Our Sitting Inspiration

This is our cousin, Brynn. She may be cute, but...

She is a binky stealer. A crawler who preys on stationary, floor-bound babies.

Elli: So next time...

...It won't be so easy.

MUAHAHAHAHA.

Anni: Huh?

I mean... Yeah! What she said.

*Scratch. Scratch.*

Elli: Booyah!

Kum Bay Ya

Sitting in a circle? Check.
Bongo drum? Check.
Hippie tendencies? Well, maybe.
All we need now is a campfire and we can sing some Kum Bay Ya.

Today marks the first day that the girls sat independently for any time greater than a few minutes. They may have sat for almost 2 hours today. (The okay from the pediatrician on the reflux front, and a visit from our 10 month old cousin made us brave.)

Sitting Up With Our Ball


Sitting Up With Our Drum
(do not watch the last 2 seconds if you have anything against reflux)


Sitting Up With Our "Fruit"

Nine Months!

Hi, everyone!

The Doubleshot twins are 9 months old today.

Yesterday, they weighed in at 16 lbs 6 oz (Anni) and 17 lbs 12 oz (Elli). The pediatrician officially moved them off of the adjusted-gestational-age charts and onto the full-term charts. Anni is in the 15th percentile and Elli somewhere higher than that, obviously.

Though the girls continue to struggle with reflux, we have been given the go-ahead to continue exploring more foods in larger chunks, and discontinue pureeing everything gradually. Woe to me... the messes...

Each girl continues to entertain herself more and more independently, while also becoming more aware of and responsive to the other's actions. They like rolling to me on the floor for comfort, or to witness their antics. They like to choose their own toys and books, and only have the patience to make it through a few pages of reading these days. (Their favorite book is the animal sounds book, which they will pull from under an entire stack of other books, though it may cause a perilous book slide.)

They love to laugh and respond to my smile with their own toothless grins. Blowing raspberries is a family event; if one person does it, you better believe everyone else is going to chime in immediately. A recent favorite is having their hair blown so it lifts and flaps against their face.

The girls can clap items in their hands together, wave (this often turns into 2 arm flailing if someone gets overly excited), respond verbally to me time after time in "conversation", put their feet in their mouths, feed themselves puffs with 95% success, pull on heavier things to bring them closer for inspection, and smile endlessly (almost).

The Entertainer

Anni is a tough critic when it comes to humor. So, when I heard her laughing in the crib while I was away to get the vacuum, I knew there was something worth recording. (Up to this point, I've only heard either of the girls laugh at me. This is the first time I've heard one laugh at the other.)

And, of course, Elli The Entertainer does not limit her audience to Anni and myself. She also tries to engage Lucy.

(It's "woof woof," Elli, not "oink, oink." I told you I needed to work on my animal sounds.)

Pica

A list of inedible objects Elli explored with her sense of taste today:

• shag carpeting
• the coffee table
• regurgitated banana puffs*
• a laptop cord
• measuring tape
• a mechanical pencil (oops)
• mama's orange toenails
• sister's hair
• sister's ear

*Anni got in on that action, also. Dang you, reflux.

True Statement

Elli: No, Daddy loves me!

Anni: Take that! He's mine.

Undivided Attention

I am a constant fixture that sits on the floor with the girls. I referee when there is a disagreement. I redirect when there is a dangerous pursuit. I encourage exploration. I entertain. My attention is always divided at least in two.

Today was a day, however, when Mommy couldn't solve anyone's problems. Not a moment passed when someone wasn't voicing their discontentment. No naps were had.

And, then, I gave up. For the last hour of the "day", I put away all of the toys, I laid on the floor, and I was just present. It was the best hour the day. Maybe of the month. I think what they were trying to tell me all day was that they just wanted me, undivided.

Enjoy some of the moments I captured while prostrate on the floor. Be warned, I will win no cinematographic awards for these.

On the Level

Anni as Supergirl & Elli as my Hairstylist

Rocking with Anni & Rolling tape of Elli

Mini Me

Saturday night marked a momentous occasion for me. Someone told me, for the first time, that the girls looked like me. And, she was really analyzing them!!!

Up to this point, I've heard that they look like Luke, or "they must look like their father." I've known for sometime, however, that Elli looks like I did when I was a baby. (I know that is odd for me to exclude Anni when they are identical twins, but they really do look very different to me.)

