Locomotion

I didn't take any pictures today. But, close your eyes and imagine a little babe tottering forward on her own, all Bambi-like. Naomi took steps on her own yesterday! She's a bit wobbly yet, but there was official walking. (And Nana was a witness later in the day!) I have been telling them that they need to be walking by the time Easter rolls around, since we've signed up for an Egg Hunt and crawling around in the dirt in the fancy little dresses would be silly! I had also been preparing in my head the blog entry that described how Lillian, the dark horse in the race to walking, had overtaken her mobile monkey of a sister. Lillian's been doing laps around the house holding on to just one of our fingers and seems to show a lot more interest in bipedal mobility than Naomi. Lillian's also obsessed with the mail cart walker toy. She's gotten quite good at maneuvering it around, backing up and changing course when she hits an obstacle. I'd say it won't be long, but I said that about Naomi back in January.

Speaking of egg hunting, Nana brought over some fake plastic eggs yesterday to practice. We had to put them away again so the novelty won't wear off. But, the girls were way into finding and opening the eggs. During lunch, we hid goldfish crackers in the eggs and they were crazy happy to open them up again and again to find the treasure. Lillian also blew my mind when, after hearing me say 'open' and 'closed' a few times, she began to imitate those words and repeat them almost clearly. Not that I think she knows what they mean yet. She's approaching that parrot stage, though, which means it's time for me to scrub up my vocabulary a bit.

Dammit.

Puppy Love

I bought the girls puppets today. The reaction, especially from Lillian, was more than I could have ever expected! The shock and awe on her face when this creature begins talking and gesturing to her is genuine and delightful. She gives him kisses and points to his nose. I really expected her to catch me, you know? I didn't need to do any fancy ventiloquist moves; she just took immediately for granted that this new friend had appeared to interact with her. I love it.

Technically, She's Correct.

You saw earlier in the week how she answers, "Where's your head?" This is how she answers "Where's your nose?"

At Gram's

It's a table! That's a mirror! That's a table! That's a mirror!

Why Is Everything Orange?

I'd like to think that this morning's waffles were just so good that she was going to lick the plate, but probably not. Much more interesting to mash one's nose into one's dinnerware and watch Mom and Dad laugh. While they're orange.

Special Delivery

Happy Friday! (And Spring Break Friday, no less. Too bad it'll be in the teen tonight.)

Headcase.

This is how we answer the question, "Where is your head?". It's also how Lillian responds to hearing the word "head", like in "It's Raining, It's Pouring." Or regular conversation.

Stairway to Heaven

These are the faces you get when you block off the best thing in the house. I feel like Lillian's thinking "Her! She can open this blockade! Get her!!" and Naomi's just giving me the stinkface.

Houston, We Have a Vegetable.

The girls will eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, as long as they are pureed. Naomi will make exceptions for blueberries that are cut in half. But, otherwise, they seem to be offended by even touching a squishy piece of produce. Miracle of all miracles, we found a winner Sunday night. We hauled the grill out of the garage to welcome the 60 degree weather and had some asparagus, that great heralder of the springtime. And Lillian decided this stuff was okay! and munched her way through three spears. She didn't always start at one end, as you can see. I certainly won't get picky about methods if she's eating something green!

Fascination

These captivated faces are brought to you by a baby sign language video that the girls are a little obsessed with. If you let them, they will crawl up the footstool in front of the television until their noses are about 2 inches from the screen and stare at Marlee Matlin and the cartoon characters do the signs for milk (squeeze your fist together, like you were working an udder), baby (rock your arms back and forth), mommy (open your hand and tap your thumb against the side of your chin), daddy (same open hand, tapping your thumb against the side of your forehead) and several others. They imitate a lot of the signs while watching the video and are starting to transfer more of them to real-life situations. Of course, it occurs to me that now would be a good time to tell you that Lillian gets at least 80% credit for saying "Mama", "Daddy", and "Baby" as actual words.

