E9: So big!

I know it's been a very long while since Mae or I updated the blog and I'm sorry, but we have been learning so many new things, and Mommy and Daddy have been so very busy there just hasn't been time.I'm walking now. Well, not all the time, but seven or eight steps at a time. It's kinda scary, because it's not easy. It's really hard to move my feet and I have to remember to do it one at a time. I usually start with my right foot, mostly just by trying to swing it around; once I get started though it's fairly easy.Unless Mae's in the way, when I fall over. And she's in the way a lot. But, each day I can go further and further. And Mommy and Daddy cheer so much when I do it. I love them. Mommy is so good at telling when I'm getting upset and Daddy knows just how to make me giggle.I'm very ticklish and Daddy knows the best way to tickle me. It makes me feel so silly when he kisses my belly and I have to laugh at him. He likes it when I laugh and smile. I also have four teeth on the top of my mouth now. It means that everyone is trying to get me to smile a lot, but I don't always do it. My new teeth are good for chewing. There is a lot of good food to eat now, too. Yogurt is still my favorite, but Mommy has started sharing her dinner with us, so last night we got to have ravioli and broccoli and crab rangoons. It was all very yummy. Tortillas and toast are probably my favorite, though. We have toast almost every day. Mommy also trys to give us new foods every couple days, which sometimes are good, but sometimes are not. I'm also drinking from big girl sippy cups now everyday. I do still drink a bottle, but Mommy and Wendy make me hold it myself now, which isn't as much fun and is hard to get back to my mouth if it falls out. Sometimes Mae tries to help me, since she's been holding her bottle since she was four months old, but I usually just yell at her until Mommy or Daddy moves her away. I can do it myself.Mommy and Daddy keep talking about Christmas all the time. They say we were in the hospital last year so we probably don't remember it too much, but there are lots of pretty lights which I do remember and things called presents. And Mommy keeps playing Christmas music that she gets really excited about when we're in the car. Well, it's time for a nap, so I have to go. Bye bye! I'll try to write more soon.

M8: Big news!

Eve learned how to crawl. Finally! I've been crawling for a long time (Mom says over two months), but Eve's just been able to sit and scooch a little bit, but last night, after we were all back together Eve figured it out.

I think it's because we finally spent the day apart, so she had some time to really think about what needed to be done, instead of just always watching me. She crawls differently, too. I use my forearms to move, which Mom says is an army crawl, whatever that means. But Eve moves her hands and plops them down. She also kinda tucks her left leg up a little, so she's not very fast yet, but I know she'll get better.

But, Mom is back to work again, so out schedule has been all changed around again. Monday we were home with Dad, and Tuesday and Wednesday we were were with Wendy. Tuesday was a difficult day because I had forgotten how much fun Wendy is, plus there's her new baby, Langdon, who cries all day long because of his acid reflux, so it's kinda noisy, but he's just a little baby, so it's probably good that we're there so Eve and I can show him how to do things next.

On Friday Wendy forgot she had a wedding to go to, so instead Mom and Dad split us up. I went with Mom to work and Eve went with Dad. It was mostly boring. We were in the gym at school, which is a really big room, but Mom hardly paid attention to me at all; she was busy stuffing envelopes. She had helpers, which was good, because they played with me, but by the end of the day I needed a bottle and a nap, and Mom just kept working on envelopes. I even fell over a couple times and was crying and all she did was say 'five more minutes, Mae'.

FINALLY she picked me and I was able to fall asleep for awhile, until we walked over to the rectory. Then Fr. Pat and Msgr. Gunn played with me and I showed them how I can walk when Mom helps me, and how I can crawl; they seemed very impressed.

I ate a good dinner, too, lots of sweet potatoes and peaches. Yesterday I also really liked the yogurt, I hope Mom remembers that and gives it to me again today. We're getting ready for Suzy the Duck Day up in Lodi. Dad is already gone, even though there;s a thunderstorm, because he's selling food at it. Mom's going to dress us up in onesies that have ducks on them and we're going to go to our second parade and see everyone from church.

The thunderstorm is ok, I guess. It scares the dogs, though. Bailey's whining right now, which gets kinda annoying after 30 minutes. I better go, though, because Mom's getting the food out of the fridge.

