5 Month update

We got some of the proofs back from their photo shoot back in August, so I thought we'd start off this blog post with a few of them

Totally staged cuteness

Austin and Malia passed the 5 month mark on 10/11/12, and both have been doing well on their quest to catch up to their true age weight figures.  This Monday they went to the doctor for checkups and weigh-in, and Austin weighed in at 15 lb., 8 oz. and measured 24", and Malia weighed 10 lb., 12 oz. and measured 22.25."  These assessments put Austin at the 25-50 pctl and Malia at the 1st pctl for weight, and this is based on their true age - Not bad considering their corrected age is about 2.5 months old!  The doctor was pleased with their progress, yet still recommended we continue their higher calorie formulations for formula to ensure they keep pace with the growth charts.  Their eye checkup last week also checked out well, with their vision seemingly unaffected by their prematurity, what a relief!

Malia has nearly caught up to Austin in her feeding volume, taking about 130 cc's (or a little less than 4.5 oz) to Austin's 150 cc's (5 oz) a feeding.  That works out to about 75 oz. of formula a day, which means the formula mixing and bottle cleaning sterilization is definitely in full swing.  It also means that we're going through the formula tubs like they're going out of style.

Malia has definitely found her smile by now, and is showing her silly personality more and more every day.  Unlike Austin, she usually only smiles when she's interacting with you.  Austin is a ham like always, smiling and enjoying everything, especially people... unless he's hungry or tired.

We bought a couple of chairs for them, and here Cheryl was training Austin to support the weight of his head.  He's not quite there, but he'll be upright pretty soon!

Cheryl goes back to work this Thursday after almost 7 months after she was placed on bed rest.  There will undoubtedly be some apprehension and anxiety to leaving the babies for that many hours each day, but we're glad that they're doing well enough to pass their care to our family who will be watching them during the week.

We attempted to take some pictures for their 5 month milestone, but as usual when one of them was cooperating, the other was doing their own thing.  They're pictured in the outfits that we pulled out for their "gender reveal" during Cheryl's pregnancy.  It was hard to picture how they'd fill out these outfits, but I'd say they make a handsome pair!