St. Patrick's Picnic

It was a glorious day here in Cleveland. Temperate and breezy and full of the gentle sunshine that pools behind the storm door and lets you remember what warm air smells like.

We dined al fresco, to celebrate.

Start Your Engines!

Moments after this was taken, Naomi clambored up on to the seat of her snail. She takes a challenge seriously. Is it too soon to buy her a helmet?

Impatient

Several times a week, I look at Naomi and say, "Would you just walk already!" She's been standing like this on her own for a while now--not holding on to anything. But, she stays rooted in that spot. If she wants to go somewhere, she squats back to the ground and zips off crawling. Still an efficient mode of travel, since she's so darn fast, but I am getting antsy for her to hit this next milestone. (I fully understand that I will regret that desire once she's off and running.)

Umm.

This isn't excessive, is it?

Reading

That's Naomi, with some Shakespeare. Othello, to be exact.

Come On!

Lillian decided today was the day to climb the stairs. Repeatedly. And she left her sister in the dust. Tonight, both girls climbed all the stairs on their own on the way to bed. They're getting so big!

Today was also my birthday and the girls helped celebrate by sticking their fingers in the cake icing.

Who's Who, Vol. 1

Still hunting for William's baby picture, but here I am roundabout 33 years ago. So, who is it?

Hats Off!

Or, on. Or neither. Lillian spent quite a bit of time today attempting to put on any of the 4 winter hats in the dining room. I was in laughing tears.

This Is How I Feel About Grocery Stores, Too.

On the way home from the ultrasound where we discovered we were having twins, we stopped at the grocery store. Stopping at the front door, I completely lost my cool. Sobbing, laughing. I could not, for the life of me, figure out how I was going to go grocery shopping with two babies. William was able to talk me down from the ledge, but it remained a mystery for a long time. I ended up just pushing the stroller and pulling the shopping cart. We made a little train. Didn't corner all that well, but we functioned. But, then! I discovered this little gem at the 'fancy' grocery store. I now prowl the parking lot, looking for it the cart corral. Twice, I have swooped upon a woman coming out of the store and traded her for the regular cart I was pushing--Lillian in the little seat and Naomi strapped in a baby carrier on my chest.

Sorry about the hiatus this weekend. We had a whirlwind of a time with all kinds of good socializing. By them time evening rolled around, I was just too wiped out to sort through photos and mess around with the computer. You made it, right?

And the Oscar Goes To....

Aunt Pat, wardrobe design guru, who sent the Best Overalls Ever this week. The girls will be wearing them every day for the rest of their lives. Shouldn't make freshman week at college at all awkward, right?

I don't even have to caption these!!




Then, later, Naomi though Lillian looked a little hungry, so she fed her sister a chicken nugget. Then Naomi stole a nugget off of Lillian's tray. All's fair in love.

Go, Dog, Go!

The picture is from Tuesday, so I might be violating the nature of this challenge. But, my battery died this morning and this was a cute shot, so here you are.

I would have loved to take pictures of tonight's adventures, were we took the girls out to dinner and arrived serendipitously at Tommy's on the night of Flower Clown's regular appearance. The girls couldn't take their eyes off of him as he traveled around the dining room, making balloon animals for the kids (and anyone else) at the tables. He stopped by our table to visit, but seeing that the girls were too young for balloons, he gave them each a tiny beach ball instead. Lillian was much less thrilled with the clown up close. I think Flower Clown saw the trouble brewing and made a graceful exit.

Welcoming Committee

Tuesday homecomings are even more exciting than the rest of the week. William has classes on Monday nights, so by the time he gets home, the girls are in bed. The stretch from Sunday night to Tuesday afternoon is a long one for everyone. Today, when the sound of his Jeep came up the driveway, the dog and the girls all raced to greet him at the door. The adoration in Lillian's face just melts me.

Oh. And something else happened today. What was it?

Hang on. I'll think of it in a second.



Oh, yeah. Naomi climbed the stairs.



All of them. Send help.