Mid September Updates

September is a month of transition for the Anstey clan, as mama gears up to return to work on October 5th. We hired a nanny to be the boys' caregiver when that happens, and had her start working part-time this month. At first, I (Natalie) viewed this transition mostly from my perspective, and wanted to ease into being away from the boys after being with them all day, every day for three months. Then I realized that this will be a major transition for the boys too, especially since they've been nursing and night-sleeping so well that the only bottle they'd been getting (except for the occasional bottle from a nanny-babysitter) was their dream feed bottle. Getting them to take a bottle during the day (especially if I'm around) is much more difficult. So, it's been good to have this transition period to get them back used to bottles. A perk of having some nanny help: I can get out of the house and run errands or enjoy some quiet time to myself. I love my boys to death, but getting out of the house with them by myself has gotten much harder since they've gotten heavier. Another perk: she likes to dress Noah and Micah is cute outfits, whereas I would be okay having them spend all day in pjs/playwear. 

A fun development this month: the boys definitely recognize when Mitch comes home and greet him with happy smiles and squeals. They enjoy their playtime together as their day comes to a close, and we get ready for bedtime. Bedtime is generally still around 7 or 7:30, depending on how long they nurse to end the day. We think that Micah might be getting to drop his 10 pm dream feed, as he's only been taking about an ounce for the past few days.

Lastly, the boys have been taking three naps a day, totally about four hours. Usually a shorter first nap, then a longer middle nap, and a shorter third nap (might be longer if the middle nap isn't very long).  I've become less rigid in putting them down in their crib, because it's more important to me that they nap well. So, sometimes they might be in the crib, other times in the rock and plays, maybe their bouncers, maybe on me, and maybe comfortably propped in a boppy. If they're happy, I'm happy. :)