Couch Surfing

Mia and Emma spend a lazy Saturday morning on the couch.

Give Peas a Chance

Emma wonders what this green stuff is. She liked the orange food better.

Mia longs for sweet potatoes. 

The girls tried their second vegetable this weekend - peas.  The initial reaction was priceless - puckered up faces and shivers up their spine. But after the shock, they warmed up to them a bit. Sweet potatoes still rank #1, but they're giving peas a chance. 

Sweet Potato Sunday

Daddy serves up sweet potatoes to his girls. 

Emma licks her spoon clean.

Mia was tentative at first, but warmed up to the new taste. 

Tonight Mia and Emma tasted their first vegetables - sweet potatoes!  And they loved them!  They each grimaced momentarily but once they had a few bites, they wanted more.  

We've been anxious to introduce vegetables and fruit, but had to try some different formulas and get that straight first.  It was so much fun to see them try something new!  Next up we have pears, peas and applesauce.  

Fall Festivities

Photo opp!  Mia and Emma find a pumpkin big enough to share. 

To get in the fall spirit, we took the girls to a local farm and pumpkin patch over the weekend.  Grammy and Bob were in town so we had extra help which is always nice.  The girls had a great time checking out the farm animals in person (as opposed to the farm animal pictures and sounds on their exersaucer).  We saw geese, pigs and piglets, cows, chickens and baby chicks, ponies, sheep, and even kitties!

Mia and Emma look confused about why they are sitting in a pink wheelbarrow with pumpkins.

Mia and Emma get a boost from Grammy and Mom at the farm.

The girls watch Bob feed the geese. 

Grammy and Mia check out the pony.

Emma checks out some pumpkins with Mom. 

Richland or Bust!

Mia and Emma, playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

This weekend we got to visit Grandma and Grandpa at their house. Uncle Pete met us there too. We had to sit in our car seats for a long time, but we were pretty excited to explore once we got there.  

Grandma and Grandpa have a neat house, with a lot of cool lights.  They showed us their pretty backyard too, but it was too cold and windy to play out there.  It was fun to feel the breeze though, and hear the wind chimes.  We had fun playing inside in the basement and showed everyone how we can sit up and play with our toys.   We also got to show how grown up we are by eating our oatmeal. 

Mia and Emma finish up their oatmeal. (Notice the very appropriate wine country-themed shirts. Mia is Vino Bambino and Emma is Vintage 2008.)

We got to meet some of Grandma and Grandpa's friends on Saturday.  We also went to our friend Marjorie's house.  Mom and Dad watched the Husky game with their friends, while the three of us played.  We've still never seen the Huskies win, but we had fun playing anyway. 

Marjorie tries to figure out why these two babies - Mia and Emma - are invading her turf. 

Hangin' with the boys. Dad, Mia, Ryan, Emma and Dave give up watching the game and check their Facebook pages instead. 

Emma with a mini Husky football.

We played some more on Sunday morning, and sat in our booster seats and had breakfast with everyone.  The Seahawks played a game, but they lost too.  Dad says it's not a good time to be a Seattle spots fan. 

Mia and Uncle Pete, chillin' on the couch.

We had another log car ride home, but we were as patient as we could ad only asked to stop when we really needed to.  It was a fun weekend and we can't wait to go back sometime. 

Emma and Mia are 7 Months old!

It seems like I just wrote their 6-month old posting - oh wait, I did.  Time moves so quickly!  The girls are 7 months old today.  We celebrated with a relaxing weekend at home, a nice walk over to the Ballard Sustainable festival, and some oatmeal for dinner.  

I recently re-capped many of their antics at this stage.  In addition, Mia seems to be going through a growth spurt, eating 6 - 10 oz. of formula at a time, as opposed to her normal 4 oz. Emma, too is eating a bit more.  Both girls have discovered their feet, and like to grab them - and each other's.  This weekend they had a great time sitting up facing each other and playing in the living room.  There was some contention over who got to play with the teething ring, but they sorted it out in a civil manner. 

Pics coming soon, as soon as I get them uploaded. 

Em & M at 6 months

Beautiful Mia at 6 months. 

Adorable Emma at 6 months.

I write this post in my head every day, as there are countless stories to share about the girls from their sixth month. Our busy schedule doesn't permit me to write (aka brag) as much as I'd like to, but I stayed up late tonight to share a few observances of Emma and Mia at 6 months. 

Finding Their Voices

The girls' personalities continue to emerge and their voices are louder than ever. Emma is sweet, thoughtful, skeptical as always, and has a big, contagious  smile. Her voice is has a soft, cooing tone, but that doesn't mean she's quiet. She knows how to make herself heard, but often lets her sister have the spotlight.  Which Mia loves.  Mia is wild, spontaneous, funny and has a smile for everyone. She is our little class clown. She loves to talk in her often shrieky, high pitched voice and will carry on a conversation for as long as you'll talk to her. Needless to say, both girls are very social and love to make friends.  

Beauty Rest

The girls have matured immensely in this past month as far as sleeping goes.  The turning point was really when they started day care.  They just seem to appreciate sleep so much more after a busy day, and look relieved to go to bed each night. We used to spend hours getting them to sleep, and now there are times we can put them in their bed while they're awake and they'll fall asleep on their own. Sometimes they chat for a while, and other times they're out right away. Mia has grown to like her binky when she sleeps, and that usually does the trick for her.  She has slept all night - 7pm - 6:30am - the past 4 nights in a row, only waking up to find her binky!  Emma does not like her binky, but does like hearing us sing lullabies. This isn't a quick fix like a binky, but helps her get to sleep nonetheless.  She is down to waking up once a night to eat, which is a great improvement.  There are definitely off nights still, and we know sleep is never a guarantee, but we're encouraged that they have matured so much so quickly. 

New Tricks

Both Emma and Mia are doing a great job sitting up on their own.  We still have pillows around them in case they tumble over, but they are so strong and can sit up and play with toys for long stretches at a time.  They get lots of practice with their friends at day care.   They love this new view of the world and want to be upright and see what's going on at all times.  Another favorite hobby is blowing raspberries, which is really more like sticking their tongue out and spitting in their case. Mia loves to do this and thinks she's hilarious.  Emma has picked up the trick too. It's quite a talent!

Emma and Mia practice sitting up at daycare.  They love to sit in this window spot and see what's happening outside. 

Smiley, happy Emma.

Mia sits up tall. 

Chow Time

Sitting in their booster seats and eating from a spoon is a new thing. Emma seems a bit more interested than Mia, but it's really more about practice at this point. They've only had rice cereal at this point, but we'll mix in some vegetables or fruit soon enough.  Look for even messier photos soon...

"I want what she's having," says Emma.

"I can do it myself!"  Emma tackles the spoon on her own. Do we have a lefty on our hands? 

Mia cleans up.

"Hey, I know you..."

By far the coolest development this month is that they really know each other. They've always been aware each other, but now they are looking at each other and interacting much more.  They reach for each other, pull on each other's clothes, feet, noses, etc. They share laughs over inside jokes and make each other smile. We know they are best friends, and it's so cool to see them start to realize that too.