Joining In

Kara's sick now too...ugh. If I didn't already believe in the anti-illness properties of breastmilk, I certainly do now. We've had someone sick pretty continually since my milk ran out. We've had to miss church lots of Sundays that Andrew's been singing/playing in the worship team. At least the girls are funny when they're delirious...

They had the laughings the other night, as my sister Sarah used to say. This was only a small snippet - I got tired of it after a while, funny as it was. Not much eating happened at this dinner - even when we turned them opposite ways so they couldn't see each other, they managed to crack each other up trying to peek around the corner.

Sick Of...

Anna being sick. Yesterday morning she felt a little warm, by the middle of nap time she was on fire and when she woke up she was clearly not feeling well. Advil helped, as soon as that wore off she was back to feeling terrible - fever and chills. This morning same thing. At least there doesn't seem to be any lower GI involvement this time, and as long as we keep her dosed with Advil she does okay. Hoping it's just a delayed reaction to her vaccines the other day.

Not sick of: my silly girls.

Yogurt cup shoes are clearly the new fashion trend. Andrew thinks that Anna looks like my brother Peter in this second picture.

Also not yet sick of their frequent accidents (Anna mainly) on the road to potty training success. I know that's all I've been blogging about lately, but with their determination to stay naked all the time and not great weather, that's what we've been doing - we missed a couple nice days, but thinking that will pay off when we don't have to miss any when spring/summer hit. They did a lot better yesterday - they actually both used the potty - and accidents happened en route to the potty or right after getting up from the potty. I think 2 at once might be a good thing - pretty sure Anna only peed on the potty out of sheer determination to once she heard that Kara was getting a sticker and she wasn't. Shenk competitiveness is ingrained, I guess - hearing that Anna might get down from her highchair before her made Kara finish her last few bites of food pretty quickly the other day. :)

Anna modeling their new princess underwear. I am all about fairness in blog picture time, but Kara would literally not keep hers on long enough for a picture. Anna won't keep hers on either, so naked it is for now. They ask to get naked and go potty as soon as they wake up (even though they pee in their diapers as soon as they wake up, too).

She Did It!

Anna peed on the potty, and looked appropriately proud. :) More impressive was that she did it without my prompting. We were all sitting on the couch reading books and they both ran away, as they sometimes do. I gave them a minute to come back and when they didn't, checked on them, only to find them both standing by the potty pointing at Anna's accomplishment.

In case you think we're making bigger progress than we are, while Anna was peeing on the potty, Kara peed on the floor in our bedroom, so as soon as I was done congratulating Anna, Kara brought me into my room to show me her handiwork. Anna also peed in the bed today, and Kara also peed in the bathtub. And there was one tiny pee of unspecified origin, as each of them both claimed it and blamed sis for it. So, we were 1 for 4.5 this morning (not counting when they peed and pooped in diapers before/during nursing/breakfast in their high chairs).

The girls also decided to play in my underwear drawer this morning and put my underwear on their babies and themselves, and bras on themselves (on their "muhs" as they call "milks" - function over form in our house!). I decided not to photograph that, cute as it was, as I have chosen to not publicize my underwear. :) We need to go to Target in the next couple days and they say they want underwear like mom's. We'll see how that goes.

Fun Times

So, Anna is mostly over it now, but all last week she was the queen of putting food in her mouth and not swallowing it - very very stressful - it would take 1/2 an hour or more to get her to swallow a tiny bite. Bribes didn't really work - you can get down after you swallow, you can have XYZ after you swallow, we can go XYZ after you swallow, etc. - I cried a lot and so did she. I guess she just wasn't really hungry, but since she was sick I felt like she needed to eat - and it makes no sense to me to put food in your mouth and then never swallow it - if she really wasn't hungry I would assume she would refuse to eat... Now she realizes how excited we got when her mouth was empty, and shows off with little tongue undulations every time it is. :) Oh, and homemade gooey butter cake (made by our doctor, who goes to our church) and a newly discovered love of BBQ sauce helped, too.

More fun = for the past almost week, we have been (very half-heartedly) attempting potty training, though I'm not sure you can even really call it that. They are experts at getting themselves naked from the waist down and so every morning we're at home, I just let them stay naked for at least a few hours - this started mostly to avoid fighting them, and consists of them running around naked. We put diapers back on when I nurse them and when we sit down to eat in their high chairs. During this last week, no one has peed or pooped on the potty. However, they each have their own version of the word "potty" and know that they are supposed to pee and poop there, and not on the floor. They will regularly sit on the potty. Kara hasn't had any accidents - I guess she just holds it while she's naked - she's peed in the bathtub or sink during Anna emergency cleanups, or in her diaper when I put it back on. Anna has peed and pooped on the floor multiple times. She knows when she has to go, and says "potty," then runs to the potty to sit down, and pees/poops within a minute of getting up (and once today she peed on the floor and then said "potty" and ran to sit on it right after). Luckily my little tattlers come and tell me as soon as there's an accident. That they both know when they have to go seems like some progress, at least. We'll keep working on it, and start a little more whole-heartedly when they seem to catch on better (you know, like actually go on the potty).