Sorry it took so long since I last posted, but when Mom was home with us I didn't want to miss out on a minute of playing with her!

E8: Update

I know Mae and I haven't been writing much lately, but that's because Mommy was super busy for the whole month of June and she's the only one who knows the username and password for this blog. She wanted to tell us at first, so we could log in on our own, but decided against it because she doesn't want us posting when she's not around.

But now Mommy is home a lot. It's great. She's going to be around for a whole month. Yesterday was the first day of it. The morning was so much fun. She played with both of us a lot and we took a stroller ride to the grocery store.

One thing I don't like right now is everyone thinking we are boys, just because our hair is short. It's not our fault; we haven't had a lot of time to grow it out yet. We still wear pink and purple and yellows that are very pretty, but everyday people ask if we're boys. Mommy says it'll stop when we're older.

Mae started eating cereal, too this week, which is good, because it means she sleeps through the night better. Now she wakes up at midnight for only a few minutes, rather than 3 a.m. for a long time. I'm getting better sleep because of it. She still doesn't sleep enough, though. Like yesterday she was really tired and angry for two hours before she finally took at nap with Mommy on the couch while I laid down on the floor. If she'd taken a nap earlier in the afternoon with me like she was supposed to we would have gotten to go on an adventure with Mommy to clean out Grandma and Grandpa's van. Instead we just hung around the house, listening to her be angry.

I tried talking to her about it this morning in the crib before Mommy woke up, but she didn't want to listen. I tried again when we were out in the living room, but she said not to talk about it in front of Mommy. I don't know what to do about her.

This weekend is two important birthdays, our country and Great-Grandma's 80th. Mommy keeps telling us we're going to find out what sparklers are. They sound exciting, but she's already said we can't touch them, which makes me rather cross, but I still can't wait to find out what they are.

Today Mommy is going to show us how to blow bubbles. I'm very excited about this, because both Mommy and Daddy smiled when she mentioned them. But right now we're all still mellow. Daddy is sleeping before he begins his day of working from home and the dogs are still sleeping and Mommy is sitting on the couch next to me. I think Mae is starting to get hungry, but otherwise, this looks like it's going to be another very good day.

M7: Mom's home again

I know it's been awhile since I last wrote, but it was a stressful week. We've had visitors helping Mom and Dad all month, but this past week Mom went away. She had a trip to do, she told us, and though she'd be close by she couldn't come be with us at night.

When she said goodbye I didn't really understand what she meant, so I just gave her lots of kisses and started playing with Grammy Joanne. But at bedtime I missed her. Mom's only missed bedtime like three times out entire life. And then she missed it two more times in a row and I started to realize what she meant.

Because Mom wasn't here to sing to me I didn't sleep very well. She sings the same song every night to us as we're getting tired and I love it. It's a very sweet song and always makes me tired. But she wasn't here to sing it, so I only slept for a few hours before waking up. I cried, thinking maybe she'd come in and sing to me, but only Dad showed up. He took me into their big bed, where we haven't slept since we were brand new, and cuddled me to him. That was nice. I tried crying in the middle of the night the next two nights, too, but again, only Dad showed up.

So, Mom really was gone. The days were fun with Grammy Joanne, since she plays with us a lot, but I missed Mom. Then one morning we got in the car with Dad and Grammy and when we stopped Mom was there. She pulled me right out of the stroller and held me close.

She smelled right, though a little smelly, and felt right and she had all kinds of kids walk by and say hello to us. It was her mission trip kids, she said. There was one guy, Jeff, who stopped and talked with us for awhile, too and he had good strong fingers to grip. Then Mom took us down to some room where we could play on the floor. She switched me with Eve, but I just wanted to crawl, so eventually I was put down.

Soon, though, I noticed the adults starting to get ready. You can tell when adults are getting ready to go somewhere because they say "Well," a lot and push out their chairs. Then Mom was kissing me again, just like she had a few days earlier. I now knew what that meant, and I didn't like it, but she handed me off to Dad and started kissing Eve before I could say anything. Eve started crying a little bit; she does that; and then Mom kissed Dad and walked down the hall.

