10 Months!

A proper update on my girlies this month!

It was very hard to get them both to sit still and look in my general direction without then crawling towards me, while having time to pick up the camera and take a picture without anyone else around!  They are so stinkin' cute though!

In an attempt to get them to sit still I asked them to clap for me.  Hope complied, but Joy was way more interested in the bunny's eye!  Hope has been better about the verbal type things...

She has been making "shrimp" sounds - all my camp friends will get this - by running her tongue in and out across her top lip - kinda like "lada lada lada".  She's been doing this for over a month now and Joy has just picked it up in the last week or so.  She's also picked up the sign language for more (for her it's clapping) and all done again just waving her arms in the air, but it's only when I ask her to.  And she's picked up the funny habit of shaking her head back and forth like "no".  I think she's just discovered she can do that.

We're noticing some differences that make us think their personalities are like their brothers... Joy is more like Cory and Hope is more like Noah.  It's quite fun!  In that regard, Hope is LOUD.  She makes really loud "aaaaaaaaa" sounds to get your attention.  She's also more independent than Joy, who prefers to be with me anytime I'm in sight.

Joy's verbal skills include sticking her tongue out all.the.time - and it's a very cute, but super pointy tongue.  And making motor boat noises - the kind that spit.  Not so cool when she has food in her mouth!  Although this is an improvement from putting her fingers in her mouth after every single bite!  She also makes fish faces frequently, opening and closing her mouth without making any noise.

Joy got both top teeth right around New Years.  Hope got one and the second one a week later.  Both of them are very good eaters and we've started giving them all kinds of bits of food to feed themselves besides the baby food.  Sometimes they will sit in their chairs and reach out and hold hands while eating.

I have failed to put up a photo of our new "baby wall".  This piece of wood they are sitting in front of runs across our living room now wedged between two couches.  There is a short step on the outside to help Noah get over (he gets out by climbing on the couch and jumping) and the rest of us can step over it.

Once Joy discovered she could exploit any low point in the pillow wall or use them as steps it was all over and this wall was built in one evening!

Sisters discussing the merits and pitfalls of the wall... it's the perfect height for chewing on!

They are pretty much always together.  While playing in the living room if one is off in the corner exploring the bookcase the other one will be right there with her.  You rarely find one in one corner and one in another.   And if they are hiding in a corner and you call them pretty soon they will come out to you, kind of a handy feature!

This also means they hate it when one gets picked up, for any reason, and especially if you walk away.  Or, when one gets to nurse before the other.  Believe me, I take turns on who's first, but the other one will stand and pat my knee or the pillow just waiting for "her turn".  When I pick the first one up as she's done the second one starts to get antsy because she knows I'm going to say "your turn".  It's very cute, but sometimes hard when they are both very hungry.

 

This one really shows their personalities.  Joy always wrinkles up her nose when she smiles!

Be thankful this blog doesn't have a volume on it... this is decibel "Hope".  

And no, she's not unhappy in this photo!

Joy is very much the more mobile and adventurous one.  She can stand up and let go and keep her balance for up to 5 seconds.  She does this while clapping for herself!  She's also started walking along the wall with one hand and will walk for you if you hold her hands.  I can see her sometimes trying to go for a toy.  She so desperately just wants to walk over to it, but will take about half a step and then fall down to her knees.

Just after Christmas when we took Hope in for strep she weighed just under 17 pounds.  They are so similar I'm sure Joy is close.  Still wearing 9 month clothes, but the ones that are one pieces are getting short (as you can see on Joy above).  Pants still fall off at the waist though!

Ten months already! It doesn't seem possible, but when I clicked on my January folder for these photos I accidentally clicked on the 2012 one first and one of the top photos was me and my giant belly. That certainly doesn't seem like yesterday! The days go by slowly and I don't see them change, but the weeks and months go flying by!