6:24am

6:24am. I wake up at the normal time that the girls start hollering for me, but all is mysteriously quiet. I look at the monitor, and Elli is missing.

6:24am + 3 seconds. I have flown to the nursery to discover that Elli has a new skill: crib-diving. She has pulled herself up and is leaning over into Anni's crib. Lucy is freaking out because the journey that could take me up to 20 minutes to make, has just occurred in 3 seconds.

6:24am + 10 seconds. I have settled Elli back down and assessed that I can grab the video camera, which is conveniently in the room, in time to watch her attempt crib-diving again. (She does not give up easily.)

Oh, crap.

6:24am + 5 minutes. I have moved the babies to a safe location, collected the necessary tools to drop the crib bottom, and declared myself one bad-@$$ with an allen wrench.

6:24am - approximately 12 hours. I am on the phone with my mom declaring that the girls have shown no interest in standing or pulling themselves up on anything, yet, so I will be able to wait a while to drop the cribs.

Ten Months!

I have no idea how long or heavy the girls are today. And that's a good thing. That means we haven't been to the doctor's office for any reason.

I can tell you that the girls are longer, because I've had to boost up their bouncer height and carseat straps. They are heavier, because I've had to bump up the free weights I use every night to be sure I don't throw my back out lifting them in and out of the truck. They are also getting leaner, because I had to tighten both of their high chair waist straps just yesterday. (I guess all of the crawling does that.)

Obviously, they are getting cuter, too.

Anni & Elli

The girls seem okay with Army crawling, and can get from one room to another surprisingly fast. Elli seems to crave the adventure more than Anni does (this would include expeditions for dog kibble), but Anni does get herself somewhere if she wants to. Both girls can easily move from sitting to crawling by walking their hands and doing full-on splits with their legs. I often find them both sitting up in their cribs waiting for me. My friends remark that they will probably be dancers because of the way they constantly point their toes.

Anni Demos the Splits Walk-Over

Elli Follows Me to the Mud Room

Their hair continues to grow in fuller. Their eyes are definitely hazel. Their mouths are still devoid of teeth. In most brands, they continue to wear 3-6 month clothing. In my opinion, the girls are looking more and more like me! But there are definitely moments when one of daddy's expressions comes across a face... like when Elli is being mischievous, or Anni is skeptical. HA!

Elli gabs all of the time. Mostly it's a cacophony of syllables beginning with "m", "d", "b" and "y". I can get her to say "mama" and "dada" with enough prompting, but she doesn't yet associate the words with the people. She is a total mimic, and will try to use the same number of syllables or the same intonation that I do when she is in a good mood. I've heard Anni say "bob", but she is much more about noises back in her throat. I'm pretty sure their first words will be "Lucy" or "puppy", because the world stops when Lucy does something absolutely average.

Both girls understand the actions "bounce" and "wave". Elli knows she should wave when I say "hi", and Anni understands the word "shake". She will shake an object in her hand, and also shakes her head "no" whenever I shake my head to say "yes" (uh oh).

Finger Foods

Pureeing is out. Chunking is in.

The girls have been enjoying little bits of their favorite foods, as well as some new ones, for over a week now. So far, they've fed themselves mango, banana, grapes, zucchini, green beans and peas.

The transition went without a hitch, and both girls will shovel anything into their mouths that I place on their trays. Anni will vocalize when her tray needs replenishing, and Elli manically sweeps over her tray again and again to be sure she didn't miss anything.

Enjoy these clips from our first exploits into finger foods!

Elli and Anni Go Bananas

First Grapes

Zucchini Popping and Tray Clearing

Hidey-Ho, Neighbor!

Now there is one less mystery in the world for the Anderson girls.

We Love Daddy

Wishing you a Happy Father's Day, Daddy, from your favorite spot in the house!

We're keeping your seat warm until you're home to claim it.

We love you! (And, you're the coolest boy we know.)

Where My Girls At?

Over here. Over there. Never in the same spot. Well, maybe one... Both girls are fascinated by the only spot they are restricted from in the living room - the stone hearth. I keep the coffee table pushed up against it, mostly out of convenience, but it has also serves to block direct access to the danger zone. Does that stop the Doubleshot twins?

Elli Army-crawls under the chair to access the hearth.


Anni backs under the chair.

Of course not!

What About Bob?

Elli has been spewing the word "bob" repeatedly for over two weeks now. It seems to be a name for all things good and happy, or an adjective to describe such things.