I could tell she was sad because her voice had sounded all scrunchy as she walked out the room, so I didn't cry even though I really wanted to. Moms shouldn't leave their babies behind. Not when we try to be good babies.

But she's back now and finally yesterday I was able to relax that she wasn't going to leave again right away. So I napped. Two hours, Mom said. It meant I went to bed late last night, which I thought was fun, but Mom and Dad didn't. They kept talking about starting tonight they're going to be serious about bedtime again. We'll see.

E7: I'm a big girl!

So, I know I just wrote a few days ago, but I have some very big news - I'm a big girl now! I'm eating two meals a day of big girl food. Mommy's been trying to feed us for awhile, but I wasn't ready.

But all last week I practiced sitting up. I'm only fall over after a bit now, like when I get excited about a toy but it's too far away for me to reach, or when someone walks in the room. It hurts when I fall, because I usually hit my forehead, but mostly it's just frightening because there I am, sitting just fine and the next thing I know I'm staring at the carpet. That can scare a baby, believe me.

In any case, though, I've been practicing and now I'm quite good at it, so I decided since I have that mostly figured out I should try to eat some big girl food, since Mommy's been trying for so long. And it's actually good! Grandma knows how to mix it just right and she's very good at feeding me, so she can help show Mommy, who's still learning how to do all this stuff, and it can get kinda overwhelming since there's two of us and she's busy at work. But Grandma can help out and help us get it right so that when Mommy watches, like this morning, I can show her how good it is.

And I like it - in fact, if Grandma doesn't bring the next spoonful fast enough I leaned forward and open my mouth to remind her that I'm still waiting. Now that I'm a big girl I don't like eating from the bottle as much; that's for babies, like Mae. But sometimes, like when I first wake up or I'm getting ready for bed it's much nicer to still lay back and let someone else feed me. Eating big girl food is hard stuff.

I watch Mommy and Daddy eat and they hold the spoon themselves, but I'm still not good at controlling my arms all the time, so I think that would just make a big mess at this point. But I'll keep practicing and Mommy keeps promising an exciting food called 'sweet potatoes' so I'm looking forward to that, too.

I'm getting hungry again, so I gotta go!

E6: The Zoo and more

Saturday we went to the zoo with Aunt Julie and cousin Sydney. I really like Sydney, she smiles at me a lot and plays with us even more than Mommy or Daddy do. Though she hasn't quite learned how to understand what we say the way Mommy has, because she kept thinking that when I moved my left arms really fast and my right arm kinda fast that it meant I wanted to change what I was doing. Mommy knew that means I'm having a good time, so I should be left where I am.

And we went to the zoo! There are all kinds of animals there, not just dogs like we have at our house. I couldn't really see most of them since the bigger kids would stand by the glass and block my view, but I did like the flamingos, because they were wearing pink just like me. Mae really liked a big long snake called an anaconda, but I thought it was creepy. Mae watched it for a very long time and then kept telling me about it even after I told her I didn't want to listen anymore. She does that a lot.

Sydney really liked feeding the goats, which looked ok, but kinda scary like they might bite your fingers off, but they obviously didn't, since both Mommy and Sydney still have all their fingers. There was also a big tiger that kept pacing in front of the glass and looked right at Mommy. She said even though there was glass in-between them it was kinda scary.

Sydney and Aunt Julie had to leave on Sunday, but that didn't mean we got to be lazy. Mommy dressed us up early and took us to work with her, but we didn't stay in her office. It was the parish festival, so we went outside and she helped set up the games. It was hot and sticky outside and I didn't like it at all.

Mommy tried to make me happy; she changed my diaper, she gave me a bottle, she tried holding me, she tried putting me down. But it was just hot out and I didn't like that. But then Msgr. Gunn showed up and I like him so I stopped fussing and gave him a big smile. Mommy just shook her head and said it wasn't fair that I'd be good for a priest but not my mommy. I just rolled my eyes and smiled again at him. He's funny, too and smiles a lot and tells people how beautiful we are, so Mae and I decided to always smile for him.

