Stand by Your Sis

This is ridiculous. I mean I know they are going to grow out of little babies and into little ladies, but could we not turn into a toddler just yet? I may be exaggerating a tad since they are only 9 1/2 mos old... but today started out with Hannah and Leah pulling themselves up to standing position, and ended with Hannah figuring out how to crawl up the basement stairs. We also now have to figure out which toys they have access to that they shouldn't - ours and Joseph's - and figure out how to keep it all out of their reach. Like Joseph they are very interested in DVDs and Wii controls, and anything they can shove into their mouth. It's just harder to find places to put everything now! They both had their hands on everything today. While Leah may have been the first to crawl, Hannah has quickly caught up. Quickly being the key word...Hannah crawls at a frantic pace compared to Leah's calculated movements. Hannah also had fun mimicking my clapping today, while Leah wasn't too into it. Reading time was more her thing tonight, she was still for 5 whole mins!

Hannah's Crawling Too!

Not that this picture is any indication, but Hannah has decided that she too is ready for crawling. When I put her on the floor at daycare yesterday morning, I then turned to put all the bottles into the fridge, and when I finished Hannah was about 10 ft away from where she had been a minute before. She has not yet decided to venture out of the room we place her in .....but her partner in crime slowly and steadily makes her way into the bathroom each morning. Operation "close doors" has now commenced.

Who's Goofier?

The goat, or Joseph?

(a scene from our trip to the zoo last weekend)

More Developments

Friday AM - Leah pulls herself up to standing on Hannah's crib (Joseph notices first and calls for us to look!)

Friday PM - Hannah learns how to sit up by herself in her crib
Saturday PM - Leah does a wounded leg crawl 10ft across the room to her bottle
Saturday PM - Hannah starts pulling herself up onto her knees
Saturday PM - We notice that Leah has a tooth breaking through on the bottom
Sunday AM - Hannah and Leah eat strawberries for the first time (had to put down something for today!)

Another Evening in the Basement

Jay and I made it home in between storms yesterday (and before all the highways and streets started flooding and closing down), quickly fed the kids, and then made it down to the basement just as the sirens were going off in our city. Our poor Milwaukee neighbors to the north (literally, the house next store and beyond) were all flooded during the last 4+ inch storm and with the 7+ inches that fell in two hours last night there was absolute chaos on the roads and insane amounts of water on the streets and in houses. Above is a picture that Jay took of the river flowing down our street, but what you don't see is where all the water was flowing to downstream, and at the end of our block the cars parked along the main road had water up to their windows. (at least we didn't have an SUV stuck in sink hole like there was 6miles to our east). And since we were not hit by one of the 10 tornadoes, and we were not flooded with water inside our house, and we were lucky enough to maintain our power throughout all the storms passing through, we had a grand old time in our basement. The girls stayed up a bit later than usual due to the excitement of everything going on around them and their new found mobility. A few weeks ago they would have just fallen asleep where we placed them on the floor, but now that Leah can sit up on her own and Hannah can roll over and put herself up into crawl position they can pretty much do as they please. Leah was actually moving one leg and dragging the other (not crawling, but some other peculiar form of movement) across the room to the toy box, and then pulling herself up onto her knees to try to dig around inside of the toy box. Hannah was on all fours, and lifting one leg into the air as if she was about to move a knee forward to crawl, but instead it looked more like lifting a leg to pee on a tree. Both girls were fascinated by Rosco's paws. Since Joseph isn't new to moving around, he was just fine sitting on the couch watching Monster's Inc. But he was happy to try to play with the girls on the floor when the movie was over (we were actually trying to get him to leave the girls alone so that they could sleep, and I was able to lure him into playing with me instead over the idea of "building" something).

Joseph is in Charge of Puzzles

Joseph has been into puzzles for a while, and with all of the rain we have been spending more time inside than out so this week brought much puzzle time. One night as we were working on one together and I was about to place a particular piece into a particular spot, Joseph said "no no mommy I'm working on that one". I explained we were working as a team together on the puzzle, and he said "ok mommy, but I am in charge of puzzles". (as you may recall, Joseph is also in charge of coloring).