It's taken me until today to capture it on camera, because when Elli sees the camera it's all posing and smiles and scooting to the camera for her "close-ups." Today I suggested things were very "Bob" while she was (initially) unaware I was filming.

Bob!

Usually it is much more boisterous than this, I assure you, and it goes on and on and on. Did you notice how she started to whisper "bob" in response to my whispering? She is really learning to mimic. She watches my lips to see how I say things. I thought I might be able to suggest some other words/sounds that only utilized the lips...

Say Mama!

And Anni? She doesn't give one toot about Bob. She is happy to be happy, and let's me know by purring like a cat.

Anni Purring

Ahoy!

The Doubleshot twins are cruising everywhere these days, so it's only appropriate that we don our cruise apparel. We had on some cute sailor pants, but it's just too hot.

Cruisin.


Whistling for the pool boy.


What? No pool boy?
Elli: Devastating!
Anni: That's dumb.


At least we brought some good reads.


Party on the Poop Deck! Be there!
Be warned, we come from a long line of shuffleboard champs.

Thanks to C&C for our striped shirts!

Going Gray?

Fact: I have significantly less gray hair now than I did prior to and during my pregnancy.

Plausible Hypotheses:

1. Exposure to seventh graders initiates a temporary state of maturity (aka "decline").
2. I lost all of the gray hair after the pregnancy, and it ain't coming back.
3. Ben & Jerry's has discovered the Fountain of Youth - the secret location being where they make batches of Peanut Brittle ice cream. (OMG. Try it!)

Note: Bald people don't care. --->

Clipping

I have a huge stack of magazines and catalogs cluttering one of my baskets. The girls helped me sort through a few the other day. We pulled out pages of ideas we like and things we wish for. And we pulled out pages just because it's gratifying and they make cool noises.

Anni picks out the table cloth she'd like to smear food on.

Good choices, girls.

Food For Thought 4

Now we're getting fancy...

Quinoa

Kiwi Fruit

Note 1: Babies do not digest kiwi fruit seeds.
Note 2: Kiwi fruit baby poo smells oddly like kiwi fruit. This is disturbing.
Note 3: Kiwi fruit baby poo does not look like baby poo.
Note 4: The consumption of kiwi fruit by babies has been suspended until further notice.

Barley & Spelt "Mmm!"

Stop It

Stop being so cute, sweet babies!

Silent Conversation

I would argue that if the girls were able to talk; I wouldn't actually be able to get a word in. Spending so much time with them, I can pretty much figure out what they are saying just through our eye-contact. Here are some translated excerpts from our "conversations" today:

Elli:
Watch this, Mommy! I can move my leg like this. And watch this! Did you see that? My leg can go like this, too. And, this one is different, I promise. See? Isn't that cool? My foot is cool, too. My toes get all wiggly. I'm really glad we opted for polka-dot pants, today. They are my favorite. They look really good on me, don't they? See that spot under the couch? That's where I hide my favorite toys. Do you think that's mean? Because I don't. I think it's smart. What if Sister was playing with something I needed, and I had to take it away? Now, that would be mean. I love me! I love you, too, Mommy. You think I'm funny, and you always tell me how pretty I am.

Anni:
Where is Lucy? She's usually by the back window. Is she there? No? Oh, I wish she would come play. She is much more fun to pet than Elli. Where is Elli, by the way? Oh, there she is. I know this circuit. She will be over to take my fruit teether away in approximately 39 seconds. It's okay. I don't mind. She's interesting to watch. Besides, I'll find some other way to get at her. Did I tell you I'm studying Mind Control, Mommy? It's a very interesting subject. I study it in my crib. I won't use it on you. Wouldn't you like to play Superman, now? Or, maybe, I can just lay here and you can rub my back? Why don't you get me a book to leaf through? Thanks. I love you, Mommy.

Look Alikes

Anni: Is it just me, or are we looking more and more alike?
Elli: I can't tell. We're camouflaged.

Elli: HEHE!
Anni: Sweet. *Thumbs up.*

Thanks to the Himmelspach's for our camo!

Bust A Move 5

Much as I suspected, Anni has been observing Elli's pre-crawl exploits. She's been rocking on all fours everywhere she goes today. She wasn't clumsy at first, nor did she discover it by accident. She just seemed to choose to do it... perfect.

And, when Elli awoke early from a nap, we busted a move against Lucy.