The Foerster Four: My babies are almost a year old (in denial)?

I do not believe it. I seriously don't! How did this happen? Why am I already planning a birthday party? This is INSANE! Everyone always tells you it will go by fast, blah blah blah, but they are SERIOUS!

So I never did a 10 month update, things have been crazy around here. The kitchen is FINALLY done, and I have two mobile babies. So that is what in a nutshell has been going on here the last two months!

Leyton is in to everything. When he is awake, I have to shut all the doors in the house because he zips from one room to the next and is chewing my shoes or splashing in the dog water before I know it. He does a serious 4 point crawl, and pulls up on just about everything. One day when I was sick last week I thought it would be time consuming for him to try to figure out how to get around the coffee table to eat all the puffs I had laid out. I thought it would take him some time, just a few more minutes that I could rest before having to distract him again, it only took him about a minute to figure out how to get around the corners. It is just amazing how fast they learn. At our developmental check up last week, Leyton was on target for a baby his age with his gross motor skills, meaning his crawling, pulling up, transitioning from crawl to sit, etc. He scored right at his adjusted age on his fine motor skills. He likes to go after our electronics, and is starting to learn what "no" and "get down" mean, since he is always pulling up to play with all the boxes under the TV. Leyton is very good at feeding himself finger foods, and he loves to do it too! He likes to feed himself banana, mango, kiwi, cheese, PUFFS. He's not too much in to the turkey baby meat loaf I made him. Oh well. He is for sure the pickier of the two. He doesn't like pureed meats that I have made, quinoa, raspberries, blueberries, but he LOVES spinach like his cousin Riley. I snuck some chicken last night with spinach and he ate about half of it before he figured it out.

Parker is finally moving forward! He "leap frogs" like Leyton used to. It's so cute to watch him follow Leyton. Parker went from stuck on the playmat to exploring the whole house in a weeks time. I swear it took Leyton longer to learn there was more beyond the living room! He will follow me if I leave the room too. He is a little sweetie. No matter where he is or what he is doing, if we both stop and make eye contact, he smiles ear to ear and sometimes squeals. I love how he recognizes me and shows me that he is a mama's boy. He loves to talk. We squeal and yell back and forth and he thinks its just the funniest thing. He also squeals at himself in the mirror. He wants so badly to pull up, but he's not quite there yet. He will stand if I put him up to something. Parker is a more at his adjusted age for his gross motor skills. Apparently since he can't technically do a 4 point crawl, he's not crawling. Oh well, soon. He did score better than Leyton on his fine motor skills shockingly! He's not big on feeding himself. He kind of makes a face when we stick finger foods in his mouth and I think it is because he is still having some swallowing issues. He practices every day though, and is getting better about trying to put things in his mouth. About a month ago he'd just swat at whatever was on his tray, then he started to just pick it up, and now he is attempting to feed himself. He really likes to eat the baby mum mum's (the big rice stick things) and whole cheese sticks. I was supervising him the first time I gave him a whole cheese stick, and he was trying to bite big hunks off, so I took it away to cut it in strips going lengthwise so he wouldn't bite off a big clump and choke, and he FREAKED when I took it from him! He really likes them. I bet he wishes he could gnaw on all his food. He has been eating his bottles alright, and yesterday was unusually hungry. Mommy likes when he's hungry! I was afraid he was going to lose weight again since he's more active, but he seems to be making up for it by eating more.

Last week at their developmental appointment Parker weighed 14 lbs, and Leyton was 17 lbs. Both of them are underweight for their adjusted age. Unfortunately my kids are smart and cannot be fooled by simply sneaking extra calories. I have a feeling they're always going to be tiny boys until they get to high school (why am I even thinking that far ahead!!!) Both of them are babbling and talking a lot. They both say "mama" and "dada" A LOT but we're not 100% convinced they know how to use it. They will sometimes repeat us if we say it. Both of them clap their hands when we say YEAH. It is so cute. They are interacting a lot more now too. They will squeal and yell at each other, and laugh at each other. They like to touch each other too, and pull on the occasional ear, face, whatever.

They truly are sweet amazing little blessings, and I DO count them, several times a day. I know how lucky I am to have both of these boys here, and still alive and thriving. I see so many infant loss and death stories these days. These boys survived their gestation miraculously, and I am lucky and blessed each passing day that I get to hold them in my arms. Count your blessings everyone.