March 21, 2008

Ok, so right after I wrote the post on Wednesday, Emily decided to crawl.  She is already crawling like she has known how to do it all along.  Too funny again how different they are.  Bethany just went for it no matter how sloppy it looked or felt and then perfected it.  Emily did the wounded soldier crawl, to the commando belly crawl, to a combination of commando and actual hands and knees, to full on crawl.  I have to say it is really fun to have two of them the same age and to watch how completely different each child can be.

  

Bethany is loud and tests everything.  She screams all the time, whether that is playing or if she is hungry, tired, just wants some attention, etc.  They are making the same types of sounds, Bethany just makes them louder.  Emily is so quiet... she coos and babbles to herself and will lay in her bed and play quietly, but when she actually cries she means business.  Something is seriously wrong or needed.

It looks like both of my girls are going to be pacifier babies again.  Emily is actually taking a pacifer ALL day long while she is cutting teeth.  I haven't seen her suck her thumb in weeks.  I finally had to break down and go get more pacifiers so that we would have plenty between the two of them.  Bethany seems to like the ones that Emily takes also (better than her Soothies most of the time).  I am not sure if that is really the case or if she just wants what sister has?

Well, the girls are all over the house now when we don't have them confined to the playroom.  They found the dishwasher fascinating yesterday and Bethany managed to escape from the nursery while I was feeding Emily and decided to share a meal with Boo kitty.  By the look on her face, Boo was not happy to share her cat food at all, but Bethany really seemed to think it was tasty!!  I didn't have my camera in easy reach, otherwise I would have taken a picture.  They also REALLY like the water fountain because it has rocks in the bottom so I have to constantly move them away from it.  I have a feeling it will get moved to another (less accessible) room in the next week or so.  When they are confined it is pretty funny because they stand behind the bars, shake them, and yell "ma, ma, ma, ma, ma, ma!!"

Oh yeah, you need to check out the picture website because I updated it with LOTS of new photos.  We were a few months behind, but should be caught up now!!

March 19, 2008

Whew!  Well, they just keep growing and getting smarter and smarter.  Both girls are old pros at pulling up now and will look for anything that they can find to pull up on.  It is fun to come in after nap time and find them standing up in their beds looking at each other and talking over the rails.  On Friday I put one of their little foam chairs down on the floor for them to play with and use to pull up on.  Emily immediately climbed up in it and stood up.  I got her down and looked back at Bethany who was already on her knees in the chair getting ready to stand.  I was shocked.  I had no idea that they could climb as well as stand up!!  Needless to say, the chair is now out of reach unless Mommy is in the room.  

Emily still does not crawl, but at least her wounded soldier has found the use of her right leg and turned into a full on commando crawl most of the time.  Bethany can crawl anywhere and get there very quickly.  I often put her down in the floor and look back to find her already across the room (usually under something that I didn't know they could get under).  They have been really cute lately because they now look for each other across the room and want to be right next to each other to play.  Bethany still wants whatever Emily has but Emily has learned to kick her legs and "fake" cry to try to keep her away.    

Both girls are "testing" their balance further by letting go of objects and standing with no handholds.  Bethany is getting very good at this and has even figured out how to stand up from something that is only a few inches off the floor.  She can also let go for awhile and then grab hold again if she feels like she might fall.  Emily is just beginning to let go and can only stand for a couple of seconds before she sits back on her rear end.  Oh boy, so I was hoping to keep them from walking until they are a year old.  Well, one can still hope right?    

The girls are also drinking out of a sippy cup.  They have been doing this for about a month or so now, but Bethany just figured out how to hold the cup on her own.  She wants to do it herself now which is too cute.  It is a little bit heavy for her and she can't really get it tipped up far enough to get much of a drink unless it is really full, but she is doing it none the less.  Emily will help hold her bottle and has been working on that for awhile now, but she hasn't figured out the handles on the sippy cup yet.  I leave it in the playroom on the floor so that they can get to it when they want, but for some reason they seem to ignore it most of the time.

March 1, 2008

Wow, lots has changed in a week!!  Bethany is crawling like a pro now.  She actually crawled for the first time at Aunt DeeDee's house last Saturday during Heather and Josh's baby shower.  All for a Frito that John put on the floor to entice her.  I think she should wear a sign "will crawl for food" since that was the only way that we could get her to crawl for the first few days.  Emily is not "crawling" per say, but she can definitely get around fairly quickly with her wounded soldier tummy scoot.  She uses her left leg to push off and her right arm/elbow to pull her forward.  It is hilarious to watch.  Now it is impossible to keep either of them in the play room.  Hopefully we will get a gate up soon and Boo Kitty will have a place to run for freedom!  They are getting faster and faster so that soon she will not be able to get away from them so easily, especially since they find her fascinating.

