His expression says enough already.

On the day the boys were born our friend Mark Freer visited us at the hospital. His advice was for us to take a picture of the boys every day of their lives beginning that day one. He said the recent advent of affordable digital photography allowed for multiple photographs without the expense of film and development. All we needed was computer memory cards. Embracing his idea, we have already taken almost 4,000 photos in their first seven months. Sometimes with twins you have to snap the same shot 30 times in an effort to get one with both boys looking at the camera. Sometimes Trey and Benji are tolerant of this activity and sometimes, not so much.

Sittin’ In the Morning Sun

There’s a time every morning after breakfast when the boys are in great spirits. They’re rested and fed and full of energy. In the past they would lie on their back on the activity mat, or bouncy seat, and scream with joy, kicking their legs and waving their arms. Now that they can sit up, so much more activity is open to them. Mom and Dad can now sit them on the floor and surround them with several toys. This new position allows them better room vision and choice toy access. You can tell they enjoy this by the laughter and jabbering they do. Then, like toys with batteries drained, they’ll fuss a little before exhaustion takes them to nap time.

Toe biting experience

You caught me Daddy. I’m biting my toenails again. I’m sorry. I know you told me not to, but I’m nervous and I always bite my toenails when I’m nervous. I’ve been watching the clock for feeding time and it’s only five minutes away and no one is moving towards the kitchen to make the bottles. I’ve been whining for 45 minutes now to let you know that dinner time is approaching, and my lobbying efforts have gone ignored. This whole feeding business is very stressful. Sometimes we have to throw an absolute fit to remind you to feed us. And other times, when there’s only one of you feeding us, you choose Benji to go first. That boy eats slower than peeling paint. Patience is not my virtue.

Taking a different view on the world

Our little boys have met yet another milestone; they both can sit up unassisted. Trey Davey’s approach is to sit up very straight with his strong back. In this position he was a little unstable at first, but as his abdominal muscles strengthen his balance has improved. Benji boy’s posture isn’t quite as proper, but his initial balance was much better. He prefers a forward leaning, hand steady on the ankle approach. The down side to this method is when he loses his balance he does a foreheader on the floor. Both boys noticeably enjoy discovering the world more from a seated position.

Jump, Jump, Jumparoo

When four month old Cousin Levi visited Owensboro in 2006 his parents brought his jumparoo. This was a toy he enjoyed continually during his stay. So impressed was Daddy Dave that he wanted to purchase one for his boys since before they were born, but was urged to wait. When the twins turned four months old, everyone agreed the time was right to buy a jumparoo. Various brands and models were considered before a Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper was selected. It is both a stationary jumper and an entertainer with four activity stations surrounding the baby. The seat swivels 360 degrees and is adjustable for 6 height settings. Both boys love playing on this gear and often continue the jumping motion after exiting the toy, which can be deadly to your lap and things.

So long peace and quiet

We have two Fischer-Price Rainforest Waterfall Peek-a-Boo Soothers, one for each boy’s crib or playpen. A cousin to our beloved 'magic mirror' in the car, this device also uses soothing music and lights to soothe babies to sleep. The boys love to watch the glowing waterfall gently cascading into the pool where there’s a playful, bobbling fish. A monkey and frog also play peek-a-boo in the leaves. We can set it to run 18 minutes, which is usually long enough to put them to sleep. Once it automatically shuts off, the house becomes incredibly quiet. So imagine my surprise the other day when I heard the toy suddenly begin playing. As I was home alone with the boys, my thoughts immediately jumped to burglars or ghosts. Instead what I found was music lover Benji figured out how to turn on the soother with his foot. The house will never be peacefully quiet again.

Pillow Forts are fun for a while

The guys are pretty high maintenance right now. Their mental development has bosomed to the point that they are constantly searching for new things to explore. Unfortunately their attention span is pretty limited, so they tire of new things quickly and seek the next discovery. If they were mobile, they could explore the room for themselves, but since they are not, they require our assistance. This makes it hard for their caretakers to get anything else done, like the dishes or writing a blog. The other day we decided to build a pillow fort on mommy and daddy’s bed with the intent of hemming them in while Daddy folded the laundry. The toys provided just enough entertainment for one load.