My Littles

Are not so little anymore!

I can't decide if I like the stoic faces or goofy "smile for a picture" faces better. They love pushing each other around in these, despite the warning labels (what, they can't read those?) and one morning I found them in the kitchen just sitting and kicking their legs quite happily - love it when their quietness is not a sign of a disaster. Actually, they're pretty good about coming to tell me when they are making messes or otherwise getting into trouble.

Speaking of trouble, we got these at Trader Joe's the other night. Or should I say, the girls did. We were there on a Sunday night not all too long before it closed and there were a ton of workers restocking, etc. - we let the girls push their own carts and I think everyone working stopped to talk to them. While Andrew was checking out, the girls and I were looking at the tulips and testing their color knowledge. One worker decided that since they liked the flowers, they should get to take some home. It was really sweet and they were really excited - they each held (and destroyed) one for the next hour - but getting flowers from strange men at 19 months doesn't bode well... :)

We had their 18 month doctor's appointment today and they proved how big they are. They got weighed and measured on the big scale/against the wall and cooperated 100% with every part of the exam. They each got 2 shots and Anna didn't cry one bit (she even watched as the nurse administered them). Kara cried only a little bit after the 2nd - she cried a lot more when she hit her head on the sink in there. She quickly calmed down and focused on taking off her bandaids and looking at her "buh" (blood). I was very impressed and proud of them - I usually dread taking them both to the doctor alone. I was also proud that they didn't pick the princess stickers - they picked Wonder Pets, which I've never heard of, but Kara liked the hamster and Anna liked the turtle.

By the way, there's a reason that protocol is to measure kids under 2 using length and not height - the girls were over an inch shorter standing up - they don't have any idea how to stand up straight and the board just pushed them down further (I asked to have them remeasured since they suddenly fell from consistently 50-75th percentile in length to 25th percentile) - they're still 50th-75th percentile for length and about 50th percentile for weight. And for the first time, they were pretty much exactly the same weight and height. Andrew's proud of them for being Pierces above 50th percentile for height. :)

The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers

Cleveland, Christmas time - During their Winnie the Pooh loving phase, this Tigger was really fun for riding...

He was good for kissing and tail pulling, too. :)

We have moved on to the Jungle Book, by the way...every time we watch YouTube clips (which is thankfully not every day anymore, even though I try to limit it to half an hour days we watch), some Jungle Book scene is requested - not even all songs, amazingly. Apart from the Bare Necessities (their original foray), this is their absolute favorite:

Working Backwards - Cleveland Fun Again

I'm going to attempt to get through my December pictures for posterity and family's sake.

After Christmas we met up with my friend from high school and one of her adorable kids at the Lake Erie Science and Nature Center. It was perfect for the girls - lots of activities in a small area, lots of animals indoors and out (they STILL tell me about petting the bunnies and seeing turkeys and deer), and woods/park to walk around.

Climbing through this log was fun, too. I love their determined faces in the first picture.

Our attempts to photograph the group - 17 month olds and a big boy cannot be cajoled to pose for pictures when it's gorgeous out (no coats in December in Cleveland?) and there is running to be done. In addition to the sticks, the girls loved chasing Ricky around. Thanks, Alex, for the great idea and fun time - it was good to see you!

Really Old Randoms

I think they look so grown up in their vests (though these are so old that they now look like babies in these pictures...)

Accessory queens, of course. This purse has been a belt, around the neck, and used properly. They definitely like wearing purses like mom. And again, these pictures are 2 months old, they look so much bigger (and skinnier) now.

Why We Haven't Put Away the Pack 'n Play

This happens multiple times a day (usually without the bowls - Anna found this one the other day and decided it was a hat, and Kara of course needed one too). They LOVE running around, hanging by the sides, smashing down onto their bottoms, jumping, etc. in the pack 'n play. 4 months from now a little brother will be sleeping in there, and then what? So I guess I'll let them keep playing for now.

In illness news, Anna's fever lasted about 24 hours like last time and now they both are lower GI inflicted, making for fun times for all. After Anna's first bout, Kara got it a week later, so we haven't had much of a respite from disgusting diapers, just a couple days between here and there. Wondering if all of this sickness is related to something they're eating, but they haven't really had anything new, so I'm going to chalk it up to not getting as many antibodies from breastmilk to make myself feel better.

Again...

Anna...sick. See this post of 2 weeks ago. Fever, lower GI wonderfulness, shallow breathing, acting like she's sick. Frustrating. Sad. Not related to my happy box babies with socks, but I can wish for happier times, right?

