10 month old (fraud) babies and more.........

Yes fraud babies.............. those little brains are aware of more and more calculating than we think...........

Backstory: A long time ago (aka 14 or so years) my mom watched my little cousin during the day. Well her parents were convinced she, E., would not be put in a grocery or shopping cart - just refused / threw a tiny fit. On the other side of things, my mom had no problem putting E. in a cart much to the surprise of her parents when it all came to light (who previously would state E. just won't sit in a cart)

Point of the story - they're all little, cute, adorable frauds. Oscar-winning actresses depending on who's watching. Audrey the past few days throws a fit if I leave her and will crawl over everything to climb into my lap. Unbeknownst to me (originally), when I do pick her up, she flashes a super (evil) smile, usually in the direction of her sister, as to say "that's right, I got picked up." Of course, then Allie has to fuss. I swear it's one big hatched plot between the two of them. Counterpoint - we both leave the room, and oh look, two perfectly content able to entertain themselves "who cares where those parent people went" babies. I've been had.

They just looks cute and innocent...............I'll be mean and play "guess the baby"

Of course besides the little plots they hatch, the competitive streak remains. The other night to keep a very antsy Audrey calm for a diaper change (good grief the production that those have become) I gave her a golf ball. Don't ask why a golf ball was nearby. She took this new item neither of them have ever seen and turned to give her sister the biggest "look what I have" -not to show and tell but to emphasize the "I." I really wish we could get the inner baby monologue sometimes.

Nevermind that when Audrey tries to crawl over to me, she's like a bulldozer. Forget going around toys, the cat, her sister........... just go over it all. We'll call her determined. Hubby and I are starting to realize what full on mobility is going to entail - babies everywhere. Tonight Audrey was making a loop around the living room and kitchen while Allie was following hubby around the place. And that's just with army crawling and rolling. We're in trouble. We're also so not done with baby-proofing.

See - perfectly happy until they come up with a plan...........

For fun (thanks to a friend for pointing it out) we're doing "Baby Stats" on the Wii - nothing fancy but we can track their weights just for kicks. (Also doing that for the cat on "Pet Stats" and kitty needs to get in shape. Audrey is at 19.5 and Allie at 18.5.

Baby drag racing anyone? Yeah, they made it about an inch..............

Hmm.....maybe Allie wants out and the kitty wants in. Or the cat is just really mad all of us are in one room and she's blocked out. Yes, that little 2-3 foot gate stops our cat. Jumping that high is way too much work for her. Spoiled little thing isn't she.

Friday Night Leftovers - 1/22

• We finally have teeth! (well for Audrey at least - Allie is still just sporting a gummy smile)
• Audrey still is not quite grasping the "That's Allie's" concept. Will even take Allie's pacifier out of her mouth just to stare at it for a millisecond and toss it aside. Audrey doesn't even use a pacifier so not sure why she bothers except for the "she has something and I want it" theory.
• Next Saturday will be a day trip for hubby and I - first time out of the general STL area in a very long time. Nothing crazy exciting but at least a slight change in scenery.
• Allie had her appointment with an orthopedist today for the "hip" popping everyone hears. Her pediatrician had done an x-ray which was normal but said we could check everything with the specialist to be on the safe side (aka first-time parent paranoia) Turns out it's a ligament and she'll grow out of it.
• If it's any wonder why certain things (laundry, grocery shopping) didn't get done on a timely schedule, I'll blame hubby for buying a Wii as we use up our nightly freetime on said video game.
• While I'm glad the girls are become mobile (I think?) this has turned diaper and outfit changes into a huge production. Spend almost more time finding something to entertain them than the actual process of changing.
  

Visit our host @ Sippy Cups for more.

Probably why I don't sleep..........

Well, sleep very much that is. Just a lot to think about.

On the surface, things aren't too shabby. The girls had a good 9-month appointment. Allie's hip-popping continues but all the x-rays are negative. Her ultrasound at one day old was also normal. However, if it really bugs us we can take her to an orthopedist. Besides that, they're doing well. On the tall side compared to their weight so hubby's dreams of two LPGA stars continues. (Not to say height equals a great golf game, but it can help.)