But he had to go away, so I started fussing again. Finally Mommy put me down in the stroller and let Gretchen play with me. Gretchen's mommy is a teacher at the school, so she was spending the whole day at the festival and she is SO funny. She kept shaking my arm back and forth, and tickling my chin and making silly faces. I laughed out loud at her a lot. But then she left, too, which was actually a good thing because I was tired.

When I woke up Daddy was there to take us home. Thank goodness. Festivals are loud and hot and sunny. Mae loved it, but she's silly.

Today we're waiting for Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Ray to show back up. I'm very excited to see them again.

M6: Whatever.

So, the new baby was boring. He's tiny and can't move and all or do anything except cry a whole bunch. Whatever. I know Mom explained that to us the night before we met him, but I remember bring that young I know I could do stuff sometimes; I'm sure of it, so I had brought my blanket to share with him.

But all he did was lay in Mom or Dad's arms and sleep. And cry. And fuss. And sleep some more. And then he cried really loud so Wendy took him and fed him under a blanket. I remember Mom doing that with me, too, but it always got really warm under there, so I didn't like it for very long.

It was good to see Wendy and Brooklyn. Especially Brooklyn. She gave me lots of hugs and I tried to hug her back, but I don't quite have that figured out yet. I'm getting better at giving kisses, but everyone else always keeps their mouth closed when they kiss, which I don't understand, because I always keep mine wide open.

Then I showed Wendy how I'm already pulling myself up onto my knees and she was very impressed. Then Eve showed her how she can sit up by herself for awhile and she got super excited about that, so I kept going on my knees to show her how grown up I am.

Mom meantime kept saying 'He's so tiny!" Whatever. We were that tiny once. Has she forgotten already? I can cry more again if that's what she wants. I am kick my legs and arms around with absolutely no control if she thinks that would be fun. And maybe wake up three times a night again. It's like she doesn't remember how tired she was.

Moms can be awfully silly sometimes. I much preferred playing with Brooklyn and Wendy and Eve. Mom says we won't be going back regularly until August, which apparently is a ways away, but then we'll be there for there days instead of two, so that will be good.

Mom says time for a diaper change, so I gotta go. But, brand new babies are not all that exciting, I don't see why everyone squeals over them. We're much cuter, because we smile and laugh and sleep through the night.

E5: Happy thoughts

I know it's been awhile since I last wrote, but Grandma Elaine and Grandpa Ray were here for the past few days and they keep us very busy so I don't have any time to write until they're gone.

We went to the botanical gardens yesterday with Grandma and Grandpa and they strolled us all around. There were lots of pretty flowers. Mommy and Daddy have shown us some flowers before; they aren't very tasty, but here they had hundreds of flowers. And fish, and frogs, and all kinds of people. There were even these three ladies who chased after us.

But I start to miss Mommy and Daddy by the end of the day. Daddy has had to work late the past two nights, so we haven't even seen him before we go to bed. Fortunately, Mae remembers this and makes sure to wake up crying a few minutes after he gets home. She can tell he just got home because Bailey starts barking very loudly.

Last night, when Mommy was changing my diaper and putting my pajamas on me she made a silly face and tickled me under my arms, so I started laughing. Tickling is a new sensation still and I love it. So, while I was laughing Mommy started laughing and that made me laugh some more and then neither of us could stop. It was pretty silly. Eventually Mae, who had been eating her bedtime bottle joined in for a little bit, so we both stopped, but it was very fun while it lasted.

Grandma and Grandpa left this morning, but I didn't cry because Grandma counted out how many days until they're back and it's only four and a half. That's not even a full handful of days, so I can make it.

Yesterday Grandma also started teaching us adverbs. She said this is important so we don't end up as sportscasters. I don't know what sportscasters are, but she doesn't want us to be one, so both Mae and I paid attention. She clapped quickly and slowly and loudly and softly. I like clapping. I haven't quite figured it out yet on my own, but when grownups do it, it can be surprising, which makes me smile.

We're going to meet Wendy's baby this afternoon, so I'd better pick out a few toys to bring to him. Have a good day!

M5: A New Playmate

Wendy had her baby. Mom just took the phone call. We had been snuggling on the couch together, because Mom always try to pretend we're not really awake at 5 a.m., but just in between naps. I don't mind too much, especially since it means Mom pulls me onto the couch with her and cuddles until we're both so warm we have to fall asleep.