Cutting teeth is no picnic

Benji has become very, very fussy. This is extremely uncharacteristic for this sweet child. His moods have begun to swing quickly from giggles to cries. He has his hands constantly in his mouth, usually along with a bib or blanket. And there is a lot of drooling. We suspected teething but found no evidence of gum swelling. Babies can cut teeth anytime between three and 12 months, but the seventh month is the average time of arrival. Our babysitter Carol bought the boys Orajel and teething rings when Davey began showing the same symptoms. These treatments seem to provide them some temporary relief for their discomfort. It could take two to three months before their first tiny teeth may appear. For all of our mental heath, we hope it won’t take that long.

Asleep at the plate

Mom and Dad keep giving us activity toys requiring kicking, jumping, reaching and dancing. How am I supposed to keep growing and gaining weight if I’m burning all of my calories playing? The folks are relentless about advancing our physical development. We do all these exercises to build our muscles. Look at my thighs; they look like cannons and are as hard as steel. The parents are constantly encouraging us to sit up, crawl, stand and walk. Do they know how much energy it takes to do all those things? I’ll tell you the truth, being a baby is exhausting.

Natural Born Sports Fans

The boys love watching sports and any one will do. They certainly don’t get this devotion from their mother, who is happily resigned to the fact that her boys will require her to become a sports fan. While Daddy Dave enjoys watching sports, his commitment is mostly limited to UK football and basketball and the Chicago Bears. Granddaddy Edds is more of a sports fan, but he focuses on the big three; baseball, basketball and football. Our boys are not yet so selective; they like everything including hockey, soccer, NASCAR and thoroughbreds. They seem attracted to the bright colors and movement. If they think the players are interesting, wait until they discover the cheerleaders.

Cross my ankles and hope to dine

Cousin Levi Edds is 16 months older than our twins. Every time he visits we receive insights into our boys’ future developments. One noticeable characteristic he has is the cute way he crosses his ankles. Whenever he sits, he crosses his ankles, always right over left. Last weekend we noticed Trey Davey crossing his ankles. Fascinated by this new trick, he did it all the time, even when standing and playing in the walker. If he wasn’t unstable enough while standing, crossing his ankles didn’t improve his balance. This weekend Benji discovered the joys of ankle crossing, and now he practices it all the time even when enjoying a water bottle.

Mystery Angels

Sandy and I haven’t been out much without the boys. One problem has been the twins are very demanding at this stage and a handful for babysitters. This week Owensboro is holding the International Mystery Writers Festival, and we purchased tickets for four consecutive evenings of live theater. The Edds Grandparents agreed to watch them two nights, our friends’ daughters, Kaitlyn and Erin Ford watched them one night, and our friends, the Freers, watched them last night. Originally we asked Taylor Freer and a friend to baby-sit. Taylor chose her mother Tammy to help, but her daddy Mark and brother Ryan wanted to join them too after soccer practice. When we returned, all Freers were smiling, and both boys were peacefully sleeping.

Proud Daddy of Two

Daddy Dave was exceptionally spoiled on his first Father’s Day. Among his gifts were two special t-shirts indicating proud daddyhood. Of course the gifts were purchased and the greeting cards were signed by Sandy on the boys’ behalf. At only six months old they can’t yet appreciate or participate in this holiday…or can they? It may be a coincidence, but both boys slept through the night that night without their usual 2 am-ish feeding. This gave Dad a very special and personal gift – a full, uninterrupted night of sleep. It didn’t happen in the nights leading up to Father’s Day and it hasn’t happened since, so I choose to believe it was their way of saying “we love you Daddy!”

Baby Bootcamp

We are so fortunate to have Carol Cox watching our boys in the mornings. Her enthusiasm for our twins is abundant and contagious. All three of her nearly-grown sons were a bit jealous of this infant bond at first, but after visiting our house and playing with Davey and Benji, they too have become attached. Another visitor, John’s girlfriend Carly, admitted she knew little about babies, so Carol invited her to spend a few mornings baby-setting with her so she could become familiar with infant care. Should Carly and John marry and begin a family, they’ll have a higher likelihood of having their own twins as John is also a twin. Our boys will have her ready.

Let the child proofing begin

As the boys are becoming more mobile they are teaching us that we can’t take our eyes off them for even a few seconds. Sandy popped out of the room a few paces to get supplies from the nursery and to her astonishment found when she returned that Benji had rolled out of his bouncy seat onto the floor. Apparently he had done this without hurting himself or even making a noise. He was quite proudly reviewing the brochure she had set down before leaving the room. We now make it a policy to secure their bouncy seat belts so they can’t escape anymore and hide our credit cards in case Benji wants to purchase something from the brochure.

