Standing

Emily has started to let go while she is standing. She started last week and I told her not to take a step while we were gone. She didn't. She will stand sometimes for up to 20 seconds so walking isn't far behind. I was finally able to get a picture of it today. Good job Emily.

Goofy Stephanie

The other day Stephanie was able to bring her shirt up over her head to play peek a boo. She wasn't trying to take it off but just hide her head. A couple times she couldn't pull it back down and got scared but kept trying. So goofy.

I did it

I did it and was able to go out of town without the kids last weekend. I wasn't so sure since last Friday night Emily was up from 10:30-2 and I saw that as a sign she knew we were leaving or she was getting sick. She's not the best sleeper but that was not like her. She was fine in the morning so we left. We had a great time and thankfully the kids behaved for my parents. It is so wonderful to be able to leave them and know they are going to get lots of love and attention for their grandparents. Thank you, thank you!!! Jeff and I even made it out late and I made up for not drinking for the last year and a half. It was weird since I kept thinking I was forgetting something (someone). It was nice to see family we haven't seen in a while and celebrate his cousins' wedding. It was a very relaxed reception and the attire was camouflage but I am not a hunter so I did not participate in the theme. It also did snow up there (Eagle River) which was so sad because it had been 80 just the day before. We are not glad to see winter make a return. At least it isn't too bad here since the middle of the state got 5 or so inches of snow yesterday. I would love to have our since spring make a return..soon.

A good week

Stephanie has had a good week regarding her speech. She started saying "ni-night". She uses it properly and will say it clearly. That is good progress for her. She also said "wow" over the weekend when she say an airplane outside with Jeff. It was a low flying plane and she said it on her own and has said it a few times since. Her big achievement for this week was today when she finally figured out how to suck from a straw. We have been working on this one on and off with the speech therapist and she was able to drink some of Jeff's shake this morning. He had a shake because he got his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday. I was so happy for her and so proud of her. Tonight I gave her milk with a straw but she wasn't as happy with it as she was the shake. Go figure. These things may not see that big but it is a lot for just one week. I've very proud of you Stephanie. Keep up the good work.

First trip to the park

This was Emily's first trip to the park where she could actually do something. She went down the slide even though she tried crawling back in my arms. Kind of hard because I had both cameras in my hands plus trying to get her to slide and not fall. Not sure what the video of that will look like. She did like going down. Stephanie got a lot better and navigating the slide and getting down. She still likes going up it instead of finding the steps to walk up. As much as she likes the swing she didn't want to go on it this time. Emily did but she wasn't too sure about it. This park was close to where I pick Jack and Mia up from school and it is right by a train track. While we were there a train went by and I picked Stephanie up to show her and she started screaming when it went by. I had to agree with her that is was very loud and very close and very fast. If I would've known that I wouldn't have brought her closer to see it. Emily on the other hand didn't care one bit. Besides the train we had a good time.

So happy for Spring

We have been very lucky to have had wonderful warm weather for almost the last week. It was suppose to ran from last Thursday to Sunday but it never did. It has been in the 60s and 70s the last few days. It is a very welcomed warmth. Stephanie was very happy to be outside even though one of her favorite places to play is in the mini van. Emily, though was a little unsure. She was on a blanket and just sat there, she wasn't sure what to do, and didn't try crawling off. I was surprised because she is so adventious, but I'm sure it wont take long before she's crawling everywhere outside. We did get the ball pit out and she wasn't sure about sitting in that either because she really couldn't move but once she stood up she was walking all over it. Stephanie was so happy running back and forth from the van to the ball pit. One stop in Jeff's new truck but she's a little scared in there because it's so big. Hopefully this weather stays around.

New game

Stephanie has found a new game she loves and it gets played over and over. She throws her animals out of the box, saying "no" while she does it. Then she climbs in and waits for the animals to be put back in on her, just to throw them back out again. She was having lots of fun with Jeff playing this. If no one is around to put them back in, she will put some in but she has more fun throwing them out.