Little Developments

Quite a few small developments over the past few days. I believe it started at the doctor's office last week when Hannah decided that she knew how to clap. (she must have been pleased with her measurements) Then on Saturday, we arose to the usual chatter coming from the girl's room (not sure if Hannah is talking to Leah or if she is trying to tell mom and dad that they are awake), but in a surprising turn of events, Leah was sitting up in her crib! She continued to do this off and on throughout the weekend, but only in her crib. And even though they are not crawling, they are on the move. Hannah likes to roll or scoot on her butt from point A to point B. She'll even roll over you if she needs to. Both girls continue to try to pull themselves up, and get giddy with excitement when you stand them next to a coffee table or something they can hold on to while standing. (Hannah even lasted a few seconds on her own, but that was beginner's luck I think). This weekend we introduced them to macaroni and cheese for the first time, but since they can't pick up and place food in their mouth at nearly as fast a pace as we can shovel it in with a spoon, they still prefer the baby food. (Unless it's the gerber puffs we're talking about. Those things drive both girls wild!) And speaking of wild, the girls climb and grab all over each other....and usually enjoy it. On Sunday while we were outside watching Joseph run through the sprinkler, Hannah kept yanking at her hat. And once she got hers off she then went after Leah's! Leah just smiled and laughed while having her head tossed around like a purse. We haven't seen much clapping since last week, but tonight we discovered that this sitting up in bed business isn't all it's cracked up to be (you'd think we'd never been through this before). After being laid down (a few times), Leah sat herself up and was trying to shake the rails with both hands while using her raspy "ra ra ra ra" sounds to alert us to some situation that must have been occurring with the stuffed animals down below. Eventually she folded over and drifted off to sleep.

Joseph Does NOT Like Asparagus

Watching Joseph eat asparagus brings back memories of me drinking milk as a child. He puts the asparagus in his mouth, and after chewing begins to gag, closes his eyes to swallow it, and then shakes his head when he's finished. Pure torture.

9 Month Checkup

All checked out good at the nine month checkup for the girls today. Apparently Jay and I checked out ok too because the nurse commented at the end that we are a "good team". But seriously, what are we going to argue about at the doctor's office? We're always so giddy with excitement over finding out stats on the kids. And with that....drum roll please....

Hannah
Height: 28 7/8 in (90%)
Weight: 21lbs 2oz (80%)
Head: 44.5 cm (70%)

Leah
Height: 29 1/8 in (92%)
Weight: 20lbs 3oz (75%)
Head: 44 cm (50%)

9 Months Old!

Hannah and Leah are 9 months old today! This was by far our most difficult photo shoot yet....but these seemed to capture their essence. :) We'll have stats at the end of the week after our visit with the doctor!

Strong Enough

We have been having fun checking dvds out from the library, and tonight Joseph was excited to watch Diego's Dinosaur Adventure (who knew Diego would be under G and not D). I had all of 10 minutes before the library was closing and can you imagine how frantically my eyeballs were searching the shelves for anything recognizable?) Fortunately we had A Bug's Life on reserve, and G was strategically located directly to the right of D so I caught that cute little spanish speaking child out of the corner of my eye just as the librarian was announcing "make your selection it's time to check out!". But the rule is, before we play outside or watch a movie, we have to eat our dinner. Joseph agreed to eat "just chicken" on the way home, but I reminded him once again that he must have some vegetables. A battle that I of course win every time, but in order to get to that point I told him that he had to have vegetables so that he could get stronger. To which he replied, "but mommy, I am strong enough. I don't need the vegetables". I paused briefly, and then went the route that any logical parent would go, and rebutted with "you will eat vegetables, or there will be no Diego". And so Joseph enjoyed a little bit of chicken with a little bit of vegetables and a little bit of blueberries (his words). He is much stronger now.

Almost Nine Months

Hannah and Leah are approaching the 9 month mark....which in our family means they are sleeping a little less and bonking their heads a whole lot more. Sometimes at daycare they will only take one hour long nap! Most days it is still two naps, though at home it is usually three. (I don't mind the frequent naps, but I do look forward to all kids eating lunch and going down for a long leisurely afternoon nap at the same time.) Quite frequently Hannah and Leah take a tumble from trying to reach for something or pull themselves up, so now we are entering the phase of spending a bit more time in the softly carpeted basement and less time on the hard wood floors. And for some reason they both want to be on their bellies while getting their diapers changed. Jay is able to pin them down but I usually succumb to the squirming and have amazingly figured out how to secure a diaper with butts sticking up in the air. The girls are getting bigger, but they don't really eat any more than they used to. They do however require their food at a much faster pace which can pose logistical challenges when there are only two hands available. They have started trying some new things like cheerios and gerber finger foods, but no signs of teeth yet other than more chewing and redder butts. Spoons and spatulas are the latest fun objects to gnaw and drool on. Before bedtime they like to hang out together in Hannah's crib. It puts them both in a good mood, which is surprising as usually the first thing that happens is Leah grabbing the pacifier out of Hannah's mouth. Leah doesn't use the pacifier, she just kind of bites on it. She is more of a thumb sucker. In fact most times when she tries to pick something up and put it in her mouth, she ends up sucking her thumb instead. They are both expressing themselves more through jibber jabber and movements. Hannah clenches her fists to indicate extreme frustration and excitement whereas Leah opts for crying when she can't hold the spoon or bottle to feed herself. I am relieved they aren't crawling yet....so that we can have some time to figure out our defense strategy for the 2 on 3 game. I'm thinking opposing team wears helmets?

