Happy holidays!

Pictures from the big event coming shortly, but meanwhile we'd like to wish everyone a happy holiday!

Snow!

Are you supposed to teach your kids to eat snow? They were afraid of it at first...

Sliding

This is the slide my dad built for Kara and me when we were little. Mae loves it!

Adi at 14 months

In October, the girls and I attended a kids' yoga class. I didn't think they got much out of it, as they mostly wandered around the room playing with the straps, exercise balls and stuffed-animal "breathing buddies" but on the last day of class one of the activities was slowly turning in a circle with our arms out. And the next day, Adi started doing that at home! It is quite slow and she doesn't do it often but it is deliberate nonetheless.

I was worried that, by her first birthday, Adi hadn't started pointing. She would indicate a direction with her whole hand and seemed to look at what we were pointing at (sometimes), so the doctor said not to worry. Then she had a week where she seemed to have her finger up her nose constantly-- I didn't like that very much but it seems it taught her how to point. Later I saw an advertisement for a soft toy with a finger-sized hole to "encourage your baby to begin pointing" and I thought 'who needs that when you've got your nose?' Recently, she's tried to put her finger up my nose, too.


In some ways, Adi seems impatient but in other ways she's very patient. For instance, when trying to stack the plastic rings, she'll just bang them against the tower a few times and give up. (Newsflash: she is now getting them on the tower). But she likes to peel things-- she's pulled stickers off of a few second-hand toys we have (which means the stickers are difficult enough to remove that the previous owners failed to do it) and has peeled apart some of the board books. And she is adept at turning the pages of her board books, rarely skipping any, and knows which way the flaps fold in the peek-a-boo books. Her interest in books continues--
It isn't unusual for her to need space away from people- it used to be that she would get fussy and I would put her in the swing or the playpen and she would be perfectly happy to be a little separated from everyone. Now that we don't have those tools, I think she uses books to 'escape' from the mayhem. And she just seems to really like them. Sometimes she turns the pages really fast but other times she studies the pictures, or points to things and asks 'dah?' or occasionally babbles as if she's reading it ("blah blah blah"). She has names for some of the books; we have a "mama" book, "dada" book, "ooh-ooh" (monkey), "sss" (bus). And although she does like to turn pages, she is now quite interested in certain illustrations. The squirrel ("roo") and monkeys are absolute favorites; she also likes dogs ("rah rah rah") and balls ("bah") and the moon ("noo"). Just a few days ago I showed her the crescent moon after sunset and she now points to the window and says "noo" a couple times a day.

Ever since Mae could grab toys from her, Adi has become very upset when something was taken from her. We attributed this partly to her longish attention span and partly to her tendency to dramatize her feelings. Now she is doing the same thing to us when we need to take something away from her or stop whatever we're doing. Dave figured out that she does much better if we ask her to give up the object herself (put it in the trash, on a shelf, or giving it to Mae) rather than just prying it from her fingers. She's quite quick now to give something to Mae (after she took it, usually) but more reluctant to give something to me. I think the whole thing has to do with allowing her to maintain her dignity; I think a lot of her outburst have to do with injured pride. For example, she'll cry sometimes when she loses her balance and plops down on her bottom, or when she is getting her diaper change and Mae barely brushes her; I think she feels insulted. I recognize this sort of sensitivity, and wanting to do things her own way, in myself so I can definitely empathize. But it doesn't make parenting very easy! I'm definitely learning-- for example, replacing a forbidden object with something else that will have to be taken away only delays the crying-- and hope that this helps for the tantrums ahead. She is throwing little tantrums already: arching her back and screaming and I've definitely found myself wanting to avoid making her mad (even when I need to). (By the way, I think non-violent protesters must have learned from children. It's amazing how difficult it is to dress/diaper/move a limp child!)
So, Adi's developing sense of her wants is making parenting more difficult but I realize it is natural and normal.

