What's up with the girls...

Walking: Both (Audrey for about 6 weeks) girls are full-time walkers - both indoors and out. They are really adept at walking, even on uneven surfaces. Brooke is super fast and is officially a runner....unfortunately she frequently is running AWAY from me.Weight: We went to the doctor's for Audrey's weight follow-up and .....she was a little star. They were just hoping that she would stay on her little curve (rather than the plateau that she had been on) but she in fact jumped up! She weighed 21 lbs and 7 oz (this is 1 lb 2 oz in the past 6 weeks!). Unfortunately the office was quite busy and so Brooke did not get an official weigh in. But by holding her with me on the scale at home, she seems to be around 24 or 25 lbs.

Body Parts: The girls are super good at pointing to body parts, though sometimes they get confused if you are asking them to point to someone else's and they will just point to theirs....we are working on that. These are the ones that they seem to consistently get correct: feet and toes (all the same), knees, legs, belly, elbow (don't know where that came from), arms, hands and fingers, back, head, and all the major parts of the face (though occasionally cheeks and chin get reversed).

Denise - this is for you: Audrey with Matthew Musselwhite

Talking: At their 15 month checkup, the doctor gave us "credit" for 3 maybe 4 words (gah gah being one of them for hair bow!). All of a sudden they are talking up a storm. A lot of it is still gibberish, but now the gibberish seems to be starting with the correct sounds at least! Here is a list of words that they are saying a lot (I am sure there are others, but these are the ones that popped into my mind first):

Mommy ("Ma ma or Ma meee")
I need/want that or gimme that ("Ma meee" repeatedly)
Daddy ("Da da or Da deee")
baby ("babeee")
ball ("bah")
bye ("bah bah" with waving)
hi/hello ("hey")
duck ("duh" usually said repeatedly with much excitement)
meow and moo ("mah")
doggy ("Do-ee")
up ("uh uh" followed by "pah pah pah" that is just air)
down ("dah")
more ("moh")
bubble (bub bub)
Grayer (one of their friend's name - Audrey really says this as she walks around with his picture in the nursery!)
They don't really say no much but they will very vehemently shake their heads no when they don't want something...usually food that we are trying to make them eat! When they are through eating, they will rub their hands together to let us know. However, you must respond quickly and get them down or food will start flying.

They pretty much correctly answer what sound does a sheep or chicken make. When in doubt, Brooke's answer to any animal question is bah bah.

They love to talk on any phone and will hold it up to their ear and say "Hi" and then babble away.

Other Interesting (at least to me) Factoids:

• The girls love to do the "Itsy, Bitsy Spider" and will put their fingers together and do some of the motions..ADORABLE. They also like to do the beep beep part of "Wheels on the bus"
• They will hold up one finger if you ask them how old they are.
• TEETH!! The girls have a ton! They both have 15 teeth through the skin! Does this ever stop??
  
• They have been less than pleasant during diaper changes. As one friend said, I break a sweat changing them.
• Audrey has a hilarious temper. When she gets mad, it really sounds like she is cussing out whatever object is in her way.
• They have gotten good at using silverware...they are great stabbers with their forks, but their scooping still needs some work.
• Whenever you say "poop" one or both of them will make noises (ie grunt) like they are pooping....HILARIOUS!!
• Unfortunately they are not the sensitive little souls that get upset when you say "no" in a very firm voice (they just smile and continue on their merry way) so I have gone to the library to read up on discipline strategies...wish us luck!