Happy Father’s Day

Edds men have often fathered children late in life. By today’s standards, Daddy Dave was an extraordinary 44 years old when he became a father to the twins. Granddaddy David, Sr. was a more common 23 years old when his first born, Daddy Dave, Jr. was born. By contrast, Great Granddaddy Bertie was 49 years old when Granddaddy David was born, his sixth of seven children (56 when his youngest was born). And Great Great Granddaddy Aretus was 54 years old when his thirteenth child, Great Granddaddy Bertie, was born. If you're counting that’s going back 171 years in just five generations, making the average Edds father’s age 43. So, maybe I wasn’t that extraordinarly old after all.

They’re going to pump us up

Last Christmas Grandmother Ondra complimented Uncle Steve on his shoulder muscles’ definition and asked him if he had been going to the gym and lifting weights. “No” he said, “I’ve been staying at home and lifting a 30 lb baby” (Cousin Levi). Well, we know the feeling in stereo. As the boys grow, their mother and I have been building very impressive arm muscles. Imagine carrying one, sometimes two, 20 lbs weights wherever you go. Then add wiggles and giggles, and you can imagine the exercise we’re getting toting the twins around town. If they don’t learn to walk on their own soon, Sandy and I will look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Cribbage makes good neighbors

The boys’ ever increasing size and mobility required we add a second crib to their bedroom. Both have grown too long to sleep across the short end of the crib, and both can now turn over on their bellies. Davey especially prefers sleeping on his tummy now, while Benji has become a side sleeper. Because all this restless sleeping causes them to become tangled in their blankets, increasing the possibility of SIDS, we have begun dressing them in sleeper outfits, which provide the same warmth as blankets without tangling. While we may have solved the blanket problem, they still regularly tangle their arms and legs in the side bars. Boys will be boys.

Set two more places at the table

Our maturing boys have grown increasingly discontent with the inferior dinner placement of their car seats in a baby sling or sitting on the floor. They have recently been literally demanding a seat at the table. For the last several weeks Mom and Dad have tried to compromise by sitting the boys on their laps during meals. Holding the boys with one arm left only one hand for eating dinner, a poor arrangement. We thought they needed to be able to sit up on their own before they could use high chairs, but found with seat belts they could master the chairs just fine.

Their First Baseball Game

The night after we returned from Florida we went to Jack Hicks’ Field to see the first round of the boys’ regional high school baseball tournament. The Owensboro Red Devils played the Daviess County Panthers. Our next door neighbor, Jacob Roberts, is a phenomenal athlete. Just in the 8th grade, he is already the starting shortstop for the OHS varsity baseball team. He will surely be a star of the future. We felt this was a good opportunity for the twins to attend their first sporting event. Maybe when Jacob plays in the major league they’ll be able to say they have been following his career all their lives.

His face says it all

Trey Davey has a ferocious appetite. He’s always hungry and attacks his milk bottles like a person who needs water quickly after applying too much extra spicy sauce to his hot wings. So we wondered how he would take to solid foods. We began adding rice to the boys’ bottles to orientate them to the taste before spoon feeding it to them. This continues to be a common expression to our attempts as he learns to open his mouth for the spoon, process food with texture and swallow it. The new addition of puréed green beans hasn’t changed his expression and hasn’t yet contributed to him sleeping all night. Maybe by the time we progress to Spaghetti O’s he’ll be smiling.

There’s a party going on right here

Our friend Dawn Beckgerd came to visit Saturday and volunteered to watch the boys while Sandy grilled dinner and I scrubbed the porch furniture. We missed the party though. DawnyB sang the boys lots of fun songs and made up hand motions to go along. The twins loved her and the songs and squealed with joy. They kicked their legs and waved their arms, rocking their bouncy seats. Before long they’ll be mobile and running around the room during Dawn’s parties.

First half-birthday desserts are not as exciting

Nothing says traditional birthday dessert like puréed green beans. Ok, Benji got jipped this time, but it’s just his first half birthday. The boys are just beginning to eat solid foods and are not yet ready for cake and ice cream. Benji’s a little more advanced in the solid food department, and he’s progressed to green beans while Trey is still perfecting rice and oatmeal. Experts suggest parents introduce solid food one at a time to measure any allergic reactions. Children start by sampling each vegetable over time before progressing to fruits. This is because once babies taste the sweeter fruits; it’s hard to get them to eat veggies. By the time their first full year birthday rolls around, they’ll be ready for the sweet stuff.

