When did they become toddlers?

"Hey babies!" is something I find myself saying a lot, but today I realized that they're not really babies anymore. They're toddlers. They toddle around, they understand things, they "talk", they feed themselves, they play well together and independently...they are big girls now! Almost 16 months old and almost big sisters :)

One of their new favorite things to do is to *go beyond* the gate in the hallway and toddle around between their room and Junior's room...taking each and every stuffed animal off the shelf, opening and closing all the doors, and climbing up on anything and everything (the toybox, the step ladder, the crib when it was in a box on the floor). They have a blast doing this...I suppose because it is something different than the playroom. And because of this, we are headed to Babies R Us this weekend for some baby-proofing necessities (door stoppers that don't have plastic tips that come off and end up in Ella's mouth, door guards so little fingers don't get smashed, and some drawer and cabinet locks for the changing table).

The talking is getting more and more exciting. I try my hardest to make out what they are saying because I *know* they are saying real words. I believe Perry has added "wak" (quack) and "All-lah" (Ella) to her vocabulary. Ella continues to say "bad dog" and I know she means it because it is always after I yell at Riesy. I'm sure there is more, but I just can't make it out right now. Ella certainly has the point and grunt thing figured out at mealtimes. :)

Watching them play is also very fascinating. Ella lined up 3-4 Little People on the windowsill yesterday and had a full on conversation with them. Perry can sit and play for hours with one thing, usually the shape sorter bucket or a book. They've also become much more interested in the toys that make music...Perry LOVES to dance and twirl around. Yesterday she twirled and twirled until her yogurt drink came back up. FYI...cleaning up puke when you're 30 weeks pregnant is not a pleasant activity. :)

Another new thing we have is "baby jail". We got one of those big playard gates that makes a 20 square foot area for them to play in and we set it up in the living room. It is nice to have a place to put them when taking them in and out of the car and after dinner while I clean up, without having to worry about them hurting themselves in our very un-baby-proofed downstairs. And, it's like the toys we put in there to play with are brand new!

Our gymnastics class is over and I think we'll "lay low" on the classes until Junior is here. We plan to take them swimming at the rec center every once in awhile...as long as my maternity swimsuit fits I suppose. It will be a whole different experience now that they can walk. The zero entry kiddie area will be very interesting for them with the fountains and such.

We have not done a very good job with our MoD fundraising this year...only at $130 so far. We are hoping to be able to do a fundraiser through Krispy Kreme, so we'll keep you posted. Also, don't forget about the t-shirts!

February already!?!?

Wow! This year is flying by! Only 3 more months until Junior's arrival and we still haven't started the nursery. Today we are lucky to have grandpa John and uncles Julio and Andrew help us move the giant desk out of Junior's soon-to-be nursery though, so progress is being made ;) Hopefully we'll get some paint up soon. We already have his crib, dresser, and changing table...just need to put them together.

Perry and Ella are doing very well. They are both in the process of getting more teeth (Ella's working on some molars I think) which is making them a bit moody. But other than that, they have been learning machines lately.


*On the walking front, we pretty much have 2 walkers now. Ella is doing very well with it and has learned to be more balanced. She still prefers to crawl if she's in a hurry though.

*Ella holds almost anything that resembles a phone up to her ear (well, it's more like her shoulder) to "talk" into it.

*Perry is feeding herself now! This makes mealtimes so much easier. We've been experimenting with different kinds of foods for breakfast and lunch...pancakes, French toast sticks, chicken tenders, Subway sandwiches, etc. I think they still favor the Cheerios though.

*We're officially done with formula! Woo hoo! Our grocery bills have taken a huge cut. Now they drink a little tiny bit of apple juice mixed with water and Perry enjoys a Danibles yogurt drink mixed with milk as an afternoon snack. Ella is not a fan.

*We are starting to make out more words from their little mouths. Ella definitely says "bad dog" and they both say "duck" and "dog". I swear they both said "sissy" the other day too.

*They both love mimicing everything...coughs, sneezes, nose blowing, burps, anything. I guess it's getting to be close to sensoring what we say around here ;)

*We have been going to a gymnastics class at the YMCA and the teacher taught us "ta da" where we raise our hands up over our heads after we do something. At first we had to trick the girls into doing it by asking "How big is Perry/Ella?", but now they do it by just hearing "Ta da" and Perry even kind of mumbles something that resembles "ta da".


Please don't forget about our March of Dimes fundraising. If you are interested in a t-shirt please email me to let me know. Otherwise you can make a donation on our team site. Thanks so much!