Her vocabulary is continuing to expand. I mentioned above that she can do the sounds of monkeys, snakes and dogs. She also does a rooster (coo-ooh-ooh), lion, cow (mmm), cat (eee-o). Her word for balloon is "bbb" (like we'd do a motor-boat sound), her pink giraffe is "juh" and trains are "tuh". Maybe I mentioned before that I used to think parents who called these sorts of sounds 'words' were exaggerating but now I really believe they are words: not like the ones we make but they are repeatable and mean something to her. The frustrating ones are the "dah"s, since she uses that as a generic word, so we can't say for sure she's saying 'dog' or 'doll.' She also says "shh" for shoe, "jjj" for thirsty, "chuh" for cheerios, "kuh-kuh" for cracker and probably lots of other things that I haven't figured out yet! Yesterday I think she said "blue" and she just learned about the moon, which she calls "noon")

Although she's still a very good eater, Adi has also started to refuse certain foods. Canned beans, which used to be a favorite, now get squashed one by one on her tray. Similarly, cheese is pushed around or handed back. This was a big surprise as cheese was a favorite food for a while (and how can you not like cheese?!) She's liking tofu and eggs, as well as banana, tomato, grapes and pomegranate. She isn't a big fan of dairy milk in a sippy cup (our recently started daytime milk method) but is more likely to drink it in a few gulps at the end of a meal than throughout. When she was sick a few weeks ago (our first experience with a throwing up baby, of course at 1 am and after a day of brightly colored food) and we were concerned she was getting dehydrated, we gave her a bottle of breastmilk when she refused dairy milk in a cup. It took a couple of days before she'd drink out of a cup at all after that.

Breastfeeding is down to just morning and night and for the past week or so Adi has been very clingy about it. For months she's been a utilitarian feeder-- rolling away after about 5 minutes-- but now she hangs on as long as I'll let her and cries when I take her off (even though it is clear she's not actually drinking). I'm not sure if this is correlated with weaning off the last daytime feeding, or if she's getting some more teeth, but it has made breastfeeding much less enjoyable for me. I was thinking to completely wean them by 18 months but may do it sooner if this continues! [Update on 12/7- we are done with breastfeeding, mainly because of these issues].

Adi continues to be affectionate, toward us and toward Mae. She'll lean her face against someone when asked to give a kiss (if she's in the mood) and will pat her head to ask for a kiss (from getting her bumped head kissed by my parents, who had to point out to me what she was doing). And although sometimes she cries when Mae barely brushes her, one of the best ways to get Adi to stop crying is to get Mae to give her a kiss or a hug or crawl all over her. She likes very close contact- like touching noses or butterfly kisses. And she's starting to cling to me, holding up her arms and crying to be held or wrapping her arms and legs around me to keep me from putting her down. It's convenient when I'm trying to carry both of them, but not so much when it's time for her nap!


Our nanny, Lauren, taught her how to find her belly button. If you ask her where it is she'll lift up her shirt, peer at her stomach and poke her belly button with great delight. It frustrates her if she's wearing a onesie or dress (so that she can't lift up her shirt) but she also likes to poke my belly button, or Mae's. She knows where several other parts of her body are: nose, eye, hair, head, fingers, feet, toes, leg,... probably more that I can't think of... and back, which surprised me.

She has also learned how to help get dressed- pushing her arm through a sleeve when asked or lifting up her foot to get it into a pants leg. And my parents taught her to yawn-- she hasn't performed it for me yet but apparently it's pretty cute.


Using a spoon:
Or not:


Well as the days go by with me writing a sentence here or there, she changes enough that I can see I'll never be done with this post. So I'm cutting myself off, for the month.

Blueberry pancakes

Cookie dough

Things you learn from your dad...

Meredith at 13 months

Anyone who has spent any time with Meredith probably won't believe it is possible, but she is even happier now than she used to be. Her more advanced mobility and communication just seem to delight her to no end, so that often she toddles around smiling and giggling.

Just last month the big news was that she was walking, but that is old news now. She still crawls occasionally and falls over often, but she has pretty much joined the two-legged club. I actually think she falls on purpose sometimes- just to sitting or all the way over, slowly toppling backwards. She seems to think it's fun but doesn't know to look behind her to make sure there isn't, say, a metal stair railing behind her. We have a playpen full of balloons left over from their birthday and she loves throwing herself around in it, falling backwards and bouncing. Physically, she seems very resilient- not too worried about bumping her head or getting hurt. She dives over the beach ball, often landing on her head and gets up giggling.

When they were a week old, our pediatrician told us to talk a lot around the girls, even just commentating mundane tasks. So I've gotten in the habit of talking to myself or thinking out loud. And now I suddenly feel like someone is listening! When I ask what used to be a rhetorical question, Mae will look at me like she's really trying to understand and respond.

