Finally...

Here's the long overdue picture of Anna Claire's two bottom teeth. Just look at that face - she's not fussing or crying - she's making a "silly face." Anna Claire is turning out to be such a goober! I'm going to have to put some effort into getting some pictures of all her funny little faces.

And here's Mallory standing up by herself. It's kind of hard to tell because she's standing so close to the music table. This has been the hardest shot of all to capture because she doesn't stay up for very long. Typically, by the time I get my camera out, she's already plopped down on her little bottom. She's doing very well balancing herself - really using her arms and knees to sort of "settle in."
As you can see, Anna Claire will let go with one hand, but she's not quite comfortable enough yet to let go with both hands.

What's On the Menu?

Shortly after the girls' nine month appointment two weeks ago, we started slowly introducing table food. Here's what's currently on the menu...

• bananas (slow at the start, but a huge hit now; very sticky)
• mandarin oranges (the girls still aren't sure about these; a strange texture and really sweet; note: del monte was the only brand I could find that did not contain added sugar and was not packed in light syrup)
• green beans (instant hit, but slippery in little fingers)
• carrots (instant hit; can't get enough)
• yogurt (their favorite!)

Here they are digging into their bananas. As you can see by the evidence on Anna Claire's bib, very little actually makes it into their mouths...but it's all about exploration. ;-)

Weekend Update

So much going on...

Friday afternoon, Mallory decided she could let go of the music table (which has gone from one of the girls' favorite toys to the only thing they want to play with) and STAND UP ON HER OWN! Holy cow!! She's good for anywhere from 2 to about 10 seconds then she just drops down to her bottom with a smile on her face and Anna Claire cracks up. So funny! This is their new game. By the way, Mallory is also pulling herself up to standing in her crib, etc. One more thing to worry about. :/

Saturday night the girls had their first "fine dining" experience. We all went to Oscar's for dinner to celebrate Walter's and my dad's birthday. The girls were golden! Not only were they so cute dressed in their new navy blue overalls with matching onesie with peter pan collar from Gymboree - no pictures :( - but they behaved so well. I knew they would; I just thought it would take some intervention on my part in the way of constant entertainment. I don't worry about fussiness in the food court at the mall, or Moe's, ABC, etc., but Oscar's is different! I was actually able to eat an appetizer, every bite of my dinner, and all the dessert I could manage to stuff my face with.

Later that night, Mallory woke up fussing about 9:30, which turned into broken-hearted crying by 10:00...which turned into quiet rocking until she fell asleep around 11:30. I'm not sure what was up - teething? Poor baby just wanted to be held which I had no problem with...

But then Anna Claire woke up fussing at 5 AM. She is our early riser, and I was afraid if I went in the nursery she would be awake for the day. I let her fuss for a while to no avail, and went in to rock her...only to find she had a seriously poopy diaper - I would have woke up crying, too! I was able to get her back to sleep by 6AM, and we all slept until 7! But poor Anna Claire pooped all day long (I lost count how many diapers I changed) which led to some serious irritation in the diaper area which she was none too happy about. I'm thinking she may have had a little tummy virus - she took a 2 1/2 hour nap this morning!

Both girls are soundly sleeping now; hopefully tonight will be more restful for all of us.

She Likes to Move It, Move It!

This video of Anna Claire is loooong overdue. I just haven't been able to find the time to upload the video until now, and I definitely want her to get equal billing here. ;-)

Even though we just knew she was going to be the first to crawl, she was actually a couple days behind her sister. It's taken her longer to figure out the crawling thing, but she can really move it now!! She tends to get frustrated once she reaches her destination since she still has a bit of trouble going from crawling to sitting, but she's getting much better at that, too.

It is so nice that both girls are mobile now. Gaining just that little bit of independence that allows them to go where they want and get what they want to play with has made a huge difference!

...but I'm not sure I'm ready for walking!

Happy Birthday, Daddy

Dear Daddy,
We love you very much, and we think you are a great daddy. We like it when you sing us silly songs and let us crawl all over you and pull your hair. You also make all our bottles and that makes us (and Mommy) very happy. We hope you have a great birthday today!

Love,
Anna Claire and Mallory

Happy Birthday, Papa!

We're sorry we missed you today, but we left your birthday present with Granny! We hope you like it. See you tomorrow.

Love,
Anna Claire and Mallory

Get Your Green On!

updated...
Anna O'Claire and O'Mallory just wanted to wish everyone a happy St. Patrick's Day! We figure there's a drop of Irish blood in them somewhere, and we need all the luck we can get in hoping these nasty colds are over and done with soon...so far, no coughing tonight. YAY!

Cute picture of girls dressed in green sitting in clover hopefully coming soon.

Harry Potter to the Rescue

Poor Mallory is still sick today, and Anna Claire is still feeling much better.