If I were really eager to prove something to you, I would run downstairs, dig out my baby pictures, set up our scanner, and show you a side-by-side comparison between Elli and myself. However, I think you, my faithful readers, will just trust me when I say that this grin and this noggin are mine.

So. Dang. Cute.

Food For Thought 3

Blueberries


Yogurt*


Bananas


*Please note: Two minutes into plain yogurt (whole fat, of course) Anni started screaming every time I held the spoon to her face. This happened again the next day, too. This is the first time either of the girls has flat-out rejected a food. And, since I bought in bulk and have 64 oz of this plain yogurt, I now have to mix in mango puree to make it palatable. Wish I'd thought to tape the tantrum!

Bust A Move 4

These days, I look down, I look up, and the babies are doing something new. I try to get the camera and start taping with stealth, but I have two eager little entertainers here waiting to stop whatever they are doing to smile for the camera. I was able to sit still to fade into the background long enough to catch Elli in her latest feat.

(These videos are of Elli, despite the pink binky. She had commandeered it from Anni. I actually wish I had two cameras, so that you might see what Elli's sidekick was doing as well: practicing her Superman, flailing a fruit teether with all of her might, and screaming with delight in herself.)

These are the moves Elli has been developing for the past few weeks.

This is the new move she busted out today.


Now all she needs to do is "put one foot in front of the other"... but not today.


Finally, some recognition from Mommy results in a happy dance.

Harumph

My brain makes memories in snapshots, which get captioned. For this reason, I tend to remember how people say or do things, and not what actually was said, because I've dubbed it over with my own caption. I can read people by comparing their mannerisms to the snapshots I have of them.

I have many snapshots that I would caption *sigh* or *eye-roll* or *ehh* or *omg* (from my time with 7th graders). Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't have any I would caption with a *harumph*. I think it's because I try not to do anything that people find passionately annoying, which would warrant a "harumphing" expression. Sure, I might frustrate, or disappoint, or exasperate, but I try to avoid doing it to an extreme. Throw in a couple babies, though, and I guess we make a pretty extreme package.

Snapshot #1: I'm in a small, local coffee shop with my mom and the girls for lunch. My mom sits with the girls while I'm ordering a coffee and some quiche. Clearly we've come to sit for lunch, but the barista wraps everything up quickly and puts it in a bag and a to-go cup. By his actions, we are clearly not at all encouraged to sit for lunch. But, we sit anyway. Anni starts making noises to indicate what a jolly-good time we're having and a post-grad reading the paper next to us with his green tea gets majorly peeved. Oh, he's rustling his paper, pushing books around, and making it very clear that we are ruining his yuppie experience here in the middle of a plains state. *Harumph.*

Snapshot #2: I'm in line to check-out at the grocery store yesterday behind an elderly gentleman. Elli and Anni are making their usual social calls to everyone around us, attempting to engage whoever they can. We know both the bagger and cashier, who start commenting about how big the girls are getting, etc, and paying less attention to the gentleman as he checks out. He turns around, gives the girls and me the full examination, and says "one just wasn't enough for you, was it?" in a disgruntled sort of way. *Harumph.* (I want to give him some snarky lesson on the fertilization of monozygotic twins, but I am respectful to my elders.)

Snapshot #3: I keep picturing the "arm" of the toy above popping off as the girls suck on it. I take it away, until further notice, as they are playing with it. The look I get is clearly one of disdain. *Harumph.*

Exhalation

"I don't know how you do it." I think it's, perhaps, the most annoying thing you could say to the spouse of a deployed soldier.

Mostly because, I don't really know how I do it either. I fill my life up with so many things, so I don't have time to think about it. It's not until I hug Luke that I realize I haven't had a hug - a real hug, a real feeling of tenderness - in 1 month, or 18. And that I haven't fully exhaled since the day he left.

But, once in a while, I have a moment when I do exhale completely, and I just lose it. During Luke's first deployment, it happened in the Commissary when I was looking at chocolate pudding. It was on the top shelf and I couldn't reach it. Another woman had her husband with her nearby and she asked him to grab a box of vanilla for her. He did, and it was just the most casual thing. I exhaled, and cracked apart right there. I think it's funny now, but I had to leave the store then.

