Winter Wonder

The girls began fighting back today in their daily evening wrestling matches with Daddy. Usually it's Daddy tackling, lifting, and tossing one after the other, over and over, onto the futon mattress on the floor, as the girls laugh in flight and rush back at him for more. But the girls tonight not only fought back, they teamed up. Meanwhile, they have started building with blocks rather than just smashing them apart or destroying with a huge smile whatever Momma and Daddy erect. Words are more readily tried too, and standing atop anything within climbing height has become a favorite hobby. As for their diets, it is staggering to us how much they consume, and Momma's healthy treats keep coming, including her latest, homemade Lara bars of figs and nuts that the girls just love.

The little ladies are growing fast.

To mark the end of 2010, we escaped together for six days in the Poconos, and the location proved ideal: a dead-end street, where the newly fallen snow had been pressed flat by the recent plowing, and tall evergreens on either side of the road not only kept the wind away but lay a beautiful peace around us. So it was the perfect place for the girls to break out one of their two big Christmas gifts from Santa, the first being push-along tricycles (with handles to rescue their parents' backs) and the second being...sleds!

As these pictures show, the girls dressed warmly, bundled up like little marshmallows, and loved the sledding so much, by the end of the trip they had decided to pull the sleds themselves. Did we mention they're growing fast?

Firsts

First rides on a slide, first climbs through a tunnel -- because it was the first trip to the park (which they love; just TRY and stop 'em from climbing) -- first haircut, and first phone call (well, they DO put the phone to their ears and say "hello"), and close encounters (really close, as you'll see) with some of the dogs in their lives, plus the first time teaching their grandpa to read (he'll get it yet, just give him some time) -- all captured here. They're growing sooooo fast!

How fast you ask? They had their latest pediatrician's visit last week, and, at 19 months and a week, the numbers are: they're around 34.5 inches tall and 29 pounds. The word the doctor used was "thriving." "Keep doing whatever you're doing," he said. We figure he meant keep taking them to the park.

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, the girls decided to dress up as two of their favorite people: Rex and Jett, our dogs. A few pictures are below of them in outfits hand-fashioned by their maternal grandmother through the wee hours of the week leading up to the day of tricks and treats. That's Rory as Rex (part Gordon Setter, part Springer Spaniel, a tiny bit of Burnese Mountain, and all dog) and Danni as Jett (mostly Nova Scotia Duck Trolling Retriever, partly human). The girls had over a few little friends on the Saturday before Halloween too, including one little boy, Dylan, who joined their menagerie as a very effectively dressed chicken. Fowl and furry friends got along great.

A full day

Rory likes singing her name, which she pronounces perfectly, to herself in a beautiful singsong. It means her, and it means Danni. It means someone who reaches up to you with open arms for a hug that must be given.

Danni's favorite word is "babies." It means her, it means Rory, it means her reflection in the glass of a dishwasher, stove or window. It means someone squeezable.

They will walk across the room to hug each other.

They have begun riding scooters, which they push along the floor with their little feet. They can carry their scooters across the room with one hand.

They like climbing up and down the futon mattress that is now part of their play area -- which has spread to include the kitchen, dining room, and den (trust us Grandmas, they are all baby proofed!), since they have fully outgrown the play pen.

They can climb down off of the bed: they turn themselves over and slide down. They will climb onto a couch if they get the chance. They love running around the kitchen island, or being dragged around the room in tiny cloth boxes as if at an amusement park.

They got their first boo-boos, Rory on her chin, Danni near her eye.

They have begun enjoying hide 'n' seek, which they play with their Daddy, the growling monster waiting around the corner that they charge alone and in tandem to discover, only to burst into high-pitched laughter as soon as they meet him eye to eye.

They feed themselves with a spoon (although their aim could use some work), and gosh does Momma make them awesome food.

They are growing up so, so fast. And they make us laugh so dang much it hurts. Here, enjoy these pictures and see for yourself.

Word Play

The girls, with two teeth freshly grown in on the tops and bottoms, are now experimenting with language constantly. One of them has suddenly begun picking up a variety of words and loves repeating them, including "baby" (which usually means her sister), "fish" (usually pronounced "ish"), "more," "Rory" ("aora"), "Dadda" (yes!), "knee," and "ball." All animals are of course "woof woofs." Her sister loves saying "woof woof" too. She has also lately taken to trying to say "fish" and "baby" as well. But her special favorite is "uh ohhh." She enjoys saying "uh ohhh" so much that she often throws things down to justify it. And both girls constantly point at things around them, then look to us for the name of it. At this rate, any day now the girls should be saying "bread maker," "sclera," and "French doors."

Meanwhile, the end of summer's warm days means fall clothing ahead, so with these photos we look back fondly on the games the girls played when clothing hardly mattered, like in their kiddie pool. We have no doubt by next summer they will be saying "backstroke."

Moments

We returned yesterday from a spontaneous reunion over the Labor Day Weekend with the girls' paternal family, and the girls had the chance to be with almost every uncle, aunt and first cousin on that side of the family. A few hours after our return, the girls were in their familiar playpen at home and Danni began crying. She seemed upset that her Mom had gone out of view. This happens sometimes, and we figure the tumult of the busy weekend and the trip back several hours in the van had left the girls a little frayed. Rory, on the other side of the pen, turned to her sister's cry. She walked directly across the pen to her sister, rested her head against Danni's back, and hugged her. For a solid 20 seconds. Then she sat down at her sister's feet and looked up, as if to ask, "What's the matter?" Danni turned, reached out her hand, and patted her sister on the top of her head. Her crying had stopped, at least for a moment.

As the girls turn 17 months-old today, we share this moment of what they bring to our lives and these two recent close-ups below.

Water Bugs

Well as we approach the two-month mark without an entry on this blog, we thought it was time for a quick update and a few photos. The girls are walking like crazy now, and have officially decided walking is better than crawling on all fours, although let's face it, crawling on all fours can still come in awfully handy sometimes. They had been experimenting with taking 5, 10, 15 steps at a time, and then two weeks ago, on a memorable Friday, we watched as they stood up in the playpen and it was almost as if we could see them concluding: Yes, we shall walk. And away they went.

So with walking nearly mastered (and running not far behind, by all signs), Rory and Danni have decided it's time to begin thinking about the next mode of transportation. Driving laws being what they are, the girls for the time being seem to have chosen swimming as the next mode. On our recent vacation to Ithaca, we brought them into a running stream beneath Cornell Plantations, and they loved it. Back home, we had already taken them for their first dip in our pool, and their faces lit up with joy, so much so that we try to make swimming a daily event. Meanwhile, the kiddie pool out back provides lots of opportunities for splashing. Occasionally the girls decide to dip their heads under water just to see what happens. And when the brook, the pool, and the kiddie pool aren't available, there is always bath time, which they just love.

These shots capture some moments from the little mermaids' recent swimming expeditions, plus one shot just to prove, if only to ourselves, that in fact sometimes the girls do sleep.