Mallory starts coughing as soon as we lay her down in her crib and has had several restless nights, so last night as we listened to her coughing in her sleep, we thought to elevate the head of the crib (thanks, mom). But how would we do that without waking her up? If we tried to put another folded-up towel under the mattress like we've done for her reflux, she would surely wake up. So, we thought we could possibly elevate the crib itself by sliding something under the legs at the head of the crib. We waited until one of her coughing "fits" was over and snuck into the nursery on our mission - Walter would lift the head of the crib and I would slide two of the thickest novels I could find under each leg - and we would do this in the dark without talking to each other.

We got in and Walter lifted the crib. I stuck The Goblet of Fire under one leg and The Deathly Hallows under the other. Just as I was hurrying to get up off the floor before Walter dropped the crib on me, Mallory's little head popped up. Without the protection of our invisibility cloak, we had been discovered!

Poor thing started crying and crying, so of course I rocked her back to sleep and let her sleep on my chest for about an hour - no coughing. I put her to bed and she slept without coughing until about 12:30 AM. After a little bit of coughing, she was able to sleep until 7 AM.

Unfortunately, I am listening to her cough and cough right now as I type - but she isn't awake. Do I let he cough in her sleep knowing she isn't sleeping well, but sleeping nonetheless, or do I hold her on my chest, hoping she will sleep soundly? For how long?

I hope my baby is well soon.

By the way, Anna Claire slept through it all last night!

Queens on Their Thrones

After much research and lots of good advice from friends and family, we went with the Alpha Omega Elite. As a matter of fact, my sister went with me and ended up buying the same seat for Dylan. It took her and Brain an hour to adjust and install it this afternoon, so it seems that Tracy was right. I guess it will take us two hours. Ugh!

Anna Claire and Mallory seem quite comfortable though I couldn't get them to smile; I think they were confused as to why they were sitting in car seats in the middle of the living room.

Can you see Mallory's runny little nose? Poor thing had a rough day today; she just did not feel well at all. Anna Claire seems much better.

Nine Month "Well" Baby Visit

This was supposed to be our nine-month well-baby visit, but we found ourselves sitting on the sick side - again. The girls still have yucky noses after nine days and Mallory has developed a nasty cough. The good news...their ears and lungs look and sound good.

Now, on to the fun stuff:

Anna Claire
18 lbs. 8 oz.
28 inches
50th percentile

Mallory
18 lbs. 13 oz.
28 1/4 inches
50th percentile

I must start taking bets on which baby is bigger - I would win every time!! ;-)

The girls are still good with four 7 1/2 ounce bottles a day and three solid meals a day. They are currently sharing cereal and two jars of fruit for breakfast, a jar of fruit and a jar of veggies for lunch, and a jar of cereal, a jar of fruit, and cereal for supper. We still have the OK to stay away from meat in a jar - yay! Dr. Tillman said we do not need to introduce meat until the girls are one year old and then it can be the real thing. We may also skip level three foods all together and begin introducing table food, starting with fruits and veggies, of course. Yum!

I've had concerns about the inconsistency of the girl's napping, but since they sleep so well at night, we are not to stress out about naps. It is also possible the girls are trying to tell us they only need one nap a day, so we may try to adjust their schedule and try one mid-day nap, but I have no idea what that would look like, so as long as they aren't feeling well, we'll stick with two naps for a while longer.

Time for new car seats! Although the girls do not surpass the limits for their current "carriers," we are to make the transition to convertible car seats and probably should have already. I had already begun my research, but my head is spinning now that we need to go ahead and make a decision. What to do?

Mallory is, in fact, teething again. As a mater of fact, I was able to see her right, top tooth under the gum. So, that explains the extreme fussiness from the past two days. Dr. Tillman didn't see a thing when she checked Anna Claire's gums.

The girls did as well as could be expected with their shots - a little fussier this afternoon than in the past, but they are sick. Mallory let Dr. Tillman see her crawl, but Anna Claire was not in the mood for showing off today.

Hmmm...what else? I had a bunch of other random questions about sippy cups, sun screen, shoes, etc.; that's the "big stuff" for now. I hope we don't find ourselves at the doctor's office again until the girls are one!

Party Time

Anna Claire and Mallory went to their first birthday party Sunday - Cousin Owen is one year old! Although we were running a little late we made it in time for presents, cake, and ice cream. YUM! We weren't really there long enough to get many pictures...Here are Anna Claire and Mallory watching Owen open his presents.














Anna Claire couldn't wait to get out on the playground with the other children. She LOVES being outside!














Mallory entertained herself the entire time with the balloons. Don't worry - she wasn't really playing with the balloons - just mesmerized by them. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure she had ever seen a balloon before.















