6/28/06 Another milestone! When I left Lucas and Sophia at Occupational Therapy yesterday, They DIDN'T cry!!! As sad as that was for me, I'm glad they are starting to be a little independent, and that they realize that I will ALWAYS come back. My little munchkins...
Also, they have started telling me when they are tired. We used to base naptime and nighttime on when they got fussy and rubbed their eyes, etc. But recently, when they get tired, they get our attention and then stand outside the bedroom door. hey, WORKS FOR ME!
Soph is starting to run now too, so they are chasing eachother everywhere and laughing the whole time. They have also discovered a deep love of reading, and spend several hours a day reading or being read to. They will actually choose a book over a baby einstein video, which I love, but sometimes I wish I had the extra 10 minutes of video time. Happy 4th of July to everyone. My parents are coming down to visit, so bring on the cookouts and fun!
6/26/06 Another weekend over, and another Mother's Day Out beginning. I have so many things to do around here that I am exhuasted just thinking about it, and the day hasn't even started yet!
The kids have figured out how to do several "requests" in a row now (development calls them "demands" but we prefer the nicer version). So if I say, "Sophia, put your bottle down and go get your bunny", SHE DOES IT!!! Wait, did you hear me? They do what we tell them to do!!! I know it's going to be short lived, so I am celebrating now, while I can.
Sophia wiggles her tongue back and forth now to make the "babababa" sound (the sound she used to make by rubbing her hand over her lips), and Lucas has FINALLY figured out how to snort like a piggy like Soph does. He's been working on it for weeks now. Both are throwing overhand, which is a great skill, however it isn't so nice when they are throwing bottles/ food/ heavy toys/ etc. I guess we take the good with the bad on that one.
All right, gotta go maximize my "free" time if I am going to get anything done today. Have a great one!
6/23/06 Well, we had a busy day yesterday. It started out normal enough ,but then we had physical therapy, which went REALLY well (both kids cooperated, and Sophia has started playing on the tilt board, playing on the gym ball and throwing overhand! Lucas rides the tild board like a surf board and is RUNNING and CLIMBING everywhere!). When Dada got home, we had dinner and then went on an outing to Baskin Robbins to celebrate! We loaded the kids in the back of the Expedition (once we parked safely in the parking lot, of course) and we sat with the tailgate up and enjoyed ice cream on a hot summer evening! They LOVED it and mama got her Wold Class chocolate fix. While we were driving home, it started raining, which was odd because because it was sunny and about 95 degrees outside. So we parked in the driveway and let the kids enjoy their first summer rainstorm. They couldn't quite figure out the drops at first (although theyboth made the sign in sign language for rain). Then they splashed in the puddles and played in the "stream" that ran in front of the driveway. Check out the pictures, they are so cute!
Overall, a productive day and we're looking forward to another one today. Oh, also, Sophia got pigtails yesterday, but Lucas kept pulling them out, so we settled for a "Pebbles - style" ponytail.
6/21/06 And we're sharing!!! What??? I know, I was surprised too. Today at lunchtime, each kid had a spoon, and Sophia kept handing hers to Lucas. He would play with both, then a few seconds later, Soph would say "Uh" and point at the spoon. Lucas would then hand the spoon back to her. They did this several times, and then I started praising them for sharing, at which time they both started to give the other their spoon (hey, anything to get a little cheer and attention). They proceeded to play this game all through mealtime, which of course made spoonfeeding a bit difficult. They started to share food too, although I think it's mostly
stuff they don't want.
When we clap for Lucas for doing something well, he now throws his hands up in the air and waves them up and down like he wants the crowd to get louder. One can never get enough cheering for themselves....
Sophia has become every MORe affectioniate (is this even possible?). She always gives everyone she knows kisses and hugs,and constantly wants to be sitting in my or Will's lap. She just crawls on up and turns around and sits down, sometimes right on top of the new baby if I'm not careful!
So I attempted to see the future today. I got out the triplet stroller and figured out how to put two big seats and one infant carrier in it. Wow, if I wasn't overwhelmed before...... Should be an adventure!
6/18/06 HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! We are having an eventful Father's day today. We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and then we went to the park, where Dada and I spent quitea bit of time chasing the two monkeys around. They both LOVE the slide and to climb all over the equipment. Lucas cried when we had to leave, but it was getting ready to rain, and it broke loose shortly after we got in the car. We made a picture frame for Dada for Father's day with the babies' hand and footprints. Last year, we were able to fit them in much smaller spots in the collage frame. This year, we literally had to get 5x7 openings to fit each footprint and handprint. THEY ARE HUGE!
