Babbling, tummy-time, reaching for toes and toys...

Michael will absolutely not sleep on his back anymore. He first turns on his belly and then moves all around the bed, using all the space available! Sonja started turning laterally as well, I saw her last night while I sat in the room feeding Michael. Normally she likes to lie on the back and kick with her legs that the mattress shakes and makes so much noise as if a big kid is jumping on it! She's got strong legs, just like Nikolas when he was a baby. They don't mind tummy time anymore. Not that they enjoy being put down on their bellies by us and not by themselves, but when they are there they hold their heads upright and they reach for toys. That was a surprise last week... after a few days of no tummy time at all, I put them together in the crib and they both pushed upward in a perfect cobra pose, their necks completely vertical. And they didn't immediately begin to complain either.
Michael during tummy time (spit-up extra):

Sonja:

During diaper changes I started pulling them up from lying to sitting by their hands, and for the past week or so they've been strong enough to do it easily. Sonja would continue to push off with her legs to standing while she has the momentum :) Also, both can now reach their toes to play with them. Sonja did it first last week because I introduced her to her toes first when we were playing a couple of weeks ago.
The two had a long 'conversation' this morning for almost 45min before I came in to nurse them. Michael is great at making various sounds and pitches, and Sonja is catching up. She is still louder, although Michael is now showing more vocal strength than before.
Sonja dominates this video (Michael got camera-shy and stopped babbling):

Rolling, communicating...

Michael has been turning over for a week or two now, and Sonja is attempting to do the same. Today we watched her push over to one side trying to turn onto her belly (didn't succeed that time).
They both love being talked to and Michael likes to respond to every sound, while Sonja watches and then talks in bursts. Right now she's lost her voice again due to a cold. She is coughing a lot. Michael is catching it too, and Nikolas is so stuffy he can barely breathe at night.

Today the babies were very cute watching each other while Divna and I held them close together. Michael immediately reached his hands to touch Sonja and smiled at her, while Sonja watched him with a warm smile.

Here is Michael deep into his first book:

Nikolas and 3-months-old babies

Sonja and Michael are both now examining and playing with their hands and grabbing toys.
Their mouths are foaming, which is probably the sign of teeth moving through their gums. This hasn't made them cranky yet and hopefully it won't hurt like it didn't hurt Nikolas.
Michael has already turned from his back onto his belly one night, and the rest of the time he turns laterally by up to 360 degrees. Sonja is better at keeping her head up when we put her on her belly. Neither likes belly time yet.
Nikolas, our house comedian, says he won't nap because he had already slept today and woke up this morning. We took him to see Cirque Du Soleil on Mothers' Day. We all loved it, he was curious about the acrobatics, although towards the end he fell asleep as it was his nap time. One of his favorite phrases is 'it's funny'/'to je smijesno'. He has a good sense of humor, although when he pokes a baby it's really not that funny...but most of the time, we have to give him credit, like when he takes a funny fall, or dances funny, or twists words in a funny way on purpose, etc. He likes to dictate us around, and I'm not sure how to deal with that yet. From telling us where to sit and what to play with him, to what he wants to eat and what should go 'back to fridge'.
A typical dinnertime conversation:
'Nikolas, would you like some meat?'
'No, no meat for Nikolas.'
'Ok, mommy will eat your meat.'
'Noooo, that's Nikolas's meat! Meat for Nikolas!'
And then he smears everything around the tray or plays with pieces calling them trucks...
He has given us nicknames: mama-mimmi, daddy-diddy, Nikolas-diddy, baka-bibi, deko-mlijeko (milk)....

Pictures from a baby playdate:
A closeup of pensive Michael:

Nikolas and 2 1/2-month-old babies

Sonja used to be louder and used to grunt a lot, but she has mellowed down quite a bit and these days she spend most of the time eating and sleeping. When she is awake, she doesn't fuss much, and will spend 15-30min alone in the bed observing people or the mobile overhead (neither likes it when it turns and play music, only when one of us shuffles the hanging toys by hand) . She can even fall asleep on her own like that. Michael will talk to himself and look around, but eventually he'll get bored and cry to be picked up. He definitely spends more time awake. No wonder Sonja is surpassing his weight more and more, growing in her sleep. She now wears 6-month clothes size! She weighs about 13lb, and Michael 12lb.
They both smile at us widely, and wave their arms and legs when we show up above their crib.
Sonja is starting to notice her hands while she waves them in front of her face trying to stick a thumb in her mouth, and then she stops and checks them out like some toy.
Michael is still not too interested in his hands, but he loves the playmat and he stares at the toys hanging above him with more curiosity than Sonja does.

Michael:
Sonja:
Both like to suck on their thumbs--Michael on his left and Sonja on her right thumb:
Nikolas still skips most of the naps since he yanked the curtain rod out of the wall! We are trying to figure out another way to keep the sun out of his room that won't also give him another choice in house demolition! Even without naps he is so unbelievably full of energy, and constantly gives us near heart attacks as we watch him stand on his high chair, throw himself on the sofa head first with his legs so high that I always expect them to flip over his neck, etc.
He is now having fun with the language and just made up nicknames for all of us: daddy-diddy, mama-mimi, Nikolas-diddy, deko-mlijeko, baka-bibby... He is a pro at switching subjects to distract us when we criticize him: we'd say, Nikolas, did you just throw that toy close to the baby, and he'll point to the window and say, look, there is a bird outside, the bird is looking for a mouse to eat for dinner....he is so going to be a lawyer when he grows up....