Almost 10 Months - Pictures!

Well, the kids were quite fussy today - I think learning how to do new things wears them out and they are just sooo tired. We did manage to get a few pictures of them, though. They hate being dressed these days and they each required a change since what they were wearing this morning was soiled so the outfits are not picture worthy really, but I was trying to capture one of their brawls. Didn't manage to get them tackling each other and laughing about it but here are some others!

Here is Katie clapping after she sat up on her own (3rd time today) and we went crazy! Usually when we are so happy and clapping like that we are trying to get her to clap too.

Tyler can pull up on pretty much anything now - he is a standing fool!

Katie has started picking on Tyler too - and she loves his ears!

They both really do think it is pretty funny unless one of them

indavertently hurts the other.

But, as usual Katie is most happy when in her daddy's arms.

Tyler just likes being silly, anytime - any place!

Katie Is Getting It

Well, I went into the room to check to see why Katie was not taking her nap and found her sitting! She has done it twice today and neither time did I see how she did it. I think she might be using her brother or the crib rails for leverage but at least she has figured it out a couple of times and maybe that will prompt her to keep trying. I am not too keen on her becoming as mobile as Tyler just yet, but if she can learn to sit-up on her own things will be a bit easier. Right now she is an easy target for her bully brother since he just mangles her and she can't get away. Plus, when he knocks her over she is then stuck laying down and can't figure out how to get back to sitting and whining ensues. They have both started mimicing yells which is too cute. They can both hold their own bottles now, but it seems to take a lot longer to feed them these days since they play with the bottle half the time. Nevertheless, when you try to take over they grab it from your hands as if to already say "I can do it by myself." Still don't have the hang of the sippy cups (no matter which one we try), but we had a little success with these new ones I bought that have a straw and more of a bottle shape so hopefully we can get that going. They are eating three meals a day now and have tried yogurt, cottage cheese, and crackers. I am still scared to death to give them food so that's about it so far. They will soon be ten months old (so hard to believe) and before we know it they will be one year and we will stop with formula (woohoo). BUT, I have got to get them used to drinking from the cups and eating more foods first - maybe I will focus on that as soon as we get back from South Carolina (just around the corner - looking forward to it but nervous as heck about the drive).

Craziness just beginning

So, Tyler is literally all over the place these days and we know that it is just a taste of times to come. In just a 30 minute time-span this morning he showed us quite a few things that need to be addressed in terms of baby-proofing in the bonus room. H grabbed the cords of the television and when redirected went immediately to the curtains that he tried to use to pull up on (not sure they are sturdy enough for that). Then he found the door spring thing that stops the door from hitting the wall and had tons of fun with that but eventually moved on to the bookshelf where he managed to pull out three books (one he would not let go of) before we could stop him. THEN, he was racing toward the open door (which is at the top of the stairs sorta - yikes) before we could get it closed. When we have two of them like this we are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Tyler can pretty much stand whenever he wants these days as long as he has on object or person around to grab onto. Katie's teeth (I think) are finally coming in - the ones on the bottom are about to make their appearance as best as I can tell. To add to the ever-growing list we need to get a new camera - the blurriness and malfunctioning of our current one is ridiculous but here are a few pictures from this morning that weren't completely blurry! We did order our carseats and the first time using them will be on our looooong trip to South Carolina so we'll see how they do!

Tyler about to stand if he doesn't get distracted by an urge to tackle Katie (who absolutely loves it by the way).

Tyler standing - on his tippy toes! He is doing great - almost mastered how to fall on his bottom.

Katie showing off her teeth. She looks pained, but she has actually been surprisingly (especially if she is actually getting teeth) happy and smiley lately.

He did it!

I don't have much time and no pictures (:-() but wanted to update on Tyler's big feat! He has been trying to pull up on everything and does a pretty good job of it but hadn't quite figured out that he could do the same thing in the crib. Well, this morning he did it - oh no! We already have trouble getting him to sit down to sleep I am sure that trying to get him to stop standing will be a nightmare. He has developed quite a temper (hmm, wonder where he gets that) and it is pretty frustrating to him that he can't move like he wants but he is still sweet and smiley most of the time and is quickly figuring out how to get places. Now he sees an open door and is off - that or anything at all in the room that we don't want him to get ahold of is the first thing he is after. We have moved furniture out of the bonus room to give him room to roam and it of course isn't enough - he is definitely testing his boundaries these days. Katie is still not moving much and STILL has no teeth! She has started rolling around more but more often than not she gets so frustrated that she can't do what her brother can do that she just lays there and yells. She also is pretty vocal about not liking him crawling ALL OVER HER and pushing her down to try to just rub it in her face that he can get what he wants and she can't! I am hoping that she will eventually get fed up and just one day say look I can crawl too! She is learning to mimic and last night we had quite a loud yelling competition - too fun!

Losing Battle

The babies are doing better - they still have very, very sore bottoms but they only scream now when you change them and not so much when they are just sitting and playing (or at least that was what happened this morning). I gave them cheerios and crackers yesterday trying to keep their meals bland and Katie is definitely her mom's girl - she LOVES the starches!

