Oh, having girls is so much different than boys! Except for maybe on the climbing part... Joy has got that down, and Hope isn't too far behind!
That is Hope standing on the top rail of her crib... just prior to my grabbing the camera Joy was also standing on the top rail of Hope's crib, from the other side. Their cribs aren't normally together like this, but you can see I'm painting again on the wall behind them. They're not so close now either! I also caught Joy last week standing on the very top of the back of our overstuffed chair to reach the top shelf of a 6 foot tall bookshelf in our living room...
When they sleep, Joy throws everything out of her crib, including her blanket. Hope will sleep with toys or her water and usually has rolled herself up in her blanket so she is at least partially covered. Funny the differences and similarities!
Waking up from a nap is a good time to chill with big brother when he comes home from school and watches a little cartoons.
And now my lovely girls with the bunny pictures...
We sit nicely... for one photo!
Hope is a complete cheese-ball!
I wasn't even saying cheese, just trying to get them to sit still and look at me... at the same time!
This is, maybe, the best one of the bunch?
We love our bunny!
So done, Mama, let me out of here!
You can see the progression of toys that I was attempting to bribe them with... you just don't see all the outtakes between each photo where one of them was trying to bail off the couch!
The girls don't really talk much yet. Hope's favorite word is still "shoe" and she will bring everyone their shoes if she has access to them! However, she won't keep her own on so most of the time they are shoeless unless they are actually busy walking somewhere. Now she's added "Dada". Wednesday night at Awana I had both of them and she spotted Brian way down the corridor coming out of a room. She said his name loud enough to get his attention and practically lunged out of my arms! I can always tell when he comes home at night if I'm in the other room too because there is much shrieking of excitement and Dada! coming from the living room window!
Hope is definitely more the communicator and Joy is the explorer (as evidenced by the climbing...). She says "ha dat" when she wants something which I think sounds like "have that" while pointing at said object. She also says "a da" which means again like for playing something. Both of them can say "more" in sign language if it's really something they want. They understand me quite well just don't always want to do what I'm saying... but this week when they ask for water (Hope says "dr" and Joy says "wa-a" while making the signs) then I ask them if they want their water and they do exaggerated head nodding for yes. And yes, it's as adorable as it sounds!
They are kind of picky eaters, some days they will eat various fruits, the next day they will be rejected (and thrown on the floor). I get frustrated with the wasted food, but they're not going hungry. Both of them have their eye teeth now so they look like they have a full set of teeth finally. There was a lot of drooling and hands in the mouth for those.
Hope is slightly heavier than Joy by about a half a pound. Measurements this morning were 24.4 pounds and 23.8 pounds. Joy is about one centimeter taller and I can't remember those. Will update later if I remember to call in and get them.
We have finally moved into the 18 month clothes... just as it cools off so they haven't gotten to wear most of the summer weight stuff more than about once. Bummer. I was really off in estimating sizes for them. The 18M pants are still some big, especially if they aren't leggings and some of the 12M pants still fit better. So we'll see how that pans out for the winter. I did buy a lot of leggings and tights so hopefully that will solve the problem of pants falling off!
The girls LOVE baths and ask for "ba?" after every meal. I showed them how to "swim" by laying down on their tummies and they splash their feet so much I get a shower. They will often help wash each other's hair while I'm washing them too.
They are finally getting some hair... enough that it keeps falling in their faces, but they won't keep in any hair pretties. If they don't pull them out then sister will!
We love books and looking at them on our own or with Mama, but they still must be supervised because books apparently taste good to the sisters... good thing they are the babies because a lot of them won't be worth passing on to anyone else!
The girls play together... about half of the time! They are usually together doing whatever they are doing, but often one will steal the others' toys or clock the other one with her toy. And it goes both ways pretty often. They also both love to wear any rings or toys with a hole in them as bracelets!
These girls are busy! They love to "go" anywhere. When I start loading up the car they are watching me through the window and very ready to come when I say "let's go!". They love going out and playing at parks now. I don't get any photos though because they are so independent that I have to watch one all the time and have a second adult to watch the other. This is one place where they tend to go in opposite directions!
Love my girls!
