Random Happenings

I had a lot of random photos, videos, and such from recent weeks so I thought I'd just put up a mish-mash post with no theme really :-)  Enjoy some silly videos of the girls, pictures from my sister's baby shower, and a smattering of other photos!

This is Emma trying out some different waves with that baby who is always in the TV cabinet...

This is just a snippet of the girls playing together

Emma and Daddy playing

Me and Natalie at April & Avery's Baby Shower

~Sisters~

Momma & Sisters

My awesome-looking gift :-)

Failing miserably at naming baby animals...

"Price is Right"...again, failing miserably!

What the heck is a baby bat called??  Satan??

My grandma trying to guess how many diapers are in the tub hehe

First time in a cart together!

Papa Play Time

Waking up with awesome carseat hair!

Ahhh this is where she gets her hair from...we call these their "hero hair-dos"

Spring Swimming

Today we did lots of playing and swimming with the girls!  They love baths so it's no surprise they also love the pool.  Emma is a natural--she kicked her legs and arms the entire time.  She also wanted to keep dunking her head hehe.  Olivia loves splashing and getting her face soaking wet.  We had a great time hanging out with family, our girls, and enjoying this beautiful day!

Ready for a fun day!

Having some fun in the sun for our 9 month-day

Sisterly love

With Auntie-dunking her head, again.

Nine Months

The girls are 9 months!  (Well, nearly but since today was their 9 month check up I'm just going with it.)  They are like miniature adults now--they have likes, dislikes, mood swings, temper tantrums, favorite toys, and very defined personalities.  They're also cruisers now--walking along all furniture, standing, sitting, standing again, pulling each other up, and knocking each other down.  At any point on any day you can walk out front of our house and hear screaming, yelling, crying, laughing but I wouldn't have it any other way.  The house constantly looks like a war zone between dueling toy factions and today as I write this it looks like Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates is leading his team to victory as they are the only ones who haven't been flung out of the playroom.  The girls keep me so busy but I love every minute of it (even when I have to hide in the corner of the playroom, behind the chair, in order to finish my lunch!).

At their 9 month check up we received the following stats:

Emma Rae: 19 lbs 5 oz= 60th percentile & 29.5 inches= off the charts

She likes to wave, she does the roll part from Patty Cakes, she loves to stand and walk along any piece of furniture, she can even squat down, pick something up and then stand back up!  She has gotten much better at feeding herself finger foods and prefers a straw over a sippy cup.  She will dance to pretty much any kind of music and we have to let her stand in her crib and dance a few minutes before convincing her to lay down for bed :-)

Olivia Marie: 15 lbs 5 oz= 5th percentile & 28.5 inches= 80th percentile
She pretty much claps all the time-when you change her diaper, when she's crying, when you're not paying attention to her, etc.  She is an expert at picking up the smallest speck of food and putting it in her mouth.  She likes to hold her arm up in the air and snap (like she's a rude person trying to get a waiter....I have NO IDEA where she learned this lol).  She has the most infectious laugh when you tickle her.

This is what happens when daddy babysits: new playhouse

I get to see these adorable faces every morning!

Our new wagon!  Good thing we got the trailer for Cheshire Cat!

Refused a sippy cup but will gladly drink from a straw??

She has the longesttttt torso and short little legs :-)

Lu enjoying their new ball pop toy

Emma doing her daily laps in exchange for a puff treat each time!

Easter!

The girls experienced their first colds and I can't be sure who it was harder on--them or us.  We had several nights of being up every 15 minutes and one night Alex drove around with Emma from 12AM-4AM :-( We tried everything from saline nose spray, to baby vicks, to a humidifier, to a steamer, to bringing their baby swings home from storage, you name it we tried it in the name of sleep (for us mostly!).  I read somewhere that babies average 10 colds in the first year of life so considering this was our first at 8 months I'm trying not to complain-but man oh man, if that had happened already 5 or so times by now...I'd move them to a private island!  We also experienced our first real boo-boo with Olivia doing some type of face plant somewhere.  All I know is when I picked her up from a nap she had the loveliest little shiner below her left eye.  That sucker was purple for two days and then brown for another couple days.  I just kept praying it would be gone by their 9 month check up because I really didn't want to have to explain to her doctor that I had no idea how she got it!

In the midst of fighting the colds we have managed some pretty fun events too!  We took the girls to our zoo (The LA Zoo) with Grandma Sue and Great-Nana Mary.  It was super crowded as it was Spring Break but Great-Nana graciously purchased a family membership for us so we can go back all year!  We also celebrated their first Easter complete with baskets and goodies.  Of course I included toothbrushes in their baskets for all those new teeth!  The girls received wayyyy too much as usual from their grandmas and grandpa but they were more than thrilled to show off playing with all their toys.  We had a lovely brunch-these sort of celebrations are becoming so much more fun since the girls sit at the table with us and chat away.  By 1PM they were both so worn out that they passed out the second we set them in their cribs!

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One of the biggest changes I've noticed with the girls lately is how much more they interact with each other.  I don't think they have any "special language" but sometimes they really get going chatting with each and it just cracks me up.  They went from climbing all over each other without any purpose to teamwork to get what they want (as evidenced by them trying to pull out their music toy in the first two images and trying to open their diaper box!).  They would also blindly take toys from one another and now they purposefully "steal" from one another or better yet, sometimes they actually GIVE their toy to the other. 

Trying to pull their music toy out

Here, I'll help hold you up!

They worked on this box foreverrrr!

They sit at this fence all the time and chat--I swear they are plotting their escape.  This particular conversation happened to include some nice sharing :-)

Heading into the LA Zoo!

Getting to see a hedgehog up close!

Excited about the hedgehog

Poor thing--passed out (Olivia)

And another one bites the dust...

Easter Morning