The Usher Girls

This has been a month of word recognition for the girls! They understand so much, even though their vocabulary is somewhat limited. You can tell Laurel to go get her “monkey” and she will sort through her toys to find her favorite stuffed monkey. You can tell Annie to “jump” and she lifts her little heels off the floor with a huge smile on her face. It’s so cute.

New words that the girls have been uttering this month (at least mimicking the sounds and/or actions for each): “Up”, “Down”, “All Done”, “Thank You”, “Cheese”, “This” and “Bye Bye”.

We moved Laurel into the downstairs “apartment” to see if her sleep habits can improve without having to worry about her waking up Annabel. So far, she is doing “better” and is going to sleep on her own pretty decently now. She’s has good nights and bad nights. Maybe she just needed a quieter/darker place to call her own.

The girls are starting to bring home artwork from daycare and I love it! My cube at work is already decorated with little Picasso works. They love daycare and have a lot of friends/admirers there. We are very fortunate to have found such a great place to bring the girls each week. Jeanette is great.

Month 14 Moments and Milestones
Just a couple days after turning 13 months old, Lu took her first steps! Just like Annie, she was very proud of herself and gets a little braver each day.

Annnie FINALLY started to sprout her 3rd and 4th teeth on the top. She does not take well to teething at all and has had a few really rough nights.

We bought the girls their first little pool and they LOVE IT. Not surprising since they love their baths. They are definitely water babies. I cannot WAIT to get them in the ocean someday.

Laurel loves the cat and started to say “Raja” (sounds like Rayuh) whenever she sees her. Although, she occassionaly calls Derrick “Raja” and the cat “Daddy”. Just recently, Annie started to say “Raja” too. She has more “j” sound in hers.

The girls are both walking around like crazy. That is all they want to do. We finally got them in their first shoes. At first, they did NOT know what to make of them. I think it will take some time to get used to them. Although, I’d rather they just hang out barefoot. I mean, it’s summer!

Month 15 Moments and Milestones
The ladies are truly toddlers now. Walking/Running everywhere, climbing on stuff, mimicking everything we do! Laurel even started to walk backwards! They are also spinning in circles.

The girls love to dance, find their noses, give high fives, throw food on the floor, pull each other’s hair, steal the remote control, steal cell phones (the toy ones we got them just aren’t cool enough), etc… They are constantly on the move. Rarely do you see them just sitting and playing quietly.

Laurel LOVES books. She will go to the bookshelf over and over and over and will bring you a new book to read to her. She will then climb into your lap and help you turn the pages. You sometimes find her flipping through books on her own too.

Annie is such a sweetheart (except for the hair pulling). She is our cuddler and can often be found bringing Laurel toys if she is upset.

We had a fun visit with Grammie for two weeks! We had a lot of “firsts”. First actual shoe fitting and purchase (more expensive than MY SHOES), first trip to the aquarium and it was a HIT, first concert – they made so many friends. We had a nice time. It went by too fast and I wish I didn’t end up having to work a lot of the time my mom was here.

Moments and Milestones

• Bye Bye Formula! It was so great to use up the last of their formula just after their first b-day. What a relief on the wallet. They took to whole milk really well. We are now trying to get them onto sippy cups. They are learning and drink water and juice out of them and sometimes, a little milk.
• Annie took her first unassisted steps this month! She was so proud of herself. A bit wobbly at first, but she picked it up rather quickly.
• The girls LOVE their ride-on toys. We bought one and since they started to fight over it, Grandma Bonnie had to get them a second one. The girls aren’t that into sharing yet.
• Laurel sprouted a zillion teeth this month, it seems. A few molars and I think the count is up to 10! Will it ever end?
• We took Laurel in for her sleep study at Children’s. It was not a fun experience and unfortunately, nothing came out of it. I’m glad she doesn’t suffer from sleep apnea, but I fear we are back at square 1 when it comes to her sleeping problems. We are going to take her to see a sleep specialist at the end of June after we keep a 2 week sleep log.

Wow, the girls are 1!! How did that happen? So much has changed in the past couple of months, they look more and more like little girls and less and less like babies everyday.

Both girls are standing, talking up a storm, eating like little pigs, etc… They had a blast on their first b-day. We had a casual backyard BBQ and the weather was perfect. A nice end to a week of rain! The girls loved their cupcakes and all their presents.

Wow. Month 11 came and went. The girls are almost ONE and I am very behind on this site. I really needed to post the Month 11 pics, so here they are. Next week’s moments and milestones will include those from Month 11 as well.

