Halloween Pandas

Max and Sam dressed up as pandas for Halloween

Greetings Sam and Max aficionados! Much has happened since the last time I wrote about the boys. At the six month update I mentioned that Max appeared to be overcoming his sleep regression. Unfortunately, it was just the eye of the storm and it took two more weeks for him to finally settle down through the night. And, as luck would have it, a few nights ago Sam started with the same behavior of rolling onto his tummy and then being upset about it. There haven't been as many wake-ups with Sam, and since he's a few weeks older than Max was when he went through this phase, we're hoping that it passes quickly.

On a more positive note, Sam and Max are starting to eat solid food. We started them with bananas for a week, and then moved on to oatmeal. The idea is to give them a chance to get used to a particular food, and also have enough time to determine if there are any adverse effects. We'll continue to switch to a new food every week for a while until their consumption of solids increases. Babies continue to get most of their nutrition from milk (or formula) for their first year, and only then do they get more of their calories from other foods. Eating solid foods for now is mostly for the practice, and getting comfortable with the experience.

Here are some photos from the past several weeks.

Sam out and about

Sam looking handsome

Max trying his first spoonful of banana

Sam starting to enjoy the bananas

The bibs get messy rather quickly

Max and Sam after their first ever solid food

Mom in a festive fall sweater with Max on her lap

Dad sneaking up on Sam...

...and going in for the kill!

Don't be fooled, Sams hands are not doing any useful work here

I've heard that at some point babies are able to hold their own bottles during feeding, however Sam and Max aren't there yet. The boys are starting to grab the bottles more and more during their feeds, but it certainly doesn't help with the process.

Sam enjoying his sweater and hat from his Great Uncle Ted and Great Aunt Dorcas

Max hangin' out

Dad doubling up with Sam and Max

Dad doubling up again with Max and Sam

Sam wearing his sweater from our friends Savio and Jen

Dad doubling up a third time! So many Dad photos this time around.

Max and Sam with a cute case of oatmeal face

For the second week of solids we moved to oatmeal. We wanted to switch to something a little less sugary so the boys wouldn't only come to expect that all solid foods are as sweet as bananas. At first Sam and Max were suspicious, but they quickly grew to like oatmeal too.

Max sitting in the big comfy chair

Max and Sam getting ready for the photo shoot

As an aside, we didn't really do much for Halloween, except Amanda took the boys on a walk in their costumes with some friends, and we took these photos. In some ways it feels rather gratuitous, buying these outfits merely to take some photos. But on the other hand, quarantine life is weird, and we're only ever going to have six-month old twins at Halloween once, so spending a few bucks on these costumes to enjoy the moment and feel like the world is normal for a little while is worth it to us!

Max wiggling around

Sam and Max, showing some sly smiles

Max looking like he's been caught holding onto Sam's leg

A pleasant sunrise with a full moon

With the fall back time change, I've seen some sunrises again lately, which remind me of the many, many sunrises I saw during the summer when the boys still didn't sleep through the night. This photo is in the opposite direction of the sun (facing West). I though the sky looked neat, and the moon was a nice touch.

Sam and Max sharing a crib

Nakey Sam and nakey Max!