Holiday aftermath

Dave is off work (this past week and next week) so we are spending lots of time together as a family. It is nice to have him here to help out with the girls as Junior continues to grow, which makes it a bit more difficult to do bathtime and carry the girls up and down the stairs. 5 months down, 4 to go. :)

Christmas has come and gone, just like it seems to do each and every year. Perry and Ella were not as into it as we had hoped. They seemed very interested in everything at the first 2 gatherings we went to earlier in the month, but then quickly grew tired of it. I guess it became old news to them or it was too much in too short a time period. A bit overwhelming at this age I would think. Our house shows signs of being truly blessed by our family and friends though. We had more Christmas cards than ever and the girls' new toys are strewn about the playroom as I type this.

Perry and Ella are both getting very close to taking their first steps on their own. A couple staggering steps from Daddy to Mommy and vice versa were made last night. We had thought they would be walking by Christmas, but maybe now it will be closer to their 14 month birthday? Perry spends more and more time standing without holding onto anything and Ella has mastered cruising.

Perry has a new tooth...her top right one. It looks like the top left may be close behind. We don't think Ella has gotten any new teeth lately. She doesn't make much of a fuss about it and it's very hard to get a look in her mouth. With 6 teeth, she can really bite down hard so neither Dave nor I are too eager to stick our fingers in there to check it out. Perry on the other hand, DOES make a fuss about it. She becomes very cranky and has occasional night wakings. Unfortunately, she still has 17 teeth to go so we're in for a long teething period with her.

A new tooth has brought new eating habits for Perry. She is eating table foods like a pro now. She occasionally copies her sister by sticking her finger in her mouth, but for the most part, she is a very good eater. Ella is hit or miss. She sticks her fingers in her mouth constantly...not sure if it's a sign that she is done, doesn't like whatever is in there, wants to play with it, or is just an Ella thing. We're also not sure if she's chewing very well...I think she gets so excited about eating that she just swallows most things. Most popular foods at our house are raviolis, spaghetti O's, mac and cheese, cheese pierogies, still some stage 2 and 3 baby foods, cheese, mandarin oranges, peaches, bananas, and celery sticks (for Ella).

Da-da, Ma-ma, and Ba-ba definitely have meaning to them now. Not many other recognizable words besides Uh-oh though. It seems as though P&E have their own language with each other so I'm sure more words will evolve soon. They are definitely understanding a lot of new things at a fast rate these days. Both girls have mastered peek-a-boo, giving fives, clapping their hands, dancing, and are getting better at waving bye bye. Perry is our little mocking bird. She used to copy coughs, sneezes, and even Grandpa John blowing his nose. Now she covers her mouth to "cough" just like Mommy does.

Well, this has to be the end as I hear Perry waking up on the other side of the wall. Hope everyone had a good holiday and we'll see you in the new year!

The holidays are here!

So much for posting more often on here, right? Well, the holidays are officially here. Dave and I went to his office holiday party on the 2nd, I went to a cookie swap yesterday, and we have our first of SEVEN family holiday functions this week. 'Tis the season!

As for the girls, they are doing very well. Here are some fast facts on them...

*Ella is super cruiser now. She will walk around anything: couches, the stroller, with her push-toy, etc.
*Perry is cruising as well...not as fast, but much more balanced. She practices standing by taking her hands off the couch for seconds at a time. It'll be interesting to see who walks first.

*Ella likes to feed herself now. If you put the food in her mouth for her, she will take it out and put it back in herself. She is also getting pretty picky so mealtimes are quite the challenge. Sticks of celery are our new best friends!
*Perry is eating tablefoods now! We still do mostly baby food, but she's trying new things which is great. She still only has her 2 bottom teeth (with 1 top tooth about to break through) so chewing takes awhile.

*We are in the process of switching over to whole milk. We did it VERY slowly because of their sensitive tummies. Perry also developed a rash which we thought was a possible sign of allergy, but it turned out to just be eczema. She got her very first prescription for Elidel and it is healing very nicely.

*Both girls are OBSESSED with our computers, but Perry more than Ella. Perry can even open the disk drive on my laptop and remove the CD that is inside. They love "typing" to Daddy while he's at work on Instant Messenger.

*Both girls say "da da", "ba ba", and "ma ma" pretty clearly now. Unfortunately, "ma ma" is only said when they are tired, hungry, or otherwise upset.

*Ella can shake her head no. I'm not sure if she knows what it means...but it's cute nonetheless.
*Perry is a dancing fool (HAD to of gotten that from her Mommy). Anytime a song is on, she will bounce up and down or move her head back and forth.

I'm sure there is much more, but unfortunately mommy/pregnancy brain has gotten the best of me. We have yet to go see Santa at the mall, so we will be doing that shortly...look for pics on the website!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!