Four Months

(Picture: Tummy time for Rowan and Gwendolyn)This girls are now almost 16weeks old. As I've mentioned in previous postings since their birth we have become mini celebrities. Everyone wants to stop and look at the girls and we get the same series of questions. The first question - or ice breaker is "Are they twins?" - sometimes I'm tempted to say NO to to see how they respond - but I realize they are just using this question to start the conversation. The second question is "Boys, girls or one of each" and then the third question, "Are they identical" and the fourth "How old"". Sometimes people go further and get a little more personal with "Cesarean or natural birth", "Breast or bottle".

The more recent question that people have been asking is "Do they have different personalities". The the answer is a resounding YES - and their personalities have been different since before they were born. Throughout my pregnancy Gwendolyn (or Beta as we called her prior to being born) was always flipping around - one week head down the next week head up. And she was constantly kicking. Near the end of my pregnancy when there wasn't enough room - it felt like she was curled up under my ribs constantly kicking and flipping around. Well she is the exact same now - constantly kicking and flinging her arms around. When we put her down on the activity mat, we have to keep an eye on her as she'll squiggle and wiggle all around the mat and sometimes off the mat or smashed against her sister. And she has this little impish look that tells us that once she figures out how to walk - she is going to be running everywhere (not walking because that will take to long).

Right now Rowan (previously known as Alpha prior to birth) is the talker of the two. She loves to babble and she uses her voice when she wants something - attention, food, etc. She is also the great thinker and very conservative when handing out smiles. However, when she does smile her whole face lights up and her mouth opens with this great toothless smile and squeals with delight.

The baby books talk about babies having different cries and that every parent will start to identify their cries and understand what they want. Well, I guess I'm not a very perceptive Mum - as all their cries sound the same to me which I translate to "Mum, I'm not happy so do something about it. Figure it out !!!" As an engineer, I'm very algorithmic about it.



If no to all the above questions then she must be tired - put her in the magic swing and send off to sleepy land. Unless magic swing is already occupied - then she must want to play with Daddy (because every great Engineer knows how to delegate). Ed has great techniques to sooth the girls that I can't seem to duplicate. He talks with them (he gets into great conversations with them where they both babble back and forth), dances with them (or to them) and when they are fighting going to sleep he strokes their head and slowly sends them off. (Picture: Gwendolyn in the magic swing)

However, these are their personalities right now but they are constantly growing and changing and it's fun guessing what they will grow up to be like.