While the holidays went well, I wasn't in an overly great mood for a few reasons (which for lack of interest, we'll skip over.) So I'm trying to again find a balance between taking care of the girls, working full time, driving here or there, and have time for everything else. I'm trying to locate a baby-sitter so hubby and I can get out a little more, maybe find a playgroup or class for the girls (also a way to meet some new people) and finally get back into an exercise routine. The exercise is really two-fold: yeah, finally get all the muscle tone back, but also, in doing that, I should be able to help stabilize my lower back. (I have a degenerative disc space so the better the core muscles are, the less problem it causes, unlike now, where once again tonight we did something to really annoy the whole area

I'm the money part of hubby's and my relationship - (yeah random no tangent subject change, deal with it) I pay most of the bills and (attempt to) keep a budget. Well this weekend, I took a slight detour and spent a little bit on a purse. I liked it right off the bat since it was small and fit other criteria, but of course only then did we see the nice little price tag. Of course hubby said to get it (I did have a giftcard to cover a good portion) so we did. Funny part was a friend commented that why did I do that, I never go out anyway (valid point) so when am I going to use it / show it off?) That prompted my new task of finding a baby-sitter or someone just to sit here and watch tv so hubby and I can have a little more of a social side. She and I went out over the weekend and I realized it's something I need to do more. Props to hubby for putting the girls to sleep.

And we have in the somewhat near future the girls' birthday and what to do with that. My aunt had a pretty good suggestion to do an open house type of event and I think I'm really liking that. Like it or not, I'm going with my "March Madness" theme: a. because that describes a twin first-birthday party, and b. my family is all about sports and that's the kick-off weekend for the NCAA tourney.

Random pic time:

Tech-baby

Audrey is amused

Double the jumpers...........

A daunting task..............

And a lousy title as I just am not feeling the creative bug.

The task at hand - trying to figure out what goes through a baby's brain. While perhaps early on, we pegged Allie as the drama queen now that we have 9 month old babies, the tide has turned.

Enter in the screeching Audrey, and the part of parenting that does me in. I'm science / logic minded. Trying to get "the answer" to her screeching when it happens just doesn't compute with me since there really isn't an "answer." Not one at least. It can mean about a million things we've noticed and sometimes even it seems even she's not sure why (or it's just to see her vocal prowess) She'll even go from laughing to screeching mad in the same breath. (Is this a common phase here?) I've even decided to start baby-signing with the girls to see if that helps them expressive themselves in a slightless less vocal (and less on the frequency module - Audrey can hit a pitch) If anyone has thoughts on baby signing, feel free to add.

Somewhat tied into this is the sister / twin issue. Almost a love-hate relationship and while, yes, that can be very true in family relationships, it's a bit amusing to see it at this level. The other day to calm a fussy Audrey down, I let her sit on the couch with me (as I watched some college football but hey, she was happy.) Eventually hubby came up on the couch and at that point I felt bad for Allie, who was playing on the floor - she was content but would glance up at the couch. So I told hubby to bring her up too. Oh big mistake. The minute she saw Allie joining us Audrey had a complete meltdown.

Well three hours later after the bedtime bottle, like a baby conspiracy, the two of them havea ten minute conversation - we're holding them but we obviously weren't in the picture. Audrey would do something or babble, Allie would start laughing, and seeing Allie's reaction Audrey would continue. She was trying to entertain her sister who earlier in the day she wanted no part of. Hubby insists they're plotting.

I don't have many picture from Christmas and will try to post some once I get them from the various "actually used their cameras" relatives. The girls had a fun day, moreso than their mom but that's the point right? (I wasn't in a great mood and to top that didn't sleep at all the night before so, again, I love my caffeine) For the evening we even hosted hubby's side of the fam to make it a nicer bedtime for the girls (versus driving a long distance right before their bedtime)

But we have a couple from early in the morning (we had just a few gifts for them since had places to go / getting ready for the day) plus other random stuff.

The tree finally up

Hubby set the holiday mood - why not watch "Christmas Vacation" at 7 in the morning?

Haha and of course mimosas for breakfast - why not?

The girls are not sure what to think.

Allie finding my DVD more entertaining.

Audrey later in the day at my parents

Allie (more interested in the toy)

Allie very fond of her hoodie

Audrey not sure of the new ride.

Their aunt (hubby's sister) lent us a jumper - Audrey (2nd pic) so far has found it more entertaining.

And on New Year's Eve, Audrey decked out and ready for the Mizzou bowl game.

(Which sadly wasn't much to watch)