Good Parenting

Several weeks ago, when I was by myself with the girls, they woke up from their afternoon nap in a foul mood. They are usually very grumpy and clingy when they wake up, but this day they were especially cranky. So after going through my bag of tricks to make them happy, I did what any good mother would do---got out the video camera.

Maitlyn

Braiden

Perhaps high schools can use it as birth control...

Gifted Girls

I can understand now why every parent thinks their child is gifted. They spend so long as helpless babies that when they first start learning new things it seems like a miracle. Of course we think our girls are geniuses because they can make the sign for more and milk. We are also pretty impressed by how they 'read' --sit with a pile of books, turn the pages and babble. But today I was floored by Braiden's direct communication with me. She and Maitlyn were banging on Brian's big exercise ball--something I showed them how to do. Then, Braiden reached out, grabbed my hand and put it on the ball. At first I thought it was just cute that she wanted to hold my hand. Then I realized she was telling me to bounce the ball. I bounced it, then stopped and put my hands back in my lap. Once again, Braiden grabbed my hand and put it on the ball. Genius, pure genius!

And while we're on the subject of Braiden, who knew the temper tantrum drama queen would turn out to be the lovey dovey one? Today, when Djina (my friend Angela's baby) was visiting, Braiden leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. It was really more of just a slobber, but an unmistakable sign of affection.

More, More, More

Braiden seems to have learned the sign for 'more'. All day today she was making the sign and smiling. Although I suspect she may just be doing it to get a positive reaction out of me, since she made the sign on the changing table as well. Who knows, maybe diaper changes make her hungry!

Maitlyn sort of makes the sign, but mostly bangs on her high chair when she wants more. We'll get there....

Sick Babies

We had our first round of the stomach flu this weekend. Oh so fun. Maitlyn woke up puking Thursday night, Braiden followed suit Saturday night. And to top it off, Brian and I got sick Saturday night as well. Nothing like a house full of sick people. Luckily Laura pulled morning duty while Brian and I tried to recover. And Sheila (Grandma) came over to baby sit while we recovered some more. I have a new found respect for the Gosselin family (of Jon & Kate Plus 8 fame). I could not imagine having 8 sick kids at once. Two was bad enough.

I will spare you all pictures of this weekend's festivities...

Kodak Moment

Maitlyn walked all by herself today. We were at Giggles N'Hugs for Sheila's birthday. It's an indoor playroom/restaurant where the adults can sit and eat while the kids run wild and play. Maitlyn was in the middle of the play area when she stood up and took 3 steps (mostly in a circle). We started cheering and clapping, and had everyone in the place cheering for her as well. But of course, no camera anywhere nearby. We were all crying, so perhaps that was a good thing.

Maitlyn gives Braiden a little push--practice for all that walking!

Happy Halloween!

Ahhh, Halloween. The day when parents get to inflict exquisite torture on small children by putting them in scratchy, hot, oh so cute outfits and parade them around town.



The girls' first Halloween was relatively painless. They cried only a little bit--Maitlyn was a better sport than Braiden. We took a quick walk around the neighborhood to see the uber-decorated houses and then back home.

The girls are also standing by themselves and cruising around the furniture. We are all placing bets on when they will start walking. Then our lives will truly end as we know it.

Braiden surprised us by standing straight up. Doing her best Elvis impersonation here.

They will be playing duets any day now.

Catch-up

It's been a month since my last post. Amazing how quickly time gets away. Sometimes I think it's only been a week or so since I last spoke to someone, or received an email, and then all of a sudden a month has passed!

So lets play a little 'ketchup':


1. The babies worked two days on the new TV show The Mentalist. Simon Baker was so cool--he was playing with the girls and making jokes with us. And the Assistant Director was incredibly nice and even sent me this picture with me, Maitlyn and Simon.
Everyone loved the girls (but what's not to love?).
The episode should air on CBS Tuesday, November 11 at 9/8c.




2. We also spent 2 weeks in Las Vegas shooting a new movie called 'The Hangover'. It's directed by the same guy who did Old School and Road Trip, so it will probably be a total guy movie. Laura had never been to Vegas before, so she was like Dorothy at the gates of Oz when we got there. It was fun, but exhausting and very, very hot.

They hired 3 sets of twins to play 1 baby in the movie.

Our only day on film--by the pool at Caesar's Palace.

3. MILESTONES!!!
It seemed like in one week Maitlyn and Braiden turned into little girls. They now stand up,
crawl, have teeth (Braiden has two on the bottom, Maitlyn--aka Snaggletooth--only has one on the bottom) and babble incessantly.

They have discovered the joy of Peek-a-Boo!

They also got their first cold the day we flew to Vegas. Sucking snot is akin to baby torture. And having to do it twice is parent torture. I got one of those battery operated snot suckers, which works well enough but is rather disgusting to clean. I'll spare you the gross imagery.

What babies with runny noses get to look forward to!

I will try to be more diligent in my postings, but I can't promise anything. It took four days just to write this one!