Monday, March 29, 2010

Standing Up For Herself

Emaline is mastering her legs. She can easily pull up and is working on trying to balance herself. She gets fuming angry when she lets go and has to latch back on to keep herself from falling. Sometimes she falls. She gets right back up though, determined to stand on her own.
Seeing this determination, Keillor is trying to follow in his sister's footsteps. However, he is much heavier and has a lower center of gravity. Not as determined, he gives up and crawls into the other room to get into trouble. This might mean hiding in the dining room, or just crawling into his tunnel.
We broke out the Pack-N-Play for playing this week. We took the twins out on the back porch while we worked in the yard. Covered in sunblock and hidden underneath an umbrella, they played together, or rather they stole toys from each other for an hour.
They are enjoying eating more every day (well, most days). Keillor is still trying to figure out the difference between eating and playing with his spoon. Maybe he's trying to eat the spoon. At any rate, he likes to bite down on it and squinch one eye shut like a pirate.
We have also started a new routine before bedtime: brushing teeth. At first they were...let's just say not interested in having toothbrushes shoved in their mouths. Now they enjoy it. We just have to remember to brush every night.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Keillor Crawled and Pulled Up--It is On!

The day after Emaline crawled, Keillor started crawling. They don't like to do anything alone.
Later that day, I pulled Keillor out of the tub, got him dressed for bed, and put him on the floor. I got Emaline and was drying her off when I turned around and saw Keillor climbing onto the fireplace hearth to get the toy train my dad made for him. I turned to go after him, but I couldn't leave a naked baby on a changing table. At that point, Aimee emerged from the bathroom in a towel and ran to get Keillor. We have plenty of time to baby-proof the house.
Emaline has mastered pulling up, and is now trying to figure out how to take the next step. She gets really frustrated when she tries to move her feet and falls down. Actually, just now, in the middle of typing this, Emaline, playing at my feet, just pulled herself up and lifted on leg (not to pee like a dog, but to take a step forward). I tried to help, but she doesn't want help. She wants to do it all by herself. I have pictures, but not loaded on the computer, so you'll have to wait.
They tried yogurt this morning. The freeze-dried astronaut yogurt is not their favorite, but Emaline chowed down on strawberry yogurt. Keillor was not too interested, but he ate a couple of bites. Other new foods include
lasagna--not so much
broccoli and cheese--yummy
custard--can't get enough

The sippy cups is still a device too complicated for the twins. They love to play with the cups and chew on them, but as for drinking from them, we're still working on that skill.

We have been running with the kids a couple of times so far. They like the wind in their hair. They're not so sure about the sun glasses.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Emaline Crawls

Our baby girl crawled across the floor on Friday like she had been doing it for months. She just decided she wanted a toy and went after it. I grabbed the video camera and caught it. Watch out world; here comes Emaline.
Other notable firsts:
Keillor is actually starting to eat consistently. Breakfast oatmeal is probably the most successful meal--although today I added his vitamins to the oatmeal and he stopped eating. He likes cous cous and chicken and apples.
They ate their first dessert. While they have been eating fruit, we gave them pudding for dessert on Sunday. Big hit. They love pudding.
On the talking front, we are still only getting seemingly random "dadadada" out of them.
They had their first play date with Henry Webb. Henry brought his parents over on Saturday. He hit Keillor in the head with a ball. This is the beginning of a budding friendship.

Daylight saving time is going to be an adjustment. Sunday's schedule was out of whack. This morning was OK--although we did think we would have to wake Keillor up.

Did I mention that Emaline crawled?

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Nine months and all is well

The twins earned high marks at their nine-month check-up. Keillor's head (83rd percentile) remains too large for his body (34th percentile). Emaline is above-average in all areas except weight. High iron levels. Low lead levels. Wiper fluid and oil levels also good.
Besides the occasional ear infection, the food transition seems to be the most difficult issue to deal with. We are supposed to have them on a three-meal-a-day cycle by 12 months, with consistent progression towards big kid foods. Emaline is winning the food race. She can take down a container of stage 2 foods followed by a six-ounce bottle and a handful of Puffs. Keillor is still in the practice stage. He is trying to get his mouth to work with his tongue. His most recent meal did not end in a screaming fit, which is progress.
If another person asks me if they are crawling yet...
They are working on it. They can get where they want to go—I just wouldn't call it crawling. 
However, I will no longer bristle when someone asks if they are sitting up on their own. Yes, they are. They can also bring themselves from a prone position to a sitting position.
They have been on two runs so far. Aimee wants them to have run 100 miles before they can walk. As the babies get bigger, Mommy and Daddy want to get smaller.
I'm sure there's more to say, but I just can't think of anything right now.