew it was best for all of us to get a little space for sleeping better as a whole – not to mention – the boys were starting to move a lot more and I knew we needed a crib to keep them contained soon enough!
Also that month the 4-month sleep regression hit like no joke! Whew!! The boys were refusing naps like it was their job and we were spending all our time trying to get them to sleep! And if you were outnumbered when they were both tired and needed to be put down – forget it! It was Meltdown City because you couldn’t hold and rock them both at the same time because they were not interested in sharing!! (I would leave to go to shoot engagement sessions at sunset and come home to two very overtired and angry babies that had been yelling at their dad all night and refusing to sleep. I felt so guilty leaving James to deal with that and so guilty that the boys were so tired but couldn’t sleep!! Mom guilt is real, you guys!!) Things got reeeeeally tough for a while that month and we eventually ended up deciding to sleep train. The truth was that the boys were crying no matter what we did – all the nursing, rocking, and cuddling in the world couldn’t settle them and everybody was falling apart around here on nearly no sleep. Our main goal was to get the boys so they could go back to being able to fall asleep awake in bed on their own (as they had been doing for a while but seemed to forget completely how once they hit the sleep regression!), and so that if they woke up to nurse in the middle of the night – I could put them back in their cribs after and they would go right back to sleep (instead of screaming bloody murder at us for hours in the middle of the night). We did the 3-Day Sleep Solution modified a tiny bit – since we still swaddled one arm of the boys so they felt secure and also so Micah couldn’t continually keep rolling to his tummy and getting stuck/yelling.
It was honestly soooo hard for me to do, but I knew in our case it was what was best for the boys so they could go back to sleeping well and we could get our happy babies back!! The truth is – they were crying if we were holding them or not – so we might as well let the crying be productive so they would learn to sooth themselves to sleep in general and during periods of sleep transition.
The good news is that we made it through!! The boys were better rested and seriously different babies after remembering how to sleep again!! We were able to do our bedtime routine (lotion, bottle & bedtime) and put them down drowsy but awake and they went to bed! And we were able to do the bedtime routine solo if need be, which meant no more screaming babies when I got home from evening shoots!! If they woke up in the middle of the night they went right back to sleep after eating (which was so amazing). And last but not least – they learned to sleep through each other’s noises and cries – which was amazing! We didn’t have to immediately sprint to the nursery to snatch up whatever baby was crying so as not to wake the other anymore because they were used to each other’s sounds and could manage to sleep through each other’s chatter.
It was a tough month of sleep fighting and sleep training – but ended with us having a much better routine and more rested babes. And honestly – it’s hard for me to even remember what those days were like because they seem so far away now! So if you’re in the thick of it right now – hang in there – it gets better!!!! Anyway – let me know if you have any questions – I’m more than happy to help or give our experience! Now – let’s get to the pictures already!! Here’s July behind the scenes!!
- Our happy little babes at the start of the month when they were still sleeping (and dancing) like champs!
- The boys got to meet their Auntie Sara and her crew!!!
- Micah always giving the side eye – even when nursing! lol
- Home for the 4th of July in Wisconsin and enjoying a little day with friends!!
- Watching the parade with dad from the store window!
- My babes and me!! So happy!
- All the cousins together!! So sweet!
- Napping with daddy when we were trying to get sleep however we could!!
- The one year anniversary (7/7/2015) of when we transferred these two perfect embryos that turned into these two perfect babies!
- Tummy time improvements – slowly but surely!
- Gabe isn’t so sure about things. haha.
- I introduced Micah to the lions I bought them before they were born. Safe to say he liked it! 😉
- Micah’s infatuation with his brother continues, as does Gabe’s indifference. LOL.
- Trying everything to get these boys to sleep – including Zipdee Zips. They worked (kind of) momentarily.
- After a ROUGH night of very little sleep for all of us. Oy.
- Gabe heard we were going to try sleep training and this was the look he gave me!
- Cuties reading their book together!
- The start of sleep training – these two were in it together. So sweet.
- I know Micah man, we all love Gabe’s hair!
- Always grabbing onto daddy’s finger.
- The morning after the 2nd day of sleep training – much better rested and MUCH happier babies!!
- Everybody says how happy the boy are all the time and my response is, “They really are so happy!! Except when they’re not. Then look out!” Here is Gabe after a meltdown over getting changed out of pajamas, I’m pretty sure. 🙁
- It begins! Ah!
- Chloe wanted in on the bedtime routine. hahaha
- I just wanted to remember what they looked like at this stage – pretty little unique eye color and all.
- I worked out! For the first time since having the boys! I found out I was seriously out of shape! WOW.
- Extreme close up.
- The shirt says it all… 😉
- Happy babies after a good night of sleep! YEAH!
- My cuddle bug.
- Teaching them the art of a proper selfie. lol.
- My boys!! OH MY WORD.
- Gabriel couldn’t hang at bedtime. Oh, and sometimes he falls asleep with his eyes open. Not creepy at all, Gabe. Not creepy at all.
- Micah man couldn’t hang either. Sleepy little guy and his beautiful lashes.
- Gabe attempting a roll with his big ol’ head. Awww. haha
- Never too early to read!!
What a beautiful month, no matter how hard it was! I cannot believe how time is flying and I need to get August up soon too – since it will be October already this weekend! WHAT?! Ah! Happy Monday, loves! xoxo