Well, Soph had to go back to the doctor for a shot of stronger antibiotics to clear up the ear infections. She seems to be feeling better now though. It's been a rough go this time with the ear infections, plus they got a cold on top of it. We've almost perfected the art of somersaults, and they both are climbing everything they can. We've worked really hard to get them to SIT on the couch, which has actually been pretty successful, although they still want to jump and walk across it. We played in the pool while Nana was here this week and it turns out, Lucas LOVES to be splashed, and Soph is slow to warm up to the idea of the pool, but then doesn't want to get out.
They are learning so many new things every single day it's hard to keep up. Also, at the doctor, Soph is now 24 1/2 lbs and Lucas is just over 29 lbs. Will update again soon. Check out the new pictures!
6/14/06 We're sleeping through the night again! Go team! The kids seem to feel much better now that we have the ear infections under control again. They are really getting the hang of sign language, and they understand SO many things, things that I don't even remember teaching them. For example, when they stand on the couch, which they love to do, I usually tell them to sit down and they do. But today, I said put your bottom on the couch and they did! I know it's the same thing, but the words sound different, so I was impressed. They are also helping me clean up now, which is nice.
Since my tummy is getting larger by the day, I've decided that it's getting to be quite a strain to pick up my 28 lb. son and hike him essentially above my head to put him in our beast of a car (Expedition). So we have been working on getting him to climb into his seat. We got him a stepstool with two little fold up steps we keep in the backseat, and ti took about two tries for him to figure it out. He now climbs right up, although he usually gets distracted once he's in the car by some toy or something and forgets to get right in his seat. It's a HUGE help though. We also listen to Raffi alot, and there is a song that goes, "Oh me, Oh my!..." Well, Lucas has started taking both hands and lightly banging on his cheeks and head evreytime anyone says Oh me Oh my. It's so cute! He's also running everywhere now.
Soph has truly figured out walking and popping up in the middle of the room, and is getting much faster now. We had apparantly forgotten how to say Mama, and both kids had been calling me Dada. Now though, Soph calls me Baba, which is MUCH closer to Mama. She is figuring out so many of the toys, and has fallen in love with several foods, including dill pickles (mmmm, can't say I blame her). She has started to like hats, which is a HUGE switch from the past 6 months or so. She wore a big floppy hat around for about an hour today.
Well, I'm signing off, as we are going outside to have yet another Popsicle party on the sidewalk. This will be the third? this week. We found mini (bite size) popsicles and they love them, even though they are VERY messy. It's bath night and it's over 90 degrees, what can I say?
6/9/06 So after several sleepless nights and fussy days, we went to the doctor yesterday morning to find out that both Lucas and Sophia have ear infections in both ears. GRRR... I thought we were past this. Oh well, the good news is, now, after 2 doses of meds, their moods are MUCH improved and Lucas actually slept soundly through the whole night last night (Soph was still pretty restless).
While we were there, the doctor decided to go ahead and do the 18 month checkup (yes, I know, they are a year and a 1/2 old - It's gone SO fast!). Lucas is 28 lbs. (stablilized and actually lost a little since he has been walking so much) and 331/2 inches long/tall. Sophia is 24 lbs and 32 inches long/tall. Everything looks great, AND we got to cancel the additional appt. we had scheduled for next week! BONUS
Sophia has gotten very cuddly lately, not sure if it's the ear infections or just plain love, but she crawls right up on either my or dad's lap any chance she gets. She also reads books to us. It's so cute, she will open to a page, then start jabbering. Then she's turn the page when she's done, and start all over again until the book is done. She uses different "words" and intonation for the different pages.
Lucas is ornery as ever. He has this little devilish grin and laugh he uses when he does something he knows he shouldn't be doing. He also has started using sign language pretty regulary, which is nice, so now we can understand him better. Also he has gotten very kissy. Yesterday, Soph was in the playhouse, and Lucas opened the door to walk in. Soph greeted him at the door and they gave eachother a kiss, then just kept on playing. I'm sitting there thinking, "Ok, who's letting them watch Nick at Night Donna Reed reruns after I go to bed? (Hi honey, I'm home!)" Strange the things they learn...
