just plain ol' cute

This week was the regrouping week after the long vacation, and I have to say the babies are doing pretty well with getting back to a routine and schedule. In fact, Tucker went back to waking up only 1 time a night to eat (which means Whitney is eating 1 time a night). They have also gotten into a fairly set nap routine. I can count on them sleeping for 40 minutes starting around 9:15 or 9:30, then 3 hours from 12- 3 or 12:30-3:30 and then bed at 7:30 or 8:00. It is SOOOO lovely. I really like how I now have down time at night for sure. It is most relaxing to take a shower for as long as I want. No interruptions.

They have both figured out how to roll back to front, so now the play gym on the counter while I cook dinner is no longer safe. They can't do it consistently, but one flip would be enough. I'm going to make a play area on the floor in the dining room. Watch out Rocky and Sammy. Your 4 legged floor buddy is going to increase from 1 to 3 here soon. Whitney flipped from her back to front on Thursday, and Tucker did it yesturday. I can assure you that Tucker learned his by accident. He absolutely hates tummy time. I left him on the floor on his back to go get something and found him on his stomach. He was a little upset when I left, but really mad when I came back. It didn't take me long to figure out why. He created more tummy time by accident and couldn't get out of it. Whitney learned to flip back to front because she wanted her favorite toy, the snail with the lights/music/mirror that Anne's mom gave them. The toy was a little out of reach, so she went to get it and flipped over. I also find them in various positions in the morning when I get them out of their cribs, so I know they can move a little more.

We've been practicing being nice to the doggies and petting them, mostly so Sammy will know that all the hair pulling might be worth it if there is another member of the family that might pet him. Rocky usually remains aloof. They both seemed to be excited to pet the dogs, but Tucker really got excited and started jabbering to Sammy and smiling, like he does when he meets new people. I don't know. Maybe he was trying to set something up about Sammy giving him a ride or something. The picture of Rocky with his paws on the scriptures is just awesome!! If anyone wants to use the picture to convince someone of how important scripture study is, go for it!! Even dogs beg for the scriptures!!

Whitney LOVES bananas. Or she really likes to eat food with different flavors other than milk. She already understands the relationship with the bowel, spoon and to open her mouth so I can actually get the food in far enough for her to swallow. It is so fun to see her get excited. She also asks for more and will settle for milk only when she gets tired of eating. I'll begin rice cereal tomorrow. I have a friend that told me that her daughter is so much less messy at eating, and I just thought it was because she didn't remember how it was with her boys at the same age, or maybe she waited a little longer to start solids with her daughter, the third child, but no. Rest assured girls get the fine motor skills sooner than boys. At least with these two. Tucker doesn't get eating. Bummer, because I think he would be happier if he did. Most of it still comes back out the mouth, and he gives it about 5 bites before he just wants to eat quickly with the bottle. Somehow he managed to get banana in the back of his hair, all over the bib, on his shoulders, under the bib, etc, while I just needed to wipe off Whitney's mouth. I don't even know how he managed to do that much damage with 5 bites worth. Whatever. Whitney polished off his portion of the banana.

Whitney also has been practicing the use of her hands. This comes in particularly handy when it comes to using the frozen teether. She gets a lot of relief out of chewing on that thing, whereas Tucker needs a little more help to keep it in. He's really good at chewing on his bib (or his clothes if his bib gets turned sideways) to relieve pain. He is getting better at using his hands this week, though, so maybe the teething thing will go better next week.

We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this week and went on an official date, no kids. We went to dinner while our friends watched them. It was great to have Jim's complete attention for an hour, but now I know what people mean when they say "It's hard to be away from the kids that long" when they go on a vacation. We already started to look forward to seeing them again, as they are family!

Anyway, there are two videos of them just being cute. I love to see how content Whitney is to play on her stomach and with her toys. She kicks her legs repeatively when that happens. I also got a video of her laughing!! Finally it was caught on tape!! Tucker has been talking a bunch this week, so I have a video of that also for enjoyment. He usually does most of his talking while being upright, standing or sitting. Stomach or back positions don't usually elicit this type of calm communication. There are also some other "photo op" pictures of the babies just playing in the house or outside while I've been weeding. Enjoy!! There is one with them in the stroller. We go for a walk at 7:30 am to the top of the mountain, so that was them at the top. There is a picture of Tucker's thighs stuck in a bumbo chair. He loves to be upright in that thing, but getting in and out of it is getting to be a problem.