Adi addendum

Adi has a tooth!

Dave discovered it yesterday when she was trying to chew on his arm. "There's definitely something sharp in there." After some exploration we could see it: her bottom left front tooth has broken through. No pictures yet (trust me, it's hard enough to see in person)!

Picture perfect: Adi at 7 months

Adi has just started to babble; she really likes "b" and "v" sounds that she can make with her lips sucked in. She loves it when I make nonsense noises to her: "ga ga ga ga" or "golly golly golly" and so it seems that she can tell when we make sounds that are different than normal speaking. When someone sings to her, she stops whatever she is doing to look around and give a big smile; it is still possible to calm her down in the stroller or the car with a simple song. (Itsy-bitsy spider has been a favorite since early on, when Dave made up some spider-crawling, head-rubbing motions for them). She's been responding to her name for a few weeks now, which is both useful and delightful- to know that she is starting to understand us.

Her feet rank as a favorite toy, especially without socks. She will put her foot into her mouth all the way up the arch . All toys still go in the mouth; sometimes it seems she spends all of her energy trying to chew on our fingers. She often sticks her own hand in far enough to make herself gag. No signs of teeth, still (we're not in any hurry!). Favorite toys right now include a soft, crinkly book and the slick baby photo albums from both sides of the family-- she isn't too much into looking at the pictures but they sure must taste good! She still likes the 'halloween bear' that our neighbors gave her; one of Dave's games is to balance him on top of her head-- her arms are too short to reach him:

In her crib, we have a Taggie stuffed animal (a brilliant concept) that she will talk to for up to half an hour when she wakes up in the morning, looking at it, licking a tag, looking, sucking on its nose, etc.

She often sleeps in what Dave dubbed the "inverse fetal position": starting out on her back, she looks sideways and then up, arching her back until her face is parallel with the headboard of the crib. It looks supremely uncomfortable but seems to work for her. We usually put her to bed with a burp cloth (as we're trying to follow Kara & Eric's lead and get her to 'attach' to something small, washable and replaceable); she'll suck on it a little but often ends up pulling it over her face to sleep which can be a little disconcerting! Maybe she's playing peek-a-boo: she'll initiate the game occasionally by pulling something over her face, and is now very quick at pulling it off when we do it.

She is still suspicious of strangers (=anyone who she doesn't see weekly) and might erupt in petrified screams if I put her in someone's arms. Loud noises get the same reaction (the house hasn't been vacuumed in months). Dave was trying to get her to bond with the electric drill when he was installing a gate at the top of the stairs; maybe it would have worked if he had let her put it in her mouth:


And she's fairly good at sitting but I usually put a pillow behind her. Here's how our photo shoot progressed. Thanks to Regan and Travis for the adorable dress !

Expressions

Sometimes its hard to think of what has changed since the last post- even though every day there seems to be something new. For a few days, Adi adapted her bottom-lip-sucked-in expression to a frown (as captured in this photo). Mae's latest 'development' is screaming: sometimes in (apparent) joy, sometimes in obvious displeasure. We are trying to avoid encouraging her by not responding, but it sure does get our attention!

It is getting warm enough that I've been thinking of summer clothes; here the girls are wearing dresses for the first time (thanks to Kara for Mae's and Regan and Travis for Adi's!). Last weekend, the twins club had a used-clothing sale so I got lots of onesies and dresses that I'm looking forward to putting them in; I just love seeing the fat little arms, legs and feet that have been hidden all winter.

Adi just woke up from her afternoon nap so I better pay attention to her instead of just writing about her. Although she is currently occupied trying to lick the rolling barrel on her Exersaucer.
(here:)

Our little roller

Mae is now an accomplished roller. For a long time her nickname was Flip-flop, because she would roll tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy but only over the same side. Which was convenient for us, as she didn't travel very far. But now she has connected the rolls and can actually travel. It's quite a surprise to find her several feet from where we left her, and quite an adjustment to have to watch where we put things on the floor. We are still working on babyproofing, trying to figure out how to set up the house so I can leave the room, for instance, to put one girl to bed, with some easy way to secure the other one.

But for now, we're just excited that she can move around. It has made her a more frustrated baby in a way. From minutes after her birth, Mae has been laid back, often happy to watch the world go by and not demanding too much attention. But now that she has had a taste of wanting & getting something (for instance, a toy that she sees and rolls over to get) she gets frustrated when she can't get something, or when she is on her stomach and can't seem to remember or is too tired to roll over. But she is quite resourceful in her movements: by just rolling and rotating she can get to an awful lot of things. And she is still a very happy baby, liberal with her smiles and coos, who seems like she can't contain her excitement when we come into the room.

Adi, Daddy and Granddaddy

Sitting pretty

Mae can now sit on her own for a few minutes- but then suddenly topples over (always when I look away for a second, it seems!). Her latest fun games are communicating in growls- like a lion- and turning her head back and forth rather manically. She rolls over back-to-tummy and then back again, often holding a toy or two for the journey. We are starting to find her with things we didn't think she could reach, so babyproofing is beginning.

Adi has been quite into standing so we haven't done a lot of sitting practice. We just got an ExerSaucer and she immediately attached herself to one of the toys. This week we tried peas and applesauce and so far, Adi has been quite offended by the offerings. We thought the applesauce would go over well but she gagged so much I thought for sure she was going to throw up. But by the third day of peas she was eating them pretty well so we're hoping she gets used to the apples, too.

Six Month Appointment and goodbye cradles

Well, we just got back from our six month appointment. The girls continue to grow at a rapid pace and continue to be almost exactly the same size. As different as they look, they sure measure out to be the same: 19lbs, 3oz. & 26.5/26.25".

As ever, the highpoint was the shots. Much wailing and gnashing of gums, but now we are home and they are napping quietly after a quick second-lunch.

Here are a pair of pictures of Adi the day we came home from the hospital and last week when we retired the cradles. She's grown just a little bit. Both girls are now much happier in their much larger cribs.