First words and more twin comedy

Today Frankie said his first word, "DaDa." Both he and Marguerite have been experimenting with sounds (LOUDLY) for the last several weeks, but he was the first to use DaDa deliberately.


Rob was sitting on the couch reading and Frankie wanted his attention. He shouted, "DaDaDaDa" and got the attention he wanted. Still, he mostly clicks his tongue and tries out new sounds (aaaaahhhhh and eeeeeee are two of his favorites), but I did hear him say, "DaDaDaDa" again while watching his Daddy outside working. : ) I'm a proud Mama today.


Frankie found his older sister's LeapFrog laptop this week --- and fell in love!!




The little squirt really loves these wooden bead toys.



The kids were at the office with me this week, and on Friday I captured a few shots of them. They really played together nicely most of the day, and everything was fine until.....





....Frankie crawled under Marshie's feet!!

I also walked in on a fight one morning this week that was hysterical. I heard them clanking their bottles on the bedrails (sort of like the old westerns where the prisoners clank their tin cups on the cell bars), and I went to investigate. What I found was Frankie and Marguerite holding their bottles upside down and using them to "sword" fight. rotfl The clanking I heard was when they'd miss hitting the other bottle and clank into their crib railings. I couldn't help standing their laughing at them, even when they dropped their bottles and cried to be held.

DaDa's Motorcycle

Just for the record, Frances can say "daddy", but she prefers to call hers "DaDa". And Rob likes it better too!

So Monday we were waiting outside for Rob to arrive and his motorcycle was (and still is) parked on the front step. Crackers (one of our cats) was pawing around and sniffing around the cycle. Frances started yelling, "Cackers! Get Down!" and "Cackers! NO!!" Both of these comments were followed by her telling the cat, "DaDa's Motorcycle!" I kept snickering because the cat, being a cat, would just turn his head towards her and blink... very slowly. lol

Then later when Rob was leaving again, Frances told me, "DaDa Motorcycle." I told her, "No, DaDa's taking the truck, not the motorcycle." She promptly put her hands on her hips, stomped her little foot and told me, "DaDa taking motorcycle." Stupid me, I told her again, "No, DaDa's taking the truck." She stood there defiantly telling me, "DaDa taking motorcycle." Of course, being the adult in this situation, I strolled (heavily - ie almost stomping) over to the door and opened it. I pointed at the motorcycle and triumphantly said, "See, DaDa took the truck!"

Yes, I really am 37 years old, but there are days that I wonder about my sanity. I can't believe I was having this fight with my almost 2 year old. Rob, of course, finds this story of our very stubborn daughter totally hysterical!

Here are a couple of pictures of the little demon...er...angel and her DaDa on his motorcycle:

There is one thing I need to say though, she is very terrified of the motorcycle when it's running. She doesn't like loud noises, and of course it is loud (as a good motorcycle should be, right?) I have no fear of her running up to him while he's riding. She tends to run for the front door and try to get inside. : )

Mother's Day Outing

Today I asked to be taken to the zoo for Mother's Day. I know it sounds a little weird, but I love watching little eyes light up when they see animals, and Frances obliged. Of course, she didn't want to walk OR ride in the stroller, so Desse ended up carrying her all over the zoo. Whew! Poor kiddo. Thanks Desse!!!

Mostly this will be a "pictures" blog.


Mr Creepy Gorilla - the first animal we saw today

Frances riding on Desse's shoulders looking at Mr. Creepy Gorilla



Desse showing Frances some birds



Frances was not certain about riding on the chimps shoulders


Chimp!


Frankie and Marguerite outside the chimp cage - he just would NOT leave the hat on his head


duck! (No, I didn't see the sign that said what kind)



I love flamingoes (real ones anyway lol) and I couldn't resist this "train" of them



Frances and Desse riding a turtle (tortoise?)



The giraffe sees his shadow!

After the zoo, we went to eat lunch at the Flying Saucer. There the kiddos gave me three little carved stone frogs (one lapis, one brown & tan stone, one green soapstone). Frances handed me the lapis one, Desse gave me the little brown one and Rob gave Marguerite the green one -- which she promptly tried to eat! lol

Afterwards, I came home and took a much needed nap. I know, I'm getting old! That's what happens to pregnant women with three little ones under two.

On another note, I talked to Steven last night and told him I was pregnant. It's hard to get in touch with him when he lives in Houston. He was quite shocked, but in good spirits. Nothing like finding out your Mom is pregnant again I guess. lol He was the last of the kids that I needed to tell.

Twin Comedies

Today, like so many days, Frank and Marguerite kept me in stitches.