Me and my girls

I was able to get some pictures with me and both girls. Stephanie was more willing than Emily since Stephanie liked saying cheese and seeing the picture afterwards. Whatever works.

Braids

I tried to braid Stephanie hair last week. She has very fine hair and it's uneven since it's longer in the back but the sides are shorter. That's because she hasn't gotten a haircut yet, besides her bangs. It took a couple attempts and a lot of patience on both our parts but I did it. They were so little and looked like a complete mess in 5 minutes. I was able to redo them once but after that I gave up. They did look very cute while they lasted.

The fun of sunglasses

We found Stephanie sunglasses we bought her right before she turned one. She never really wore them as sunglasses but she like to play with them. She had just as much fun with them again. She would wear them a little bit but she can't get them on herself so that would frustrate her. After a few days she ended up breaking them so it time for a new pair. And one for Emily since she didn't like when Emily took them. Just like everything else in the house.

Emily is 9 months old

I am so far behind but I've been busy on the computer doing other stuff. So now I need to update about Emily. She is our little trouble maker. But a wonderful one at that. She has gotten to be a super fast crawler especially when she hears the dishwasher open or sees the gate down from the stairs. She can put it in super fast mode looking for trouble. She is working for hard at getting some more teeth. She has her finger in her mouth all the time, she isn't sleeping well at night (worse than usual), and is trying to chew on everything. Things like the handles on the cabinets, her foot, my shirt, Stephanie's cup, or every single toy she can fit. I sure hope those teeth come through soon. She LOVES to play peek a boo. She will either put a blanket over her head, put her face down into a blanket, or try to cover her face with her hands. It is so cute. She waits for someone to say "peek a boo" and then comes out. It started when she was eating and was trying to hide from the spoon but then developed into more. She has also started to babble this month. She started out saying "dada" for everything. This past week she started saying "baba" and "mama". It good to hear those first sounds coming out. She is still a picky eater and might eat a couple bits of food each day. She acts likes she wants the food and will grab for yours but after 4 bites of applesauce she is done. It seems like she's going to be a picky eater like me. Stephanie at 9 months ate a lot of food and a little bottle and didn't crawl, so total opposite. Emily is bigger (19 lbs 11oz) than Stephanie was even though she is crawling all the time and not eating food. It must be those bottles and the fact they are so different in everything else. Emily is very tough and needs to be with Stephanie around. She gets pushed over on a daily basis by Stephanie. Sometimes she cries and other times she doesn't seem to care. But she also takes her own opportunity to tease Stephanie. If Stephanie is laying down getting a diaper change, Emily will crawl over and bother her because she knows Stephanie is stuck there on the floor. It happens all the time. Those two girls are going to be trouble for us. But so much fun. She started cruising along the furniture a little over a week ago. She will reach out for another thing to hold onto but won't really stand by herself yet. I think she'll be walking next month sometime but who knows. She will push her walker around the house a little bit. Once it starts moving on her she gets a little scared but one day she went around the kitchen about 5 times. She just need some help turning. I know it will make playing outside easier if she walks soon but she's my little baby so I'm not ready for her to walk yet. I left her for the with my mom (and not Jeff) twice in the last week. Thank you Mom!! Jeff and I went to Brewer game kid free last Thursday. It was so nice but very weird. The Brewers lost and it was pouring outside on our walk back to the car. Emily did great. I was so relieved since we are going away for the night next weekend and I am so worried about leaving. Then this morning we went to a meeting at the school for Stephanie's speech therapy and she as not happy about that at all. So now I am back to being worried about going again. I now they will be fine with my parents but I haven't missed more than a few hours of being with Emily (and with Stephanie it was just when I was at the hospital) so it will be very hard to leave. But nice to spend some time with Jeff and other grown ups. We are going to his cousin Lori's wedding reception up north in Eagle River. So I can't just decide to come home early. I'll just be that more excited to see them after being away. Emily better not take a step while we are gone though.