More Summer Scenes

Challenges continue with trying to upload the video of the girls that I am dying to share with everyone....I think I'm going to have to cut out some footage or slice it into "Hannah and Leah Part 1" and "Hannah and Leah Part 2". But until then....here are more pictures of the family over the past few weeks. Trying to get a photo of the girls is actually much easier than trying to get one of Joseph actually looking at the camera without a goofy face. Here's the latest attempt at all three of them!

Fun in the Sun

I have been trying to post a video, but for the moment have given up on that. Here are some shots from last weekend of the kids enjoying the park and the pool. Even though Hannah is crying in one pic, she really did have a good time.
(The photos are always labeled with who is who, so if you mouse over a pic you should see the name of the file on the bottom of your web browser. Else click the photo to enlarge it and see the title).

Crazy Town

Let's see....where did the craziness begin. I suppose for Joseph it started with the fall he took on the playground at schoolyesterday that resulted in a huge lump on his forehead. But for me it began with lunch at qdoba. As soon as I had finished my salad I knew something was amiss. I avoided hurling at the dentist but exploded after returning home, and continued throughout the evening. After drifting off to sleep, I woke up to Jay saying "didn't you hear the sirens?" We turned on the tv to see what was going on, and then decided to move all sleeping children to the basement due to the tornadoes that had been spotted around southeastern Wisconsin and the craziness going on outside our windows. After getting everyone back into their beds and seeing pictures of the destruction in other towns, I at last drifted off to sleep and was pleased in the morning to find that my stomach issues had subsided. (Though I was starving since I hadn't eaten since 1pm the previous day) And since I had to keep fasting for blood tests this morning, I sat at the kitchen table, not eating, but catching up on work emails and chatting with Joseph. And then in slow motion I see an accident unfold in front of me. Joseph fell off his chair and the chair then toppled on top of him. And then there was blood. And while I was trying to figure out where the blood was coming from and if it would warrant a trip to the emergency room, Jay was outside unloading the back of the 4runner, watching a case of pop hit the ground and explode, and discovering that in his haste to grab all perishables out of the car last night during the storm, he must have pressed the button on the key fob to roll down the back window. It was about this time that I located the "laceration" on Joseph's head and knocked on the kitchen window to catch Jay's eye. And off they went to the ER for stitches. I could hear the sounds of cans crunching and sprite splashing as he drove off down the alley. I then quickly got ready and took the girls to daycare, arriving at the doctor's office just in the nick of time. Many hours have passed with much playtime and eating, and no vomiting, so I think all is back to normal in crazy town now. Though I don't think I'll be eating at qdoba again anytime soon, and I'm strongly considering doing breakfast on the floor.

Ode to Dad

If the kids could write this is what they would say....or at least it's my adult kid-like version of what they would say.

We appreciate that instead of spending the day relaxing, you made it about us. Even though you slept in (after being woken up at 5 by little ladies) we still had plenty of time to make it to breakfast by 8. We took the "happy van" to cafe hollander (and not the big bad truck), but one of us was not all that happy. One of us might have even said "it is my burger king daddy, I can have it my way". And later on the way to the zoo that same kid might have said "I am being happy, I'm not a bad moon". But we all had fun at the zoo, and might have gotten so tired by riding the train and seeing the zebra and getting scared by the robotic dinosaurs, that several of us went to sleep in the stroller on the way out and one of us got to be carried by you. That sure was nice of you dad. And instead of resting your body like we did when we got home, you decided to work on lowering the cribs. You even noticed Hannah's puke from a few weeks ago and wiped it off. We're not sure what else you did while we were sleeping, maybe you played that game on your xbox that you aren't allowed to play while we are awake? After we were up and fed and changed, then you took us and mommy to the pool. Oh my goodness dad, you must be tired. Maybe you should take a bathtub and go to bed early tonight, with maybe just one book.