6/6/06 It's been a bittersweet realization for Will and me the past couple weeks that our babies are no longer babies. They understand MOST of what we say, and they follow commands so well now. We ask them to bring something from the other room, like, "where is your bottle?" and they will turn around, look around the room, walk down the hallway and bring it back. They know where about 10 different body parts are, and several songs and fingerplays. You ask them to dance, and they do. You tell them to get down off the couch, and they do (begrudgingly). At bedtime, you tell them to put their heads down, and they do. It's amazing that they have come so far, and so fast.
On a lighter note, the somersaults are coming along nicely, although I'm not sure it was a good idea to start with. Everytime I turned around this morning, all I saw were two little bottoms sticking up in the air. They both wanted me to help them roll over, so they looked like ostriches with their heads in the sand. Since, Sophia has begun to try to roll over on her own (and is really pretty close!). Lucas tried a few times too, although he mostly just waits, upside down, for me to help.
Also, I have been talking to them about the baby in my tummy. So now when I ask, "where is the baby?" They both run over to me and pull up my shirt. Oops, guess we won't try that one in public. They both like to kiss my tummy too (and only after one request of "do you want to kiss the baby?") What cuties!
6/5/06 And the panic attacks ensue.... Today is Lucas and Sophia's first day of Mother's Day Out. I have never spent more than a few hours away from them before, and during that time they were either with Will or my parents, whose lives were threatened if something happened and they didn't call me immediately. So I dropped them off, and.... I cried. Ok, so I'd like to blame it on the pregnancy, but honestly, I would have cried anyway. Sophia was a little dazed, but was playing with toys by the time I left. Lucas kept calling, "DADA!" and looking for me, but the staff did a great job of distracting him. So now until 2PM when I can pick them up, i am glued to my cell phone in case they call, and I am panicking until I pick them up and see they are just fine. In all reality, they probably won't even want to come home, since the MDO program has all new toys and an outdoor playground for little ones. Oh well, one more hurdle of parenting, sort of overcome....
Lucas popped another molar through. That makes 3 molars and 11 teeth total. Sophia is learning to do somersaults. She puts her head down and looks between her legs and calls for me. Then I help her roll over and she giggles and giggles. SO SILLY!
6/4/06 Wow! It's been a WHILE! We are finally back from our trip to Indianapolis. We left last Saturday at 1:30am (yuck, but babies slept most of the car ride). We have learned and tried SO many new things this week. Lucas now calls me Nana, which was originally intended for Nana (my mom), but somehow got switched to me. So now, he calls for Dada and Nana. It's close I guess. Sophia FINALLY figured out how to pop up in the middle of the room by herself, so NO more pulling up on things. She will actually fall near something and crawl away so she has room to pop up without touching anything. Phia has also fallen in love with her Brown Bear Brown Bear book. She carries it everywhere she goes. Lucas is still into climbing everything (and EVERYONE for that matter). They both tried to pool while we were in Indy, and Lucas LOVED it! He kept crawling in and out and splashing around. Sophia was more partial to the hot tub (i don't blame her, it was MUCH warmer). She kicked her feet around like she was swimming and wanted to spend her time in the middle (the deep part!). We explored the playground at Orchard - my mom's school- and they both LOVED the slide and climbing on the equipment. Sophia liked the garden around the playground, and of course, Lucas wanted to play in the mud and the greenhouse.
As for the tooth count.... Sophia has four top fronts and four bottom fronts. She popped two molars trhough (both on the top) before we left. Lucas has four top fronts and four bottom fronts. He had a HUGE blood blister on his bottom gum for about a month where a molar was coming in (he has the one right above it, so I think it was irritating the blister?). Finally, we were eating animal crackers in Indy and he started drooling blood. We looked in and, sure enough, there were three pin pricks of blood where the molar had popped through. So we are officially at 10 teeth each.
I'm sure I will think of a million other things this week that we did, so I will try to update again soon. We shouldn't be going on any more trips, since I will probable be confined to the Memphis area from now on. I'm abuot 17.5 weeks pregnant and I went into labor with the babies at 20 weeks! So far everything is going well, and I have the BIG exam tomorrow, where they measure all the bones and everything in the new one. I may even find out if it's a boy or girl, but DON'T ASK me, because Will doesn't want to know until it's born, so we aren't telling anyone (we'll see how long that lasts:) ).
Hope all is well with you and check out the new pictures. They are all in the June folder, even though some were taken in May- oh well close enough! :)
Posted by our3babies
at 10:13 PM CDT
