Finally, videos!

(This is a long one)

Play-by-play

When Sean gets home around 1:00 every day he usually gives me a call at work. We catch up on each other's days, talk about the plans for the evening and just generally touch base. Usually at some point in the conversation, if the girls are still awake, he'll pause our conversation for a moment to fill me in on what they're doing. It usually sounds something like this:

Charlotte's on her back, Lilah's on her stomach next to Charlotte.

Charlotte is smacking Lilah in the head really hard but neither of them seem to care.

Lilah somehow got Charlotte's shoe. I heard the velcro, so she must have pulled it off.

Lilah's eating Charlotte's shoe.

Charlotte stole her shoe back.

Charlotte's eating the shoe. Lilah has the monkey.

Lilah has the shoe again. Charlotte stole the monkey.

Charlotte is on her stomach. She turned around and Lilah is kicking her in the head. Neither of them seem to care.

Don't hit your sister.

Oh, I see an eye rub on Charlotte. Are we ready for a nap, girls?

That was Lilah shrieking. She's just talking.

Roscoe, off! No. Roscoe, off!

Charlotte's almost in the hallway, now.

What should I have for lunch?

Ah, good times.

Photos!

This morning I brought the girls into my bedroom to occupy themselves while I got ready for work and I took some pictures of them to say "Good morning!" to their daddy. (I also took a few this weekend but they turned out pretty lousy, so I'm not going to post them) Here's what I came up with... Charlotte is often not amused when I bring out the camera, but she's smiling a split second before the click and then "worried eyes" a moment later.

From Charlotte and Lilah together

From Charlotte and Lilah together

Toddler Super Powers

Ok, so they're not toddlers yet, but some of these powers are already developing:

Toddler Super Powers (McSweeney's)

Hold bowel movements for weeks!

Hear and repeat vulgar phrase uttered miles away!

Survive without sleep or food for days!

Reduce grown men to tears with one swift kick!

Perpetual motion!

Deafening shrieks!

Unrelenting refusal!

Iron grip!

Hide entire meals in creases of own body!*

Sensing other people napping!*

(* My additions)

Feeling better

You may be wondering why on earth it has taken me so long to post recently. Has there really been nothing to write about? Have I given up? Am I institutionalized for insanity due to lack of sleep? Actually that last one seems plausible.

No, we've been sick! And by "we" I mean me and the girls. This is now my fourth illness since coming back to work, which I blame on aforementioned lack of sleep, and it was the girls' very first real cold. They got nasal and chest congestion (we could hear their little lungs rattling - so sad!) , all of which kept them from sleeping or eating very well and made them angry. They turned green, grew three feet and all of their clothes ripped off when they flexed. Angry. And slightly cartoonish.

In fact, two weekends ago, Charlotte was feeling so lousy that she refused to go down for her nap. She was obviously exhausted, not breathing well, and not wanting to take her bottle. We walked her, we let her cry in her crib, hoping she'd roll over and suck her thumb quietly as she usually does, we sang, we cuddled, all of it. I gave her a binkie instead of my finger and she was so eager for soothing that she actually took it. (Lilah is usually our binkie girl.) Eventually we got desperate enough, and didn't want her to wake her finally sleeping sister, that we put the pack-n-play in the guest room and hoped that the change of scenery would take her focus long enough for her to lull herself to sleep. And it worked. Sigh. of. relief.

Awhile later, Lilah woke up and Sean went to their room to get her. He came back down the hallway, and with a sheepish look on his face said, "I figured out why Charlotte wouldn't fall asleep in her crib..." "Why?" "Because it was Lilah."

*GASP* Our first major identity mistake! I blame it in part on having Lilah in color neutral clothing that day, and in part on Sean putting the wrong girl in the wrong crib to start. I rely on key indicators, people! Now we occasionally call Lilah "Nap-Charlotte" just to be funny.

Lilah was having a lot of troubles eating during this cold, choking and coughing throughout every bottle until she finally got too frustrated to continue. All of this, in addition to Charlotte's head start, has lead to Charlotte having a pretty significant weight advantage over her sister. It's especially noticeable now more than ever. I'll try to get some pictures up this weekend.

In spite of her battles with the bottle, Lilah has become an amazing eater of solid foods. When she sees that little spoon, she opens her mouth expectantly like a tiny baby bird and she just can't seem to get enough. Their favorites are pureed fruit like apples, bananas and blueberries, but we've also recently discovered Mum Mums, too. Mum Mums are little surfboard shaped kind of crackers that are made out of rice so they practically dissolve in your mouth. Mum Mums are also great for developing pincher skills, which is exactly what they are supposed to be working on. Charlotte sees me just holding one in its wrapper and she starts bouncing up and down and holding out her arms and shrieking. What a smarty pants!

Speaking of food, we hit a milestone this week when Lilah grabbed her bottle with both hands and held on for dear life. Since then, we've prompted her to keep taking the bottle all by herself whenever we can and she's now able to get through a whole bottle on her own! Sweet victory! Now when they wake up at 4 am, I can give each of them "breakfast in bed" and then go back to sleep. Yes! Yes!

They still aren't sitting entirely unassisted - they can manage for a few seconds but inevitably they arch their back or tip to one side so we still have to keep a hand on each side of them, just in case. I continue to blame this on their head size, although the ratio has started to level out just a bit. (There's hope, thank God.) Charlotte is trying SO hard to crawl, she just hasn't figured out how to pull her knees under her for support yet, so instead she twists to the side, lifts her feet up behind her head, and performs all sorts of Cirque du Soleil moves. She eventually pushes herself backward, rolls a few times, and pivots in order to get where she wants. You can see the wheels turning and her frustration mounting as every second passes without success - she wants to crawl! Not to be outdone, Lilah is still our champion at standing. She can hold one of my fingers with each hand for balance and stand otherwise unassisted for several minutes!

Both girls love their baths and hate their bedtimes, and make it plainly clear on both. Both are also starting to play with consonants, saying bah-bah-bah and ma-ma-ma-ma, although they don't connect it to a meaning just yet.

So, what's up with Sean and me? I've been lucky enough to have two groups of friends that pretty reliably set up group get-togethers, so I've been able to get out of the house and socialize quite a bit lately. Sean on the other hand needs some Man Time. I think he's getting cabin fever (as evidenced when he took both girls to 3 different motorcycle dealerships yesterday afternoon). The poor guy would love to spend a few hours with his buddies, but they all have kids and apparently less flexible schedules so it hasn't worked out. I'm getting to the point where I feel like I need to make calls to some wives on the sly just to help him out. So, if you're one of those wives (*cough* Andrea *cough* Chelsea *cough*) - hook a daddy up!

I'm in my super-busy season at work, another reason for my lack of posts, but am nearing the end of the whirlwind of activity, so hopefully you'll see more of me....and blog entries. Because I know that's what you really want. Its ok, *sniff*, I'll get over it.

Later!