One Proud Mama!

Audrey has taken off in the last couple of weeks, and I'm so proud of her! In addition to waving and crawling, she started standing up in her crib last week and today she mastered two new skills: signing "more" and clapping her hands. The best part for her? Her big brother can't do either of these yet! I'm so glad she decided to bring on the competition. It's hard when you have twins not to compare them all of the time...:)

Isaac has news, too: I mentioned awhile ago that I thought his first words might be "milk" and "all done." Well...he has never consistently said those, so it might have been a false hope. However, he definitely says "done" now--and he says it on cue at the end of meal time (while signing "all done"). It comes out "dah" most of the time, but you can tell he's trying to master the "n" at the end of it. Also, while he loves to "crash" his blocks, yesterday he helped me stack them. Every new skill just amazes me, and I feel so lucky I get to witness all of these firsts.

Speaking of proud mamas, my good friend had a baby boy today--a great way to top off a fabulous day!

It's Cabin Time!

The twins went to the cabin for the first time over 4th of July weekend. They swam in the lake, went for a boat ride, played with cousins Landon and Graham, and had a blast! (though Ryan and I were exhausted by the end.) Here are some recaps:

Audrey with Aunt Stacy and Grandpa Falkum

Audrey loves the water!

Isaac warmed up to it eventually

The boys were happy Grandpa and Grandma brought up some toys!

Aunt Stacy is a great storyteller!

Even Dad went for a swim

Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My: An Isaac Update

Apparently, there is such thing as being too good of a storyteller. I LOVE the book Oliver Finds His Way, but my roaring sound effects have made Isaac cry twice now! I made the mistake of reading it a second time (thinking he was just tired the first time around), and he started bawling hysterically. It took me about ten minutes to calm him down. I felt soooo bad! I wanted to cry myself. Now any time I make a sound effect, his lower lip quivers and I have to quickly change my tone and expression. The last thing I want is to traumatize him and scare him away from stories! The picture above shows a little smile after I calmed him down.

Other news? Isaac is allergic to peanuts, eggs, oats, milk, wheat, and soy. Yikes! We're trying to reduce his eczema (which is getting progressively worse) and we think food allergies may be a culprit. We meet with an allergist tomorrow for further testing and to discuss his diet. I'm hoping some of those are false positives--otherwise the poor guy will have to eat like a rabbit!

He is cruising all over the place and can now stand by himself (without holding onto anything) for 6-7 seconds at a time. I see baby steps in the near future! We're also working on colors with him. I thought he knew blue, but then I realized that when I say, "Show me the yellow block" or "Show me the red block" he always chooses blue! It's his favorite color (he loves the blue page the best in his color book), so he must think I'm saying, "Show me the best block! Your favorite!" :)

Curse of the MMR: An Audrey Update

Audrey has had a rough couple of weeks: first pink eye and an ear infection, followed by a nasty stomach virus, a cold, and now a reaction to the MMR vaccine! Our family might be cursed when it comes to this vaccine, as cousin Landon got the same bad rash from it! And supposedly only five percent of kids have this reaction. Hmm....
However, all of this illness has given Audrey what I call her "baditude." She has become a fiesty, sassy, warrior! Now that she army crawls, she literally throws things out of the way that come across her path. It reminds me of Transformers tossing cars and smashing buildings the way she heaves these heavy things! She now steals toys from Isaac and makes him cry. Not that I want Isaac crying, but I think I'm secretly glad Audrey has some attitude. It's a tough world out there, and I don't want her to take any crap from anyone! :)

P.S.  She also started waving hi/bye this week, which is super exciting for us!

Frenemies?

While there's plenty of biting, clawing, and hair-pulling at our house, it seems there's a lot of love, too. Check it out: