AUDREY IS A STAR!

So this past weekend, Audrey really started to seem ready to walk. She would take that one step between toys while not holding on. Yesterday (2/24/09) we finally had actual walking...only 2 months after Brooke!!

Audrey is cutting some teeth and was in quite a bit of pain yesterday (or that is what I diagnosed) so she was chewing on some ice in those mesh feeder bags. Well Brooke loves to do that too, and she decided to swoop in and take the ice and "run" away with it. Audrey took off after her...walking for 5 or 6 steps. HOORAY!! The rest of the day she would randomly decide to walk rather than crawl. Just in time for our 15 month doctor's appointment tomorrow!

Here is a video of her....I finally figured out how to fix the camera so that it is not super dark. Ignore the shaking at the end...Brooke was trying to help film Audrey.

Slide Inside

Here is a video of the girls sliding inside....sorry it is such a dark video. I think that my commentary pretty much sums it up.

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The girls on their Valentine's Date!

I can't really think of a title cause there really is not that much to report. This past Sunday, we awoke to realize that it was now Audrey's turn to be throwing up and having cha-cha-cha....though fortunately she seemed to get over it (for the most part) all that one day...after about 6 outfit changes. I will go on record now as saying that throw up totally grosses me out - I would rather deal with anything - including cha cha cha - other than that.

Long live the 80's!

Other than that, life has been pretty routine around here. Audrey is in a big "read to me now" phase. She crawls into your lap and thrusts the book (repeatedly) into your face. Unfortunately, since they are still in the monkey see, monkey do phase Brooke will also want to crawl into your lap - and they both want to be in the center part, the leg is just not satisfactory. Brooke is pretty hilarious cause she will back herself into your lap. And she starts from quite a ways away.

Practicing for Marching Band...that's right band can be cool!

I have a cute video but the stupid thing is not loading....will try again tomorrow.

GETTING OLDER...

Yesterday the girls were 15 months old! (Today is D's birthday and he is considerably older than that!) So since I am using this as my only written record of things that the girls are doing, here is a list of some things they are doing: (these are accompanied by some pictures from yesterday's visit to Chuck E. Cheese's - the girls loved it! Audrey just wanted to ride the little cars over and over and Brooke loved the slide - she would go down and the walk around and climb up the stairs and go down again without any help!)

Climbing up the stairs to get to the slide.

Both: they are really enjoying using silverware. they love to eat with a fork (with assistance stabbing the food from us)...unfortunately they are not big fans of being fed with silverware. they want to either pick it up with their hands or feed themselves...not successful with meals such as chili.

Audrey: while she is still not solo walking, she can now get into a standing position without using anything for support. of course, then she stands absolutely still with her arms out for balance...pretty funny.

Both: they have learned how to go down the stairs backwards....great except now going up the stairs can be a giant ordeal cause they will get up two or three steps and then decide to go back down those couple of steps...numerous times

Brooke: she gets quite concerned when Audrey is crying and will bring her things to try to cheer her up...or maybe just to get her to shut up.

Both: they will give their unwanted food to the other person by putting it on their trays. unfortunately this sometimes just results in food missing and falling on to the floor.

Audrey: she is a whiz with puzzles (Brooke is also good, but not as good as Audrey). she can put the pieces in the correct spots with the correct side facing up, but turning them to fit is still a work in process. I thought she had just memorized the 3 that we had out, but she was able to do it with the new one we just got out.

Brooke: learned to drink from a straw ( in Audrey's defense, we just learned yesterday and she was pretty close)

Audrey: she can find anything you ask her to - even stuff I can't find - which is very helpful when you are missing the zebra from the puzzle! Brooke is also a good finder, but not as quick as Audrey.

Brooke: loves her freedom walking around outside. she just looks so proud of herself. she also is funny whenever she sees a tissue/napkin. she immediately uses it to wipe her nose - and again looks so proud of herself.

I am sure there are other things that they are doing, but these are all I thought of today. Currently they are just little sweethearts!!

OUTSIDE FUN

The weather has been delightful this week, so the girls and I have spent some time outside playing. The girls are super cute sliding - they usually like to turn around so that they go down on their belly, feet first. And after each slide, they attempt to crawl back up the slide. And we have loved playing with their little big-wheel thing...it also converts into a rocker for stationary play. I now need to get another cause they both want on it at the same time. We are working on the concept of taking turns.

WHEEEE.....

Audrey is a serious biker...


Brooke is, well, not as serious!

UPDATE...

So it seems that Brooke's throwing up must have been some sort of bug....cause D caught it. He had to leave work early yesterday due to, well let's just say bathroom issues. And now Brooke is having cha-cha-cha (our oh so clever name for diarrhea).

Audrey and I are hoping and praying that we can avoid this bug!!

A ROUGH COUPLE OF NIGHTS...

As a preface to this, I will say that we have been very blessed that the girls are great sleepers. With the very rare exception (sick and teething and that unfortunate period when Brooke insisted on finishing the night with us) they go to sleep easily and sleep all night.

Here are the girls playing together...basically Brooke attacks Audrey and they both think it is super funny!

So on Saturday, I (with encouragement from D) was having a night out with some girlfriends...for my facebook friends, you can see the karaoke pictures and you will notice that I am strategically placed NOT in front of a mike. Anyway, when I got home D was still up and I immediately noticed an odor. Well long story short, Brooke had been throwing up. Very SAD!! And apparently she was covered in it. Poor D had to give her a bath, change the sheets, and take off the bumpers and get the stuffed animals and wash it all. Then she threw up again...fortunately this only got on her PJ's and our carpet. I feel guilty that I was not here, but in real life I know it would not have changed anything. So the rest of Saturday night, we both slept lightly listening for additional throwing up. Fortunately this seems to have been an isolated incident.

Brooke riding their "new to us" toy while Audrey is napping in the car on Monday

Sunday night, Audrey started waking up screaming/pathetically crying about every 45 min starting around 11 pm. Eventually we let her sleep with us, but really none of us (except Brooke) got much sleep. We have determined that she must be teething - we can see one molar coming through and it feels like there are other teeth just on the horizon.

Audrey is checking the mail in her "new to us" toy

So basically we are tired here.

CATCHING UP...

It has been a while since I have posted anything, so here is a little recap of our recent activities (in chronological order):

Saturday: We had our first non-family, non-friend babysitter. She is a sophomore in high school and was adorable. All went well, though apparently for next time we will need to go over how to put diapers on tightly as both girls woke up with their diapers pretty much off of them!

Sunday: Weather was wonderful and I took the girls to the park. This was Brooke's first time to walk around outside (read on uneven surfaces) and she did pretty well. They both enjoyed the swings, but the slide was the big hit of the day. They both loved to go down it (it is a tiny little slide for tiny people) and Brooke would turn around and try to climb up it! The ground was pretty wet and both girls ended up riding home with no pants on cause they were too gross to get into the carseats!

Monday: We went to have professional pictures taken, but it was a totally unsuccessful outing and I can't write too much or I will get all worked up again!

Tuesday: We went to visit our friend Erica and son Spencer. Lots of fun was had by all. The girls love their basement and their toy front door.

Wednesday: Had a playgroup at the library where Audrey decided to take her first steps!! HOORAY...of course she will only walk to Renee, but at least this is progress. There is a video of this at the end of the post. We also went to the gym...that's right I had to join a gym even though I abhor exercise. Unfortunately, I also abhor the fact that all of the clothes that I can fit into have been purchased post babies. Apparently when people said that "one day my metabolism would slow down" they meant when I was 33 and had had 2 babies.

Thursday: Today we had our MOPS group (or as D likes to call it "vacation bible school for adults") It was fun catching up with everybody and we made a neat craft!

Developmental updates: As mentioned, Audrey has at least begun the process of walking and Brooke is about a 90% walker. They both understand a huge amount of words. We can tell them to go find their drum and off they go to get their drum - even if we are in a totally different room. At night we tell them that it is time to go to the nursery and they are off to their room and will each go to their crib and try to get in. They are really loving books and will bring books and crawl into your lap to have them be read. As far as actually saying words, they both say mama, dada, bye-bye (with a hand wave), and uh-oh. But they chatter in nonsense words constantly. They are both great eaters, and Audrey especially is our little carnivore. Their current favorite veggie seems to be broccoli, they love all meat, and they have been enjoying kiwi, strawberries, and mandarin oranges. They are not big pasta fans, but will eat the pick-ups and kraft mac-n-cheese. Audrey's favorite toy is currently her pooh bear and she is super cute hugging it and rolling around with it. They are adorable in the bath tub - they will both lay down and kick wildly (on either their tummies or their backs). We have been working on body parts and they know their eyes, ears, hair, mouth, belly, hands, and feet. They actually love to go find our belly buttons and find it hilarious to lift our shirts!