The boys started solids!

On Saturday the boys started solids. We opted to begin with oatmeal. It was very clear to me that the boys were ready to start eating food because they would grab at our food and watch us put food in our mouths while opening their mouth to give them some. It was actually pretty funny to watch and clearly it was time for them to try something new. All in all starting solids when pretty well. Liam made a few faces and spit out the first couple of bites, but after that he was off and ready to eat. We'd spoon up some of the soupy oatmeal and as soon as the spoon moved towards him he'd open his mouth wide, gum/chew, swallow and stare at the spoon/dish for more. Liam actually ate his entire dish of oatmeal and part of Silas' (less the little bit that was on his face and bib). Silas didn't seem to get the hang of it as quickly and kept spitting it out. Eventually Silas was able to eat some, but didn't seem nearly as interested as Liam. However, at one point Silas grabbed the spoon out of J's hand and acted as though he was putting into the dish of oatmeal. It was as if Silas wanted to feed himself. We were able to catch it on video and it was hilarious! At supper today the boys are going to try bananas and then tomorrow for breakfast they can have bananna oatmeal.

Liam's first experience eating oatmeal:




Silas' first experience eating oatmeal:

5 months old & Playdate

I'm a little late in posting these, but here are the 5 month photos of Liam & Silas:




We had a fun playdate at the park this week with Auntie K, her boys, and a dear friend and fellow blogger, Kris, and her boys:

Sleep, Solids, and "Totsicles"

Things are going very well on the sleep front! The boys go down quite easily after our nighttime bath, bottle, storytime routine around 7pm. They get up for one night feeding around 2-3am and then go back to sleep until around 7am. We feel quite fortunate for this and really can't take any credit for it. The day sleep is now starting to become more organized now too. The boys typically go down for their first nap of the day by 8:30am and sleep for two hours. They go down for their second nap around 12:30-1pm and typically sleep for 1.5-2 hours. In the late afternoon around 4-5pm they take a short nap around 0.5-1 hour. Although we did work on sleep training, I also feel that most of this success is attributed to the boys. After a couple of bad weeks of sleep training I gave up on coordinating the boys' schedules and put each baby down for a nap individually, which gives me the opportunity to do a little cuddling as part of our nap routine, and helps the boys go down for their naps. All in all I feel very fortunate to have such great little sleepers who as a result are quite happy, little boys!

In the next couple of weeks we are going to start solids. We got the go ahead from the pedi at the 4 month appointment, but have been waiting for the boys to tell us when they are ready. Also, I was hoping to hold off on starting solids until closer to 6 months given the new data that's out regarding allergies, childhood obesity, and diabetes. The boys are over 5 months now and are starting to seem interested in food. We've been putting them in their high chairs at the dining room table when we eat, so they can get used to sitting in them and because they like to be a part of everything now. Both of the boys have lost the tongue-thrust reflex and can hold their heads up well. Both seem to stare at our food when we are eating. Silas regularly eats 8oz at a feeding and doesn't necessarily seemed satisfied after the feeding. So, we feel that these signs are the boys telling us that they're ready to start some food and plan to get going on that in the next couple of weeks.

I plan to make baby food, particularly because of the bounty of fresh vegetables and fruits this time of year. I am considering starting with oatmeal and skipping the rice cereal, but our pedi told us we could skip cereal altogether and start with vegetables or fruits. A good friend recommended the following website: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. I'd love to hear suggestions and/or advice from all of you!

We have 3 embryos frozen at our reproductive clinic and had to decide if we were going to continue storing them (the first year of storage was included in our IVF shared risk plan). When we started IVF we opted to donate any leftover embryos to science because throwing them out seems wasteful and donating them to other couples is something that my husband isn't comfortable with. I thought I was 100% comfortable donating them to science (I am a scientist afterall), but here I sit unable to sign the forms to authorize the donation. It's not that we plan to transfer the embryos to anyone (me included) and have always planned to only have two living children, but I can't seem to let them go. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Liam and Silas were among the 5 blasts that resulted from IVF #2 and if things had been different they could've been one of the ones that was frozen and not transferred (blech that makes me sick to think about). I can't help but wonder about those three embryos ... I wonder who's among them? I wonder if there's a little girl among them? I wonder if I will regret letting them go? I told J that I needed a couple of weeks to wrap my brain around the reality that these three embryos will never have a chance. Deep down I know the fate of these three embryos, yet it still hurts my heart. Has anyone else struggled with this decision? Please share your experience with me.

On a more positive note I'll share a couple of photos of the boys...

Boys playing on the playmat:


The boys in their puppy robes after bathtime:



Fourth of July Parade: