Monday, April 7, 2008

April 7, 2008

Emily has said her first word and we are hoping that it won't be an omen of things to come.  It is... drumroll please... "uh oh!"  She is SO cute when she says it.  She makes a really big "O" with her mouth and really accents the sounds.  At first she was almost growling when she said the "oh" part.  She really watched us when we were saying it at first to try to get it right.  Now whenever she hears us or anyone else say "uh oh" she will repeat it and she will use it sometimes on her own if she falls down or drops a toy.  I think that we might say that Bethany's first word was "ma ma," although I am still debating whether or not that is the case.  She uses that when she wants me, but she also uses it for lots of other things.  She doesn't repeat it yet when you say it so I think we might wait and see whether or not she will pick another word as her "first" real word.   

Bethany can stand for a fairly long time now without holding on to anything and she can pick up toys with both hands and hold them while standing (with no other hand holds).  She will also use the push/walk toys to walk across the playroom.  She is beginning to cruise around furniture and can bend her knees to sit down.  Emily can pull up to stand and let go to sit on her rear end, but she hasn't figure out how to let go and still stand yet or bend her knees.  She will also cruise around the furniture and will try to walk across the room if you give her your fingers to hold.

I put shoes on them for the first time on Sunday and they were really funny about it.  Bethany would not stand up in the shoes.  She would lean way back on her feet if you helped her to stand and she tried to eat the shoes off.  Emily didn't seem to care at first, but later on in the day she was in her car seat banging them together or tapping her foot on the wood in the booth at lunch.  She also tried to get them off after awhile.  We haven't put shoes on them in the past because they were not up and standing so they didn't really need shoes and they actually seem to hinder the process of crawling.  Well anyway, it was pretty cute, but it is always interesting to watch them try new things.    

Both girls love the game "peek-a-boo," and Emily will even hold her blanket over her face herself if she wants to play.  She has also learned to clap her hands when we sing "pat-a-cake."  They love to play with each other and it seems like one of their favorite games to play together is "chase," although it is always Bethany chasing Emily.  Again, they are so different.  Bethany loves to be with people and wants to be held and loved.  Emily will play alone and also likes to be held sometimes, but really wants to learn new things right now.  They both really listen when we read books or work on things like putting shapes "in" the cookie jar and taking them back "out."  It seems like Bethany is really working on her mobility right now and Emily is busier learning words and speech.  Things are changing so quickly with each of them that I am just amazed.  It seems like you get a few months in the beginning where everything moves slowly, then all of the sudden they are up and mobile and into everything.  They are all over our house now and finding more and more things that we forgot or didn't even know needed to be "baby proofed."  Even under the beds are not safe anymore.  Boo is just out of luck because they are getting faster and faster and they can actually get close to her now before she knows it.  

Emily decided that she didn't want to be fed anymore and she needed to feed herself about a week ago so I gave her the bowl and a spoon and let her go at it.  She had it from head to toe, but she hasn't fought me again about feeding her.  I think she decided that she was still hungry after her encounter with trying to feed herself and that maybe it wasn't so bad for now for mama to feed her.  Bethany is a great eater and doesn't care how she gets to eat as long as it is there, is enough, and is on time!    

Bethany has been sick for about a week now with a stuffy/runny nose and Emily has finally gotten it so I have two sick babies for the moment, although I have to say it has been a little bit easier this time.  They are not running fevers and they play and act like they still feel fine.  They just can't breathe as well and will get choked sometimes since they don't know how to blow their noses.  Speaking of sick babies, they are waking up from their morning nap so I better get going.  I will post again when there are more interesting things to tell!