With less that three months before the girls' first birthday, I'd say we'd better start planning their party. There's so much to think about...invitations, cake, presents, the guest list. It's never too early, right? ;-)

Spring Forward

It's a little after 7PM Monday and the girls seem to be back on schedule. They are both sleeping soundly in their cribs. YAY! Yesterday was a bit crazy...we were set to be back on our napping/feeding schedule by 3PM when little miss Anna Claire decided to take a 2 hour and 45 minute nap. I don't think that girl has taken a nap that long since she was about eight weeks old!

For Real

Mallory is crawling for real and here's the video to prove it. Though she's still not feeling well, it seems she woke up this morning and decided she was tired of sitting still, scooting backwards, or just taking one or two crawls that never actually got her where she wanted to go. Looks like there' no stopping her now. Practice makes perfect...she's gotten even better at it as the morning has passed. So exhausted from all that moving, she's been napping now for an hour and forty-five minutes!

Not Much Playing at the Playground

Another trip to the playground today (this time Gahagan; sorry, no pix) was cut short by runny noses and general fussiness. Once I got back to work, my mom called to tell me Mallory had a temp of 101.4 and Anna Claire's was 99.5, so off to the pedi we went. Luckily, the girls tested negative for the flu and their ears looked great. It seems as though they just have really bad colds.

It's 8:15 PM, and the girls have been in their cribs for a little over an hour. So far this is the most peaceful they've slept in three nights. I really hope they are able to get a good night's sleep.

Mom of the Year, really? I am honored, Holly. ;-) Thanks!

the rules:

1. admit that ONE thing you feel awful about involving being a mom. get it off your shoulders. once you've written it down, you are NO LONGER allowed to feel bad. it's over with, it's in the past. remember, you're a good mom!

Night before last the girls were fussy on-and-off for a couple hours after we put them to bed. We gave them both Tylenol in case of teething, but at 10 PM Mallory woke up crying her eyes out which, of course, woke up Anna Claire. After an hour of Walter and I rocking them (they only fussed and cried when we tried to put them down) we put them down and walked out. Thankfully, they fussed for four minutes only and were then out like a light. The next morning, they both had stuffy, runny noses; today - fevers and a quick trip to the pedi. I feel really guilty because now I'm certain they weren't feeling well. That night I got frustrated because Mallory wouldn't fall asleep and Anna Claire wouldn't let us put her down, and I let them fuss themselves to sleep.

2. to remind yourself that you ARE a good mom, list SEVEN things you love about your kids, you love doing with your kids, or that your kids love about you. these are the things to remind yourself of EVERY DAY that you rock!

• I love pushing the girls in their swings.


• I love that I have happy, content babies.


• I love when Anna Claire and Mallory reach for each other - I think they're trying to hug each other.


• I love that the girls made it all the way to nine months old before getting their first fevers (even though I do not love that they are now sick).


• I love that they tested negative for the flu.


• I love that Anna Claire and Mallory reach for my face when I'm feeding them their bottles.


• I love that both girls' entire faces light up when they smile.

3. send this to FIVE other moms of the year that deserve forgiveness and a reminder that they, too, are the best moms they can be!!! remember to send them a note to let them know you've selected them, and add a link to the person who nominated you!

Four much-deserving mommies of the year, in no particular order...

• Nikole


• Sara


• Tracy


• Amanda


• and one daddy I'm sure won't mind...Brandon

Nine Months...Nine Milestones

Anna Claire and Mallory are nine months old today, and it's getting difficult to have them sit still for pictures...

See what I mean. Sorry this picture is out of focus, but Mallory would not stay still; I finally gave up trying.

Here are nine recent "milestones" the girls have reached in honor of becoming nine months old:

1. Mallory's hair is getting so long it has started to curl at the nape of her neck and behind her ears...so cute.
   
2. Both Anna Claire and Mallory can feed themselves fruit puffs.
   
3. Anna Claire has now cut her second tooth. That's two teeth for each girlio.


4. Both girls can make in onto their hands and knees, but Mallory has been the first one to actually crawl, though she only takes one or two crawls forward at a time. Anna Claire is sooo close.


5. They reach thier arms up high for us now when we go to pick them up. I love that.


6. If Anna Claire and Mallory are sitting close enough to us, they can "crawl" into our laps.


7. Mallory can go from laying flat on her tummy to sitting up then to her knees if she has something to pull up on. They are both working hard on standing.


8. Both Anna Claire and Mallory can clap their hands together. YAY!!!
   
9. Anna Claire can hold her 1/2-full bottle and finish feeding herself.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop at nine. Our nine month well-baby visit is next Friday. I can't wait to see how much they weigh.

Nine Months Old

Anna Claire is making a quick trip to the pedi this morning - nothing too major - just a little tummy trouble I want to have checked out, so I'll have to post their nine month update this evening...no time this morning.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Cousin Owen's first birthday! Happy Birthday! We can't wait for your party this weekend.


Coincidently, it is also Dr. Seuss's brithday...one of Anna Claire and Mallory's favorites...which also means it's Read Across America Day.