Ever seen a Flying Swami?

Trey Davey baby has been rolling over on his belly for about a month now. He loves the trick and does it all the time. Now when he’s sleepy, he’ll always roll over on his tummy to sleep. Because we can’t stop him from doing this, we’ve begun to dress him in warm clothing and remove the blankets from hise crib to eliminate the SIDS issue. When he’s awake, he also rolls over on his belly. Maybe inspired by Granddaddy Jim, he likes to make like an airplane, laying on his belly and holding out his arms while lifting his legs. Here he is doing it while we’re trying to towel him off after his bath.

Boys' Growth Amazing!

The difference in these two outfits helps illustrate how both boys have grown almost 10 inches longer and tripled their birth weight. At today’s six month exam Momma wouldn’t let Daddy feed the boys prier to tipping the scales to boost up their weight, and even ask for a diaper change. This was fortuitous as Trey had a very wet diaper that weighed 8 ounces by itself. With a light diaper he still weighed 19 lbs 7 ozs. This put him in the 82 percentile for six month old boys. What was really amazing was his length of 29 inches, which was off the scale putting him in the top 5%. Benji weighed in at 18 lbs 10 ozs (74 percentile) and measured 27.5 inches putting him in the top 16%.

Birthday Benchmark Photo – 6 months old

Happy half birthday to you, happy half birthday to you, happy half birthday dear Trey and Benji, happy half birthday to you. It’s hard to believe that our baby boys are already six months old. We photograph the little guys monthly in the same chair to benchmark their rapid changes. Flip back on this blog to the fifth day of each month and check out their amazing growth. Clearly, they grow longer and heavier by the day. Our six month baby doctor visit is tomorrow and it will be interesting to see how much the boys have officially grown since their four month checkup.

Let’s do a Toga Party

Today Benji and I are 26 weeks old and tomorrow is our six-month birthday. Many children who have birthdays around Christmas feel cheated because both events come so close together. Mama said that in Kansas City some of her friends with December birthdays celebrated half-year birthdays instead. This separates the holidays and gives them an opportunity for outside birthday parties during warmer months. Mom and Dad haven’t decided if they’ll adopt the half-year birthday policy for us yet, but if they do I’m thinking that summer is a great time for a Toga Party.

Bottling Supervisor

We go through a lot of bottles of baby formula. Each day each boy consumes six bottles consisting of six ounces of formula each. Recently we began adding a couple of tablespoons of rice to each bottle as a more solid food introduction. The texture of the rice requires a #3 nipple, which has a larger hole to allow for the thicker fluid. Occasionally one of the older #1 nipples will find its way on a milk bottle and quite literally create a feeding bottleneck. The boys’ fat cheeks will implode with strained sucking like people’s do when they’re trying to consume thick milkshakes through soda straws. With so many things to remember when operating our kitchen bottling plant, we often find ourselves supervised in our work.

New Reader Poll: Vote for your favorite nursery rhyme

As long time young single professionals, Sandy and I were not exposed to much infant music. Now, of course, we are constantly surrounded by all things baby, and we are becoming reacquainted with a number of forgotten childhood tunes. The melodies are vaguely familiar, but the lyrics, if ever known, are all largely forgotten. Rediscovering these simple songs has been fun for us, and we thought choosing a favorite nursery rhyme might make a good topic for our monthly blog readers’ poll. One internet source listed 1,250 nursery rhymes, so we selected this committee (Will Clark, Alexi Mojsejanko, Catherine Clark and Benji) to choose a top ten. Cast a vote today in the right hand margin or your favorite.

Little Red Wagon voted readers’ favorite

Our blog readers voted little red wagons as their favorite baby transportation. Little red wagons were first built in 1917 by Italian immigrant Antonio Pasin. He began fashioning wooden wagons by night and selling them during the day. His company grew in the roaring twenties and continued to prosper despite the great depression. Modeling the automotive industry, Pasin began using mass-production techniques and metal-stamping technology to produce steel wagons, "For every boy. For every girl." Even in tough times parents dreamed of a better life for their children, and continued to demand the basic value that Radio Flyer delivered. This allowed Pasin’s company to become the world's largest producer of toy coaster wagons.