She's been making giant strides in talking, often insistently repeating a syllable when I can't figure out what she's saying. She doesn't really reference me as 'mama' to my face but she calls Dave 'dah'. Actually, she says 'dah' for a lot of things, but I think she really is saying "Dad", "dog" and maybe "doll." Her most advanced word is "thirsty"; you might not believe she can say it, but when Dave was teaching her the sign-language sign for 'drink' she started saying "thu-thee" while she did the sign. Words with "th","sh", "ch" or "ss" seem to delight her: she also says "chee" for cheese & cheerios (it probably helps that they are two of her favorite foods) "sh" for shoe (also a favorite item) and fish and "suh-suh" for sister. Oh, and she calls Adi "Aa-ah". She says "boo" for balloon and book, "ba" for bath and balls and "bah-bah" for bye-bye. Animal noises have started to come, too- the sheep says "baaah-baaah" and the horse is a pretty good "neigh".


I read in a magazine that a two-year old should know about 10 parts of the body and I (competitively, I'll admit) counted up that many that Mae will show you when you ask: toes, feet, knees, legs, belly, hand, fingers, chin, nose, tongue, ear, eye, hair, head. While breast-feeding, she entertains herself by pressing on her nose, my nose, then Adi's nose (and I oblige the game by saying who's nose it is). I definitely feel like I'm bragging (I hope you don't mind!) but it's just so amazing to ask her something that I genuinely don't know if she knows or not, and see her point to it.

One of Mae's favorite activities is draping something on her head, which we interpret as "dressing up". She likes to place hats on her head (or bring them to one of us to really put on), holds bibs on by pinching between her chin and her chest and pushes shoes and slippers against her feet. In this picture she's not so much posing as feeling the hat, or maybe pulling it off in order to get it put on again. (The hats, by the way, were knit by our friend Samantha and the girls have been wearing them since they were 6 weeks old (see First Outing). The sweaters were given to us by Megan, our sister-in-law, and match the hats extraordinarily well).

But she also drapes shirts, pants and blankets over her head. We got a big laugh one day when she put a sweatshirt over her head, covering her face, and toddled at high speed across the room-- right into a cabinet!

She is also very vigorous in her shows of affection, often almost running across the room with a big smile and throwing herself into our laps. Unfortunately, the same technique against Adi knocked them both over with so much force that Mae cut her forehead on one of Adi's teeth. But she can be gentler, especially when I'm offering structural support, and will give Adi a hug or "kiss" when she is crying.

And another favorite activity is climbing into boxes. Toy boxes, cardboard boxes, a corner "boxed" in by toys where she doesn't really fit... Their soft toys are in this brown box, which she can get into but can't quite get out of (the third picture).


She is getting more assertive with Adi although she usually just whines to me, making the sign for 'more' (I want in their language) when Adi takes something of hers. The one object I reserve for her alone is Annie the (anaerobic) Lion, which she has finally attached to. Attached to her nose, specifically, which she likes to bite.

Since it has taken me some three weeks to write this, I suppose I should publish it while she is still 13 months old! Here is the parting shot...

Happy Halloween!

Riding High

At Grandma & Grandpa's

The girls had a great time at their grandparents last Friday night (while Dave and I got a much-appreciated break). Here are the pictures from them:



I don't think the girls have picked up much from our 'kids yoga' class (although Adi did start spinning-- turning in a circle-- after our last class) but 'downward dog' is a current favorite of both.



Taking turns... with a little help, I'm sure.
Adi is very affectionate toward Mae, who mostly puts up with her. At least here a hug won't knock them over!

Rocking chairs

The girls' Grandma Coleman painted rocking chairs for their birthday. They are beautiful and the girls love playing with them- they are just big enough to climb in and slide out, and they are learning how to bring books up with them.

Birthday pics III

Mae & Adi with gifts from Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Wayne & cousin Kaitlyn.

Reading a book from Aunt Kathleen & Uncle Jean-Marc
We stored some blown-up balloons in the pack-n-play... which Meredith *loves* playing in. (Yes, it is still a feature of the living room).

Handing balloons to Grandma:


Adi having fun:

Birthday pics II

Grandma Coleman painted rocking chairs that the girls love. Here they are in the chairs with their new dolls from the Bundy grandparents.


The anticipation: a box arrived from Aunt Henri.

What do you suppose you do with this?
Maybe you eat it.
The dolls have their own bottles. Mae has pretty much been attached to one or both bottles ever since they got one. It's lucky for her she has a sister, since she likes to have one in each hand. When prompted, she'll give her doll a sip of the bottle, but is careful not to waste too much on her.
I just wish they'd smile occasionally.Still more coming soon...