I’m sure some of you are wondering when I’m going to stop the monthly updates. I really enjoy reading back at their progress so we’re going to do it for a few more months.

Teeth:
They are working on their side molars this month. Emma has two on the bottom and Leah has the same two and then one on the top.

Hair:
It’s slowly filling in. Leah’s is pretty long at the sides and the back and I call it clown hair because it curls. I’ll have to get a picture. Emma’s is more evenly dispersed and still quite blonde.

Sleep:
They are going to bed at 8 and getting up around 8. For the most part they sleep right through but there is still the odd crying in the middle of the night that needs our attention. On those nights the guilty party gets a bottle and goes back to bed. They never seem to wake up after 1am anymore which is nice. They are still taking two naps - usually around 10 and 3ish. The challenge these days is getting them to bed. Once they are in their cribs they talk and play. If anyone starts to whine we try not to go in because if they see us then they both scream with insult at not getting out of bed. It’s not fun and we’ve been burned a few times this month while trying to be stealth and grab the crier without the other one opening their eyes.

Getting around:
The big news this month is that Leah finally decided it was time to pull up to standing. She started about 3 days ago and has now mastered couch, crib and bathtub standing. She is able to reach down and pick stuff off, balance one handed and loves to walk with our assistance. It’s funny because based on her accomplishments since our NICU appt she is now right on target for gross motor for her corrected age! I am so proud of her. Emma still refuses to walk on her own although I am convinced she could. They are both super fast at crawling and they love chasing each other around. There is no shortage of laughter in our house.

Food:
They are finally starting to eat like little people. Leah’s favourite meal is breakfast - she will eat and eat and then steal Emma’s food and eat it. Emma prefers dinner. They are both a bit more open to trying new things. We still have a fair amount of mouth clamped shut head shaking “NO WAY - NOT THIS GIRL” behaviour but it’s improving. They’ll eat chicken no problem and they love bread and cheese. I gave them homemade pizza today and Emma gobbled it up while Leah picked at it - but at least she tried it. They are doing really well at drinking from their straw cups. We cut out their afternoon bottle and they only get the bedtime bottle. They get milk at every meal and water throughout the day. We are going to wait to cut out the bedtime bottle until it’s not so hot outside. We don’t want them to get dehydrated.

Talking:
They are still doing a lot of babbling with the odd word here and there. They both point and babble and it’s very cute. We have noticed a huge difference in their understanding of what we are saying. If we ask them where something is (like the ball) they will go and get it. We also bought them a phone and they talk into it.

Personalities:
Leah went through a rough go this month. She was very upset for a few days and it was pretty trying. We think it was her teeth and thankfully she has returned to her happy self. Leah is a very nice little girl when she is happy. She’ll sit and talk to herself while reading a book or play quietly by herself. She is able to wrestle for toys with Emma much better now that she is stronger. She is pretty easy going and doesn’t get overly upset when Emma steals her stuff. When Leah is unhappy she lets you know by screaming. To say this is irritating would be an understatement! We are trying to ignore it and hope she outgrows it - we definitely don’t go running to get her whatever she’s screaming about.

Emma was a good girl this month. She was very happy and for the most part pretty easy going. She is still very intense and she rarely sits still. She’s not big on reading by herself but she’ll grab a book and crawl up into our laps so we can read it while she flips the pages. She is definitely more clingy than Leah. She loves getting her hugs and she is very attached to her chickie stuffed animal. We have also decided that Emma doesn’t like men. She cries pretty much everytime we see Coby and most other men but she is fine with women. We have seen a bit more of Emma’s temper this month. She will cry hysterically when Leah takes her toy - again we ignore this hoping she will realize that crying gets her nowhere.

With the screaming and the crying we are finding that we are starting to think about discipline and teaching the girls to listen. We are definitely entering the next phase of parenting - one I don’t think is going to be so much fun. I am quickly finding that I am going to need a whole new reserve of patience. Thankfully John is a very patient person because while I can deal with teething babies in the middle of the night I am not so good at dealing with temper tantrums. It is very easy to say that we don’t want two bratty kids but I’m scared in reality it’s going to be very hard with the two of them. Some days going back to work looks mighty inviting!

Sorry no pictures - I’ll have to take some.