First they started fighting over a strand of brightly colored pony beads. It's a pretty secure strand, so I don't worry about it breaking. Marshie picked up the beads and started sucking on them. Frankie caught sight of them and very, very quickly crawled over to her. He reached out, grabbed the other end of the strand, and stuck it in his mouth. Marshie jerked it back, loudly squawking. He jerked it back, loudly protesting. It went back and forth for several moments until Frankie (with his end still in his mouth) grabbed Marshie's end and jerked it out of her hands. The hysterical part was the startled look on her face! You could almost see the words, "HOW DARE YOU!" written on her face. He gave her this look though, and she just looked up and me then crawled away.....

Later in the day ---

Frankie, still not feeling well, did not nap today, but Marguerite did. He was in his exersaucer playing (and watching Elmo's world with Frances) when Marshie awoke. Desse brought her out to her exersaucer next to Frank's. He gave her his, "What were you doing sleeping?" look, picked his half full bottle of his exersaucer, and chunked it at her head. Marshie, the future baseball catcher that she is, managed to smoothly catch the bottle and automatically put it in her mouth. Frankie's mouth fell open in this sort of "awe" while she sat in the saucer drinking his bottle.

This is of course in addition to their usual morning bout. Marshie wakes up first, and not wanting to be alone, stands in her bed and chunks her bottle at Frankie's head hoping to wake him up. And yes, it usually does. When he wakes, he tosses the bottle back into her bed, and adds his -- usually chunking it at her head in revenge! This morning, thankfully, they were happy with their fighting and many giggles came from the bedroom.

It's so cute the way the two of them go after each other now that they are in separate beds pushed up against one another. And it's adorable to watch their relationship as twins blossom these days. I wouldn't have it any other way.


A few pics of Frank and Marguerite ---

At the new office:

Another at the new office:

Frankie trying to climb into the rocking chair with his sister:

Frankie trying to get in, Marshie trying to get out, and GodMama Boo trying to help:

A Day at the Doc's (aka Baby Updates)

We went to the doc this morning for check-ups: 9 months for the twins, 2 year for Frances. We arrived at 8:15 for weigh in and measurements - which took almost 40 minutes... whew! Ms. Carol (she's the PA and we adore her!) came in around 9 to see us and we were out of there around 10:45. Yep, it takes a while with three of them, but she's always very thorough and takes her time since Frances is so scared of the doc's anyway.

The particulars:

- Frank weighed in at 18 pounds 5.4 ounces, 28 inches long and his head circumference was 18 3/4 inches. Yes, both twins have big heads! lol

- Marguerite weighed in at 19 pounds 8.2 ounces. Like Frankie, she's 28 inches long with a head circumference of 18 3/4 inches.

- Frances weighed in at 28 pounds 1 ounce and is 33 1/2 inches tall. Just 2 1/2 more inches and she'll be 3 feet! She's growing so fast.

There was nothing particularly wrong with the girls. Both are way above average for their ages. They would like to see Frances do a little more dressing/undressing of herself, and want her to have less milk in a day. Also they said she should have a multivitamin since she goes through stages of not eating much. Frankie's been a little sick the last couple of days with diarrhea, which is why he's lost weight in the last 2 weeks. (He weighed 19 pounds 3 ounces when he saw the doctor for his cough (a virus) a week and a half ago.) Ms. Carol put him on a banana and applesauce diet for the next couple of days and wants him to have at least two bottles of pedialite along with his formula bottles. She suggested that we give him Soy formula for a couple of days, but that constipates him and would make him miserable. I think we'll try this diet first.

Marshie is trying desperately to walk. She can almost stand on her own -- pulling herself up and letting go -- but she won't take the steps yet. She isn't talking yet, but apparently that's normal for twins. She eats well, sleeps well and loves to play games like peek-a-boo and patty cake.

Frankie is a little behind his sister. He's my laid back child. lol It took him longer to learn to crawl, he's just started sitting up well, and he's just beginning to pull himself up. He loves to be cuddled and talked/sung to. He will smile at just about every word spoken to him. He's also SERIOUSLY ticklish!

Frances can now name all of her colors (though she still mixes white and yellow sometimes... which I think is simply because some yellows are so light), she can speak in complete sentences with more than five words (when she WANTS to lol) and she has read her first word without any sort of prompting. Last Wednesday, 4/30, at the bookstore she started telling Desse, "oink!" Finally she showed him the book she was looking at. The title is, "The Cow that Said OINK". There were pictures of cows on the front with one saying "oink". We know she didn't confuse the cows for pigs, because when you ask her what they are she says, "cow" and when you ask her what cows says, she answers with, "moo" -- yet she can read the word oink on the cover of the book. lol Needless to say, she got the book!! Frances also loves to play outside, particularly with one of the balls we bought her or with the little dolly stroller so she can push Suzie around.

Not much else I can think of to say. Ms. Carol was very impressed with the progress of all three of them. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!