But Wendy called in the middle of it, which was ok, because it was good news. I smiled as Mom repeated stuff from Wendy, since I had been a little worried hen we didn't hear from her last night. But everything's ok. He arrived with one push, Mom said.

I didn't know what that meant, so after Wendy got off the phone I cried. Mom knows by now when I cry it means I want her to talk to me (and take care of other stuff, like a dirty diaper, or a bottle) so she told me that normally babies are born from labor and the mommy has to push hard, kinda like when I have to poop and the baby comes that way.

But Eve and I came a different way because Eve was sitting on her feet in Mom's tummy. I don't remember much about it, since I think I was asleep when it happened, but I remember my turn. I was so angry. It was all warm and dark and I could hear Mom's heartbeat and then suddenly it was cold and bright and Mom was nowhere - and they pulled on my head - I think they stretched out my neck because of it.

And then I remember Dad got to hold us for a long time but not Mom. We had to wait forever to be with Mom. But then she was there and it was so nice. I raised up my head to look at her. Eve, of course, had fallen back asleep. But I knew it was Mom the second she came in because of the way she smelled.

Mom's smell different. I don't know quite what it is, but I've smelled lots of people so far, but none of them smell just like Mom, which is a good thing, because that way I can always tell when she's got me, even if I'm asleep.

In any case, Wendy has her new baby. Mom says we might be able to meet him tomorrow afternoon or Saturday. I hope soon, because I want to play with him a whole bunch. I want to show him my rings and Mr. Moo and my blanket. I'll even share with him if he wants.

E4: Grammy's here!

Grammy Joanne is here! She arrived la st night and both Mae and I got so excited. I've been trying to control my arms more, like Mae can, but they still just mostly flop around, especially when I get excited, so I just let them. She got the message that I was glad to see her anyway.

It had been a rough day before that. Poor Daddy didn't know what to do with us. It's because Sunday had been such a big day and there was so much to think about. I couldn't remember whether or not I'd smiled enough at Elly and Aggie and Mabel and Christina and everyone to thank them for holding me to give Mom and Dad a break. And Mae wanted to be passed around some more and to play with Father again. See, Sunday we had two church dinner to go to; one at the church where Mommy works and one at the church where Daddy works.

Church dinners are fun because we get to meet lots of people and everyone tells us how beautiful we are and everyone wants to hold us and play with us. Mommy know to sometimes take us away from people so we nap, but otherwise we want to be around everyone, which is nice.

But, because so many different people talk to us and tell us things and hold us it sometimes gets hard to remember who told me what and who I remembered to thank, so on Monday I finally got to think about it and I got worried. I tried to tell Daddy to make sure everyone knows we love them and had a good time with them, but I think mostly he was just tired, since Mae had started remembering in the middle of the night and got very worried about what people thought of her. I think she woke up three times last night. That's a lot.

But, in any case, Grammy is here now, since Wendy is still trying to have her baby. She has a big appointment today that Mommy asked we send good thoughts to her. I like having Grammy here because she plays just as well as Mommy and Daddy, but without the distractions because Mommy and Daddy still clean and cook.

She already took us for a nice walk yesterday while Mommy made dinner and showed us off to all the neighbors. And this morning we've been talking about our dreams. She's such fun!

M4: Cranky

The past week Mom and Dad have been screwing up my bedtime because they're busy singing at church, so Eve and I decided we should make sure they have time with us before we fall asleep for the night, but it's really hard to stay up late, so we've both been kinda cranky at bedtime lately.

It started a week ago. Peg and Mike came to sit with us and play for a few hours while Mom and Dad were gone, but then they didn't get home until after bedtime. I like bedtime. Mom changes our diapers and puts our pajamas on. They turn down the lights and any other distractions and just focus on us. Then she and Dad give us a bottle until we're full. Then it's times for a book (I like "Green Eggs and Ham", but Eve prefers 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie') and then Mom sings to us, which is my favorite part since her voice is so pretty and then we do prayers, which is Eve's favorite part, because Dad almost gets the prayer right every night, and then they kiss us and put us into bed.