Both girls are pulling up now.  Emily pulled up all by herself in her crib today but Bethany has been doing it for a little bit longer and I have had to lower her bed down since she is trying to stand on the bumper pad to get out.  Nap times are a bit more of a challenge than they were before with them both so very mobile.  Bethany has every single Soothie pacifier that we own in her bed since she won't go to sleep without them and she keeps dropping/throwing them out of her mouth when she is standing and talking to Emily.  Emily has decided recently that she is no longer a "thumb-sucker" all the time and wants a pacifier for nap and bedtimes.  I thought that was an interesting change of preference, but it doesn't bother me since I figure it will be easier to get rid of a pacifier someday than to stop her from sucking her thumb!   

Here is a pic of the girls standing in the playroom:

Both girls are starting to talk much more now.  Emily is using sounds like "ba ba, da da and ma ma."  She talks all the time, but is pretty quiet and will hang out and talk to herself if nobody is there to listen to her.  I have been working with her on associating waving with "bye bye" since she had started holding her hand up and waving.  Now she will wave sometimes when you say "bye bye," but not every time.  Bethany just prefers to squeal and blow zerberts, although she will try to out-sing anyone who will give her a fair chance.  We keep having to turn up American Idol to be able to hear the actual singing over her "singing/squealing" with or against the contestants!!  She made John laugh really hard first thing in the morning a couple of days ago since we woke up to her blowing zerberts at Emily which we could hear through the monitor in our room.

Both girls are eating really well.  We have tried out just about every pureed vegetable and fruit that they have out and will be moving on to cheeses and meats (which John dreads for the smelly diapers) soon.  So far they have liked pretty much everything but green beans, although they will eat them anyway.  Emily cut another tooth on the bottom left yesterday which gives her three teeth now.  They are so cute when they smile with their teeth on bottom.  I think it will be even cuter when they get the top teeth to go with them.  Although, they should be cutting those two teeth on the top soon which their mama is not quite ready for as Bethany has already decided to take a bite out of me that brought blood.  For you moms out there, it is very hard not to cuss at that moment and your instinct wants to slap that baby or throw them across the room and take care of yourself.  But as I wasn't able to do those things, we just used the "no more, you are done!" approach a few times and it has actually seemed to work so far.  Hopefully I won't have to find out that it has not worked as I have a feeling that I will be weaning at least one baby if that happens again!!

February 22, 2008

Well, we are still not crawling yet.  Bethany is trying everything out but still somehow manages to go in reverse.  She is getting up on hands and feet now (like a bear crawl), but hasn't figured out how to move her hands forward to get going.  Emily can make forward progress, but it is more like an army crawl/roll.  She is getting on her hands and knees and pushing off, just not moving forward either.  Both girls are experimenting with pulling up on everything and have lots of confidence as long as someone is there to "help" them pull up.  

Bethany pulled up on one of the toys all by herself this morning!!  She was so excited that she only stood up for a few seconds before she let go.  I wish I had the camera because she had the biggest grin on her face when she did it.  They are both trying to pull up in their cribs so it is finally time to lower the matresses down.  They are learning so fast.  We have been helping them learn out how to crawl and pull up.  I was just surprised at how quickly they have figured out how to pull to stand.  Emily was even working on her "cruising" this morning by trying to get to the other side of one of her toys while standing and holding on to it. 

Knowing about PT makes it really neat to watch them transition through all the stages.  Both girls can side sit and transition to a crawling or belly position.  Bethany has even also figured out how to get back from a crawling position to sitting.  I can see Emily trying so she is not far behind.  All in a few short weeks.  It is fun to think that the girls are not even 8 months old and yet they are able to do so much, especially when they were 5 weeks "preemie" and that would put them at an adjusted age of about 6 1/2 months old now.    

Emily has started making a new face that is hilarious.  I tried to capture it with a photo, but it just does not do it justice.  She wrinkles up her nose, squints her eyes, curls her upper lip and breathes really fast through her nose.  It sort of makes her look like a little devil, but I think she is trying to give us a genuine smile.  Usually whatever Emily does with her face or voice, Bethany will mimic a few days later so I am sure that we will be seeing a face from her soon that looks very similar to this one!

February 13, 2008

We got to visit with Gramma and Papa Doss this weekend.  I think the girls had lots of fun.  Grandmother Allen and Nanny got to feed the girls which was very cute.  I think it has been awhile since Grandmother Allen has fed a baby so she had lots of fun.  Emily actually slept in the room with Gramma and Papa.  I think Emily slept fine, but I don't think that Gramma and Papa got much sleep!!  We also got to see Grandmother Doss, Uncle Daniel, and Aunt Jenny.  All in all it was a really good trip.  Hopefully the girls will be as easy-going and easy to take care of when we go on our trip in March.    

