Another Month!

It's hard to believe the babies are another month older. How time is flying by--and how these babies are growing and changing. Both Addison and Jackson are chatty chatsters. They have lots of words, and when they can't find the words, they find something else to say. Some new words are milk, open, closed, Big Bird, Ernie, Burt, blocks, outside, please, thank you, pancake, cereal, Cheerio, yellow, blue, krispies, cookie, treat. And they are getting better at putting a couple of words together, and are really good at mimicking what you've just said. We're still signing (though we haven't made it to class in a while, it's right in the middle of our newly consolidated nap)--Jackson tells us when he's sleepy by signing, or when he's hungry. Both tell us when they hear something. They've been working on their colors with Whitney, so they are really good at signing those, as well as car, siren, airplane, bath, cheese, and a slew of other words.

Jackson seems to be going through a mommy phase--he asks for mommy and just plain seems more into momma than before. While Addison has been on a mommy kick, lately she's been asking where daddy is. She wants to go to dad a lot more, and asks where daddy is (and then where mommy is) all of the time. The babies are very aware of each other--while they don't yet engage each other while playing, sometimes in the morning they'll run around a crib, peeking at each other and laughing. Jackson will stand up in his crib and yell "Addie" if she isn't in her right crib next door. They are pretty good at giving each other good night hugs and kisses--it's sweet to see their relationship develop.

Both Addison and Jackson are much steadier while walking and running. Just like they've always been, Jackson is a little bit more conscientious than Addison and watches where he puts his feet. Addison doesn't look down, but rather looks to where she wants to be--and she is FAST. Both babies are proficient at going up and down stairs--and if you hold their hands, can easily walk up and down the stairs, one stair per step. Addison is a wild climber--she's all over the couches, climbs onto and off of chairs. I have no doubt Jackson will be an equally proficient climber shortly as well--he's got another pound or so to heft around, so it's a little bit harder to climb onto furniture.

The babies are feeding themselves, and are using plates, bowls, forks, and spoons. One of the new, funny things they like are rice crispies--Daniel had a bowl one Saturday morning, and the babies had a few bites. Turns out they really like cold cereal and milk. It kinds of blows their minds that there is milk in the bowl--they have bite after bite and keep on saying "mulk, mulk" while they're eating. We have introduced French toast and waffles into our breakfast routine, and they love both. We still eat a lot of pancakes, and love breakfast smoothies.

The babies have continued their love affair with Sesame Street--which, I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty OK with. It gets to be a bit much a times (the "elmo, elmo, ELMO, ELMO" chant gets old), but they learn all kinds of things from counting to the alphabet while watching--and besides, the ONLY time the babies slow down during the day is when Sesame Street is on TV. This is both good for us and good for them. One really cute thing--we got an Ernie doll to add to our collection (along with Elmo and Abby). Ernie sings a song and has about ten phrases, including his laugh. The babies have since started laughing like Ernie--they cover their mouths, like Ernie does, and snicker. It's too cute.

Here are some pictures of Addison and Jackson at the park this past weekend. You'll see that I could get Jackson to look my way and smile (or pull a funny face) a time or two--that was more difficult with Addison...you'll also see that Addison is a crazy slider, she goes down on her belly all by herself, over and over. Jackson has started going down the slide, and he's a pro! He's also climbing all over the toy structures--such a big boy!