Checkin' in

Drum roll, please.....
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Charlotte - length 2'3.5" (47th percentile), weight 14 lb 9 oz (1 percentile), head circumference 45 cm (76th percentile)

Lilah - length 2'2.25" (11th percentile), weight 13 lb 14 oz (0.3 percentile), head circumference 45.5 cm (87th percentile)

Let's note that the method for measuring length is not entirely scientific. They lay the girl down on the paper-covered exam bed and hold a pen flat to the top of her head and draw a line. Then they straighten her leg and put another mark by the base of her heel. In the meantime she might have wiggled down the table slightly, have an arched back, or bent leg, and who can say that the pen was flat to either parts of her body? Needless to say, that inch of difference between the girls may or may not be accurate, but the weights probably are!

We did know ahead of time that Lilah had dropped behind her sister pretty dramatically when she got her cold last month, so it wasn't a surprise, especially since she started out on the lighter side as well. But, now that Charlotte has a few weeks of head start on crawling, maybe she's burning up the calories and things will start to even out. Or it will matter less the older they get. Also a possibility.

Our wonderful Dr. Dunn described their behavioral/physical achievements as 90th percentile. They can stand while holding on to things, create single-syllable sounds and use the same sound repeatedly, use a pincher grasp, play peek-a-boo, and combine syllables. All they aren't doing much is banging objects in two hands together (because why would you hit another toy when you can hit your sister?) and sitting unassisted. But then this weekend they both sat up unassisted for several minutes, apparently proving us wrong. They just never wanted to before, so they'd always try to lay down again. This time I distracted them with goodies and they were perfectly capable. So I'm personally increasing them to 93rd percentile instead.

Either way, THEY STILL AREN'T SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. *sigh* I had a hint of hope for about a week and then they got sick. Now they each wake up at least twice each in the middle of the night. At least I can hand them a half-bottle and head back to bed now. So I got that going for me, which is nice. (Bonus points if you know the movie quote!)

But lately it seems that it happens multiple times a night and then they're also awake at 5 a.m. I was hoping-hoping-hoping that the time change would mean they fall asleep at 8 p.m. and wake up around 6. No such luck. Apparently they misinterpreted the whole Spring-forward thing and instead fall asleep at 5 p.m. and wake up at 4 a.m. (as was the case yesterday). Wrong way, ladybugs!!

In the last week, Charlotte has really started to branch out on her crawling skills. She pulled herself over to her exersaucer lying on her belly, reached up for the rim and pulled herself up and onto her knees! She's not even knee-crawling yet but she's kneeling unassisted. She even goes inside the coffee table and pulls out baskets and papers and then goes through them once they're on the ground. Sean said that yesterday she made her way down our hallway and cautiously peered in to the guest bedroom, wide-eyed, for a few moments, then pushed her way back to the living room. A bit later she did it again, and again, each time very warily. He said that it reminded him of when our kitten, Cooter, was hesitantly checking out the world while not going too far from his comfort zone. So our daughter is like a cat. Or like a puppy since Nanntastic Cindy found her gnawing on the leg of our barstool.

Lilah, meanwhile, has discovered the fascinating game of peek-a-boo! She will pull any blanket or towel over her face, hold it there for a few seconds, then bring it down and look to make sure you're watching her, with a smile. If you say "Peek-a-boo!” she'll give a little giggle and pull the blanket right back up again.

The best part is when Sean and I get home and the girls do happy arms and bounce up and down and shriek when they see us. It's nice to know that they get so excited to see us! But then we go to wash our hands and it all turns to angry shrieking because they watched us walk away.

So that's where the girls stand right now. Sean and I are still keeping busy (like that's a surprise) with all kinds of projects and on Friday night I'll be heading up to Bellingham with my grown-up girls to see Brandi Carlile! A ladies night out! Whoo-hoo!! We'll be staying in a hotel and I can't decide if all of us moms are a) so well-trained for early mornings that we'll lay awake at daybreak angry that we're wasting our one chance to sleep in, or b) so utterly exhausted that they'll have to call security to pull our sleeping butts out of bed hours after check-out time. I'll let you know!