Twenty One Months

Plus a week, but you know...we've been um...busy! Yeah, that's it! Busy!

Prepare yourselves, for I am about to unleash Logan's secret smiles upon you! Are you prepared? Are you PREPARED?!

YOU are NOT PREPARED!*

Ka-pow! Mischievous grin!

So, it struck me that I hadn't taken any pictures of the little monkeys recently and that you were probably jonesin' for a baby hit (I'm lookin' at you, Jennifer H.). It also struck me that they are quickly morphing out of babyhood. Two is only three months away.

Yeah, I know! Crazy, right?

I figured I'd better get in there with a camera quickly before they went off to college and I was left holding an empty baby album.

Without further ado, here are a slew of pictures.

Logan beeps daddy's nose. Or is he pointing out daddy's eyes?

The twins like to point out and sort of name assorted body parts, but they really seem to like poking us in the eyes and saying "Aiiii!" Somehow babies cannot point from a reasonable distance. They must touch your eyeball. Ow! They can also say ear, nose and toes.

Reading books. Destroying books. All in a day's work.

They still love to read and really like books that have babies in them. "Book!" Unfortunately, between the two of them they utterly destroy books. Emma breaks the spines and Logan tears the pages out. You can't stop them, either. I've taken the books away and brought them back out, but if you leave them laying about, they are baby fodder. So long as they're not hurting one another or the cats, I'm going to have to let some things slide.

Logan's security blanket. Kiss kiss!

Logan is deeply, fervently attached to his blanket in a way that I've only ever seen with my nephews. Caitlin didn't have a special lovey item (other than her two middle fingers) and Emma likes her matching blanket, but doesn't go ape shit if she doesn't have it with her 98% of the time. The yuck he has dragged that thing through! Bleah! In order to wash their blankets, I have to make sure that they're both wide awake and interested in something else, whip them into the washing machine and wash them on the fast wash cycle.

Yes. Alone.

Yes, it's wasteful. I know. I should turn in my green credentials.

However...it keeps the screaming, crying meltdowns to a minimum and that's worth my sanity and a little extra water.

Pouty face extraordinaire.

Logan is still the big screamer around these here parts. If it's not one thing, it's another. He wants to be picked up. He wants to be hand fed. He wants to sit in my lap and eat my food. He wants that toy. Emma took his toy/cookie/milk. He needs more attention. Something. Whatever it is he needs or wants, that need is prefaced by screaming. And sometimes shoving. For instance, if I'm working at the counter preparing dinner, I will get shoved below the knees by Himself if he isn't being attended to. Right. Now. Often this will result in him getting summarily placed in his room, possibly in his crib if the screaming is bad enough. Other times, I'll be nice and pop in a movie.

Mostly he's only willing to watch a movie if I'm there with him. This completely blows the point of putting it in to distract him so I can get dinner ready, though.

Fortunately, he's got these incredible smiles that make everything all better once the screaming stops.

Secret smile for Emma.

He is easy to tickle and laughs readily. He will walk up and give me a hug or a kiss, even without being prompted for one and pets the cats very softly. He's Charming in a way that I hope lasts all of his life and if it does, look out, ladies! Woo!

Also, in case you were wondering, I still can't make myself cut his hair, other than his bangs. His hair! His hair goes Sproing! when you pull on one of the curls (Like in the blanket picture above.). Who could cut those off?!

Beach ready with his ball.

Logan is slow to warm up to changes in his surroundings and new people (He's still terrified of Oliver for reasons unknown.), unless those new people are male and tall. I don't know what it is, but he's terribly shy unless you fall into that category and then he'll ditch me for a ride to the ceiling. At least for a little bit.

I asked both Logan and Emma to do peekaboo for me, since they've been hiding under their blankets recently and waiting for you to "find" them. They had two different responses.

Peek!

Logan nails the peeking.

Interestingly enough, even though they still aren't speaking in sentences, they seem to really understand one another. Do I think they're speaking in a different language? No. I think they just really get one another and crack one another up on a regular basis. It's not like a they're-plotting-against-me level of discussion.

At least...I don't think so!

Now for the youngest young lady of the house.

Pa-pa-pa-pow! Dramatic girl.

My mini-me breaks my heart with her huge brown eyes.

While she's slower to laugh than Logan is ("You're just not funny, mommy."), she wrinkles up her nose and will giggle with the best of them. She loves to play games of chase, either with me or chasing Logan, all unprompted and those are fun to watch. The squealing is ear shattering.

Toothy grin.

She's been teething recently and having a hard time of it. My kids are slooooooow to teeth. On the bright side, no drooling. On the down side, lots of aspirin needs to be applied when I figure out the screaming isn't just general baby angst, but actual pain. Oh and Emma will bite you, if you pop a finger into her mouth to check on the progression of her chompers.

Yeah. Ask me how I know.

Her vocabulary seems larger than Logan's, but I'd be hard pressed to tell you why I think that is. Maybe it's just because she does less of the "Ehn! Ehn! Ehn!" thing. She does follow directions better, though. If you tell her to pick up that food/cup/fork and put it on her tray, she'll do it. Logan will just look at you as if to say, "Isn't that what I pay you people for?!"

Speaking of forks, the twins really like to eat food with utensils. They also really like to fling the food and utensils around once they're done ("All done! All done! All done!"), but that's not their problem, is it?

Bleah!

Emma shows off her tongue on request.

Emma's response to peekaboo:

Completely misses the "peek" part of the equation.

She's often so busy "talking" that she cracks me up and suggests that Caitlin will have a run for her money on the title of She Who Steals All the Oxygen from the Room. That child can talk!

Emma likes to show off how strong she is by picking up and carrying her pony around - just like Pippi Longstocking.

Dis mah ponee!

Of course, while she may also want coffee (like Pippi), we're not so crazy that we give her any. Or my tea, even though she asks for it by name.

I ride mah ponee now. You watch.

She seems to have come to terms with the kitties and pets them more gently now, which is really good to see. Kaboom puts up with more petting than Domino does, but I noted that she can say Domino's name, but not Kaboom's. "Nom-no." Works for me!

Dis mah puppy. Well, Logan's, but is mine now.

Emma remains the easier of the twins to put to bed and is the one that sleeps sounder at night. Logan has been waking up recently and begging for more food "Foo! Foo!", so we get them both up and stuff them full of cereal and put them back to sleep.

Emma shows off her shaggy locks.

I also can't make myself cut Emma's hair, but for a slightly different reason. She has so little that it seems counterproductive to cut any off. Instead, I try to keep it out of her eyes by putting it into clips. The clips don't last too long, though, since Logan steals them. Or Emma pulls them out. But really? Logan is jealous of her whenever she has a headband or clips in her hair and demands similar hair treatments. He's terribly cute in headbands, too.

Yes, he does get mistaken for a girl when we're out shopping, but that's even without having clips in his hair.

Emma in profile.

When we go new places or meet new people, Emma is the more outgoing of the two and doesn't discriminate against short men the way Logan does. She's still the more athletic of the two and is more willing to go exploring and take physical risks. This is made easier by the fact that she's not burdened by a blanket all of the time. She's wonderful and smoochie and is voted the one most likely to break something.

Not yet, though. Not yet.

Well, unless you're a CD or a book.

Siiiigh.

Also, you'll be glad to know that they're still crazy about one another, despite the hair pulling and toy stealing that goes on.

Kisses!

Go on, you can say it: "Awwww!"




* WOW reference for you geeks.