But when they're gone we usually just fall asleep in someone's arms, which is very pleasant and warm, but I miss the books, and the song and prayers. So, four times this week it's been late for bed. Mom and Dad have tried sneaking in bedtime a little later, but, like I said, it's hard to stay up late.

My eyelids get so heavy and then usually my tummy growls because it's been too long since I last ate, but Mom and Dad try to put me to bed anyway, but it's hard to go to sleep with a growly tummy. I try to use the pacifier, but that only works for so long, so I cry to get their attention. Usually Mom comes in a tells me I'm a good girl and that I need to go to sleep.

I KNOW I need to go to sleep, but a growly tummy makes it impossible. But I try to for Mom, especially this morning because we got up so early and didn't let her nap, but it didn't work. Finally, an hour late, my tummy was full and I was ready to go to bed.

Unfortunately, after Dad put me into bed I rolled over and accidentally hit Eve in the face and knocked her pacifier out. I didn't care too much by this point because my eyes, which had already been tired were finally too heavy now that I had a full tummy that I fell asleep, but I guess Mom and Dad had to fix Eve next.

I know they work very hard to take care of us, but they don't always get it right. Most of the time, though, they did. I'll have to figure out a new trick to show them how much I appreciate how much they do.

E3: My favorite things

I told Mommy we need to come up with a way in the title so people know who's entry it is, so we're trying this out. My posts will start with an 'E' since that's the first letter of my name, and Mae's will start with an 'M' from now on, since that's the first letter of her name.

I've been thinking about what I should tell everyone about, and I think I'll tell you some of my favorite things. I have quite a few, even though I'm very young.

My mommy and daddy are my favorite things, along with my sister, but I have favorite things about them. Mommy says this might work better if I give a list, so here goes:

Curling up next to Mae at night in our crib. She's very warm.
Greeting the day with Mommy when she gets me out of the crib.
Waking up Daddy in the morning.
Telling Mae or Mommy all about my dreams.
Feeling the water hit my back when I take a shower with Daddy.
Watching Sherlock jump straight up in the air.
The giant yellow thing on our play saucer.
Robin Pink II
My feet
Mommy's fingers.
A full bottle.
Watching 'Teen Titans' with Mommy in the morning.
Snuggling with Mommy and Daddy.
Pulling off my socks.
Going upside down (I didn't always like this, but lately is been fun)
Sitting in my bouncy seat.
Being outside (but not in the sun)
Sneezing
flower toy


There are probably others, but that's all I can think of right now. I'll write more soon!

A visitor is coming

Mom got really excited last night just before bedtime. She kept repeating that Grandpa Ray was coming and talking about all the fun we'll have. Grandpa Ray has to come play with us because Wendy, who normally takes care of us, is having her own baby this weekend so she'll be busy.

I don't really understand why, because she already takes care of us two babies and Brooklyn, so she's already obviously good at it, but Mom says she'll be extra busy because new babies take more work. Since Eve and I were just new babies I guess she must be right.

I really like going to Wendy's to play, though, because she always smiles a lot at us, and calls us funny names, and Brooklyn, her daughter, plays with me a lot, even though she's a big girl who can walk already. I want to walk sometime; I practice standing all the time so I can get good at it, but Mom says I have a way to go before I'm allowed to do it.

Right now I'm getting better at rolling. Mom can't even leave me alone on the floor to go to the bathroom anymore. The moment I notice she's gone I make sure to roll an extra time so I'm off the blanket. I even got myself almost completely under the couch a couple times, but my head doesn't fit, so instead I just started crying. That'll show her to leave us alone. Of course, it does mean that we have to spend more time in the play pen, which is ok, but I'd rather be able to roll under the stuff in the living room. Eve, of course, doesn't mind either place; she mostly says put, which I don't understand. There's so much to explore, I want to touch and taste it all.

Mom is starting to get really funny lately. She and I will be playing and then she'll move her head away from me and just as I'm getting worried she comes back really quick. She always has her mouth and eyes wide open when she comes back and she looks so silly that I laugh at her. That makes her laugh, and her laughing makes me laugh, so we just laugh a lot at each other. She also roars at us, which at first was kinda scary, but then I noticed Eve thought it was funny, so I tried really hard not to be scared and it worked. Now I just laugh at Mom, too.

