"Oh wow! The twins are growing so fast!"

My dad sent me this text this morning: "Oh wow! The twins are growing so fast!" They sure are. They really are. When I was printing the "24 weeks" pages for the photo-shoot it really struck me that we are only 2 weeks away from 6 months, half a year. HALF A YEAR!!! And, while the first 2 months were the longest 2 months of my life, longer than studying for the bar exam, and seriously made law school seem like a joke, these last 4 months have flown. Blink blink, 12 weeks, blink blink, 24 weeks.

This past week begins a new developmental phase - its a 3 - 4 week growth spurt where distance is perceived, which coincides with baby wanting to move to get to things. Clinginess, crying, sleep issues, etc. all come with that. Josie checks all of those boxes - she's really trying to move, and she has succeeded with the rolling to get to things. She is amazing - she sees something she wants, and rolls back and forth in a star pattern to get there. When not practicing moving, she wants to be in a pair of arms, and not just sitting, she needs to be carried around the house.

Alex is a bit behind though showing signs of wanting to sit up and rake things towards her, and she is definitely deep into the social side of this phase - the "stranger danger" as she now is understanding that people exist outside of her perceived world. She's also talking to us like we totally understand her, then busts out a huge smile after her paragraphs of stories, then looks a little bummed that we didn't really understand her. She is mimicking, too - if I growl and yell, she will growl and yell (her yell is adorable). If I make raspberries, she makes raspberries. Brilliant, Alex!

My secretary quoted: "we spend the first year teaching them to talk and walk, then the next few years telling them to shut up and sit down." - Mother of a 7 and 3 year old.

Josie is close to holding her own bottle.

This is just a cute one of Alex, she's miles of smiles always. 

Alex sitting for about a minute at a time before tumbling.

Sitting with a Josie photobomb

Josie "pay attention to meeeeeee" Crocket

A few days after the first bottle holding incident:
she held it herself and wasn't on my lap. Progress!

Getting too old for kisses from mom

Josie was really trying to move forward to the ball

She flashed me a big smile, glad I got it partially on camera.
This was a moment before she decided she was done
with struggling to move, and burst into whiny-cry, but
man she looks like such a big girl here.

Alex also is too old for mommy kisses.

Another cute one of Alex. Alex you little cherub.

Josie sitting for a few moments at a time. 

Veinticuatro

Twenty Four in Spanish - in honor of the World Cup and Costa Rica's epic move to the knock out stage.

Anyway, on to the little ladies:

They are both **so close** to sitting on their own. They are both experimenting with holding their own bottles. They are really mastering being on their tummies, and Josie is about to take off. In fact, Josie is never where you left her, she assesses the situation and makes her move. Their diet now consists of pears, avocado, banana and sweet potato. Today they will be trying mango for the first time. Mmm!

Alex

Likes:

Sucking her hands or fingers

Talking

Making many "coo" type noises

Faces - touching them and having them close to hers

Watching the leaves move outside

Cuddling with dad on the couch to watch soccer

The wash cloth in the bath

Chatting with Josie

Sitting up

Crinkly toys

Naps and sleep

Alex was all smiles this morning, but got camera shy!

Dislikes:

Strangers

People who aren't strangers but who she doesn't see every day (hoping this doesn't last!)

Rice cereal

Being cradled like a baby

Alex clearly wants to eat the watermelon!

Josie

Likes:

The Jumper

Pears and MORE PEARS

Being held

Her pacifier

Watching everyone

Flipping on to her tummy

Tummy time (!!????)

The bath and splashing

Having long conversations

Josie never stops moving. Never!

Dislikes:

Being put down on her back

Sweet Potato

Avocado

Sitting still

Sleeping in

Taking Turns

These are long, and of poor quality. I've had a lot of nights alone with the girls this week with James working late, so I guess I've been entertaining myself by taking video of the girls. I also sang them the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, let them play in the tub for extended periods of time which they love, and let them entertain each other, as in the following videos:

I never quite got a good shot of the "tap dancing" Lexie does

Josie is Coo Coo Bananas

Sleep When the Baby Sleeps - or talk loudly

This is OLD HAT now - this is amateur hour from June 12, 2014. Josie is now rolling back and forth and all over the place. But, thought I would share (skip to the 1 minute mark)

Throw back Thursday

Josie sings Alex a lullaby on June 18, 2014

Alex sings Josie a lullaby on June 19, 2014

(Alex gets a little camera shy)

Baby Proof

We might have to do some baby proofing soon....

23 Weeks - A lot of Firsts, Hockey and Wold Cup Soccer!!

I posted a lot this week already about everything the girls have been up to - first swim, first solid food, and of course Josie and her first roll - in fact she's now rolling like its no big deal, and we've also stopped clapping like crazy hooligans after each roll since she's now doing it so much. Lexie CAN do it, but is perfectly content just hanging out doing her thing.

The girls have been enjoying avocado (actually, "not enjoying" is a better way to put it - not a lot of avocado fans around here) and really enjoying sweet potatoes. This next week we will be introducing pears and banana. It brings a whole new twist to spit ups - even just the small tablespoon they have been eating makes things a lot messier around here. Blech!!! 

One thing though, that Josie is also doing, is not sleeping. 5 out of the last 7 nights she has woken us all up in the middle of the night, and taken a lot of coaxing to go back to bed. It is apparently some sort of sleep regression that can last anywhere from 2 weeks to much longer. I hope not too much longer though. We've been very methodical about it, and going in there only to give her a pacifier and a back rub. No turning on lights, no 2 a.m. bottles. Hopefully she will get the point soon! "Its night time Josie, night time!!"

Some action shots...

We've been hockey crazy in this house the last few weeks with the Kings winning the cup last night after quite a few heart attack inducing games. I will give it to both the Kings and the Rangers - it was a clean series, and an awesome battle of two of the best goalies in the league. Now, its time to focus attention on the World Cup! Ole Ole Ole Ole!!! Between Olympics, Hockey then World Cup, I am not sure what we are going to do come mid July! Baseball I guess? 

Poor Lexie keeps scratching up her face, no matter how short I've got her nails cut. I think her finger sucking at night is leading to it, since it only happens at night. We aren't going to stick mittens on her, so I am just going to keep filing her nails as often as I can. She hates when I do it, and I've been scared to since I cut her with the clippers, so we'll both have to get over that.