Little Leah Strong Like Bull

Both the girls grab and pull at everything, but Leah seems to be the dominant one in most of these situations. One day Hannah was folded over with her face on the floor with Leah's hand on top of her head. When I walked into the room Leah looked up at me with a chew toy in her mouth and a "who me?" look on her face. I didn't get that on film but I did capture a few shots the other day of a similar situation. This particular morning she was infatuated with the buttons on Hannah's shirt, and despite being pulled away from Hannah several times kept going back for more! Though this time she didn't pull Hannah to the ground to get what she wanted. (did I mention that Leah is the smaller one?)

The Rules of Me

The other night as Joseph was playing with his Cars coloring book and mess free markers, he said "Mommy, these are the rules of me. I am in charge." (clearly he is repeating things that Jay, his teachers and I have said....but he's using quirkier language that sounds quite laughable coming out of a three year old's mouth) After some discussion we concluded that Joseph could be in charge of coloring, but that I was in charge of everything else. The next night, Joseph reminded Jay that he was in charge of coloring, and I reminded them both that I am still in charge of the 10,000 other things going on. :)

8 Months Already?

The girls are 8 months old already? How can that be? They've changed a lot over the last four weeks. Going to the zoo and actually being awake enough to see some animals. Sitting up and playing with Joseph every morning before school. Scarfing down oatmeal and cereal like it's the best tasting mush on earth and having a watermelon picnic at daycare with the other babies. And of course.....their first stomach virus. But we're all clear of that now and at eight months of age Hannah and Leah are both playful and curious, eager to get in their stroller for a walk, and enjoy shoving anything they can get their hands on into their mouth. They love to be around people (especially Joseph) and they both really love to bounce. They burst into hysterics when tickled by Daddy, and usually calm down quickly when held by Mommy. And while they are similar in some ways, they have just as many differences. Their expressions and personalities make them easy to tell apart if you have a hard time at first glance. Take crying for example (something common to most babies!) Hannah's cries seem to be more an expression of sadness while Leah's tend to be outbursts of anger. And then there's the look they get when playing. Leah appears as though any toy she has is some complicated puzzle she's trying to unravel while Hannah has an expression of "oh boy a toy! a toy! this is the best toy in the world!" They both have beautiful smiles, Hannah's is the biggest I've ever seen and Leah's brings out a special sparkle in her eyes. They both are early to bed and early to rise, but Leah drifts off with her thumb in her mouth while Hannah prefers the pacifier. And you never know who's going to wake you up in the morning but you can usually tell by the sound of the voice who it is! (Leah has a little rasp to her and Hannah sometimes has a bit of squeak!) Before you know it they'll be actual words coming out!

Random Weekend Ramblings

A few weeks ago Joseph went to the grocery store with me. I usually let him pick something out but this time I'm not quite sure what I was thinking. Somehow I figured it was best to have him pick out one huge cupcake instead of buying a package of six much smaller ones. (If only he had wanted an apple that day.) Today we went to the zoo in the morning, and checked out a few animals that aren't part of our normal routine like the birds in the aviary and the spider monkeys. (Joseph's favorites are still the sea urchins, anemones, and jelly fish). We realized when Leah woke up that she had a temperature, so we came back home and everyone took naps. Leah in fact still has a temperature and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it breaks soon. It will be extremely difficult for everyone if that doesn't happen, as that means she must have something other than teeth coming in and it of course prevents us from going to daycare on Monday. She threw up for the first time which I actually think was from me over stuffing her at dinner since she didn't eat as much throughout the day. We were both covered in a mixture of formula and pureed mac n cheese with veggies. (Too bad I didn't get a shot of that for the blog.) The day wasn't bad though, Joseph and I spent a little bit of time at the pool before it rained. He is getting more comfortable with going under water and had fun practicing his floating and kicking. While we were doing that, Jay got to relax and play a little xbox while the ladies napped. Last night I enjoyed "dining out week" in milwaukee with friends and sat outside and had a three course meal for $20. This was followed up with sex and the city at our fabulous ipic theater. Tonight will be equally enjoyable with the husband, hopefully relaxing on the couch catching up on the office or modern family. Or maybe law and order. (Ah law and order.....you will be missed.)