I got to keep baby Kate on Monday and Tuesday.  She is 4 months old and absolutely adorable.  It was really interesting to look back at what the girls were doing at that age and how much things have changed.  I couldn't believe that they are able to do so much more now than they were when they were that age.  She is a cutie though, she loves to talk and coo.  She really liked getting attention from John and I, but she even enjoyed watching the girls.  I was surprised that the girls didn't take more notice of her since they really interact with each other now.  They just ignored her most of the time and still talked to each other!!

Well, we have started breakfast now so the girls are actually eating three meals a day!!  I can't believe how quickly we went from cereal at night to three meals a day.  They have been fussy and acting hungry in the morning so I decided to add that last meal.  It must have been what they needed because they have been happier for the past couple of days.  Both girls are also able to drink out of a sippy cup so we are having fun with that.  I give them water throughout the day and with their meals.  They haven't figured out how to hold the cup, but I am sure that it won't be long.    

February 8, 2008

Well, it has been a weird week.  We have been to two funerals in the past two days.  The girls actually did fairly well.  Emily wanted to sing along and thought that she needed to do most of the talking.  Bethany wanted to know what Emily was doing and got really fussy when anyone else held her.  She has been pretty funny lately.  She is okay when there are only a few people around, but if there are lots of people around, she gets anxious and really wants me and only me to hold her.  Emily on the other hand loves the crowd and will smile and laugh as people go by.

Emily is making fish faces now and Bethany has finally started trying to "talk" instead of making the same sound for everything.  She likes the "b,b,b" sound the most.  We just started Bethany on Prevacid yesterday for her reflux so we will see what happens.  She had been on Axid since she was tiny but we weren't seeing any improvement anymore so we just left her off meds for a few weeks.  We were really hoping that she could go without.  I think she will spit up no matter what, but I feel so sorry for her, she doesn't really complain too much, but it is dark around her eyes and she keeps a hoarse voice most of the time now.  She just looks like she doesn't feel well.  If this doesn't work we will be taking her to a specialist to find out if she "really" has reflux and what needs to be done about it.

John did some PT with the girls at home for crawling and they have both taken what they learned and are testing things out a bit.  Neither is crawling, but both can get on hands and knees now.  It is fun to watch the difference in the way that they try things.  Bethany takes the "all-or-nothing" approach and just goes for it.  Emily tries things gradually, one knee at a time leaning to one side then the other.  I am not sure that I am so excited about him helping them to learn.  From what I hear, the longer I can keep them in one place... the better.  I know they will have to learn sometime but I think I want to prolong it for as long as possible.     

As an end to this post, their daddy wanted me to make sure that I put the laughing videos up for everyone to see since they are so cute so here they are. 

 Emily on the changing table:

and Bethany laughing at a squeaky bird:

February 4, 2008

We actually got to go on a date on Saturday.  What a treat!!  Brannon and Christy kept the girls for us for a few hours while we got out with some friends to go eat and play "Rock Band" at their house.  We had a blast and they said the girls were pretty good.  Emily got a little bit cranky when it was time for cereal, but apparently putting them to bed was a breeze.  They had their cousin Madeleine to watch and play with so they really enjoyed that.  Whew, well at least we know how well they will do with someone else to feed them and put them to bed.  It is sad in a way because as a mom I have this pull to feel needed, but I also have the pull to want to have a little bit of freedom to leave them with other people.  I am not sure which pull is stronger?

They are beginning to figure out how to manipulate the momma.  If I leave the room and don't get on the floor to play with them, they immediately start in with the whining (not crying, just being fussy).  They have also begun to notice when I pick up the other one.  They are getting jealous.  They don't act the same way around daddy.  It is interesting to watch them play when he is here.  If he is the one that puts them down and they don't see me, they will play for a long time without fussing at all.  They will laugh and talk to each other and roll around on the floor, but the minute that they even hear my voice they start in on the "uh, uh, uh, uh."  I can't stand it though, maybe that is it.  I will go and talk to them, sit on the floor with them, or even pick them up.  John will acknowledge their needs, play with them for a few minutes, move them to a new toy, then be able to get out of the room without them realizing it.  

We found a non-denominational church that we both like (Pantego Bible Church) and I decided on Sunday to enroll the girls in the nursery.  They are cute in church, but they are really getting "busy."  They like to stand on our laps and jump up and down and talk to or smile at the people around us.  They talk and coo at each other.  Of course this is at the quietest times of the service!  By the end of the service on Sunday, they were tired of sitting still.  On their behalf, this was the second service that we had gone to.  We had already been to a service at Good Shepherd Catholic Community earlier that morning.  On the plus side, the nursery is run by the same people who swap shifts every other week so they would actually get to know the girls fairly well instead of it being random people each week.  They also have them split up by age and the girls would be in a 6-12 month age group in which they would move up to the next group with the same bunch of kiddos so they might end up having "friends" in their age group.