I remember saying a few months back “We have time, we don’t need to baby-proof the house just yet.” Boy, was I wrong. The girls have been everywhere this month!! It’s amazing how fast they can get into stuff. And, of course they don’t want their toys…they want the wobbly DVD rack or the glass front antique bookshelf.

Moments and Milestones

• Earlier in the month, Annie stood up in her crib for the first time and is now starting to stand at the baby gate, at the coffee table, etc…
• She also started to officially crawl on her knees instead of dragging herself behind her…finally!
• Annie has been perfecting downward dog, I’ve never seen a baby do it and it’s really cute. Yogini in the making.
• Laurel is kneeling on her own and pulling herself up on everything and just started to stand in her crib or while holding onto you! Now, she stands up ALL the time.
• Laurel is starting to talk more and babbles a lot.
• Annie likes to play with her food. Laurel likes to eat hers.
• The Bumbos have been retired. They can get out of them on their own now.
• Next step…walking! EEEEK.

It’s hard to believe that Annie and Laurel will be a year old in 3 short months!

Moments and Milestones

• It’s been an extremely successful month as far as physical abilites go. Laurel perfected a true crawl in just a few days and is very fast. Annie still crawls dragging her legs behind her, but she perfected sitting up on her own from a laying down position and is very proud of herself. Having mobile twins is a lot of work. They get into everything. Even if you spread out 40 toys, they wander over to the wobbly DVD rack instead.
• The ladies are still enjoying all kinds of homemade food. We’ve introduced various herbs/spices. They seem to like basil, dill, and cinnamon. We introduced dairy (Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese) and they seem fine with it. We’ve also introduced some grains (whole grain pastina, quinoa) and scrambled eggs (not their favorite yet). They have been eating more “finger foods” too – baby puffs, tiny bits of cheese, toast bites, etc… They both seem to enjoy feeding themselves (and the cat, and the rug, and their hair…)
• Molly taught the girls how to “high five” and it’s pretty cute. And lately, they have been clapping all day long and they think it’s pretty funny. They have also started to imitate you when you clap or blow rasberries.
• Annabel also has her two bottom teeth now. They both are even in the teeth growing department.
• They both had their 9 month checkup. Laurel is only 2 oz. short of Annie, weighing in at 18 lb 2 oz. Annie has a half an inch on Lu though.

The girls will be 8 months old this Saturday! That is 2/3 of a year!

Moments and Milestones

Laurel had her follow-up checkup with the cardiologist and good news – one of the small septal defects she had closed on it’s own, as expected. The other one is barely detectable now. The doc has no worries and we won’t go back for a couple of years. What a relief!

This has been a big food month for the girls! The girls have tried all kinds of homemade food and I’m enjoying making it all. Apples, pears, peaches, asparagus, spinach, sweet potatoes, carrots, avocado, cantaloupe, peas, and more. So far, the only thing they don’t like is bananas. They are good healthy eaters already.

Laurel has two bottom teeth already and Annie cut her first bottom one just the other day.

The girls are going to be crawling any day now. They both get around pretty well in their own unique ways. Annie pulls herself with her arms and drags her legs behind her. Laurel pushes with her arms and ends up going backwards. If they only knew to connect themselves, they could go both ways – ha ha!

Annabel and Laurel are very active and talkative – learning new movements and sounds every day. It’s so much fun getting them to laugh and smile.

The girls will be 7 months old next week!! I can’t believe it’s Christmas already.

Moments and Milestones

• We had a nice Thanksgiving week with Grammy, Uncle Brian, and Auntie Angela. Bri and Ang had never met the girls, so that was a lot of fun. We all spent it up in Grand Lake and it was nice and relaxing.
• The girls got to witness their first snow. Thank goodness Grammy bought them snowsuits!
• The girls enjoyed their first trip to Red Rocks. Thanksgiving weekend, we went up there to walk around and it was such a beautiful day.
• Laurel started rolling over and is quite proud of herself. She also sits up on her own now!
• Annie started to finally roll to her left. She was only rolling to her right for the longest time. And, she
  sits unsupported for a long time now.

• The girls are eating more “real” food and love squash, carrots, and peas. They wanted nothing to do
  with bananas, though. Laurel likes pears. Annie, not so much. Next week, avocado!

• Molly is teaching the girls to hold their own bottles and they both are pretty good at doing it on their
  own (with a little supervision).

• Annie’s hair is growing fast. It sticks straight up no matter what you do to it. It’s so cute.
• The girls love their doorway jumper (best $30 ever spent). Annie falls asleep in it sometimes – it wears
  her out.

• Laurel cut her first tooth! Now we call her snaggletooth.