I have decided to give up the battle of trying to keep pieces of the mat out of their mouths. I learned that if I just let Tyler pull a piece up and chew on it then he doesn't continue to crawl over and destroy the mat. I was trying to enforce no and take it away from him and redirect but that was exhausting and it really won't hurt him to chew on some foam - I'll save my energy for the harmful stuff that he is bound to get into. He is all over the place and it is soon only going to get worse. He is trying to pull up and get himself into standing position (and is getting really frustrated that he can't do it on his own yet) and crawls to the one thing in every room that he is in that he is not supposed to have. I am beginning to sound like a broken record but it really is time to full-force babyproof! It is becoming very obvious that we have no clue what we are in for when both of these little munchkins are mobile and into everything - I am having trouble handling Tyler now and he isn't exactly speedy!

Here are some pics of their mat eating adventures!

Poor little bottoms

Poor Tyler and Katie have some kind of virus that has caused days of diarrhea and has given them the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. Tyler has just not been himself, crying and fussy and it hurts him to sit, crawl, or do anything really. Katie's looks worse than his but is responding better to the creams and potions than Tyler. We have tried EVERYTHING we can think of and nothing seems to help them - I think we will need to wait until the diarrhea stops before we can get the rash under control. I feel so sorry for them, they are obviously in pain. I hope we get our happy, smiling, active little boy back soon - since we came home he has been crying virtually non-stop when he isn't sleeping. Thank goodness they are sleeping well though! Still no pictures but soon!

BIG thank you to Pa Pa and Tia

I just got back from my annual girls trip and the kids stayed with my dad for the long weekend. They took some really cute pictures that I will have to get from them of the kids with their first bath together and some others of Tyler trying out his new skill (pulling up) and Katie still doing nothing :-)! Tyler got two teeth while he was there (great timing Sweet T), and Katie learned patty cake and a really funny yell (probably got it from her Aunts Emily and Molly who are 2 and 3). We are so, so thankful that my dad (Pa Pa) and "Tia" kept them and the kids seemed to have a blast. They love getting so much attention and really enjoy "playing" with toddlers. I had an awesome trip and the first time for either of us (me or Lance) away from the kids worked out pretty good. I was, of course, the over-protective mom calling multiple times a day and Lance really missed the munchkins and wanted the updates too but they seemed pretty understanding and everytime I called the kids were laughing in the background and were having a great time at the grandparents.

I learned a good lesson through it all too - our schedule is great and works well for our life and I really do think it is best for the kids, but every now and then they can stay up late or eat at a different time and they will be just fine. The trip down was wonderful (they got to see their great Aunt Niffa and Uncle Bill), being at the beach with the girls was just what I needed, and I am so happy that the grandparents got to spend time with the little ones - the only bad part of the whole thing was the two hours + of tag team crying on the way home. They just were completely over being in the car, were super tired because Katie refuses to sleep in a vehicle, were constantly poopy (probably teething for Tyler, who knows for Katie) and we got behind even more than just for the diaper changes and feedings because we had to stop on the side of the road for a while in a bad Alabama storm, but we are home now safe and sound and they are sleeping and we are so happy to get to go to bed with the sound of the white noise in the monitor and our precious little ones sleeping in the other room!

Water fun!

The kids enjoyed their first pool day today! The weather was beautiful and the kids loved splashing and playing in the water. We could be in big trouble at bathtime now - they are going to want to splash and kick like they did in the pool! We had so much fun but didn't stay out very long since there is no shade and it was their first time in sunshine.

9 Months Old!

Katie and Tyler had their 9 month appointment yesterday and things went pretty well. Tyler is 18.1 pounds and 26.25 inches - that is the 14th percentile for weight and 3rd percentile for height - he's a little one but doing so good! He has mastered sitting on his own and is doing his own version of crawling that is surprisingly effective - he can quickly get to something if he really wants it! Katie is 26 inches even and is 17.12 pounds. Even though she weighs less than Tyler she is in the 31st percentile for weight because she is a girl (and her rolls certainly show that she is not a skinny mini) and she is in the 9th percentile for height. I just hope that Tyler eventually has a growth spurt because right now Katie is projected to be 5 foot, 2 inches and we want Tyler to be a bit taller than that! Katie didn't get as much praise from the doctor since she is not crawling or even attempting to crawl - he said it would be ok for her to skip crawling if she was trying to pull-up or stand but she isn't doing that either! We have to put her on her belly more and not let her be content to sit and play and hope that she gets mad enough that she figures out how to move. If she isn't getting up on all fours in another month we have to investigate further so our June mission is to teach Katie to crawl!

They have started a couple of finger foods (Puffs, fruit in the teether feeder) and aren't very skilled yet but they are getting there. We are supposed to start them on table foods and just give them what we are eating mashed up - difficult since I have started to notice that we don't really eat very many smooshy foods! We'll have to start having more pasta, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes. We were also told about this show that babies seem to love - Yo Gabba Gabba so we recorded a couple of episodes and let the kids watch and they really do dig it!

Just a couple of pics to make this post even longer!

They are learning to clap and it is just too cute - they can't quite get their hands together!

Tyler and Katie mesmerized by Yo Gabba Gabba

Nowadays sitting like this....

Quickly turns into this!