Daddy has started dancing with us, too, which I really like, because he moves around the room so I can see everything and try to touch it, though usually he doesn't let me, which I think is unfair. I heard Mom and Daddy talking about 'baby-proofing' the house. That sounds like they'll take away some of the fun stuff in the house. I'll have to talk to Eve about it.

Ok, it's time for my morning nap.

Eve's second post

I LOVE the pool! At first I didn't think I was going to, because Mommy said "Let's go outside and sit in the pool", but what I heard was, "Let's go sit outside in the pooh." Sitting in pooh is one of my least favorite things to do; not even a minute goes by before I cry to let Mommy and Daddy know I need to have my diaper changed.

But this pool thing is really quite fun. It's like an outside bathtub, but it's all pink and has pretty little bees and flowers on it. Mommy and Daddy took a video of it, too and Mommy helped me to load it up, so if you want to watch, here it is.


As you can see, I especially liked being on my back, because then I could splash both my legs and arms, and since I don't yet have very good control over my arms (Mae is much better at that right now), I liked the feeling; it was like the bath, but we were outside and I really like all the noise and stuff outside.

And today we got to go outside again while Mommy and Daddy worked in the yard and some of our neighbors stopped by to say how cute we were, which Mommy and Daddy always like. We also met our 'down the street' neighbor friend who was born just five days before us. I think I liked her, because when her Daddy held her so we could look at each other she didn't cry. I think I heard Mommy say we'd try to get together soon; that would be fun.

Today I've been trying really hard to work on grabbing things the first time I reach for them, like Mae does, but I still can't quite get it. I try, but usually my hands go to the side of whatever I'm reaching for. Although, I am getting better at grabbing Mr. Moo, which is a good thing because it means I can pull him closer so no one can hear the secrets I tell him.

I am getting at standing up when Mommy and Daddy help me. I know this because Mommy keeps telling me I'm getting stronger and stronger. Then she usually pulls me in for a close hug and kiss (those always feel so nice).

Well, it's getting close to bedtime, so Mommy wants to give me my bedtime bottle. Good night!

Mae here

It's a holiday weekend, according to the tv and everyone else, which really hasn't changed much, except that Mom will be home with us on Monday. And I guess it gave both Mom and Dad a whole bunch of energy, because we did so much stuff today!

Mom woke up a little disappointed because it was raining, so we didn't get to the farmer's market until later in the morning, but that was ok, because it meant we gave her more time to sleep, which I already know she appreciates, even though she's always smiling, no matter what time we wake her up. I still woke up on time, but after my morning bottle she snuggled me close on the couch, which always makes me warm and sleepy and we slept together for awhile longer.

At the square there was so much to look at. There were so many babies, and grown up people and everyone kept looking at us and smiling. Mom dropped some sugar on me when she was eating her donut, and she and Daddy kept fussing over Eve, who didn't want to be in the stroller very much. After awhile though, it got to be a bit too exciting, so I remember Eve had mentioned about just closing my eyes to escape for a little bit, but I must've fallen asleep because when I woke up were in a brand new place with lots of loud music.

Mom smiled at me and told me I could sleep more if I wanted to, but that she understood if I didn't. Instead, we all went and sat down at a table with two very nice old ladies who thought I was beautiful and very smart, so I gave them both a big smile.

Finally we went home and played some more before Mom and Dad started acting funny and making all sorts of big plans. Then, Mom changed our clothes, something she never does in the afternoon unless we've spit up, which doesn't happen very often. The clothes were different, too, like a onesie, but without any arms and tighter, too, even on me, and I never fill anything out (says Mom, because I'm a string bean).

But once we got outside it made sense. Mom and Dad had set up a little bathtub outside for us to play in. I admit I did not like baths when I was little. What's to like? Mom had to take off all my layers, inckuding my diaper, and our house is just not very warm in the winter, and then plop me in the kitchen sink, under the bright light and expect me to enjoy it? But, now that I'm older I've started to notice things about baths, like the being naked part is actually fun when it isn't so cold. And there are these silly little white things called bubbles that don't taste very good, but are very shiny, and the water is nice and warm. And splashing.