It's happened once already this deployment, when I found out that my girlfriend's husband's R&R had been canceled just days before he was due home. I thought about his little girl waiting so excitedly for him, exhaled, and sobbed for an hour in the shower.

Today it happened again as I drove by a house with a huge sheet hanging over a garage in our neighborhood that was hand-painted to read "Daddy We Missed You". It knocked the wind out of me and I've had tears in my eyes ever since.

If you are not a military spouse, but you know one... Give that person a real hug, and do something to give him or her a chance to exhale once in a while.

I don't have time to think about it because __________.

Puff Predicament

There are very few things that I like less than a dirty floor. This presents quite a problem when you have two little humans learning to feed themselves.

Puffs are my new nemeses. Not only are they completely void of nutritional elements, but they become super-sticky upon contact with wet little fingers. So sticky, in fact, that they remove fibers from clothing when you try to pick them off of onesies and bibs. So sticky that I get an OCD migraine when I even think about them hitting my kitchen floor. So sticky that they get stuck on random things and show up in random places.

But, since one of the items on the developmental checklist we must go through with the pediatrician each visit is the 'pincer grasp', and puffs are really the only things small/light enough to be picked up and safe to be put in the mouth, I must endure.

I've been looking for solutions. Logically, a dog should take care of it. Lucy is not like other pups, however, and dislikes all human food, except meat. I tried to train her to like them, bribing/rewarding her with treats, but to no avail.

Here is another potential solution:

The Problem: Rogue Puff


The Solution: Puff-Loving Baby


"Oh, Elli."


" Yes, mama?" ***** "Really?"


The Refusal

Well, I tried. I've given in and just decided to dispose of the puffs as I find them... and to wash the floor under the high chairs every night.

Twin Talk

It happened today.

I had put Elli down in her crib for a nap and at least 15 minutes had passed quietly while I was getting Anni ready and nursing her. Suddenly, Elli let out a sharp yell from the other room. Then, Anni unlatched and let out her own yell. I thought it was just a strange coincidence, because all went quiet again. But then...

A few moments later Anni unlatched again and let out a different yell. To which, another yell responded from the nursery.

These weren't any of their typical cries or yells for food, assistance, general happiness or unhappiness. These noises had distinct vowel and consonant combinations.

Meaningless to me of course, but I knew they were communicating, and it gave me goose-bumps. It was creepy in a paranormal sort of way; like I had been privy to some super-natural phenomenon. I had read that this would probably happen - that the girls would develop their own little jabberings - but I wasn't prepared for it to happen this way.

My logical brain can rationalize just about everything, but it can't wrap itself around this language. When did it start? How did they assign meaning to their noises? Where was I when this was going on? Why did they decide to showcase it today at that particular time? Are they talking about me behind my back?

Mother's Day

When I was little, my grandma told me that Mother's Day only comes once a year, but every day is Kids' Day. (I've been skeptical about that ever since, because she told me this right after making me hold my breath while we passed a cemetery. Love you, Nana!)

For me, today was just like any other day. Today was Kids' Day... again.

But, I did have this lovely arrangement from Luke to make it special, along with these sweet "hand-written" cards the girls got for me with the help of Grandma B.

Earlier this week, on another Kids' Day, I pulled out the finger paints so that the girls could make something for their Grandmas.

Elli: You mean, you want me to get my hands dirty?!

Anni does some blending.

She needed a little help keeping her hand on the paper,
and not in her mouth.

Happy Mother's Day, all!

Between the Lines

Anni has taken a real interest in books the past few days. I mentioned that she went box-diving for one of her favorite books the other day.

Then yesterday she decided to fore-go her usual toy choices and "crawl" to retrieve a book to look at.


(That's right: We Anderson girls are excellent at reading upside-down.)


Today she did the same. I caught her reading to herself for quite a while.


Before I know it, she'll be telling me her versions of the stories we've been reading together.

Gerunds Part I: Photo Re-cap

Here's what's been keeping us busy, chronologically.

bouncing

putting on shoes & taking off shoes

conspiring

superman-ing


grandma-ing


millinery-ing


snoozing (on Mr. Bunny)


what-up-ing


rolling


tom-fooling


stealing


cuddling

mohawk-ing

admiring

creating

exploring (unknown lands)