My Valentines

Loving on their babies and Dad, who is also my Valentine, of course, as is this little mister who seems to be getting quite large and noticeable lately.

Our Valentine's craft project. I drew hearts on the inside of paper bags and had them color them - the end goal was to make hats out of them, but they weren't interested in hats when the time came. I drew some big and some small hearts and had them identify which were big and small, then asked them to color inside of the hearts (then to color inside a big one, color inside a small one, etc). Anna really took that seriously, as she proceeded to draw lines in each and every heart, even those way across the table from her. I was a little surprised they followed directions so well - we'll have to try more crafts in the near future - I like the ones on the blog No Time for Flashcards. How can we not after these masterpieces?

We Take Our Reading Very Seriously...

The girls have celebrated their 19 month birthday by getting up extraordinarily early and wanting to snuggle and read a lot of books. In honor of their birthday book loving, thought I'd share some really old pictures of some reading material they picked out themselves - First Catechism and What is a Biblical Christian, anyone? I'm sure they picked them for their content, not the fact that they are child-sized.

A couple other 19 month things...I've been an anal mom and have been keeping a list of their words. While the words and their pronunciation are by no means impressive as of yet (probably 20 are 1 syllable words that start with B), they're up to 50, which makes me feel better, since they were so slow about talking. They love their "this is" sentences, too. I think colors are mastered, still working on letters, and we started working on shapes. We had our Parents as Teachers screening yesterday and they got 100% for everything, except for Anna didn't want to draw a line next to the one the parent educator drew, since she was too busy coloring every white area of her page and her sister's. Apparently that line drawing counts as "problem solving" somehow. We practiced later and next to every line I drew she drew several perpendicular lines. Interesting. When I told her to draw a line without an example, she drew a bunch. Don't worry, like all moms, I think my children are geniuses, of course. :)

Hats and Crazy Hair

Dad wore a hat to the zoo, so the girls wanted to, too. They especially liked touching hats. I think we have a lot of hats in our future between these girls and the little guy on the way.

One time when I was washing them off in the sink after lunch I asked them if they wanted "crazy hair" and they said yes, so I gave them mohawks (just with water). Now they ask for crazy hair (by gesture, of course) almost every time we get washed after lunch. I think it looks so cute, though I guess not very lady-like, and it doesn't photograph all that well.

Kara's hair works a little better since she has more.

And they don't usually chew on pens...I just really wanted to get a picture of their hair, and they found these in the process. :)

Like Mother, Like Daughters...

Also a weekend in review...Saturday was the best day I've had with my family in a long time. Perfect weather certainly helps!

Getting ready for the zoo...

I think every person we walked past like this made a comment about how cute it was. The girls LOVE to hold hands...this is a much more reliable way to keep them both with me (and adorable, I admit).

Looking at the giraffes. I think we saw every animal that they like when we were at the zoo. Anna's favorites were the monkeys, Kara liked the elephants best. Right after this picture, Kara climbed under/through the fence to try to get a closer view of the giraffes. Yikes!

In addition to the zoo, on Saturday we did some grocery shopping and picked up chocolate cake and ice cream, both of which I had been wanting for a while, and are never on the Pierce grocery list, and Kara pooped on the potty for the first time after her bath! Here's her confused "smile" directly after...she was happier about it later when we heaped more praise on her and she had time to process a little. :)

Now, for the like mother, like daughters part... I had noticed for a while that whenever the girls like to tell me stories, it's about times when babies had tears at the library, when they had to say bye bye to someone or something, but they wanted more and got a tear, when their hands were dirty (more of these than I can link to...including the sand debacle at the beach, and the fact that they get upset when they see pictures of sand), or Kara's latest has been when she had a tear after she pooped because she wanted to stay naked, and they both like the one where dad was getting a baby and he fell down and hurt his hand and Kara got a tear. And of course there were the bubble and bug stories. This has continued. It clicked this weekend that this is really just a tendency to focus on the negative (and not liking their hands to be dirty) - just like mom. It's really funny to me that this is innate. I don't push them to remember these things, they just do.

The latest evidence: the first time I talked to them about the zoo after we went, when I mentioned giraffes, Kara told me her hands and shoes were dirty and I had to wipe them. The first time I mentioned Kara pooping in the potty, she told me that Dad had to wash her and I had to wash the potty. When I first mentioned the sticker Kara got for going potty, Anna told me that she had a tear because she didn't get a sticker (she cried enough that we gave her one). And last night when reading One Fish Two Fish (an old favorite), they wanted to see the sad fish over and over again, and didn't care about the rest of the book.

Girls, I love you so much, little quirks included...sorry you're like mom in that way, hopefully you will be in some good ways too!