Splashing is so much fun! I pu my hand in the water and it just feels wet, but if I move my hand up and down quickly it makes a wonderful sound and make the water go all over. I like a lot, but I'm still not big enough to sit up on my own, so Mom had to help me.

It's just been such a fun day; so many new things. I wonder what we'll do tomorrow. Mom said something about a garden. I don't know what that is, I think it's like a play pen for plants. It's getting late, so good night.

From Eve

Mae and Mommy both say it's my turn, so I better get this started. I'm Eve. I'm also five months old, like my sister, and I live with her, my mommy and daddy, and our two dogs, Bailey and Sherlock.

I like Sherlock quite a bit, since he jumps straight up in the air, but Bailey's chin is always dripping water and doesn't feel very pleasant when she comes over to sniff me. I do like that Bailey sleeps by our crib when Mommy and Daddy let her, since I feel safer knowing something so big and wet is protecting us.

Mae and I sleep in the same crib with each other. Sometimes, like in the mornings when I wake up and want to talk about my dreams with Mae I like it. But other times, like last night, it can be a bit of a pain, since Mae has started rolling around a lot and likes to roll towards me and then ends up with her arm thrown over me, even though it's really hot in our room sometimes. And other times she'll just keep pushing me away with her feet and I don't really enjoy that either. But, I always wake up if Mommy or Daddy comes in and tries to take her out. They think I don't notice, but I do.

This afternoon Mommy took us out to lunch with all her coworkers while Daddy stayed at home. We normally spend all of Thursdays with Daddy, but this was nice, too. There were lots of ladies to hold us. Susan, who fed me lunch, has twins that are 19 year-old. That sounds really old. I mean, Mae and I are only 19 weeks old.

The only thing I don't like when Mommy and Daddy take us out in large groups is they always talk about us as if we're not there, rather than talking to us. They let everyone else talk to us. I did get to see Ann and Peg and Sarabeth again. I like all of them. And I do like having everyone smile at me just because Mommy carried me into a room.

There was another little baby there, but no one was paying her as much attention as us. I think it's because she could sit up on her own and feed herself. Mae and I are still fairly helpless, really, even though it feels like we're big girls, because we don't nap much anymore, and we're starting to eat real food (well, I am. Mae won't because she's stubborn) and we can roll over.

I need to work some more on sitting up all by myself. I did it for five whole seconds yesterday before the floor shifted and I began to fall over. I think tonight I'll try it again, but I'll make sure both Mommy and Daddy are home to watch me.

Mae's Day

So, Mom says we're supposed to start keeping a blog because it's just what people to these days. I'm five whole months old and, until today, it's not what I did, so I'm not sure Mom's right, but she IS Mom, so I guess I can't argue.

I'm Mae. I'm five months old and I have a twin sister. At first I didn't know that was weird, but every time we go out people make such a fuss over us and lately I've been noticing that all the other babies we run in to at the stores and park are by themselves, or with an older kid. And everyone always asks Mom if we're twins, so I guess if people have to ask, it mustn't be that common. To me it is. Eve's been with me since forever. I can't even think of a time when she wasn't right there with me.

Fortunately I like her. A lot. She's silly. She bigger than I am, which I don't quite think is fair, since I was a whole pound bigger than her when we were born and now she's more than a pound bigger than me, but she doesn't move as much as I do, so I guess that's why.

She also eats more. She's kind of a pig about it, actually. Last night, Daddy tried giving her applesauce and guess what?! she ate it! Mom tried doing the same thing to me, but nu-uh. I'm not falling for that. It's too much work. Bottles are easy, I can even hold it up by myself. Eve can't do that.

But I do still like her a lot. She laughs at me when I sneeze or cough, which makes me forget that I don't like doing those things, and in the morning before Mom comes to get us out of the crib she listens to me tell her about my dreams. She never interrupts.

I can't really think of anything else right now, so I guess that'll be it. This blogging thing isn't all bad, I guess. But I will make Eve write next time.

Tales from Twin Land, the initial post

Well, here goes. If nothing else, I'll just save this for the girls to have when they're a bit older.